Looking for company - Takumi (open tag)

[fryn]

Takumi tried to make sense of Evan's reply, struggling to follow what was probably an easy chain of logic to someone whose language was firstly English. Taki's grasp of English, though, was sadly lacking and so instead he nodded, smiled, uttered 'hai' a couple of times... and was left totally in the dark. "Ask a girl out... hmm... that part I understand," he said with a broad grin. Possibly easier said than done but he'd give it his best shot!

The new arrival stirred him from those thoughts and Taki jumped up to help the boy sit. He and Evan obviously knew each other but it didn't worry Taki that he, in turn, didn't. After lunch that situation would have changed... right?

"Ah so... you are 'gei'... yes?" The word was similar to English but Takumi would hate to make a mistake. "We have a large gei culture in Osaka... That's where I am from. A lot of the 'yaoi' manga in Japan but it is gay stories aimed at a female reader." He shrugged. "I suppose girls like to read about it," he added with a wink.

He reached over and took a spring roll. It was Chinese food, of course, but still close enough to 'harumaki' to appeal to the Japanese boy. "I have some onigiri spare... ya know... if you like that sort of thing." Seaweed wasn't to everyone's tastes, after all. "You, too, Evan. I will never eat it all."

[Dare Madison]

Dare grinned and said thanks as the Asian boy helped him to settle on the ground. "Is there a girl in particular you want to ask out? There seem to be a lot of pretty ones in this school." They weren't his particular thing, but he could recognize them. Even if he liked girls none of them really appealed to him. They were all either to cheerleader-like or they were scary. About Yaoi, he commented, "I suppose it is the same thing as straight males fantasizing about lesbians. I don't really understand it myself, I certainly have no fantasies about straight couples."

"I would love to try your onigiri. I'm vegetarian so I love to try new alternatives for my diet. Actually I am ovo-lactarian. I don't think I could ever give up cheese and milk," Dare said as he opened his lo mein and wielded a pair of chopsticks to dig it out of the container. He also grabbed another Spring Roll as Evan seemed ready to devour them. "I don't know as much about Japanese food as I do Chinese which is odd because we spent a month in Japan when my Dad toured there a few years ago and I have never been to China."

[Evan Hughes]

“Well, to be honest, I can see the appeal of girls with other girls.” Evan admitted with a snigger. He thought he might keep his little magazine collection, that had that as a common theme, to himself though. Come on, every guy, every straight guy after all, had to have a collection of girly mags. It was his right, after all, as a red-blooded American male. It really should be added to the Constitution, right after the bit about bearing arms.

He couldn’t imagine being vegetarian though, he liked food way too much, and not eating meat cut down a large portion of food. Nothing better than a burger, except maybe a hot dog, or a big meat-laden pizza. A tofu burger or tofu dog just didn’t have the same appeal to it, not that he ever tried tofu before.

When Dare took another spring roll, Evan saw it as his sign to do the same, even as he eyed off what Takumi offered. He wasn’t sure what his new friend was actually offering, it looked green and a bit too healthy for his liking. But it was food, and he was still very hungry, so he grabbed up a bit in his free hand. Taking a bite out of the spring roll, he hastily swallowed it before taking a bite of the healthy looking stuff. And to his surprise, he kinda liked it.

“Don’t know much about Chinese or Japanese food.” he admitted once his mouth was empty again. “I just like to eat. That was good though, what’s in it? And was it cool Dare, going around with your dad’s band? I’m waiting for Brit’s band to take off, so I can be a travelling groupie, mooch off of her.” he laughed.

[fryn]

"Aaah there are a few I like," Taki replied to Dare's first question. "I get on really well with Izzy Chen... and Lia Juarez but I think she's a lot younger than me." He shrugged slightly. "I can't see either of them being interested in me... " Besides, would he be risking friendship with either of them if he asked them out? It was a difficult predicament indeed. "But you spent a month in Japan? Sugoi!" Takumi enthused. "What part? Did you learn any of the language?"

He scowled at Evan when he sniggered at the thought of girls together but Takumi couldn't maintain his fake anger. He grinned at the other boy, knowing he had to agree.

"See? Seaweed isn't so bad," Taki said when he saw the look of surprise - shock? - on Evan's face. "Tomorrow I will bring something different for you to try. I will convert you both before the end of this week," he vowed. "It's just onigiri... or omusubi... A ball of rice formed into that triangle shape you see. That's nori around it. The seaweed I mean. Nori seaweed. The ones I have here have umeboshi inside them. Pickled ume... aaah... Japanese plum." He winked at Dare before speaking to Evan once more. "You claim you will eat anything, hai? Then tomorrow I will let you try some nigirizushi ika." Dare might know the Japanese name for squid but he had a feeling Evan wouldn't.

