Joe was cleaning up and preparing to close for the day when Cherry Blossom walked in.

"Hey, got any food left?"

Joe's large hands moved swiftly with the tablecloth underneath, swiping off dirt from the surface of the counters.

"Get lost, pink rat. You know I close by this time. I just want to finish with cleaning and get ready to head over to S."

"Ohh." Said Cherry, "looks like you already have things planned out for the evening."

"Yeah, I do. and I'm sure you do too, or did you have that computer wife of yours plan it out for you?"

'She's Carla!" screamed Cherry, "Show some respect!"

"Whatever. What are you doing here by this hour anyway? Don't have enough jobs to keep you going?"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that statement from those gorilla lips, you jealous pig." Said Cherry.

"Gorilla lips?? Now you're just being petty. But whatever, get out of my restaurant. I need to head home now." Joe said.

"So what, you're just going to leave a friend to starve in your own restaurant?"

"Don't tell me you actually came here to have dinner."

"I did." Said Cherry. "Now will you serve me food or not?"

They glared at each other for what seemed like forever before Joe finally gave in.

"Okay, how about this; let me close my restaurant and we can both head to my place. I have some left overs in the fridge."

"So what am I, a street rat?"

"No, you're a pink rat."

Cherry looked like he was about to hang Joe, but he went outside to wait.

In a few minutes, Joe was done. He'd locked up his restaurant and was now standing beside Cherry.

"Didn't bring your ride with you today, huh?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"So what did you name that one, or you haven't decided on a name yet."

Cherry let out a sigh. "It's times like these that I wonder what could have possibly begun our friendship."

"My handsomeness and charms, amongst other things."

"Your 'other things' are the only things you have going for you."

Joe smiled to himself.
"Let's not forget way back in middle school when you told the entire class how wickedly handsome I was."

Cherry's face squeezed up like a scrunchie.
"That was one time!" he screamed. "And I was doing it to defend your honour you damn gigolo."

Joe laughed and got on his bike.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Joe beckoned.

"I'd rather shave my head than be caught riding in that hideous thing."

Joe burst out laughing while Cherry produced his bike that he'd parked behind the restaurant and away from sight.

They both started their engines and Joe's motorcycle screamed to life. Cherry's face wore a visible frown.

"It's not MY fault it's loud." Joe said.

"No, it's your fault for even considering 'THIS THING' a proper mode of transportation."

Joe scoffed. "Whatever. You ready?"

"Just move already."

They rode away underneath the evening sky. Joe was a bit worried about Cherry; it was odd for him to just randomly show up at his restaurant without being prompted by a business meeting, especially this late. He felt sure that there was something on his mind that he wanted to talk about, and he knew Cherry would feel more comfortable being open in a private place like his apartment.

"Welcome to my abode" Joe said when they arrived.

"Looks better than I expected." Cherry said. "The last time I was here, it looked like there had been some sort of stampede in your living room."

"My, what a lovely memory you have." Joe's grip tightened around the door knob as he sent Cherry a death glare with a wide, toothy grin.

"I remember the smallest of details. Besides, you can't make fun of me in that area because my place is always spotless." Cherry beamed with self-pride.

"Only because you make your computer wife do all the cleaning for you."

"She's not a computer, she's Carla!"

"Is that a yes?"

"I will not fall for such a mediocre...." Joe cut him off.

"Sheesh, pipe down would ya? Wouldn't want the neighbours filing noise complaints again."

"Again? What were you doing that made them file noise complaints before?"

Joe smirked at Cherry, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You know what, forget I asked." Cherry said, realizing what that look meant.

Joe laughed. "It's really not what you think it is." He said.

"I don't care, just get me some food, I'm starving."

Joe microwaved the left overs he had and placed them on a ceramic plate with pink flower patterns on them.

"You still have this?" Cherry asked, recognizing the plate.

"Yeah, you used to love eating with this back in the day. Figured I'd serve you some spaghetti with a side of nostalgia."

"Well well, I guess you're not as much of a gorilla as I thought you were."

"Don't make me smash that plate over your head." Joe said.

There was a small silence.

"You're not joining in?" Cherry asked.

"No, I ate at the restaurant. I'll go shower now. Be out in a minute."

"I'd appreciate it if you took your time to scrub yourself clean." Said Cherry.

"Every day, you give me new reasons to want to kill you."

"Just go already. And be out fast." Cherry said.

"Didn't you just ask me to take my time?"

Cherry didn't reply and kept eating his spaghetti. Joe stared at him from the corner of his eyes and smiled, then went into his bathroom and had a quick shower.

