Despite how hard it was for him to become exhausted, Katorasu felt drained from how hectic everything was last night. From getting smashed around by a mobster to escaping arrest by the entirety of the police department, the vigilante felt wiped this morning. With the sun hitting his eyelids through the slim opening of his curtains, he tried to ignore the fact that it was morning, turning his head and covering up the sunlight on his face with his pillow; his body ached a bit as he moved just a bit for that change in position.
Regrettably, at least for the hedgehog, he remembered how his body went through so much last night as well. Deciding that he had to get up— unless he wanted Jamie to barge down the door— Katorasu took a deep breath, counted down in his head, and sat up as he clutched his pillow. Sore all over his body, he groaned out in pain as he could feel the aching just wash over his body.
Completely done with it by this point, he concentrated past the lingering pain as a gem formed over the palm of his hand. Squeezing the orb of energy he had conjured, its shell shattered into dust with the energy flowing into his body, quickly restoring his body in just a few moments as it wiped away all the damage that came from last night’s events.
Just wanting to test-drive his body to check if everything was alright, the nephalem did a few quick stretches as he sat up on his bed; twisting his torso, crossing both arms over his chest, and cracking his back— which was always a nice feeling for Kato— the nephalem felt sure of himself that he was ready to take the day.
Hopping onto his feet and the floor of the apartment, he couldn’t help himself but muse aloud, “Should’ve done that last night, jeez!”
Full of energy from that gem he spent, the nephalem practically bounced all around his apartment while he performed his daily routine. With a beat and a tempo in his head, he slid on over to his houseplant buddy, which had been growing pretty nicely for the past few weeks. Quickly uncapping the half-full bottle of water that sat next to it, Katorasu slightly readjusted the position of his chlorophyll-filled friend, so it was more in the sunlight, as he carefully gave it its morning drink.
“There ya go, little buddy,” the nephalem tenderly talked to his houseplant, as the noise from the city streets played out from down below, though they were muffled by the closed windows.
Finishing up his morning, the nephalem stepped out of his tight bathroom after brushing his teeth three times over. Ditching his sleepwear outfit that was nothing more than a combo of a casual tee and sweatpants, Katorasu quickly adorned a lime-green shirt, some jeans, a pair of black socks, and tennis shoes that were accented by green. He was ready to take on the day now.
With nothing but a mere sense of casualness, Katorasu performed a front-flip from the very top of the stairs and landed perfectly on his feet at the very bottom of them. His landing only caused a small thump that was lightly heard by the border collie in the next room. Nonchalantly stepping into the shop, he waved to the British male and started to open his mouth, though was cut off before he could say anything.
“Tell me you did not just jump from the top of the staircase.” Jamie raised his voice, as he inspected some clothing that was hung up in racks. He didn’t bother even giving a side glance to the cocky male,
With a grin on his face and a chuckle coming from his throat, Katorasu responded in a rather smart-ass way, “I didn’t jump from the top of the staircase— I did a front-flip from it.”
Shaking his head, the border collie seemed to already be done with the nephalem’s antics for the day, “If there’s even a small scuff on the wood, the cost of repair is coming out of your wallet.”
“Aw, maybe if you saw how perfectly I pulled it off you would let me off the hook,” Katorasu fired back, not even caring about how he might have to pay for the replacement of a wooden board.
With a slightly frustrated sigh, Jamie decided it’d be best to change the topic before he ended up whacking Kato over the head with his umbrella, “So, I assume nothing happened last night that was too exciting? There was nothing on the news today, aside from reports of gunfire but that seems to be the usual lately.”
Inadvertently, Jamie had caused the emerald-streaked hedgehog to suddenly realize that he didn’t bother turning on the tv this morning to check out the news. While there were indeed gunshots last night, so much more had happened during that night. Judging by what his dear friend and landlord had said though, it seemed that everything before and after the gunfire was not made well-aware of to the public, including the news people themselves.
It made sense though, it’s highly unlikely that the SSPD would want to reveal the fact how there was indeed a vigilante watching over the streets and was also involved in all the recent reports. Luckily for Katorasu, a secret is just exactly how he wanted to be kept. How long would he be able to keep this up though? Unless he got that big break he needed, it would not go well if his existence was brought to the light.
“You’re doing that thing again where you stare off into space, Kato,” Jamie crossed his arms together, looking a bit deadpan though he was also worried for the taller male before him, “Did something happen last night?” He asked again, shifting his stance and appearing more petite in the process.
Getting pulled out of his thoughts, the vigilante quickly shook his head upon realizing what the border collie had asked, “Nope! Nothin’ at all, though I’m pretty sure my outfit might be a bit scuffed after last night; other than that, pretty chill night for me!” Katorasu spoke out of an attempt to play things cool.
“It always is ‘a bit scuffed’ nowadays, huh?” Jamie kept his arms folded over one another, while his suspicion of Katorasu only grew, “Anyways, you know where to leave your outfit but are you sure nothing happened?”
