&& goldtones. inde. sel. priv. Lounge AU for Zenitsu Agatusma sideblog to thunderbreathe. composed by alcohol. on this blog we delve into the thought of how zenitsu would be growing up to become a singer in a local lounge. there will be study's of growing up in a foster home, later being adopted by his foster father. a study in going through bullying for your sexual orientation and how it messes with your psyche. a study in how you make it through those hard times and figure out what you want to do with your life is make people smile with your music.
this blog is also going to be single ship--and zenitsu is a taken man by @burudouka 's inosuke, there will be no other ships for him.
zenitsu is 25 and a lounge singer (obviously) and has been working at a lounge called Peach Pit since he was around 23
his best friend is a bartender named Emi, and she's honestly the reason that zenitsu and inosuke even started talking in the first place. zenitsu doesn't know what he would do without her in his life.
lives in an apartment near Peach Pit with a tabby/maine coon mix named aya (it's honestly how he found Peach Pit, he was just walking around and saw that they were looking for singers and boom ! job!)
has an ex (no name yet--whoops) who has caused a lot of his insecurities and how he will hide himself away from the world at times
also has a stalker who's name is anshin, and boy will he come into play more down the road.
he is gay in this AU, and the first one who he came out to was jigoro(who first fostered him and later adopted him when he was in middle school when his parents couldn't take care of him anymore thanks to them living a party life and gave him up)
jigoro is also a rather famous jockey in his youth, he taught zenitsu how to ride horses and he loves it, but his heart was always on music. going out for the musicals at school, being part of glee club growing up, singing is his passion and will always be!
more---nsfw/mentions of self harm below the cut
when he met inosuke he's still a virgin. his ex had cheated on him because of this and how he wouldn't 'put out'
growing up he was bullied by his classmates for being gay, to the point where he has cut himself. and after he was cheated on he went back to it, though by the time he met inosuke he has been 2 years "sober" from it. ever since he started working at Peach Pit he has finally found where he belongs.
his ex called his scars ugly, told him that he needs to hide them from the world, make sure that he always looked upkept because who would want to look at someone who wasn't beautiful? (we hate a man honestly)
Taking Zenitsu's movements to mean it's okay to get close, Inosuke turns onto his side. He's primarily a back-sleeper, but he doesn't mind the side either, especially when the position means being able to hold his boyfriend. He lets the one hand stay held in Zenitsu's, but puts his other arm over the man's shoulders as he's rolling over. He has to shift a little bit more to make sure he's in a comfortable position, but once settled in properly, he thinks he should be able to stay like this as long as Zenitsu wants.
Between Zenitsu's words and the closeness allowing their bodies' warmth to be shared, he's sure his cheeks are a healthy shade of red right now. "Of course. I couldn't leave you alone on a holiday like this." It's their first Christmas as boyfriends, after all. The thought of having to spend such a day apart would be frightening, if Inosuke even wanted to waste the energy thinking about it. But he doesn't have to do that, so he won't. He'd much rather focus on what they do have. A chance to slumber in each other's arms and wake up together on a new, holiday morning.
He leans his head forward to press a kiss onto his boyfriend's forehead. "Merry Christmas, Zenitsu. Sweet dreams."
there was a light humming sound that left zenitsu's throat when he was pulled in closer to inosuke, he was right when he said that he would be plenty warm tonight in the clothes that he had on. just feeling the warmth that the other had to offer, he would give a smile as he nuzzled his head into the other's chest.
knowing that inosuke wasn't about to leave him alone on this holiday, it made the singer let out a breath of content as he curled up more against the other, not wanting to stray away from him tonight.
and at the kiss upon his forehead, zenitsu would let a yawn sound as he lightly smacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, feeling the drowsiness seep into his body.
"merry christmas, inosuke. i hope you sleep well~" and within moments, the shorter was out like a light.
"I'm sure we would have figured something out." He responds to Zenitsu bringing up the blanket and chairs. "But I'm glad I brought them, if you think they helped." During that talk, he grabs his phone, ignoring the little red notification number for now, so he can call in his own cab before sticking the phone into a pocket.
Hearing Zenitsu's question, he answers, "Well, let's see.." He takes a second to survey everything they have, making a plan to be able to hold it all. He moves the basket, lantern, and chairs off the blanket so he can roll it up, then looks over the pile again. "Yeah, I got it. Just a moment."
