The first thing Tamaki noticed about his house mate was that the guy had some serious anger management problems. They'd only spoken once, and he already didn't want there to be a second time.
At least Madcap had been successful in making himself scarce the previous evening as well as that morning. Tamaki didn't want to even think about how their interactions would go from now on. They'd just met and the guy had already seemed to hold a grudge. What was that about? And then there was that nonsense about him calling…
Tamaki really would have known if that guy had tried calling him. He'd saved his number and everything, of course Angry Red's calls would go through.
"Well, you weren't really helping your case when you started acting smart with him," Mitsuri laughed as she took a huge gulp of her beer, earning a grimace from Tamaki for both the action and her words. "And what's with all these nicknames??"
"To show off his dazzling character," Tamaki spoke with faux seriousness.
They had gone to Tipsy Tiger, as usual, and Tamaki was trying to enjoy his evening off and welcome the weekend. It seemed impossible though considering how the previous night's interaction kept bothering him. His friends had wanted to know how his first meeting with his house mate went, and to say that they hadn't expected the events that'd unfolded was a severe understatement.
Tamaki Ogawa was known to be such a sweetheart. Of course his friends were very eager to learn what'd made him 'dispute' with his house mate on the very first day of their interaction.
Kunihiro was nodding along to what his friends were talking about, no longer looking as distracted and depressed as he had when the three of them had met up earlier. Now that they were already three hours into their get together, he'd already vented and couldn't be classified as sober anymore. Both him and Mitsuri seemed to be holding a silent competition on who could drink the most that night.
Tamaki wasn't as plastered as the other two, but he was definitely starting to feel the buzz.
"I wasn't intentionally picking a fight," he muttered sulkily. "That guy just… I don't know. He seemed mad even before we got to the actual 'talking' part."
"He said he called you," Kunihiro swayed slightly while supporting his chin in one hand, giving Tamaki a look full of judgement. "Maybe he was angry because you ignored him."
"I didn't ignore him. Look, I told you this."
"Poor guy must have been out in the cold for hooours~" Mitsuri sing-songed. "Tamaki, that's not very nice."
Tamaki looked away with a sigh. He didn't think his friends would be of much help for the remainder of the evening. The situation became worse when they started discussing how very 'horrible' he'd been to the person they hadn't even met yet, thus he resolutely tuned them out.
He still couldn't figure out what that guy had been on about yesterday. Missed calls? Why would Tamaki ignore him? Did he need to go get his cellphone checked? It wasn't that old a model, so he hadn't thought it would be experiencing technical difficulties already.
"… Are you listening, Tamaki? The thing about— hic— The thing about someone like him, is that he's probably holding a grudge now. So just say… say sorry and you'll be fine, okay?" Mitsuri was mumbling, which promptly shifted into complaining. "See, you're not even drinking with us, too busy thinking about the hot new roommate—"
That startled a laugh out of Tamaki, "I never said anything about that."
"— whose probably very straight and already hates your guts. Let's just have some fuuun. It's Friiiiday," she concluded, right before a familiar ringtone stole the group's attention.
Two pairs of eyes locked onto Kunihiro, who's attention had already shifted to his cellphone screen to check the caller ID. They all knew who was calling him, and Mitsuri's expression instantly turned a little sour.
"Ah, geez," she muttered.
Tamaki's gaze moved to his friend's phone screen, where a clear 'Bae💞' blinked back at him. It seemed like their night together was about to be cut short. Kunihiro always went running whenever his girlfriend suddenly showed interest in him. She was probably calling to apologize for how horrible she'd been lately, to tell him how much she missed and wanted to see him, like always. Because she knew Kunihiro would go back running.
Mitsuri looked like she was about to speak, having been slightly sobered up by reality, to assure their friend that it was fine if he wanted to go, but Kunihiro surprised them both by declining the call. The silence that descended at that moment lasted for a full minute.
When it did break, it was because of the man in question, who uttered a pathetic but resolute, "I'm tired."
The words shocked both Tamaki and Mitsuri.
"I just—" Kunihiro was interrupted when the ringtone started up again. Maybe it had taken this long because the woman from the other end had still been recovering from the shock of having her call rejected. Her boyfriend had never rejected her calls. Kunihiro seemed on the verge of breaking.
"G-Give it here," Mitsuri offered, still unsure. Tamaki looked on, giving his friend an encouraging smile and hoping he suddenly wouldn't change his mind.
Thankfully, Kunihiro didn't. He simply slid his cellphone away from himself, taking Mitsuri up on the offer, and watching her coldly hang up a second time.
"Any important calls you're expecting today?" she asked, and when the guy shook his head, she turned the device off completely before pocketing it herself. "I'll hang on to this for a while."
The only response she received from that was a slight nod, before they shared another three minutes of silence, each person still too stunned by what had just occured.
"Right!" Kunihiro suddenly piped up, slapping both hands to his cheeks so hard that they immediately flared red. "We're here to have fun and forget about the shitty things that've happened. Here's to moving on!" and with that he chugged the remainder of his beer with alarming speed.