Wanting to quickly change the topic as soon as possible, the nephalem suddenly remembered something else, “Hey! So, you busy tonight or something?” Katorasu began, leaning a bit on the counter as the British male stood behind his shop’s register, “I was thinking we could dine at that French restaurant I mentioned a while ago.” His golden eyes lit up, hoping that his landlord would accept going to a fancy, friendly dinner with the hero.
At first, Jamie had opened his mouth to say no once he began to hear his heartbeat, though decided to mull it over seriously; coming to his final decision in just a second, the border collie responded, “I’m not busy, though are you sure? I’m aware of how important your patrols are to you, so I don’t want to go if that’s on your mind.”
Shaking his head again to say no, Katorasu chipperly said, “Nah, don’t worry about it! I can honestly use a night off and some good French food in my belly. It’s also completely my treat, so don’t worry about paying a single penny.”
“Well, alright then,” Jamie gave in as he sighed a bit, it seemed that something was on his mind as well, “Just to get something out of the way though, you don’t have any formal clothing in your closet, do you?”
In all honesty, the ebony rogue chuckled sheepishly as he knew there was nothing even close to the word ‘fancy’ hanging in his closet. “How much for a tux, Jamie?” Katorasu asked as he scratched the back of his head.
To Jamie, it was cute how Katorasu treated him like a bomb with a short fuse; after a small laugh left him, the border collie reassured the black hedgehog, “I’ll let you pick one to wear for tonight, free of charge but don’t you dare let even a food stain land on it.”
“No worries! I’ll take good care of it, especially since I’m wearing it around you!” Katorasu had ecstatically responded, as he quickly went over to the section of Jamie’s shop that held all of the men’s formal wear.
As he went through an assortment of clothing, the vigilante couldn’t help but think about Jamie’s initial reaction to his offer. Maybe there was something he had planned for tonight? Honestly, Kato thought that maybe the border collie said yes as to just be nice, which isn’t a bad thing but he wanted Jamie to fully enjoy the night.
Lowering his voice, though it was loud enough for Jamie to still hear him, Katorasu sincerely asked, “Earlier, when I asked you about the French place, why’d you pause before saying yes?”
In the middle of counting today’s income so far, Jamie stopped and took another pause as he considered what he would say. “I’ll tell you later tonight, it feels appropriate if I tell you then,” is what he decided to respond with, giving a fairly soft smile to the black hedgehog. In his head though, he wondered how Katorasu would view him after tonight’s affair.
“Not a big fan of suspense, but I can wait!” Katorasu responded, continuing to sift through the variety of dress shirts that Jamie’s shop had within it, before eventually landing on one that was as black as his fur.
A soft chuckle had escaped the small male; Jamie just couldn’t help himself, watching Kato with a longing look to his eyes while his smile showed off his solemness. It stung him deeply how he knew that things would never pan out well between them both, there was too much mystery between the two males and neither of them seemed willing to shatter the fortress that their secrets hid behind. If anything, all that the border collie wanted was for them to remain friends by the end of this, he just had to get everything out of him first before the end of the night.
“Hey!” Katorasu piped up, with a wide grin on his face, as he wanted Jamie to take a look at the outfit he had picked out for himself, “How’s this?” The Nephalem eagerly fished for a compliment on his fashion choices.
What he pulled out was a black dress shirt, a lime-green tie, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. While it did look like a potentially snazzy outfit, there was just one issue with it. It wasn’t something Jamie was afraid to call out either.
“I won’t lie, I think what you chose to wear tonight looks great but…” The Brit took a second to formulate what he wanted to say before continuing, “… I don’t think it’s a smart decision to wear your vigilante colors— I mean, you already do that with your casual clothing, don’t you think you’ll come off as more of a suspect if anyone who knows about you sees you?”
As if not having a care in the world, Katorasu simply shrugged, “If they did know about me, they would either be a cop, someone I kicked the shit out of, or someone that happened to see me randomly,” At first it seemed like there was nothing of substance to that response, though he then continued onward, “I really doubt any of those guys would get up from their table, walk over to ours, and straight-up ask me, ‘hey, are you that vigilante I hear about who’s actually a criminal because vigilantism is a severe crime?’”
A bit flabbergasted with the swordsman’s tiny rant, the tailor decided to just quit while he was ahead and just roll with what Katorasu picked out. “Alright, you can wear all that if you want, I was just a bit concerned, that’s all.”
Honestly, the vigilante felt a bit bad for defending himself too hard, “I can pick something else if ya want, I don’t mind; this night is for you, for dealing with me these past couple of months.” Katorasu adjusted his tone again, it being soft just as it was prior.
“No, no! Don’t mind me, I should feel confident in whatever you do, I can’t hold your hand since this vigilante lifestyle of yours is your responsibility,” Jamie had quickly responded, as his canine tail slowly swayed sadly, “Though… I suppose I am still worried that if things go wrong I’ll also be caught in the middle of it all and I… have things to lose and you… don’t.” As hard as it was to say all this, Jamie couldn’t help but feel relief.
However, the border collie’s words managed to sting the black hedgehog; he was trying to come up with a response, to reassure Jamie that everything would be fine and there was nothing to worry about, yet he just couldn’t come up with the words. It was as if he knew that he cannot guarantee anything, at least not without a shred of doubt in his mind.
