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Exposure	By : libek Category: Digimon > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 8494 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon: Digital Monsters, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
DISCLAIMER: See previous parts.

A/N: This was originally the first chapter of this series, and my very first Digimon fanfic. It takes place a year or so after the prologue, when Yamato and Taichi have gotten their first apartment. There's a little bit of lime, although nothing like what you'll be seeing in the conclusion.

Exposure

Part One: Evening

by Libek

It was late. Yagami Taichi crept into his apartment silently, stepping out of one shoe and using his bare foot to close the door, bringing it down on the heel of his other shoe -- all one fluid motion. Skinning out of his wet rain slicker and sliding into fuzzy orange slippers made him feel much better, and then he was home, dripping on the carpet, but home. He hesitated, wondering if he'd been overheard as he shed the outside world in the hallway.
  A jagged shaft of kitchen light caught his attention, being the only sign of intelligent life, and now that he concentrated, Taichi could smell simmering meat. Stew, perhaps? Miserable wet days were best cured by stew. He made his way cautiously into that beam of light, just in case he hadn't been given away yet, and peeked around the corner into the kitchen.
  He smiled. Yamato looked so natural working the pots on the far side of the room, dignity somehow unaffected by the teddy bear apron he'd been given last December. Taichi shook his head, mystified: with his slanted blue eyes, delicate complexion, and pouty lips, the blond was often mistaken for a girl -- and yet, though he gave every impression of disliking this, Yamato did nothing to discourage it. His clothes, his hair, and every unconscious little gesture seemed like another argument in favor of femininity. As if to agree, his beloved chose that moment to run the fingers of one hand lingeringly through his gradually lengthening blond hair.
  Taichi considered announcing his presence, and then shook off the formality. After all, he hadn't maintained careful silence in order to surprise the other boy. He crept up behind him, and hovered expectantly, half waiting to be discovered, half glibly searching for an opening.
  Yamato bent over to examine whatever it was he had going in the oven. Perfect.
  "Ack!" the blond shrieked, jerking upright and coloring beautifully.
  "Didja miss me?" Taichi asked him, head on his shoulder, eyes twinkling.
  The Keeper of Friendship raised a baleful eyebrow. "Taichi-kun, what exactly have I told you about doing that when I'm in the middle of something?"
  "That I shouldn't," the brunet responded smugly. "But Yama! I haven't seen you all day, and the first thing you do is bend over in front of me."
  "Show a little restraint."
  "Where's the fun in that?" He gave the other boy a little squeeze, and watched as the earlier blush brought out reinforcements. "You've been working out, haven't you?"
  "No..." Yamato gazed intently down into the bubbling gravy, his voice thick.
  Taichi laughed softly, much to the blond's chagrin. "You're far too pretty for your own good. What's for dinner?"
  "I..." Blue eyes flickered uncertainly from pot to pot, as though suddenly unable to remember. "Potatoes, rice, fish," he indicated the oven, "and assorted pickled vegetables. I could have made a salad, but the lettuce wasn't...what are you doing?"
  Taichi smiled at the nervousness and the way his roommate's voice jumped an octave. He liked how Yamato felt in his arms, the boy's slender body trembling perceptibly at every display of affection. The one currently bothering him involved little wet kisses down the back of his neck. The telltale shiver went through him, and Taichi withdrew with a final, lingering suck on the blond's jawbone. Just long enough to leave a mark he'd have trouble explaining at practice the next day. Just long enough.
  Yamato made a choking noise and blushed vividly. "Anyway, do you mind?"
  "Mind what?"
  A sigh of exasperation. "The pickled vegetables instead of salad."
  He smirked. "I'm happy with whatever you make, Yama. It's all good."
  "Yeah, well..." The blond didn't like compliments. They just made him uncomfortable. It was something that Taichi had learned over time, and something that he staunchly ignored. Yamato had had an impersonal family, not counting Takeru, and that was unfortunate, but with gentle and firm repetition, he could be certainly be broken. Just poke the weak spot in his ice wall often enough, and it'll spider vein into thousands of tiny cracks, eventually shattering.
  Grinning at his own resolve, Taichi leaned back against the counter, content for the moment to watch the slow play of his beloved's talent, endlessly amazed at how many dishes he could keep going at once without burning anything. "When did you get home?"
  "Oh..." Yamato trailed off and blinked at the little clock on the stove. "About an hour ago. Band practice went late, and they would have kept me longer, but I told them I hadn't eaten anything all day and absolutely had to get home for a bite. I think some of them suspect I'm cooking for someone else, though. I know Sekyou does, because when Mavi wanted me to stay, he said, 'Oh, I'm sure he's got his reasons. Don't you, Yama-kun?' with this patronizing smile on his face." He shook his head, and the mass of pretty yellow hair brushed his shoulders with a little swish-swish sound. Taichi loved the way it did that. "What about you? Anything unusual happen today?"
