⤿ a 1950s romance with nanami kento
c/n: 1950-60s au, old-fashioned nanami, slow burn, strangers to lovers, fluffy lime?, tension, gentleman kento, chivalry is alive, sloppy pacing
in the dim velvet-lined jazz club, the background emitted a low timely chatter. pulses of rich profound laughter seethed from corners of leather booths battling the frequent clinking of crystal.
it was yet another melancholic thursday. a few dozen crammed into the jazz club to either dance and drink the night away or seek a forever person.
for the impeccably tailored, kento nanami, he had never stepped foot in that club with the hopes of courting a fine lady. the bartenders were on first name basis, sliding the tobacco-essensed man a smoky whiskey as he took his rightful spot in a booth not too far and not too close from the evening jazz band. the bothersome tapping of typewriters all day long had only curated a hunger deep down that could only be saturated with the well-deserved burn of neat scotch.
to say drinking was a leisurely pastime for him would be an understatement. with the experience he harboured over years, it could be classed a hobby of his.
on the other side of the smoke-filled establishment, you were trying very hard to look like you belonged. you smoothed down the front of your polka swing dress while your tensed eyes hovered over the sea of business-men, clinging wives and the soul-filled jazz band.
it was only your second time stepping foot into this club, and frankly, you were still questioning your blind judgement.
"a lovely lady like you needs to expand her social horizons," your mansplaining employers voice echoed in your mind. you really shouldn't have followed through on his advice so foolishly. there was a nonsensical need to prove to the man and yourself that you could handle the city's nightlife. but dear, did you miscalculate your brittle character.
because now all your silk-clad figure felt was an unshakable anxiety that your lipstick was too red, hair too put-together, pearl necklace too boastful. you had put on your finest white cotton gloves, slipped into your 'special-occasion' kitten heels that clacked ever so femininely on the glazed hardwood. you tried hard to dismiss the gaze of jealous women and tipsy men.
you hadn't even allowed the curling wave of joyous dancing to near those pigeon-pointed feet before you decided this was not your crowd.
you turned toward the amber lit exit, completely convinced this was a mistake, until your eyes unwittingly snagged upon dark, burnt sienna eyes from a corner booth.
he was flawlessly attired, silvered pinstripe suit moulded to his broad shoulders, ruby patterned tie still laid seamlessly down his navel despite the setting. golden brow-line glasses glinting from the low humming light above.
his gaze did not helm past you nor through you. he was looking plainly and possibly shamelessly right at you.
taking in dragging across the crimson swipe upon your lips, oh how it caught his throat harder than the first swig of the night, the flawlessness of your up-do, someone who took true pride in their appearance, the lacing cream orbs upon your bare neck, only fit for a lady who belonged with such pirate treasure.
suddenly, all the noise in your head seemed to fade into the purr of instruments behind you.
your crippling jitter was clear in how your gloves bunched between the crevices of your fingers in a fidget. to him, you simply took the image of a beautiful bird deciding whether or not to fly off in adorable fright.
eventually, like the gentlemen he so rightfully carried himself as, he had approached you with a definite ease. he couldn't help but open the conversation with a smirk-tugged chuckle.
"good evening." his voice cut through the low hum of the saxophone in deep baritone. he had stopped a respectable distance from you, close enough to shield you from the bustled promenade of whipped couples on the dance floor.
"forgive my intrusion but i don't think i've seen you around here before," eyes dropping shy of your enthralling lips. "is this your first time?"
you swallowed against the heat in your throat. "no," you murmured, offering a fitting tentative smile. "it's my second."
a faint, almost imperceptibly shadow of a smile grazed the corners of his mouth.
"thought so... i certainly would have remembered you. it's a shame we only met on your second time."
"tell me then," he gestured toward the club as a whole with a stern motion. "what are your impressions of the club so far?"
"i-i like it. it's beautiful."
his brows raised subtly seeing through your cover in pitying amusement. "then may i suggest soaking in the beauty somewhere more comforting than the draft by the door. what do you say?" he perked his arm out, insinuating your hold, which you gracefully took weaving your graceful arm through the loop of his.
as he led you toward his booth there was an undeniable ease seeping to your heart, a good feeling your evening was not going to waste.
he waited for you to sit down first before sliding onto the leather, hands resuming the hold on his crystal beaker.
under the new light, and significantly calmer nerves, you were able to take in the visual of the gentle giant opposite. the structured severe line upon his cheekbone resembling him to something of a marble statue. those tortoise wire-rimmed glasses, shielding how his wheat eyes were pinched at the slender narrow of his eyelids forcing a natural yet unintentional piercing look.
“you know…” he murmured, octave dragging to a velvety tone. “a woman usually applies a lip of that shade for one of two reasons.”
your lips delicately coiled as his eyes grasped the topic as an invitation to soak them in yet again. “oh? and what reasons are those… mr…?
“nanami. but i’d prefer if you call me kento tonight.” he leaned back onto the cushioned booth before continuing. “first reason being she is dressing up for a date. second reason, she is scheming to disarm a man for said date, miss…?”
checking availability. smooth.
“l/n. y/n.” a new, slower song began to emit from the stage. “and what if she just wanted to doll herself up?” you leaned forward, elbow propped and head dawdling in your palm in a tilt.
