Chapter Text
"Oi mentalist."
"Huh? What?"
"Aren't you too hot in that now?"
"Aw you think I'm hot?~"
"Gen."
"I can live with it, my dear, it's not really that bad," Gen mumbles as he tugs at the fuzzy collar of his coat in hardly disguised frustration. The temperature has changed enough for his winter wear to become irritating, nearly stifling, for thicker layers. He's trying to focus on starting his first batch of paper for the season, elated that he's been able to move back outside to his paper station behind the lab. A space that's organized to his liking where he isn't impeding Senku's lab work whatsoever but is still within reach should he be needed for anything.
The logical side of him says he should just take off his coat, Senku has already changed back to his usual attire even though there's still a mild chill in the air - although that chill doesn't exactly call for a coat as heavy as Gen's that's lined with warm furs. But the illogical side of him simply doesn't want to parade around in only his kimono. It's not like anyone else is around to see him, right now only Senku keeps him company, waiting for Kaseki to return from the village so they can make some adjustments to the car - the craftsman is in high demand now that the season is changing. And Senku has seen him in less plenty of times, and has literally seen him naked dozens of times - they bathe together, sleep together, live together. But it still nags at Gen. I suppose everyone has their hangups....
"Gen I fucking swear," Senku mutters, standing from the log bench and leaving around towards the front of the lab. Gen just assumes he's getting back to work, but only a few minutes later the scientist returns, carrying a bundle tucked under his arm that's wrapped in hide and tied with red twine. "Here."
"Oh? What's this?" Gen questions, setting down his tools and reaching to take the bundle when Senku practically thrusts it into his arms.
"Just open it," Senku says, picking at his ear sheepishly.
Gen feels the weight of the bundle in his hands, and he instantly knows what it is before he pulls off the twine holding the hide together, still finds himself smiling as it unflurs in his hands, revealing the vibrant purple he's all too familiar with. His first coat, the one Tsukasa had insisted Yuzuriha make for him, a bribe of sorts. Yet one he's still incredibly fond of. Gen remembers the night he nearly walked in on Senku trying to remove the sap stains, with Chrome hovering over his shoulder. Upon inspection, nary a stain remains. Whatever he had done had worked. "Oh Senku-chan!~"
"Stop suffering already," Senku huffs, hands on his hips and a light blush on his cheeks. "Just put it on."
"Aww, and it's not even my birthday.~"
"It's not like it's anything new, mentalist."
"Regardless," Gen chuckles, shedding his heavy winter coat and slipping into the other, immediately comforted by it's familiarity. "I really appreciate this, my love.~"
"Yea, yea, it's nothing," Senku says, but Gen doesn't miss the small smile of satisfaction on his face when he does a small twirl.
"Sure, sure.~"
"Get back to work, mentalist," Senku sighs, taking his leave with a noticeable pep in his step.
"Yes sir!~"
___
"So....when is your birthday?" Senku asks as they settle down for lunch behind the lab. He wasn't initially planning to actually ask, but the way Gen reacted to receiving his coat, well. It was pretty adorable, if he was willing to admit it. And it got him curious. So it's his turn to string the other along a little.
"Hm, you would know," Gen hums softly, blowing on his skewer before taking a bite of the boar.
"How the fuck would I know?" he laughs, shooting the mentalist a mild glare.
"You wrote it down already!" Gen replies smoothly, words that confuse him. When the hell did I write his birthday down? What-? "It was in the biography of my book too, but since you don't remember that, well! Too bad!~"
"Asshole," Senku simply mutters,
"What? A measly scientist can't figure out this mentalist's birthday? How sad!" Gen teases with a hearty laugh.
"Watch yourself, keep talking like that and you won't have a bed to sleep in tonight," Senku snaps back, hardly suppressing a chuckle.
"Aw, what a shame, that observatory sure is comfortable," Gen sings, winking at him. "I wonder who gave it to you?~"
"An annoying brat."
