writetomyheart | [Team 1] made myself a home in your arms

~450 words of g-rated pre-renga sk8 fic before Langa goes on vacation to Canada

Reki takes it. He always has. Every insult, every jab, every punch to the gut, he just takes it. He always has.

He’ll take anything anyone wants to throw at him. Sometimes he’ll fight back, takes those sticks they throw at him and use them as swords. Or sometimes he’ll roll with the punches, always coming back with a smile.

Yeah, Reki’s a bit of a taker. He’ll take things on, from bullies to responsibilities— sometimes its more than his shoulders could bare. But he could take it!

However, he wasn’t used to people giving him things.

“Are you sure, man?” Reki held up the large sweatshirt. It was a little different than what he usually wore— Bright white with the word “Roots” emblazoned on it in bold red, a small maple leaf placed just above the words. Distantly, Reki kinda remembered the leaf being a Canadien thing. “It looks like it’s never been worn…”

“Ah well,”Langa blushed. “That’s cause it hasn’t been. It was small when someone gave it to me, and I thought you might—”

“I love it,” Reki insisted, already taking the sweatshirt he was wearing off, shivering a little as the cold air from the a/c hit his bare skin, and he quickly slid the new one on. Once his head popped through the hole, he saw Langa looking away, his blush darkening even further.

What was up with that?

“Well, what do you think?”

Langa looked back, a small grin overcoming his face. “You look… good. Maybe on my trip I can get you a few more Roots sweatshirts…”

“Don’t go out of your way,” Reki protested, though only a little seriously. He already disliked the thought of Langa leaving, but Langa talked about bringing gifts back…

Well, it meant that Langa would be coming back.

“Oh… I’ll have to ask mom if we’ll be able to bring back syrup too. You can try it!”

“They have syrup at the store dude.”

“Not proper syrup.”

Reki hid a laugh behind his hand. Who knew Langa was such a syrup snob?

“No laughing,” Langa grumbled. “Or else you’ll get no gifts.”

Grinning, Reki nudged his shoulder against Langa’s. “You don’t have to get me anything dude. Just... “

He trailed off with a blush and Langa turned to look in concern.

“Just… come back okay?”

Langa offered a small smile and nudged Reki back before drawing him into a tight hug. Reki didn’t even know what he was missing until Langa had hugged him that first time, after the race. Now there was no place else he’d rather be.

“Of course I’ll be back,” Langa promised, “there’s no place like home, eh?”

You're up

knittenkitten! Your words are "Of course I'll be back," Langa promised, "there's no place like home, eh?"