  "Nothing much. That temp tried to hit on me again, and I finally got up the nerve to tell her I was taken." He laughed at the other boy's panicked expression. "Oh, don't worry. I didn't say by whom. I know you've got your precious image to uphold." He snorted derisively. Someday, he thought, I'll kiss you on stage, and the groupies can sort it out for themselves. It was a lovely fantasy, however unrealistic, and he let it play a second time before continuing. "But I ran into Sora."
  "Oh?" The other boy froze up completely for an instant, and when he went on with his work, the movement of his hands was a little too jerky to be convincing. "What did she want?"
  Taichi frowned slightly at the reaction. "She was relieved to see me. Mimi-chan's planning a reunion, and neither of them had a current address. I gave her my phone number so they'd be able to contact us with further information...you know, like time and place?" He paused. The blond had given up any pretense of cooking, both hands clenched into tight fists. "What did you want me to say to her? Don't you want to see the others again?"
  Visibly, Yamato forced himself to relax. "I'm sorry. Yes, of course I do. It's just..."
  "We're only friends, Yama."
  "You went out with her for over a year!"
  The brunet had been waiting for this argument. It was Yamato's favorite protest, and always came up at least once. He had tried many responses over the years, from vehemently denying it to shrugging it off, and none of them had really worked. He had gone out with Sora, and of course it had been because he liked her. They both knew that much, and trying to pretend it hadn't happened wasn't getting either of them anywhere. Besides, denial made Yamato suspicious, and then jealous, and then irritable for a week at least. Ridiculously enough, the first of these squabbles had almost torn them apart for good. It was an unresolved issue, as Taichi didn't really consider it important enough for a long debate. But today, having finally realized that the more he insisted they not argue about it, the more they argued about it, he took a deep breath and addressed the matter honestly.
  "Yes, Yama, we did date. Did, as in past-tense. I don't see that it matters, but obviously it bothers you, and I haven't been responding very well. We did date. We were only friends, Yama-chan," the blond stiffened to indicate that, during this conversation, he would prefer not to hear any pet-names, "but the Digital World changed us. It changed everyone, you can't deny that. We all became so close, whether we liked it or not." He laughed quietly, remembered 'disagreements' sifting in through his mind and then out again like white sand.
  Yamato smiled at him, wearily. "I remember."
  "Well, survival situations have a way of messing up relationships, and I nearly lost her so many times...she nearly lost me...that when we got back, when we tried to settle into our normal lives again, we just...couldn't." Taichi took a deep breath. "And I went out with Sora because I needed one of the gang. I needed to hold onto one of the people I'd been protecting all this time. And I thought it had to be her."
  The blond shifted uneasily.
  "But I was wrong. We both were." He shrugged, without inflection. "I wanted something to protect more than I wanted a girlfriend, and that wasn't good for either of us. She started getting uncomfortable, and so did I, frankly. It was like...like dating Hikari. Lots of fun when we're going to the movies and hanging out and studying together...awkward when we try to kiss. It was just too weird...on all accounts. So, we broke up." He caught the other boy's blue eyes, smiling with slow deliberation. "And we got together. She's the past, Yama. You're the present. And," the brunet added, crossing the room smoothly to wrap both arms around his fragile roommate, "the future, if I have any say in the matter. I love you."
  Yamato squirmed a little in his grasp, flushed and mortally embarrassed, but smiling now with crinkled eyes. He had spent an entire year hating Takenouchi Sora with all his might, being jealous of her over something he hadn't even realized he wanted, and old habits were hard to break. But Taichi was being very helpful. "I love you, too."
  "I'm glad. Now, what time is Sekyou expecting you back?"
  The other boy blinked with a burst of mental arithmetic and responded, "Ten. Not for another hour or so."
  "Only an hour?" Taichi whined, crestfallen. "That's not nearly enough time!"
  Yamato frowned slightly. "What do you mean? You're not exactly a slow eater..."
  Brown eyes glittered in amusement. "I wasn't talking about eating, Yama. That's something I can do perfectly well with on my own." He pressed his body into the blond's with precision, and grinned delightedly at the fresh burst of color.
  "Pervert."
  "And proud of it," Taichi agreed pleasantly, attacking his beloved's unprotected neck with teeth and tongue, easing him back against the stove until he squeaked.
  "T - Taichi, I --"
  The brunet smugly overpowered his beloved, trapping him between the rice and the potatoes. If he so much as moved, Yamato would end up sporting a painful burn, and they both knew it. But as long as he kept still, the position was safe enough, so Taichi used this setting to his advantage and slipped his fingers under the blond's thighs, lifting him into the air with expertise born of long and thorough practice. They stayed like that for a while, nose to nose, Yamato trembling with the effort of remaining perfectly motionless.