"Boo!"
They both burst into giggles, quickly dropping the subject, although it does sit on the back of his mind. Lunch is finished uneventfully, after which Senku goes back to finish some final details on the car. Kaseki is going to be occupied for the remainder of the day at the village, so Senku is on his own for now. Gen has gone back to working on his paper, and he doesn't have the heart to interrupt him when he looks so happy.
So Senku stays busy fine tuning the car. At this point he's simply making adjustments for aesthetics sake. He's not above making his inventions look interesting, at least to him. Senku didn't grow up a science fiction nerd for no reason. Granted, he always had people telling him he was enjoying it wrong for constantly nitpicking and criticizing inaccuracies, but that had always been part of the fun for him. That, and simply how cool everything looked. I feel like a kid with a model kit again, how exhilarating!
Senku is distracted painting a few designs onto the car, nothing fancy - he's no Yuzuriha - but it's plenty satisfying to him. Ink wasn't exactly the hardest thing around to make and it had been a good rainy spring day activity a while back, one he had roped Gen into until they had emerged covered in ink smears all over their faces and arms from an impromptu war that had broken out between them. He didn't really use it for diagrams since he couldn't erase that, but refining the recipe the villagers already had was enjoyable enough - not to mention that hearing Gen's squeals of glee was a prize all its own. The mentalist had immediately taken to doing some calligraphy in his own notebook.
And he had insisted on making an array of colors, not just black. So Senku has his options between brown, red, orange, yellow, green, and purple. No blue, that was a trickier color to make, but the rest were just as good. Senku finishes off his decorations with his signature in green, a caricature of himself that Yuzuriha had always found cute and Taiju and Byakuya teased him for. I miss them but....
"What, not gonna use any purple?" a voice speaks up from behind him, making him jump a little. When he looks over his shoulder, Gen grins down at him.
"It'll clash," Senku snickers, just to see the mentalist's reaction.
"I'll have you know purple and green are rather complimentary together!" Gen puffs, sticking his tongue out childishly, exactly what Senku was hoping for. Gen plucks the brush he had been using out of his hand, dips it into the purple container of ink, and adds a few flourishes around Senku's signature that resemble flower petals. "There, all better!~"
Senku can only laugh, amused at how easy the mentalist has become to read to him. Gen used to be a complete enigma, but now he can anticipate the others moves flawlessly. As if every time they had been in sync when they first met had been purely subconscious - falling into place in a way he didn't understand at all but felt like second nature - and now, after all this time, has risen to his conscious mind. Gen would probably find that poetic.
"What's with you and purple? I know it's your favorite color but you're kinda obsessed," Senku questions, pinching Gen's hand, making him drop the brush with a small yelp.
"You're that curious why it's urplepay?" Gen mumbles, rubbing the back of his hand with a pout.
"Please never say 'urplepay' ever again. I can deal with the rest of your pig latin but that," he says, punctuated with a glare. "No."
"Urplepay!~"
" Mentalist. "
I miss them, but I'm not alone.
____
"Hey Gen?"
"Hm?"
"You can drive, right?"
"I can do what now-" Gen startles, looking up from picking at his nails. He has no idea what Senku has been doing to the car besides decorating it, and Gen is out of tasks for the day, a fresh batch of paper already drying on the racks behind the lab.
"Cool, perfect."
"Wait wait wait, Senku-chan-" he stammers, waving his hands in front of himself as the scientist smirks at him.
"It was in your biography," Senku chuckles proudly.
"YOU?!" Gen shrieks, color rising to his cheeks. How did he pull a fast one on me?!
"You like long drives or whatever the fuck," Senku laughs, picking at his ear. "I'm assuming that means you're the one behind the wheel."
"You fucking liar!" Gen nearly barks, trailing behind his lover when the blonde turns to walk away.
"My, how uncharacteristically vulgar," Senku jabs, starting up the car.
"Oh you-!" Gen chirps, realizing the trap he's fallen into - more than once, it seems.