He works to put the chairs in their travel bags, slinging them over his back first, both at once. One hand gathers up the blanket and tucks it under the opposite arm, then picks up the lantern to put in the hand of that same arm. With the first hand now still free, he's able to take up the basket too. Perfect. Except for one thing. If only he had a third arm to offer Zenitsu to hold for support. Oh well, he'd just have to let the crutch do its job for tonight. Maybe on their next date, he can escort him more properly.
"Think you can make it up to the road alright?" He asks, glancing at the crutch briefly. "Where did you schedule pickup?"
as he would watch hashi gather everything up in his arms, there would be a thought that went through his mind--boy how he wished he could be picked up like that. but as quickly as it came, zenitsu shook that thought away, trying to get the blush to go along with it.
hearing the question brought him back to the moment, as he nodded his head a bit too quickly.
"yeah, i'll be fine." he said, already starting the trek back to the entrance of the lake, but stopping after a few steps. you have got to calm down, he thought to himself. he's going to think you're weird if you don't.
after a few moments of letting out a breah, he then tilted his head. "just at the entrance. also, are you sure you got everything?" he held out the one hand that he hadn't been using. "i can take something to help lighten your load.." he really did feel bad that hashi was taking everything on his own.
"Hm? Oh, sure." He hadn't really been thinking about the cat at all, so it's probably good Zenitsu remembered to take that into consideration. Tonight was about them, after all, and taking this step to become even closer.
Once the door is closed up behind them, Inosuke starts to move closer to the bed, allowing Zenitsu the moment to get in first, then following after to lie down next to him. He pulls the covers up over his legs, careful not to let the robe get loose from the motion. Lying on his back, he leaves plenty of space between them at first. Then he turns his head to look at Zenitsu and scoots a little bit closer, waiting to see how quickly or how much Zenitsu may or may not want to cuddle right now. Either way, he does let his hand wander to find Zenitsu's once again.
once the door was closed, he just hoped that having it shut for tonight aya wouldn't be scratching on the door and meowing to be let in. he wanted this night to be perfect, after all.
he would slide into the bed, getting comfortable on his side of it--his side, as if thinking that this bed wasn't just his anymore, it would once again bring warmth to his heart as he felt the bed move a bit when inosuke followed along after him. there would be more than the warmth of his heart now, the warmth upon his face as well as the warmth he felt from inosuke's body.
zenitsu was glad he wasn't going to be sleeping alone tonight.
for now he would turn his whole body the moment that inosuke scooted closer to him on the mattress. he began to move closer himself, wanting to be wrapped up in those arms of his boyfriend's more than anything right now.
and when he felt inosuke's hand reach out for his own, there would be a smile as he grabbed it with both of his hands, bringing it up to his lips to give it a kiss.
"thank you, for everything you've done for me today. this really has been the best christmas i've had in a long time."
As much as Inosuke would love to stay out here all night, on the whole, that doesn't seem like it'd be a great idea. They both have things to do tomorrow, and this is still only a first date. It has to end sometime in order for them to have their second date, and perhaps, if he's lucky, a third. Still, he shoots a slightly apologetic glance towards the other man while he nods to indicate packing up might be good.
He lets Zenitsu get his cab ordered first, wanting to ensure that Zenitsu's would come to pick him up before Inosuke's arrived. He wants to be able to send Zenitsu off, to help him get his stuff into the car instead of leaving him to do it all by himself again. While he waits, he scans the area to see who else is still out. He can see one other couple off in the distance, and maybe another small group even further out, but the majority seem to be gone. Inosuke can't help but wonder what became of that guy who'd been flirting with his date earlier.
After he feels a sufficient amount of time has passed to allow Zenitsu's driver to get a head start getting here, Inosuke reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He'd turned it off for the night, not wanting to be disturbed on this date, and he knows as soon as it's back on, a whole lot is gonna come through all at once. So he sucks in a deep breath and starts it up. Before it's all the way on, however, he sticks it into one of the cupholders on his chair. That way, all the vibrating it's about to do he can ignore while he focuses on getting the picnic basket re-packed with tupperware and any leftovers. After the first couple items, he remembers it'll be easier to do this with some light, so he reaches over to click on the lantern.
