Expect the Unexpected [Oneshot]

[h_itoshi]

Title: Expect the Unexpected
Fandom: Sexy Zone
Pairing: Sou/Marius
Rating: PG-15
Wordcount: 3900
Warnings: AU, underage (if this goes as it)
Summary: Sou wonders where the other passengers around him are going, considers who they could be since looking at people is about all he can do to entertain himself right now.

Notes: Look at me ticking off the therapy fics. I should start having these "time passed since idea: 9 years" and "time passed since fic was started: 6 months" since I take so long with some things lol. I've had the idea of people meeting on a delayed train since I first travelled far on my own by train and there was all the troubles there could be, and a foreign guy leaned over to ask the girl next to him what was said, and they ended up talking the remaning 3 hours. And. These two felt good for it.
I also wanted to write something a bit carefree, since it's pretty much out of my comfort zone lol.
(And I know I know, you can't write anything past G about Marius, but boy's 17 in two weeks, this should be okay.)

The rain hammers against the windows, the clouds keeping the sky so dark you can't see out. The only thing to see is the reflection of the train car and Sou's trying not to sit staring at himself and look stupid, but there's not much else to do.

Long train rides are a pain as they are, but when you sit down just to realize your earphones stopped working, it's more similar to torture.

Especially when the train is going at a third of its intended speed due to the terrible weather and they're already 20 minutes late.

He sighs and strokes a strand of hair away from his forehead, before changing his mind and brings it back after an accidental look in the makeshift mirror that is the window.

He's going home to Tokyo after an amazing week with friends, and even though he's had a great time there, he just can't wait to get home and sleep in his own bed and use his own shower and sleep until noon just because he can.

He wonders where the other passengers around him are going, if they're going home or away and in what business, considers who they could be since looking at people is about all he can do to entertain himself right now. He looks at his fellow passengers through the safety of the window, not wanting to be caught staring. Opposite him there's a man in a suit, sleeping. He looks roughly 40, and he's not very much imagination material. Probably a business trip, and Sou envies how he's sleeping so soundly, completely unaware of storms and delays.

The boy next to him is much more interesting. He's pretty, probably in his late teens, tall and foreign looking. He has this kind of aura of doing things his own way, taking his shoes off once he sat down and now sits cross-legged in his seat with headphones on and a book in a foreign language in his lap. His hair is brown, probably its natural colour, and his face is definitely not Japanese, most likely not even entirely Asian. Sou glances at his book and wonders what language it is, because it's not English and he can't make out the phonetics of the words even when he tries to read them in his head.

The boy is wearing a wine red jersey shirt with long sleeves and some text on it, and over his shoulders there's a black piece of clothing that looks like a fusion between jacket and cardigan, in that kind of woolly fabric that smells weird when it gets wet. He's wearing jewellery too, a few silver necklaces and two bracelets that look delicate without being too girly, and Sou can't help but think that jewellery like that on a boy isn't very common.

There's a crackle in the speakers suddenly, and Sou looks up to realize that the train has stopped and his heart immediately sinks.

“We apologize for the delay. We are now stopping at a stop signal and we'll inform you as soon as we know when we can move on.”

The somewhat muffled voice says and Sou almost groans out loud. But he's distracted by movement next to him and sees the boy remove his headphones with a slightly sheepish expression.

“Excuse me.” He says, looking at Sou, his voice as delicate as he looks. “What was that they said? I missed it.”

“That we're stopping and they don't know why or for how long, basically.” Sou explains, shrugging, thinking the boy will return to his music, but he doesn't.

He doesn't even say thank you, he just looks at Sou unashamedly for a moment, before smiling softly. “We'll be really late huh?”

“I suppose.” Sou agrees with a sigh. “I really wanted to just get home.”

“Oh, do you live in Tokyo?” The boy asks, closing his book and he looks genuinely interested.

“Yeah, I do.” Sou confirms, not too sure what he gives away with that, but he doesn't mind talking. Especially not to this boy.

“Maybe you could recommend me somewhere to stay? My friend cancelled on me.” The boy smiles excitedly, like there's no problem with that, and Sou frowns for a moment, wondering how he can say that so light-heartedly.

“I... Maybe? That depends on where you're going?” He tries, wondering if this conversation isn't making sense or if he's too busy trying to figure out the boy's expression to understand it.

“Oh that doesn't matter.” He says with a small smile, and Sou frowns again.

“Don't you know?” He asks, and the boy laughs and shakes his head like Sou's being funny.

“Nah, I'll just go and work things out when I'm there.”

“... Huh.” Is all Sou gets out, because he could never do that himself. Go somewhere and not even know if he'd have somewhere to sleep for the night. “Where are you from?”

