[Title]: The Elevator – Chapter 1/5
[Pairing]: Eiri/Shuichi
[Chapter Rated]: PG
[Disclaimer]: Gravitation belongs to the divine goddess Maki Murakami and any associated parties (i.e. not me).
[Warnings]: Yaoi, some profanity, silliness
[Author's Notes]: An oooooold fic I wrote years ago. Please read and enjoy!

Ding!

The elevator doors glided open with a soft hum. All the lights were dimmed low, casting darkened shadows on the large NG Records sign across the hallway. Brushing a hand through blond locks of hair, cigarette poised at his lips, he stepped off the elevator and immediately saw four figures approaching him from the end of the corridor.

"Yuki-san! It's a surprise. What are you doing here?"

He stopped and sighed, turning to them slowly. No chance hiding now.

"Are you looking for Shuichi?" Hiro asked, followed closely by Suguru, Sakano, and K.

Pitching open his lighter, he lit the dangling cigarette. "I suppose so."

"He's back at the studio, cleaning up. We're all leaving for the night."

Eiri pretended to care, nodding his head thoughtfully as he started to walk away. He faintly heard their calls of good-night's and good-bye's before he turned the corner, already forgetting about them. He wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. He wasn't even sure why he bothered to drop by in the first place.

The studio door was left ajar in the shady hallway, and Eiri heard someone humming softly from inside. Rolling his eyes, he pulled the door open, crushing his cigarette into a trashcan's ashtray before stepping inside, and shut it behind him.

Shuichi was wiping down the windows when he came in, not noticing his presence at first. Eiri watched him quietly, observing his little pink head bobbing while he hummed and his body moving to the music as he cleaned. The corners of his lips tugged into a small smile, but he suppressed it just as quickly. He cleared his throat, finally capturing the singer's attention.

Shuichi jumped a mile, quickly flipping around to catch the intruder. When his heart started beating again, when he finally remembered to breathe, his amethyst eyes widened impossibly huge, a grin rapidly spreading across his face. "Yuki! You scared me!"

Eiri smirked. "So I noticed."

Before he could say another word, he was thrown backwards as the pink fireball launched straight into him. Shuichi tossed his arms around Eiri's neck, making his best attempt at squeezing the life out of him. Eiri could feel the boy's utter happiness in the deathly embrace.

"What are you doing here, Yuki?" Shuichi asked, not easing his hold in the least.

The blond novelist sighed, forcefully untangling Shuichi's limbs from his body. "Why is everyone so surprised to see me here?"

Big, bright eyes looked up at him inquiringly. "Well, I thought you said you'd never be caught dead here again."

Stony, amber eyes met the other's gaze. "I guess I did say that, didn't I?"

Shuichi grinned.

"Well anyway," Eiri continued, waving his hand dismissively. "I was returning from running some errands today, and... since I was in the neighborhood... I thought... I could maybe... you know..."

"You came to pick me up from work?" Shuichi asked, clasping his hands in front of him like a pleading widow. "Oh, Yuki, that's so romantic!"

Eiri cringed, pushing the other away to avoid another attack. "Well, hurry up here. I don't have a lot of time."

"Okay," the younger boy agreed, picking up his cleaning supplies to store them away. "K made me stay after tonight and clean up the studio, because he caught me trying to play hooky at lunch break."

"Hooky?"

Shuichi looked up again, smirking mischievously. "I wanted to come by the apartment and have lunch with you today."

Eiri suppressed another roll of his eyes. "And K wouldn't let you?"

"No," Shuichi replied, looking crestfallen. "He thought I might just skip the rest of the day altogether."

"Well, wouldn't you?"

The frown faded quickly. "Probably."

"Then remind me to thank him tomorrow."

"Hey!" Shuichi retorted, playfully throwing a dry sponge at him and bonking him in the head with it.

Eiri glared at him, annoyed, but picked up the sponge. He helped Shuichi store away the supplies and gather up all his things. They left the studio shortly after nine o'clock that night.

Eiri punched the down arrow on the elevator keypad hastily. Shuichi had started humming that song again, but repeated attempts at telling him to shut up had not proved successful.

