[Matoba grumbles. The last thing he needs to deal with tonight is another all-nighter of politics, half covered in blood, and another ruined yukata. In fact, he was going to strangle Ryouma if this led to another assassination. He's deciding it. He'll just take power his damn self.]
[...While he's distracted in his worse-case-scenario power fantasies, he doesn't even notice how close Natori is until he feels the brush against his hand, and then the warmth of fingers interlocking. Blinking once, his head turns- Natori is on his left, as is customary, so it hardly takes much for their eyes to meet, his own lightly baffled.]
[How long has it been since he saw such an open gaze from him? Long enough he can barely remember, he thinks, but he's too distracted to put the thought into it. He can feel the other man's breath against his bottom lip, and his own almost quivers.]
1/2
[Matoba grumbles. The last thing he needs to deal with tonight is another all-nighter of politics, half covered in blood, and another ruined yukata. In fact, he was going to strangle Ryouma if this led to another assassination. He's deciding it. He'll just take power his damn self.]
[...While he's distracted in his worse-case-scenario power fantasies, he doesn't even notice how close Natori is until he feels the brush against his hand, and then the warmth of fingers interlocking. Blinking once, his head turns- Natori is on his left, as is customary, so it hardly takes much for their eyes to meet, his own lightly baffled.]
[How long has it been since he saw such an open gaze from him? Long enough he can barely remember, he thinks, but he's too distracted to put the thought into it. He can feel the other man's breath against his bottom lip, and his own almost quivers.]