#Writing 'mom' instead of 'mum' made my brain shut down for a second

[tev-the-random]

What it Ursa took her children with her? - Pt.1

So I was thinking about that idea I had the other day. And as no one could guide me to a fanfic on the matter, I thought I would try and expand on this idea a bit.

Right! So, if I were to write a full-length story – and I don’t know that I could. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time for that right now –, it would go as such:

 Just like in the original, Ozai dares ask his father to revoke Iroh’s birth right, so Firelord Azulon orders him to kill his own son as punishment. Literally what the fuck, both of you.

 And just like in the original, Ursa discovers Ozai’s intentions and makes a deal with him: in exchange for Zuko’s life, she’ll make an odourless, colourless poison for him to kill Firelord Azulon with. Additionally, Ozai demands Ursa to leave the Capital City and never show up again, to which she agrees on the condition that she can take her children with her.

And here’s where things will change: Ozai accepts these terms. There is no reason for him to keep Zuko, and although he can see potential in Azula as a tool for his needs, he can easily think of ways to replace her. If it means he can get rid of the threat Ursa presents (read “he’s scared shitless now that he knows she was a poison-making master this whole time”) and get the throne he wants, he doesn’t give a shit if he has to dispose of the children. And Ursa would be more than relieved to leave that hellish place anyway.

She hurriedly wakes up Zuko, takes a sleepy Azula in her arms and leaves through a secret passageway, as to not be spotted. Ozai watches from a distance as his wife disappears into the night with her children.

The next morning, Ozai puts up a whole act to his father about how he killed Zuko as ordered and how his wife, horrified by what he did, took his daughter and left. Azulon believes this and declares that the man has suffered enough of what he deserved, and that they are to wait for Iroh’s return as if nothing had happened.

(Yes, I do wholeheartedly believe Ozai is capable of fantastic acting abilities and menacing deceit when he really wants to.)

What about the whole thing with connecting Avatar Roku’s bloodline to their own in order to fulfil a great destiny or something? I’ll say Azulon would plan to eventually get Azula back in the picture. And that’s all I’ll say for now.

In the middle of the night, Ursa and her children take a boat to travel to her hometown, Hira’a.

While she goes into a spiral thinking about how her life got to that point, Zuko – who was barely processing anything that was happening – falls asleep by her side, whereas Azula starts to stir on her mother’s lap. She wakes up and silently looks around.

‘Where are we?’ She asks.

‘Azula,’ Ursa calls, snapping out of her thoughtful state. ‘Don’t worry about it. Go back to sleep, sweetie.’

‘What’s happening?’

‘Go back to sleep,’ she repeats. ‘I’ll explain everything later.’

Azula doesn’t go back to sleep, instead pondering about this unusual situation.

Upon arrival in Hira’a, Ursa is concerned about finding them shelter. So, unlike the original, she doesn’t stop after discovering her parents died years ago. She searched for old friends, finding that most of them had left the town at that point. Eventually, she finds the old director of the local acting troupe, Grandma Guchi, who is alive and well, albeit retired.

The old lady is happy to see Ursa again, and even happier to take her in in what seems to be a very difficult time for the Fire Princess and her children.

Guchi breaks the news that Ikem disappeared into Forgetful Valley a long time ago. This isn’t compatible with Ozai’s story, for his assassins couldn’t possibly have found Ikem in Forgetful Valley, could they? Regardless, nobody ever saw the man again.

The moment is interrupted by the sound of Azula indiscreetly opening cabinets around the house.

‘Azula, be respectful of others’ homes,’ Ursa reprehends.

‘I don’t like this place,’ Azula comments, visibly confused by why they’re here, by the fact that – and she noticed – they had spent the past few hours practically begging for a place to stay and by the apparent lack of royal procedures. ‘When are we going home?’

She receives no response.

‘Mom?’ Zuko asks meekly. Part of him hadn’t spoken so far because he didn’t want to overwhelm his mother, who already looked so perturbed. But he, too, was getting preoccupied. ‘What is happening?’

Ursa very carefully explains the situation to them, trying to make it seem as non-terrifying for two kids as possible. So instead of going full “I gave your father the means to kill your grandfather so that you wouldn’t be brutally murdered in your sleep, now he’ll hunt us down if we even think of going back to the capital”, she says Ozai asked her to do something, and the only way to keep them safe after that was to leave the capital.

Azula believes this situation is temporary, and they’ll come back home in due time, even if her mother didn’t know when that was.

Zuko is… uncertain of what to think. He wonders, again and again, if what Azula had said the day before was true; was his father actually willing to kill him? What was it that his mother did? Why did their safety lie in leaving their home?

Ursa is unsure if they’ll stay in Hira’a, but for the time being, she considers finding herself a job there. Grandma Guchi suggests she goes back to working with the local theatre, as an actress or otherwise.

The ex-Fire Princess is then formally presented to the new director of the acting troupe, Noren.

Ursa restarts her theatre life as a part of the production crew.

Noren doesn’t make his true identity known right away, as he doesn’t want to overwhelm her. So he acts as if they just met, and Ursa doesn’t quite notice the overly fond looks he gives her.

He is absolutely delighted to meet Zuko and Azula.

As days go by, the siblings get increasingly… frustrated. This is all new to them. No more servants, no more training, no more studies, no more feeding turtleducks by the pond, no more palace, no more of their friends, no more Ozai… they now have chores to do – which they find a tad bit indignant at first –, but apart from that, life is pretty boring in this remote town of peasants, stuck in this old lady’s house, told to forget their royal identities and customs…

Little more than a week goes by following the trio’s arrival to Hira’a, and word gets around that Firelord Azulon passed away in his sleep, leaving the throne to his second son. As literally no other family member attends to the funeral or to the coronation, Firelord Ozai immediately spreads the idea that he is to be a strong ruler who doesn’t let himself get overwhelmed by emotion, unlike his brother. (Little do they know he probably doesn’t have any emotions at all.)

Ozai took a bit of his time before using the poison so that no one would connect his father’s death to his wife and children’s sudden disappearance. These were two separate and completely unrelated events, and Ozai holds ultimate responsibility for neither.

Azula and Zuko are obviously upset. One would think that after their grandfather’s death, the family ought to stay together.

Azula is the one to reassure her brother. If Azulon wanted Ozai to have the throne after all, it means he was pleased with young man; He probably thought Ozai went through with killing Zuko – ‘don’t you see, Zuzu? That’s why mom brought us here in the middle of nowhere: so that grandfather could see that dad is much stronger than uncle Iroh. But now that grandpa’s gone, it’s only a matter of time before dad sends for us.’ And although they both come to the conclusion that their father loved them, it was also implicit that he needed them. They were his heirs, after all.

But as several weeks go by and there is no sign of them leaving Hira’a anytime soon, Azula starts to get apprehensive. While Zuko kind of likes it here – of course he misses home, but the absence of that watchful eye telling him everything he did was worthless makes him feel a bit more patient –, she is utterly done with the place.

Other kids don’t want to play with her because she’s scary and demanding and burns down things on purpose. She doesn’t want to play with other kids because she considers them to be beneath her.

The first performance of this season’s play comes, and Ursa is glad to see things work out. But of course we have to ruin that, so moody Azula breaks into an argument with her mother. As patient as Ursa tries to be – despite the clever and sassy remarks, this is a child she’s arguing with –, she ends up letting out that they’ll never go back home.

This confirmation is the last straw for little Azula. She can be as precociously mature as it comes, there’s only so much a nine year-old child can take when her entire world crumbles down beneath her. So she runs away.

The girl is determined to return to the Fire Nation capital. But as it turns out, Hira’a is quite far away from Capital City. She can’t firebend her way there, she can’t demand her way there and her manipulation skills only take her so far. By the end of the day, she’s lost, she’s alone and she doesn’t quite know what to do.

Deep down, she’s terrified of the fact she can’t do anything; already at this early age, Azula internalized that she’s supposed to be the “fierce prodigy soldier princess” and forgets that she’s just a child.

Hours later, Noren finds her somewhere in the outskirts of town.

‘Azula! Thank goodness you’re ok, your mother was so worried about you!’

A moment of silence. ‘I want my dad,’ Azula murmurs, almost as if afraid anyone will hear her vulnerability.

Noren takes a second thinking about it, then sits beside her. ‘I know you miss your home and your dad,’ he says. ‘Life is probably very hard right now, and it’s unfair that you never asked for things to change so much. But you know you can count on your mother and your brother, right? They love you-‘

‘No, they don’t. They think I’m a pest.’

‘They don’t.’ Noren sighs before continuing, ‘I know you probably don’t want to hear it from me, but your mother is trying her best to protect you.’

‘I don’t need to be protected,’ Azula retorts. ‘I’m not weak.’

‘Someone wanting to protect you doesn’t make you weak. It makes you loved.’

‘Dad says the only way to be strong is to fend for yourself. Those who don’t have no place in this world.’

‘Maybe he was wrong?’

‘He’s the Firelord!’ She cries.

‘Well, he was supposed to be a father.’

Azula goes silent. After a minute, Noren moves, and the girl flinches – for a split second, she thought she was about to be attacked. But when she raises her eyes, she sees the man was merely offering his hand. ‘Let’s go get your mom,’ he says.

(Excuse me if I can’t help it, but I think Noren is just a Nice Person.)

It takes a little while for them to find Ursa – who was running around the town like crazy searching for Azula –, but when they do, the woman is dishevelled and so, so glad. ‘Are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you? Oh, my dear baby, I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you! I was so worried!’

If somewhere inside her Azula actually believed Ursa didn’t care, she’s now just… strangely relieved to be in her mother’s arms.

Cut to sometime in the future, maybe a week or so later: Zuko is watching over Azula. He’s messing with some flowers, whiles she’s pensively looking at the sky.

‘Do you miss dad?’ She asks.

‘And uncle Iroh. And Lu Ten. And the turtleducks. And even your crazy friends-‘

‘Ugh, I just asked if you miss dad!’ Azula rolls her eyes.

‘Yeah…’

Silence.

‘I wish none of this ever happened,’ she comments.

‘You’d rather dad had killed me?’ Zuko asks disheartened.

‘Maybe, yeah!’ She stares at him for a few seconds, then sighs. ‘No.’

‘If it makes you feel better, here’s what I think dad would say:’ he clears his throat and starts making an impression of Ozai, ‘you have to fight for your honour! The children of the Firelord cannot be intimidated by weird situations, so always hold your head high! Now be more like Azula, Zuko.’

The two of them laugh. ‘Well, a princess has to maintain her dignity no matter what,’ Azula admits. ‘But I don’t think he would be proud of us meddling with dirty peasants.’

‘Call it tactical espionage,’ Zuko comments, and places his newly finished flower crown on his sister’s head ‘O, princess of the Flower Nation!’

‘Since when do you know how to do this girly stuff?’ The girl chuckles, taking the ornament from her head.

‘Mom taught me. Do you want me to teach it to you? It’s not hard.’

‘I’m a brave warrior, I don’t do this silly stuff!’ Azula says and proceeds to set the flowers on fire, because that’s still Azula.

Zuko has half a mind to snap at her for burning down his hard work, but he puts on a smug smile instead. ‘Ok. At least that’s something I can do that you can’t.’

She pouts at him. ‘Fine. But I won’t learn from anyone can’t even fight properly. So you better learn some actual firebending before giving me any lessons!’

This is only one scene, but please give me more of Zuko and Azula as children getting to close that gap in their relationship that was being formed by their parents. Quality Sibling Time, if you may.

Meanwhile, Ursa and Noren are overviewing the preparations for the last performance of the season. They chat idly, Ursa commenting on how Love Amongst the Dragons used to be her favourite play.

Basically, Noren takes that cue and says something awfully suspicious, Ursa suspiciously suspects and he ends up telling her that he’s actually Ikem. Yes, with the whole “When we were six you kicked me in the stomach and pushed my face into the dirt. When we were twenty-one, you shattered my heart.” Because I love that line. Heartfelt emotions when she realises the love of her life was alive all along.

Somewhere else: a few months go by and Iroh is finally back from Ba Sing Se. Things in his home are definitely different: his son, his father and (supposedly) his nephew are dead, his sister-in-law and his niece are missing and the throne that was meant for him has been passed to his brother, who rules as a ruthless Firelord and only plans to aggravate the war.

A changed man, Iroh sees the impacts of war very differently. A part of him wants to leave the palace behind and find peace; another part tells him that his brother has literally no one else left. So he vows to stay, not only because he takes pity on Ozai, but also because he is aware that, if left unchecked, the new Firelord would fuck things up even further.

Yes, Iroh becomes the Firelord’s advisor. No, Ozai doesn’t listen to half of what he says.

Back in Hira’a, Ursa is slowly getting to convince her kids that this is their home now. Slowly, very, very slowly.

The siblings are becoming closer, as seen by the fact that Azula has willingly been helping Zuko become a better firebender – both of them see firebending as less of a competition now that it isn’t being held against them anymore. But it’s still no common kids’ play. Don’t tell me they don’t “play” Agni Kai whenever they’re bored – and Zuko is willingly spending time with her and teaching her nice, non-destructive things.

I like to think that Hira’a isn’t a place where many firebenders would like to live, considering the jungle just around the corner and the fact that all houses seem very flammable. But I also like to think that there are two local firebenders, one of which is more erratic than the kids and another who is fairly well-trained, but refuses to teach anything to the Firelord’s children. Of course, eventually he cracks and teaches them one thing or another because he can’t bear to leave these demons to their own devices.

Ursa is having some Quality Time with Azula. Although the girl has the innate ability to say some disturbing things, Ursa finds herself to be more patient as time goes by. Now imagine the two of them by a riverbank as the mother is telling stories that have nothing to do with the royal life; imagine Azula excited to show this new firebending trick she learned and performing complicated yet beautiful moves; imagine the Quality Time.

The kids are being home-schooled by Ursa. And Grandma Guchi. And any willing member of the acting troupe. And any local elder and/or master. Truly, they’re getting some street smarts around the here.

Cue to Azula getting to discover something called “childhood”.

Cue to Zuko getting to be appreciated as a human being and loved by people around him.

So one day Ursa and Noren decide to finally get married – as they planned to do over eleven years ago.

Of course, this is a little disheartening to the kids. Ursa doesn’t quite know how to explain Ozai’s Abusive Husband Shenanigans, but they all know Noren is such a nice person and he’s made it pretty clear that he does not intend on trying to be their father – even though he unintentionally acts like a father every now and again. So the kids are sort of in denial for a while.

Zuko is a little afraid the prolonged company will drive Noren to take over his life and start acting cruel/mistreating him. The poor boy is just so used to the table being ruled over by Ozai that he expects Noren to snap any minute, so it feels strange when all the meals together are so… peaceful?

Azula sees all this as some sort of act. She never quite gives up on the idea that Ozai will come around any day now. Until fateful news come around…

(Cliffhanger, dun dun dun!)

(If you can even call it that)

Ok, so… This got kind of long. Way longer than I expected it to get.

My ideas for what happens next are a bit fuzzy – as in: they’re less structured and more like… just loose ideas –, but I still have a lot to talk about, so I’ll split this into a two-parter and get back to you in a bit.

[votederpycausemufins]

Alright, time to work on tying up loose ends ish. i think there’s like... 2 chapters left after this? idk, I’m still writing!

@petrichormeraki @helleborusangel

While most everyone wanted Grifter dead, the fact that he was the only way to free Xannes made them keep him alive. They did manage to get the Listener to let him out, but at the same time, he let his own family out as well before disappearing with them. Fortunately as they left, the world rolled back, undoing all the damage as well as leaving Grian rather grumpy that his hard work was gone.

Shortly after that, everyone had to keep Grian and Techno apart when the avian tried attacking him for being near Grum, who to Grian’s annoyance seemed perfectly fine around the warrior. He reluctantly accepted it, only to get piled on again as he tried to make a second nest. 

Xannes hacked them all out of the castle, at least those he could. Kristen and Joe followed on their own a few moments later, everyone soon at the quartz mansion. Grian was immediately after as many blankets as he could obtain, Tommy laughing, but quickly helped out. 

Kristen stayed for a bit, long enough to officially say hello to Grian once he was lucid enough, but stayed longer after Grum clung to her leg and refused to let go. Eventually she relented and got pulled into Grian’s blanket nest, Grum running off to drag Techno in next.

“So… how have you two been?” Kristen asked, before correcting herself. “Besides this whole mess that got me involved.”

“It’s been pretty pog since I found Grian. We didn’t even know we were related until, what? A week ago?”

“I’m sorry. I honestly had no clue.” Kristen apologized, but Grian shrugged.

“I don’t blame you. I ended up in a world that death didn’t seem to exist in, at least not really. People who died showed up as ghosts. So even if I did remember your job, I wouldn’t have blamed you there. Then there were the Watchers, and then apparently Zed’s been dealing with things in Hermitcraft. I- are you two related?”

“Yes, we’re siblings.” Kristen replied, shocking both Grian and Tommy.

Zedaph, who was nearby, stepped closer. “Why do you look so shocked? I thought you knew, or at the very least I thought Grian knew.”

“Is that why you acted so casual when you asked me to kill myself?!” Grian balked, making Kristen whip around to look at Zed.

“You asked him to what?!”

“It was for a game! I asked a number of hermits to see who could kill themselves the fastest for a prize! Honestly, I don’t see what the problem was since he started Demise a year later.”

“That was sort of my last shot to find anyone. I thought so much death would make Mum show up.”

“Well, as far as I know, she wasn’t even showing up for Phil after you left, so not like there was much hope there.” Tommy shrugged, though he said it in a joking manner. It still made Kristen frown before Tommy elbowed her. “Hey. It’s fine. I mean, we’re meeting you now and not before we found each other again, so that’s pretty pog too.”

As the two of them chatted, Grian managed to find some paper and ink and started putting together a quick family tree before handing it to Techno to fill in the blank of Fundy’s mom. “Alright, so Wil, Techno, Tommy and I are the kids of you and Phil. Wilbur’s got Fundy with someone named Sally?” Grian quickly looked to Techno who nodded. “Sally. Mumbo and I built Grum and Jrum, meanwhile Techno and Tommy don’t have any kids.”

“Yeah I’m still looking for the ladies.” Tommy jokingly boasted, getting some chuckles from those nearby.

“And I don’t see the point in relationships.”

“Aro, got it.”

“I prefer fireworks. I don’t need arrows.”

Grian stifled some chuckles before continuing. “You’re siblings with Zed, who’s currently with Impulse and Tango, which I’m not going to go further into for my own sanity. And then you and Dad are immortal or something, so who knows about your parents.”