"Thanks for bringing all of this." He says, holding up one of the items he's in the process of putting away. "And for your help with the onigiri yesterday." He gives Zenitsu a big smile before going back to getting everything together. "It really made tonight special, being here with you."
once his cab was ordered, he would glance over at hashi as he pulled out his phone. seeing the way that it didn't light up the moment he pulled it out--did he shut it off just for their date? there was something inside of him that fluttered because of that thought. that this date was that important to the other man that he would turn his phone off for it when all he had to have done was turn it on silent.
he wanted so badly in this moment to take hold of the other's hand just to say how appreciative he was for that gesture, but seeing as though hashi would probably need both hands to order himself a cab--it would let that go. instead his eyes took in the lake around them, seeing the way that the moon shined upon the water as it's waves were ruffling through, it really was a perfect night.
his sights turned back to hashi as he got up off his chair and started to pack a few things up after turning on the lantern. a smile forming as he nodded his head at the gratitude that the taller gave.
"don't worry about it, i would help packing up myself, but.." he shook his leg. he really did feel bad about having the other clean up. that and the thought of getting everything back up into his apartment when he did get back home.
at least it wouldn't be as heavy anymore.
hearing that hashi felt tonight was special because of everything he had brought, he started to scratch at his cheek with a light laugh.
"i should be thanking you, if you didn't buy the chairs and blanket i don't think we'd have as nice of a time." not with the way that the bugs would be nipping at their skin.
he'd glance back at his phone, seeing that his cab would arrive in ten minutes he started to push off from his seat, grabbing his crutch as he did so.
"my cab should be here soon though, you got everything?"
He can't help but watch Zenitsu while he's washing his face, though it's partly because there's not much else to look at in the bathroom. "No, no... you're fine," he tries to reassure Zenitsu he doesn't mind. He wonders for a moment if maybe he should just go on ahead, give Zenitsu the time and space to do whatever he needs to, but he's not actually sure he should be going off and getting into bed first. He doesn't know if Zenitsu has a preferred side to sleep on, after all. And he'd rather avoid any unnecessary awkwardness or discomfort from accidentally taking the wrong side.
The feeling of their hands intertwining has his heart skipping beats. He's really staying over at Zenitsu's house tonight! Not only that, but they'll be sharing a bed for the first time. Inosuke can't help but feel a bit giddy over the whole thing. A bit like... well, a bit like a child on Christmas. Only, instead of a child, he's a 6-plus-foot tall man in a fluffy purple robe. But the excitement is there nonetheless.
His hand holds just a bit tighter onto Zenitsu's as they head for the bedroom. He hopes he's not being too obvious about the butterflies currently assaulting his stomach. He's doing his absolute best to remain as calm and casual as is possible in this situation.
how long had it been since he had someone sleep with him for a night..it had to have been at least two years, ever since rekka. so zenitsu himself was rather nervous yet excited about the whole situation. getting to sleep with inosuke's warmth beside him, on the eve of christmas no less? holding onto inosuke's hand, there was a smile that formed as he rubbed his thumb against the back of the other's hand.
he couldn't be happier right now as the two of them entered the bedroom. he then thought for a second and stopped at the doorway.
"oh, did you want me to close the door so aya doesn't come in?" he normally kept it open for her since she was the one who snuggled up to him at night, but if inosuke would rather not have an animal in the bed with them--he would understand.
at least for tonight. one day he'd have to get use to it after all.
Inosuke can't help but smile when Zenitsu talks about 'dying to be back on stage'. Especially because it's only been two days. The other man's passion for his work is so endearing, and Inosuke wonders if he'd ever felt that way about his own. He's sure at one point the thrill of fighting had overpowered the strain of.. everything else. But that feels like a distant memory at this point, that kind that makes it seem like it was something that happened to somebody else.
The smile on his face never fades despite his thoughts threatening to take a darker turn. Though he does have to manually push them down to say, "I think it's great you enjoy the stage so much. It's probably what makes you so great up on it. I know I can always feel your energy."
Inosuke doesn't even have time to react to Zenitsu allowing him the option of staying in a darker corner of the lounge. The sensation of lips pressing against his cheek makes his heart race and his face change color like it's trying to glow red in the dark of the night. With less starlight, it really has become much darker. He'd be considering turning their lantern back on if it didn't mean that his flushed face would be more obvious.
He ends up making how he feels in the moment obvious anyways, as a hand subconsciously raises to touch just under where Zenitsu had kissed him. Once more, his mind is racing with thoughts of how he's on a date. A real date with a man he'd been watching from afar for so long. How could any of this be happening?
