Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2018-05-22 05:40 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2018-05-22 05:40 pm
Entry tags:
Fanfiction: Plus One (Zero Time Dilemma)
Oh, wow, I managed to write a fic that isn't about Carlos getting screwed up by his memories of alternate timelines!
Please stop making everything awkward when I'm just trying to get you to make out, C-Team.
Title: Plus One
Fandom: Zero Time Dilemma
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Carlos/Akane/Junpei
Wordcount: 2,200
Summary: Carlos drives Junpei and Akane home after their wedding. They invite him in.
The wedding itself passes in a blur. It feels unreal, Carlos watching Akane and Junpei pledge themselves to each other at last. Of all the possible universes out there, he’s found himself in this one, where they all survived, where they stayed together, where they get to experience this moment.
He tries not to feel like they’re leaving him behind. The three of them still get along well, they’re always in touch, but he guesses they’ll never really be as close as they felt when they were trapped below ground together, fighting for their lives.
It’s a relatively small gathering at the reception, around twenty, and conversation with any of the guests quickly turns weird. The first time Carlos is asked how he knows the couple, he hesitates. “It’s kind of a strange story,” he says, and the woman who asked laughs and says, “Oh, did Akane kidnap you too?”
He’s glad the guest list wasn’t too long, because it means he actually has an opportunity to speak to the people of the day. Akane looks beautiful, as usual, and he tells her so. (He leaves out the ‘as usual’; it seems more socially acceptable to keep the compliment confined to her wedding day.) Junpei looks like he’s just rolled out of bed and spent half an hour unsuccessfully searching for a comb, also as usual, but it seems impolite to say.
He hasn’t seen Junpei smile so much since they rolled three ones.
“It means a lot that you’re here,” Akane says, giving Carlos a hug. Junpei puts a hand on Carlos’s shoulder. Carlos puts one arm around Akane, grips Junpei’s forearm with the other, and in a way he wishes he could stay for longer in that moment, that physical reassurance that they’re all still here and alive.
Carlos can’t speak to them for too long, because he feels selfconscious about getting in the way of other people. He needs to settle down, he needs to stop feeling like this is the last chance he has to spend time with them. He needs a drink, but he’s planning to drive later.
At least they’ve accepted his offer of a lift. At least he knows he’ll be seeing them again before the day is out.
-
Akane’s brother comes over partway through the evening to introduce himself. “My sister’s told me a whole lot about you,” he says, which is both pleasing and ominous. Carlos hopes she hasn’t mentioned the times he murdered her. “Figured I should wish you good luck with her.”
“Good luck?” Carlos asks, half-laughing. “Thanks, but I’m not the one marrying her.”
Aoi grins. “Yeah, well, don’t think you’re getting held to lower standards.”
-
Carlos drives the newlyweds home. Bids them goodnight on the doorstep.
“You’re not coming in?” Junpei asks.
Carlos laughs. “On your wedding night? Pretty sure I’m enough of a third wheel already.”
“You’re not a third wheel,” Akane says, at the same time Junpei says, “You’re a good third wheel. We’re a tricycle.”
As reluctant as Carlos is to leave, he’s going to be a good friend; he’s not going to let his own neediness get in the way of their celebration.
“Your wedding night,” Carlos says, firmly. “You should be enjoying each other’s company.”
“We can do that with you there,” Akane says.
“Uh, not sure you understand what I’m saying.”
“Maybe you don’t understand what we’re saying.” She comes closer and... puts her hand on his chest, and—
kisses him, kisses him, and surely he’s dreaming? He jerks back, looks at Junpei, anticipating a punch.
It doesn’t come. Junpei is smiling. As if he’s amused by the fact that his new wife just kissed Carlos right in front of him, definitely not in an appropriate way.
Cultural differences? Maybe it’s... normal, in Japan, to kiss your platonic friend on the lips?
It feels like it might not be normal to kiss him slightly open-mouthed, slipping your hand inside his jacket.
“What’s... happening?” Carlos asks, carefully. His chest is strangely tight.
“You can go home, if you want,” Akane says, gently. She’s still too close.
