#'im keeping it for decorative purposes only!!!' he insists to anyone who asks

[qserasera]

got a cracky headcanon that has so much sugary fluff in it that i don't feel shameless enough to post it as a fic lol

so my bard wood half elf, layla, has a guild artisan background--i vaguely headcanoned it as a kind of backup career she prepared for, in case the swordfighting-and-barding around faerun gig didn't work out. so mostly like intermediate-level woodworking, with some textiles/embroidery knowledge on the side

and then in the case of the stuffed toys plot, she gets so pissed off about that, that she asks the flaming fist guard in charge of the donations storehouse if she could take the box of them and clean them up and fix them before re-sending them back to donations

'sure, why not' the guy says, 'i already filed my report on it and all. i'll keep one of them for evidence but take the rest'

then back at camp, her companions watch as she's cleaning off all these toy teddy bears, refluffing them, and tearing apart a bunch of fancy clothes they swiped off of cazador's palace after freeing astarion, and making little outfits for them

so u get some bears with princess hats, and bears with cloaks, and bears in like little doublets and such in shiny brocades and silks. some of them have little wooden sword accessories tied to their belts too lol

(she even gets gale to cast several fireproofing and waterproofing spells over the whole lot)

layla also ends up handing one (a teddy bear with white fur, in a little dark outfit with silver embroidery decorations) to astarion, who stares at it in puzzlement for five whole minutes

"darling," he says slowly, "as much as i adore anything that comes from your hands, you do know i am an over 200-year old elf right?"

layla holds up another teddy bear, this one in a little purple dress that also has embroidery done on it

"he comes in a pair," she says, wholly straight-faced. "they're supposed to match"

astarion's resolve crumples like wet tissue paper

he takes the teddy bear

[clove-teasdale]

holmes & watson at the ball

*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

A/N: challenge #4! I asked for two more days cause I had a lot of things this week (IM OFFICIALLY 18 YALL. FIRST FIC FINISHED AS A TECHNICAL ADULT(?)) Anyhow. Here is the fic. I was still pretty busy today so this might suck but thERE IS PROGRESS SO. have fun reading and forgive any weird writing or typos. Ft. detective crooks ™, one of my guard ocs cause I always bring one up lol & nate. Thanks @brooks-schreave @nathaniel-schreave @eloiseduval for the rps that couldn’t all be included so this wasn’t a monster fic. around 3,2k words

*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

“Your drink, Lady,” Rogers said, offering me a glass with a half bow as a joke. I snorted, but accepted it, taking a sip of the mysterious orange-tinged drink and tasting the alcohol.

“Well, Officer Rogers,” I stated dramatically, ready to tease him. “I doubt your commanding officer will approve of you giving alcohol to a Selected.”

He gave me a fake glare. “You said to surprise you. I just complied with a cocktail. Besides, it’s not like you’re not old enough.” His amused grin disappeared when I raised both eyebrows, silently asking, ‘am I though?’ He took the drink from my hand and set it on the silver platter of a passing servant. “Never mind.”

I laughed and stole his drink instead. His was just cider, which is what I would’ve asked for if it weren’t for my curiosity of what he would bring otherwise. “I see you like to keep it clean.”

He nodded, gladly taking my comment as a compliment and glancing at the ballroom. “I’m technically still on duty.”

“Fair point.”

I watched the beautifully decored ballroom too, in the midst of couples, spotting Eloise now done with Officer Barnes and dancing with Brooks. The prince looked different in his suit. A good different as he laughed at something our shared friend had told him. The brat kinda had a nice laugh… but anyway, that left my options to be, hanging around Rogers, chatting it up with another Selected or finding someone else to dance with.

I knew at some point of the night I would end up dancing with Brooks since we’d agreed to do so when our lead arrived, but that wouldn’t happen at the moment. Eventually, I was certain Rogers would be asked by another young Lady to dance with him. With no doubt, his good looks would help him. That meant I needed to figure out what I’d do next. My goal of making at least one friend so far had been accomplished with Eloise, but I had yet to establish any meaningful conversations with anyone else.

