1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

\title: sharing is caringcharacters: arima, en||ships: kinshiro x atsushi, io ryuu x akoyachapters: 1-1||words: 1,421genre: friendship||rated: gchallenges: diversity writing: magical fandoms: c37, starts & ends with the same letternotes: several years post-canon.summary: after kinshiro and atsushi get married, arima thinks he might be a bit at loose ends. but there's always someone who needs to be taken care of.

arima regarded the contents of his teacup. or in truth, what had been the contents of his teacup.

should i get some more? the party wasn't even close to slowing down. he glanced up to where kinshiro and atsushi sat side by side, hands intertwined, heads leaning close together. sometimes they whispered to one another, sometimes they just gazed into each other's eyes, as if the rest of the universe conveniently stopped existing when they did.

he was happy for them. he'd hoped for them to make up with one another for a very long time, long before evil space hedgehogs and transformation rings and everything else.

but that didn't mean things weren't going to change – kinshiro had atsushi now to make tea for him, to remind him to get home at a decent hour and not work himself to death. arima made a note to himself to let atsushi know of any favorites he might not yet know for kinshiro.

slowly he pushed himself to his feet and made his way over to the refreshment table. as far as he could tell, no significant dents had been made in the food spread out here. there was a punch bowl but he ignored that, heading over to where he could

ew himself a good cup of tea.

that required going to the small kitchenette behind the table. he'd stored several of his favorite teas here and now regarded each box, trying to decide which one he was in the mood for right now. something that wouldn't get him ready to sleep but wouldn't keep him awake when he wanted to sleep.

he'd just made his choice and started getting the water ready when a soft footfall alerted him to the fact someone else entered the kitchenette. his first thought was that it might be kinshiro – kinshiro always turned up when he started to make tea, for whatever reasons.

but this time he turned, a greeting already on his lips, along with a gentle teasing in mind for kinshiro actually removing himself from atsushi on their wedding day, he saw instead yufuin en, his formal clothing already rumpled, his hair mussed, and stifling a yawn.

"hey," en raised one hand. "got anything to drink in here?"

arima blinked a few times. that hadn't exactly been what he expected, and he tended not to be surprised by anything. then he mentally shrugged. it wasn't as if en were in any way threatening to anything except perhaps a pillow and even that was more in the sense of falling asleep on it than anything else.

"only tea." he measured out the tea leaves and hot water. he hadn't expected anyone else to find his little hiding hole but there was plenty to share if need be.

en eyed the boxes, a hint more sharpness there than arima was used to seeing in him. "mind if i make a cup?"

"go ahead." arima agreed at once. "i didn't know you drank tea." at least he didn't remember seeing it. but it wasn't as if he watched en every second of every day.

en blinked sleepily – as if he blinked any other way – and glanced around the kitchenette. then he turned back to arima. "isn't there any coffee here?"

coffee? arima hadn't even thought about coffee. both atsushi and kinshiro preferred tea and he'd picked out a variety of other drinks as well, but coffee hadn't crossed his mind. he slowly shook his head.

"i'm terribly sorry. i should have provided some." he prided himself on being able to answer every need but here he'd forgotten a common beverage, and it was something that someone wanted.

en shrugged a little. "that's all right." he started to turn around – presumably in search of coffee – and arima made a rather sudden decision.

"you could have some of my tea if you like." it had just reached the perfect point of steeping and he could always make more if he needed to.

en turned back at once. "what kind is it?"

"it's kabusecha," arima told him. he'd always enjoyed that flavor; a nice balance of savoriness and rich taste.

he could tell that en was considering it even before the other man moved over to him.

"what's it like?"