Work Text:
“Chikage.”
“Yes?”
“… Chikage.”
Cerulean tears away from the screen of his laptop to turn his head… To the smaller man leaning against his shoulder, eyes still glued to the screen.
“… Yes?” He says again, voice just a tad higher in tone as he meets the single peridot hue which looks back at him.
“… Hm.” Hisoka nods with certainty. “Chikage.”
“Now you’re just confusing me.” Chikage’s brows furrow as he fixes his attention back on his laptop, fingers dancing along the keyboard.
The duo have just been in the living room in relative silence, Hisoka lounging against Chikage as he types up a report for his office job. Only until he finishes his report does Hisoka say his name again to break the silence much to Chikage’s confusion.
“… Chikage Utsuki. Mm.”
“Is there a reason you keep saying my name, Hisoka?” The man asks, pushing the frames of his glasses more snug along his nose before glancing at the snow-haired man.
“Thinking about our names. Not from before. But the ones we have now. Yours and mine.”
“Because…?”
“Just ‘cause.” Hisoka lifts his head from Chikage’s shoulder, rubbing the drowsiness from his eyes before leaning back on the couch properly. Arms loosely pulling his knees to his chest, he softly continues. “Seeing all the people you typed on your report made me think about our names.”
A puff of air slips passed Chikage’s lips, proofreading the document. “I’m surprised you didn’t fall asleep while I did.”
“I was curious.”
“Really now.” Another tap at the mousepad, and Chikage saves the document. “So what about our names?”
Hisoka pauses, head tilting a bit to the side as he ponders his answer… Before straightening up in response.
“What they mean… And why August gave us them.”
Obviously their previous codenames were self explanatory… December, with hair white as snow found on the city streets during a chilly day. April, with cloudy eyes and hair like the grass containing a veil of misty dew.
That much was obvious. But that of their current ones…
…
The thought does make Chikage pause for a moment before continuing to brush his fingers against the mousepad, a quick tap leading him to his email to compose a letter.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it up on the spot.”
“Doesn’t hurt to check it out though.”
“Do you intend on getting me to look up the characters?”
“Mhm.”
That answer is accented by the subtle weight pressing against Chikage’s shoulder, Hisoka’s head no doubt.
A sigh passes Chikage’s lips as he fixes his glasses again. “After I send this email.”
“Don’t take too long.”
“So bothersome…”
After a somewhat lengthy email and a few disinterested yawns from Hisoka, Chikage exits out of his email to open a new tab, the younger sitting up as he watches the fingers waltz along the keys. Just a web search for a simple kanji dictionary has Chikage sighing and giving the first result a click. He won’t bother with searching too hard.
“Alright then. Whose name is first?”
“Mine.” Hisoka replies without hesitation, much to the other’s expectations.
“And you said my name so much earlier.” Mock disappointment drips in Chikage’s tone as he proceeds to type his troupe mate's name into the search bar anyway.
There’s a soft murmur of, “Hi… so… ka.” A press of the enter key a few seconds later, and he’s delighted to see the kanji’s definition comes up clear as day.
“… Meaning ‘secret’.” The older man snorts to the younger’s tinge of annoyance. “How funny.”
A light huff and a gentle shove to his arm, and Hisoka settles back down again to stare at the screen. “I think it’s nice. You’re just mean.”
Chikage cocks a brow and a slight smirk. “I didn’t say it was bad. Just funny.” Reclining a bit against the cushion, he brushes at his bangs as he taps at the mousepad. “It really does fit a person like you. You never say enough and cause everyone to fuss over you.”
“I’m getting better at it.”
“Still rather quiet compared to the others. With how loud the company is,” Chikage’s fingers tap the keys again. “I’d say you’re the oddball here.”
A pout as Hisoka huffs. “You’re just as quiet as me. You’re the weird one too.”
A soft laugh, and Chikage begins typing in Hisoka’s surname. “At least make an effort to conversate more.” Once the results pop up, the older squints and props the frames of his glasses more firmly against the bridge of his nose. Scanning the characters written on the results, a breathless sort of laugh escapes Chikage to Hisoka’s mild surprise.
“… Hah, it sounds like something out of a fantasy.”
Hisoka leans closer to the screen, staring for a few moments at the two characters of his surname.
“It means ‘divine spirit’, huh…” Leaning back, fingers laced together contemplatively. Hisoka glances off, thinking about the meeting of his last name. He meets Chikage’s gaze once again, humming softly.
“… Mm… Like a secret divine spirit.” Whether reflective of himself or August, Hisoka gives a slight smile. “I doubt your name is as cool as that.”
A snort slips from Chikage, backspacing and beginning to type in his own name. “Like I’d appreciate a childish kind of name like that. Sounds like something from the manga Muku or Sakyo-san read, frankly.”
“You could have been named something worse.”
“No need to imagine what won’t be.” A light tease before he presses enter. Reading over the results, a soft sound of acknowledgement rides along Chikage’s breath. Hisoka leans toward the screen again.
“… So… The first one means ‘thousand’, and the second one means… ‘Scenery’ or ‘view’.”
“Oddly poetic of that guy.”
A scoff comes from Hisoka as he looks over at the older. “Maybe it’s because you need glasses.”
There’s a light shove of Chikage’s arm, a vague snicker sounding from Hisoka as he sighs.
“I didn’t even have glasses back then, you dunce.”
“Kidding.” Hisoka regains his composure, letting go of his legs to criss-cross them. “Maybe August wanted you to see more things.”
“He really makes no sense.”
“Neither do you or me, but we’re here.” Hisoka shrugs, the response making Chikage raise his brow. The younger reaches over to hit the backspace button. “Hurry up and type your last name, Chikage.”
Giving in to Hisoka’s selfish demands, Chikage types in his last name and then lets the results load in.
“Huh… A plant.”
There’s a faint snicker from Chikage that has Hisoka perking up.
“He really wasn’t creative, was he?”
Hisoka pierces his lips as he reads the screen… Looking at the first character’s meaning and letting a hushed giggle escape him.
“At least August was right about you liking rabbits.”
“As if I like them.”
“Mhm. You keep telling yourself that.”
Hisoka leans against Chikage as their half-laughs die out.
A comfortable quiet settles then, Hisoka staring off into random parts of the living room. From the television, to the couch opposite of them, to the low table, to the ceiling, the floor… Sometimes to the laptop’s screen and watching. Chikage sits and types a bit more at the keyboard, having now traded to writing up his latest post on his curry review blog.
It stays that way until Hisoka speaks again, quiet and nonchalant.
“I don’t think I can see you as anyone else other than Chikage Utsuki though.”
Chikage raises a brow and turns his head slightly. “That so?”
“Mhm.” A nuzzle of a nod to Chikage’s shoulder as he shits his eyes. “August did a good job. I like being Hisoka Mikage… Cozy. Chikage Utsuki is cozy on you too.”
A fond roll of the eyes, and he returns his gaze back to the screen.
“Always saying the weirdest things.”
Deep down, however, Chikage is happy the names they have now fit them effortlessly, snug as gloves and, as much as he wouldn’t admit it to Hisoka, ‘cozy’.
They weren’t just aliases anymore.
Now, they were for the lives that they were able to lead.