I was planning on it. Really, I was. But I was always too busy with research on the journal–or actually, any excuse I could come up with. After the success of Marshall’s birthday party, I considered her to be a good prospect though. For a moment, I thought I could try talking with her tonight. Even someone else for the sake of trying.

Many of the girls seemed to be getting a bit too excited about the variety of beverages available, however, and I did not do well with drunk people. While searching for sober familiar faces, I found the one prince we were all supposed to be there for. Finally free to talk.

“Go ahead,” Rogers teased when he noticed where my glance was.

I rolled my eyes, but handed him the glass back, telling him to shut up and walking over to Nate. Tapping his shoulder, I said, “Hello there,” and he turned around.

“Hey, how are you?”

“Quite free to dance at the moment.”

“Well so am I, would you care to dance?” He held out his hand for me to take.

“My, how unexpected of you Nate. It would be a pleasure.”

“Hello, dear Nathaniel.”

Brooks. A mischievous smile on his face and a confused Eloise on his hand as he approached me and Nate mid-dance. Stealing my hand from Nate’s, he changed my place with Eloise and told them to have fun. With no further explanation, he dragged me away.

“Hi.”

That wasn’t how I’d expected him to ask me to dance. Not now. Once I’d offered Eloise and Nate a polite smile, I gave him a deadpan look. “Was there no better moment for this?”

“Nope. See that guy?” He gestured towards a group of men that were clearly advisers. His hand was on my waist and my own on his shoulder as we easily slipped into our waltz. “That’s William Holt, father of the advisor John Holt, and one of the names mentioned in the journal.”

I spared them a glance as casually as possible. W.H. “Our mystery initials from the notes?”

“Yes, dear, our mystery initials.” I did my best not to roll eyes at the grin accompanying his joking ‘dear’ and let him continue. “I spoke a bit to some advisors, and I think he’s here on business. There’s been some talk of someone stealing books from the restricted section of the library.”

I raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “My, my… is that so? No wonder I never saw that journal while I was there. I had no access.”

A smirk of his own spread across his face as he whispered, “Neither did I. But tell me, why are they so fascinated that book is gone?”

“Guess we’re on the right track.”

“I have a plan. I’ve noticed key advisors have been flocking around him deep in some random conversation. If we stay close, we may find something.”

“Lead the way…Highness.”

Dancing us towards the men, I could see the same excitement coming off him as I’d seen the day before when I told him about the ink. It was kinda cute to see that childlike enthusiasm. “Be very quiet and listen.”

Once we were at the required distance to do so, I acted as if nothing was more important than our dancing, in reality, eavesdrop alongside Brooks on what the group was saying. They were too immersed in conversation to care about us or the other couples nearby. Nobody was supposed to be interested in their conversation anyway.

William Holt was older than my father but still managed to look decent. His son, John, did not share his silver hair yet but had the same cheekbones and bushy eyebrows.

“I figured this would happen. It’s a bit soon though,” William complained to the others. None appeared too concerned except John, however.

“Aren’t you worried who has it?”

William took a drink. “My bet is Levi.”

I exchanged looks with Brooks at the mention of a name.

���After all these years? He’s ancient by now.”

“He was always a resourceful one.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“Last I checked, Harrison still lives downtown. He throws some annual New Year’s Eve party. We’ll check him out after that. We wouldn’t want to draw suspicion.” William finished his drink after that as his son and the rest of the advisers nodded in agreement.

I mouthed, ‘journal?’ to Brooks and he danced us away to talk.

“We’ve gotta find that Levi guy.”

“Can we be sure he’s our guy?” I wondered. “I mean, he’s definitely related to the whole ordeal, but he might not be the writer of the annotations.”

“Regardless, it’s a lead. He may know who wrote them.”