Kristen nodded. “Good, but you’re forgetting your uncle.”

Grian showed off the chart. “What? No, I’ve got Zed there with Impulse and Tango. If you’re going with the misconception that Worm Man is related, I’ll have you know that Poultry Man has assured me that’s not the case. Plus Zedaph has an interview with Worm Man and they are definitely in the same place.”

Kristen half nodded. “Oh, I’m sure that’s very much the case. However, I’m talking about Phil’s brother.”

“Mum, I’m glad to meet you and everything, but could you have waited like another week to drop that on us too?” Tommy asked as Grian looked like he was on the edge of a breakdown.

“So, should I not mention he has-”

“Nope! Not now! And we’ll ask dad ourselves.”

“I was just a hermit a week ago. I was technically still an orphan. I had the hermits as a family. Now some of them are really my family. Why? Why? Why is this happening?”

“Okay G, time to go to bed.” Tommy said, pulling one of the blankets out of the nest and throwing it over Grian’s head, hoping the darkness would kick in Grian’s parrot brain and get him to calm down. 

It was just at the right time too, because the door opened with Phil coming into the building. “How’s everyon- Kristen?!”

From there, all of the family currently in that world - other than Zedaph - ended up in Grian’s blanket nest. They chatted a bit before Kristen eventually had to leave, though she made sure to let all of them know how to call her if there was an emergency. Zedaph finally joined to take her place, getting glared at by Grum of all people. “You doing alright there?”

“I’m upset I didn’t know you were my uh… great uncle?”

“Grunkle has a better ring to it.” Zedaph smiled, but Grum just pouted and crossed his arms before being pulled into a hug from Grian. “But yeah, I’m sorry Grian. I can’t believe I never noticed you didn’t know.”

“No, it’s fine. I had a crazy enough story with my family growing up, what’s five more.”

“Five?” Phil asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Grian started counting on his fingers. “Finding out that Tommy was my brother, the whole situation Techno caused, finding our Zedaph is related to me, finding out you’ve got a brother, and then Mum mentioning there was more to that.”

Phil sighed. “Oh, she told you about that? Okay first off, we’re half brothers, so that’s normally why he’s left out of things. Plus, he’s been doing his own thing for a while. I haven’t really heard from him since his letters about Minecrack.”

Grian paused, processing that new information before grabbing one of the blankets and screaming into it, Grum patting his dad on the back.

“Is he okay?” Phil asked, making Zedaph shake his head.

“Some of the hermits used to live there, so one of them might have met your brother. Sorry, half brother.”

“Ah, good to know.”

Grian slowly put the blanket down. “Okay, obviously talking is just making things worse. How about we all shut up for like… ten minutes while we still have some peace? I’m scared if we try much else, something else will come out of the woodwork and make things worse again.”

“Ugh, normally I’d hate not talking,” Tommy piped up with an agreeing groan. “But for once, you’ve got a point.”

“For once?!”

Tommy didn’t say anything else, just mimed zipping his lips up, locking them, and throwing away the key.

.

.

.

Grian woke up, glad it wasn’t from a nightmare. He, Tommy and Grum were the only ones left in the nest from before, but he smiled upon seeing the empty space had been given to Tommy’s friends. Ranboo seemed to have been dragged in based on his awkward position, likely by Tubbo and Michael who seemed much more comfortable.

Looking around, it didn’t seem anyone else was in the room, voices coming from elsewhere in the building. Grian carefully moved Grum closer to Tommy, the bot happily clinging to the teen instead. He then pulled himself out of the nest, doing his best not to wake anyone in the process.

He was glad to see everyone looked calm and nothing immediately seemed concerning. The closest thing was what looked like a living diamond walking around, but the fact that no one else was concerned made it less worrying. “So, who’s the new… person I think.”

Phil looked over to where Grian was standing now. “His name’s Skeppy. When the world got repaired, the people that weren’t already revived showed up. It also fixed my wings.” And he let one of them open up so Grian could see.

“Good to know. Nothing bad’s happened yet?” Grian asked, and Phil shook his head. “That’s good. Once Grum and Tommy are away, I’m going to be taking them home. I mean, unless Tommy wants to stay, because he might want to see people again, but Grum still needs repairs. Plus I need to talk with Mumbo about something I found out.”

“Anything bad?”

Grian shook his head. “Not necessarily, just something we need to be aware of.” Then Grian was quiet for a while before speaking up again. “You know, ever since I found it again, I’ve been taking care of the castle.”

“You mean… back in-?”

“Yeah. The place I grew up in has way too many bad memories attached. Evo’s gone and my building world is lonely. Hermitcraft is the closest thing I have to a home, but being able to take a break and go back there helps.”

Phil smiled. “Well, you’ll have to show me what you’ve done with the place.”

“Yeah.” Grian smiled. “I’ll try to visit with Tommy plenty. I’m sure you want to stay here now that it looks like things are calmed down. I’m sure you’ll want to visit us, or at least someone will, so I’ll look into that.”

“Just don’t go silent for eighteen years.” Phil joked, making Grian whack him in the back of his head with a wing.

From there, the two of them chatted, catching up. Both of them avoided the more unfavorable topics, which was a bit tricky, but they managed. At least they did for a while. “Hey… I’m sorry. I know I screwed up with Tommy.”

“Can we not talk about that?” Grian said, ruffling his feathers. “Enough has happened. I don’t want to talk about serious stuff right now.”

“Well who knows when we’ll get another chance.”

Grian sighed. “Fine, but I’m making it quick. Since you’re not going to be around, I’m just trusting you’ll maybe do better. I can check in any time I want, so just know if you screw up, there’s a good chance I’ll see it. There’s a good chance I’ll break down your door if I heard more stories from Tommy, but for like the next week or so, you’re safe. Is that good enough?”

Phil hesitated for a moment before responding. “Alright, sure.”

As soon as he responded, Grian went back to the other room, glad to see Tommy was awake. When Grian replayed the options to Tommy, the teen thought it over before deciding he would stay behind for a little bit at the very least. He didn’t want to disappear while Ranboo and Tubbo were both asleep. Grian made sure Tommy still had NPG’s old comm so that he could call for Grian to pick him up again.

Grian carefully picked Grum up, the bot clinging to his chest, then he opened a portal to take them home. 

.

.

.

Grian was glad that the repairs ended up being mostly his job to fix. The redstone seemed unharmed, save for right near the trident wound and Grum’s buttons. Technically the buttons themselves were mainly aesthetic anyway, but some redstone was close by so they needed to be careful.

Once everything was fixed, they plugged Grum in to be safe and then Grian started explaining what he had learned. Mumbo was surprised and excused himself briefly to try contacting people for information. For the most part, he was able to get help, but in terms of whatever glitch the bots had, the information was too vague for anyone to get a good guess.

Grian got Xisuma to take a look, but unfortunately the admin couldn’t figure anything out. Neither could Xannes, but that was affected by NPG wanting to go home soon and check in his aerbunny.

With no other options, Grian was ready to use his Watcher magic, but he was quickly interrupted. Suddenly Grifter was there and threw himself into Grian’s arms, leaving the Watcher struggling to hold his double up before just dropping him. “What are you doing here?”

“Hiding?” Grifter answered innocently. “I kinda messed up, though Dad did too.”

“What did you do?” Grian growled as Grifter stood up and dusted himself off.

“Okay, so dad wanted me killing Nightmare. That’s cool, I did that. He just kinda let it slip his mind that he didn’t tell Punch. So now until Dad talks him down, I’m hiding here! Also watching for spies. Who knows where they could be hiding.”

Grian half groaned, half sighed. “How do I know you’re not going to destroy the place?”

“Uh, because that would make it obvious I’m here, duh. Look, just tell me what you want and I’ll do it. I mean, if it’s something other than leaving. I’m sticking here because if I get seen here, he’ll assume it’s just you. Wait, I’m going to need to get out of my new look. That’s no fun, I really like th-”

“Okay shut up for like five seconds. I don’t have the patience for this today. You said there was something of a glitch with my kids. Tell me what it is or fix it or something and you can stay for a bit. If you cause any trouble, you’re out though.”

“Oh yes of course!” Grifter responded, hugging Grian. “Okay, so the problem is kinda pretty simple. They aren't completely connected to this world so other data is being used to check where they’re from. If everything’s just within this world, it’s fine, but it fucks up their respawn if it’s not.”

“That’s… that’s it?”

“Yup! Just tell your admin and I’m sure he can- OH FUCK! Gimmie your bowwwww!” Grian suddenly started doing his best to climb Grian, having little luck with them being the same height. Grian did his best to keep his balance before seeing what exactly was freaking his hels copy. Nearby, a chicken had walked into view, and apparently that was the problem.

Grian gave a deadpan look before killing the chicken, which immediately calmed Grifter down. “You were scared… of a chicken?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I said he could be sending spies!”

“And… those are chickens?”

“Yes! Of course!” Grifter exclaimed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Grian wanted to sigh in exasperation, but then he realized that this was good news. If for some reason Grifter acted up, well, a certain hero could help save the day.

“Alright, maybe this might not be the safest place for you here, but you can stay.”

“Why? Why isn’t it safe? Are there lots of spies?”

“Oh, we have the worst one yet. His name is Poultry Man. Have you ever heard of him.”

“I have! I thought Xannes was lying! He’s really real?!” Grifter asked, trembling, making Grian have to hold in laughter.

“Well, he hasn’t been around for a while, but who knows? If - you said Punch? - if he’s looking for you, Poultry Man might show up.”

“Oh no! Do you have anything to stop him?”

Grian couldn’t help the sly smile that got onto his face. “Well…”

.

.

.

Grum watched as Mumbo looked through a bunch of books. He had gotten fixed up, but his daddy said there was still something they needed to figure out, so Dad was out doing that. But he had left a while ago and sitting in one place for a long time was getting boring. “Daddy, how much longer do I have to wait here?”

Mumbo jumped slightly before looking up from his book, which just made Grum frown. Obviously he had been forgotten about. “Um, well, I suppose that depends on what your dad does.”

“But I’ve just been sitting here for ages.” Grum crossed his arms.

“I know, but apparently there’s a bug in your system and until we can identify it, we want to keep you safe. You’ve already been through a lot, I’m sure you don’t want anything more happening.”

“But Daddy I-”

“Grum, this isn’t up for discussion.” Mumbo cut the bot off, who flinched back at the harsh tone. “I know. I don’t like it either. But sometimes the harder options are the better ones.”

Grum was quiet again, just thinking. Mumbo started to look at his book again, but then the bot spoke up once more. “Is it about Console? Or my chat in general?”

“What?” Mumbo looked back up, confused.

“Well, Jrum’s not here, so it has to be something that’s just me, correct? That would likely involve when the admin was using me as a console or the fact that I have gained a chat like Techno, Phil and, based on conversation, Dad.”

“Oh, you mean MFDD? At least I’m still pretty sure that’s what we said it was. I’d have to go digging for my old books again. And Grian might have them at this point.”

“What’s MFDD?” Grum asked, tilting his head.

“It’s the abbreviation for the condition we’re pretty sure Grian has. But it’s a condition that last I checked, was still in a sort of odd state, and I’ve been in Hermitcraft since school, so I’m not updated on it.” Mumbo glanced over to Grum, who just looked confused. “Right. Well, the simple version is that’s what the real name of your Dad’s ‘chat’ is. MFDD. But based on what he told me, that’s not what you have.”

“Oh. Wait, I don’t?” Grum asked, sounding worried and slightly panicked.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. It’s nothing bad. I’m sure we’ll need to get it properly diagnosed, but the fact that you seem to have what’s like… multiple people in your mind and they can sometimes be in control, along with the fact that it happened after… stressful events. That all likely means it’s DID. Which essentially means you have multiple personalities.”

“And is that good or bad?”

Mumbo rubbed his mustache. “Well, I don’t think it’s necessarily good or bad in and of itself. I wish I knew more about this… In short, it’s at the very least not bad. Or at least not bad if you don’t let it be bad.”

“I still don’t understand.” Grum frowned, leaving Mumbo to try and figure out some other way to explain.

“Hmm… It’s. Uh… Well let’s see. Well it… no that wouldn’t make sense. It’s… Oh! So, when you’re building, say you make a house. And the house has a bunch of rooms. It’s all one house, but there are different rooms and um… well each one has its own person.” Grum nodded along, mostly understanding. “And well, you own the house even though others live there. Because you own the house, you’re in charge.”

“But sometimes I’m not. Like Console and Eyes decide to be in charge or I let them.”

“Well, sometimes something… happens. Like maybe you’re busy… cooking? And so if you’re doing that, someone else gets to be in charge. Or maybe you just want to… sit on the couch?”

Grum’s digital mustache twitched in thought before he nodded. “Okay, I think that makes sense.”

Mumbo nodded, turning back to his books before sighing, glad that what he made up on the spot worked. 

“Mumbooooo! I’m back! I figured out what’s wrong! We need to take the boys to Xisuma!” Mumbo jumped from Grian arriving, then was confused to see two of him.

“Why is Grifter here?”

“Long story, it’s fine for now, we need Xisuma. Let’s go go go!”

Mumbo just stared for a moment before sighing and shrugging before going to get Jrum. It didn’t seem like anything bad was happening, so there was a fifty fifty shot it really was fine. Maybe less since there were two Grian’s involved, but it was something Mumbo came to expect with Grian in general.

[matrixaffiliate]

Surreptitious

New Story! FFN and AO3

Lily doesn't think it will be that hard to hide she's been dating James for two years, and friends with him for five, but when she and James end up working together as temps every day, she finds out how intertwined with her boyfriend she really is. 

@thisismegz shared this Tumblr post with me (thank you, darling!) from @women-inthe-sequel and it felt so very Jily =) So obviously, I had to write it for Jilytober! Enjoy!

Surreptitious

Lily chucked her bag down on the table in a rage. The fact that the order had been misdelivered was not her fault, but that didn't change she'd been thrown under the bus and blamed for it, not that this wasn't the first time she'd been framed for something that went wrong. It also didn't change that she'd been fired over it either.

Her phone buzzed and she sighed as she saw James' picture on her phone.

"Feel like cheering me up?"

"Always," James laughed. "What can I do for you today, Evans?"

"Slowly pull out the bowels of Rosier and Yaxley with a white-hot hook?" Lily fell down onto her bed and kicked off her shoes.

"Vicious," James' chuckle was throaty and Lily wished he was with her where she could feel it rumble through his chest.

"Well, they managed to finally get me fired, so it feels justified at the moment."

"They what?!" All laughter and teasing had gone out of his voice.

"They blamed another misdelivery on me, and I found out they'd been filing complaints against me that I didn't know about, and I swear that Riddle was in on it with them because he showed me documents stating that he'd notified me of those complaints and strikes against me, but I know he didn't." Lily took a deep breath to try and calm down, "None of that matters now though, they got me out and that was what they wanted. They won."

"No!" James almost shouted. "I'll talk to Dad, I'm sure his solicitor will take your case! We'll sue them for everything they own!"

Lily smiled, knowing James was on her side always made her feel better.

"No, they aren't worth it. I'll report them, sure, but I'm not going to sue them over it."

"Lils, look," he went to say more, but Lily cut him off.

"No, James. I'm not going to waste my mental energy on them anymore. I'm going to take a day to calm down and then I'm going to get on to trying to find a new job."

James let out a long breath. "Love, I know you don't want to waste the mental energy on them, but wrong is wrong. Would you let me just mention it to Dad?"

Lily rolled to her side and shifted her phone, "I guess that would be fine, but I'm not personally taking them to small claims, alright?"

"Right," James sounded relieved. "I promise you won't be involved at all."

"Thanks, darling," Lily felt her stomach grumble and she groaned. "Needing a new job aside, I need to find something to eat."

"I'll call Mum, I'm sure she'll be happy to cheer you up with food."

Lily's stomach grumbled again, "Are you sure that she wouldn't mind cooking for us?"

James laughed, "Lils, my dear mother always tells me I'm not home often enough, and then immediately asks when I'm going to settle down and give her grandchildren."

Lily grinned, "See she never says anything about you settling down to me."

"Yes, because she wants to keep you around. Trust me, if she didn't like you, she'd be doing everything in her power to push you to marry me tomorrow." James paused, "So am I calling Mum or not?"

Lily pushed up off her bed. "Yeah, call your parents and ask if she'd make me some daal makhani to drown my sorrows in."

"You can count on it," James' smile was evident in his voice as they disconnected the call, and Lily internally admitted that she was looking forward to seeing it after the nightmare of a day she'd endured.

So, when Lily pulled up to the Potters' large home thirty minutes later, she couldn't stop the excitement bubbling in her chest, and even with the awful day, she smiled as she pushed open their front door.

"James?"

"You're here!" James came nearly running around the corner into the entryway, sweeping her into a tight embrace.

Lily took in a deep breath as she held him close. The smell of James mixed with the smells coming from Mia's kitchen were pulling all of the stress out of her and replacing it with warmth and happiness.

"Come eat while it's still hot!" Mia called from the kitchen.

Lily laughed and kicked off her shoes before taking James' hand to walk into the kitchen.

"Laadli," Mia hugged her, "Eat up, and there are jalebis too. A little sugar will make everything better."

"Thank you, Mia," Lily held on to this wonderful woman who had stepped in when her mum had passed on.

The family dinner was exactly what she needed. Lily finally felt calm, and while she still didn't know what she was going to do about a new job, she at least felt like life was going to get better, for no other reason than she was surrounded by these wonderful people.

"James," Monty handed him his plate as James cleared the table. "The new client at the agency finalized their paperwork for their trial run."

"You're taking on another company at the temp agency?" Lily asked.

James nodded, "Yep, which means 90 days of me pretending I'm not a part-owner."

Lily laughed. After they'd finished university, Monty brought James and Sirius on to the temp agency he started decades ago, but part of the deal was they would be guinea pigs to each new client to be sure the real temps would be treated well. Since they'd just signed a company a month ago and Sirius was currently being their guinea pig, James would need to take this new one.

"What does this company do?" Mia picked up her glass and drained it before handing it to Lily as she helped James clear the table.

"They're a paint manufacturer," Monty said, "But they want the temps for their customer service department."

"You told them they'd only get one, right Dad?" James looked over from the kitchen sink.

"I did," Monty nodded, "they asked me to try my best to get them two."

Mia looked at Lily for a moment and then smiled. "You should be the second temp!"

It took Lily a full ten seconds to realize what Mia was implying, but James beat her to a response as he shut off the water.