“This isn’t...” There’s a rising panic inside him; it feels like he might be about to SHIFT. Jumping to a less awkward universe has a certain degree of appeal right now, but he tries to keep himself steady. “Okay, sorry, I just need to – I need to step back, I need to figure out what this is.”
Akane draws back slightly. Carlos tries to breathe.
“Yeah, sorry,” Junpei says. “Guess this might be pretty weird. We just...” He glances at Akane. “We thought, you know, maybe you’d be on the same page.”
“I don’t know if I’m on the same book,” Carlos says. “Akane just – Akane just kissed me, right? That happened?”
“I’m sorry,” Akane says. “You didn’t want it?”
Carlos stares at her.
“You can’t ask me that question,” he says, desperately.
“Why not?”
“Because – because we’re in front of your husband, who you just married, and he’s my friend and you’re my friend and – Jesus, I can’t believe I did this, I’m so sorry—”
“You didn’t do anything,” Akane says.
“If you hadn’t noticed, Carlos,” Junpei says, “I’m not exactly beating you up. We’re cool.”
“Okay,” Carlos says. That’s something. The situation still feels slightly terrifying, but at least his relationship with these guys might be salvageable. “Right. So... you were messing with me?”
“Hmm,” Akane says, pressing two fingers to her cheek. “Not exactly.”
“It’ll probably be a lot easier if you say you were messing with me.”
“Come inside,” Junpei says. “We can talk about it.”
The house is on fire, Carlos’s instincts are screaming at him. The house is on fire, and if he walks through that door the whole burning upper floor will come down on his head.
He swallows.
“Okay,” he says.
-
Akane and Junpei sit on the couch, Junpei’s arm across her shoulders. Akane pats the cushion next to her, invitingly. Carlos takes the chair opposite.
“I think you’re drunk,” he says. “I think you’ve done something that you’ll probably regret tomorrow, and I’m happy for us to just decide it never happened if that would make things easier.”
“I really haven’t drunk that much,” Akane says. “And what’s your explanation for why Junpei didn’t mind?”
He doesn’t have an answer for that. He knows Junpei’s given up alcohol.
“Believe me,” Junpei mutters, “if I’d been allowed to drink, it would’ve made this moment less intimidating.”
“Well, I know you both really love each other,” Carlos says. “So I guess maybe you didn’t mind because... you didn’t feel threatened?”
Junpei raises his eyebrows. “You think anyone might not be threatened by you? Have you seen you?”
“I knew you’d worry about drinking, Carlos,” Akane says, rummaging in her handbag. “You’re just that sort of person.” She holds out a sealed envelope. “So I made a dated statement of consent earlier.”
Junpei starts to laugh, so hard he can barely stay sitting upright. “You didn’t tell me about that!”
“I like to be prepared,” Akane says, seriously. She waves the envelope at Carlos, waiting for him to take it.
“That’s... that’s okay, thanks,” Carlos says, uncertainly. “So that’s to say you’re... what, okay with kissing me? So you were planning that in advance? I’m sorry, I still don’t really get what’s going on here.”
He doesn’t. He doesn’t, does he? There are... potential explanations that may have crossed his mind, but they are definitely, definitely impossible.
Akane shrugs. “Kissing, sex—”
Carlos chokes on absolutely nothing.
“—sex with Junpei—”
“Oh!” Jesus, what was he thinking? Obviously she prepared this statement for Junpei. He laughs in slightly hysterical relief. “Sorry, I thought you meant—”
He cuts himself off. He cannot possibly say what he thought she meant; he’ll never be able to look either of them in the eye again.
Akane looks at him for a moment, that intense gaze that makes him feel like she’s seeing straight through to all the versions of him in all the different universes. “I’m not talking about myself and Junpei, Carlos. I’m talking about you and Junpei. Or you and me.” She shrugs again. “We were envisioning something simultaneous.”
Carlos stares at her.
“Carlos,” Junpei says, slight desperation in his tone, “will you please just agree to have a threesome with us so Akane doesn’t keep making it sound like a franchise transaction?”
Carlos stands up on slightly shaky legs. Walks through to the kitchen. Pours himself a glass of water. It seems rude to excuse himself without saying a word, but his voice seems to have wandered off somewhere else for the moment.