His hand played with the fabric on the back of my dress as he spoke. I did my best to ignore it, unsure he was even aware he was doing it. Why I didn’t feel the need to mention it was also beyond me.

“Fair enough. We should check this guy out…But later.”

“You’re right,” he nodded, “We have to stay at the ball for a while longer. I’ll get in trouble if I leave.”

“Such a tragedy,” I said with an eye roll, but my sight drifted soon after to the advisers talking around the room. Dad hadn’t come and I pursed my lips, mumbling, “Strange…” at the realization. He hadn’t called me since his last visit, but I assumed he’d be here. He never missed events.

Before I could debate any possibilities in my head, Brooks spun me around. That earned him a laugh as he said, “Riveting.”

“What is?”

“This whole thing. I feel like I’m a part of the Scooby Gang.”

“A two-person gang?” I asked, amused.

As our investigation hit a pause, I found myself truthfully focused on dancing again, taking more deliberate strides as I watched my feet and smiled. All thanks to one name. I couldn’t help but feel excited. One step closer to the truth. “There’s always Holmes and Watson, you know? I’ll let you be my John.”

“John, really?” Brooks almost scoffed. “Dream on.”

“He’s very important too, don’t belittle the guy.”

“He’s the sidekick, Clove. I’m obviously the main attraction here.”

I let out a single laugh but noticed the small smile he gave me. “Don’t flatter yourself that much, Brooks. And stop insulting John! He had the heart of the team… well, depending on the adaptation.”

“If you prefer him so much, you can be him. I insist.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled smugly. “Need I remind you who of us managed to decipher that horrid writing and translate it?”

“Need I remind you of,” he twirled me again, “who started this in the first place?”

I feigned offense with a gasp, not missing a beat on my steps though. “I was doing my own research before you came along in case you weren’t aware.”

“But I definitely sped things up for you, didn’t I? Admit it. You needed me.”

“I had already admitted that… in my head, at least. From day one, that’s why I agreed to work with you. You needed my help as much as I needed yours. We wouldn’t have gotten far without each other.” I cleared my throat, noticing how my last sentence sounded and clarified, “Each other’s help, I mean.”

As I watched the way his lips parted to reveal a small smile, his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink. “I really do appreciate your help. I hope you know that.”

Unable to drift my gaze away, I smiled too, pleasantly surprised by the sincere tone of his voice–the honesty, lacking any hint of sarcasm this once. “Well, now I know…I’m glad to be included.” It was strange to feel shy at the admission, but I only averted my eyes for a second and then looked back up. “It seems my help on other matters served its purpose too.”

“What do you mean?”

“No stepping on feet so far…and I haven’t been spun into oblivion either,” I teased and he rolled his eyes.

“Don’t jinx me.”

I chuckled. “Just keep it up.”

The song slowed down even more as he pulled me closer, like when we’d whispered to each other during dancing practice. The difference was that this time, his hand also covered the back of mine and pulled it to rest against his chest. I wasn’t sure if I imagined his heartbeat or not.

“Only for you.” His voice was dramatic as if it were one of his many jokes. Nonetheless, it somehow felt like there was some truth behind the words.

Blinking up at him, I was unable to reply for a few seconds at the change of positions. My head kept making mental notes that seemed rather unnecessary, such as the warmth of his hand seeping into mine. The way my heart almost fluttered at the proximity of our faces. The smell of hazelnut on him. My lack of concern for how close we were to each other. It felt very different from yesterday’s practice.

I rolled eyes at his joking tone, but when meeting his gaze again, a lump formed in my throat. I hoped my freckles would hide my slight blush as I said, “Lucky me.”

A small laugh. “As a gentleman, I feel like I should compliment you.”

I chuckled softly too. “But as Brooks, you must mock me, I’m sure.”

“No.” He paused. “A gentleman would feel required to tell you how lovely you look, but Brooks… I would mean it.”

