orendalogs | Yowamushi Pedal

Entry tags:

Yowamushi Pedal

Who: Reno and Makishima
What: Reno wanders modern Earth and takes a fool chance.
When: Modern times, in the last decade.
Where: England
Warnings: Possible smut, but everyone is of age and consenting.

A fateful night under the mistletoe just a few days after Reno stumbled into the boring-ass world called "Earth" and he ended up with a phone number and a lingering taste in his mouth. He waited a long time to call. Not months, but a couple of weeks, once he learned about the local holidays and realized they were meant for family and close friends, not date with strangers you snogged in bars. Well, depending on your upbringing, anyways, but he figured Makishima for a more quality figure than himself.

So it was that the day after Christmas, Makishima's phone rang and it wasn't someone from Japan or any of his relatives. It was the lazy drawl and accent of the guy from the bar.

"It's uh...it's Reno. Remember? From the party?" he offered up as gently as possible in case Maki didn't have the privacy to talk. Usually Reno didn't think about much, saying whatever he felt like when he felt like it, but the weeks of wandering around (which was actually more than a month for him, being as he went portal jumping in the meanwhile) gave him time to think about how not to screw everything up in the first hour. It was pretty sweet having time to make plans and rev himself up. Plus it meant time to beat the crap out of some punks to rip them off, shuck their wallets and get enough local scratch to take a guy out for a night on the town and not look like a cheap-ass.

Good times.

"Look uh, I know it's been a while but I thought you'd like time with the family and all. But apparently the holiday was done yesterday and I didn't want you to forget me" the Turk laughed, trying not to sound desperate. Fucking hard to do when you were playing out a seen from goddamn Lady and the Tramp. Good thing he'd never seen the movie. Loveless was bad enough.

"That dinner? Uhh...you hungry?"

[ Continued from here ]

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A little distance helped calm the color in Maki's cheeks. He picked up the spare spoon that had been brought with the dessert and took a bite for himself. He figured trying to feed himself was safer if he wanted to avoid anymore blushing incidents for the moment.

The question made him arch an eyebrow as he wondered just what Reno was thinking. He wasn't sure if he should press it or not, but decided against it as they finished off the last of the bread pudding.

"Sure, sho." He nodded, setting down the spoon and gesturing at the waiter for the check.

"I'd ask anyways, but I promised to behave," he remarked, noting the arched eyebrow and shaking his head. The dessert done, Reno waited for the check, left behind way too much money pulled out of his wallet, shrugged off the waiter's attempt to return some, and headed to the exit, waving Maki along.

"You're gonna have to get us there. I don't know head from tails in this place," he remarked offhandedly, thumbing through all the bills in his wallet. Gonna have to turn over a few more punks later and get some more money if he wanted to get a hotel or something after the bike. Gotta have a place to stay, after all.

The generous tip earned another eyebrow raise. Tipping was interestingly enough a very cultural thing. The amount left behind always depended on where a person was from and given how Reno acted Maki didn't think he was from money. Maybe that was why he'd left so much? His job must pay well if he traveled to all those places, so it wasn't a far off bet. He slid his way out of the booth, following closely behind Reno as they exited.

"Yeah, just follow me." He gestured down the street walking at a reasonably fast pace for his long limbs. He wondered again at how easily Reno seemed to look over his cash, but just looking at him suggested that if they were going to get mugged Reno could take care of that too and then some.

"So...what exactly do you do for a job?" It was perhaps a dangerous question.

"Government work," he replied instantly, the response canned and common. He realized it himself, frowning slightly before shrugging and raking a hand through his unruly red mane.

"I report directly to the man who reports directly to our President. Not yours. Mine. We're his bodyguards and his gophers. Whatever he needs. We're the go-to guys. I don't know what the equivalent is where you're from. Where I'm from, we're just called Turks."

"Like the Secret Service..." Maki muttered quietly, thinking in terms of America vs Japan. The name Turk however made Maki wonder if Reno wasn't Russian. He didn't really look Russian but what did he know?