Opening his closet, anyone could see his traditional outfit he always wore to skate at S. He had over 5 pairs of the same outfit hanging in his wardrobe, and two in the laundry. He picked out a fresh pair and put them on. He ruffled up his hair while drying it out with his towel and ran a comb through it once he was done. Then, he sprayed his signature perfume. The ladies loved this scent, but Cherry just always told him he smelled like curry.

"I'm done." Joe said, stepping into the living room, but Cherry Blossom wasn't there. He heard a small noise from the kitchen and went to see what was going on. As Joe walked into the kitchen, he saw Cherry's long, pink hair that fell loosely on his shoulders.

He was immediately reminded of that one-time Miya Chinen had called Cherry his wife to scare the chics he'd been hitting on away from him at that beach resort they'd gone to. Joe's face was instantly red with embarrassment. Why was he thinking of such a thing right now?

He also remembered how the girls he stood with actually believed that Cherry was his wife because his sleeping posture and magnificent pink hair had managed to skillfully hide all of his masculine features.

"What is it?" Cherry suddenly asked, making Joe flinch, like Cherry could have possibly read his mind from his stance.

"What is what?" Joe asked.

"Why are you staring?" Cherry asked.

Because your're gorgeous, Joe wanted to say. But instead, he said; "Give me a break, you four-eyed rat."

Cherry sent Joe a death glare.

"Just leave the dish there, I'll deal with it later."

Joe took out a tall glass of red wine and they both went into the living room and sat down opposite each other.

"So, what's up? I figured you didn't just come to my restaurant to have dinner."

"My, what a keen eye you've got there." Cherry said.

"Just get to the point." Joe said.

"That was sarcasm you gigolo. I don't have anything to talk about. You always worry about everything." Cherry said, rolling his eyes.

"So, you're just here because you're hungry?"

"Yes. Is it so hard to believe that I wanted to eat something you made?"

"Woaw! Kaoru wanted to eat something I made of his own accord? You always say my cooking skills are mediocre."

"Well, a few minutes ago, I WAS craving mediocre with the side of nostalgia you served. But now that I'm back to my senses, your cooking skills are BEYOND mediocre. How do you even manage to get customers? Sorcery?"

"heh... Admit it Kaoru, you missed me, didn't you?"

Cherry took a large sip of the wine Joe had previously poured out for him.

"Perhaps I should refrain from coming here next time." he said calmly.

"Gahh, I.. I never said that! I'm just curious! Damn, why do you always have to make everything weird?!"

Cherry chuckled and took another sip.

"This is great wine." He said.

"You're avoiding my question."

"I was just hungry, Joe. Hunger can do a lot of things to a man." Cherry was visibly pouting.

Joe grunted and relaxed on the sofa and Cherry sighed.

"If it'll make you sleep better at night, then I probably came here because I missed eating with my childhood friend." Cherry stared at Joe while making his statement. He felt warm inside, like he was making a love confession.

"That match Langa had with Adam reminded me of just how important friendships are, and you are my friend, Joe. The best and oldest one I've ever had...." He stopped the moment he felt the warmth crawl up to his cheeks and Joe smacked his lips.

"You should say that more often." He said.

Joe poured out some wine into his glass cup and clicked it against Cherry's. "To us." He said.

Cherry stared at him for a few seconds and then sighed.

"I knew you'd be weird about it." He muttered under his breath.

"What sort of monster are you?? Ruining this beautiful moment?!" Joe looked mortified.

"I didn't ruin anything, there was never a moment to begin with."

"You see, this is why I hate you. You've shown more compassion to Carla then you ever have to me!"

Cherry raised his eyebrows and leaned forward while staring at Joe. "Are you Jealous?" he muttered in an unintended husky voice.

Joe was completely thrown off.

"What the... Of course not you four eyed rat!! Why the hell would I be jealous of that thing??"

"For the last time, she's not a thing!"

"Of course she's not. Nothing screams 'alive' more than a lack of a human body." Joe was back to pouting again.

He patiently waited for Cherry to yell back at him, but instead he found Cherry staring at him and smiling.

"What is it?" He asked. He could feel warmth crawling to his cheeks.

"You're definitely jealous." Cherry said.

"What the..."

And thus, their mutual bellowing began, or rather continued.

They threw smart comebacks at each other, and once Cherry splashed some wine on Joe's shirt and burst into short, exasperated laughs. From the way things were going, Joe's neighbors were sure to file that noise complaint again.

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