"How late were you wanting to stay out?" He finds himself asking. Not out of desire to leave, but thinking that if Zenitsu has a show tomorrow, he might need to rest properly.
he had been told time and time again by not only patrons, but family and friends as well, just how well he lights up a stage when he was on it. that the atmosphere changes whenever he takes in that spotlight. but hearing it come from hashi's mouth, it was something else. he felt his heart racing in his own chest because of the kind words that the other spoke, causing his cheeks to flush a deep red himself.
he too was thankful for the darker skies above as he moved a little in his seat just to get out a little bit of nervous energy inside of him.
"there's just something about being able to be on that stage, seeing all those eyes up at you and you get to bring joy to them for just a little while," he smiled thoughtfully, not realizing that the kiss that he gave hashi upon his cheek effected him so. however, he would glance over to watch his hand raise up to press against the cheek and zenitsu's smile never faltered. to think that such a simple cheek kiss would grant such a reaction from the other.
this night was one he would remember for months to come, if not years.
and then the question.
it made zenitsu look up at the stars and see that they had began to stop falling from the sky. there was a light frown that formed on his face, wishing that they had stayed around just a little bit longer. but if hashi was asking something like that--
"we don't have to stay out much longer if you'd rather start packing up," he said as he began to move to get his phone out, seeing that the time was just about midnight anyway. "i'll have to get a cab, and i'm sure you do as well..so it might be smart to get going on that." with them being so far out of the city's limits, it could take a while for the cabs to get here anyway.
he really didn't want this night to end, but he knew it would have happened eventually as he was already starting to order himself a cab to get home.
Inosuke nods at the reassurance that Zenitsu will be warm enough in the tank top and shorts. There is still a little residual concern, but they can deal with that once they're actually in bed. Perhaps, if it's cold, they can just grab an extra blanket for him. Inosuke makes a note to monitor for any shivering from the other.
Taking the toothbrush that is offered, he says a quick "thank you," then starts to brush. He looks at the pair of them in the mirror, which confirms his suspicions that fluffy robe next to tank top is a jarring contrast, especially when it's the tall, built one in the fluff. Not that he minds it, as long as Zenitsu's comfortable and he's not sleeping in his day clothes.
He lets Zenitsu finish brushing and rinsing before he goes ahead and does the same himself. All freshened up and ready for bed, he stretches both arms up above his head. He often does a more full stretching routine before going to sleep but he's far too exhausted for that today. Or maybe he's just in a hurry to have Zenitsu in his arms for the night. Both are entirely possible.
"I'm all ready to get some sleep if you are," he says, letting a hand reach over for Zenitsu's.
once finished brushing his teeth, he knew that it wasn't the only thing he would do in this bathroom.
his own nightly routine to get ready for bed would be a bit more in the beauty department, he would open up the medicine cabinet that was behind the mirror while inosuke brushed his own teeth. there would be many different products in there from face wash, to face masks and everything in between. for now he would pull out a bottle that was his nightly facial wash and grab himself a hand towel--knowing he was going to need it.
he wasn't sure if it was too much, but he didn't stay pimple free without some work. keeping the faucet running he leaned over to splash his face to wet it down, and began to lather some of the soap onto his hands. within moments he was starting to wash his face from all the sweat and gunk that he had accumulated during his time on stage. that and the bit of makeup he had on his face as well began to wash away.
once more splashing the water upon his face, doing his best not to get any on his boyfriend whilst doing so, he took the towel and patted his face dry.
"sorry if i'm holding you up," he would say with a nervous chuckle as he set the towel down for now to glance down at inosuke reaching out for his hand. there was a soft smile on his face because of it.
if inosuke was ready to get some sleep, he would forego the rest of his nightly routine just this once.
"yeah," he nodded his head, taking the other's hand in his own, giving it a light squeeze. "let's get some sleep." he voiced as he began to lead the other towards the bedroom, turning off the light to the bathroom.
"Cuz you're the one she doesn't know." Masaru chimes in, with a slightly mischievous grin. "We're regulars here, after all." He pauses for a moment, letting his grin get larger, then adds, "or maybe she thinks you're cute." There should be just enough of a teasing tone to his voice to make it clear he's at least mostly joking. Returning to his normal speaking voice, he goes on, "I didn't think she had a shift today, though, so I'm kinda surprised to see her."
Inosuke opens his mouth to add an additional, and rather critical, clarification, but gets cut off by the reappearance of Sana at their tableside.