"I guess that's why you can afford to throw around money, sho." He smirked, teasing and not really meaning it to be taken seriously.

It did make sense now why Reno could travel so much. He probably had to follow the president around and what not. Did that mean he was here in England?

"I know what you're thinking, and no, he's not here. I'm off duty. On leave. I'm doing my own thing. Got more days saved up than I can count and I intend to use them in the best ways. As for throwing around money, I mean...all I spend it on is drinking and eating out. Occasionally replacing my uniforms or dry-cleaning, but even my rent is covered by the boss, so I don't really have to worry about how I spend. However, if my spending offends you, I can be more frugal. I just thought hey, fuck it, have a good time. If you're not gonna say yes to a second date, I might as well have as much fun as possible with the first one, right? Always go out with a bang, yo," the redhead went on at length, shooting double thumbs up and adjusting his coat as they stepped out.

"Honestly, maybe I shoulda dressed warmer than this," he added after a moment, frowning up at the sky and shivering a bit. "I'm so used to tropical climes I forget about winter. Maybe I oughta buy a coat, too," he laughed, shrugging everything off, feelings unhurt by his own words or things implicated by Maki's comments.

Maki shook his head. A light snow was starting to fall and the white flakes were settling on Maki's hair really making him look like Christmas. He chuckled lightly at Reno's woeful unpreparedness but he attributed it to his carefree do first and think later attitude. Certainly Maki knew dumber people than that.

"I never said we wouldn't have a second date." He smiled softly. "I don't care if you spend all your money." He shouldn't have been too surprised by it actually. It was kind of like a sailor on leave wasn't it?

"There's a store over there." Maki pointed to a clothing store that looked relatively high end. "You could buy a coat there."

High-end or not, Reno strolled in that direction, staring around at the different items on display in the windows. After a few moments of browsing he turned, thumbing over his shoulder at the mannequins.

"'Ey, yo, you're the fashion guy. Come on, let's go make me look like a million gil, yeah?" he grinned, the phrase 'million bucks' being lost in translation. It wasn't as though Maki couldn't get what was meant.

"Come pick me something that's slick-lookin' but still useful, so when I go back the guys can be all "Ooooh nice coat, Reno, that's way out of your style!" and I can be all HNNN," he flipped double birds at the air. "Eat dicks, yo. I'm too fashion forward for you!"

"Sho!" Maki laughed, shaking his head and following along behind Reno. "You sure you don't want to just tell them your boyfriend picked it out?"

He hadn't been blind to Reno's penchant for boasting. It felt kind of nice to know that someone wanted to show him and his skill in fashion off.

He reached out to take Reno's hand and pulled him into the shop. He looked around at all the coats, going through them with an appraising eye and trying to find one that would look good on Reno. There were plenty of options but in the end he chose a coat that seemed to scream Reno's name. "This one, sho."

Reno followed Makishima around much like an excitable dog, yapping idly at the teen and about things, tugging on clothes and striking poses, making a garish show but not with any intention of being embarrassing as much as having fun. When Maki finally chose a coat, Reno shrugged it on and turned to look into a mirror, swiveling left and right.

"Whaaaaat? He'll yeah, this is a sweet ass coat, yo!" the redhead cheered, spinning around to fire double finger guns.

"I'm gettin' it and you bet your ass I'm gonna tell everyone that my snazzy, stylish-ass boyfriend totally picked it out. Hell yeah."

Makishima grinned. Reno did look good in that coat and the idea that he was picking it for his boyfriend made Makishima even more happy. He wasn't really used to feeling this.

"Ah...how about..." He took Reno's hand and stepped into his arms. "You let me buy it? Think of it as a gift from your boyfriend."

He supposed that answered the question on if there would be a second date or not. It was such a little thing to go out and do something like this, and Reno was loud, and brash, and maybe a little annoying, but there was something about the dumb red-head that Maki liked.

