Work Text
Serizawa was
not
a stoner. He regularly argued that point against the voice in his head who loved to play devil’s advocate. He just had a lot on his mind most of the time; a lot of anxious thoughts spinning around so fast he could hardly catch and hold onto just one at a time. A little wake and bake never hurt anyone, right? And besides, he had some
very legitimate reasons
for engaging in this behavior as part of his morning routine. In fact, he could name five right now.
Reason #1
: His aching back.
And why was his back aching, you ask? Because Serizawa, ever so hospitable, had offered Reigen his bed, assuring his boss that he could sleep on the floor; that he would be
happy
to do so. It hadn’t been a lie at the time. Friday night’s slightly buzzed Serizawa was more than eager to be a charitable host. However, Saturday morning Serizawa had a whole different perspective on the matter, grunting as he tried to readjust to a more comfortable position, an entirely unsuccessful endeavor. Always accommodating, Serizawa turned to see if his movements had caused Reigen to stir, but his head was still pressed firmly to Serizawa’s favorite pillow, mouth open, drooling. This brings Serizawa to his second justification for grinding up some of his favorite hybrid blend at approximately 7:19 a.m.
Reason #2
: His boss was sleeping in his bed.
And why was Reigen sleeping in his bed, you ask? Serizawa struggled to provide a defensible answer to himself for this particular question. There was the logical answer, which was simple. Reigen was already at his apartment and it had started to storm, with heavy rains and powerful winds testing trees and street signs and garbage cans. It simply didn’t make sense for Reigen to go back to his place in that sort of squall. But then there was the true answer, which is that they were having a really nice time and Serizawa wanted Reigen to stay. The storm just made it easier, gave him a way to ask diplomatically; an employee helping out his boss rather than a lonely man wanting the company of a good friend. Something like that.Serizawa was starting to doubt that “friend” was the best description of what Reigen was to him, but “boss” was all wrong too and any other signifier felt untouchable, forbidden. But maybe he was the only one between the two of them who felt that way, because Reigen seemed to have no problem relaying to Serizawa what he believed to be the nature of their relationship. Which, by the way, is Serizawa’s third very valid excuse for packing a bowl at 7:32 a.m.
Reason #3
: “Oi, Katsuya, let’s say we make this a real night out and stop next door for drinks.”
This incident took place at approximately 6:51 p.m. yesterday evening, not that Serizawa was keeping track. It also happened to take place right while Serizawa sat, unsuspecting, across from Reigen at the table of the very busy restaurant, with their waiter standing right there. Serizawa couldn’t even remember if he had responded to Reigen’s suggestion, but he does distinctly remember this as the first time Reigen used his given name. He also distinctly remembers the exact way the name escaped his boss’s lips - loud and eager, like everything Reigen said. Serizawa also vividly recalls the way his face heated up and sweat began to pool under his armpits after hearing Reigen say this ridiculous thing to him in this very public place with absolutely no warning whatsoever. And yet, Serizawa couldn’t even recall what his response had been, if there had been one at all. But apparently, whatever Serizawa did or didn’t say had not deterred Reigen in the slightest, because the infamous trip next door for drinks did indeed happen. It was the last stop Serizawa and Reigen made before making their way back to Serizawa’s apartment, because it was starting to rain and Serizawa’s place was closer. Their first stop, of course, being dinner, another idea that was entirely Reigen’s. Ah, that brings Serizawa to his fourth rationale for taking a bong rip at 7:46 a.m.
Reason #4
: “I’m
starving
, let’s grab dinner.”
In this case, it wasn’t so much what Reigen said, or even the way he said it, but what came with it - a specific touch that Serizawa recalled vividly, as if Reigen’s hand on the small of his back had actually been a hot iron branding his bare skin. But Reigen’s hand had been cold; Serizawa could feel that through the thin fabric of his dress shirt. Regardless, the contact had sent heat through him like nothing ever before, warming him from the inside out. The gesture was especially jarring considering that Serizawa had just spent the afternoon at some sort of psychic conference, with Reigen so focused on mingling with every bozo in a suit and tie that he hardly even shot a glance in Serizawa’s direction, who was trailing behind (somewhat reluctantly, he should add) his boss as they weaved their way in and out of tables and booths and gaudy demonstrations of so-called “psychic power.”Frankly, it was a miserable afternoon; Serizawa feeling trapped and suffocated by the number of people in the room and the sheer chaos of the event. He was better; much better than before. But crowds still had an unsavory effect on him, and socializing in this way still did not come easily to him. Luckily, Reigen talked more than enough for both of them, and Serizawa found himself, as he often did, strangely fascinated with the way the man was able to hold a conversation about absolutely nothing at all.