"Okay, here we go!" Sana starts setting each plate down, naming each cut as she does so the meats can all be told apart from each other. "Aaaaaand~" She does a little spin, producing an unordered plate of rangoons seemingly out of nowhere. "Ta-da~ I snuck some out of the kitchen for you guys!" she says with a wink to the table.
Masaru doesn't hesitate even a second before grabbing one from the plate. Popping it in his mouth, he speaks, "Mmm, thanks, but," he swallows the food, "I thought you were off today?"
"I was, but then I heard you n' Ino'd be here. So of course I'd take the extra shift!"
After a long and pointed silence, Masaru narrows his eyes and asks, "Satoshi stood you up again, didn't he?"
Without warning, Sana slides right into the booth next to Masaru, pressing her forehead down on the table inside her arms. "Yeeeeeeeeeeees," she whines, pretend-sobbing for a little bit before she lifts her head up just enough to look at Zenitsu. "Oh, sorry. You're... probably not used to servers doing this, huh?" Stealing Masaru's napkin, the young woman dabs at her eyes, which clearly aren't actually crying, or even teared-up.
when masaru clarified that it was because she didn't know him, that would make sense as to why she'd introduce herself to him and not the other two. however, the teasing that she might think he was cute did get him to chuckle just a bit.
"i hope not, i'd hate to have to tell her that not only am i taken, but i'm gay," he would then go so far as to wrap an arm around inosuke's arm for the time being, but when sana comes back he would quickly take his arm back. just because the two of them are regulars here didn't mean that the woman also knew the situation as much as masaru seemed to. he'd rather not her spill the beans as to what was really going on between him and inosuke.
upon watching masaru and sana interact, it was clear that they new each other fairly well, but he wasn't sure what kind of relationship they had with one another just yet. siblings maybe? by the way that masaru spoke about how she had been stood up by someone, it seemed that was the best guess.
and as she sat down next to the other and whined a bit, he did feel bad for her for getting stood up on a date, he's had those before and they really felt horrible when they happened. though, with her apologizing to him, he shook his head.
"no no, don't worry about it, clearly you guys are pretty familiar with one another," he didn't know this personally, but he figured it was a common occurrence when friends came to another friends work establishment. "sorry that this person stood you up though, i've been there, not a great feeling." he would wait to take a rangoon, feeling as though it wouldn't be respectful even if masaru had done it.
as the line kept on getting closer to the front counter, there was some anticipation that roamed through zenitsu's heart as he would watch people walk by with their pastries in tow. everything looked and smelled so amazing in here he honestly didn't know where to start.
but as he got to the front, and was greeted by the other man, there would be a bright smile on his face.
"thanks, this place really is busy, i'm glad we got a bakery in this side of town," there was a coffee shop that he frequented, but it didn't have nearly the selection of baked goods that this place had. "i'm looking for something chocolatey as well as savory, um, not together of course.." though salty and sweet did seem to go together as well. "i'm looking for--" his eyes then took in the chocolate cake and instantly he knew what he was going to get for inosuke. "i'll take a slice of that cake if i could, and for meeee..."
he'd hum lightly, tapping his finger against his chin until his eyes fell on the sausage roll and he knew what his stomach was craving.
Zenitsu walking out in shorts and the skin-tight tank top makes Inosuke's heart skip a beat. With how cold it's been recently, he hasn't seen so much of Zenitsu's skin all at once in a while. The bare shoulders, the way the top hugs the slender physique, the way the shorts make his legs look even longer than they usually do. Taking it all in has Inosuke's eyes glued to the figure in front of him. He does his best to keep a straight face, but he can't do much about the warmth threatening his face.
Zenitsu's tease pulls him out of it, and he forces his glance towards the couch that was mentioned. Tentatively, it moves back to Zenitsu in time for him to see the gesture to follow. He stands up and moves to get to his boyfriend's side. Walking next to each other, with one in a long fluffy robe and the other in tank top and shorts would probably look silly to an outside observer. Thankfully, none of those exist here—it is only the two of them in the apartment (unless you count the cat, but she probably couldn't care less).
Still, the contrast makes Inosuke wonder. "Are you gonna be warm enough in that?"
he could see inosuke's eyes take him in and in that moment he wondered if he really should have worn something more loose, but knowing how he was when sleeping in clothes, this was the best course of action for him.
while walking down the hallway to his bathroom, he heard inosuke's footfalls to join him and there was a smile on his face. it was silly really, thinking about how just walking next to this man made him happy, knowing that he was his boyfriend and nobody elses, how could he not be smiling right now?
the question did bring him out of his thoughts as he glanced down at the clothes he was wearing and there was a nervous chuckle.
