[TRC] (Yama arc) Speechless

Die in a fire, LJ. It took me over an hour to post this.

Title: Speechless
Rating: R
Spoilers: Yama arc.
Summary: Written for the clampkink prompt "Fai is becoming depressed and withdrawn from being unable to talk to anyone for so long. Kurogane finds a way to cheer him up that doesn't require conversation."
Author's notes: When I saw this prompt in the kinkmeme, I decided I wanted to do it because it reminded me of something I've noticed in the fandom: In Kuro/Fai fics which are set in Yama, more often than not Fai can speak Nihongo - badly, but understandably enough that he and Kurogane can carry on extended and meaningful conversations. But I'd always gotten the impression from that chapter that Fai hadn't learned any Nihongo at all in the six months he was there, and having lived in a foreign country where I wasn't fluent in the language myself, I know how stressful that can be.


( Fai was closing in on himself. Over the months, the hyper energy of his early movements had slowed and finally stopped; gradually, his eager attention to others was wearing into indifference. )