"So is it true, or just bullshit your publisher made up?" Senku questions with a raised brow.
"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret it if I answer honestly?" he pouts, shoulders slumping.
"Heh. That tells me all I need to know," the scientist says, gesturing for Gen to climb aboard.
"Wait, hold on!" Gen groans, realization setting in even as he reluctantly takes his position behind the steering. "Why did you ask about my birthday if you already knew?!"
"I might not be the type to talk about it, but you never shut up about yourself. Figured I'd try," Senku snickers.
"Rude!"
The test drive itself isn't necessarily awful, the car functions as it should, and part of Gen does somewhat miss how it felt to go on long drives, but the one thing he can absolutely do without is how shaky the vehicle is. He doesn't know if it's the car itself or the rough path - one Senku had had him map out all the way to the empire to ensure they had plenty of mostly flat land to work with - but it's agony on his joints and muscles. When Gen finally steps off the car for a short break, he's practically out of breath and his legs feel like jello.
"Senku-chan I don't know if I can fucking do this-!" he pants, almost falling to his knees before Senku catches him and holds him by the waist to steady him.
"So much cursing today, is it that bad?" Senku huffs, threading his free hand into Gen's with a small pout.
"Oh no, dear, it's perfectly fine! You know, minus the shaking that nearly knocked me fucking unconscious!" Gen replies rolling his eyes at the scientist.
"Don't you mean 'uckingfay'?"
"I hate you."
"You love me," Senku sighs sweetly. "Is your ankle okay?"
"Huh? Oh, I think so," Gen answers, flexing it a bit to test his footing. It had healed well overall, just a bit weak still.
"Good. Come on, we still have some daylight, let's go to the river."
"This again?"
"Practice makes perfect!"
Senku had fully recognized he was a poor swimmer some months ago, and had insisted on practicing holding his breath underwater after they fell in the river. Something about never being too careful. At least he didn't ask me for full on swimming lessons. All the scientist had wanted of Gen was to time him and stay nearby for safety, something about being Senku's lifeguard, which wasn't all that hard. They had stopped once it was too cold out, but now that spring was here he had wanted to get back to it. Granted, with how busy they were, getting ready for war and all that, time for this was scarce.
This practice run is pretty uneventful, Senku manages to beat his previous time by nearly two seconds, but otherwise it's the same as usual. Gen stands with his feet right at the edge of the water, extending a hand out to help Senku out of the river and up the riverbank. He shed his coat to keep it from getting wet but otherwise didn't see a reason to undress further. Only when the blonde takes it, he pauses for a moment.
"Hey Gen?"
"What?"
Senku doesn't wait for a reply. Just smirks and leans low enough in the water to splash Gen with his free hand. He recoils, the cool water startling him. "Hey-!"
"What, no more swearing?" Senku laughs, a full sound that washes away the spike of irritation Gen feels.
"Senku-chan is so childish today!" Gen exclaims, pushing his wet bangs behind his ear. Pauses when he catches a hint of red on the other's face, feels Senku's hand tense in his if only for a moment. Ah. "You find me attractive."
"I what-"
"I noticed it when I first arrived. I teased you about staring at me," Gen smirks, delighted at how Senku's teasing had backfired on him. "Remember? When I first undressed in front of you.~"
"Oh-"
"Aesthetic attraction is a thing, you know," Gen presses on despite the deep rosy blush that so obviously rises to Senku's skin, leaning in ever so slowly into the other's personal space. "It's not sexual in nature. You simply find me visually appealing. Like the way one would with a painting or a sculpture.~"
"You're no sculpture, Gen. You're too real for that," Senku replies without hesitation, seemingly not realizing his own words until they're already out.
"I- Senku-chan-!" Gen stammers, captured in his own trap.
"Uh-"
Gen surges forward and kisses him to shut him up, pleased when the startled sound Senku makes turns into a pleasant sigh. You'll be the death of me, I swear-!