"i'll be alright, i sleep better like this anyway," though that wasn't the complete truth, he would still sleep better like this than with longer clothes on. and the fact that inosuke was going to be sleeping next to him, the added warmth under the sheets would cancel out the cold anyway.
once in the bathroom, he would walk to the vanity and lean down to open the cabinet to grab out an unopened toothbrush and handed it over to inosuke. "here you go." he'd say as he grabbed his own from the cup on the sink and began to brush his own teeth for the night.
"Quite the hard worker, huh?" Inosuke smiles. It is one that appears every bit as convincing as his usual smile— if an observer didn't know the rest of the context of his current situation. But he still does want to express his admiration. Being a teenager and working every night must have required a lot of work ethic. From what Inosuke understands of the 'normal' teenager life, any time not spent on homework is preferably spent in leisure. Doing school and also working on top of it is impressive.
"You must have been busy." He tilts his head. "What was it like? Having school, your clubs, and all that work?"
Inosuke moves a free hand to rest over the one of Zenitsu's that is on his arm. A part of him is torn with thoughts that he should take it off. He doesn't deserve to be getting this comfort. But he can't bring himself to let it go. So he keeps his hand in place, thumb brushing over the back of Zenitsu's hand in thoughtful little circles.
"you could call me that," he had gotten to where he was today with his work ethic after all, but with inosuke giving him compliments like that, seeing that smile on his face when he did so, he felt wrong in this situation. he shouldn't be the one who was getting lifted up like this.
but yet it seemed that inosuke wanted to keep asking the questions about his teen years, so he would oblige as he leaned back for a moment, not taking his hand off his boyfriend's arm when inosuke placed his hand over his own.
"it wasn't easy, i'll tell you that much," he started as he glanced down at the now empty cup of matcha. "there were times i wanted to quit the job just so i could spend more time with the friends i did have, but if i wanted to buy things for myself i had to work for them. and so, it gave me more will power i suppose?"
when you're three glasses of wine in because you think your boyfriend is too busy to come over and you miss him, but then he shows up at your apartment, you tend to his shoulder and now you're going to be watching a horror movie with him while enjoying a burger and onion rings that he went out to get for you~
"I think I'm alright for now." Inosuke answers with a soft smile. He tends to prefer to wait on getting his drink. Especially at a place like this where every inch of stomach space is held at a premium. Gotta eat as much meat as he can while he's here. "Maybe in a little bit." He says, letting his leg move so his knee bumps against Zenitsu's. It's the sort of thing he typically does to be able to share a little bit of contact when they're out in public together.
Masaru, who had been looking at something on his phone, sets it down now to look up at the pair across the table. There's so much he wants to ask about Zenitsu, but he doesn't want to bombard him too quickly.
After a little while, a young woman dressed in traditional attire comes trotting up to the table, a large pot in one hand and a tray of drinks in the other. Instead of a typical restaurant server greeting, she just says "Soup's here!" as she sets down the pot and reaches under the table to click on the heating system, then puts the drinks down onto the table.
"Oh!" She exclaims suddenly after tucking the drink tray under and arm. "Hi, I'm Sana." She says directly to Zenitsu, bowing her head. "I'll be back with meats and veggies in just a minute," she says, turning on her toes. Masaru makes a gesture like he wants to say something, but she's already left before anything comes out.
when inosuke says that he doesn't want anything to drink at this moment, zenitsu would just nod his head and let the order go through. once he gets the conformation that the drinks had been placed, he set the phone down.
"alright, drinks are ordered," he said before he felt the pressure of inosuke's knee upon his own and there was a dust of pink upon his freckled features. if masaru knew about them and was okay with them being a couple, then zenitsu had no reason to be afraid to get just a little bit closer to his boyfriend, right? so, he would scooch his body closer to the taller's just so their shoulders could brush up against each other.
just like inosuke, zenitsu needed the physical contact as well.
when he heard the voice exclaiming that soup was on, however, he would turn his head to see the woman with their drinks and a pot that contained the base of the hot pot. his stomach started growling a little as he didn't realize just how hungry he had gotten.
as she introduced herself to him though, and bowing to him and him alone, he would blink a few times.
"oh um..zenitsu," he gave a small bow of his own head towards her before she began to walk off leaving zenitsu to look between inosuke and masaru. "why..did she just address herself to me and not you two as well?"