His determination was contagious, that both his friends couldn't help joining in with wide grins, though Tamaki's was still laced with incredulity. He watched as Mitsuri eagerly dove into a random topic containing nothing about love or dating, probably as a means to quickly distract their still heartbroken friend. She was the oldest of all of them, and even though it wasn't by much, Tamaki still viewed her as an older sister. He'd never tell her this though, her ego was already the size of Mars.
"I'll go order us more drinks," he suggested as he stood, only because he was still the only one fit enough to carry them back.
They wouldn't be needing much. With the rate his friends were going, they probably would be parting ways by midnight. Just as well. Tamaki felt more tired than usual tonight.
"Another round?" the bartender asked. His fellow colleague, Mai Hirose, wiggled knowing brows. Tamaki got along with the entire crew here, but Mai was one of the few he actually hung out with occasionally out of uniform. "Don't go too crazy over there."
"I do have work tomorrow," Tamaki perched on a vacant barstool, watching as the older woman prepped his order. "I'm just hoping I'll be fine by the time I have to clock in."
"You're always diligent even with a killer hangover, I'm sure the boss won't mind," she chuckled before her attention shifted to the customer who'd suddenly occupied the seat next to Tamaki's. "Good evening, what can I get you?"
"Chuhai, please," the man said, "Lemon."
Tamaki's head had never snapped around so fast, attention instantly drawn. He hadn't expected the voice he'd been thinking about all day to suddenly pipe up casually from right next to him, tone lacking that distinct sneer his brain had already memorized.
"Ah, you?"
His housemate's attention shifted towards him, deep chestnut waves bouncing slightly with the head movement. Tamaki bore witness to real-time metamorphosis of the guy's initial confusion turning into slight disdain. Those eyes again… Annoyed as they were, there was something about them that Tamaki's alcohol-addled brain still couldn't place.
"It really is you, Madcap," Tamaki never even realized he was suddenly grinning like a loon.
"Excuse me?" that confusion was back. It suited the guy much more than the scowl.
"—asking which one you think is good here, Ryu, since you've been here before," a third voice spoke from somewhere, and Tamaki only then realized that his house mate wasn't alone.
There was another guy next to him; dyed blonde hair, spiky with cropped sides. He was also sitting, so Tamaki didn't know how tall he was, but his built was slightly larger than Madcap's, shoulders hunched in a confident slouch. When the stranger noted Ryu's delayed response, his attention finally shifted towards them, curious green gaze shifting between the two house-mates. Quite handsome as well.
Unlike Madcap though, who was dressed in a similarly smart manner as last time in a long coat, dress pants and polo neck, the second guy was dressed casually in black ripped jeans, charcoal sweater and boots. Everything on him all seemed to be of top-notch quality still.
"Oh, hey there," the guy greeted once he noticed that Tamaki's attention was now on him. "You guys," his green gaze shifted suspiciously between them again, "know each other?"
"No," Ryu(?) was quick to say.
But Tamaki's grin widened as he gestured between them, "Roommates."
"We certainly donot share a room," Madcap's distaste was palpable.
"Hey now," Tamaki feigned hurt, "It's just a term to describe people sharing living space, Grump Dynamo." Man, his tongue suddenly felt very loose.
Ryu's friend snorted, "Grump what?"
Tamaki latched onto that interest immediately, ignoring his roommates glare. "See, I introduced myself to this guy over two weeks ago, but he hasn't had the decency to reciprocate yet," Tamaki explained, suddenly feeling very invigorated. "I could only name him randomly from his very charming personality…"
The friend had to look away to try and stifle his chuckles.
Ryu's lips quirked into that familiar sneer, paying no mind to the person on his right who was already vibrating. "You've only met and spoken with me once, yet you've already determined my personality?"
"You looked ready to throw hands the minute I walked up to you yesterday," Tamaki shrugged, silly grin never leaving his face. "I still have no idea what that was about, by the way."
"Wait, seriously," that green-eyed man didn't find the situation as funny anymore. He wasn't angry, just incredulous as he glanced back at his friend. "Dude, we've talked about this…"
Fortunately, Mai returned with Tamaki's full order, balancing the beverages on a tray. "Here you go, enjoy."
"Thanks," Tamaki's eyes went back to Ryu's friend, who looked like he was about to lecture the person in question. "Tamaki Ogawa by the way. We'll probably be bumping into each other, if you're tied to the guy I'll be renting with for the foreseeable future. Oh, and try the Kamikazes here if you still want a drink rec. They're pretty good."
"Uh, thanks." And then after a bit of hesitation, "Benjirou Fukishima. Nice to meet you, Ogawa."
"The pleasure is all mine. Well, I'll leave you guys to it. Enjoy the rest of your evening," Tamaki's gaze went back to Ryu, who was resolutely doing his best to pretend he was nothing but thin air. "I'll see you later then, Ryuuu~."
The glare he received in response was worth it.
While he walked away to rejoin his friends, it belatedly occurred to Tamaki that he might have been more sloshed that he'd initially thought. And that maybe he should have really stopped picking fights with the person he would be sharing living space with for who knew how long.
Oh well.
~***~