My heartbeat was definitely skyrocketing now and I wasn’t sure why or how to make it stop. He’s just being nice. I stared down at my dress, smiling. Hopefully, not too awkwardly. That was actually… really sweet of him to say.

“Is that so? Well, you look quite handsome yourself.” I kept the tone light and decided not to make a big deal out of it. “Not too bad…”

“The word you’re looking for is ‘dashing’.”

“How very humble of you.”

A while later, the song came to an end and he released my hand slowly. I kinda missed the feeling of it wrapped around mine. “Meet me at the door when I signal you. We can research the address of that guy. We don’t have a lot of time until New Year’s Eve.”

An hour or so later, when I’d danced with Barnes, some politicians and chatted up with Eloise about that new trinket around her neck upon her return to the ballroom, I saw Brooks near the exit, brushing a thumb over his nose. I returned the signal and made sure no one was watching before walking over.

Brooks pulled me out into the hallway.  “Sorry if I cut your evening short.”

“We have to figure this out anyway. It’s the best lead we’ve got.”

He nodded and led the way to another part of the palace forbidden for the Selected. Once there, he gestured for me to be silent and got a key from his pocket. I kept a lookout as he opened the door cautiously. I had to reprimand myself for suddenly agreeing on his Scooby gang comparison.

He let me walk in first and closed the door softly behind him. I decided to ask where he’d gotten that key at another moment and followed him as he swiftly made his way to the single computer in the room. Technology had been making a comeback amongst some crowds in the past years but was still pretty rare.

Despite that, Brooks didn’t seem to have a problem browsing the computer. “This is where they keep the online files of addresses, birthdates, castes, stuff like that. All we have to do is look at past advisors and search for a Harrison Levi.”

My finger traced the top of the old equipment as I took a glance at the other file cabinets and bookshelves in the room. “In how much trouble would we be if we were caught here?”

“Lots and lots.” He glanced up from his typing quickly and asked, “Why?”

I focused on the different folders he was opening on the screen. “Aren’t you concerned?”

“I’ve spent my entire life being nervous about things. I’m past the point of nerves now.” The relentless sound of clicking echoed in the room as he continued. “Here’s the page. We just need to let it load now, which could take…” he squinted at the screen, “a while.”

“Just because I’ve avoided being caught before doesn’t stop me from being nervous, sadly. Especially because this is so much worse than just being out after curfew. I don’t entirely mind the adrenaline, simply want to know how much I’m risking here.”

He replied nothing at first and began humming instead. I couldn’t stop the memory of our duet from crossing my mind.

And all I’ve seen since eighteen hours ago is blue eyes and freckles and your smile… Spinning around in his swivel chair, he faced me, a hint of uncertainty in his features. “I really am sorry to have pulled you away from the Ball.”

I tried to wave away his insecurity. “It’s fine. I had already danced enough and made my presence.” Moving the edges of my skirt, I made the fabric dance around my legs and added with a shrug, “And I got to wear a pretty dress so…”

“You’re not upset I pulled you away from Nate? I know it’s hard to get time with him.”

“He’s a busy guy, but what we got was good. He has a lot of other girls to worry about more than me.” I thought about our conversation during the ball again. I did feel good around Nate, but not like there was something yet. I even brought up the word ‘friend’ without a care in the world. “I‘m pretty sure what we have will always be a friendship and that’s okay.”

Brooks lifted both eyebrows. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, that’s what it feels like… I like him, but not in that way, you know? Some others already seem to have feelings for him and as much as I care for him it’s not… romantic. I came here knowing love had a very slim chance of striking, so I’m not that disappointed I guess,” I spared him a glance, “Why so surprised?”

He repressed a smile and turned back to the computer. “I’ve always shown an interest in your love life, haven’t I? I’m nosy like that.”

I clicked my tongue and narrowed my eyes at him. Smiling was unavoidable though. “You’re still horrible.” Leaning forward to take a closer look at the screen, I asked if there was a match yet. The computer seemed to continue running over a million old archives, however.