“Well,” he hears Junpei mutter to Akane, “he hasn’t actually run away. That’s a good sign.”
Carlos braces himself with a hand on the countertop, drinks the entire glass down. His mind seemed to have shut off completely for a moment, but now it’s coming back online, working way too fast.
Is there any chance this is a prank? It doesn’t seem like the kind of prank they’d pull. And it’s their wedding night; surely they have better things to do than dangle a fake threesome offer in front of a friend, waiting to humiliate him if he takes the bait.
And that kiss was real. The intent he felt behind it, that was real. Or he thinks it might have been. He guesses it must have been, if now they’re saying...
He sets down the glass, puts his other hand on the counter to support himself better. Closes his eyes.
He’s not supposed to be important today. They just got married to each other. Why would they want him?
-
“Are you okay?” Akane asks, when he returns to the lounge.
“I’m fine,” Carlos says. “Sorry if I worried you.”
“Sorry,” Junpei says. “We’ve been trying to build up to this for... well, a while. Guess we kind of sprung it on you anyway, huh?”
“Honestly,” Carlos says, “it’s never crossed my mind that anyone might want a threesome with me.” He barely stumbles over the word at all. “I guess it never seemed like... the kind of possibility that might come up in my life.”
“Junpei and I have been talking,” Akane says. “He can drive you back to your hotel.”
“Oh.” He... guesses the decision is out of his hands, then.
Ever since the Decision Game, he’s been very aware of the different universes that might split off from any choice he’s presented with. There was probably a time when he wouldn’t even have considered the possibility of saying yes, but he knows now that there’s a universe where he says yes, there’s one where he says no, he just has to figure out which universe he’d prefer to be in. Apparently, this is the universe where he spends too long freaking out and they decide to withdraw the offer.
Now that it’s gone, he can’t stop thinking about it. Somewhere out there, in another universe, another Carlos is kissing Akane without drawing back, is unbuttoning Junpei’s rented suit...
Akane is watching him shrewdly. “Unless you’d prefer to stay?”
Maybe the offer is still on the table, after all.
“You’re really not going to make this easy for me, are you?” Carlos asks.
Junpei laughs. “If you want things to be easy, you don’t get involved with Akane.”
Carlos steels himself and sits down. On the couch, this time, next to them. Leaving enough space for them to know he hasn’t made his decision yet.
“There doesn’t have to be any pressure, y’know,” Junpei says. “This could just be for the one night.”
Akane nods. “We really wanted you to be involved today. And, well, Aoi was always going to be the best man, so...”
“So you thought you’d offer me the other traditional wedding-day role,” Carlos says. “‘Threesome guy’.”
“Exactly,” Junpei says.
Carlos drums his fingers on the arm of the couch. He keeps having to look away from the two of them. His mind is still full of what might be happening in other timelines, what might be a breath away in this one.
“You said this could just be for the one night,” he says at last. “What, uh, what would be the alternative?”
“You run away screaming,” Junpei says. “Or...”
“Or we work out something new,” Akane says. She taps Carlos on the wrist – letting him know she’s reaching out to him, he guesses, trying not to startle him – before taking his hand. “We want you to be part of our lives, whatever happens. We’re just... trying to work out what that means.”
Carlos looks at her for a moment. Shifts his gaze to Junpei. “Are you sure about this, Junpei? I don’t want to...” Is he really saying this? “I don’t want to touch your wife if it’s going to be...”
Akane’s smiling. She knows they have him. It’s not really until he realises she knows that Carlos knows himself.
“It’s fine,” Junpei says. “But I’m going to feel pretty left out if you don’t make out with me at some point.”
Okay. He’s made a decision; he’s pinned down which universe he’s in. He’s taking himself off the back foot.
Carlos stands up, slipping his hand out of Akane’s, and walks around to Junpei’s side of the couch. Leans down, his hands on Junpei’s shoulders, pinning him against the cushions. Kisses him.
His eyes are closed, and this is where he is, in this moment, in this timeline. Junpei kissing back, hooking his fingers under Carlos’s collar. Akane tracing her hand gently down the side of his thigh, over the dark pants he’s wearing.