"No, Mum, Lily's an industrial engineer who deserves to find a job that will actually utilize her and not pin her to arranging low-level deliveries. She doesn't need to be working customer service while I evaluate this client."

"And why not, chotu?" Mia turned on him. "This way she gets a paycheck while she looks for something new and when she does find it, she can leave; no one expects a temp to stay forever."

"Mum," James' hand went straight for his hair.

"Mia, that's really sweet of you," Lily cut in but then Mia turned her mom-eyes on her.

"Laadli," she cupped Lily's face in her hands, "This will be good for you, give you something to think about other than that awful place that didn't appreciate your work. And you'd be with James so you'd have fun. Learn from an old woman, Lily, have more fun in your life."

Looking into Mia's wise umber eyes and feeling her small warm palms on her cheeks, Lily felt almost like she was under a magic spell.

"Well, if Monty thinks it's alright."

Mia held her eyes and kept her face in her hands. "Of course, it's alright, Monty will see to it."

A part of Lily's brain was sure that Mia was exercising some force of will over her, but there was something so comforting about it that she decided to ignore how much this felt like a magic spell.

"Then, I think it'd be fine. It'd give me time to find a position that I really like instead of settling for the first thing that pops up."

"There, see," Mia pulled her hands away from Lily's face with a smile, "We can always find blessings in disguise if we're willing to look for them."

"Lils," James stepped between her and his mum. "If you want to do this, we can make it happen, but don't feel pressured into it. You don't have to."

Mia tsked loudly behind him.

Lily gave him a small smile. "If you're alright with it, then it would really help me out."

James' returning smile lit up his face. "Eh, I guess I can handle it. At least I'll have someone to talk to, yeah?"

"And I suppose I could handle having to talk to you every day." She smirked up at him.

"Well then, that's settled." Monty chuckled, "James, I'll put you in charge of the paperwork and arrangements for all of this."

James shot his dad a grin, "I'll have it all settled by tomorrow evening. You're looking at the two newest temps for Royal Paint."

It wasn't a week later that Lily was pulling up to her new place of work - at least until she could find a new position in her field if expertise.

She saw James step out of his car and she waved him over. There was one thing that she wanted to clarify with him before they started this.

"Morning Evans," James moved to kiss her but she put her hand on his chest and stopped him.

"Does this place know you're one of the owners of the temp agency?"

James shook his head, "No, everything Sirius and I do is on the back end except for this, so no one knows we aren't real temps when we show up."

Lily nodded, "Alright, in that case, I think it would be a good idea for us not to broadcast our relationship while we're here for these three months."

"Really?"

"I don't want to cause any drama, and Sirius isn't available to switch with you if they have a problem with us being together. I think it would make everything easier and safer if we kept our relationship between us."

James sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Please, James," Lily smiled up at him. "I promise when we aren't here, I'll be the best girlfriend in the world."

James laughed down at her and laced his fingers with hers. "You already are but if it'll make you happy, then sure, while we're working with this client, we're just two temps, not a couple."

"Thank you," Lily looked around the parking lot and upon finding it empty, quickly pressed up and kissed him. "I suppose we should get this show on the road then, eh?"

"Yeah," James stole one more kiss, "We don't want to be late on our first day."

Lily and James walked into the grey cement brick building and were welcomed by the receptionist.

"Hi, I'm Amy, you must be our new temps."

"That's us," James nodded and Lily forced her down chuckle as she watched James start scanning the office. He may be wearing the badge of temp for the next three months, but James would never be able to stop being the shrewd businessman that helped his dad's company thrive.

"Just a minute and I'll fetch Scott, he's our manager." She clicked a couple of times on her computer before grabbing her desk phone. "Scott, they're here." She set the phone down and turned back to Lily and James with a happy smile.

"He'll be right out."

Not a moment later a man came walking around the corner.

"Welcome! Welcome to your new home away from home! Welcome to Royal Paint!"

"Thank you," James stepped forward and shook Scott's hand. "I'm James Potter."

"And I'm Lily Evans," Lily stepped forward as she watched James turn to introduce her. That was her first hint that hiding their relationship was going to be harder than she initially thought.

"James and Lily!" Scott shook her hand. "I can't wait to get to know you. I'm Scott and I hope you'll view me as your mentor and friend while you're here."

Lily nearly balked at the difference between Scott and Riddle. At least Scott didn't seem to be out to fire her from the get-go.

"Thank you," she pulled her bag higher up on her shoulder and smiled up at James.

"Look at you two," Scott stepped back and looked at the two of them, "You look like you could be on the cover of one of my wife's romance books. Don't you think so, Amy?" He turned to the receptionist.

Amy laughed, "You're a hopeless romantic, Scott."

"And I'm usually right about this sort of thing."

Lily felt something akin to panic gripping her stomach. "I'm sure that Mr. Potter and I can keep things professional."

James covered his laugh with a forced clearing of his throat and Lily fought the urge to glare at him.

"Don't be ridiculous," Scott laughed. "Royal Paint was started by a husband and wife team. We have no policy against workplace relationships. But let's get the two of you settled in and then you can get to know one another before you make decisions about first dates and whatnot."

He turned and led them down the corridor.

"Mr. Potter?" James whispered as he smirked down at her.

"I panicked!" Lily glared at him.

Before James could comment further, Scott had led them into the next room.

"This will be your launching pad!" Then he gestured to the two women sitting at desks that faced each other. "And these lovelies are the crew that will take you into the stars! Gladys and Arabella, this is James Potter, and here is Lily Evans. James, Lily, this is Gladys Vance and Arabella Figg."

The women smiled at them but before either could say anything, Scott had moved to the single desk to the left of Gladys and Arabella's workstations.

"This is where the two of you will be set up. I'm sorry but we couldn't get a second desk in here soon enough. You'll only need to share for a wee bit, but we'll get you your own desks in a jiffy. The two computers seem to fit alright, though, so shouldn't be a problem. Let's get you logged into those computers and Gladys and Arabella will train you up on what you need to do."

"Scott, slow down, you're spinning like a top." Gladys chuckled. "We'll take care of these two, you go do the manager things you do."

"Off you go," Arabella stood and made a shooing motion with her hands.

"I'll leave you in their capable hands then," Scott bowed awkwardly. "And if you need anything at all just step right into my office. My door is always open."

"Thank you, Scott." James chuckled.

Arabella shooed Scott again and he saluted before stepping out of the room.

"Well, you survived our fearless leader," Arabella chuckled. "We run things a bit more down to earth here in customer service."

"He's very enthusiastic, isn't he?" Lily laughed.

"Don't you two look cute standing like that?" Gladys smiled at them.

Lily looked over and realized she and James had gravitated towards each other, standing so close they were nearly touching.

"Oh, sorry," she stepped away from James, "I didn't mean to crowd you."

James' hand shot to his hair, "No problem, barely noticed."

Gladys and Arabella shared a long look but didn't say anything more. They helped James and Lily get logged into their computers and showed them how to respond to online inquiries from the website and how to find the answers. The job was so simple that by lunch Lily felt not only like she knew what she was doing, but that she'd been doing it for ages.

"Did the two of you bring lunch?" Gladys came to stand at their desk. "Because either way, Arabella and I are taking you out."

Lily laughed, "I brought a can of soup, but I have a hunch it'll keep till tomorrow."

"Are you sure about that?" James laughed, "Storing things in metal, who knows what could happen."

Lily laughed in spite of herself but stopped just before she went to playfully shove him.

"You two are cute," Arabella grinned at them. "Did either of you ever watch the American version of The Office? You two could be Jim and Pam."

"Oh, yes!" Glady exclaimed, "Lily's got red hair like Pam, and James instead of Jim!"

Lily looked at James and laughed, "I don't suppose you want to be called Jim?"

James rolled his eyes, "Do you know I threaten my brother with roasting him over a low fire for it?"

Lily grinned, she did know. "Oh, but it could be fun, couldn't it?"

James adjusted his glasses and leant across the desk, "Depends on your definition of the word fun, Lilian."

"Do you know that isn't my name?" Lily rolled her eyes. He did know.

"And now you know that Jim isn't mine," James countered with a smirk.

"I like them better than Jim and Pam," Arabella's voice brought Lily back to the present and she silently kicked herself for slipping into the banter she and James had built their relationship on.

Trying to avoid the habits that had formed from two years of dating plus another three years of friendship before that might just prove impossible.

And that premonition proved to be exactly right. She couldn't stop herself from the unconscious part of her brain that reached across their desk to touch his hand or his thigh. She could never keep herself from standing directly next to him. And she definitely couldn't stop the way her eyes would seek him out naturally. It was just so much a part of her to be connected to James.

How did she ever think she could hide this?

"Hey," she whispered across the desk three weeks after they'd started with Royal Paint. "I have to take my car in to have it serviced tonight, can you give me a ride tomorrow?"

"Of course, do you need a ride back from the service station too?" James nodded.

"I was going to request an Uber but if you want, we can make a night of it."

"Sure," James grinned at her. "We could make something at yours and watch a film or something."

"Sounds perfect," Lily moved to grab his hand but caught herself, opting to take a sticky note from the stack instead.

"How is the job hunt going?" James smirked at her.

Lily rolled her eyes at his smirk even as she grinned at him.

"I had a firm call for an interview and my references."

"That's amazing!" James' whisper went loud and Lily giggled.

"Riveting conversation over there dears?" Gladys smiled over at them.

"Just wondering when you're going to invite The Pips over and finally admit that your last name is really Knight." James smiled over at Gladys and Arabella.

Lily trained her gaze back on her computer and the mind-numbing work of answering customer questions.

"I'll be at yours at half six to go drop your car," James whispered and knocked her foot with his.

She looked up to see that smile that still made her stomach flutter.

"Thanks."

But James bringing her to work the next morning ended up being more of a to-do than Lily had expected it to be.

"Well, hello there!" Arabella stepped out of her car as Lily and James stepped out of his.

"Hi Arabella," Lily tried not to groan.

"Is your car alright dear?" Arabella looked as pleased as one of her cats might look had it caught a mouse.

"It just needed to be serviced. James was nice enough to bring me to work this morning."

Arabella nodded understandingly but her smile seemed to grow wider. "What a nice thing to do."

"What was a nice thing to do?" Scott walked up behind Arabella and Lily thought she might die.

"Lily's car needed to be serviced and James was kind enough to bring her to work today."

"A proper gentleman," Scott walked up and patted James on the back. "Well done, my boy!"

"Lily ought to take him to lunch to thank him," Arabella looked at Scott, "Don't you agree? They've proven they're hard workers, I think they could do with a long lunch today."

"Capital idea, Arabella! Yes!" He turned to James and Lily, "I agree, take a long lunch the both of you!"

Lily looked at James who was putting a great deal of effort into not laughing.

"Alright, then," Lily looked at Scott and Arabella helplessly.

Clearly, she'd need to rethink her original plan of hiding their relationship, seeing as everyone wanted them to have one.

"This whole thing has gone pear-shaped!" Lily huffed as she got into James' car for their enforced lunch date.

"Hey," James leant over and pulled her in for a slow kiss. "It'll be fine." He smiled as he pulled away. "You're going to go to your interview next week and they're going to wonder how they've ever managed without you. Then they'll hire you, and you'll be working for an amazing firm before you know it."

Lily kissed him again and let the warmth that had always been James ease some of the stress away.

"You know," James put the car in gear. "We could play this to our advantage."

"Play what to our advantage?" Lily fiddled with the radio.

"We could be the new office romance." James knocked her hand away from the radio as she tried to skip over a song he liked that she didn't.

"The new office romance?"

"Sure," James slapped her hand away again. "We could stop trying to hide the way that we're practically an old married couple, to quote my mum, and just be us."

"You're mum calls us an old married couple?" Lily laughed.

"Of course, she does."

"Why, of course?"

"Because she's my mum," James shrugged.

Lily grinned as the idea started to form in her mind. "We could sneak around like we did our last week of university."

James looked over at her with a smirk. "That poor custodian, I'm pretty sure we nearly gave him a heart attack."

Lily giggled, "I think you're right; this could be fun."

"Yes, and then I can stop smacking myself every time I go to touch you as well." James reached over and grabbed her hand.

"I know right? It's like I'm in love with you or something." She teased.

James parked in front of the restaurant and leant over to kiss her again. "That makes one of us, then."

Lily smacked his chest and pulled away but James caught her around the neck and kissed her passionately.

"I love you," he murmured as he slowed their pace.

"You better," Lily laughed and pulled back. "So, we're doing this? We're going to be Royal Paint's new office romance?"

"Yeah, let's have a bit of fun."

And they did. Lily didn't stop herself from making faces at him across their desk when she got bored. She didn't stop herself from asking James about their plans for the weekend. She didn't stop herself from walking out of the office with him after work. She didn't panic when Gladys mentioned how sweet it was that she was hitting it off so well with James. When Scott stepped in to tell them he'd managed to secure another desk for them if they wanted it, she agreed with James' insistence that they didn't need it.

The one thing Lily did still stop herself from bringing up at work when they were around their coworkers was her efforts to find a real job, and how things were going for James in his real job. Just because he was playing temp didn't mean he didn't still have his real job and everything that went with helping his dad run the temp agency.

She was trying to discreetly check her email on her phone to see if the company that had interviewed her and called all three of her references had made a decision on hiring her yet or not when she was spooked by James swearing under his breath.

Lily glanced quickly over at Arabella and Gladys before whispering to James.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a problem at the office. One of our temps went rogue." James' hands went to his hair before they immediately dropped to his phone to type.

"Is it going to be alright?" Lily leant closer.

"If Sirius and I get there in the next hour then probably." He looked up at her. "I've got to go. Do you want me to make something up for you to get Scott to let you out early too?"

Lily shook her head. "I don't want to make him suspicious of why you're leaving and then not let you go. I'll stay and finish the workday."

James grabbed his backpack and threw it over his shoulder before coming around the desk to kiss her. "Thank you, I'll text you once this is resolved."

Lily kissed him once more before he slipped out the door.

"They're already kissing goodbye," Arabella commented with a grin.

"They're meant to be," Gladys laughed, "Where is your prince off to?"

Lily rolled her eyes at them, "His brother needs him, he's going to see if Scott will let him out early."

"Oh, Scott is a pushover for that sort of thing. He probably would have let you go too if you'd asked." Arabella pulled a cat hair off her jumper.

"I wouldn't have been much help," Lily shrugged.

"So, how's having a new boyfriend been?" Gladys pulled her coffee cup to her lips and smirked at Lily.

"I'm rather enjoying it," Lily laughed and turned from her computer. It was becoming apparent that the two wanted to talk more than they wanted to work right now, probably because James wasn't there.

"I can imagine," Arabella winked at her. "Have you spent much time together over the last month and a half?"

"I guess we have," Lily tried to think of what sort of pace a regular couple would take, a couple that didn't have the history she and James had.

They'd been at odds in their first year of university, but when everything had happened with Severus and the Marauders at the end of first year, well, Lily realized that she'd been dead wrong about who her friends were. Thankfully, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were more than happy to put that year behind them and welcome her into their friendship. She and James had been friends for the last three years of their time at university; his parents were who she relied on when her mum passed away, joining her dad on the other side and leaving her with just Petunia and Vernon for living family members; James introduced her to Marlene and Emmeline and Mary and Bridget; the Marauders and everyone attached to them had become her family.

It was the last day of exams their final year at university that James had found her alone and somehow the two of them had finally stopped dancing around their feelings for one another and snogged the daylights out of each other.

They'd been inseparable for the last two years.

But how did one act like they hadn't been in love with the man they were with for years?

"You look unsure? Is everything alright?" Arabella frowned at her and Lily silently cursed herself for not having better control over her emotions playing out over her face.

"Oh, er, yes, I just, I, er, I'm waiting on an email." Lily reasoned she was a temp; she probably didn't need to hide that she was looking for something permanent; it was just James' position that she needed to keep to herself.

"A good email or a bad one?"

"I suppose I'm hoping it's a good one, but it could be a bad one."

Gladys narrowed her gaze. "Lily, what sort of email is this?"

"The sort of email that could get me a position with an engineering firm," Lily watched the two women carefully and sighed in relief when they both cried out exuberantly.

"That's wonderful," Arabella laughed, "but won't you miss working with James?"

"I'll miss it," Lily nodded because truthfully, she would miss it.

Working with James this way had been exactly what she needed after the fiasco at her last position. It had been healing to be with him day in and day out. It had made her realize how much she needed him, how much she relied on him.

"Well, most people don't work with their partners; you'd be joining the ranks of the rest of us." Gladys chuckled. "I love my husband, but I wouldn't work with him for all the money in the world. We weren't meant to be business partners."

"Amen, to that," Arabella rolled her eyes.

It was a couple of hours later that James texted her that he and Sirius had sorted out whatever had happened with the rogue temp. He followed that text up with the sort of response that helped Lily see why Mia called them an old married couple.

James: Meet me at mine, I'm bringing dinner.

Lily smiled down at her phone and then jumped when Gladys' voice spooked her.

"Email or boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend," Lily chuckled. "He managed to sort out whatever was happening with his brother."

"And…"

"We're having dinner tonight," Lily looked up at the clock and sighed; it was still an hour before she could leave.

Gladys looked over at Arabella and something passed between the two.

"Pack up your things, deary, Arabella and I are going to bully Scott into letting you leave early."

"No, that's alright," Lily shook her head, "I can wait."

Arabella laughed, "No isn't an option I'm afraid. We're rather fond of you and James there, so I think we're going to get our way and get you on your way."

"Really, it's fine," Lily protested again.

"Oh stop with the propriety and have a little fun, Lily." Gladys stood up. "Let's get you off to that boy of yours."

What could she do? It was as if these two were in cahoots with Mia. Lily packed up her things and tried to hide behind her two bullies as they approached Scott's office.

"Scott, dear Scott," Gladys stuck her head in Scott's office.

Scott looked up and laughed, "Oh dear, the both of you, what am I giving in to today?"

"What a dear he is," Gladys grinned at Arabella before turning back to Scott. "You're going to tell this sweet child to get herself off to her new boyfriend right now."

Scott glanced back at Lily and winked at her.

"I suppose you'll let the entire office know how hard it was to wear me down?"

"Of course," Arabella nodded. "We had to make a fuss about what a wonderful employee she's been these six weeks."

"And we had to point out that it has been slow all day and that it definitely won't pick up to where Arabella and I can't handle in the next hour," Gladys added.

"And don't forget how we're all invested in Lily and James," Scott added absently as he looked at an email on his computer.

"Oh yes, that too," Arabella laughed.

