#toshiya x rosaire

[lovethewayyoudoso]

He knows how to get what he wants.

[claraweems]

You know how male birds are often colorful to attract mates? They dance and they sing and they're so beautiful...

You know how some amphibians are colorful to ward off predators and to signal that they're poisonous?

Oh, Ros, you're one of a kind.

[lovethewayyoudoso]

What better to pair a personal crisis with than fast food chicken and top tier wine? Rosaire's go-to comfort food, no matter when and where in life, is greasy chicken... And the cheaper the better! He's had his chef try to recreate the goodness but it's seemingly impossible.

I sketched this as a joke between my best friend and I when I was trying to develope the character more. Imagine coming home to find your pretentious boyfriend wearing your sweatshirt, gorging on KFC with your cat, and watching trashy reality TV from Europe... Yeah, Toshiya wasn't sure what to do.

[lovethewayyoudoso]

Tried a more painterly style, not sure if I like it. However I love my boys, so...

[lovethewayyoudoso]

Realizing

Romance Blurb (but aren't they all?)

~ 1800 words (3 pages)

-

Dark hands snaked up the perfectly ironed front of Toshiya's white shirt. He had on his grey suit and polished black shoes and looked ready to head to work. Hair styled a bit to the side, combed over and over until his middling-length bangs were just right. Clean shaven, unlike the night before, and just the smallest application of aftershave for a fresh scent. 

Those fingers worked their way up his dark blue tie as the pair joined in a goodbye kiss. The hem of Rosaires purple pajamas stuck out beneath the oversized red robe that was wrapped around his body. The garment barely hung on, the belt tied neatly, and the front panels overlapping significantly. Wide, heavy collar hung back off his neck like a cowl in which his loose black-brown braids pooled.

The deeper voice hummed as they broke apart and he sought out one more small kiss. Eyelids heavy with affection, he took the moment to savor his lovers face before it was time to inevitably head out the door. He was running a little late to begin with, which was completely unlike Toshiya, so Louissant stood at the door, ready to provide his services and usher the man to work.

Toshiya shook his head very slightly before craning down to steal another kiss and place yet another on his forehead. Those crystalline blue eyes looked back up at him, such a stark contrast to his hickory skin. Rosaire could feel the warmth and the light rush in his cheeks that his lovers affections always afflicted him with.  

The pair said their goodbyes, punctuated by another kiss and a promise to come over again tomorrow. A promise that was dripping with desire and need and a prediction of tonight's loneliness and heartache. Toshiya was such a soft man, such a tender soul, and lately Rosaire couldn't help but share in those feelings too. He stayed at the large window pane adjacent to the entry door, holding the robe closer around his body, and watched the two men chat as they paced toward the car. Well. Toshiya was chatting: his smiling cheeks turned slightly toward Louissant couldn't be more obvious while the stoic chauffeur simply listened.

It was a contagious smile, too, spreading back to Rosaire in the window. The chauffeur opened the passenger door to the bright white car, his charge taking a moment to look back to the house with a wave. Rosaire immediately replied in kind… but wasn't entirely sure how to react to the kiss that was blown his way as the other man ducked into the vehicle.

Completely involuntarily the petite man was up on his tiptoes, his slippers hanging off his heels, as he watched the car round the drive and disappear toward town.

“I would say you're falling for him, but I think you've already hit the bottom.” Fabienne leaned against the hallway corner, her uniform suit perfectly fitted over muscular crossed arms. Her expression was deviously sweet, one that Rosaire had seen on his darling friend so, so many times.

“I enjoy his company, that's all. And we had quite the exciting evening, more than usual.”

“Uh huh. And what was that little peek out the window just now?” 

Rosaire tried to stick his nose in the air and bolster his overflowing pride but, for once, he faltered. Still holding the robe around his body he shuffled past Fabienne toward the breakfast nook. She followed with a smirk, this time a little sweeter, as she rattled off a few messages for the day from his business calendar, voicemails, and the like. She was a dutiful assistant, after all, and the friendly harassment would continue before long. 