He’s the Carlos who’s finding a new place for himself in their lives.
Please stop making everything awkward when I'm just trying to get you to make out, C-Team.
Title: Plus One
Fandom: Zero Time Dilemma
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Carlos/Akane/Junpei
Wordcount: 2,200
Summary: Carlos drives Junpei and Akane home after their wedding. They invite him in.
The wedding itself passes in a blur. It feels unreal, Carlos watching Akane and Junpei pledge themselves to each other at last. Of all the possible universes out there, he’s found himself in this one, where they all survived, where they stayed together, where they get to experience this moment.
He tries not to feel like they’re leaving him behind. The three of them still get along well, they’re always in touch, but he guesses they’ll never really be as close as they felt when they were trapped below ground together, fighting for their lives.
It’s a relatively small gathering at the reception, around twenty, and conversation with any of the guests quickly turns weird. The first time Carlos is asked how he knows the couple, he hesitates. “It’s kind of a strange story,” he says, and the woman who asked laughs and says, “Oh, did Akane kidnap you too?”
He’s glad the guest list wasn’t too long, because it means he actually has an opportunity to speak to the people of the day. Akane looks beautiful, as usual, and he tells her so. (He leaves out the ‘as usual’; it seems more socially acceptable to keep the compliment confined to her wedding day.) Junpei looks like he’s just rolled out of bed and spent half an hour unsuccessfully searching for a comb, also as usual, but it seems impolite to say.
He hasn’t seen Junpei smile so much since they rolled three ones.
“It means a lot that you’re here,” Akane says, giving Carlos a hug. Junpei puts a hand on Carlos’s shoulder. Carlos puts one arm around Akane, grips Junpei’s forearm with the other, and in a way he wishes he could stay for longer in that moment, that physical reassurance that they’re all still here and alive.
Carlos can’t speak to them for too long, because he feels selfconscious about getting in the way of other people. He needs to settle down, he needs to stop feeling like this is the last chance he has to spend time with them. He needs a drink, but he’s planning to drive later.
At least they’ve accepted his offer of a lift. At least he knows he’ll be seeing them again before the day is out.
Akane’s brother comes over partway through the evening to introduce himself. “My sister’s told me a whole lot about you,” he says, which is both pleasing and ominous. Carlos hopes she hasn’t mentioned the times he murdered her. “Figured I should wish you good luck with her.”
“Good luck?” Carlos asks, half-laughing. “Thanks, but I’m not the one marrying her.”
Aoi grins. “Yeah, well, don’t think you’re getting held to lower standards.”
Carlos drives the newlyweds home. Bids them goodnight on the doorstep.
“You’re not coming in?” Junpei asks.
Carlos laughs. “On your wedding night? Pretty sure I’m enough of a third wheel already.”
“You’re not a third wheel,” Akane says, at the same time Junpei says, “You’re a good third wheel. We’re a tricycle.”
As reluctant as Carlos is to leave, he’s going to be a good friend; he’s not going to let his own neediness get in the way of their celebration.
“Your wedding night,” Carlos says, firmly. “You should be enjoying each other’s company.”
“We can do that with you there,” Akane says.
“Uh, not sure you understand what I’m saying.”
“Maybe you don’t understand what we’re saying.” She comes closer and... puts her hand on his chest, and—
kisses him, kisses him, and surely he’s dreaming? He jerks back, looks at Junpei, anticipating a punch.
It doesn’t come. Junpei is smiling. As if he’s amused by the fact that his new wife just kissed Carlos right in front of him, definitely not in an appropriate way.
Cultural differences? Maybe it’s... normal, in Japan, to kiss your platonic friend on the lips?
It feels like it might not be normal to kiss him slightly open-mouthed, slipping your hand inside his jacket.
“What’s... happening?” Carlos asks, carefully. His chest is strangely tight.
“You can go home, if you want,” Akane says, gently. She’s still too close.
“This isn’t...” There’s a rising panic inside him; it feels like he might be about to SHIFT. Jumping to a less awkward universe has a certain degree of appeal right now, but he tries to keep himself steady. “Okay, sorry, I just need to – I need to step back, I need to figure out what this is.”