Scott looked back up and blinked, "Lily? Why are you still here?"

Lily shook her head and smiled, "I'm on my way out."

"Give my best to James," Scott called out to her as she walked out the door and to her car.

Lily texted James that she had been forced out early and then drove to his flat. For a moment she thought she saw Monty and Mia in their car on her way, but she was past them before she had a chance to do a double-take.

Walking up to James' flat felt like home. The knowledge that he'd be on the other side of the door when she opened it wrapped her in a blanket of comforting domesticity. Lily wondered if maybe she should forgo renewing her lease when it was up in a couple of months.

She pushed open the door but stopped dead in the doorway.

The lights were turned off, but there were battery votives on the floor making a pathway towards the kitchen.

"James…?"

He didn't answer and Lily resisted the urge in her to turn on the lights. She blamed it on Gladys' and Arabella's and Mia's insistence that she have a little fun. Instead, Lily kicked off her shoes and set down her bag to follow the flickering lights guiding her further into the flat.

Every light was off and the curtains pulled tight over the windows, making the floor look like it was glowing with the little votive lights lined against it. Lily stepped into the kitchen and paused. The lights led to a chair, sitting dead center on the kitchen floor.

"I am not doing a seance with you, Potter," Lily looked around. She nearly screamed when her phone vibrated and sounded in her pocket.

James: Please just sit down Evans

It was followed by at least twenty eye-roll emojis.

Lily rolled her eyes and texted back.

Lily: Fine, but I will kill you if this is some sort of prank…

She included five devil emojis before hitting send and cautiously sitting down in the chair.

"Now what?" Lily called out and looked around.

James stepped quietly into the kitchen and grinned at her.

"You always suspect me," he leant against the doorway, his hand running through his hair.

Lily forced her eyes back to his face. "You've given me plenty of reasons to do so."

James laughed, "You know, I've been thinking about how nice it's been to see you every day, but now I'm wondering what I was thinking."

She rolled her eyes but laughed with him.

"I was actually thinking the same thing after you left today."

James' smile went soft and he moved slowly, purposefully towards her.

"Good," his voice was that low rumble that made Lily want to pull him flush against her.

Then James came to kneel in front of her and Lily suddenly couldn't breathe.

"What do you think we make sure we see each other every day, even after we finish our stint with Royal Paint?"

"James," she laughed, but it came out a breathless sound.

"Lils, will you marry me?" He slid a ring out of his pocket and held it out to her.

"Of course!" Lily couldn't stop laughing, even as James pressed up to kiss her, lifting her from the chair and lifting her feet off the floor.

"We should turn on the lights," James laughed with her.

"Why?" Lily finally started to get a hold of her laughter and was trying to move their kissing a little further forward.

"Mum and Dad should be here any minute. Dad's parents took him and mum out to dinner when he asked her to marry him. I told them we could do dinner, but that I wasn't asking you at a restaurant."

"Oh! I saw them on my way over!" Lily laughed. "Well, I guess we can keep this going when we get back."

James hummed as he kissed her again, "And we can talk about what we're going to do with this darn temp job."

Lily's phone buzzed in her back pocket and she jumped when James reached into her pocket and pulled it free to hand to her.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about it," Lily grinned down at her phone as she looked at the screen.

"Yeah?" James looked down at her phone.

"I got the position!" Lily laughed. "I'm engaged and I got my dream job on the same day!"

"Well," James kissed her, "While we're discussing good news, I have one more thing to add."

"What?"

"Dad and Sirius and I have been working on a surprise for you; we've managed to get Riddle and his cronies into a world of trouble that I don't think they'll be getting out of anytime soon." James' grin was wicked.

Lily narrowed her gaze, "There was no rouge temp, was there?"

"Sirius and I were the rogue temps, we bailed at work and went to make sure our plan went exactly as we wanted it. I doubt that your old place of employment will still have a license to practice business for much longer."

"I love you," Lily linked her arms around his neck and kissed him.

James pulled back to look down at her, one of his hands coming up to trace along her cheek before tangling in her hair.

"I love you too," and he kissed her.

[harryandmolly]

Ten Years - Part One

summary: ten years after 2007 Warped Tour, Shawn and Val come face to face in London

warnings: Language, that good yearning

WC: 3.3k

A/N: this is a post-epilogue miniseries of I Could Write It Better Than You Ever Felt It. I recommend you read that first or this will make you go 🤔

------------

Shawn has never felt further from his 19-year-old self than right now, squished into what has to be the world’s tiniest lift with Val and Alice and Alice’s very large, fancy pram.

The rickety lift slowly drags them up to the third floor of the old building. In the mirrored doors, Shawn watches them, saved from Val’s returning gaze as she focuses on making faces at her sleepy baby. Her back is pressed up against his chest. He can smell the achingly familiar citrus scent of her hair. But he can barely recognize the boy that ran away from this girl.

The lift stops with an alarming little jolt but Val looks unbothered. She hands the pram off to Shawn to steer while she fishes keys out of her purse. Shawn walks slowly, gazing down at Alice’s round and curious face. Who are you to be taking up my mommy’s attention? She seems to say. Shawn’s lower lip twitches. Who, indeed.

Val lets them into the dark flat. It’s roomier than Shawn expected, having seen the modest building from the outside. As Val flips on lights, Shawn’s hungry eyes suck in as much as they can, committing it to memory for further study.

The walls are a rich shade of deep, deep red. The furniture is modern but comfortable. There are bookshelves in every corner, packed full of fantasy, art texts and music biographies. He stumbles over a stuffed colorful caterpillar toy. It makes Val chuckle.

He looks up at her and watches as she drops her jacket onto a hanger and kicks her boots into a corner next to a teeny tiny pair of cleats that make him smile.

“Already got her on a club team?” he rasps, finding his voice has failed him slightly. Val graciously ignores it and glances over at the cleats.

“Aren’t those hilarious? Raf sent those for her a few weeks ago. They were his daughter’s when she was Alice’s size.”

Shawn smiles and tucks his hands into his jacket pockets, rocking back and forth. He’s gazing around, memorizing as casually as possible, when he feels her warmth again. He looks down to see her smirking up at him. He ducks his head and chuckles. There never was any hiding from Val.

“Wanna stay for dinner? I was going to order takeaway.”

He grins at her British -ism and bites into his lower lip, nodding at her fridge. “I can cook if you want.”

Val’s eyebrows lift. Shawn’s laugh is low and gravelly. His voice is still not working quite right. He thinks it’s prolonged exposure to her coming out of nowhere. He doesn’t really mind. She could always understand exactly what he was saying even when he was babbling helplessly, even when he wasn’t speaking at all.

“You can… cook?”

Shawn rolls his eyes and shucks off his jacket, placing it on the back of a barstool at her modest kitchen island.

“I did grow up a little in the last ten years,” he sighs, wandering into her kitchen curiously.

“I noticed.”

Shawn freezes almost comically. His hand is halfway to the fridge handle. He blinks and turns his head slightly to look at her. She’s wearing the smile that’s haunted him for ten years, the one that’s so signature Val -- it’s a dare and a promise all in one. He swallows so hard his throat visibly bobs.

She’s fucking flirting with him. And she doesn’t look like she did it accidentally.

His motor function comes back enough to open the refrigerator and look around, and also hope the cool air will reduce the pink burning in his cheeks. Val busies herself with freeing fussy Alice from the pram, holding her against her hip after shedding all her tiny little layers down to a pair of leggings and a long sleeved tee with the Arsenal FC logo on it.

Shawn studies the contents of the fridge. It doesn’t take long. He looks up at her, frowning disapprovingly.

“You don’t cook,” he says plainly.

Val snorts, which makes Alice wriggle against her chest.

“I don’t cook. Never have, never will. It horrifies my mother, who sends five pounds of frozen homemade empanadas every month packed with dry ice.”

Shawn groans and lets his head loll back. “Fuck, I love your mom’s empanadas.”

A moment later, his head snaps up. His eyes widen. He claps a hand over his mouth.

“I’m so sorry!” The sound is garbled against the skin of his hand. He removes it to Val’s amusement.

“Don’t worry,” Val hums, pressing her nose and lips up against Alice’s patch of dark hair above her little ear, “I swear around her all the fucking time. Don’t I, nina?”

Shawn grins and turns back to the fridge. With a sigh, he unloads a carton of old Waitrose eggs, some wilted spinach and a bag of shiitake mushrooms. He snuggles the ingredients into his arms and nudges the door shut with his foot, glancing at her reproachfully.

“Don’t judge me on this, it won’t be my best work. But I have limited resources.”

Val takes a deep, calming breath, watching him start to sort out a cutting board and a pathetically dull knife at her kitchen counter. Because Shawn Mendes is cooking her dinner.

It’s been a weird six hours.

Val props herself up on a stool, planting Alice in front of her, holding her by the waist so her floppy, energetic baby doesn’t squirm onto the floor. Alice also serves as an excellent shield between herself and the man in her kitchen she can’t stop staring at.

She listens to him chop and crack eggs and melt butter like making dinner for her is some kind of Food Network challenge. She tries to tamp down a goofy smile at the thought. Alice smacks her tiny palm against Val’s lips for her attention. She holds her daughter’s hand and mimes nibbling at her fingers, making Alice squeal with laughter. Val peeks over Alice’s shoulder to see Shawn grinning at a frying pan, expertly flipping an omelette. Val’s stomach flips with it.

“So,” Val coughs, “How’ve you found London so far?”

Shawn slides the omelette sizzling onto a plate and cracks pepper over the top. He slides it over to her with a fork, slinging a dish towel over his shoulder while he gets to work on the second. Val mouths thank you, sealing it with a wink as she lifts the baby into a high chair and pops open a can of mashed carrot and swede from the countertop.

“I love it,” Shawn murmurs, nodding, “I’ve always really liked it here. My mum has family here. I’m over here a lot for work.”

He slides his tongue over his lower lip, making the black enameled ring quiver as he thinks about the comment he left out -- he’s long been considering getting a place here. Many of his favorite producers are based out of London. He and the guys love working out here. Forefront has remained more popular in the UK after the scene faded in the US. It makes sense.

“And… how long are you staying?”

Val hopes the eagerness doesn’t cut too deeply into her voice. If Shawn notices, he’s mercifully cool about it.

“I’m leaving Thursday to go home for the holidays.”

Val’s jaw tightens. She straightens up and stares at Alice, watching as she takes a fist of Val’s hair and shoves it into her mouth instead of the spoon of food Val is offering.

“I’ll be back after New Years to write the new album. Gonna spend a few months here.”

Val’s stomach swoops. She jams the spoon into Alice’s cheek by accident, reaching for her bib to wipe the food away before Alice can protest.

“That’s nice,” Val replies airily.

Shawn plops into the stool next to her with his plate and eyes her as she takes one bite of her food and feeds her daughter with her other hand.

“Ever accidentally mixed up the spoons and eaten baby food by mistake?”

Val barks a laugh. “Happens like, once a week.”

Shawn, Val and Alice eat in comfortable silence. Shawn chews a little slower than usual because he knows he’s probably getting kicked out after dinner and he’s not really ready to let go of this just yet.

This.

What is this?

Shawn shakes the thought before it can sprout in his brain. He’s not going to freak out over this. This is fine. It’s dinner with an old friend and her baby. Nothing weird can happen with a baby around, right?

Val stands and scoops a squirming Alice out of her high chair, walking toward the nursery with a glance over her shoulder.

“I’m gonna get her changed and put her down for the night. Want to open that bottle of wine there?” She nods at a bottle of cabernet and Shawn’s eyes get a little brighter.

“Yeah,” he responds enthusiastically, nodding, “Good night, Alice!”

Val beams and flaps Alice’s little hand at him. “Night night, Shawn!”

When Val emerges twenty minutes later with the baby monitor, Shawn has the dishes cleaned and the wine breathing with two glasses out on the counter while he flips absently through his phone.

“I’m gonna get changed, too,” Val says softly, gesturing down at her leather pants and chewing on the inside of her lip, trying not to read too much into all the different cozy-cute outfit ideas in her head.

Before she can overthink it, she swaps out her urban mom chic look for clingy charcoal leggings and a black camisole with her favorite cable knit cardigan over top. She gives her hair a flip in the mirror and pinches some color into her cheeks.

You know, just because.

When she walks back into the living room, Shawn has the wine poured. She tips her glass against his and murmurs “cheers,” willfully ignoring the way Shawn is trying not to check her out.

They sit at the bar. Shawn watches Val cross her long, slender legs, her bare, black-lacquered toes glinting up at him. He hums a chuckle and sips his wine.

“What?” she giggles.

He nods at her. “You. Your black nail polish. Some things never change, I guess.”

The words feel heavy as soon as they leave him. It swirls around them, all that has changed, all that hasn’t.

It would be easy to look over at Val now and see a stranger. It’s been a full decade. The amount of life experience packed into the ten years between 22 and 32 could have made her an entirely different person. But Shawn’s been watching her, listening to her all day. She’s still Val.

It’s a comfort and a curse, he thinks. It’s not like he hasn’t wondered about her, about how much the years have changed all the things that drew him in. It hurt to think she was changing and he didn’t even know it, couldn’t see it. And now he knows just how… Val she still is.

This night won’t last forever, even if they did just open a nice bottle of wine. He’ll go back to the hotel, he’ll leave London. He’ll be stuck with knowing the woman he loved is still every bit as incredible as he remembers her. Hell, she got better. He can’t believe it, but Val Moreno got better with time.

He shakes his head and pushes a hand through his hair. “Wow,” he mutters.

Val takes a gulp from her glass and nods. “I’m kind of feeling that, too.”

“It’s just…” Shawn hisses, finally cracking with the help of the fine cabernet, “It’s been… ten fucking years.”

Val looks over at him. She’s silent for a few long, slow seconds.

“So tell me about them.”

Shawn looks at her as she stands and reaches for the bottle and her glass, heading for the couch.

“Didn’t we do that all afternoon?” he laughs, standing and ambling after her.

Hey moron, he thinks to himself, Do you really want to give her a reason to make you leave sooner than you have to?

To his relief, Val persists, swinging her legs up to fold beside her and patting the cushions. He settles in and continues sipping from his glass for courage.

“Well,” she starts, looking a bit uncertain as she gazes into her glass, “If your ten years has been anything like mine, you have a list of things you’ve been wanting to tell me, saving up for if we’d ever see each other again.”

Shawn’s fucking fingers tingle. She’s been making a list. For him.

He nods. “Y-yeah. I mean… yeah.”

Val smiles. It’s soft and encouraging. “Ok. I’ll start.”

Shawn’s heart softens its battering ram motion in his chest. He bobs his head.

“I was… so scared when I got pregnant with Alice. God, it was the most frightened I’ve ever been of anything. More scared than when I told Raf I was leaving Streets, even more scared than when I was pregnant with Rafael. Because I felt so ready this time. If she was taken from me… god, I swear to god, I held my breath the entire nine months with her. Even after she was born, I just stared at her. Like if I blinked, that would be it. She’d be gone. I think it’s only in the last six months that I’ve started to fucking relax.”

Shawn’s body surges with affection and protective instincts he barely recognizes. He nods eagerly.

“I think it’s amazing you decided to do it on your own. I mean, I bet you hear that all the time. But…”

“But you know better than most how much of a risk I felt I was taking,” she says softly, leveling him with her gaze.

Shawn is quiet remembering the night she finally released it into him, a flood of words he was too young to hear, to feel, to accept. It was the night they said ‘I love you.’ It was the night he ran.

“Your turn,” Val whispers, refilling their glasses. Shawn drinks eagerly.

“Uhm… I… fuck. The closest I ever came to calling you was six years ago, after Making Midnight. I felt like shit. I think I knew all along it wasn’t right -- none of it. It wasn’t me, it wasn’t us. It was a bad album. I had no business being as pissed as I was that it sucked and everyone hated it. But I was so angry with myself. I just felt powerless. It took me so long to be ok with speaking up and saying when I thought something was wrong. It took me so long to find a way to be a leader. I think that’s the way I’ve changed the most in the last ten years.”

Val watches him thoughtfully. She takes a short sip and shakes her head.

“Maybe that’s one of the ways. I’m not sure it’s the biggest. I think 19-year-old you wouldn’t have lasted through a walk in the park with me and my kid. 29-year-old you held her for over an hour. I think you fell a little bit in love with her.”

She chuckles but she’s not joking. Shawn goes crimson.

“She’s… god, Val, she’s amazing. You’re so lucky. You… you both are.”

Val’s eyes drift shut. She drains her second glass. When she opens her eyes again, Shawn’s warm honeyed eyes are watching her. He doesn’t look scared. He doesn’t look anxious. He looks a little lonely.

Val fills their glasses again. She’s warm enough now to slip out of her cardigan and leave it beside her on the sofa. She watches Shawn watch her toss her hair over her shoulders. He chews on his lip until it’s red and swollen.

“Say it.”

He looks up from his already half empty third glass. He blinks quickly. “What?”

“Say it, whatever it is.”

Her voice is calm and smooth. He swallows.

“I was just… wondering if you’ve been in love in the last ten years.”

Val’s head tilts. “Honestly? I didn’t really try. I didn’t want to be. I just wanted Alice. Even before I was ready for her, though, I wasn’t all that interested in looking around. I guess I figured it would fall into my lap when it was right.”

“Why didn’t you look?” Shawn asks, a little too quickly.

Val notices. She takes a slow, deep breath. Shawn watches it inflate and deflate her chest as his tightens. With a resigned smile, Val reaches out and cups his cheek. Her whole body is warm, humming with alcohol in her veins. Her fingers have him choking down a gasp.

“Do you know what I think is really the most incredible part?” she breathes. He blinks at her again, dumbstruck.

“We were together less than three months. It was Warped Tour. We were… fuck, we were kids. I never expected that I’d be hung up on it after all this time. That years later, I’d be on dates and thinking of you. That I’d be sleeping with other people and still thinking of you. I thought this is something that would fade. When I saw you in the garden today, it felt exactly the same as waking up next to you in my bunk on that stupid tour bus, like it was 2007 all over again.”

Shawn’s eyes have fallen shut. He’s overwhelmed, breathing heavily. He turns his face to nudge his lips against her thumb, leaving a gentle kiss.

“God, I still write songs about you. Like, all the time. I thought I was crazy. Maybe I am. I don’t know. Maybe we both are.”

Val waits a beat, then drags his lips to hers. Her kiss is firm but sweet. Her face softens as soon as his mouth touches hers. His fingers curls into the ends of her hair as he edges closer, carefully, dropping himself headfirst into the kiss because who knows if he’ll get another.

