Work Text
Lance hated numbers, but he loved Japan. Every morning when he woke up to go to the train station all he could see in his mind’s eye were numbers. A five here, a two there, a million over there, he was in serious need of something else to cross his mind every morning.
He was given the opportunity to work in Japan with accounting. He was good with numbers, very good with numbers; hence the hate. So he said yes. Now every morning during the horrible rushes people could only imagine unless they had ever been to Japan, had become his reality.
One morning he woke up late. He had to put on the first suit that was available. It wasn’t pressed, the shirt was wrinkly, his tie was tied on wrong, but he had to leave now. Punctuality was important to the Japanese and no was was any one going to think of him as a baka gaijin, he belonged here just like any other local.
Shinjuku station was packed as usual when he trotted his way to his train. Cellphone at the ready with his Suica card, the machine beeped, his legs still in a hasty trot. He glanced a blue gaze to his watch, noticing that he was only ten minutes late and could still make it to work on time if he reached the next train. He felt lucky when there were hardly any people in line to get on the number 7 car train that morning. He fell in line with the locals, still gazing at his watch hoping that time would still for only a couple minutes.
The familiar tune sounded from the speakers, his train coming in quick. He still stood by the number 7, the only number he really liked for no reason in particular he just like how it looked. He released a sigh when he noticed how empty the car was, maybe he should try taking this train every morning instead of the one that goes fifteen minutes before, that train was always nightmare. He shook his head while he waited for the doors to ding open.
He hated sitting down on the trains. He knew how much women hated man spreading, and with his long ass legs he had to man spread, so he always chose to stand. The handle he always occupied was free so he darted his way to it when the doors opened and the locals and tourists had made their way out. His paper was ready to be read, resting gently in his armpit.
The next stop is Shin-Okubu, the doors will open on the right side. The lady from the speaker announced in both Japanese and English. Lance payed little attention to the announcements, since his stop was Tokyo Station, which was still a little ways to go from the Yamanote line. He found his paper, opened it then bend it so that he could hold it with one hand, the other gripping the handle tightly.
As he remembered this morning he was late, so a lot of the people on this train had no familiar faces, something he was always able to notice taking the exact same train every morning. His eyes diverted from his paper, taking in the new residents of car number 7 fifteen minutes in the future. No one of interest per say, although the train had just stopped at Shin-Okubu and new people were pouring in to find a place to sit or stand.
He the noticed a man who looked like the locals but stood out at the same time. Was it his face? His clothes? His eyes? Lance had to move his eyes around so that the man didn’t catch his stalker stare. He didn’t want to scare the man away, but he just couldn’t look away.
Raven black hair resting gently on his shoulders, almost like a mullet. Who wore mullets today, but this man was made for the hairdo, Lance thought. A pale complextion, but those eyes. They twinkled a dark gray coal color in the light, but Lance was sure he saw specks of violet peeking through when his gaze could catch it.
The man was wearing a gray blazer with gray slacks and a white collared shirt beneath it. Almost like he worked at a museum or something. Lance felt intrigued. He kept his gaze on his paper, pretending to read the kanji symbols printed, but his gaze kept on concentrating on the interesting man. He didn’t know anything about him, but that didn’t stop Lance from staring. He felt like taking the same train tomorrow just to see if he were on it again.
Ueno, Ueno. The lady announced, and Lance noticed that the man was suddenly gone. A sinking feeling plunging in his gut. He’s try again tomorrow, if he wasn’t late for work today.
He was back. The man with the raven black hair came back, and on the exact same train. Maybe he was a person of habit, someone who liked consistency that worked. Lance nodded to himself, gripping on the same handle he did every morning, trying to read today’s paper about the world, but all he could focus on was how good the man was looking with his hair up in a low pony tail. Was it allowed to look that good in a pony tail, how was that possible. Lance’s nostrils flared, wishing he had the guts to make contact with the man, but he knew the conventions of Japan.
Talking on the train was alright, but still somewhat frowned upon, and if a foreigner like Lance wanted to be accepted by their society he would not stretch to any lengths to be seen as one. He loved the Japanese and wanted to respect their culture. All he could do was stare, hoping tomorrow would promise the raven haired man again.
It had gone almost a week, and Lance woke up fifteen minutes later every single morning. A bold choice on his end, since yesterday he wounded up being two minutes late, but it was worth it because his raven haired man came back as always, this time wearing a bright toothy smile that melted all of Lance’s insides, except that was all he could think about and it made him forget about his stop.
Today would be the day. He wanted to make contact with the man. He looked single. No ring on any of his fingers. He tried to look at his phone once to see if he had a sweet heart he was texting, and he tried to see if any of his keychains had any pictures. Nada. So today would be the day. Too bad there were too many people on today’s train.
It was a Friday. The worst day for the morning rush. Everyone one was ready for the weekend and for some reason they all had to take the train at the same time Lance wanted to take the train. Couldn’t guy just have one morning, one single morning where he finally manned up to make contact, and not have that many people on it to ruin his drive.
The raven haired man found a the handle next to Lance’s. Lance hadn’t had the time to catch his handle yet because there were too many people bunching up by his handle. He tried to make his way to it, but again, the crowd. When the next stop came, more people spilled in causing Lance to be squished up into someone. He rolled his eyes at how cramped it was, then met a beautiful stare. Him, he was looking directly at him. What should he do, this was his chance, make contact, do it now. But he chickened out, moving his gaze away.
The next stop was Ueno, and Lance knew that was the raven haired man’s stop. He really wanted to make some form of contact before the weekend. He knew he couldn’t wait until Monday again to see him. Just clap on the shoulder or a tap on his phone if he was looking at a funny meme or something.
His hand grasp the familiar handle, feeling safe. He jutted his hip to the side, feeling like a moron and a coward, and found his paper. This time he really did read the paper, not thinking about the beautiful man standing next to him. It was no use, he was a chicken and would always be one.
Ueno, Ueno the lady said again, making Lance’s ears bleed. The train stopped, this time with a jolted force. He felt his whole body sway to the side but he also felt a hand grasping his shoulder. His blue eyes went to the hand, it was resting gently on his shoulder, but felt a sudden tight grip when his gaze followed the hand leading to the raven haired man’s shocked face.
Bingo, Lance thought. Now was his chance to do, well, something. He wanted to open his mouth, scream something to him, say hello, or Konichiwa or Ohaiyo, just say something! But all he felt was how tight his throat was getting, how much his heart was beating, the panic curdling sensation tingling all of his nerves. Nothing came out, except a smile. He flashed the man his best white smile, and in return he smiled back. Then he went off the train, leaving Lance with a hole in his heart until Monday.