It was early evening, and the light through the front window of the Honky Tonk was just beginning to fade as the day came to a close. The sound of rush hour traffic outside was muted by the clinking of dishes as Paul and Natsumi tidied up in preparation for any dinner customers who would be arriving shortly.

Two had already arrived and finished - and for once, the two of them were paying customers. The Get Backers had wrapped up a small job that afternoon, simply a matter of misplaced property. It hadn't paid much or held any prestige, but beggers couldn't be choosers - and at least it had bought them a few meals, with a little left over for some extras.

Ban had wolfed down his dinner quickly, and was simply waiting for Ginji to finish, his arm resting along the back of the seat in the corner booth where they sat. On the other side of the table, Ginji was currently finishing off his special dessert in celebration of the occasion - a pack of strawberry Pocky. "Only one stick left," he sighed, and stretched out his hand towards the wrapper that lay before him.

Before he could reach it, however, a strong hand reached out and pinned his wrist to the table. Its match picked up the wrapper and held it out of reach as Ginji made a swipe at it with his free hand. "Ban-chan...!" he protested, leaning forward over the table for another go at it. "That's mine!"

"I'm out of cigarettes," Ban said nonchalantly as he slid the last stick out from the wrapper, which he crumpled in his hand and tossed at the wastebasket. He missed by a few inches. "It makes me hungry."

There was no point going after it now - all Ginji could have done was to break off the end of his treat from between Ban's fingers. "You always have to have something stuck in your mouth, don't you?" he said as he sat back, aiming a sulking glare at his friend.

With the stolen snack halfway to his mouth, Ban paused, and the corners of his lips twitched upwards into a smirk. This puzzled Ginji, and he blinked. "Er... what?"

The curve of Ban's smile grew deeper, and he leaned back in the booth, tilting his head back slightly as he melodramatically held the stick of Pocky above his mouth and began lowering it. To Ginji's surprise, Ban's eyes swiveled to meet his and give him a knowing look past the rims of his sunglasses, and his tongue darted out suddenly to lick the end of the stick.

Just like Ban-chan to gloat, Ginji thought to himself with a frown... but something was strange about it. That teasing look in Ban's eyes, the way he moved his... oh.

Ban curled his tongue around the end of the Pocky, slowly licking at the pink frosting, and it became obvious to Ginji what he was getting at. As Ginji watched, Ban opened his mouth wider, far wider than it needed to be to admit the thin stick, and lowered it a little further, almost inside. Ginji felt a blush rise to his cheeks as Ban pulled the Pocky back again a fraction of an inch, and closed his lips to kiss the rounded tip softly. "Very funny, Ban-chan."

Rather than ending the joke there, Ban gave him a wink and continued with what he was doing, suckling lightly at the end of the stick. Ginji opened his mouth to tell Ban to cut it out, but somehow couldn't quite get the words out. As annoying as Ban was being, he was certainly... interesting... to watch.

His eyes still smirking at Ginji, Ban opened his mouth just slightly, using his tongue to coax the end of the treat inside. After a meaningful pause, he very slowly began moving his head in a circle, his lips pursed around the end of the stick. The movement of the muscles in his cheeks made it clear he was working with his tongue as well.

"B-Ban-chan!" Ginji managed to stammer. "Paul is right over there... and Natsumi!" He kept his voice at a quiet hiss, not wanting to attract any attention to them. A nice girl like Natsumi didn't need to see that sort of thing, and besides... He shifted uncomfortably under the table, hoping no one would look too closely at them, especially if Ban kept it up.

And he seemed to have no intention of doing otherwise. Closing his eyes, Ban pushed the stick of Pocky a little further into his mouth, his lips caressing and kissing their way along the length of it until they reached his fingertips. He drew it out again almost as slowly, and opened his eyes just long enough to meet Ginji's before pushing it in again, this time quicker.

Ginji squirmed, unable to look away as Ban drew back, then bobbed his head forward again. His expression was serious and focused as he quickened the motion and repeated. Ginji gritted his teeth, forcing his hands to remain flat on the table rather than doing what they would have preferred - slipping underneath, or rising to give Ban a nice, steady jolt of high voltage. Ban was doing this just to drive him crazy.

Pretending not to notice his friend's discomfort, Ban remained intent on his toying with the food, and paused, the stick of Pocky drawn almost completely into his mouth. Slowly, deliberately, he swallowed, and Ginji felt his own throat go tight. Opening his eyes just far enough to show two slits of indigo blue, Ban stared at Ginji as he opened his mouth just slightly and licked his lips.

Grinding his teeth, Ginji felt he couldn't take it anymore. "Ban-chan, you jerk!" he exclaimed, standing up to lean over the table, electrical current beginning to crackle all around his body.

There was a crunch as Ban, unflinching, bit the stick of Pocky in half.

Ginji was reaching out to grab Ban when the indigo blue eyes flickered off to the side meaningfully. Following their gaze, Ginji found Natsumi and Paul both staring at the two of them.

Ginji sat down again quickly. "...He stole my last stick of Pocky!" he complained, fervently hoping they hadn't been watching the entire time.

He glanced back at Ban as a firm hand fell on his shoulder, and his friend stood up, grinning. "We can get another box - I've gotta pick up some smokes anyway." Ban crammed the other half of the snack into his mouth with a lot less attention to technique than before. "C'mon, let's go."

Ginji's face flushed redder. "I, er, think I'd rather... just... sit here for a while..." he said weakly, staring down at the table and fidgeting. In his current state, he wasn't going to stand up while Paul and Natsumi were staring at the two of them.

"Well, suit yourself," Ban shrugged as he headed for the door, looking over his shoulder at Ginji on the way out. "Maybe I'll pick some up for you. What flavor do you want? You like strawberry and milk, right?"

"Whatever, doesn't matter," Ginji replied quickly. To be honest, he thought that letting Ban just have his way with the next pack might be more enjoyable than eating it himself. Provided, of course, that next time they were alone.