They break apart, panting for air. Val plants her hands on his shoulders and wastes no time hauling herself into his lap.

Shawn whimpers, gasping into her mouth. She feels… perfect. Fuck, he’s on fire. It’s been so long. Her tongue slips against his, she groans into his mouth. Her arms are slung around his neck so all he can see and hear and feel is her. How did he go without this for so long? How did he let her go? How could he leave?

But he knows why he left. He left because he was a kid. It took every ounce of strength and maturity he had to walk away when he let himself realize it. He left for him.

Shawn inhales deeply and scoops his hands around her cheeks, easing her back gently. Val’s eyes are heavy. She’s panting.

“Wait… wait,” he grunts, shaking his head as he breathes heavily, in synch with her, “It can’t be like this this time.”

Val feels his words snapping into place in her head. She looks down at the baby monitor she dropped next to her sweater. She lets her head fall forward as she laughs breathlessly.

“Ok. Add that to the list of things you wouldn’t have done ten years ago.”

Shawn grins and tugs her forward until her head rests against his shoulder and his arms drape around her back.

“You deserve so much better than what I gave you last time,” he says softly. It’s not pained or self-deprecating, it’s simple and honest. “I want it to be real.”

She turns her lips against his neck and sighs. The same scurry of goosebumps she remembers she always left on him marches across his skin.

“Then let’s talk about it in the morning,” Val murmurs. Carefully, she unfolds her body from his, takes his hand, and leads the way to her bedroom.

-----------

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[oceansborn-blog]

intros: next gen verse, pt. 1

ALICE LONGBOTTOM: seventh year, hufflepuff, head student, halfblood, cis female, she/ her. fc: milena tscharntke. pinterest. 

Mum Friend™ 

alice is like... very nurturing, honestly. she likes to be there for people and take care of them -- they come first, in her mind, and she comes second. definitely considers most people around her more important than herself -- she doesn’t have a bad self-confidence, really, but putting herself first isn’t something she’d think of?

even from first year she’d be the kid others could come to if they couldn’t sleep and she’d make them some tea and stay up with them 

favourite subjects are care of magical creatures & herbology -- just loves everything about nature and all the creatures in it 

her room at home is full of plants & she joined the herbology club at hogwarts as soon as she could so she could help out in the greenhouses; makes her feel like home and less homesick, though having her siblings and parents at hogwarts now definitely helps 

her tag is ‘steady flame’ which i tend to think pretty suitable for her -- she’s not a bright, roaring wildfire or anyone that sticks out particularly much, but she’s steady in her light and her love and she’s always there to provide some comfort 

always tries her hardest in her classes but if she has to help a friend out that takes precedence -- she cares about her grades but not as much as helping people, so if she needs to skip out on revising more for a test to comfort a friend, she will 

takes her prefect responsibilities quite seriously and now her head student ones, but isn’t a stickler for the rules in the sense that she always tries to understand the reason behind why a student got in trouble and if exceptions should be made 

her biggest passion is dragons and they have been her favourite animal since she was a kid her heart just !!!! soars when she thinks of them 

her dream job is to be a dragonologist but she hasn’t really... committed to it because she’s like... afraid of leaving home? she doesn’t want to be somewhere else if people need her? in a way ig she considers herself a bit more important than she is -- people will be fine if she moves elsewhere, the world will not fall apart, people will be happy for her -- but simultaneously she’s afraid to leave if like. nothing changes when she’s gone? and she’s not as important and necessary here as she thought? idk she has Conflicted emotions so her solution rn is just to let that dream remain just a dream 

hopefully she’ll get her act together and go for it one day 

but rn she’s considering a herbologist career instead even tho her heart is yelling at her to work with dragons 

AISLINN FINNIGAN-THOMAS: seventh year, hufflepuff, vampire, cis female, she/ her. fc: inbar lavi. pinterest.

bde: big dumbass energy

chaotic horny

kind of spoiled in the sense that she has both her dads wrapped around her little finger and kind of... charms her way into avoiding punishment?

gets away with a lot of shit she shouldn’t and has since she was a kid

maybe that’s why she’s such a disaster now! whom knows

was sorted into hufflepuff not so much because she admires or embodies the traits, necessarily, but because hufflepuff takes the rest and she really couldn’t fit anywhere else

she’s really just here to have a good time and wants to accomplish that in any way possible

she’s really... not interested in anything that doesn’t involve having fun. schoolwork? serious matters? will gladly ignore!

she Loves her friends and family but might not be the best person to always turn to for emotional support? or ever gfhsjd. her strategy for anything painful is ignore, ignore, ignore! and that tends to be her advice to others. she’s for sure nice to turn to if you want to distract yourself and do something fun, but in terms of actually discussing things and trying to process them? really not the right gal

‘mate, am genuinely jus here for a laff x’ in a person

gets into A Lot of stupid and reckless and dangerous situations just because she’s a person who tends to follow any half-rotten idea she gets. could be seen as brave, i suppose, since she’s not really scared of much --- but it’s more because she doesn’t think about it or linger on what consequences could come long enough to actually get scared

really doesn’t have an ambitious bone in her body. she’s never been one to even plan a week ahead but just lives her life a day at a time. teachers might try to get her to settle on a career and plan for it but she’ll just say a goal and by the next meeting drop another random career that she has no intention of trying for. probably drives them up the wall

does just well enough to scrape by in her classes so her parents can’t complain but no more than that

makes a lot of bad decisions, especially if she’s drunk

key example: deciding that knockturn alley seemed like a good place for a hookup and went there late at night, alone, and drunk as hell

did not find a hookup, but a vampire found her

woke up the next day feeling like absolute shite and with a very obvious bite that aislinn in true dumbass fashion thought was the ugliest hickey in the world

really hasn’t.... processed being a vampire? she’s like eh! can be ignored! i’m not emotionally and spiritually a vampire which is all that matters!

insists on still doing stuff she can no longer do, like eat a shit ton of garlic bread and lie out in the sun when she’s fucking nocturnal now

she’s quite sweet but her disaster energy brings a lot of stress to the logical people in her life

ISABELLA POTTER: fifth year, ravenclaw, disaster, halfblood, cis female, she/ her. fc: lana condor. pinterest.

she’s like the really trashy love child of leslie knope and ben wyatt?? mostly their bad sides lmao??? she too would be referred to as a human disaster on national tv

she’s a descendant of the part of the potter family that moved to america ages ago, so until she transferred to hogwarts in her fourth year she didn’t know the other potters?? like obviously she knew of them what with harry saving the wizarding world and all, but they hadn’t met each other before. she’s an only child with no close cousins so like meeting the potters and the huge fam that comes with them was kind of like ………………… wait what for her and she’s still like??? doubt we’re actually related sorry can’t live up to you all

but yeah it was just her & her parents growing up and she was quite close to them when she was younger, but her dad is a politician ( now the president of the magical congress of the us ) and her mother is a healer, and they’re both just really ambitious, hardworking people so they didn’t have a lot of time to dedicate to their home life?? and when isa went off to boarding school they drifted further apart, so at this point they honestly don’t know each other that well?? and tbh they’re not bad parents per say, if you don’t count how focused on their careers they are rather than supporting her, it’s just that they’re both so focused and confident i don’t think they ever consider that isa might,,, not be?? and she really, really isn’t.

her self-worth is so low and confidence is basically nonexistent, and when she’s nervous or struggling a lot with anxiety she tends to ramble a lot, which her parents just interpreted as her being talkative rather than there being an underlying reason for it, and basically there was just… a lot of misunderstanding between them? like isa still loves them, but whenever she was home she just didn’t feel good, and she hates herself for it because they are good people, but she just doesn’t know how to change that??

somehow did not end up nearly as charismatic or smart or anything as her parents tho and is just a mess™ so she mostly introduces herself only with her first name and tries to like not think of the fact that that her dad held such an important position bc she doesn’t want to bring more embarrassment to the family than she already has lmao

she really wants to make her parents proud and everything and tries to behave properly she’s just ??? failing epically. always finds a way to embarrass herself and put her foot in her mouth and once it happens her pride kicks in and she just makes it worse and worse because she can’t just admit that she did something wrong so she just continues to dig her own grave like every second conversation it’s amusing to watch but she’s just a tragic mess

with her father being the president and her mother out there literally saving lives she was like i gotta do something good with mine!!! she doesn't see becoming an author as good enough in comparison, so she's gonna study to become a healer like her mom after she graduates but like,,, it’s so not the right career choice for her, she'll probably would dropp up halfway through training

when anything remotely bad happens she’s like this is THE worst thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life and i cannot show my face ever again so basically,,, the ppl in her life are probably used to her Dramatic self by now. tho i guess now that there is an actual apocalypse going on, everything sort of is the worst thing that’s ever happened in her life?? anyways 

when it comes down to it isa is just a mess™ who just. gets into embarrassing situations Constantly because she never shuts up. she is often awkward and anxious and always puts her foot in her mouth and once that happens her pride kicks in and she just makes it worse and worse because she just can’t admit that she did something wrong so she just continues to dig her own grave like every second conversation. amusing to watch but a terror for herself she’s just a tragic mess who Cannot shut up for two seconds 

her mouth just runs on it’s own and her brain struggles to keep up so she just says weird shit sometimes 

it is honestly a surprise she hasn’t run off to live in the woods and write trashy romance novels yet 

that’s genuinely a thought she has daily djhasg she loves her family so much so she wouldn’t but like. she thinks she should not be allowed to talk with other people because she Will fuck it up and she’s proven that again and again

lowkey terrified of actually falling in love despite how often she gushes about it and just runs away at the thought. quite literally. she will ramble and then run as fast as she can she’s gotta GO

VERA WOOD-KRUM: fifth year, gryffindor, broom racing mess, halfblood, cis female, she/ her. fc: brittany o’grady. 

vera is entirely her fathers’ daughter and that becomes clear to everyone who has heard of them like .5 seconds after meeting her

she is Loud and she Will Not be stopped!! 

so yeah she’s the daughter of viktor and oliver, and at this point they’re even more iconic than they were when they were younger tbh. even their ‘love story’ is pretty famous around the wizarding world, their rivals-to-eventual-friends-to-lovers story touching many, not to mention being one of the first openly gay couples in the quidditch sphere

vera will always argue they’re the most iconic couple at the very least in the quidditch world but also probably in the wizarding world but lbr she is Biased 

she has three siblings, a younger brother named max who is... probably in his second year at this point i wanna say, and two older siblings, katya & alex, who are a bit closer in age to her. oliver and viktor used surrogate mothers and mixed sperm and have their kids, and yeah long story short vera is fiercely loyal to her family and would highkey die for them. 10/10 always ready to fight for them if someone talks shit 

very grateful for her family and her happy upbringing and they mean more to her than anything in the world 

obviously comes from a very quidditch centred family, and tho neither of her parents would force their kids into any career, they did have her join a little league quidditch team as a kid to encourage a healthy lifestyle and bc it’s their favourite sport in the world lbr. vera started out as a chaser but the coach decided to switch her position to seeker because he thought it would be a more suitable position --- which it definitely was, only more so than intended. her time in the little league quidditch team made her realise her intense love for broom racing, and she quickly lost interest in the actual game, racing off the pitch before quickly crashing and being brought back by the coaches fgjgdsfjhs

has been set on becoming a professional broom racer since she was a kid, basically, and is as obsessed with that as oliver is with quidditch --- if not more. like father, like daughter fjhsdgfhjs 

basically all her birthday and christmas wishes since then has been related to it, whether for broom polish or workout clothes or books on the matter, even sometimes wishing from brooms when a new version was released 

always makes sure to keep up with the latest news regarding anything from brooms to quidditch 

anytime one of her fathers went to diagon alley, she would hound them into bringing her so she could hang out in broomstix, overtime annoying the old owner into liking her LMAO, becoming something like the granddaughter he never had 

she worked there over summer and helps out a bit now during christmas break as well 

but yeah vera was sorted into gryffindor like .2 seconds after the sorting hat touched her head HFJSDGFJS she was so far from a headstall it’s ridiculous 

she takes after oliver a lot which i think is one of the first things ( and sometimes only if they don’t get to know her ) people notice about her --- she’s vivacious and loud and dramatic and incredibly competitive and is absolutely ridiculous, most of the time, especially when it comes for the lengths she’ll go to when it comes to broom racing. but she holds viktor’s kindness and loving nature at her core and she has quite a fixed 

definitely wouldn’t be wrong to call her a daredevil, one of the things she loves about broom racing is flying around obstacles and how wrong it can go if she’s not good enough gjhdsgfj 

has been in and out of both the hospital wing and st. mungo’s many, many times for a sixteen-year-old 

her whole family is very supportive of her dreams which she is So grateful for, partly because they just want to see her succeed and be happy but also to reduce the amount of injuries she gets hsdhjfgs viktor especially trains her a lot with his seeker experience in mind, a role which her older siblings took on when she started hogwarts 

that said, the wood-krum siblings are just as likely to encourage each other to get into trouble as to help each other so she ends up in trouble a lot hjsdghfj she Loves it tho all the professors probably think she is a pain in the ass, albeit a charming one

vera always tries to get around hogwarts by broomstick or longboard so like. rip in peace to the rest of hogwarts’ inhabitants bc the amount of detentions she gets doesn’t face her, she is set in her ways 

[lisatelramor]

To London, To London

This took a lot longer than I thought it was going to take to write--I kept wanting to do a proper casefic in the middle and getting stuck, but it wasn't to be. My brain does not like writing mystery no matter how much I try to force it. :/ BUT! This is finally done and hopefully is a satisfactory conclusion to the series. It's set a year from the start of Not Left To Stand Alone, so in March right before the new school year begins :) Appropriate that this story finishes here as well as surprisingly appropriate for me to end it the same time of year in real life. Here's to moving forward and new years and endings as beginnings of new things. Thank you everyone who's read along and all comments in the last year. It was one of the brighter things from last year. Hope to see you again with future writing projects ^_^

To London, To London

The walk up to the London flat was one Saguru could do in his sleep. He’d lived six years of his adult life in that flat, walking to a store down the road or driving to work down the crowded streets because the public transit was further than he wanted to walk with a bum leg. There was the coffee shop a block away that had a weekly music night he and Mel occasionally went to. There was the Indian restaurant that Saguru got takeaway at when neither of them felt like cooking. There was the neighbor who had a cat that liked sunning itself on Saguru’s balcony. The downstairs neighbor had plants on her balcony again this year, and window boxes just starting to have bits of green poking up.

The front door still had the ‘Welcome Holmes’ welcome mat in front that Mel got him as a joke. It was covered in a few months’ worth of dirt and debris, the person Mum had taking care of the apartment clearly not extending that to the outside very often. As he approached what had been his home, Saguru had to stop and take a moment to breathe past all the bittersweet memories around him.

A hand touched his elbow, and Saguru looked back at Kaito. Kaito who was out of place here, but also paradoxically fit in seamlessly. The touch helped, grounding him in the here and now instead of the past. “Nice welcome mat,” Kaito said lightly.

Saguru could kiss him. He didn’t since he didn’t feel inclined to public displays of affection at the moment. “It was a birthday gift. From Mel.”

“Impeccable taste,” Kaito said.

Saguru smiled. He wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Kaito. He might have left this go indefinitely, paying for a flat he never used and storage for things he no longer needed but didn’t want to let go. Starting things anew with Kaito... that made him want to resolve everything. It still took more than a few seconds to muster the will to unlock the door and let them in. Saguru ushered Kaito in before him.

He didn’t know what Kaito saw in the apartment. Saguru stepped in and he saw the walls with faded squares where photos once hung, the missing clutter and covered up furniture. He saw the scruffs on the baseboard from years of hasty vacuuming, the faint difference in the wall where it had been plastered over after being dented moving a new couch in. He saw the lack of shoes by the door and the dust trapped in the corners. He smelled the stale air of a room shut up too long and the slightly off smell old wood got when it wasn’t aired out enough. There was the flecks of paint on the light switch cover from when Mel repainted the entryway. Divots in the wood floor where they dropped a heavy jar of tomato sauce that had exploded all over the floor and walls. The lack of soft music playing in the background. The blinds closed and the rooms dim. A box with all of Mel’s recent playbooks next to the empty bookshelf because Saguru had decided not to take them to Japan in his hasty flight from London. Left with the distant thought that maybe Mel’s parents would want them even though they’d only asked to have some photos and the set of dishes Mel’s grandmother gave them at their wedding.

Saguru didn’t move from the doorway for long enough that Kaito had to tug him forward and close the door behind them.

The bedroom door was shut to their right, the office and guest room open across from it, followed by the bathroom and the kitchen/living area at the end of the hall. Kaito glanced at the open office and walked past it toward the living area where the empty bookshelf and some stacked boxes were visible. Saguru swallowed hard, forcing the messy tangle of emotions rising in him down. It had been a bit over a year since he was here; he could handle walking in his old home.

“It’s nice,” Kaito said as he turned in the middle of Saguru’s old living room. There was the sofa with a dust cover. There, the kitchen table with the chairs upside down on top. There by the wall an antique side table with a marble top that used to house plants Mum gave them, by the balcony sliding glass door so they would get sunlight and could be moved outside in good weather.

Knowing what the room once was, and all the things it was missing, Saguru found he couldn’t share the sentiment. Stripped of the majority of its trappings, the room looked too bare; a shell of what it once was. Too big as well, compared to where he was living now. Too big for Saguru alone. “It used to be nicer,” Saguru said after a moment that went on a beat too long. Saguru’s mystery collection, Mel’s Shakespeare collection, and the handful of knickknacks they’d collected over the years were in Japan, most still in boxes in Saguru’s childhood bedroom. The plants Mum had given to a friend and her cousin. All the art from the walls had been carefully packed and shipped to the mansion in Japan along with Saguru’s clothing, case records, important paperwork, and an odd assortment of things that Mum had deemed important to bring since Saguru hadn’t been compelled to go through Mel’s things when he was trying to run from everything.

He realized he’d once again stood too long, lost in his thoughts. Saguru shook himself, ignoring Kaito’s worried look, and moved to the kitchen. Cutlery in the drawers—could be donated, not of immediate importance and no sentimental attachment. Same to the dishes in the cupboards; Mel’s parents took the only sentimental dishware. Well, minus Saguru’s old favorite teapot. He took it down. It was nothing special to look at, antique but not flashy, just a squat cream colored teapot with orange and black and gold flowers around the top that they’d bought on a whim and kept because it didn’t drip like half the teapots Mel’s mother collected. It went on the counter for things to take back with him.

