#{ lmao is reader basically me? purrhaps. i am a negative nan 🤡 }

[knottyforlegoshi]

lunch date

Summary: You forget your lunch. Legoshi, the ever-thoughtful boyfriend, decides to drop it off for you and uses this opportunity to address something that’s been bugging him.

As if your day at work can’t get any worse, the incessant growling from your stomach makes you realize that you forgot to bring lunch. You can picture it now: the checkered-gingham-wrapped bento sitting innocently on your kitchen counter.

“I made sure to pack all your favorites,” Legoshi muttered, voice groggy from the dredges of sleep. He must have stayed up preparing it after his night shift, so it would be ready for you the next morning.

But due to your rush to find your car keys and make it on time that morning, you forgot to grab it.

Damn. You bite down on the inside of your cheek, mentally going over the vending machine fare on the first floor of your office building. You had chips for lunch the other day, so this time…

A packaged sandwich and apple juice it is.

While your day seems to get progressively shittier, it takes great restraint for you to avoid texting Legoshi about it. Your canine boyfriend is a kind soul, and never turns you away, even in your less-than-ideal moods (which are quite frequent). He always offers his shoulder to cry on or ear to vent to, no matter how awkward he is about it.

But lately you've been worried that your negativity has been irking him. You decided to stop venting to him, no matter how natural it is to you. It's time you learned to be independent! So you do something you haven't done in forever--you turn your phone on silent and leave it in your desk drawer. Cracking your knuckles together, you decide on making the best out of your shitty day.

However, that’s probably why you don't get Legoshi’s calls or texts once he notices the bento left on the counter. Cocking his head, he figures that since he has the day off, he'll bring it to you. Truthfully, he wants any kind of excuse to hang out with you; you've been quite distant lately, and these days he hears less and less from you. While the small texts from you throughout the day managed to put a smile on his face at work, nowadays he struggles with the crippling disappointment at the lack of notice from you.

If it was just that, Legoshi wouldn’t be as concerned. But you've also been brushing him off whenever he asks about your day, leaving room for the self-doubt to start trickling in.

Is there a reason you're pulling back? Is it something he did?

Is it something he could fix?

Legoshi wants to get to the bottom of things, before his anxiety eats away at him like it tends to.

As soon as you clock off for lunch, you're surprised to see a familiar figure arguing with the security guard at your work.

“Ah… I’m just looking for (Y/N)… Do you know which floor…?”

Legoshi shifts his weight onto one leg, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. You're more than certain he's aware of the way the badger security guard cowers at the sight of him.

“N-No, I don't!" he squeaks.

“Legoshi!” You call, and his ears twitch. He turns his head swiftly, his eyes lighting up at the sight of you, the corners of his lips pulling upwards into his version of a dopey smile. He acts like he hadn't seen you just this morning--like every time you lock eyes is the first time.

It's stupidly cute. You can't help cracking a smile yourself.

He calls your name, jogging over to you. Then leaning down, he presents the bento to you between two large hands. “You forgot this.”

“Thanks! I was just about to grab something."

Legoshi pauses, and when you glance at him, he seems to be staring at you intently, as if trying to anticipate your reaction. He clears his throat. “I was wondering if we could uh, eat together?” he asks, procuring his own wrapped lunch.

"Ah, sure!”

“We haven’t done this in awhile,” Legoshi comments as the two of you sit on the grass just outside your workplace. He offered to let you sit on his sweater, in case you ruin your work pants, but you declined.

"We haven't," you agreed, untying the cloth wrapping. You sigh happily when you see the lunch he packed you; it was simple, but he took great pains to make it presentable, even adding cute little food picks to the vegetables. It's adorable.

He waits for you to take a few bites, watching you as he chewed thoughtfully on his egg salad sandwich, before he speaks up. "It, uh, seems like I barely see you nowadays. Or... hear from you."

Legoshi tries to come off as casual, but he feels like there is one obvious message relayed in the downward cast of his brows, in the way his voice falls flat.

I miss you.

"Yeah, uh... work's been pretty busy," you say absently, fiddling with a cherry tomato in your lunch pack. "Sorry."

Legoshi stifles a wince. Okay. Distant answer. Not very promising. But he persists, because if there's one thing he is, it's determined to figure out what he did wrong.

"How've you been doing?"

"Oh, you know." You offer him a tight smile. "The same. Usual... stuff."