Everything Reigen said or did that afternoon was entirely an act, of course. Serizawa knew Reigen well enough now to understand that his identity as a businessman was more of a mask than anything, the real Reigen hidden snugly away from everyone. Well, everyone except Serizawa, it seemed. That gentle, purposeful touch after the conference was over, after Serizawa finally shrugged his heavy jacket off and folded it neatly over his arm to signal he was informally clocking out, that was the real Reigen. As was the excited bounce in Reigen’s step when Serizawa agreed to a dinner at some new ramen place that Reigen claimed to be
dying
to try out.
The real Reigen was, if Serizawa was being fully honest, rather embarrassing. The real Reigen loudly slurped his noodles and talked with his mouth full and spilled broth on his dress shirt more than once. The real Reigen got tipsy after barely one drink and fell dead ass asleep in Serizawa’s bed while still in his work clothes before Serizawa could even offer him something more comfortable to sleep in. The real Reigen, Serizawa noted, was still drooling all over his pillow right now. But unfortunately, this lead Serizawa to the final and most significant rationale for why he put his mouth on the lip of his favorite bong to take a second hit, bigger than the first, blowing the smoke expertly out his bedroom window.
Reason #5
: He had a pathetically intense crush on the idiot in his bed.
He isn’t sure exactly
when
it started but he knows it’s been growing at a steady pace for some time now. Serizawa’s attempts to trim and prune the feeling, spreading like a weed despite Reigen being his
boss
, have been to no avail. He thus finds himself more and more enamored with each passing day, every moment with Reigen feeding his infatuation like the sun and rain give plants the strength to poke out from the soil. But Serizawa was trying, really and truly trying, to keep his feelings from surfacing. He didn’t want to ruin what it had taken him over 30 years to find.
So yes, he felt quite justified in his decision to get blazed on a Saturday morning, desperate to lose track of these feelings in a haze of smoke. But unfortunately for Serizawa, upon taking his third hit of the morning, he glanced up to see Reigen gawking at him.“Oh shit, my bad. Did you want to hit this?” Despite himself, Serizawa couldn't stand the thought of being rude.Reigen looked like he was having trouble processing the question. “Y-yeah” He said finally, and Serizawa wondered if maybe he wasn’t quite fully awake yet.Serizawa reached up to hand Reigen the bong, allowing himself a brief moment to take in Reigen’s ridiculous bedhead, cursing himself internally when his stomach did a flip at the sight of it. The more foolish Reigen looked, the more Serizawa found himself inexplicably attracted to him.
“Do you, uh, know how?” Serizawa asked after several moments of Reigen just staring at the bong like it was something altogether foreign.
“Of course I do!” Reigen huffed, quickly lighting up and inhaling for longer than even Serizawa had, and he was a seasoned user. Reigen, on the other hand, was very apparently not, as he instantly starting hacking up a lung the second the piece left his lips. After about a minute of that, Serizawa offered him some water and got up to fetch it without waiting on a response.
“Here.” He placed the cup firmly in Reigen’s hand in exchange for the bong and sat back down on the floor to face him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You could’ve just told me no thanks.”
“I didn’t think it would be so… harsh,” he says. “I’m - er I mean I
was
- a smoker. Didn’t think this could be much different.”
Serizawa laughed without meaning to. “It’s a lot different.”
“I see that now.”
“The only time I’ve ever smoked anything other than a cigarette was in high school,” Reigen offers. “I was at a party and I was really drunk. It was a joint but I thought it
was
a cigarette.” He laughed. “I can’t believe you of all people are cooler than me.”