From the corner of my eye, I thought I saw him spare me a glance, like my proximity made him nervous, but the screen finally loaded and stole my attention away. The profile picture of a man in his early thirties had popped up along other windows behind it. The photo was not recent, of course. It had to be from the days this man worked as part of the royal cabinet. Ginger hair and lively green eyes had once gazed upon a camera for that picture.

“It’s a match, holy shoot, it’s a match!”

Leaning even closer to the screen and reaching for the mouse over Brooks, I held back the euphoria bubbling in my stomach, clicking on the other windows to see more information. His files confirmed his years working with the royal family as an adviser. His early resignation did not go unnoticed, but a few clicks later I found what I was searching for.

In a handful of documents, one of them contained his signature. My eyes widen as I read aloud, “Harrison Levi… It’s the same handwriting.” A grin slowly took over my face, “the strokes and loops, the way he strings the letters together.” I turned to Brooks with a wide smile. “It’s him. He wrote the annotations.”

He didn’t move for an instant as if he’d been watching me from the moment I opened my mouth with some sort of fascination. The second passed by fast and he stood up. “Do you know what this means? Clove, we have his address. We can find this guy!”

Running a hand through my hair, I looked back at Brooks, beaming with excitement. “We found him…He’s alive and we know where he lives.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “We even have a party to crash!”

He ran a hand through his hair as well, full of disbelief, in the frenzy of our eureka moment, picking me up, hands on my waist as he swung me around in a thrill. All I could do was chuckle with the same happiness and anticipation. A sense of butterflies in my stomach I finally understood.

Nothing could’ve prepared me for what happened right after, however.

[itschrissenpai]

(A super late but still in time) Happy Birthday to you, @thatbastardmiyuki / @mochi6 !! ♥

Since you made this adorable drabble for my birthday last month, I just had to write something for you too. I hope you're having a nice, stressless day with much cake and many presents. You're a amazing person and one of the best ChrisMiyu shippers I know (and the best Miyuki my Chris could wish for).

Enjoy your day and have this ficlet of our dancing class!au. I figured I could sent this to you via IM but it was just so much text, that I decided that this would just be easier to post. 

ChrisMiyu ahead, in case you weren’t figuring it out already.(◡‿◡✿)

I really hope there aren’t too many weird parts or typos in there but I really wanted to finish this despite feeling a little feverish. Also, the end was totally on purpose heh. 

Ceru.

PS: No real nsfw here (just some teasing and... bananas). but it’s a long post, so I kept it under a Readmore after the first scene.

Home Is When I’m With You

     When Chris was young, Christmas always meant everything to him; family gatherings, weird sweaters (not to say ugly since his father used to be all happy seeing him wear them), good food and - of course - presents.

     Things shifted once he got older, gatherings getting rare occasions with his parents getting divorced and his father being absorbed in his work - and once Chris was the one working in his father's company too, knowing that one day it would be his , he started to forget about the importance this day once had for him.

     But it changed again when he met Kazuya. Granted, things between them always took their time. With them both being very busy (Kazuya was a well known model who definitely didn't need to look for jobs anymore), sometimes, it got difficult to meet up, to even just spend a night or an evening together without any interruptions. Sometimes Chris wondered how they even managed to keep this relationship. But they always found a way and it never changed anything about their feelings, not even after so many years.

     One of the things Kazuya brought back to Chris was Christmas. Despite their full schedules, they always spend the day with each other. It wasn't like they decided on it together; it just... happened and they had kept this little tradition since then.

     However, this year was different, because instead of sitting on their couch, all wrapped up in a blanket with a glass of wine and just some cuddling and snuggling, Chris was standing at Narita International Airport and checked the time in distress.

     "What do you mean, you cancelled the last meeting to go back to Japan? This was supposed to be one of the biggest deals we could've wished for the company this year, Yuu!"

     Chris sighed, trying not to move too abruptly while searching for his luggage. Fortunately, it should be one of the first pieces on the moving walkway since he'd been one of the last people to check in.