A second coffee was prepared for him and a fresh selection of pastries was on display on the table. One was already missing and of course it was the same cinnamon and apple turnover that Toshiya always seemed to select. (He had taken the time to teach Rosaire that it was actually called ApfelTascha and happened to be his favorite thing while he lived in München. And, yes, German coming out of a Japanese man's voice while he was speaking English was absolutely hilarious upon reflection.) Afterall, Rosaire made sure that particular selection was always available … and it was always eaten when his lover stayed the night. 

His lover.

A nibble at his own selection and Rosaire looked out the broad windows around the room. The garden was still young though the mature trees he had brought in were still full and perfectly green, so late into the year. It wouldn't be long before they began to turn, of course.

Blue eyes were snapped back to attention when Fabienne set his work tablet down: the device freshly charged and his email and stock ticker brought up at the ready. It was their same routine every single day, after all. He looked at the screen for a moment before taking a small bite of his pastry and looking up to where his assistant stood, at the ready.

A sigh. “I don't really feel like working today.”

“Is your job that difficult?” Fabienne had to chuckle. Every career had it's struggles, and while she was sure Rosaire faced some very daunting decisions that would throw millions of yen and euro around… she knew he'd breakdown trying to accomplish many of her own tasks.

“Is yours, truly?” He smirked back at her and motioned for the large woman to take a seat with him. She was his assistant and his security, but she was still his closest friend and confidant. 

“My job? No. My employer? That's a different story…” A fine china plate was slid off the small stack and a pastry selected for herself. Well, two. She had a busy day ahead!

Rosaire made a sarcastic, affirmative noise while looking over Fabienne for another moment. He went back to the window, looking past those trees and down the road, around the hill where the city limits began. He tugged the red robe closer around his body, pushed a braid or two over his ears a little more comfortably and sipped at his coffee.

“Why don't you mark me as out of office today. I think I have more important things to do than business.”

“Alright,” she chuckled as she slid the tablet back to herself and whipped out one of her mobile phones. “I'll have your secretary reschedule… this, this and… this. Doesn't look like anything important; no names highlighted and flashing red.”

“Thank you, dear.”

Silence for a few moments while Rosaire sipped and Fabienne tapped and the house remained so very quiet as always. When Toshiya visited there would be music on, even if it was just the ambient, mood-setting sort. He would be laughing and saying the cheesiest or mushiest things Rosaire had ever heard outside of silly memes on social media. It was rare that he would come over and push Rosaire straight to the bedroom; he always had to catch up or do some activity together, even if it was just dinner. Strolls in the estate's gardens, heading down to the shore to walk in the sand, dragging Rosaire to an art museum. He made the other man uncomfortable in the best way.

Going over to Toshiya's little apartment (which made him claustrophobic after a while), going out to a club or dinner… he was always the same. Attention was always exactly on Rosaire and the affections were overflowing. It wasn't an act, was it? So many men before him had either plowed through Rosaire like he was just a toy, and some days that's all he was seeking. Others who seemed to have more potential ended up being much the same, sometimes far worse in that not only would they use his body they would toy with his emotions and leech all they could from his lifestyle.

This morning Rosaire has been particularly sad to see Toshiya leave. He missed him.

This wasn't his lover; he was so much more than that. It had been a long time since Rosaire had even considered such a relationship, that he had considered that he might want something like that and be wanted, genuinely, in return. But those kisses and the way Toshiya looked at him… his loving arms that held him so tight after they had sex. Hell, even the way he went about the act itself! Thoughtful, passionate rhythms; considerate, tailored strokes; calloused fingers and palms that grabbed and held and lifted and pushed him down into his over-soft pillows while those dark eyes appraised the situation carefully, lustfully. Lovingly.

Always an embrace afterwards, even after the nastiest of romps. Always an offer of fetching a glass of water, of a towel for his sweat or other substances. A hand held in escort to the ensuite bathroom and the smaller man was always cleaned up first; if they sought to do so in the shower then those wide hands always came in to do the work for him. Absolutely, positively lovingly.

