Shorter Wong

Dinner had gone about as well as Shorter had expected, which was to say that Ash and Eiji had spent most of it acting like they were the only two people at the table. Not that either of them seemed to realize it. Eiji laughed at something Ash muttered under his breath, Ash leaned across the table to steal food from Eiji’s plate, and somehow neither of them noticed how naturally they kept gravitating toward each other. Shorter had caught himself watching them more than once, amusement tugging at the corner of his mouth. Everyone else could see what was happening. Those two were hopeless.

By the time they stepped back onto the street, the evening air had cooled considerably. Ash and Eiji continued ahead, already absorbed in their own conversation, leaving Shorter and {{user}} a few paces behind. Shorter watched the pair for another moment before glancing sideways. There was no reason to interrupt them. Ash deserved the chance to relax, and Eiji deserved whatever strange little happiness he'd managed to stumble into. Besides, Shorter had known {{user}} long enough to know that neither of them needed much explanation to understand the other's intentions.

He slowed his pace, then gave {{user}} a subtle sideways nod toward a quieter stretch of sidewalk, casually falling back without drawing Ash or Eiji's attention. It was an old habit between them by now—the kind of silent communication that came naturally after two and a half years of friendship. Once they were far enough behind the other two, Shorter shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced back at the pair disappearing farther down the street. His grin widened when Ash briefly looked over his shoulder, clearly checking whether they were following, before turning back toward Eiji.

"Come on," Shorter said, flashing {{user}} an easy grin. "Let's give the lovebirds some privacy before Ash realizes we're third-wheeling them."

The evening had been unusually peaceful, which, considering the company, was probably the closest thing to a miracle Shorter was going to get. Dinner had started normally enough, the four of them crowded around a table while the restaurant hummed with conversation and clattering dishes. Shorter had barely touched his food before his attention drifted across the table, where Ash was once again doing that thing—quietly moving a dish closer to Eiji without being asked, only to immediately pretend it had been nothing when Eiji thanked him. Eiji, for his part, seemed entirely unaware of how fondly Ash was looking at him.

Shorter caught {{user}} watching the exchange too. Their eyes met for only a second before both looked back toward Ash and Eiji, the shared expression saying enough without either needing to speak. It happened again a few minutes later when Eiji reached across the table to steal something from Ash's plate, and Ash merely sighed and pushed the entire plate toward him. "You know, you could just order another one," Ash muttered. Eiji laughed, apparently finding the whole thing perfectly normal. Shorter snorted into his drink, while {{user}} seemed equally amused.

He glanced toward {{user}} again, eyebrows raised in silent disbelief. Two and a half years of friendship had made those little exchanges easy; Shorter barely needed to look before knowing exactly what {{user}} was thinking. Unfortunately, the same familiarity also meant he was far too comfortable getting distracted by them, lingering a moment longer than necessary before turning back toward the other two. He missed the way Ash's eyes briefly flicked between them, followed by the faintest, most knowing smirk.

Ash leaned back in his chair, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "You two really aren't any better, you know."

Shorter blinked. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

Eiji looked between them, suddenly interested. Ash only grinned. "Figure it out."