     "I know, father. And I made sure to send someone who's perfectly able to represent us in the meantime." He put the phone between his ear and his shoulder when his suitcase was the first to roll into his direction. "It won't affect the deal. But I had to come back sooner."

    "What kind of emergency is important enough to risk that deal?"

    Chris pulled the suitcase off the walkway, checking again if it was his. It took him a few seconds to give an answer, but when he did, there was a smile on his face.

    "Something personal", he said, tone gentle. "It's Christmas after all, father."

    Again, he checked his watch, realizing that it would still take at least an hour until he'd be back home; and he still had to make sure that Kazuya would be there, otherwise it had been pointless to stress about coming back early.

    "I have to go. I'll call you tomorrow. Merry Christmas, father."

    "Yuu, I'm not-"

    He hung up, trying not to think about how much damage control he'd had to do the next day to somehow calm his father down again.

    "You were on a business trip?"

    Chris looked up from his phone, surprised by the sudden question. The taxi driver was looking at him through the driving mirror, giving him a smile that Chris tried to return.

    "Yes. I've been to America for a week."

    "And you just came back to celebrate the day with someone?" It was somehow obvious that he did, considering that he came back miles to be here on this particular day. So Chris nodded, leaning a little back in his seat. There was a short pause, until the driver - a broadly build man, old enough to have white hair and a beard, some wrinkles shaping his face -, gave off a deep laugh. It strangely reminded Chris of... Christmas despite the lack of decoration in the car.

    He pulled out his phone to text Kuramochi, knowing that it was the most subtle way to get to know where Kazuya was since he and Kominato planned on asking him if he wanted to stay the evening. Once he sent a short message, he could only do so much and wait.

    Luckily, he got an answer minutes later that made him smile again - this time more sincerely than before.

    [text from: Kuramochi] Asked him but he said he'd rather watch a movie than be the third wheel all night. You gotta call him?

    Definitely something Kazuya would say.

    [text to: Kuramochi] No. I took a flight back. Don't tell him.

    With that he put his phone away to grab a small box he kept in his bag. Kuramochi was probably grinning at the message; perhaps even telling his boyfriend about it. About the fact that today was the day Chris would do what he'd planned on weeks before his trip. But once he opened the box, exposing a small, golden ring, he felt his chest tighten in nervousness.

    They'd never talked about this. About marriage, about staying together like this. It was a gamble to take that step without being able to calculate the outcome, but damn, Chris was willing to take it after so much time. If Kazuya decided that it wasn't what he wanted, then at least he'd tried - but that thought was anything but calming him down.

    He rubbed his temples as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he tried to go through everything he wanted to say.

    "Young love surely is beautiful, especially on Christmas, isn't it?" Chris looked up again, closing the box.

    "I guess it is", he answered, hands playing with the box. "It can be hard sometimes too though. We're not necessarily in a - what you'd call - normal relationship."

    "Depends on what you're defining as normal. But it seems to have worked out well until now." He nodded, eyes obviously on the little box to emphasize his words.

    "It did. I'm lucky to have..." Him. "Them. Both of our jobs don't make it easy to have a private life."

    "It seems like you're handling it well."

    "Yeah." Chris took a breath again. "Which is why I want to be with them." For the rest of my life.

    The car slowly stopped, causing Chris to look up. They were in the middle of the freeway, cars next to cars, rolling slowly further the road. The taxi driver furrowed his brows as he turned up the volume of the radio, listening to the announcement. The volume was still too low for Chris to hear it.

    "Is anything the problem?", he asked cautiously, internally preparing for something he didn't want to hear.

    "I'm afraid yes. Apparently there was a crash that causes the traffic jam. I'm sorry to say this, but we're most likely being here for a while."