"Ah, Yuki, stop resisting me," Shuichi said with a devious smirk.

Eiri had stared at him strangely, quirking a brow. "Was that supposed to be sexy?"

Shuichi had only pouted and crossed his arms, continuing to hum in a much louder octave than before.

The elevator car arrived promptly, doors opening to permit them passage. Shuichi followed Eiri inside, hanging close. Eiri pushed the appropriate buttons to close the doors and take them to the downstairs lobby, and then stood back patiently as the elevator descended.

"How was your day, Yuki?"

Sigh. "It was fine. And yours?" He already knew what chaos that question would bring, but he knew Shuichi would tell him regardless. Why fight it?

"It was great! We recorded our new song. It sounded awesome when we finally finished and they played it back for us. K said it was a top hit, if he'd ever heard one. And Sakano actually took a breather. He looked so stressed out today. Maybe this song helped ease his mind some, do you think? The pressure is on, you know. We have a concert coming up in less than a month and we have to prepare our schedule for the big night. Hiro was thinking of adding a guitar solo into one of our songs, and it sounds like a great idea. Though Sakano hates it when we always change the plans. They've always been successful in the past, though. Will you be at the concert, Yuki? Will you come and see me? I'm so excited about it. Maybe we can have a tour next season too. How does that sou-"

Shuichi paused mid-sentence. Unexpectedly, the lights in the small elevator car flickered off and the two were suddenly plunged into the black void of night. They felt the elevator jerk to a halt, and then there was an eerie silence. Shuichi gasped loudly, frantically reaching out into the darkness to find Eiri. When his hand fumbled and grabbed onto the man's sleeve, he sighed and tried to calm down. His heart was hammering within the cage of his chest and his breathing was ragged.

"Yuki? What happened?" he asked weakly, hating how frightened and timid he sounded.

"What does it look like, moron? We lost power."

"But why? What happened?"

"I don't know," Eiri snapped. Shuichi winced at his frustrated tone. He didn't want to be a bother, but he was scared.

He felt Eiri start to move away from him, his grip becoming taut. Shuichi whimpered and blindly tried to follow him in the black of the elevator car, not wanting to be left alone. Then, the lights abruptly returned to life, and he gasped again, relieved to finally be able to see.

Eiri had moved in the general direction of the elevator keypad, hoping to push a few buttons and possibly fix things. He froze with surprise when the lights came back on. He heard Shuichi gasp and loosen the grip on his arm. His own edginess had still not abated, however, because he noticed that the elevator had not continued moving. "Oh, fuck," he muttered, reaching out for the keypad. The elevator was at a standstill.

"Yuki, what are you doing?" Shuichi asked, hand clutching his chest in hopes of calming his frantic body.

"Are you stupid?" Eiri replied, turning to him sharply. "The elevator's not moving."

Shuichi's eyes went to the keypad then, not quite understanding what was going on, but then what Eiri said finally registered in his brain and he gasped for a third time that night. "What? What... what do you mean the elevator's not moving?"

"I mean that we're stuck," he answered, turning his attention back to the buttons. "The elevator lost power with the rest of the place, but when the power came back on, the elevator did not."

"We're... we're trapped?"

"Apparently so."

Eiri checked his watch. It was a quarter to ten o'clock. He silently cursed under his breath.

"Oh my god... Are you sure?" Shuichi asked more firmly, pushing his way to the elevator keypad. He pressed the button to open the elevator doors, then a few more, then began slamming his fist down on the buttons repeatedly when nothing seemed to be working.

"Dammit, what are you doing?" Eiri snarled, yanking him away. "You're not helping."

"Well, neither are you!"

Eiri glared at him, but turned away, staring at the buttons intently. Shuichi instantly regretted his tone of voice, slapping a hand over his rebellious mouth. He moved closer to his lover, placing a gentle hand on the man's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Yuki. I'm just upset."

"Hmph." Eiri was staring at the ceiling of the elevator car now, obviously searching for something.

"Are we... are we really stuck? Seriously? Is this really happening?"

"Yes."

Shuichi frowned, his eyes stinging with tears. "Oh god...