Transaction

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Author’s Notes: Hey, sorry for such a long break. Some things have gone a bit haywire in life, as usual. Work is going fine, save for some things floating around about me and my sex life. I was waiting for this to come, to be honest. It doesn't bother me in the least, but some of the nastier comments get right under my skin. My fist would like to say hi to those peoples mouths.

I've got a frikken adorable picture of Bugs and Lola Bunny! For those of you not remembering Lola, she was the girl bunny in Space Jam, the movie. It was a birthday request from me. Yes folks, nineteen and still dressing up as cartoon characters. I got to be a girl! Believe it or not, Tweety is a boy, kids. My Bugs that day was awesome, and completely cute. He proposed to me, it got a great reaction from the crowd, we had a blast... and it helped kind of move things forward with some feelings we've been working with.

My older brother will be moving to Florida in May with his now fiancee and her two kids. I like them, so that's not so bad. Watching him struggle with himself is painful. One of our dogs seems to be reaching his last days... A lot of things are just a bit in upset right now. I promise to update more frequently, though. When work picks up, this might be hard to keep, but I'll try.

An update on Kel for you all. Of course, she has school, and a life and things happening in it. Recently, things have been looking up, but to even think of bugging her to get back to work with me seems to be a useless effort. I'm going to put my money on summer. I'm hoping that when summer comes, she'll be up to writing again. Possibly some scattered replies in between, but I doubt that.

Leigh, thank you for the review. It's the first in a long while. And you'll just have to see what happens. Here's your next chapter.