  "N - nee, Taichi-kun," he began slowly and carefully, "the fish's going to burn..."
  "Let it. We can always buy more fish."
  "But --"
  Taichi hushed him effectively with a probing kiss, and whispered pointedly, "Admit it, Ishida. I've got you this time."
  Yamato looked briefly indignant, then sighed. "I suppose you do. Will you let me up now?"
  "Not a chance. Nothing comes free in this life, sweets. If you want up, you're going to have to make it worth my while."
  A blink. "And how would I go about doing that?"
  He laughed. "Are you really that innocent, Kitten?"
  "No, I..." The blond looked down in embarrassment. "I can think of one or two ways I could make this 'worth your while' -- the only problem is, I can't see myself doing either of them in this position."
  Taichi grinned. "I can think of some things we could do in this position."
  "I bet you can, you being so wonderfully dirty-minded and all, but I'm saying I can't. And..." he winked flirtatiously, long dark lashes fluttering against his cheek, "...to make a proper display of gratitude would take more than the hour we have. So, how about I promise you something later? Right after I get home from band practice?"
  The brunet wrinkled his nose distastefully. "I'll be asleep."
  Yamato leaned forward and whispered something breathily against his earlobe, tongue flickering out every so often for emphasis. By the time he'd finished, Taichi had a silly little grin on his face and his eyes were a bit glazed over. Snapping out of it and nodding in a business-ike manner, he bustled, "Well, that seems about right, then, if that's the best you can do. Wrap your arms around my neck." He pulled the slighter boy easily away from the oven and set him down in the center of the kitchen floor.
  Yamato made a prissy little curtsey, bowing his head, and said, "Thank you, kind sir. Now, if I may return to my duties as your wife and homemaker?"
  Taichi snickered. "As long as you don't neglect your duties as my partner and boy-toy."
  He was rewarded with an unnecessarily painful elbow in the gut and stumbled into the living room, clutching his injured stomach.
  An orange tabby kitten had already claimed his customary chair. Not to be deterred, he scooped her up and set her back down again in his lap before she had time to process the motion. He set about stroking her soft underbelly, and she decided to put up with it. Taichi had missed Miko heartily after moving out, but hadn't thought anyone else knew. When Hikari approached him with one of her kittens, he'd been hit upside the head with his little sister's marvelous intuitive ability. Teishi purred contentedly in his lap, lifting her little head to give him better access and indicating in that pushy cat way that she would like her chin scratched. He complied willingly enough, whispering to her, "You remind me a lot of Yama, sometimes, you know that?"
  "She hasn't been in the hair gel again, has she?" the blond asked worriedly from the living room's fringe. He was managing the four separate dishes very nicely. "I try so hard to keep it up out of her reach, but this morning I was a little rushed, and --"
  "Oh, no, that's not it at all," Taichi interrupted hastily.
  Yamato blinked as he set the food down on the table. "Then what were you talking about?"
  "She was purring."
  A plate went clattering to the floor, an expression of scandalized disbelief marking the slender boy's features. He looked down at the spilled rice belatedly, and knelt to retrieve it, muttering incoherently about hentai bakas and the trouble they caused.
  "Let me help you with that," Taichi began insistently, his sudden movements displacing the kitten. "You took out a new roll of paper towels, right?"
  "Aha! So you confess. I really wish you wouldn't use up things without replacing them."
  "Hey, better than always leaving the toilet seat up, right?"
  Yamato declined to comment, but his expression was warning enough.
  "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I'll be good from now on." Taichi ducked into the kitchen, seized the mentioned roll of paper towels, and ducked back out again. "How much spilled?"
  "About a third. Oh, Taichi, I'm so sorry."
  "Don't be." He beamed sunnily at his beloved. "You can't help being touchy."
  Any trace of apology vanished at that comment, which was the exact effect intended. It really hadn't been his fault, but if not snapped out of self-deprecation quickly, Yamato could sulk for hours. He was touchy, and a bit moody, but those were the exact qualities that had first attracted Yagami Taichi, the exact qualities that still attracted him. He wouldn't have had the boy any other way. No, wait...actually, he would have and had had Yamato several other ways. On the couch, in the stairwell, in the park, in the movie theater... Ah, the bittersweet memories.
  "Earth to Taichi...come in Taichi, do you read me?"
  He blinked. "Sorry. Just thinking."
  Yamato smirked wryly. "I'll refrain. But just so long as you know I've got several acidic responses to that statement."