He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to say or do in that moment, stunned to a rare silence as he reflexively tightened his arms around the teen. No one, aside from the other Turks on rare holiday gatherings, had ever bought him a gift. Certainly no prospective or current lovers.

Maki might take it lightly but for Reno it was a much more momentous occasion. His bewilderment didn't stop him from being appreciative, nodding slowly and pressing a kiss to Maki's hair.

"Y-yeah? Well, alright. But you can't take it back now that you said it."

His cheeks flushed pink again. He wished sometimes that he didn't get embarrassed so easily, especially with his pale skin it was near impossible to hide it. He wrapped his arms around Reno and drew him into a hug.

"I won't take it back." At least not right away. Reno still had plenty of time to fuck up, but in the moment Maki had a feeling he wanted to keep seeing him. "I don't want to leave you out in the cold, sho." He smirked, intentionally making it sound like he'd been talking about the coat and not their relationship status.

Reno would, inevitably, fuck it up. That was his MO, and everyone that knew him well knew he'd fail at some point, no matter how hard he tried not to. The point was that he tried, and he attempted to make up for his failings. Maki would learn in time. For the moment, Reno did everything he could to stay on his feet, have a good time and not screw up.

"Good. It's a better fit than I expected," the redhead replied, using Maki's own tactic to talk as much about the coat as about their budding romance. "Come on, let's bounce, yo. I wanna get that bike and see what this is all about."

Of course in order to really practice, he'd have to buy a bike back home as well. Boy, that was gonna get some interesting looks.

He took Reno's hand in his again, walking over to the register, paying for the coat, and getting all the tags removed so they could leave without a fuss. He took Reno's hand in his again as they left, trying for this whole PDA thing and trying to keep from being embarrassed by it. Lucky for him it was cold outside so the flush to his cheeks could easily be mistaken for the effects of the cold.

"It's a few blocks to the shop. Will you be warm enough?" He wondered if maybe they shouldn't have bought Reno a scarf too. He imagined they made quite a bold sight walking down the street, the one with bright red-hair and coat and the other with bright green hair and yellow coat. It really did make Maki happy. He liked making a statement and while this wasn't climbing it was a close second.

"I'll be warm enough, yeah," Reno replied, fingers knitting comfortably with the teen's as he leaned shoulder to shoulder. The closeness was warm enough for him, and he enjoyed the allowance while he had it. So far, so good. He hadn't done anything really stupid like get into a fight with Maki around or say anything really insulting, so bonus.

The walk to the bike shop was largely uneventful, though Reno did pause on occasion to look inside of shop windows or gaze at Christmas lights, a vague flicker of some sad expression dimming the otherwise jovial face briefly until they moved on and he found another distraction. At some point, for whatever reason, he started telling a story about a time his teammates and he were given leave to the beach and played a game of volleyball. He complained briefly about "people from the science department" being there, but didn't go into much detail, only mentioning that they spoiled the afternoon and he was glad to get a better vacation this time around.

"Nothing beats going somewhere you've never been before and meeting someone like a lightning strike. POW! Just magic, man. And to think, I coulda gone to Costa del Sol again. Sure glad I chose chilly winter weather over the sunny beach for once."

For the most part he stayed quiet, letting Reno ramble an interjecting now an again when Reno asked a direct question. It was oddly comfortable. The occasionally sad looks didn't go unnoticed, and Maki wondered just what would have caused it, but he never had the nerve to ask, and by the time he thought of saying anything Reno was moving on to the next new thing. It was that flighty nature that made Makishima think of Reno as a bird. Perhaps a cardinal? He had to wonder if that wasn't a bad omen or not. After all Maki did consider himself to be a spider and where could a spider and a bird ever live happily? Though he supposed it was better than a bird and a fish, but fish couldn't ride bikes.