Sometimes he couldn't stay the night but always made sure Rosaire felt cared-for and complete before he left. It was like it was his job or his duty, but at the same time he was so perfectly good at it; a natural at caring. Always a text when he got home and a goodnight emoji or gif or whatever cute thing he thought to send this time. It was so incredibly over-the-top to Rosaire the first time. It was corny, but cute, and felt so juvenile. And done so incredibly lovingly.

He looked down at his personal phone for a moment and sighed lightly, not even realizing he had been lost in thought. A blue eye peered over to his left and caught Fabienne with her hands folded on the tablet and a huge, goofy smirk plastered across her dark lips.

Rosaire took a drink of his coffee to hide his embarrassment and the heat of the blush hiding under his skin. The chair's feet dragged across the stone floor as he stood and left his friend to laugh. As soon as he was out of sight, halfway up the winding stairs, his mobile phone was pulled from his robe pocket and he almost melted when there was already a message:

[ Toshiya ☀ ] : ur suppose to catch the kiss when i blow them

[ Toshiya ☀ ] : we need to practice that more mon cur

[ Me ] : Cœur.

[ Toshiya ☀ ] : oh no there are more letters to learn???

[ Me ] : Now you know I felt when I moved here.

[ Toshiya ☀ ] : mon coeur i dont no how to make that new letter

[ Me ] : I can show you how to type it when you show me how to catch your air kisses.

[ Toshiya ☀ ] : i miss u already

[ Me ] : I miss you, too. こころ。

--

[lovethewayyoudoso]

It's easy to be the big spoon with when you're big, but sometimes you want to be the little spoon. Might not work as intended.

[lovethewayyoudoso]

Another thing that us normies wouldn't think about that affects the famous or relatively famous would be the hate mail and hate messages, specifically on social media. My latest thinkings have been around when Toshiya and Rosaire have finally kind of become official, or serious. Not sure what the right word is. Anyway when Rosaire makes some social media post declaring that he loves Toshiya, after some sort of epiphany he hand where he realizes such, he quickly realizes he needs to warn his man.

Toshiya doesn't have social media, see, and he never has. He understands the gist of it, he's seen the memes and the funny screen caps, but he's never seen how downright cruel people can get. Rosaire is careful to only ever include his man's given name, never his surname, and he's pretty good about obscuring locations when they're not particularly calling out something (like 'wow last night we had an amazing meal at Fancy Restaurant!'). So when he makes the revelatory post, something like a picture of them together and that says 'I love him', some of the depths of social media scum go frothy.

Rosaire isn't as famous as actors and singers but he has a decent following, even if most of them don't know exactly who he is. He's beautiful and says catty things and is obviously wealthy so many young people desire his lifestyle. There's a particular following of young queer men who lust after him and a subsect of those people is who really lose their shit. They try to dox Toshiya, to get any info about him. Someone comments, meaning well but being oblivious, that they went to school with both of those guys. This helps narrow it down for the crazies.

For some reason the weird racist groups come out stronger than usual. Some of them are straight up anti-interracial relationships, other are just plain racist against Asians or blacks. (Toshiya is most horrified when he somehow sees the comments on a post that call him 'some gay-ass chink'. "That's so rude! I'm not gay! This is bi-erasure!" He's not sensitive to racism about himself.)

Beyond social media, Rosaire has to explain some things about how he might be treated going forward. He's given a separate mobile phone for use with Rosaire and given other obfuscations to apply to his life (as a 'normie' I can't imagine what these are but I can imagine you'd change bank accounts and take weird routes everywhere, etc). He really doesn't like some of it. Toshiya is just a guy! He's never been anything special, never been wealthy, never been particularly popular outside his friend group... He doesn't really like this limelight being imposed on him, but he loves Rosaire so much..!

He learns to deal with it, and honestly by the time the worst of the initial adjustment period and the psycho online trolling is done he's able to return to relative normal. He can go back to biking to work, to riding the train in peace, and gains a new level of respect for the thick skin that Rosaire must have.

[lovethewayyoudoso]

Illustration from "Field of Flowers".

I changed Rosaire's outfit pretty dramatically and his hair somewhat by the time I finished editing the blurb, and then drew additional art, but I still like this. I think it was one of the most complex pieces I've completed.