"So Dare-kun... we were also talking about doing something fun this weekend. Bowling. Maybe a movie and a meal. We are hoping to get as many people to come as we can..." Perhaps Izzy and Lia even... He could hope. "Would you be interested?"

[Dare Madison]

Dare smiled, this was the first time he could remember discussing girls with a friend, it was kind of a good feeling even if girls weren't his thing. But it was a friend thing and that was cool. "I think you're cutting yourself down, Taki. You have a lot to offer a girl. You're cute and you're a lot fun and you have a lot of energy.... I have heard that girls need a lot of energy to maintain.

"You should ask out both girls. I really doubt that either would be offended to be asked on a date. They might say no but not be offended, then if worst happens you'll know to look elsewhere, if best happens you get a chance to get to know them better," Dare suggested. "Ask one of them to the bowling thing, it isn't fancy so it won't be so intimidating."

Dare was willing to try most anything as long as it didn't mess with his veg lifestyle. "I am not sure about the nigrizushi ika, isn't made with some meat in it?" he asked, not wanting to ruin his new friend's prank on Ethan, but not willing to eat meat to help him. "My education has to be vegetarian."

"I would like to go with you this weekend, if I won't slow things down with my crutches. I have never bowled, but I would love to try," Dare enthused.


"Ethan you would love touring, it is so great. Like when we went to Japan, we went to three cities, Tokyo, Osaka and Nagasaki. The fans were wonderful. The concerts were so hyped and we were in these huge stadiums. I didn't play with my dad on that one, but the fans were still really nice to me and when they did interviews all the reporters wanted to meet me too. It was very flattering, the Japanese people are lovely," Dare said, his eyes shining.

[Evan Hughes]

“Yeah, Dare’s right. Girls should be throwing themselves at your feet.” Evan laughed, licking his lips. “And I’m sure...wait, Lia, that’s the girl who was in the cafeteria with us last week, right? During the...uh, incident.” he settled on. “You’ve got a shot with her for sure then!” He turned to Dare to explain, a wide smile on his face. “Taki here laid down some mad heroics in the cafeteria last week, it was awesome. And the girl, Lia, saw it all. So you’ve it in the bag, girls love bravery! But, if you like Izzy, I can just let slip how awesome you were, in front of her. Make her swoon or something.” he offered with a grin. “Yeah, just do what Dare said, ask one of them to bowling. Real casual then.”

“Sweet! More food, I’ll be in that for sure.” Evan agreed enthusiastically, happy to eat anytime. “Plum? Uh, sounds a bit too healthy for me.” he said warily, before throwing caution to the wind and grabbing some more, munching it down. It was pretty good, he decided, it wasn’t something he would have ever tried himself, but he was glad he had now. Maybe he should take Brit to a Japanese place or something to eat sometime. Or Patch. He would love to see his friend’s expression when he tried something wrapped in seaweed. Dare’s guess of meat being in the next food to try, for tomorrow, only made him more keen. “Ah, awesome. I love meat! All meat! No offence?” he quickly added for the sake of his vegetarian friend. “I’ll love to try some...nigisushi ica.” he struggled to repeat.

“Bowling’s easy. And awesome fun! You’ll love it.” Everyone had to love bowling, there was nothing not to like about throwing a heavy ball down a lane and knocking things down. “You’ll be fine with the crutches, we can help you out. And if it’s a bit too much for you to stand and hold the ball, there’s this thing kids use to help them with the ball, like a slide thing they push the ball down.” he struggled to explain. “Reckon that could help you.”

Touring did sound just about the most fun thing ever to Evan’s mind. Getting to travel, hamming it up in front of heaps of people, getting his gorgeous mug out there, and being paid for it would be incredible. “That sounds so cool! Now I’m jealous! Going with my mum to work isn’t as fun.” he laughed. “Though, I managed to talk one of the other nurses into letting me play with the electric shock thing, you know, clear!” he mimicked the actions. “That was fun.”

[fryn]

Takumi laughed when Dare said he had a lot to offer girls. He couldn't see it himself but it was a definite boost to his confidence that the other boy thought so. "Ask them both out?" He blinked. "I hadn't thought of that.... " Perhaps Izzy would like to go bowling... If she was busy he could ask Lia... Or should he ask Lia first? 'Kuso!' he thought to himself. This wasn't as easy as it first seemed!

"But yes, the nigrizushi ika is not vegitarian so maybe just Evan should try it." He winked at Dare as he spoke but made sure Evan couldn't witness his action. "But your father played in Osaka? I wish I had known you then as I would have gone to listen. Was he at the Fujidera Stadium? Osaka Dome? Many great musicians have played there." He paused to think. "Aaah... David Bowie, Madonna, Bon Jovi... and many others. It is a large arena."