“Germany.” The boy says, and the answer is not what Sou expected at all even though he just spent a while pondering what country he could belong to.

“You're very good at Japanese for being foreign.” He points out before he can help himself, knowing it's the standard line to say to a foreigner, along with something about if they can eat with chopsticks.

“Thanks. I still mess up sometimes even if my mother is Japanese.” He smiles, then changes to an assuring tone. “So if I come off rude, I don't mean to, I just... Polite speaking is difficult.”

“It is.” Sou agrees with a smile of his own. “Isn't there polite speaking in German?”

“There is, but not on all the levels you have here.” The boy sighs and he gets this hopeless facial expression that's kind of cute. “I'm Marius, by the way.”

“... I'm Sou.” He replies and he can feel the smile of irony tugging at his lips that they were just discussing politeness and then he introduces himself with just a first name. Not that he cares, really. Formalities are boring.

“Pleasure to meet you.” Marius smiles, and there's something about the way he looks at him that makes Sou feel a little exposed. Like Marius sees something he finds funny but Sou has no idea what that could be. “Are you a student or something?”

“Just graduated high school, so no, not right now.” Sou shrugs, turning a little in his seat to get more comfortable. “You?”

“Yeah.” Marius nods. “But there's holidays now, so I'm doing everything besides study right now.”

“Like getting lost in Tokyo?” Sou suggests with a raised eyebrow because he can't help himself, but Marius just laughs, turning to face him as well.

“Exactly. It's nice, not knowing where you're going or who you're going to meet.” He explains, like he can tell Sou doesn't understand, and the way he says it sounds almost promising, and it has Sou feeling like a pretty boring person suddenly. Which isn't something he normally considers himself being. “Do you like travelling?”

“... I do.” Sou says, but he's not quite sure how to go on. “I guess I'm just a bit more of a planner than you are. I'd probably get nervous not knowing where I was heading or when I'd come back or anything.”

“It's freeing, really.” Marius says, eyes glittering like he's sharing a secret. “If the goal is to meet new people and see new places, then there's nothing to worry about, right? Do you worry a lot?”

“No, not usually.” Sou admits after a moment of surprise at the question. “I'm usually pretty spontaneous, but not to that extent I guess.”

“Tell me about yourself.” Marius asks, settling more comfortably in his seat, leaning his head against the backrest as he looks at Sou with expecting eyes.

And Sou finds himself doing so, talking about things that he'd normally never mention to a stranger, things about his childhood and what his friends are like and what he wants to do in the future. Marius talks about himself too, and Sou listens with more interest than he usually has for other people, talks about his life in Germany and his family being spread over two countries and how travelling has always been the best part of his life. He talks about places he's been, about London and New York and Moscow and other great cities Sou hasn't even seriously considered visiting since they seem so far away. It's interesting and a little frustrating at the same time, because he feels like he's been missing out on something fantastic just sitting at home in Tokyo and doing life the way he's expected to.

Another thing he notices is that Marius doesn't appear to have the same idea of personal space as most people, leaning close to show some picture on his phone and rests a hand on Sou's shoulder, even fixes a strand of his hair for him. It's surprising, but it's also somehow refreshing since Sou's so used to the customs that are normal to him, where even friends usually ask before touching each other.

He smells really good, Sou can tell from this close distance, some kind of fragrance that he wouldn't pinpoint as male but probably not female either, rather something in between, but he doesn't care because it's appealing.

They end up talking all the way to Tokyo, where they arrive a splendid 50 minutes late, but at least they get there and Sou figures he should be grateful for that.

A small part of him even feels a little sad that they've arrived because that means the conversation is over.

“Not much to see, is it?” Marius comments as he looks out the window while lacing up his shoes.

“Not here no.” Sou agrees with a smile and stretches a little as he rises, since they're at the train station and it's not that representative of Tokyo as a culture city.

“Still, no train station looks the same huh?” Marius smiles and stands as well, and Sou's eyebrows rise as he pauses in the motion of picking up his bag.

“Holy shit you're tall.” He says before he can think, but Marius just shrugs with a small laugh, like he gets that a lot, but Sou can't stop staring because he must be at least 15 centimetres taller than him.

“I'm foreign.” Marius says almost playfully as an excuse, and Sou rolls his eyes, wondering if he should apologize for his words but figures Marius would probably just laugh at him.

They get off the train in silence, and Sou's not too keen on saying goodbye just yet anyway.

“So where should I be heading?” Marius asks after a moment as they start passing signs to connecting platforms, his voice cheerful but he looks at Sou way too pointedly, and Sou hears words come out of his mouth before he realizes what he's saying.

“I guess you could stay at my place for tonight if you want to? It's pretty late after all.” The last part is a conscious excuse, making his offer sound more valid, but Marius doesn't seem to listen that far anyway.