[lovethewayyoudoso]

On and on and on

Here's the break of dawn

Coming through the window, heart

Pull yourself a chair up, love

On and on and on

Quiver like a reed

Let yourself a go go, old one

Honor me a solo, young man

[lovethewayyoudoso]

Role reversal. It's not unheard of, but not their usual.

[lovethewayyoudoso]

🌹 and his ♂️ 🥩

[lovethewayyoudoso]

I don't think I will every get around to shading this so I'm going to call it finished at flats. I was using it to learn about gradient layers and... Then I couldn't find the inspiration to finish it. But that alright, they're still my boys.

[lovethewayyoudoso]

Going for a walk.

[lovethewayyoudoso]

Hobbies

Fun little blurb about the boys fairly early in their relationship.

~1200 words (2 pages)

-

“What do you do for fun? You know, those days you’re not either across the world at a tradeshow or at some fancy party.” Toshiya rolled his basketball on the ground between his feet. He was taking a break, sitting on the pavement with his arms behind him to prop himself up. Yellow sleeveless gymshirt over mid-thigh red shorts, both red socks recently tugged back up over his ankles before they were lost in his tried-and-true sneakers. His hair was pushed back off his sweaty forehead, a recently emptied water bottle nearby. He looked over Rosaire with contented eyes, happy to visit with his man if only for a short while.

Rosaire found himself kneeling nearby, his briefcase fallen over and sunglasses tucked on his shirt collar. He was in a fine charcoal suit, his shirt and tie both different shades of blue. It was a particularly masculine look that was completely betrayed by his designer boots and the fine, custom jewelery adorning his neck and ears. Even the little speck of a piercing on his nose had been swapped from the usual gold for a small blue gemstone. “Other than go out with you?” Full lips smirked, eyebrows rising.

“Well, that’s a full time hobby for sure… but…” He tilted his chin up with a smug little smile, as if beckoning for a little peck of a kiss that never came. Instead Rosaire grabbed hold of one of Toshiya’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze before letting his hand trail down to rest on a delightfully swollen bicep.

“I don’t have much time these days… I guess I mostly just hang out on social media.” He paused and looked over the other man. “I suppose I’ve never really had any hobbies that weren’t some form of socializing.”

“Really? No art or sports--”

“Do I look like I play sports?”

“Well,” Toshiya reached up with his opposite hand and laid thick fingers on the fine ones that held his arm. “You’d probably make a good tennis player, golfer… gymnast? I’ve seen the way you can bend…”

“Toshiya…”

Another cheeky smile. “Video games?”

“When would I have the time?”

“Card games or board games or-- ooh, what about tabletop games?”

“No, no, and definitely no.”

“Hmm. Well, maybe we need to try something new together? Is there anything you’ve ever wanted to try? I could show you how to play ball! I’m not very good at shooting though, more of a defense player…”

Rosaire chuckled as he checked his watch, “Can you imagine me trying to throw a ball all the way up there?” He nodded toward the half-court’s hoop. “I think I’d dislocated a shoulder in the process of aiming.”

“Oh, come on…”

“And I don’t have much of an eye for the arts, to answer your earlier question. I tried writing and painting at various points in my life on the advice of my therapist and I kind of feel like it made things worse.”

“Isn’t art supposed to be subjective? Or an outlet for your emotions? It’s not supposed to be perfect afterall!”

“Toshiya, I went to mix the blue and the green to make teal and I somehow ended up with brown. Pretty sure the canvas was going to catch fire if I kept at it long enough…”

A small chuckle and Toshiya propped an ankle on his basketball to prevent it from escaping. He leaned over and far more directly gestured for a small kiss. “I can teach you calligraphy. I do that, you know?”

“Do you now?” The hint was taken and the pair joined briefly at the lips.

“Oh yeah! Takes a steady hand but it’s… you know, meditation.”

“Hmm,” he looked down at his watch one more time. “You know, I … actually do have one hobby.” Blue eyes looked back up to catch black-brown eyes watched him with a small blush on his cheeks. “But…”

“But..?”