He good-humordly glared at Evan when he described what had happened in the cafeteria. "Damare, baka!" he said on a laugh. "But now I don't know which one to ask first." Most probably both would turn him down anyway.

"Yes, Dare-kun... You must come bowling with us. Even if you are unable to play you would surely have fun watching. And we will help as Evan says."

He shot Evan a look of bewilderment when he told them how he played with the electrical equipment at the hospital. Surely not... "You're joking... yes?" he asked - more in hope than anything else!

"I haven't told anyone this yet but..." Taki took on a slightly self-conscious air. "... I play the bass guitar... I am looking to start a band and with you being musical, Dare-kun, perhaps you know of others who might like to join me...? It would be rock. J-rock back home but I don't know if that's popular here."

[Dare Madison]

Dare patted Takumi on the shoulder. "As one out Friday Night and one out Saturday Night," he suggested. "I wish I had the problem of trying to decide on two different dates. I can't even meet one." He didn't seem to fall into any of the groups of the other gay students in their school and he really doubted any of them would be interested in him. He also had a few years until he could even thing about going to gay bars, so he was on hold so to speak until 21.

"They played the Osaka Dome. My dad isn't a single act but part of a band. He's the drummer for Toxic Religion. They are not Bowie, but they do pretty well," Dare said in a deep understatement. "I played for them for six months when their lead guitarist was in rehab. That was great. We played most of Europe."

Dare was perfectly willing to accept that Evan would do almost anything to relieve his boredom. The other boy seemed combustible like that.

"I play lead guitar. The only person I know who plays an instructment is Kian and he is more interested in acting. But he plays keyboards. Oh.... Mew plays Piano, not sure what genre of music though," Dare said, wishing he knew more about the music scene in school. I don't know much about J-rock. I kinda lost track after Visual-Kei."

[fryn]

"Aah visual-kei..." Takumi grinned. "I cannot say I like that style much myself but..." He lifted his shoulders in a slight shrud. "It has formed the basis for much of Japan's music today and is even having a... hmm.. rebirth. I think that's the right word." He leaned forwards and clasped his arms around his knees. "Even though I don't like it much myself visual-kei goes back many, many centuries. Not in the same form it is today but 'kabuki' is said to be the origins of it. Ya know... the acting where people paint their faces and wear strange costumes. So I suppose it has to be accepted for what it is but you would never see me wearing that sort of thing." It was better perhaps he kept quiet about his Hello Kitty t-shirts and the tartan overskirts he sometimes wore. Not here in the US, though... Not yet. He wasn't quite sure if America was ready for that!

"I am looking for a drummer, singer and lead guitar really but I am open to trying to learn to play with a pianist also." Perhaps it was time he emerged from his little comfort zone and gave it his best try? "I will see if I can find... Mew... Is that right?" Dare nodded and Takumi filed the name away for future reference.

"And you, Evan-kun... Are you musically minded?" He turned to face his friend who was midway eating a spring roll. Where he had found that one defeated Taki as he felt sure the last had already been eaten.

[Evan Hughes]

Evan had been all for Taki asking both girls out, but for dates on two consecutive days? He wasn’t so sure about that. It kind of seemed to him like it was a recipe for trouble, that it might blow up in Takumi’s face. But then again, he was perfectly willing to accept that while he was the only one with a girlfriend of the three (something which didn’t seem like a major accomplishment anyway, given that Taki was only new and Dare was gay), he didn’t know too much about girls. And from what he’d seen on tv, gay guys got on really well with girls, so maybe it was worth listening to the other guy. “I’m not too sure about two dates in a row. What if you end up really liking your first date, then having to go on a date with another girl? Isn’t that bad? But, don’t listen to me. I kinda fluked my own girlfriend.” he happily admitted.

He let the other two go off on a tangent about music and genres he was fairly sure he’d never heard of before. Patch would have been in his element, he decided, all this music talk. And halfway through thinking about his friend, he noticed a very tasty looking spring roll. Unfortunately, the spring roll in question had somehow ended up on the ground. How long it had been there, he didn’t know. But, five minute rule was in place. So Evan scooped it up, checked it for dirt, and satisfied it would still be good, started munching on it.

And while he was enjoying his prize, Taki brought him back into the conversation. Quickly shoving the rest of the spring roll in his mouth, he swallowed it before wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. “Uh, yeah, I play the drums.” he grinned, mimicking the actions. “My parents got me a drum kit a while back, figured I would like it the best. Get to bang something, make loud noises. They were right.” he laughed. “Was in a band too, for a day or so. Then it kinda fell apart.” he laughed. “It’s all good though. And Taki, if it makes you feel better, I only got to play on my sandwich at the hospital. It was mad, made it kinda crispy!”