Serizawa raised an eyebrow at him, and maybe it was the weed starting to take effect, but the urge to tease his boss was too strong to ignore. “I think just about everyone is cooler than you. Your social circle primarily consists of middle schoolers.” For a brief moment he feared he sounded more mean than playful but Reigen’s ugly laughter quickly reassured him that he had not crossed any boundaries."My good sir, you have a point."From the looks of him, Reigen was already feeling the effects of the monster hit he had inadvertently taken. Serizawa, now four hits in, was starting to feel it as well; the pulsing in his ears and the pleasant tingling in his hands and feet.“How are you doing?”“I think I might be high.” The matter-of-fact way Reigen said it, red-faced and droopy eyed, was funnier than any stand-up Serizawa had ever watched, and he laughed heartily. The weed was at least partially to blame, but Serizawa couldn’t help but notice how easy it was to laugh with Reigen, how effortlessly the sound could escape him when he normally worked very hard to keep his feelings tightly reigned in.“Do you want another hit?”
“Sure, why the hell not! I’ve got nowhere to be!”
He took the bong eagerly from Serizawa’s hand, and Serizawa tried not to dwell on the brief moment their fingers touched or the way Reigen’s enthusiasm was… incredibly cute, actually. Okay, perhaps impulsively getting stoned with the man who he was head over heels for was not as good of an idea as it had originally seemed. Serizawa didn’t know how he was going to keep himself composed when every movement Reigen made hit Serizawa’s neurons in a beautiful stop-motion disaster.Serizawa said something, probably a joke, but he couldn’t even think about the words coming out of his mouth when he was so hyper-aware of the sound of Reigen’s laugh and the way he dramatically threw his head back as if Serizawa was the most hilarious person on the planet. Serizawa said something else, god only knows what, and then they were both laughing. But this time, Reigen leaned back too far on Serizawa’s bed and hit his head against the wall, hard.
“Are you okay?” Serizawa asked, startled by the sound. But for some reason that only made Reigen laugh
harder
, and soon they were both in tears.
“Where do you get this stuff?”
Serizawa shrugged. “From wherever, but usually Minegishi when I can. His is the best.”
“Did he grow what we’re smoking now?”
Serizawa nodded. “It’s good, right?”
Reigen flashed him a stupid grin. “You can tell Minegishi thanks for killing my last remaining brain cells.”
“I’ll pass on the message."
Reigen rubbed his head and Serizawa knew it must feel sore despite the comfortable haze they were both under. He tried not to think about how okay he would be with getting an ice pack and pressing it gently to the back of Reigen’s head, his other hand wrapped around the man in a gesture he would hope Reigen might find comforting. “Mind if I put on some music?” he asked, suddenly uncomfortable with any silence between them.
“Go for it,” Reigen said. “I’m just sitting here enjoying your comfy bed. It’s really comfy, did you know that? It’s like sitting on a cloud.”Serizawa put on something he thought would sound really good while under the influence and went to return to his spot on the floor but stopped himself midway. “You know, you’ve made a really convincing argument in favor of my bed. Scoot over.” Reigen obliged, and Serizawa sat with his legs crossed in a spot that Reigen’s body had warmed up nicely. Reigen had his legs crossed too, and now their knees were just barely touching as the music stretched out around them and guided them to what Serizawa felt was another world entirely. Yeah, he was definitely blazed. This was a lot more intense than his typical wake-and-bake routine. He turned to see how Reigen was holding up, and he was unnerved to see Reigen was staring at him rather intently. Surely he was just spacing out. He had to be really stoned, being a first-time smoker who had taken two massive hits in such a short amount of time.
“Katsuya,” Reigen said, and Serizawa felt goosebumps forming on his skin at how softly,
tenderly
, Reigen said his name. He was still far from used to hearing it.
“Yeah?”
“You’re really brave, ya know? You’ve probably tried more new things in the past couple of years than I have in my entire life. And I have no excuse.”
“Maybe, but there’s still a lot I haven’t done.” It dawns on Serizawa that he is altogether too high to be having a serious conversation like this.
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely. For example, Minegishi was telling me about shotgunning the other day. I’ve never done that.” Serizawa isn’t sure why this, of all things, is what comes out of his mouth.