Akane draws back slightly. Carlos tries to breathe.
“Yeah, sorry,” Junpei says. “Guess this might be pretty weird. We just...” He glances at Akane. “We thought, you know, maybe you’d be on the same page.”
“I don’t know if I’m on the same book,” Carlos says. “Akane just – Akane just kissed me, right? That happened?”
“I’m sorry,” Akane says. “You didn’t want it?”
Carlos stares at her.
“You can’t ask me that question,” he says, desperately.
“Why not?”
“Because – because we’re in front of your husband, who you just married, and he’s my friend and you’re my friend and – Jesus, I can’t believe I did this, I’m so sorry—”
“You didn’t do anything,” Akane says.
“If you hadn’t noticed, Carlos,” Junpei says, “I’m not exactly beating you up. We’re cool.”
“Okay,” Carlos says. That’s something. The situation still feels slightly terrifying, but at least his relationship with these guys might be salvageable. “Right. So... you were messing with me?”
“Hmm,” Akane says, pressing two fingers to her cheek. “Not exactly.”
“It’ll probably be a lot easier if you say you were messing with me.”
“Come inside,” Junpei says. “We can talk about it.”
The house is on fire, Carlos’s instincts are screaming at him. The house is on fire, and if he walks through that door the whole burning upper floor will come down on his head.
He swallows.
“Okay,” he says.
Akane and Junpei sit on the couch, Junpei’s arm across her shoulders. Akane pats the cushion next to her, invitingly. Carlos takes the chair opposite.
“I think you’re drunk,” he says. “I think you’ve done something that you’ll probably regret tomorrow, and I’m happy for us to just decide it never happened if that would make things easier.”
“I really haven’t drunk that much,” Akane says. “And what’s your explanation for why Junpei didn’t mind?”
He doesn’t have an answer for that. He knows Junpei’s given up alcohol.
“Believe me,” Junpei mutters, “if I’d been allowed to drink, it would’ve made this moment less intimidating.”
“Well, I know you both really love each other,” Carlos says. “So I guess maybe you didn’t mind because... you didn’t feel threatened?”
Junpei raises his eyebrows. “You think anyone might not be threatened by you? Have you seen you?”
“I knew you’d worry about drinking, Carlos,” Akane says, rummaging in her handbag. “You’re just that sort of person.” She holds out a sealed envelope. “So I made a dated statement of consent earlier.”
Junpei starts to laugh, so hard he can barely stay sitting upright. “You didn’t tell me about that!”
“I like to be prepared,” Akane says, seriously. She waves the envelope at Carlos, waiting for him to take it.
“That’s... that’s okay, thanks,” Carlos says, uncertainly. “So that’s to say you’re... what, okay with kissing me? So you were planning that in advance? I’m sorry, I still don’t really get what’s going on here.”
He doesn’t. He doesn’t, does he? There are... potential explanations that may have crossed his mind, but they are definitely, definitely impossible.
Akane shrugs. “Kissing, sex—”
Carlos chokes on absolutely nothing.
“—sex with Junpei—”
“Oh!” Jesus, what was he thinking? Obviously she prepared this statement for Junpei. He laughs in slightly hysterical relief. “Sorry, I thought you meant—”
He cuts himself off. He cannot possibly say what he thought she meant; he’ll never be able to look either of them in the eye again.
Akane looks at him for a moment, that intense gaze that makes him feel like she’s seeing straight through to all the versions of him in all the different universes. “I’m not talking about myself and Junpei, Carlos. I’m talking about you and Junpei. Or you and me.” She shrugs again. “We were envisioning something simultaneous.”
Carlos stares at her.
“Carlos,” Junpei says, slight desperation in his tone, “will you please just agree to have a threesome with us so Akane doesn’t keep making it sound like a franchise transaction?”
Carlos stands up on slightly shaky legs. Walks through to the kitchen. Pours himself a glass of water. It seems rude to excuse himself without saying a word, but his voice seems to have wandered off somewhere else for the moment.
“Well,” he hears Junpei mutter to Akane, “he hasn’t actually run away. That’s a good sign.”