“Really? That's so sweet of you, thanks!” He exclaims with a grin, wrapping an arm around Sou's shoulders and squeezing him tight for a moment in a half hug as thanks, and Sou laughs, not sure if it's from nerves or embarrassment but he's okay with either.

Marius keeps talking as Sou guides him through trains and eventually streets to his apartment building, and even though nothing about this feels awkward exactly, Sou still finds himself strangely tense.

Marius seems to pick up on it, because when Sou unlocks his door he suddenly speaks after a while of silence. “Are you nervous? I'm not dangerous, I promise.”

Sou laughs a little, mostly embarrassed to get found out, but holds the door open for Marius to step inside. “I don't expect you to be. I just don't usually let strangers sleep over.”

“Well, there's a first time for everything, right?” Marius smiles, then steps inside before Sou. “Ohh, cosy.”

Small, is the word Sou would use, but he's just moved here and he can't afford much more. At least it's personal, with posters and pictures on the walls and not all standard furniture. It feels good to be home no matter what.

“I have nothing to offer unfortunately, except maybe tea, I haven't been home for a week.” He says, but Marius just shrugs off his backpack and kicks off his shoes to step right inside the living- slash bedroom to look at the pictures on the wall.

“Oh, tea sounds great. Is this you and your friends?”

“Yeah, those are my high school friends.” Sou replies, not sure if he's uncomfortable with Marius looking at them so intently or not.

He opts for the easier alternative while setting his bag down next to the bed.

“You're all really cute.” Marius says, and Sou raises an eyebrow but can't help his small laugh.

“Thanks, I guess.” He says, not sure what else to say. “I'll just change clothes and then I'll make tea.”

“Okay.” Marius turns back to smile, and Sou can almost feel his eyes on him as he heads for his drawers to pull out clean sweatpants and a T-shirt, and it feels a little odd but not too much.

He could probably change right here, but somehow it feels better doing it in the bathroom, so Sou digs up his bathroom things from his packing and heads for the bathroom after telling Marius to make himself at home.

When he returns, Marius is wearing pyjamas pants and no jewellery but the same shirt, sitting cross-legged on Sou's bed and doing something on his phone, but he looks up when Sou comes back. “I thought of making tea, but then realized it might be rude to go through your cupboards.”

He says, and it makes Sou laugh as he heads for the tiny kitchen and Marius rises to follow him. “I did tell you to make yourself at home.”

“Well that's true, but people normally don't mean that, do they?” Marius asks, and Sou glances at him over his shoulder, a little surprised at the comment.

“Maybe not.” He agrees just to agree, but gets himself busy making tea, and Marius doesn't elaborate.

He's just standing there, which Sou gets very aware of when he's turning around to get tea from the cupboard Marius is standing before.

“Excuse me.” Sou says lightly as he reaches past him for the doorknob, but Marius doesn't move away, just looks at Sou from a really close distance with a small smile.

“No worries.” He says, an amused glint in his eyes and the close proximity should make Sou a little uncomfortable but it doesn't.

He even manages to smile back when leaning forward to pick out the tea package, even though their faces are just a couple inches apart. Marius has really long eyelashes, Sou can't help but notice.

When he turns his back to Marius in order to dose the tea properly in their mugs, he feels his cheeks heating up almost as an afterthought and he wonders what just happened in his body.

“Do you have a girlfriend Sou-chan?” Marius asks suddenly, and Sou glances over his shoulder against his better judgement, meeting a tilted head and a cute questioning smile.

“Not right now.” Sou admits nonchalantly, and he knows it sounds like he's had a few even though there really only was Emi during 4 months of high school.

“Really? You're so pretty though, you must be popular.” Marius says, and it sounds so innocent even though the words aren't exactly.

Sou manages a small laugh, before turning around and handing Marius his tea mug. “Why do you ask?”

Marius just shrugs with a smile like there's no big deal, but the look he gives Sou under lashes as he sips his tea says differently and Sou almost wants to shift where he stands, but not in a bad way.

“Let's go sit down.” Sou suggests, because it feels stupid just standing here in his tiny kitchen watching each other.

He doesn't have a couch, but the bed serves as it and it feels nice sitting down on his own bed, finally. Marius has no qualms joining him, scooting up enough to be able to lean his back against the wall and looks around the room some before finally settling on watching Sou drink his tea.

“Do you have a boyfriend then?” Marius asks just as naturally as he'd asked about the girlfriend, and Sou feels like he should have expected it but he still almost coughs up his tea when his head whips around to stare at Marius.

But Marius' expression doesn't change, he just raises an eyebrow as he waits for his answer with a smile.

“... No.” Sou says finally, but the little rise at the end of that word could almost put a question mark behind it, which Marius seems to hear.