He squeezed Reno's hand, making a quiet noise of ascent that he too was glad Reno had chosen to come to wintery England rather than some nice warm beach. "Good luck for me, sho." He blushed and looked away, muttering the words rather than saying them outright. Really he was happy about this as silly as it sounded. Reno's description of the whole things wasn't inaccurate. It had been rather like a lightning strike, and Maki still found himself completely blown away by Reno's energy. He wondered if he'd ever get used to it.

Getting used to Reno happened - his teammates handled it well enough - but the patience it took? They had been paid to tolerate the redhead; Maki had no such incentive.

Time would tell.

"You think so?" Reno asked, smiling slowly and arching a brow at the teen, his hearing quite keen enough to catch the muttering. Light eyes flicked over, glancing down at their hands before he shrugged and raised them to his lips, kissing the backs of Maki's knuckles.

"Good luck for me, yo. Good things don't usually happen to guys like me. Ain't in our karma. I bet I'm your bad luck," he chuckled, shoulder bumping Maki lightly before giving him a gentle tug.

"Alright. You ready to help me humiliate myself with my complete lack of biking finesse?"

If there was one thing Reno was good at it was making Makishima blush. His lips were warm on the back of his hand and the gesture made his heart flutter. "S-sho..." He didn't know if he'd consider Reno bad luck, this night and the last time they'd been together had been fun. Surely that was good luck right?

"It's right around here."

They turned the corner, and sure enough there was the bike shop. Being winter and after Christmas the shop was fairly empty except the workers inside, but as they stepped in they recognized Maki and raised hands in greeting.

"Aye! Yusuke!" The man called out, grinning and acting friendly towards him. Maki smiled, happy to be in the store and letting go of Reno's hand to go over and talk to them for awhile before bringing up that they were here for a bike for Reno.

He had the good sense not to pout or be clingy - or just generally wasn't that way anyhow - and let Makishima float off to his people. The surroundings were much less like the vehicle and scrap shops back home and he wondered vaguely if the teen would like Midgar or not. Things to consider, the Turk mused to himself, running his fingertips over a dark wine colored bike. All those long lines, curves and edges, he smiled, blue-green eyes sliding up from a bike frame to the like of Maki's body. Appropriate, the Turk mused. Makishima loved something that was much like him.

entertaining himself but trying to see the differences in what had once been all the same to him, Reno left Makishima to mingling with his friends to focus on pedals and saddles and different frames, racking up a list of questions. why did some have bars here and not there, what were there twice as many gears on these versus those? Was color relevant to grade or just aesthetic choice? What were all the little gadgets in the cases around the shop? Really, though bikes weren't likely to be any kind of real passion for Reno, he did find the reality of the pocket world fascinating. Not but a few short hours ago bikes were bikes - inferior modes of travel that were all one in the same. Skinny metal things that you had to power yourself.

He reminded himself that if he was ever able to tell the full truth and take Maki to Midgar, he wanted to take the man on a motorbike ride across the plains and desert to Kalm and other places. Take him from the upper plates of Midgar...all that hair snapping in the wind...making out in the saddle while they stood on top of the world looking down on the industrial kingdom that was home...

Whenever Maki chanced to look at Reno again he could see the man gripping the handle of a bike he'd leaned again, eyes distant with a vague smile as he daydreamed his perfect date. The little fantasy was rapidly getting inappropriate and the crooked grin on the redhead's face continued to look more lopsided as he nodded to no one in particular, agreeing with the little devil on his shoulder.

It was Reno's luck that Makishima turned at that moment to look back at his now boyfriend. He'd just been saying that they were looking for a bike for Reno and now here he was with a lopsided grin on his face and looking like he'd swallowed the canary.

"Ah, Reno?" He called out, trying to get Reno's attention. "Did you find a bike you liked, sho?" He was lingering next to a bright red road racer that seemed very much like Reno himself -- Flashy.

"Reno?" It was clear in that first moment that he wasn't paying attention to Makishima. The more he stared the more he started to wonder if it was even bikes he was thinking about. Makishima was sure he himself had had that look on his face when picturing certain gravure models. He sighed, the boys behind the counter chuckling at his boyfriends antics. "Reno!"