Carlos braces himself with a hand on the countertop, drinks the entire glass down. His mind seemed to have shut off completely for a moment, but now it’s coming back online, working way too fast.
Is there any chance this is a prank? It doesn’t seem like the kind of prank they’d pull. And it’s their wedding night; surely they have better things to do than dangle a fake threesome offer in front of a friend, waiting to humiliate him if he takes the bait.
And that kiss was real. The intent he felt behind it, that was real. Or he thinks it might have been. He guesses it must have been, if now they’re saying...
He sets down the glass, puts his other hand on the counter to support himself better. Closes his eyes.
He’s not supposed to be important today. They just got married to each other. Why would they want him?
“Are you okay?” Akane asks, when he returns to the lounge.
“I’m fine,” Carlos says. “Sorry if I worried you.”
“Sorry,” Junpei says. “We’ve been trying to build up to this for... well, a while. Guess we kind of sprung it on you anyway, huh?”
“Honestly,” Carlos says, “it’s never crossed my mind that anyone might want a threesome with me.” He barely stumbles over the word at all. “I guess it never seemed like... the kind of possibility that might come up in my life.”
“Junpei and I have been talking,” Akane says. “He can drive you back to your hotel.”
“Oh.” He... guesses the decision is out of his hands, then.
Ever since the Decision Game, he’s been very aware of the different universes that might split off from any choice he’s presented with. There was probably a time when he wouldn’t even have considered the possibility of saying yes, but he knows now that there’s a universe where he says yes, there’s one where he says no, he just has to figure out which universe he’d prefer to be in. Apparently, this is the universe where he spends too long freaking out and they decide to withdraw the offer.
Now that it’s gone, he can’t stop thinking about it. Somewhere out there, in another universe, another Carlos is kissing Akane without drawing back, is unbuttoning Junpei’s rented suit...
Akane is watching him shrewdly. “Unless you’d prefer to stay?”
Maybe the offer is still on the table, after all.
“You’re really not going to make this easy for me, are you?” Carlos asks.
Junpei laughs. “If you want things to be easy, you don’t get involved with Akane.”
Carlos steels himself and sits down. On the couch, this time, next to them. Leaving enough space for them to know he hasn’t made his decision yet.
“There doesn’t have to be any pressure, y’know,” Junpei says. “This could just be for the one night.”
Akane nods. “We really wanted you to be involved today. And, well, Aoi was always going to be the best man, so...”
“So you thought you’d offer me the other traditional wedding-day role,” Carlos says. “‘Threesome guy’.”
“Exactly,” Junpei says.
Carlos drums his fingers on the arm of the couch. He keeps having to look away from the two of them. His mind is still full of what might be happening in other timelines, what might be a breath away in this one.
“You said this could just be for the one night,” he says at last. “What, uh, what would be the alternative?”
“You run away screaming,” Junpei says. “Or...”
“Or we work out something new,” Akane says. She taps Carlos on the wrist – letting him know she’s reaching out to him, he guesses, trying not to startle him – before taking his hand. “We want you to be part of our lives, whatever happens. We’re just... trying to work out what that means.”
Carlos looks at her for a moment. Shifts his gaze to Junpei. “Are you sure about this, Junpei? I don’t want to...” Is he really saying this? “I don’t want to touch your wife if it’s going to be...”
Akane’s smiling. She knows they have him. It’s not really until he realises she knows that Carlos knows himself.
“It’s fine,” Junpei says. “But I’m going to feel pretty left out if you don’t make out with me at some point.”
Okay. He’s made a decision; he’s pinned down which universe he’s in. He’s taking himself off the back foot.
Carlos stands up, slipping his hand out of Akane’s, and walks around to Junpei’s side of the couch. Leans down, his hands on Junpei’s shoulders, pinning him against the cushions. Kisses him.
His eyes are closed, and this is where he is, in this moment, in this timeline. Junpei kissing back, hooking his fingers under Carlos’s collar. Akane tracing her hand gently down the side of his thigh, over the dark pants he’s wearing.
He’s the Carlos who’s finding a new place for himself in their lives.