Kick, Push

Competition Day: +7

Riding the metro was never a good idea first thing in the morning, no matter where you were in the world. So riding the Tokyo metro at 9AM was basically a death wish. If it weren't for the look of pure elation at getting to try out these hipster pancakes that Liam gave him when they met in the hallway that morning, Zayn would've told him to get lost when he heard what time they were supposed to board the train to Harajuku.

As a kid, Zayn would hide in between the clothing racks whenever his Mum made him go shopping, sometimes to escape having to try something on, other times just to get away from all the busyness going on in the aisles. He'd take his gameboy and sit in the throngs of linen circled around him until his Mum called out his name. Being sardined in the carriage felt a lot like those instances, except the suits were filled with real bodies and no comfort was to be had by the nonexistent privacy. Really, the only upside was that one of those bodies was Liam's. It afforded Zayn the luxury of not having to come up with an excuse to feel the defined body, though he was still trying to come up with a way to see it uncovered.

After having survived the masses, Zayn finds himself standing in front of a glass pane inside of the pancake restaurant, watching as a worker flips the wobbling stacks on the griddle.

"Remind me again why this was on your list?" He asks as they wait for the next table to be cleared off.

When Liam takes out his phone to film the next golden brown mass be turned over, Zayn nearly grabs the device out of his hand in protest. "The city's known for having quirky food," Liam states as he tries to get the right angle, "and I don't think there's a single place in London that serves these."

Zayn does agree with him about the quirky food, thinking back to the afternoon before when they had gone out to get Liam one of those taiyaki desserts that he wanted to try so badly. "No robot cafe then?" He teases, even though he wouldn't put it past Liam to want to go.

"I'd rather see a sumo match," the man replies, replaying his video to make sure that it was good enough to save.

A waitress comes to take them to their seats, and as she does, Zayn can tell that by the look on Liam's face, he still hasn't managed to get tickets to a match with the amount of tourists in town.

They're not even sat down yet before Liam points to the picture of what he wants. His eagerness makes Zayn shake his head, but he quickly changes to nodding for the waitress to know that he meant he'd be having the same thing, to disregard his shakes.

"Wish they had the sugar count on this thing," Zayn says as he looks over the advertisement on the table for the famous pancakes, completely comfortable in his seat.

Liam glances at the laminated card from across the small corner table, "I can almost guarantee it's not within your daily limit."

"Good thing you're not in charge of my nutrition," Zayn converses, standing the ad back up on the edge of the table. "Then you'd actually get fired."

"One splurge will be alright." Leaning back in his seat, Liam's joints crack, causing Zayn to wince. "Where's practice for you today?"

"Venue I think," he replies, trying not to stare at the other's left short sleeve that's halfway folded.

Liam looks down and sees what Zayn's transfixed by, correcting the material so that it's not wrinkled once he notices the crease. "Can I come watch?"

Relieved by the small correction, Zayn glances up to Liam's eyes. "You don't need to ask," he responds with perplexity.

The physio shrugs, "Just wanted to cover my bases."

It's remarkable how Liam knows how to simplistically handle certain topics, and when to lay off others. Zayn likes that he has the ability to sense boundaries and only push the touchy ones briefly. You can't teach a person a skill like that.