  Taichi rolled his eyes. He picked up Teishi, who was sniffing curiously at the rice-stain on the rug, and brought her close to his face. "You hear that? My own boyfriend. I should have just stayed single. At least you appreciate me."
  "An animal...that should tell you something, Taichi." The blond's eyes were glittering readily.
  "It does. It tells me that I've been far too civil and humane with you, Yama-chan. I must go back to my roots." He tossed Teishi to a gentle landing on the cushion of a chair and pounced his gorgeous startled lover.
  "Taichi!"
  He paid the protest no heed, yanking open Yamato's red silk button-down with a series of agitated pops and forcing it halfway down the blond's arms, restricting his range of motion just enough. He struck the other boy's full lips like a cobra, wrenching his mouth open with a quick thrust and forcing him deeper into the bright blue beanbag they'd been fortunate enough to land on.
  Teishi glanced up in mild interest at the high-pitched noises emanating from her humans but then went back to sleep, contented that neither was in any pain and that she wasn't in any danger.
  "SHIT!" Yamato exclaimed suddenly, sitting bolt upright. "God, I'm gonna be late!" He tried to get to his feet, but the brunet was not obliging. "Come on, Taichi, I mean it! Sekyou'll have my head."
  Taichi grumbled bitterly, running a hand through his hair. "I would have had your head if you'd given me a few more minutes..."
  "I'm sorry, Taichi," his beloved pleaded, "but this is my job. How would you like it if I pulled this kind of stunt at eight o'clock tomorrow morning?"
  The Keeper of Courage cocked an eyebrow. "Honestly?"
  "You are such a pervert." Yamato grunted in frustration. "Alright, never mind. Stupid question. But you'd regret it when you had to face your boss."
  "Maybe I would and maybe I wouldn't," Taichi replied stubbornly.
  "But that isn't the point. The point is that I will regret it if I have to face Sekyou after skipping out on a practice. Come on, this is Thursday, remember? We'll have the whole weekend to ourselves..." Blue eyes met brown hopefully.
  "Fine," Taichi relented, and then grinned, showing his incisors. "But you know that thing you promised me earlier?"
  Yamato blinked and nodded cautiously.
  "Handcuffs and chocolate syrup or no deal."
  "What?!" The blond turned a shade of red that wasn't supposed to exist in nature. The color of cherries in ice-cream commercials. He matched his own shirt. "You...you can't be serious..."
  "I can and I am," the former leader of the Chosen Children affirmed.
  They locked eyes for a moment, a battle of wills, and finally Yamato backed down with only a cursory murmur of, "I'd prefer strawberry..."
  "Well, we could do it twice..."
  His partner paled perceptibly. "We could, but I doubt either of us would ever wake up again. All things in moderation."
  Taichi thought about it for a moment, and reluctantly had to agree. "I suppose you're right...but we'll do it with strawberry syrup next time, all right?"
  "All right. But right now," he was spared a last, lingering kiss, "I've really got to go. See you later?"
  "See you later." He watched, coveting every slight movement, as his best friend and beautiful lover slipped into a heavy coat. He probably should have taken an umbrella, since it was still raining lightly. It had been raining all afternoon. He waved, a little sadly, and his eyes drifted longingly down the blond's trim figure, coming to rest at last on his rear as he bent over again to retrieve his set of keys from the little table by the door.
  "Stop ogling me and get back to dinner. If I find you asleep when I get home, I'm going to be very disappointed."
  Taichi sat up straight, blushing, and got slowly to his feet. He snatched a contentedly sleeping Teishi from her place on the chair and went to wish Yamato a proper farewell. His beloved lifted both hands defensively at his approach.
  "Hey, don't come any closer or I'll never get out the door." He smiled, the expression touching and then settling deeply into blue eyes. "I want you, too, Taichi-kun. But --"
  "I know." The brunet waved airily, wishing he could dismiss the necessity as easily. "Your image. You know," and he strayed closer to peck those inviting lips, "you're far too close to an idol singer for my tastes. Reputations like that were meant to be tarnished..."
  "Uhm..." Yamato choked, blushing again, backed up a step, and then darted out the door before another word could be said. "Later!"
  "Yes, later." Taichi stood there for a moment with the door open, clutching Teishi, who was still disoriented from her interrupted slumber, and smiling fondly after the smear of movement until he could no longer distinguish it from the rest of the gray outlines that endless rain left in tact. "I love you, Ishida Yamato, and I can wait until you're ready for everyone else to know." He laughed, looking down at the now resentful Teishi.
  Isn't that just like a human? Pick you up when they want you, talk to you like you can talk back -- no respect at all. She sulked in his arms. He took a deep misty breath, and then closed the door deftly, on the night and the rain and the world.

To be continued...
- 1
- 2
- 3
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Exposure