“Ever had one?” He asks, not bothering to hide the teasing grin as he raises the mug to his lips and sips more tea.

“... No. Not really.” It takes Sou longer to answer that question than it should, because he has never had a boyfriend. But there's been drinking games and he's done a few things with boys that straight men shouldn't have, and there have been some friends where the boycrush might not have been just that. He's just never thought about it like that, to make things easier.

Marius just hums as response, seemingly watching Sou's band posters with mild interest, and it's surprisingly frustrating that he doesn't follow through.

“... Why do you ask?” Sou finally asks, again, going for casual but his voice comes out a little tense.

“Oh.” Marius smiles like he completely forgot to elaborate on that. “I think you're really cute, and I kind of want to kiss you.”

Sou blinks once, then twice, clearly not capable of processing that statement. He can't think of anyone who told him they wanted to kiss him before, especially not a stranger who's also a boy.

He wants to ask if Marius is joking, but he's pretty sure he's not.

“You... Want to kiss me?” He ends up asking in disbelief, almost spilling his tea all over his lap since he forgets to properly hold the mug.

“Mmhm.” Marius agrees with a nod. “Like I said, you're cute. Doesn't mean that I will kiss you, don't worry.”

Sou doesn't know what to answer, because he doesn't even know what he's feeling about that. He wonders if that was Marius' intention from the start, or if he did something to induce those feelings. There's also a thought of how Marius is pretty cute himself, long eyelashes and brown hair, and Sou finds himself disappointed that he won't be kissed after all.

He hesitates for another second, thinking that he's never kissed a stranger before, and it's been a while since he kissed at all, ridiculous thoughts like what if he can't remember how to do it making a visit in his head before he shakes them and just decides. He wanted to be more spontaneous, didn't he?

“What if I say that you can?” He asks, taking pride in how confident he sounds.

The smile spreading on Marius' lips tells Sou exactly how pleased he is to hear that, and it's obvious that Sou is playing right into his hands, but it doesn't bother him that much.

“Then I will. Gladly.” Marius says, still smiling while watching him intently, like he's looking for any sign of discomfort and leans to the side to slowly set his tea down.

Sou wants to bite his lip or shift or something, but more out of anticipation than discomfort, and ends up using the excuse to put his tea cup down on the table to move a little, then leans back on his hands to meet Marius' eyes.

When nothing happens for a couple seconds, he raises an eyebrow pointedly, wondering what's going on, but it makes Marius laugh.

Marius leans close slowly, smiling almost mischievously as he crawls right into Sou's personal space, and that somehow makes this more thrilling than it should be, makes Sou's breath speed up a little before Marius even presses their lips together.

It's a surprisingly soft kiss, lips gently meeting lips and it feels so good. That androgynous perfume is all around him and Marius' kiss tastes like green chai and excitement, and Sou finds himself more lost in this kiss than what can be good.

The first soft kiss turns into another, then another, all as soft and mind melting, and when Marius' hand comes up to cup his cheek and a tongue licks at the seam of his lips in gentle prodding, Sou's arms finally give out.

Marius laughs softly into the kiss as Sou falls backwards onto the soft mattress and Marius tumbles after, but the smile fades from his lips as their kiss deepens.

It feels really good, Sou must admit, this almost lazy making out with no real goal or any previously involved feelings. Marius is a good kisser, knows exactly what to do with his tongue and his small puffs of breath are strangely hot, which eventually leads to Sou's body starting to react to the situation it's in.

Marius seems to expect it if the smile Sou feels against his lips is anything to go by as a thigh brushes his not fully developed but still noticeable erection, as fingertips come up to skim along the waistband of his pants.

“Can I?” Marius asks in a breath between kisses, and Sou nods before Marius' lips are back on his, distracting him completely.

It's mostly a blur of heat and quick breathing and blush, of encouraging soft sounds and hands slipping under clothes at awkward angles, but it works and it's so good.

It's not until afterwards, when Sou's catching his breath with an uncomfortably cooling substance on his stomach and Marius' head resting on his shoulder that he realizes what he just did with a complete stranger. Still, he can't find the energy to care, only glances down at Marius' satisfied look and pink cheeks and he has to smile.

“What?” Marius asks, slowly withdrawing enough for their eyes to meet, but his tone is teasing.

“This is so weird.” Sou admits with a small laugh. “Not how I expected my night to turn out.”

“Happy to surprise.” Marius smiles, and Sou leans in to kiss him quiet before he starts saying strange things again.

Marius ends up staying four more nights. And still, Sou doesn't feel too bad when he's finally leaving, only smiles and kisses him and promises to text him after they exchanged numbers.

Now he's finally got a reason to travel across the world, after all.

~*~