Notes Left on the Doorstep

Triggers

+++++FEAR+++++

"Hmmm. Where would I like to go...?"

Giyu had conceded to a phone call in order to arrange his first official date with Sanemi. They had observed the proper order of things up to that point, after all. They'd even met in person.

They'd even met in person – Giyu was still wrapping his head around that reality. He had made an ass of himself, exactly as he feared. But he got to look directly into Sanemi's eyes. He got to hear his deep, sensual voice. They had lightly intertwined their fingers. Sanemi's hand felt thick and warm, strong but soft, and it grasped his with surprising tenderness.

"Someplace quiet, I guess."

Giyu looked at the fingers that had held Sanemi's so briefly. Heat rose to his cheeks as he wondered how the rest of Sanemi might feel.

"And intimate."

Two days until their date, but Giyu was already nervous. Even though they had already met in person, even though they'd been corresponding for months before that, it was still a first date. "First date" changed everything. Going out together was no longer just going out together. Sharing a meal together was no longer just sharing a meal together. Conversations would no longer be just conversations. "First date" gave everything another level of meaning. There would be expectations of a certain nature.

Giyu touched his lips. He wondered if Sanemi felt the same expectations. How many would they meet on this date? How many should they meet?

"With candlelit tables. And soft music maybe."

Giyu didn't like to move fast when it came to anything. But for some reason, with Sanemi, fast seemed a little less scary than usual.

"You know, all the stereotypical first date stuff."

Giyu wanted this first date to be perfect.

"But actually..."

He wanted it to be fun and romantic and memorable. Everything a first date should be.

"Anyplace is fine..."

Most of all...

"As long as I'm with you."

...he really didn't want it to be their last.

+++++

"What do you do for a living?"

Giyu had just started his new job, and though this sort of work had never been on his list of future career possibilities, after only a few weeks of working there, he knew he loved it. It allowed him to express a side of himself he was afraid to admit he had. He enjoyed the energy, the excitement he could generate. He liked the people he worked with, too. They were kind and authentic and more supportive than any other coworkers he'd ever had. For Giyu, it wasn't just a job. It was a place timid misfit like him could belong.

Of course, those weren't the details that his hot date was interested in as they made idle chatter over dinner. Job title, company name, industry – these were the facts Mr. Hot Date wanted when he asked that question. Without a moment's hesitation, Giyu provided those facts, because why not? He was happy about his job.

Mr. Hot Date's fork fell to his plate with a CLANG, silencing the restaurant and abruptly ending the light and flirty portion of their date.

"Wow."

"Is there a problem?" Giyu asked.

"You don't want a more respectable job?"

"Respectable?"

"Whatever. Forget it. Let's finish dinner."

Giyu couldn't forget.

Giyu couldn't forget how Mr. Hot Date rushed them through their meal and then into his car. He couldn't forget the seedy alleyway Mr. Hot Date drove them to. He couldn't forget how heavy that man's body felt as it thrust against his, how cold his hands felt as they tore at his clothes and groped his body. He couldn't forget the mouth that bit bruises into his flesh and the ears that refused to hear his pleas.