“Didn’t clean out your cupboards,” Kaito commented when Saguru opened one of the food cupboards. It was still stocked with non-perishables; boxes of pasta and spices and tea that Saguru only ever drank once in a blue moon. Kaito picked up a tin of sardines. “The dates are still good on some of these.”

“I suppose that can be donated too.” He should start a list. Find a box or something to put things in and sort it out so that it could be donated, kept, or thrown away. He’d have to go get boxes because if he remembered correctly, they’d used all the empty ones lying around when he left.

“Please tell me you emptied the fridge.”

“I think Mum did.” A quick check confirmed it. Both the refrigerator and freezer were empty, the settings turned down low to conserve energy. Left like he might move back at any moment. Or so that it could be rented out should he ever want to, Saguru thought. “I don’t remember much about the packing,” Saguru admitted, closing the refrigerator. “Mum had some boxes and I know I threw clothing in them and put all my photos and keepsakes in another. Books. But Mum did most of it.”

Kaito nodded, understanding. “I did about the same when Aoko kicked me out. And when I moved into my apartment. Of course I went back and got more things from my mom’s house later and things add up, but at first I didn’t even have a bed or food, just a spare set of clothes and an electric kettle for instant noodles and tea until I pulled things together.”

Saguru nodded back. When life uprooted you, things got lost in the scramble or set aside, or forgotten. Now he was picking up where he left off now that he was at a better state of mind. “Three piles,” he murmured to himself. Boxes could be found later. The kitchen wasn’t really what he needed to go through though. There was the hall closet, the office, and lastly, the bedroom.

“It’s a lot bigger,” Kaito said, trailing after Saguru as Saguru wandered back toward the office, “than your apartment now. Or my apartment really. Easily half again as wide. And a balcony. Nice. I can picture you drinking tea out there and watching the sun rise.”

“Dinner sometimes,” Saguru said. “In the summer we’d get takeaway and eat outside.” The office had been left untouched beyond taking the paperwork from the filing cabinet. That left a collection of miscellaneous gifts given by his students on a shelf over the desk, Mel’s collection of musical posters—he’d had to pick and choose what to hang up after a few years of performing—on the far wall, held up with tacks instead of frames because they were kept for sentimentality, not value of the design that went into them. The framed photos were gone, but there was a lot of personal items scattered around. There were even tests he’d graded and never given back at the end of the school year sitting covered with a thin layer of dust. In short, the room was a mess, probably worse than the bedroom considering they’d stripped most of Saguru’s things from there already. Saguru knew he’d find a mess of Mel’s things if he opened the cupboard in the corner because he’d shoved most of them there when he got heartsick seeing them sitting untouched for months. “Kaito, this is going to take hours.” He wasn’t sure if the words were meant as a warning or an apology.

Kaito gave him an unimpressed look. “I figured it would. It’s not like I have other plans. Or anywhere else to go really. Unless you wanted privacy?”

“No.” Privacy would mean a better chance of getting lost in his head and memories. Kaito’s presence was helpful, grounding him to the here and now. “I appreciate you being here.”

Kaito smiled and clapped a hand on Saguru’s shoulder before wandering over to Saguru’s desk to look at the shelf of teacher gifts. Some of them, like the ‘element of surprise’ chemistry themed mug holding novelty pens, were amusing and thoughtful. The rock painted in an attempt of a molecular structure was well meant. The apple-themed paraphernalia was both tacky and honestly a bit of an eyesore. Saguru hadn’t thrown any of them away because they had been reminders of why he enjoyed teaching, proof that some of his students at least enjoyed his class. He had a file of letters somewhere too, along with a few news clippings of students he’d connected with and seen go on to success later in life. He thought Mum might have packed that with the rest of the files though.

“I suppose I don’t have room for most of that anymore.” He could get rid of the tacky things, and keep his favorites. He’d have to be choosy anyway; mailing things was expensive.

“You don’t have to stay in your matchbook apartment,” Kaito pointed out.

“Well, no, but I like being your neighbor.” Saguru started separating things on his desk into keep, toss, donate piles. “I intend to keep teaching, regardless of how detective work is infiltrating my free time, so I know I could afford to live somewhere larger, but really I would miss being able to walk around the corner to your home.”

Kaito handed him items from the shelf, idly juggling a growing assortment of odds and ends as he did so. “There is a solution to that you know.”

“Hm?” The ‘element of surprise’ mug went in the keep pile. “And what would that be?”

“There’s always the option of getting a place together.”

Saguru missed grabbing the next item handed toward him. The painted rock clattered its way to the discard pile. “Oh.”

“Too soon?” Kaito asked, a grimace on his face. He stilled his juggling.

“No. It’s not.” They all but lived together anyway, two apartments making up a home with how they left their doors open for each other. They ate most meals together and sometimes slept on Saguru’s futon together, and spent most evenings together... They practically co-parented Takumi when he was over. It wouldn’t be that big of a shift. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet is all.” Some days it still felt a little unreal where he’d ended up. Most days it felt right though, so he rolled with how his life had changed.

Kaito handed him the whole assortment of novelty pens. Saguru kept the one that gave you a shock, like the one he’d given Takumi, and tossed the rest.

“I know it would be a little weird,” Kaito said, handing more things over on autopilot. “And there would be the question of where, and how much space and the whole mess of moving... But I don’t technically need to stay at the apartment anymore for Kid reasons, and we practically live together with how your things keep ending up in my room and mine in your closet, and you did say you planned on staying...” He took a deep breath and Saguru listened, patient, for him to reach the end of his rambling. “So maybe we could find someplace nicer. Sort of like this kind of nicer. Room to live and work, and maybe allows pets.”

Saguru smiled picturing Kaito’s doves. They’d need a decent amount of space for keeping birds. And they’d need a room for Takumi, so that would mean at least two bedrooms and an office space. Perhaps two since both Saguru and Kaito had a tendency to take up a decent amount of space with projects. They both had lots of books to house as well. It would get expensive fast, let alone finding a place at a convenient distance from the school that met their desired criteria. Still... “That sounds nice.” He would love to wake up next to Kaito more often. And not have to decide which kitchen they were using that day. “We can think more on it when we get back to Japan, research for someplace we both like when the new semester starts.”

“Yeah?” Kaito smiled back. There was that bit of vulnerable hope in his expression, lacking in masks, and it never failed to make Saguru feel both sappy and a little heartsick when he saw that expression, because he knew how hard it could be for Kaito to hope with anything romantic. There would always be a little part of him that was waiting for a shoe to drop like it had with Aoko, just like a tiny part of Saguru would always be worried that this too would end in tragedy. Thankfully they were both people capable of facing their fears and strengthening trust.

“Of course. I did promise I was staying. The apartment I have now was never meant to be permanent anyway.”

“How do you feel about houses?”

“Depends on the location. I still have my leg to factor in.”

“Right. I’ll start looking for places. Do you think Takumi will be happy or upset if we move?”

“Both,” Saguru said. The piles in front of him grew fast. The desk was bare now, the shelf above it scattered into categories. “We should talk to him about it before we make any changes. It’s his home too.”

“True.” Kaito crouched down for a quick peck on the cheek before dragging open drawers. “Thanks, Saguru.”

No, thank you, Saguru thought as Kaito began pulling out papers, looking so much happier than a few moments ago. Kaito’d managed to cheer up both of them in the span of a few minutes, working his magic like always. Saguru returned to the task at hand feeling lighter. Not even going through Mel’s assorted belongings in the room brought him down, not with Kaito humming some pop song under his breath, or the random comments objects brought up. Saguru ended up with a large pile of trash—mostly paper—a much smaller pile of keepsakes and things like Mel’s laptop found dusty and forgotten under a pile of dog-eared screenplays for auditions he’d been looking through, and one full of things that could probably be donated along with his dishes and usable food items to some local charity group. There was always a need for school supplies.

He’d found at least two dozen note cards and bits of scrap paper with recipes scribbled on them in Mel’s cramped handwriting, some with notations about how to change the recipe for his tastes, and a slightly smushed packet of photographs from their last holiday trip together that Saguru must have stuffed in the cupboard during his quest to avoid reminders of Mel. Clearly he was keeping those.

“How is he not red as a lobster?” Kaito asked, peering at a beach photo over Saguru’s shoulder. Saguru was as topless as Mel in it, but of the two of them, Saguru clearly tanned while Mel didn’t.

“Sunblock. All over, every other hour. Otherwise he’d burn and be left with freckles everywhere after a week of peeling.”

“Ouch,” Kaito said. “I burn, but with a bit of sunblock I’ll tan instead.”

“Irish skin,” Saguru said, having met enough of Mel’s relatives that he could say that with some confidence. Mum wasn’t much better to be honest; somehow he’d lucked out in that genetic lottery.

“You both look happy.”

“We were.” That was a good memory. A day with both of them making fools of themselves in public, too much sand in awkward places, and not a hint of regret at any of it. “He tried to bury me in sand.”

“Please tell me there was a photo of that.”

Saguru flipped to it, the image a bit blurry because Mel had been laughing and that more than slowly being buried in sand had woken Saguru from a post-lunch nap.

“Perfect,” Kaito said.

They went through the rest of the photos together.

***

They took a break to eat some of the canned goods from Saguru’s cupboard before tackling the bedroom. It was pretty clear from the state of the room which was Saguru’s side and which had housed Mel’s things. Saguru’s things had largely been stripped from the room, but Mel’s side still had books stacked and objects poking from an overly-full closet.

“You were really neat and organized,” Kaito said as they opened up the closets, “back in high school. You still are, but with more clutter.”

“Mel’s influence.”

“I can see. How long did it take to reach an agreement about clutter?” There were only a few things left in Saguru’s closet, hung neatly. Mel’s closet was chaos, over-stuffed with things on hangars and odds and ends spilling all over the floor. Saguru knew that some of the things were left from stage productions where Mel had been required to get his own costume parts. Some things even Saguru wasn’t sure where they’d come from.

“It was a point of contention for the first few months. I relaxed my standards of cleanliness and he made more of an effort to reduce the worst of the clutter. Thankfully we both preferred clean common space and not having dishes piled in the sink for days.”

“Is that a sequin dress in there?”

“A Halloween costume. Although he did like to pull it out for laughs.”

“Wish I could have met him.”

“You’d have gotten along, I think. At the very least, I imagine he’d respect you as a fellow showman.”

Kaito took an armful of clothing hangers out and Saguru grabbed things from the pile in the bottom of the closet. A quarter of that mess was shoes for different situations and outfits. “It’s alarming how much a person can accumulate in the better part of a decade. And this is with considerably limited living space compared to what I grew up with. I don’t even want to think about going through my parents’ homes.”

“I thought they only had one home now?”

“There’s a summer cottage in England still. For when they want to visit England, but more affordable than the home Mum raised me in. It belonged to my mother’s father in his retirement and he left it to her in his will.” Saguru set the armload of things on the dusty, covered bed. Kaito was spreading clothing out across the floor. “It was actually a bit of a snub. Her siblings got the nicer property and the contents of most of the estate, but she was left with the summer home and the vastly smaller collection that went with it. Granmum and Mum had a wonderful relationship, but I don’t think Grandfather ever accepted that she married my father.”

“Well that sucks. At least you got along with your other grandfather, right?”

“Mm, he was less interested in propriety, and more in science. His wife was a bit the opposite though. It was a scandal on both sides that they got married honestly, but they did try to not let that affect me. Mum’s father did seem to approve of my detective work. He gave me my pocket watch.” Tap shoes from one of the musicals Mel was in. Jogging shoes. Sleek Oxfords that looked like they’d barely been worn. A shoebox full of—Saguru shut that quickly, mildly embarrassed because he thought that box had been under the bed, not in the closet. ...Not to keep, that would be too awkward in multiple ways.

Kaito glanced at him. “You found something naughty didn’t you.”

“Nothing I didn’t know we owned, just not where I expected to find it.”

Kaito laughed at him. “What do you want done with the clothes?”

“Well they won’t fit either of us,” Saguru said, eying them. Mel had been taller than Saguru and a bit slighter in the shoulders. Longer torso, longer legs, a size larger in general let alone anything that had been tailored. He’d taken good care of his clothing though. “The majority can be donated.” Although... He glanced through what Kaito had taken down before rummaging through the clothes hangers still in the closet. He pulled a T-shirt free. “I’m keeping this though.” It was a production shirt or the first play Mel had performed in professionally. The shirt was well-worn and soft, its screen printed lettering faded from dozens of washes.

“No judgement here. I still have some of Aoko’s stuff.”

“...Why would you have Aoko-san’s clothing?” Or how since Kaito was kicked out?

“Why do you think?”

Kaito should know better than to give an open-answered response because Saguru’s brain filled in a dozen possible reasons, half of them not fit to mention in polite company. “Actually I would rather not know.”

Kaito laughed at him again. “And people say I have the dirty mind.”

“You do.”

“That underrates your own brain, Saguru.”

Saguru ignored him and went back to digging through Mel’s things. Mel kept a lot of random thing that Saguru guessed were for sentimental reasons. Fake flowers squashed under a hat. A dozen belts fallen off their hanger. More scraps of paper, some with drawings, some with recipes, some of them just lists. Shopping lists, to-do lists, gift lists, dates to remember, a completely arbitrary list of ranking different flavors of pies versus cakes. It made Saguru feel nostalgic for Mel standing at the kitchen counter scribbling out one of those lists. Most of the to-do ones were only half checked off which explained why they’d never been thrown away, but Mel always got distracted and ended up writing new lists before the old ones were finished.

Most things didn’t have too much emotion attached. Clothing was clothing. But then there was the suit they’d been married in. There was a box containing the dried boutonnieres that Saguru hadn’t even realized Mel had kept all these years. There were letters back from when Mel was in college, some of them from Saguru before they started dating. Kaito gave Saguru space and kept making a clothing pile to donate. There was a professional stage makeup case Kaito could appreciate, clutter of lighthearted things like bottles of silly string that hadn’t been opened, a board game, handheld games from high school on the top closet shelf that hadn’t been touched in years, or a bent up hula hoop that Saguru didn’t know when it could have gotten in there.

Then there was the box. It was plain, just a white cardboard box with a sticky note on it with “Don’t Forget” written in black sharpie marker. On top was a silk scarf with “for Mum” pinned on it, a book on Spanish culture and cooking—Mel’s parents had been planning a trip to Spain—with a scribbled “for Christmas?” and below that... Tickets to the Body Works exhibit that had been showing. That had “surprise” written on the sticky note attached to that. The tickets were dated a few days before Mel was shot, for the week after. There was a list with ideas for Saguru’s birthday gift tucked next to it.

Kaito’s arms were around him before Saguru realized he was crying. “Damn it,” Saguru said, covering his face. “I thought I was going to be able to get through this without crying.”

“It’s fine. You’re going to be fine,” Kaito said.

“It’s really not.”

“Well, no, not right now it isn’t obviously.” Kaito rubbed circles on his back as Saguru tried to swallow his tears. “But I think we both know that these sort of things aren’t a ‘one-foot-after-another’ kind of path. Life has detours and backtracking and booby traps like boxes in closets to throw at you and it’s okay to feel shit when it happens.”

Saguru gave a watery laugh. “Hell of a booby trap.”

“At least it wasn’t a literal one. Imagine when I found Oyaji’s secret room.”

“Fair enough. That would be a pretty big shock.” This wasn’t a shock so much as an emotional sucker punch he hadn’t realized he’d needed to brace for. He should have realized; Mel was always good at keeping track of upcoming birthdays and holidays and had a habit of finding gifts throughout the year in advance. Saguru never went looking for where he kept them though, for obvious reasons. He closed his eyes and leaned into Kaito. Warm and soothing after their months together. He let go, and the tears stopped sooner by letting them happen.

“Need another break?” Kaito asked kindly.

“No.” Saguru didn’t move though, face still pressed against Kaito’s shoulder.

“So, who’s Anand?”

“Hm?”

“Box,” Kaito said, gesturing with his chin.

Saguru looked and it seemed there had been something else in the box because there was a gaudy-looking necklace with bright, multi-color prisms spilling from the bottom where Saguru had dropped the box. He snorted, amused and feeling lighter all at once. “Anand is one of Mel’s theatre friends. He likes things that glitter.”

“I’d say he has good taste, but that is a really bright necklace.”

“I am fairly sure there was a bet going on who could find the gaudiest piece of costume jewelry.”

“A good friend then.”

“Yeah. A good friend.” And one more person he hadn’t spoken to since Mel’s funeral. There was a twinge of old guilt. He was making more of an effort lately to restore some of the bridges he’d burned. Maybe that was another one he should attempt to fix even though Anand had been more Mel’s friend than Saguru’s. “Would it be kind or cruel to give these gifts to the people they were meant to go to?”

“Depends on the person.”

...Saguru might have a few more stops on his trip in that case. And a mother-in-law to possibly call, although he wasn’t sure that she would still view herself as such considering the circumstances. They’d never been close to begin with. “Maybe a break would be a good idea.”

***

Kaito convinced him to leave the apartment, and within half an hour of wandering London and stopping in at various places he used to frequent, Saguru was feeling closer to equilibrium. London would always be home in a way Tokyo wasn’t. His time in Japan had been vacations and trips, a place he was fond of and had a place in growing up, but not a place he knew in and out. Not where he spent most of his life or where most of his memories were centered in. Tokyo was a second home, but London would always be his first one, so it was nice to share it with Kaito.

“We should bring Takumi sometime,” Kaito said, as they sat at a café. Saguru had a cup of strong British black tea, yet another thing he’d missed. Kaito had gotten coffee as the time difference had him a bit jetlagged. “I always meant to take him abroad sometimes like Kaa-san and Oyaji did with me when I was little, but with everything going on it never happened.”

“Would Aoko let him out of the country?” Saguru asked. Takumi wasn’t grounded anymore, but considering he’d endured three months of restricted freedom and still had Aoko anxious if he was late checking in or somewhere other than he said he’d be, Saguru had to wonder if she’d let him go on a day trip let alone leave Japan.

“Maybe?” Kaito said, sipping at his coffee. He wiggled a hand in the air. “There’s a 50% chance she’d nix the idea outright just because it’s me—and you, actually, considering how trouble’s started following you around. She likes you, but that doesn’t really factor into keeping Takumi away from things that lead to police intervention. But I know she’d like Takumi to get to see more than just Tokyo and a trip here and there to Osaka. Paris is a higher chance of getting an okay than London just because it’s Paris.”

“While Paris is a nice city, I don’t see how France is a better choice than England. Especially considering that Takumi speaks English as a second language. I could swing it as a learning opportunity.”