    Of course. That one time when he needed to be home as early as possible was that one time he'd be stuck. Chris suppressed a sigh. Perhaps this wasn't a good sign for him. Perhaps this was supposed to tell him that he better not proposed tonight. Perhaps--

    "How about you take a nap? Since we'll be staying here for a while, you might as well not want to be tired once we reach your place."

    "I don't think I'll be able to sleep much. I'm..." Well, definitely a little tired after such a long flight, but probably too stressed to get proper sleep now. "I'm sorry."

    "How about you take that pillow next to you and lean back at least? I know this weren't the best news to tell you just now but if you want to surprise someone, you might as well try to be a little relaxed at least."

    He wasn't wrong with that, Chris knew that much. But he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep off his problems now.

    Chris tilted his head and turned, a deep red and white pillow next to him. There was no need to b impolite and he didn't have to actually sleep. Just making himself a little more comfortable wouldn't hurt anyone. One that definitely hadn't been there before (or he was just blind for not having seen it earlier). Still, he took it, a little reluctantly, and placed it between the window.

    It was comfy, no doubt. But he'd definitely not fall asleep on it.

    Definitely not.

____________________________________________

    When Chris opened his eyes after what felt like a couple of minutes, the car was standing and the engine was turned off again. Part of him was afraid to check the time; and yet he sat up and glanced to the dashboard.

    9:38pm.

    God. There was still time, if...

    If they weren't still on the freeway. If they were at least a little closer to his place.

    If...

    "I was about to wake you up."

    Chris furrowed his brows, eyes wandering out of the window to see city lights, red and green Christmas-ey and decorations all over the place. There was even snow - not much but enough to cover the ground just a little.

    They were back in Tokyo despite the traffic and Chris had never been this confused (because how exactly could he have slept so deeply while they must've gone full speed to be here in this short amount of time). Yet he was happy at the same time

    "How...?", he asked.

    "I took a shortcut once the traffic got better." The driver smiled. "I know it's late already, but there's still some time until midnight."

    "I..." There was so much Chris wanted to say. "I don't know how to thank you."

    "Go to your lover and make them happy. I'm sure they're waiting for you."

    And Chris did - after thanking the old driver a couple of more times, insisting on paying him more than he'd have to for the drive (but he rejected even that; little to Chris' dismay since he hated to feel like he was in someone else's debt - luckily the driver at least told him to spend the money for charity, figuring there were people needing it more than him).  

    As the elevator took him to the last floor, Chris was staring onto the little box again, his heart racing more and more as he was carried from floor to floor. He still couldn't forget what the old man had said just before Chris had left the car and saw it drove off, that feeling that there was more to it than how it had sounded like lingering.

    "Keep making people happy", he muttered the words to himself, just before the doors of the elevator opened. He had decided to choose a charity to spend his money to later (either as a distraction in case he got rejected or as some sort of celebration if not). By now Chris knew many charity organizations since he was known to participate in many events all over the year.

    The door to his own apartment seemed larger than usually - but Chris still dared to knock, figuring it was better than just to enter and possibly scare his boyfriend. His suitcase stood neatly next to him, the little box slid back into his pocket.

    There were sounds coming from inside and Chris was pretty sure that he had heard someone say 'Coming', but when the door opened, Chris blinked at the sight: Standing in front of him was Kazuya with a peeled banana in his mouth, staring at him like he was estimating whether this was reality or not.

    It was adorable and Chris almost smiled a little too widely because he'd give much to catch that moment on a photo (but Kazuya would probably not speak to him for a while if he did).

    The model pulled the banana out and swallowed his bite before he fell into Chris' arms, the sudden movement almost causing him to trip backwards. It was then that Chris knew he finally reached it.

    Reached home.

    "It's good to see that you're eating properly while I was away."

    Kazuya pulled away a bit. "Well, since you were gone, a banana is the only thing I can take in my mouth that has the shape of..."

    "Kazu- Hmpf!" His voice turned into a hum when he felt lips shortly on his. "I see you haven't lost your sense of humor while I was away."