"Really? You don't seem very..." He purses his lips, thinking of the correct word.

"Yeah," you say, frowning slightly. "It's been, ah..."

This is awkward, even by his standards. Legoshi frowns at the gap between you two that he can't seem to bridge, no matter how much he wants to. When did you two become so distant?

He sighs, leaning back on his hands. His mouth a thin line, his gaze travels to your surroundings, to the grass--anywhere but you, his mind abuzz with thoughts. 

You seem frustrated yourself. "Look Legoshi, I--"

Here it comes. He wonders idly what it is that he’s done. Are you really going to break up with him? He hides the slight tremble of his hands by digging his claws into the earth beneath him, before exhaling softly.

"I-I get it."

"It's just been so hard to not--to not jump on the chance to complain about things even second of the day!”

His gaze snaps to you. "W-What?"

"I know--I really should be less pessimistic. I mean, my therapist said I should. I feel really bad about complaining to you all the time and--"

"You're not... mad at me?" he says slowly.

"And like, you're so nice. You never even tell me to stop. But sometimes I wish you would! I worry my bad mood is rubbing off on you. I know you're a sensitive kind of guy and--"

"Wait." Legoshi jerks forward, gripping the tops of your arms before relinquishing his hold when he notices how sharp his claws look against your arm. You stare at him wide-eyed.

His brow creases. "You're... you haven't been talking to me because you're worried it’lll..."

"Bring your mood down? I mean, yeah." You blink as if it's the most obvious conclusion to come to in the world. Then you yelp as Legoshi wraps his arms around you, drawing you into his embrace.

"Legoshi?” you ask, patting his back. He sighs, relaxing into his hold on you.

"I thought I did something wrong..." he mumbles.

"Hm? You?"

He pulls back, a frown sitting heavy on his face. "It's not like you to just not... talk anymore."

You purse your lips, before nodding slowly--then once more, thoughtfully now. "...Oh. Ah, yeah. I see--I see why you’d think that."

He scratches the back of his ear with one of his claws. "This is simpler than I thought it would be."

You blink several times at him, unmoved by his conclusion. "Is it."

"Yeah.” He stares at you. "I mean... It's a lot easier to deal with if it's just a misunderstanding."

"I... guess...?” you say, confused. Legoshi had a way of stating things without explaining himself clearly. But in this case, you suppose you were also in the wrong."Sorry... I was trying to work on myself, but I didn't realize how it might come across..."

"I don't...” Legoshi sits cross-legged, his elbows on his knees before lowering his mouth to them. You recognize this as his thinking pose. “I don't mind if you need space, or you don't wanna talk. But... I don't want you to think that I don't want you to talk. I mean..." You cock your head to the side, and he pauses, before continuing in a different manner. "I don't... I'd prefer if you talked to me rather than just... kept it to yourself..." he finishes.

"Okay.” You nod thoughtfully. “I can do that.”

He exhales slowly, as if releasing a huge weight off his shoulders, and it’s at this point that you see something on the ground. 

“Oh no! You dropped your sandwich.”

The remnants of his egg salad lay smushed on the ground, probably from when he lurched forward to hug you. A few ants were crawling on the egg-mayo filling, and the two of you stared for a second. Legoshi sighs. “It’s fine.”

“Here.” You offer him a bite of the omelette he had made you, and he pauses, seeming bashful. You prod it towards his jaw once more, and he opens his mouth, before swallowing. When your gaze meets his, he ducks his head down, rubbing his neck.

Behind him, his tail thumps the floor excitedly. The one indicator of his true feelings. 

"Thanks. I--you know I was supposed to be the one feeding you.”

“I know. But consider this... reparations? For worrying you,” you murmur when he snaps his head up. He accepts your next bite of food with less hesitance, but with a softness to his gaze that has your heart pounding. You check your phone, only to see the time.

"Oh! I need to head back."

"Let me walk you back,” he offers, helping you pack up.

When you’ve said your goodbyes, Legoshi’s walking back to the train when his phone buzzes. It’s a text from you.”

"Thank you for bringing the lunch! It really sweetened up my day. :)"

"No problem. :)” 

He chews on the inside of his lip as he sees the three dots by your name. You’re writing him something.

"When I get home, I have to tell you about this bitch in accounting."

He raises a brow, ducking his head. Sometimes, it’s nice to know things don’t change.