𝘀.ugar baby

ten

Thunderous bangs against his apartment's front door rouse Toji from comatose. He wakes with a sharp inhale, eyes screwing shut because the sunlight that flooded through the bars of his dusty blinds singed his retinas. There's a beat of silence, one that makes Toji believe his guest has walked off, and he cuddles back into the sofa with solid intentions of returning to dream state, however those plans go up in flames when more aggressive knocking chimes. The man groans, fingers clawing into the scrappy throw pillow his face is currently buried into.

"Fuck off!" Toji growls. His voice is muffled and crackling with excess exhaustion. He is so not in the mood for company right now.

"Fushiguro cut the shit, I'm not playing with you today." Ugh, that voice. "Open the damn door, don't make me bust it down."

More pounding, and the rusty hinges creak from the pressure of it. Given no other choice, Toji peels himself off his crappy little couch and sits for a moment, dragging a heavy hand down his face. There's a half empty can of Coke perched on the coffee table, amongst a plethora of other trash, and Toji snags it. It's lost carbonation, totally flat and lukewarm, but it satiates his thirst good enough.

The knob twists, clinking against the lock impatiently. "Untwist your panties, I'm comin'," He barks before muttering Jesus Christ under breath. It's no surprise to see Shiu Kong when he draws open his door, standing erect with his arms crossed in irritation. Toji scowls, "what do you want?"

Shiu knocks shoulders to his when he grants himself entrance, much to Toji's chagrin. "So you are alive?"

"Still kickin', yeah."

Shiu stands in the middle of the living room, flitting over the unkempt scene. It's a mess, littered with crushed cans and hollowed take-out boxes and dirty laundry. Heavy glass bottles lined the floor near the sofa, some filled halfway with translucent, amberish liquid, some bone dry. "I see you been busy," the man inquired, sarcastic as all Hell.

Toji sighs. "Yep."

"You should crack a window or something, man. It reeks like the inside of a flask in here."

"I'll do that," no he won't, "what do you want?"

Shiu scoffs at his gall, but Toji wants him out of his place as soon as possible. He knows why his handler has come to visit, it's most likely a work thing. Fuck work. Fuck Shiu for barging in and interrupting his afternoon nap. Fuck his apartment for being embarrassingly filthy.

"You've been ducking my calls. I don't appreciate that."

"Y'know, most people would take that as a sign to fuck off."

"I'm not most people, though, am I?" He takes a seat on the couch. Toji doesn't follow suit, choosing to stay leaned against the wall. "I'm technically your superior."

"You think that title means jack to me?"

Shiu ignores the attitude; he's used to taking shit from Toji for the better part of a decade now. "It should." Silence cuts in, and he leans down to pluck one of the thick bottles off the floor by its neck. Liquor sloshes around in the constraint of glass, and Shiu holds it up to the light and skims the label. "This is cheap shit."

Yeah, it was stupid cheap. Toji swiped it off the clearance rack at the gas station around the corner from his complex. They started tagging the alcohol, made it more difficult to steal, so he exclusively bought the least expensive liquor he could find. "Don't gotta be smooth. Don't gotta be much of anything, s'long as it fucks me up." He didn't drink rum on a Thursday at 3:42 pm for the taste.

Shiu hums, looking oddly unnerved. Still holding the bottle, he jerks it up in a slight gesture. "What's the occasion?" Followed by an awkward chuckle. Toji itches the base of his scalp, pushing down his bed hair.