Enjoy!
~~~
Transaction

Chapter Seventy
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He didn't like the choreographer. Kenji decided that early on. He liked her even less when he was stuck there all day. And, even less when he didn't get the time off he was supposed to. Apparently, Taki had put in a call that said he wasn't going to take him away for the afternoon.

They were in pretty bad shape when he wanted to be around Taki instead of this chick.

But, Kenji knew with reinforced certainty just why he was gay.

He didn't like kissing girls very much.

"Haido..." They were collapsed on his couch, Kenji on his back on the cushions and Haido on top of him. He liked laying this way because it was comfortable, and it sort of amused him to think about what it would look like if anyone walked in. Haido was always so warm on top of him, too, and Kenji really liked how his hands pet idly. He thought it might have something to do with the constant movement that his fingers had while he was playing. "I don't like the dance routine we have to do for this concert. I have to kiss some back up dancer."

Female back up dancer. That was even worse.

Haido was glad to have Kenji over. And it was one of those times that he liked being on the short side. Kenji's long body was stretched out under him and he could cuddle up on his side, one hand smoothing over the tight shirt under the usually worn open button down.

He pressed his face into the other man's neck, placing gentle kisses along the slight curve. Haido loved being with Kenji. This close, this comfortable...

What?

Haido stiffened up and relaxed, but it wasn't the same relaxed as before.

"A backup dancer? Why?" he asked, trying to keep a whining note out of his voice.

"Because..." Kenji couldn't ignore the way Haido stiffened on top of him. Haido relaxed, but it wasn't the same. It was too tense to be real relaxation. "That's what the choreographer said while we were practicing today."

And, ew, he'd had to practice the whole routine, since they'd had the entire day. Kenji thought it was really, really gross.

"In the last song, the lyrics are all about coming together, right? So... that's what the dance is going to be about, too." He really wished it wasn't. Kenji thought this choreography thing was stupid.

Really stupid. But, he knew it was better to have something to do onstage instead of nothing at all.

Still... kissing a girl? He'd already been forced into that once today. He didn't want to make it look willing onstage, because it wouldn't be at all!

"Well...," Haido paused, thinking as he pushed himself up so he was balanced on his hands over Kenji. "What about ending it in a hug or something?"

Didn't the artists get any clout over the things they were doing? Maybe if they went and explained how uncomfortable it would be, seeing as they were in a relationship. Would that help?

"Well, Kenji, I'm not comfortable with this," Haido said, hoping he was sounding reasonable. He didn't want to make Kenji's job any harder, but he needed to have his say, too.

Kenji made an uncomfortable face, and shrugged one skinny shoulder. "I don't think I'll be able to get out of it... I mean, I tried today, and she," No question on who the 'she' was. "was pretty adamant about it."

He had to suppress a shudder, because he didn't want to let on about how adamant she'd been. Haido was already edging on upset with him, so he didn't want to make it any worse.

It would be better if he just didn't mention it, right? Not right now at least.

Because he knew he would. He didn't have it in him to keep anything from Haido. He couldn't do it with Keiko, either. But, Haido was the one person he shouldn't have to keep secrets from.

He sort of felt like they'd be better off if he didn't mention this, though.

Haido wasn't happy about this. Any of it. There had to be a way to get out of one stupid kiss. Surely they could call on a small favor from Taki! Maybe Tohma would be okay with it if they could just explain how inappropriate it was to force a couple working together to witness a partner kiss someone else.

Gently, Haido got up off Kenji, sitting between his legs. He was not happy.

"Taki might be willing to help us out, right? We've been doing so well now... maybe he could 'convince' Tohma?" the smaller man suggested, looking at Kenji with hardened eyes.

He didn't like the look Haido was giving him. Kenji didn't like it just as much as he didn't like the choreographer.

Pushing himself up until his knees were bent on either side of Haido and his back was pressed against the arm of the couch, Kenji frowned, giving a sigh.

"Taki wouldn't care. It's his fault I was there all day anyway. Any complaint I give him now is going to sound stupid." And Taki would ignore it, just like every other complaint they'd given.

Kenji felt a little like the boy who'd cried wolf. No one was going to listen now, right?

He didn't want to do the kiss, but he was resigned to his fate. He had to, and he knew it. And, he'd known Haido wouldn't like it. Kenji wasn't comfortable keeping it from him until the concert, though.

Now, he wasn't sure if that hadn't been the lesser of two evils.

Haido's frown deepened as he stared Kenji down. He was angry now. Not just unhappy, but angry. Kenji was acting like his usual self. Couldn't do anything for himself, needed someone else to take control for him. He was acting like a child all over again. He should be able to stand up for something he wanted, or didn't want.

"It's a minor detail, Kenji," Haido said through tightly clenched teeth. "I'm sure, if you actually tried to talk to someone higher up about it, it might be fixed."

Instead, he just sat around moping. Haido got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen, rummaging around uselessly for something to snack on. He ate when he was angry. A lot.

"Haido!" Kenji pushed himself off the couch, frowning in earnest now. He was frustrated, not quite angry, but fast getting there. Haido shouldn't be walking away from him right now! They had to be able to see each other to get to any sort of compromise!

But, he did NOT feel like compromising. He felt more like grabbing Haido by the front of his shirt and shaking him until he remembered that this wasn't about their relationship - it was about their JOBS.

He had to do it. This was a decision made by either Tohma or Taki, and neither of them would be up for removing it from the set. He didn't understand why Haido couldn't see that! Was he really so self oriented that he couldn't see beyond his own discomfort to realize that they had no choice in this?

"Will you just think about it? For a second? Please?" He followed him into the kitchen, rubbing a hand through his hair as he walked and leaving it in a state of disarray. "It's not like I like the idea of kissing someone else! I don't have a choice!"

Haido had found, eventually, some leftovers. He didn't know what, but it hadn't been there long since it was at the front of the fridge. He'd popped it into a microwave to reheat it and slammed the tiny door when he heard Kenji's voice. He pushed each button so hard the appliance moved back a little bit.

He took a deep breath and turned around tensely, trying to stay calm and looked Kenji in the eye.

"I understand that you think you don't have a choice," he said. "But someone might be able to listen and understand if it was making you uncomfortable. What I don't understand is why you won't make the effort to say you're uncomfortable and-"

The microwave beeped repeatedly and Haido turned to open it, taking out some chopsticks from a drawer after he found out it was leftover noodles. He ate a mouthful before continuing.

"Just tell them you're uncomfortable with it."

And Haido expected Kenji to do just that.

He turned back around to heat up the food a bit more. It was still cold in the middle. When he turned back around to finish talking about it, he was greeted by the sound of the front door slamming shut and the miserable, shrill beep of the microwave.

Maybe, Haido worried for just a moment, he'd pushed him a little too far.

He didn't think about it anymore after that. Let him kiss the dancer. Let him be a doormat.

Haido didn't even make a motion to follow out the door after him.
~~~
Author's Notes: Dum dum DUUUUUUUUUM! Didn't see it coming, did you? A little insight here, this is the moment Kel and I had planned from the beginning, honestly. We figured we needed a big, big upset. This came to us and we haven't let it die. The real ending went as planned, too. So don't worry. You'll see what we wanted.

I hope things are still keeping you guys interested. I'm sorry about the many delays. And, eventually, we'll have a sequel to this story. I'm going to hope for the end of summer on that one.

Drop us a line!

~Subby