“No, see it’s a nostalgia thing. We went to Paris once before Takumi was born sort of on our honeymoon. Very romantic. Couldn’t pass up the chance since that’s where Oyaji met Kaa-san.”

Saguru tried to picture Kaito and Aoko on a whirlwind romantic trip in Paris. It wasn’t terribly hard to do, but the image felt odd in his head. The idea of them performing typical romantic gestures just didn’t fit the image Saguru had of their relationship. Add Kaito producing roses from his sleeves every chance he could get and Aoko getting flustered until she tossed them back in his face maybe. Wining and dining under moonlight with the Eiffel Tower in the background? Not so much. He could see Kaito’s father sweeping Kuroba Chikage off her feet in a debonair manner though. He was the one that first established Kid as a charming gentleman thief after all.

“The angle of it being a learning opportunity is a good one though,” Kaito said. “I’ll be sure to use it when I ask next time we plan a visit.”

“Barely here a day and already planning the next trip?” Saguru said, amused.

“Of course. London is important to you. We’re obviously coming back.” Kaito smiled, his lips edging on Kid’s trademark smile. Saguru flushed, wondering if that was the same sort of smile he’d sent Aoko’s way on their honeymoon. “I’d like to get to know Saguru the Londoner a bit better too. You’re more confident here.”

“Between police work and my own exploration, I’ve been a little bit everywhere.”

“Exactly. And confidence is always a good look on you.”

Now Saguru was really blushing. Really, now, Kuroba, there was no reason to aim that smile his way in public! Saguru coughed into his fist. “I thought you found my confidence smug and grating.”

“Amazing how things change when it’s not aimed at me,” Kaito replied, grinning wickedly at flustering Saguru in a public space.

Two could play that game. “That’s odd, I seem to recall you enjoying it directed at you not too long ago.”

Kaito looked too happy at Saguru’s response for a split second before he faked scandalized. “Saguru, we’re in public! There’s a family right there!” He gestured to a woman with two small children sharing a crust-less sandwich.

“It’s a good thing we’re speaking Japanese, then, isn’t it?”

Kaito blinked. “You’re right. I didn’t even notice we swapped back.” He’d been trying to practice English since the plane took off. His accent still was fairly noticeable even if nowhere near so bad as in high school.

“I think we’ve been speaking Japanese since I found Mel’s box.” He hadn’t really registered the shift back either; funny how languages didn’t stand out. He was used to Japanese with Kaito though, so it wasn’t odd that he’d slid back into that language when distressed. It didn’t feel out of place to talk on about London in a language other than its native one either when it came down to Kaito.

“Switch back,” Kaito said in English. “I need more practice. I want to sound correct by the time this trip is over.”

“You’re still a ways off, but fine.”

“It’s annoying. American English is easier to copy.”

“You’re just more exposed to it.”

“True.” Kaito nodded and affected an American accent. It was a lot more passable than his British one. Saguru was willing to bet he’d modeled at least some of that British accent off Saguru. “Kudo speaks American English almost fluently. From all I’ve heard about Hawaii, you’d think it was a miracle place where you can learn anything, even some things questionably legal.”

“It’s America; I imagine there’s a lot of things that you could learn there that are of questionable legality elsewhere in the world.”

“Did you just diss America?” Kaito asked, laughing. He still had that awful American accent.

“I’ll take London and Japan over America. No offense to Americans of course.”

“Of course,” Kaito echoed in Saguru’s British accent. It was almost a spot on copy. Maybe Kaito would get that accent down after all. “Is there anything we need while we’re out?”

Saguru sipped the dregs of his tea. “Boxes,” he said after a moment of thought. “Lots of empty cardboard boxes.”

“Right-o. Let’s get on that after tea, yeah?”

“Please never say anything in that affectated accent again. It’s painful.”

“Aww, I thought I got pretty close that time,” Kaito said, grinning.

“My ears bleed at your butchery of British English.” Saguru smiled though. So easy to smile even when not long ago he was so sad. Kaito had his magic even when he wasn’t performing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Saguru caught the flicker of movement as a woman’s purse disappeared from beside her chair. “Purse snatcher,” Saguru said under his breath.

“I saw it. I’ll play distraction, you catch?” Kaito finished his coffee in one long swallow.

“Works for me.”

They got up at the same time, Kaito making a bee line for the cream and sugar counter as the purse snatcher made his way casually through the tables toward the exit. Saguru went the other way around the table making like he was going for the bathrooms near the door.

Kaito pretended to add sugar and cream into his empty coffee cup, before turning just at the right moment to make it seem accidental and bumping into the purse snatcher. Cream went all down the man’s front. “Oh! I’m so sorry!” Kaito said in American English. He grabbed a napkin and started trying to dab at the mess.

The man batted his hand away. “It’s fine,” he said, moving toward the door as eyes turned toward him.

Saguru, now near the door, caught the arm holding the purse before the man could get to there. “I don’t believe this belongs to you,” he said at a loud enough volume to draw further attention.

The purse’s rightful owner gasped. “That’s mine!”

The man in Saguru’s grasp took one look at Saguru’s cane and went for the obvious weak point. Thankfully, Saguru was expecting him to, so it wasn’t too difficult to shift his weight and use the man’s momentum against him to flip him flat on his back in front of the restrooms. As he wheezed on the ground, Saguru plucked the purse from his hand and tossed it to Kaito to return. “Could someone call the police?” Saguru asked. He jabbed his cane in the man’s face as he made to get up. “The whole café has seen your face, sir. It’s better to just give in to the inevitable.”

For a moment the man’s face contorted in an unpleasant snarl before he realized that half the patrons in the room were crowding around and it really would be nearly impossible to run. He held his hands up in defeat.

“Thank you.”

“Fuck you,” was the muttered reply, but it honestly was mild compared to some of the things criminals verbally hurled at him.

“The police are on their way,” the barista said.

“Well, there’s your crime for the day,” Kaito said, meandering over to lean on Saguru’s shoulder. “Think we’ll be good for a few days?”

“On a scale of shoplifting to grand larceny, this is the small end of the scale.”

“Hmm, true. Probably doesn’t net you much leeway then.”

They really had to figure out if there was some sort of balance to these things or if the universe saved up sometimes before throwing larger crimes Saguru’s way. It would save him a world of headaches if he could figure out how his price worked enough to work with it rather than having it acted upon him. “At least no one was injured this time.” He eyed the man still flat on his back. “Well, not too much.”

The officer that arrived to arrest the purse thief was one Saguru hadn’t worked with often, but she was familiar enough that they recognized each other on sight. Her partner, however, Saguru had never met before. He turned to the officer he knew.

“Officer Rostov,” Saguru said with a nod.

“Saguru Hakuba,” she said in return, neutral. “It’s been a while. You’re back in London then?”

“Just until I can clear out my old flat. I intend to stay in Japan.”

“Huh. Long way away to uproot yourself to, but if it works for you. You caught the suspect?”

“I was having tea with my companion and we noticed this man take that young woman’s purse. My companion distracted the thief and I caught him before he could leave out the front door.” The suspect and woman he’d stolen from and the barista were the only people hanging around the front of the shop; most of the people who’d been there for the theft attempt had moved on. The remaining people gawked like they were stocking up on gossip fodder. Kaito, leaning against the display counter, gave a little wave when Saguru referred to him.

The process of the arrest was quick, as were the statements. Saguru found himself under scrutiny from the unknown officer as Officer Rostov talked with the barista.

“You’re the freelance detective that used to live around here,” the man said, “aren’t you?”

“Yes, though technically I’m not sure if I can be considered a detective still.” He didn’t have a license for it in London anymore, and he was still jumping through hoops to get one in Japan since he wasn’t a citizen anymore.

“I’ve heard about you. Especially when things got shook up half a year ago. Colquhoun is still working with the rest of the British police force in finding rats in the system. He speaks highly of you.” The way it was said wasn’t the tone of a compliment. Saguru took that to mean other people had a lot less complimentary things to say. “You’re not here to cause more trouble?”

“Just passing through.” Saguru didn’t like the intent look on the man’s face. There was something in his stare that bordered aggressive, like he was waiting for Saguru to do something he could react negatively to. It had Saguru moving toward Kaito a few steps before he could even piece together what felt off.

“I lost a partner because of—”

“Burling,” Rostov said, cutting him off as she lifted a note pad in his direction. “It sounds like the suspect had a bike outside. Can you check the type and color? I have a feeling it might match up to some other purse snatchings in the area.”

Burling’s jaw tensed for a moment before he nodded. “I’ll do that.” He took the notebook and shot Saguru one last dark look before moving out the door.

Kaito let out a quiet whistle. “Wow. Someone doesn’t like you.”

“I lost a partner,” Saguru’s brain echoed. He supposed it didn’t matter if Burling’s partner had been crooked or if they’d been lost to injury or death; a loss was a loss. There would be those who hated him for stirring up the status quo even if it was the right thing to do. And there were still others who disliked him because of the fallout with Mel, and neither one was something he could control. “I’m sure there are a lot of people who don’t like me,” Saguru said.

“Not your fault though. You didn’t make people join crime organizations, and you didn’t lead the effort to uproot corruption here.”

“No, I just lifted the curtain enough to reveal all the problems.” People would always blame the messenger.

“Well I’m sure you have friends because of it too. Officer Rostov doesn’t seem to hate you.”

She didn’t seem to like him much either, Saguru didn’t point out, but she had never been one of the officers he was particularly friendly with.

Rostov, done with talking to the barista, wandered back over to them. “I think I have everything I need from you both, so you’re free to go if you’d like,” she said, still as neutral and professional as she’d been from the start.

“Thank you for your time,” Saguru said.

A small smile ticked up the corners of her mouth, the first positive emotion she’d shown so far. “If the guy you caught is who I think he is, you should be the one getting my thanks. I hope Burling didn’t bother you two. He is still learning to be professional sometimes.”

“I don’t take it personally.”

“Good.” She nodded to them. “If you’re in the area for a while, maybe stop by the precinct. Colquhoun would be happy to see you, and a few others.” She glanced at Kaito. “Introduce your friend.”

“We’ll do that,” Saguru said. They did plan to meet up with Millard at some point on this trip after all.

“Don’t get into too much trouble,” Rostov said, giving them a wave as she escorted Burling and the thief out the door.

Kaito sent Saguru a wry smile. “Do you think we should have mentioned that you’re a magnet for trouble these days?”

“Somehow I doubt that would endear me again to the police department,” Saguru returned, equally wry. Their tea was still at their table. Thankfully they’d mostly finished before the incident as it was undoubtedly stone cold by now. “Back to the apartment?”

“If you’re ready,” Kaito said, easily agreeable. The tension around his eyes belied his smile, worry that only Saguru knew to look for. He was right to worry but Saguru would have to go back eventually. There was no point in going to a hotel when he had a flat to return to.

“I’ll manage.” At the very least, there shouldn’t be too many other surprises like the box in Mel’s closet. The rest he could brace himself for.

Kaito bumped Saguru’s shoulder with his own. Saguru caught his hand and curled their fingers together.

“We’ll manage,” he corrected.

He wasn’t alone. If nothing else, he wasn’t alone.

***

It was like catching a glimpse of something through a curtain. Kaito wondered if this was what Saguru had felt back when he first stepped foot into Kaito’s apartment. Kaito wasn’t a detective, but he knew people and even though most of the objects in Saguru’s home were missing, there was more than enough left behind to give a picture of what Saguru’s life here had been like. Busy, full of work and casework and individual passions, but also shared interests. Little intimate overlaps in Saguru’s life and his husband’s seen in such simple things like a shared study and wall hangings or how the remaining books had been mingled subject matters. There were couples that kept their own interests distinct, but that hadn’t been Mel and Saguru. It must have been a healthy relationship and in its own way it felt funny because once Kaito would have said he wouldn’t be able to recognize healthy if it was staring him in the face.

Being here felt like trespassing just a little. They’d stopped to buy boxes and with each one they filled that feeling grew a little more. This was Saguru dismantling what remained of that past. Objectively, it was him moving on, but as someone who had always had trouble letting go of things he cared about no matter how broken, dead or gone they might be, it was hard to watch.

Kaito didn’t say a word though. The last thing Saguru needed was to know that Kaito wasn’t as comfortable here as he was pretending to be.

The English helped. The act of forming sentences and sorting through meaning served as a focus.

It was too quiet during most of the boxing up though. After the disaster in the bedroom, they’d taken the boxes to their piles sorted out in the office and just dealt with that. Manageable, slightly less personal, and held no surprises by that point.

Kaito stretched after putting one more awful teacher-themed mug into a donate box. Saguru was methodically fitting the recipe cards into tiny spaces they’d fit in the single keep box. He’d spent most of Kaito’s boxing up time shredding documents that were no longer relevant with a noisy old paper shredder in the corner. Kaito was just about to suggest calling it a night since it was getting dark out and they should at least get another snack as the tea was a long time ago when there was a knock on the door.

They both froze. “Expecting any visitors?” Kaito half joked.

“No. Perhaps it’s a concerned neighbor?” Saguru struggled to stand up and Kaito offered him a hand, ears straining for hints of sound. Voices, maybe, two of them. No, three, he corrected.

He followed Saguru to the door, for all appearances calm as could be, but familiar tension coiling in him. It had been half a year but there was some part of him that still waited for the other shoe to drop. That paranoid little part of his brain was convinced that it was a trap. It was truly ridiculous because what sort of assassin would knock on the door? That was trauma though; twisting perceptions of reality because sometimes anyone could be an enemy and he couldn’t let himself slip. Kaito plucked at a button on his shirt, fingers close to hidden pockets and smoke pellets he kept there. Old habits died hard.

Saguru was less cautious but that didn’t mean he was careless as he reached the door. He glanced around the barest crack of a gap before pulling the door open, interrupting what looked to be some sort of hushed argument on the doorstep. “Millard,” Saguru said, surprised. “And Jones and McLuhan. What are you doing here?”

“Ha!” one of the women said to the others. “Told you he’d be here! Where the hell else would he be? Hakuba you prat, you didn’t even call to say you’d be in the country. Had to hear it from Rostov as she’s leading in a bloody purse snatcher!”

The man, Millard, rolled his eyes. “What she means is, hullo! Great ta see you, we’ve come bearing gifts.” He held up a plastic bag.

“Is that...ice cream?” Saguru asked, squinting at its contents, blurrily visible through the translucent bag. “What would you have done if I wasn’t here? You didn’t call ahead to check.”

“We’d have had ourselves a bit of a party on the step,” the woman said. “And you’d be out some fuckin’ amazing caramel fudge gelato, mate.” She held up a bundle of metal spoons and disposable bowls.

“Did you steal those from the station?”

“Borrowed. I borrowed them from the station. No one’s going to miss a couple of spoons anyway.”

Despite still being keyed up for disaster, Kaito couldn’t help snorting at that. Three sets of eyes turned his way. He gave a little wave and put on a friendly face. “Your London friends, Saguru?” Kaito asked like he didn’t already know.

Saguru nodded and stepped back to let them in. “Millard Colquhoun, Inez Jones, and Carita McLuhan.” He nodded at each in turn—Millard, who looked like a Scottish stereotype minus a kilt, in his forties with a lot of stress lines in his face, currently counteracted with a smile; Jones a thirty-something woman, dark skinned, hesitant to be here; McLuhan a short, tan woman with a wild pixie cut and a wide smile with a bit too much teeth showing. Kaito filed the names and faces away, fitting them with times Saguru mentioned one or another. “Friends from the London Metropolitan Police, although I didn’t know Jones too well back when I was involved with them. And this is Kaito Kuroba,”—so odd to hear the Western name order—“my friend and boyfriend.”

There was no hesitation in addressing Kaito that way, even if he’d used companion earlier at the café. Kaito hid his surprise. They’d still never really talked about how they’d address their relationship with friends because most of the people who mattered already knew. Kaito didn’t miss the surprise on the Londoners’ faces before they covered it up. He also didn’t miss the flash of concern in Millard’s expression. Saguru, looking at Kaito in that moment, didn’t see it or he’d probably have added something else to that statement, Kaito thought wryly.

“We knew each other in high school for a year or so,” Kaito said, giving context they could build off of. “We weren’t close then, but he ended up my neighbor and, well, we clicked a lot better this time around.”

Saguru shot him a raised-eyebrow look that practically screamed understatement as he ushered guests toward the kitchen.

“Funny how things work out,” Saguru said. He didn’t seem bothered by the fact that no one took their shoes off. Kaito didn’t view himself as much of a neat freak, but it irritated him even though it wasn’t like it would harm anything. Not with how dusty the apartment was to begin with. “I was planning to stop by the precinct tomorrow. I came back to go through things before putting the flat back on the market.”

“So you are staying in Japan,” McLuhan said, eyes flicking to Kaito and away. “A hell of a far way to go.”

“But a second home,” Saguru said. The kitchen was a mess with the piles of things they’d pulled from the cupboards. Saguru moved to get tea things on automatic. Kaito pulled chairs from the kitchen table so they’d have a place to sit. “It is also where my parents are so I am closer to family than I was before.”

“But on the other side of the bleedin’ globe!” McLuhan complained. “And you only call for business.”

“Mostly my fault,” Millard said with a chuckle. “We catch up and that means he only needs to call to talk about the case.” There was a pause, a shadow of the still ongoing dismantling of the group that had haunted Kaito’s nightmares and waking moments hanging over all of them. “Which we’ll hopefully get over and done within the next few months.”

“Ugh, don’t talk about the fuckin’ case,” McLuhan said. “I’m seeing profiles in my sleep. Gimme the goods, Colquhoun. It’s gonna melt and that’d be a damn shame.” The ice cream was passed over and dug into and Saguru was clearly debating whether or not to make tea considering they’d be eating something cold, a container of tea in one hand and one of the ceramic mugs from the cupboard in his other hand. McLuhan solved the problem by pulling out several bottles of...Kaito squinted at the exaggerated font. Ginger beer?

Kaito shot Saguru a look and Saguru, seeing the label, said, “It’s not alcoholic.”

“Wasn’t sure if you were still avoiding the bottle,” McLuhan said, gruff and backhanded as she ripped into the package of disposable bowls—seemed silly when they had bowls. Four spoons and bottles and five of them, Kaito noted.

The mugs from the cupboard went on the table, solving one problem. Kaito leaned against the back of a chair, tuning out McLuhan complaining about how Saguru missed both her Christmas party and her party in May. McLuhan, Millard and Saguru had fallen right back into a familiar pattern of interaction, the odd ones out... were Kaito and Jones. Kaito glanced at the woman on his right and found her sneaking looks at him.