“then i would succumb to the same dumbfound i felt from seeing you standing alone with no gentleman at your side.” you weren’t sure if he was anxious from the way he took yet another swill of his beverage but your heart definitely fluttered from the deliberate eye contact he held when his jaw tilted up.
a soft laugh pillowed from your rouge lips, a sound that seemed to make his rigid face somewhat thaw.
"no..." your chuckle dissipated before crossing his gaze again. "i'm afraid my reasons for being here are far from romantic."
you explained the 'eccentric' nature of your employer, how you came to 'broaden your social horizons' only to be defeated by a bad case of heebie-jeebies he so embarrassingly witnessed. throughout your explanation, he had stripped of his glasses leaving his stare completely bare. you'd be lying if your cheeks were not beginning to match the shade on your lips.
two hours later of informalities, gin and generous amounts of eye contact, the initial awkwardness of sitting opposite a towering stranger had more or less dissipated.
"the club has gotten rather rowdy hasn't it, y/n?" he glances over to the messy dance floor allowing you to take in the allurement of his jaw. "what do you say we get out of here?"
the once quiet jazz was beginning to turn to a bustling weekend crush. the few drinks in your system was sufficient to dismiss the brute of his proposition.
"i think that is the most sensible thing you've said all evening, kento."
the rain outside had transformed to a gentle peppering drizzle as if submitting to the fallacy of your evening. the crisp midnight air was a stark difference to the tobacco-infused air you had been laughing into all evening.
"which way, my dear?" he asked, a hand hovering behind the small of your back as you straightened yourself up for the biting cold. "i intend to see you safely to your doorstep."
and so he did. the umbrella slightly favoured on your shelter a natural testament to his chivalry. every step felt exciting, the shared patter of hearts mimicking the steady beat of the fading music behind you both. and when the wind picked up, his pinstripe suit jacket was draped across your bare shoulders.
how you wished you could thank your employer.
before long, you had reached the stone stoop of your apartment building. your bodies had swivelled to face each other in a slight reluctance hanging in the air from the inevitable send off.
his parted blonde hair had erupted with stray damp hairs from the delicate drizzle but you weren't sure if anything could taint his image. you might as well have had cartoon hearts beating from your eyes from how endeared you felt to this man, undoubtedly a by-product from your gin, the cheeky nips at his scotch and the way his 6-foot figure had been towering over yours.
"thank you for spending this evening with me, y/n." he hummed, his words low for only your ears to hear. "to say i am glad i caught you at the door would be an understatement."
without his glasses resting on his face, every word that dripped from his lips carried a certain intensity welcoming the familiar nervousness of before.
yet, a breathless smile still stretched the scarlet prize nanami had been awing on all night. "the pleasure is mine. i can't recall the last time i truly enjoyed a night out like this. it was unforgettable, i thank you for that."
an amused rumble emitted from his chest at your wit and compliment, replying with something of similar humour. the way he had chased your bubbled laughter in the booth could honestly be compared to the way a turkey would be fattened before thanksgiving, reaping the enhanced taste when the time came. only for him, your glee was the very thing he spent all evening sowing, each chuckle making the inevitable prize of your crimson lips much sweeter to claim.
the conversation trailed into a heavy silence but his body immediately began to speak for himself.
his large hand came up to graze the under of your chin, coaxing your gaze up in dragging admiration. a thumb lay apprehensively by the corner of your mouth only adopting a stroking motion once your eyes mirrored the same rousing glimmer in his.
he began to lean down closer, his broad stature blocking the light of the streetlight above as if totally engulfing you to his proximity. your heart hammered a frantic rhythm whilst his shadow enveloped you.
he paused. just a mere breath away from your pining lips.
those terra-cotta eyes were fixed entirely on yours, his hot uneven breath fanning across your warm face. he hovered above your lips in anticipation, waiting for you to prove the mutual desperation of feeling each others lips.
you didn't keep him waiting.
it was when you tilted your chin up, slotting your lower lip between his did his pupils bloom in pure infatuation.
a low ragged growl broke in his throat, overjoyed to be free of the tease, as he claimed your mouth in one of those deep, body-curling kisses. it was a desperate release of all the static from the enamour that had been building since he first laid eyes on you.
his grip on your jaw tightened, arms slithering across your waist to pull you flush against his solid body as your hands draped around his firm neck. with a muffled grunt, he lifted you up in ease, earning a squeak, leaving your heels floating above the stone momentarily. the kiss continued unbroken.
he drank your kiss like a starving man. for the five years he was a regular at the jazz club, he had never tasted something so truly intoxicating. he himself tasted like the strong scotch he'd been sipping on along with the sweet nectar of his own saliva you so eagerly ate. your hands raked through the back of his head trying to push him deeper into the kiss as the world outside the stoop completely melted away.
you were completely breathless. every time you attempted to catch a breath, his sultry lips mercilessly chased yours, crashing back into the sensual embrace. you held no protest.
when he finally pulled away from the kiss, he didn't stray far. his cold forehead grew warm from yours as he huffed gently upon your now ruined messy lipstick.
"unforgettable, indeed." he whispered, eyes filled with a new-found endearment.
he gathered the jacket that had been slipping from your bare shoulders, readjusting them upon your frame.
"keep it, darling." he placed a kiss to the crown of your head. "i assume i'll be seeing you again."
a/n: i know the pacings a bit choppy so sorry for that but i literally can't listen to jazz without thinking of nanami i needed to write this so bad, hope you enjoyed! <3
amandla
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