Just as the room became quiet, with only the sounds of the outside world providing ambiance, Katorasu decided to admit something to the Brit, “… I have you.” As if those three words took all the air in his lungs to get out, the nephalem took in a deep breath before continuing, “Every night, when I put on the outfit that *you* made for me, I’m always in my head worrying how I have to pull this whole thing off perfectly, because now there’s someone in my life— who I care about— that can get hurt because of my dumbass possibly screwing this up.”
Judging by the look on Jamie’s face, he was honestly quite shocked by the words that left Katorasu’s mouth. He never thought that the vigilante was constantly thinking about the tailor’s safety at all times, this newly unveiled revelation managed to shake Jamie’s plan for tonight quite a bit. He was unsure if he wanted to go through with it or not now.
Clearing his throat, as to make sure he wouldn’t choke on his own words, the border collie responded with an apology, “I’m sorry, I… had no idea I was such a huge concern for you, forgive me also for saying you had nothing to worry about in the first place, too.”
“Hey, it’s alright, I know I come off way too casual with the stuff I do and I don’t blame ya,” Katorasu’s lips soon curved into a sincere and soft smile, “I just wanted you to know that I care about you— even when I crack my jokes around you all the time.”
It further warmed Jamie’s heart to hear Katorasu reassure how much he cared for the border collie, though he now was back to wondering if the two could be a thing together. Maybe he should alter his idea for tonight or at the least pop a question after a confession from the heart.
Returning the smile with one of his own, the tailor nodded his head, “Sometimes when I walk home, I think about how I won’t see you the next day or hear you running down the stairs again,” Jamie leaned over the counter, resting himself on top of it as he continued, “It makes me feel better that it’s not a one-sided thing.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Katorasu was half-tempted to walk over to the border collie and hug him, though the hedgehog felt that would be a bit too personal, “Well, I’m glad we got all that out before tonight!” He added on, rather chipper, as he regathered his outfit for tonight, “Now all we gotta do is just get through the day, then we can head on out and enjoy some French food!”
Chuckling yet again, Jamie couldn’t help but indulge his attraction to Katorasu as he took in the hero’s body with his eyes, “You’re paying for all of it, right?” He asked, reminding the hedgehog of what he promised.
“Of course! My treat, also I won’t lord it over you in the future too— I’m not that kinda guy.” As he finished talking, a customer from a previous business day had entered the shop, cutting off any further personal talk for now.
Already making himself scarce from the scene, the nephalem made his way to the stairs that led up to his apartment. As Katorasu passed by the shop’s counter and Jamie— who was tending to the customer currently— the pair of males locked eyes with each other, in those brief seconds the vigilante had mouthed the words, “Be back in a second,” before disappearing through the door to the staircase.
Before he could get lost in any further fantasies about the hedgehog, Jamie snapped back to reality and finished business with the customer, bidding them a good day and farewell. Now having gotten a bit of peace to himself, the border collie spent the time going over his idea for tonight once more, wondering how he should go about telling his feelings to Katorasu and all that. Jamie knew that there was no way that the black-furred male would despise or dislike him for an honest emotional confession, but he couldn’t help himself but stay trapped in his head about possibly ruining the good relationship that the two had.
Sighing out of frustration, he eventually gave up on the headache of figuring out what it is that he should do. He would just have to go with how he felt when the moment occurs, cross that bridge when he gets to it, and all that.
Stepping down the stairs as a normal person should, Katorasu almost surprised Jamie when he spoke, “I got my outfit for tonight ready,” His citrine eyes had taken in the current outfit that the border collie wore, “You gonna wear that or swap clothes?” The Nephalem had asked, doing a quick arm stretch as he did so.
Taking a quick look at himself— with the help of a mirror in the shop— the Brit genuinely asked, “Do you think I should change?” His heterochromatic eyes looked up at the tall male.
“I mean, you look great right now— I wouldn’t mind if you just continued wearing that, though then again I don’t know a whole lot about formal fashion.” Katorasu chuckled a bit, taking a look outside the window from afar.
With another smile creeping up on Jamie’s lips, he chuckled as well before stating, “Yet somehow you picked a decent outfit without my help, or did you actually learn something from watching me work?”
Widely grinning, Katorasu shrugged playfully, “Maybe, who knows? I probably have a hidden neck for it!” He began to snicker, having fun with giving Jamie a friendly hard time.
For the rest of the day, the pair spent their time either making jokes at each other’s expense or just finding random things to talk about— all of that was done in between customers coming in and out of the shop. From an outside perspective, it was as if there was a strong bond between the two males, one that looked impossible to have happened in the first place. Their personalities were so distinct from one another, it was amazing how they were able to act as the best of friends; in all honesty, it looked like there was also the possibility of Katorasu and Jamie becoming far closer than that.
However, just as with all possibilities, it would require a leap of faith to see things through, something that Jamie wasn’t too sure about doing but he knew he had to. He just had to have an answer from the black hedgehog, no matter what that answer could be. If things went right for him though, the result could all be worth it, as he smiled softly at the vigilante who was having fun just chatting.