"WHAT? YEAH? WHAT'S THAT?" Reno jumped and spun around, holding both hands up in a universal gesture of innocence as he cleared his throat.

"I wasn't doin' nothin', honest!" he added unnecessarily, rubbing the back of his head with one hand and waving the other with a nervous laugh.

"Bike though! Yeah! Yeah maybe? I dunno what's good at what's like, whatever. I like the colors though?" he mused, turning to look at the wine-colored bike again before shrugging and pacing over closer to Maki.

"Y~o!" the redhead grinned, flicking a two-fingered salute off one temple at the shop owners. "'Ey, I don't mind runnin' around all over hell and creation on a bike but...you're not like...gonna expect me to win any competitions or anything. Right? Uh...right?"

Idiot.

Makishima laughed, shaking his head and putting his hand up to his forehead in a gesture of exasperation. No way was Reno thinking about bicycles.

"Nah mate, we're not going to have you competing in any races yet." One of the guys from behind the counter spoke up his accent thick. He went around, taking Reno's hand and holding it out to shake. "I'm Josh. If you're Yusuke's new bloke you better take care of him hear? If you don't I'll box your ears off." He smiled good naturedly while Makishima sputtered and blushed much to the amusement of the other attendants.

"Come on!" Josh said, "I'll help you find a bike that fits you and I promise it'll be in red."

"Yet? Yet? Yet?" Reno muttered, eyes flicking back and forth between Josh and Maki. He grumbled some comment under his breath, huffed softly then shrugged it off and reached out, smacking his hand into Josh's and gripping firmly for friendly shake before tugging away, only to bring it back in and thump their knuckles together.

Common thug to the bone, really.

"Yo, I dunno what a bloke is but if it means I'm gonna romance the shit out of this guy," he flung a thumb over his shoulder to indicate Maki, "and make him the happiest guy alive, that's totally on the agenda. My ulterior motives are 'Get bike, ride bike, love what he loves and convince him I'm worth the same consideration'. So 'ey, if that's worth boxing my ears off over, just lemme take my goggles off first. Shit's expensive," the redhead chimed gaily, hanging his tongue out and firing finger guns at the ceiling.

"Shit yeah, red bike. Let's do this. I gotta learn this shit quick before some fancy rider comes squeaking by that looks better than me in a skin-tight uniform. You guys seriously wear those?" he asked, pointing to folded and hanging biking gear.

"Not that anyone would look better in that than me. well, maybe you would," he mused, side-eyeing Maki with a grin and shrug. "But I won't know until I see it."

"Also wait, new bloke? Who's the old bloke? What's my competition? Was it a bad break up? Do you need a hug? Can I bury the other bloke? I'm good at making problems disappear. Better at causing them..."

Oh. My. God.

Makishima covered his face with both hands and looked like he was ready to run into the back or bury himself in a whole right there on the spot. It wasn't helping that the other clerks were laughing their asses off at Reno's antics. None of them took offense to what Reno was saying and they all agreed, silently or otherwise, that someone like Reno was exactly what Makishima needed to help loosen him up.

For the most part Makishima was beginning to regret ever having talked about any of his romantic interests with the guys at the shop. Really it was more like he'd been forced to speak up since they would literally bar the door until he said something. Really they were all just as bad as his friends back in Japan.

"Nah, I don't think he's ever had someone serious, though there is this guy that's always texting him. You'd think Yusuke's phone was playing music all the time with the way it would go off." Josh laughed as he guided Reno around. He knew better than to get Reno into the expensive bikes. The coat he was wearing was definitely high class and pricey, but if he was just starting out as a cyclist there was no point in getting him set up with the best of the best if the desire to learn waned. "I think they were dating at some point."

"Toudou and I were never dating!" Makishima shouted, finally removing his hands and staring indignantly down at Josh and Reno.

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