“Shotgunning? Like when you drink out of the side of a beer can?”“No, like with weed.”“Huh?”Serizawa worries he might be too far gone to answer this with any kind of clarity, but he charges on anyways. “It’s like, one person takes a hit, inhales the smoke, and then blows that smoke into the other person’s mouth.” There, that should cover it.“Oh, interesting.”“Yeah.”
“And you’ve never done it?”
“Nope. Minegishi offered to show me, but I thought it would be weird to do it with him of all people.”
“Is there anyone you
would
try it with?”
If Serizawa had even an ounce of dignity remaining, he would have responded with something weak and ambiguous, like “maybe,” or “who knows.” But Reigen’s steady gaze on him was like sandpaper wearing down his resolve to absolutely nothing. “I think I’d try it with you.”
Reigen laughed and gingerly touched the spot where he’d hit his head. “Okay then, let’s do it.”
“Oh, uh, okay. I think there’s exactly enough in this bowl for one more hit, so we’ve gotta make it count.” Serizawa rushed to get the words out, trying not to be incredibly obvious about how stupidly eager he was to do this idiotic thing. “I’ll inhale, and then blow the smoke into your mouth, so be ready for it.”
“Okay.”
This was, by far, the most ridiculous thing Serizawa had ever done to indulge his childish crush, but he was officially too stoned to care right now. As he inhaled, he realized that speaking would ruin the whole thing, so when he lifted his mouth from the bong and turned to meet Reigen’s gaze he hoped he would be able to wordlessly communicate what he needed Reigen to do and when. Serizawa put one hand on nape of Reigen’s neck to guide him, and Reigen seemed to get it, opening his mouth in time for Serizawa to slowly and carefully exhale the smoke into it. It wasn’t anything special; it was really kind of strange. But Serizawa found himself mesmerized by the shape of Reigen’s mouth as it happened, an expression so stupidly intoxicating he hoped he could somehow commit it to memory despite the thick haze of this high.
“So that’s shotgunning,” Reigen said softly.
“I guess so.” Serizawa’s fingers were still gently curled around the back of Reigen’s neck. He knew this, and he knew he should probably move them now that this whole stunt was over. But Reigen wasn’t acting like he minded. He wasn’t shrugging him off or moving away. So Serizawa, lovestruck fool that he was, thought maybe there was one other thing he would like to try with his boss while they were both slouched lazily on his bed, blazed as hell. He softly pressed his other hand to Reigen’s cheek, gingerly tracing the line of his jaw with his fingers, then letting them slowly brush his lips like he was touching something precious. Reigen held his stance, they locked eyes, and that was the cue. “Can I?”“Please.”Serizawa leaned in, and as their lips met for the first time Serizawa really thought his heart might stop. It was awkward and clumsy and they were entirely too eager, but it was absolutely everything Serizawa had always dreamed about and more. Reigen’s lips were a little dry and Serizawa knew he must taste like nothing but stale smoke and morning breath to Reigen, but that didn’t stop Serizawa from parting his lips and letting Reigen’s tongue explore his mouth a little. Serizawa knew he wasn’t the greatest kisser - he just hadn’t had a lot of practice - but Reigen certainly didn’t seem to mind. He was already wrapping his arms around Serizawa’s neck to pull him in closer. Serizawa found himself desperately needing his hands in Reigen’s hair, and then moving them up and down his back - payback for Reigen’s own touch the night before. Serizawa only thought to pull away when he realized the album he had put on was finished, leaving nothing but the sound of birds chirping and soft sounds of pleasure coming from Reigen that Serizawa found altogether too dizzying for his current state of mind.
When Serizawa did reluctantly retreat, Reigen giggled, actually
giggled
, half covering his reddened face like he was too embarrassed to be seen. Serizawa almost kissed him again for those reasons alone. He opted instead to open his dumb mouth and say “We should try that sober sometime, Arataka.” Reigen could only nod in agreement, apparently still recovering, and Serizawa thought of a 6th rationale for why it was totally a good idea to smoke weed first-thing on a Saturday morning.
Reason #6
: Getting to kiss the idiot boss that you have a pathetically intense crush on after realizing that he has an equally intense crush on you.