    "Never", Kazuya replied before letting Chris finally step inside. "But seriously, didn't you say you wouldn't be home until next week?" Chris started to take off his coat and his shoes while Kazuya leaned at the door. "Not that I'm complaining but..."

    "I wanted to be with you today." Their eyes met. "It's that day after all, isn't it? I didn't want to leave you alone. And I didn't want to be alone today either."

    There was a pause, and Chris almost thought he said something silly again, but judging the way Kazuya's face seemed a little red--

    "I... I wasn't alone..."

    "I know. You had that banana after all."

    "Now you're teasing me."

    "I have to make up for being away, don't I?"

    Kazuya huffed and followed him to the living room. There was a bottle of wine standing on the small table by the couch, next to it a glass of wine - half empty already. Considering that there was a blanket laying on the couch, Kazuya had probably been watching TV to waste some time; and although Chris didn't pay much attention to the TV (the volume was too low and he couldn't see the screen of it), he assumed it was probably either a documentary or a quiz show.

    "If you want to make it up, I'd recommend to start differently than that."

    Chris turned, his fingers going to his tie without any commentary to unbuckle it. Hungry, amber eyes hung on his collar as it was exposed slightly. Kazuya bit his lip.

    "So, are you going to eat up?"

    Kazuya grunted. "Yes", he answered. "But I think I found my dessert after that."

    Clothes were scattered all over the bedroom and two naked bodies were laying close to each other, arm in arm and sweaty all over. It was almost midnight, Chris noticed when he checked the clock and he turned a little to Kazuya, causing him look up and earn a kiss to his forehead the next second.

    "For what was that?", he asked, voice playful.

    "For being here. With me", Chris answered.

    "Now that's cheesy. Did you miss me so much?"

    Chris didn't say anything at first. This was probably the best situation he'd get for doing what he actually had planned. It was almost midnight. And Christmas' Eve.

    "Don't move." He pulled away, missing the warmth already as he stood. "I'll be right back."

    "Alright. I'll be waiting here. All naked. Watching you walking all naked through our apartment."

    "Sounds like fun to me."

    "It is", he purred, eyes following Chris when he left the room. "But it's going to be cold here!"

    "Not for long."

    Chris reached into his coat, the familiar small box in his hand again as the nervousness was slowly crawling into his chest again - but this time he swallowed it down and walked back, holding onto the box not too visibly. Sliding back under the blanket, he soon pulled Kazuya closer, head placed onto the others.

    They were staying like this for a few minutes, the clock in the living room quietly announcing midnight.

    "I need to get something off my chest." There was some resistance to how he held him, Kazuya seemingly wanting to pull away and look at him, sensing something bad. "Please."

    "Alright", Kazuya gave back - and Chris sensed some fear in his voice. The same fear he already had when they met, and which kept him away from each other for a long time. Chris knew that he wasn't doing it on purpose and it wasn't like he didn't trust him. It was something buried too deep, something Chris one day wanted to heal in him. Because despite knowing that his partner was the most beautiful person on earth, it wasn't this beauty that had kept him to stay. Or fight for them when they started to get feelings for each other.

    "I won't leave you." I will never leave you. "Actually, I... was thinking about the opposite. About the next step and... I've been thinking about this for a while now"

    "Chris." He held his breath. "I can't have kids. We have no time to take care of them and I..."

    "Oh." Of course.

    The next step... Kids.

    "I think you're skipping another step here."

    It seemed to be then that Kazuya realized, his lips forming an o-shape as he pulled away and looked at Chris, speechless. The businessman shifted, exposing the little box and opening it to reveal the ring inside.

    "Kazuya, I've been spending the last five years with you and every day that I was able to wake up - next to your or not - I realized that you're the one that I'll always want to have by my side. I'm the luckiest person to be with you. Because I love you. Because you're perfect to me. "

    He took a deep breath, seeking eye contact. " I know we haven't talked about this at all and I don't know how you even think about this but...

    "Will you marry me?"