Kaidou stands in the doorway of the workroom. Inui, completely absorbed in his research, doesn't even notice him. Kaidou clears his throat.
"Inui, dinner," he says gruffly.
"Hmm?" Inui asks absently, fingers flying over his tablet to send new data up to the wall screens. "Not now; maybe later."
"You need a break. You've been working for almost seventy-two hours straight."
"I'm fine," Inui says without looking up. "I've almost got it. Just a little longer and I'm sure I'll crack it."
"You're running yourself into the ground again, Inui. It'll still be there later, or do you need me to shove a jammer into your ports again?"
Inui freezes. "What!?" he sputters. "Absolutely n--" His protest is cut short when his knees threaten to buckle under him and he has to lean against his worktable, as if the momentary pause was enough to his body's needs to finally catch up to him.
"Actually," he says slowly, "that might not be such a bad idea."
Kaidou has the jammer out of his pocket and in his hand almost before Inui finished speaking, but Inui catches his hand. "Eight hours," he says as he locks his screens. "No more."
Kaidou takes a breath to argue, but Inui's glasses flash, and the words die on his lips.
"Eight hours," he agrees.
"Keep me company?"
It's framed as a question, but the command under it is clear. The silence stretches on just a moment too long before Kaidou nods.
Inui releases Kaidou's wrist and bows his head, exposing the data ports on the back of his neck. He stiffens as the jammer slides into its port, then falls limp into Kaidou's arms
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later, once Inui is laid out on the couch, Kaidou begins hooking himself into a VR rig, moving with the hesitancy of one who is deeply familiar with the technology, but wary of it nonetheless. He freezes when the suit begins unrolling on its own, holding his breath until it finally settles into place.
He cradles Inui's head in his lap and braces for the electric jolt that always comes with direct linking as he plugs the connectors of his suit directly into the matching ports on Inui's neck.
Inui's mindscape is usually full of sharp angles, rushing data, and little else. With the jammer in place, everything has slowed to a crawl, and the data wavers as if hidden behind a curtain of water.
The space in front of him ripples as a roughly human shape takes form.
"You came," Inui says slowly, his voice slurred by the effects of the jammer.
Prince of Tennis, Inui/Kaidou, T
"Inui, dinner," he says gruffly.
"Hmm?" Inui asks absently, fingers flying over his tablet to send new data up to the wall screens. "Not now; maybe later."
"You need a break. You've been working for almost seventy-two hours straight."
"I'm fine," Inui says without looking up. "I've almost got it. Just a little longer and I'm sure I'll crack it."
"You're running yourself into the ground again, Inui. It'll still be there later, or do you need me to shove a jammer into your ports again?"
Inui freezes. "What!?" he sputters. "Absolutely n--" His protest is cut short when his knees threaten to buckle under him and he has to lean against his worktable, as if the momentary pause was enough to his body's needs to finally catch up to him.
"Actually," he says slowly, "that might not be such a bad idea."
Kaidou has the jammer out of his pocket and in his hand almost before Inui finished speaking, but Inui catches his hand. "Eight hours," he says as he locks his screens. "No more."
Kaidou takes a breath to argue, but Inui's glasses flash, and the words die on his lips.
"Eight hours," he agrees.
"Keep me company?"
It's framed as a question, but the command under it is clear. The silence stretches on just a moment too long before Kaidou nods.
Inui releases Kaidou's wrist and bows his head, exposing the data ports on the back of his neck. He stiffens as the jammer slides into its port, then falls limp into Kaidou's arms
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later, once Inui is laid out on the couch, Kaidou begins hooking himself into a VR rig, moving with the hesitancy of one who is deeply familiar with the technology, but wary of it nonetheless. He freezes when the suit begins unrolling on its own, holding his breath until it finally settles into place.
He cradles Inui's head in his lap and braces for the electric jolt that always comes with direct linking as he plugs the connectors of his suit directly into the matching ports on Inui's neck.
Inui's mindscape is usually full of sharp angles, rushing data, and little else. With the jammer in place, everything has slowed to a crawl, and the data wavers as if hidden behind a curtain of water.
The space in front of him ripples as a roughly human shape takes form.
"You came," Inui says slowly, his voice slurred by the effects of the jammer.