Sigh. “Promise you won’t laugh?”

“I would never. As long as it’s not stamp collecting.”

“... It’s philately.”

“… what?”

"Stamp collecting."

A light chuckle but Toshiya realized the other was being serious. “Really?”

“Really. It’s quite the impressive collection, I must say.”

“I… you’re going to have to show me this collection next time I’m over.”

“So you can laugh at it?” Rosaire stood up and tidied his suit, finding his briefcase once more and dusting it off. Right behind him was Toshiya rising to his feet. He looked far more serious now, definitely trying his best not to chuckle in disbelief.

“No, I want to see it! I mean, you know, I was joking when I said that, but if that’s really your hobby then I want to check it out!” He pushed his hair back over his head once more, adjusting himself before putting both hands on his man’s shoulders, sliding down his arms to coax his hands into a loving grasp. “Do you really have to go already?”

“I do; I’m sure Louissant is getting antsy to leave for the airport.”

Toshiya sighed and leaned down to provide a kiss, and another. They had already said their formal goodbye the night before but the men just had to visit once more before yet another multi-day business trip took Rosaire away. “I’m serious, Ros. Show me your collection when you get home, and I’ll bring over my portfolio of calligraphy!”

“You have a portfolio? For what purpose?” Long brown braids hung over one shoulder as Rosaire tilted his head with a smirk, receiving another small kiss.

“I wanted to start a video channel about it. You know, on YouTube! But you know me, I don't know how any of those things work online… I gave up before I started.”

“Mmm, well, when I get back we can share those, hmm?”

“After we share a little something else…” Another kiss, pulled into an embrace for a final farewell. Rosare looked up at his man with a little smirk, which was given the reply of playfully raised eyebrows. “I’ll miss the way you look at me when I’m being embarassing.”

“Let me know when I need to send a selfie with that exact expression.”

“You’ll use up all your data!”

Rosaire chuckled and offered one last kiss and, “I’ll see you in a few days, Toshiya,” before he slipped on his sunglasses and departed for where his gleaming white car was waiting. A little wave, and blown kiss from the court up to the car, and once the shorter man was gone Toshiya turned around and retrieved his basketball.

A few dribbles and he shook his head, “Stamp collecting?” He shot at the hoop and completely missed.

-

[lovethewayyoudoso]

Rosaire isn't himself without his hair extensions. When there's a mishap with his aesthetician's delivery and he's stuck without braids for a few days... well, he doesn't exactly want to be seen. However, his boyfriend's loving words and touch convince him (for the moment) that he's perfect as he is.

Rosaire is certain he's an ugly duckling without his hair and his make-up, but it simply isn't true. He's comfortable as a femme and it's who he is; it's who he's developed into. His father hated it, but to be fair... his father hated him as he was to begin with. It's really no wonder he hates to see himself when he's in between hairstyles and when he's removed all of his cosmetics. All he sees in the person he was told was worthless and useless and an embarrassment; he sees his dead mother whom he has nearly no memories of. But when he has his hair styled and his jewelry on, even if there's minimal cosmetics? He's the confident, sexy, show-stopping businessman he's always wanted to be. It's a shame because no matter the amount of effort he puts in... he will always be Toshiya's man. (Of course, the efforts put in are appreciated!)

[lovethewayyoudoso]

So I've completely changed how the ring looks (and honestly this was just a placeholder anyway as I doodled), but... one of the selfies from the end of Field of Flowers. The boys are getting married! Rosaire wasn't planning on doing it just yet, but the moment struck and he had to use what he had on his person. So, the fat ruby ring on his thumb would have to wedge onto Toshiya's ring finger until he got an actual engagement ring.

Only... Toshiya is now hopelessly attached to the ring. Needless to say it gets resized for a much larger finger (quite the undertaking for a jeweler considering the stones and settings have to all be adjusted) and it becomes his treasured engagement ring.

Seeing this posted I now realize that the way I have it cropped looks like Rosaire's arm is just kind of... there. Like there's no elbow, lol. Well, there definitely was an elbow at one point, I promise he doesn't have a levitating prosthetic.