“So you knew each other in high school...?” Jones offered.

“Yeah. We butted heads a lot. I was always playing pranks and Saguru was—”

“Oh, you’re that guy!” McLuhan cut in. Kaito hadn’t realized she’d been paying attention. From the way Millard rolled his eyes, she tended to do that sort of thing often, not even finishing her previous thought. “The green hair and glitter bomb guy.”

“I take it Saguru mentioned me.”

Saguru looked embarrassed. “We were exchanging stories and your pranks...”

“My pranks are next level,” Kaito said with a smirk, just the right amount of smug and casual to come off as comfortably teasing. “Not that you ever appreciated their genius back then.”

“They were disruptive and frequently targeting my person,” Saguru said, though he was smiling a little.

“But they sure were fun. Green hair suited you.”

“Sometimes I wonder if you weren’t a little too fixated on making Aoko and I stressed.”

“You both had the best reactions. Ah, the expression of someone as they charge at you with a mop... Not that you ever swung a mop at me like Aoko. If looks could kill though...”

“You’re lucky you made it past twenty,” Saguru joked, then froze up a bit because it hit a bit too close to reality for a joke.

Kaito grinned and let it roll off him. “I’m always lucky.” True, except for when it wasn’t. The eyes of the others on him were just a bit too analytical. Surrounded by police, Kaito thought ruefully. Somehow he always ended up back in the same position.

A bowl of ice cream was shoved at his face. “Here,” McLuhan said. “Everybody eat before this melts into a puddle of chocolate goo.”

Kaito retrieved an extra spoon with an absentminded flourish. Their eyes followed that too. Keep smiling, he thought.

The ice cream was delicious, chocolatey enough to practically give him a buzz and smooth enough to make his inner child practically weep at how perfect it was. Saguru clearly also liked it; he did like darker chocolate and with the bitter-sweetness of the ice cream and the salted caramel bits it probably fit his preferred sweet profile. McLuhan had good taste. Kaito let them talk and catch up, anything but the case they’d been working on from the sound of it, just happy news and reconnecting over old memories.

Saguru looked Kaito’s way a few times, probably worried at his abnormal silence. It was fine. Kaito wanted to let them talk. Saguru, a year ago, had been sure that his friendships were broken beyond repair, but it was clear that this hadn’t been the case. The past, whatever had happened, was forgiven.

If only Kaito could get his own life to fall back into that kind of easy interaction. He and Aoko were trying, but... They had a long way to go.

Kaito was glad Saguru was happy to see his friends, really, he just also was jet-legged and had had too many emotions happening in a couple hours. He just...needed a minute. “Be right back,” he said, in Japanese. He flashed a smile when Saguru looked concerned and headed into the bathroom.

A splash of cold water on his face and the silence of being behind a closed door helped. “You’re out of practice,” Kaito said to his reflection. He usually was able to push emotions into their compact boxes and get on with life better. Not to mention be social even when he wasn’t feeling it. “They’re going to wonder what the hell Saguru sees in you.” He’d charmed Saguru’s parents and Japanese friends, his British friends couldn’t be that much harder. Kaito’s smile in the mirror turned wry. He always had that part of him that wanted to be liked.

Kaito made his way back, pulling on his friendly expression only to pause, some instinct telling him to wait before he just walked in. Kaito listened to his instincts.

“No, he seems nice!” Millard was saying to Saguru. “It just seems a bit quick, considering.”

“It’s been almost two years.”

“But you started dating him when exactly?” A beat. “No, never mind, it doesn’t matter. Shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s just a surprise,” McLuhan said, subdued. “We all saw how bad Mel’s passing tore you up. You went half a year on the edge of reason trying to find who did it and then you just broke, dammit. He makes you happy?”

“Yes,” Saguru said emphatically. Kaito leaned against the wall and tucked the warm feeling that gave him in close.

“Then good. Still a bit annoyed he’s keeping you in Japan, but hell, anywhere’s up from where you were.” McLuhan’s knuckles popped. “And if he hurts you he’ll bloody fuckin’ regret it.”

Kaito steadied himself and made a deliberate sound to let them know he was coming back. The conversation in the next room abruptly turned to Jones’s recent vacation. Kaito sent a grin Saguru’s way when he entered the room, a bit less of a mask than earlier at least, and brought a pack of cards to his hands. He was going to charm the hell out of these people and send them on their way confident that they didn’t need to worry about Saguru’s relationship. The cards bridged between his hands showily. “Anyone like card games?”

***

The door shut behind Saguru’s police friends and Kaito finally could take a moment to breathe. Saguru, for all that he’d been engaged and cheerful for their visit, let out a sigh at Kaito’s side.

“Thank you for being patient,” he said. “I’m jet-lagged and I’m used to world trips; you must be exhausted.”

“It’s not that bad.” Compared to being Kid, a bit of jet lag was barely an inconvenience. But Kaito could admit that he was out of practice, spoiled by a regular sleep pattern after years of doing without. “It’s good that you got to see your friends.”

“I should have expected something like this,” Saguru said, moving to put the mugs they’d used in the sink. “Really, I was intending to visit them at some point tomorrow, but I suppose it’s more personal this way instead of catching them on the job.”

Kaito hummed agreement, watching Saguru’s shoulders shift under his shirt as he scrubbed.

“I think they were a bit worried what they were going to find with me here. Honestly, without you here I’d probably be a mess.”

There was a little strip of skin between Saguru’s hairline and the collar of his shirt that got covered up every time Saguru lifted his shoulders. It was distracting. Kaito let it be distracting because if he was paying attention to it, to how Saguru’s body filled the space, he wasn’t thinking about the ghost that had filled the air between them since the plane set down.

“Well, more of a mess.” There was a self-deprecating chuckle that Kaito wanted to shake away. “So thank you for being here,” Saguru said, so sincere and heartfelt.

There was a twinge of guilt in Kaito’s gut because yes, he was here to support Saguru, but there was a part of him that wanted Saguru to look at him through all of this instead of thinking too hard about the man he’d lost for selfish reasons. Kaito spent a lot of his life measuring up to dead men. It wasn’t a contest or a replacement here, but there was still a measure, and every second with Saguru’s friends had made it apparent, even if Saguru and his family rarely made Kaito feel like he was standing in Mel’s absent shadow.

Saguru turned off the water, flicking it from his hands in an absentminded way that he’d picked up from Kaito in lieu of a dish towel.  Kaito’s breath caught in his chest from that one, tiny motion, one little sign here in all of this that Kaito had left a mark in Saguru’s patterns.

Saguru turned. “Tomorrow we can take the boxes with donations to the—”

Kaito stole the tail end of his sentence in a kiss. Saguru caught himself on the counter, unresponsive for a moment in surprise before letting Kaito pull him into a passionate kiss. Kaito pressed into it, drawing a tiny sound from Saguru like a victory.

Saguru met that kiss for a moment before cupping Kaito’s cheek in one hand and taking control, slowing it down and turning the passion to something gentler, sweeter.

Kaito couldn’t even be upset when Saguru pulled back, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips, before studying Kaito’s expression. It was too gentle and caring to be upset about, or take as rejection.

“Talk to me,” Saguru said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

Saguru’s eyes narrowed. “You’re upset. You’ve been uncomfortable since Millard and the others showed up. No, maybe before that. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Kaito tried to keep his smile, but he didn’t really want to hide from Saguru. That was the whole point of what they had between the two of them after all. It didn’t make covering things up any less of a habit though. Kaito slumped forward a bit, leaning a bit more on Saguru. “It’s hard on you being back here and I don’t want to be another problem.”

“You’ve been nothing but supportive,” Saguru said. “But that doesn’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m feeling a little insecure,” Kaito muttered, looking away. “It’s stupid.”

“Is it...because of Mel?” Saguru asked, clearly a little uncomfortable to ask.

“No. Yes, a little,” Kaito said, letting a bit of the self-directed frustration he felt show on his face. “Like I said, stupid. I know in my head just how much you care, and usually my heart gets that too, but being here...”

There was understanding in Saguru’s eyes when Kaito risked a glance. It wasn’t like Kaito’s situation with Aoko, but how did Saguru manage watching the two of them try to figure things out again with that past looming there? Aoko’d never died, but their relationship was as much a lingering ghost of memory in Japan as Hakuba’s husband was here.

“And I might want your friends to like me more than I’d usually care about random people’s opinions of me,” Kaito added.

“You overheard Millard,” Saguru said, a statement not a question.

Kaito shrugged. “I get it. Concerned friend making sure you’re not just diving into something you’re not ready for or being taken advantage of. It’s fine.”

“While I’m glad he cares, it really isn’t any of his business,” Saguru said. “That’s between you and me. And between you and me, I am glad I’m with you. Yes, I loved Mel. Yes, I still feel sad as today clearly demonstrated. But I love you as well and what we have is entirely separate from what I had with Mel and always will be. Just like how you feel toward Aoko,” Saguru said, echoing the parallel of Kaito’s thoughts. “I look at you and I will forever and always only see Kuroba Kaito, magician, thief, and keeper of obscure knowledge.”

Kaito surprised himself by laughing and Saguru smiled back. “I love you too, Saguru.” He leaned in and kissed him again, heart lighter.

Saguru pulled away before it could get any further than chaste. Kaito raised an eyebrow at him. Saguru’s cheeks went pink. “I love you, but we are not doing anything more than kissing in this apartment.”

“Nothing?” Kaito asked, thinking of that brief moment where Saguru matched the passion in his kiss.

“Nothing,” Saguru said firmly. “My emotions are all over as it is; I have too many memories here to add to them in that way.”

“...So does that mean nothing more than kissing the whole time we’re in London?” Kaito asked, feeling a bit disappointed. Sure, London wasn’t the romantic getaway city like Paris, but he was in a foreign country, alone with his lover for the rest of the week, no child to possibly interrupt them...

“Not in the apartment,” Saguru said.

That wording... “Does that mean out of the apartment is okay?” Kaito asked, a grin spreading across his face slowly. “Why Saguru, how daring. Were you thinking of a bathroom tryst? Do you have a kink for the danger of being exposed?”

Saguru went bright red. “Kuroba! No, I was not thinking about...about that! If either of us has an exhibitionist streak, it would definitively be you!”

“You got me,” Kaito sighed, playing it a bit dramatic because it was fun. “We both know I like to flirt with danger. Although I’d totally be up for a tryst if you were interested—”

“Stop.”

“Toilets are kind of cramped here, aren’t they? We could find one that’s meant for one, lock the door—”

Saguru’s hand covered Kaito’s mouth before he could get any further in that little fantasy scenario. The blush had spread to Saguru’s ears. It was cute, a reason that Kaito enjoyed riling him up. The interest buried under that embarrassment made it worth it too. “No borderline public sex. Or public,” Saguru added like he could read Kaito’s thoughts before Kaito even finished having them. “...We are getting a hotel the last day here when I turn over my apartment keys.”

Kaito grinned wider under Saguru’s palm. Then he licked it, snickering at how Saguru’s face twisted in disgust.

“I guess that will have to do,” he said, leaning all his weight on Saguru for a second, taking advantage of how close they were to give a tiny taste of intimacy. Platonic or sexual, at least Kaito didn’t have to worry that Saguru didn’t want that intimacy with him. It was gratifying hearing the tiny, unsteady breath Saguru took when Kaito pulled away. “Until then, I guess I’ll just have to make do.”

“What is that supposed to—”

“I’m going to take a shower and sleep,” Kaito continued, heading to fetch a towel from the linen closet. “We are using the bed, correct?”

“...Yes.” Saguru grimaced. Ah, more complicated emotions. Lovely.

“You could always join me in the shower,” Kaito said with a wink.

“You’re incorrigible,” Saguru complained.

He was smiling though. Win for Kaito.

“Kaito,” Saguru called before Kaito could get to the bathroom.

“Yeah?”

Saguru still leaned against the kitchen counter, something between fondness and concern on his face. “I love you.”

Kato smiled, true and relaxed. “I know. Love you too.” He let the smile tick up to a grin. “Offer’s still open~!”

“I’ll make the bed,” Saguru said with a roll of his eyes.

Everything would be fine.

***

It took about two days to properly go through everything and either donate or dispose of what Saguru wasn’t keeping. Saguru put the furniture up in an ad for a low price, and already had the couch, table and chairs, and two of the bookcases gone. There hadn’t been any more emotional breakdowns from either of them and Saguru was cautiously optimistic about how the rest of this trip would go. They’d made a short trip to the police station yesterday and they were planning on dinner with Saguru’s maternal aunt and cousin that evening.

With any luck, they’d get rid of the rest of the furniture and could turn over the keys by the end of the week with no extraneous items for the landlord to deal with. That just left mailing the items Saguru was keeping and taking the rest of the mess to donate. It would take a few trips, but it was wonderful to be through with the worst of it.

“So,” Kaito said sifting through his luggage, “how nice should I dress to meet your family?”

“You don’t have to dress up.” While it was nice that Kaito cared, Saguru had hoped he would be more comfortable meeting his family.

Kaito looked down at the old t-shirt and worn jeans he currently had on. “I don’t think what I have on will go over well. If your family is anything like you, I’ll be way underdressed.”

“Just put on something clean and respectable. You don’t have to wear a suit.”

“You’re putting on slacks and a dress shirt.”

“I wear slacks and a dress shirt on the regular.” The old and casual clothing he’d worn the past few days had been for cleaning and dealing with potentially unknown messes and objects while they sorted through things. “Just be yourself. They’re not stuck up. That’s my other aunt and uncle. Henrietta’s lovely, and so is Jean.”

“Remind me, how big is your mother’s family?”

“She’s the youngest of three, one older sister and a brother. Uncle Gregory is married with two children—we don’t talk much to Uncle Gregory.” Saguru fixed his cuffs while Kaito pulled out a shirt and slacks folded into what seemed to be impossibly small bundles. “Everything is cut-throat and backhanded around him and his wife and he’s a bit of a racist to boot. My cousins aren’t too bad, but sometimes they fall back on unfortunate behavior patterns they learned from their parents. Aunt Henrietta was married and divorced—a minor family scandal—and just has Jean. Jean’s married, but her husband travels.”

“Okay, so that makes three cousins, two aunts and an uncle. Your grandparents have passed on?”

“A few years back, yes. Well. Grandmum a few years ago. Grandfather passed closer to eight years now.” He would always have mixed feelings about his grandfather. His grandmother though, he did miss her. “Anyway, Aunt Henrietta and Jean aren’t anyone you need to worry about.”

“Good to know.” Kaito shook out his clothes and pulled out something that fit into the palm of his hand with a cord...

“Is that a tiny iron?”

“It’s useful,” Kaito said. “And takes up very little space. I’m surprised you don’t have one.”

“Most places have one you can borrow if you need it these days. Why do you have a tiny iron?”

Kaito held up his shirt which had dozens of square creases from being folded very tiny. “While I can fit just about anything I could possibly need by packing tight, it leaves a bit of a mess in presentation.”

“What on earth did you pack?” Saguru asked. He hadn’t paid much attention to Kaito’s luggage before since he’d only brought it out to dress when Saguru was coming or going from the bathroom, but it had dozens of tightly folded and packed clothing, all in neat segments with each type in its own place. It was far more organized than Saguru was expecting, more organized than Saguru’s own bag. It was also far more clothing than Kaito could possibly need for a week trip.

“I wasn’t sure what I’d need so I brought whatever I thought might be useful.”

“Is that a dress?” Saguru’s eyes caught on a floral print bundle he could swear he remembered seeing in Kaito’s closet once.

“Old habits die hard, ‘Kuba. What if I need to wear a dress?”

Meaning a disguise. Probably. And now Saguru had a picture of Kaito wearing said dress as himself in his head. Lovely. Not the time. “I should hope there isn’t any pressing reason to need a dress anytime soon, though if you ever feel like it for the hell of it, go right ahead.”

“Is that interest I hear?” Kaito teased, ironing his clothing right there on the bedspread with his impossibly tiny iron.

“Ask me when we’re in Japan again and find out.”

“You’re no fun.”

“I live to be a killjoy.”

Kaito laughed. “So your dad’s side of the family?” He moved on to ironing his slacks. Saguru finished straightening his own clothing to his preferred level of neatness.

“My grandfather had an older sister, and she had a son, who had a son and a daughter, and who I view as cousins. My grandfather technically adopted my one cousin back into the Hakuba name as heir to Hakuba laboratories. He was a researcher for a few years until Ojiisama passed on and he took over running the facility...” Saguru was almost ten years younger than his cousin though, so they’d never been close. “I have a more or less formal relationship with my cousin. Hirakichi-san is married, and I think he has a child in elementary school, but I am afraid I didn’t keep up with him since I was living in London for most of the last two decades. Most of the memories I have of him are from when I was younger and he was always a bit imposing. But I suppose most relatives would be when you’re a decade apart in age.” His sister, Rin, was less intimidating, but they’d both been serious people raised in a strict household with high expectations held in them. If Hakuba hadn’t grown up in London with Mum giving him significant free reign to pursue his interests, he could have ended up the same way. Many people would have said he was intimidating back then though so perhaps it had been a matter of perspective all along.

“I doubt you’ll be meeting them anytime in the near future,” Saguru continued. “We aren’t close.”

“Good to know though. It gives me a better picture of your life.” Kaito finished ironing his clothes and had them on in the blink of an eye. Saguru was a bit envious at how Kaito could manage to get everything to fit correctly in that amount of time.

“Do you have relatives I don’t know about?” Saguru asked because it was something he’d never considered beyond Kaito’s mother.

“All my grandparents died, and my parents were only children. Dunno about further back than that really—Kaa-san’s mother was French though.”

“Really? I thought she was more than half Japanese.”

“She inherited more of her dad’s looks. Genetics,” Kaito said with a shrug.

Which meant Kaito was a quarter French, which was baffling in a different way because genetically speaking, he was much closer to Saguru’s situation than expected, but culturally, he’d never been seen as anything but Japanese. Something to think about when they weren’t on their way out the door though. “Do you have everything you need?”

“Hmm,” Kaito said flicking his hands and making items appear and vanish off his person. “Wallet, passport, spare apartment key, phone, cards, emergency second phone, smoke pellets—”

“I’ll take that as yes, you have everything.”

“That’s only half the list.”

“When did you even manage to fill your pockets?”

Kaito gave him an innocent, wide eyed look that no one who had known him more than ten minutes would actually believe.

“Never mind, let’s go.” As always, it was better not to think too hard about where Kaito managed to hide half of the things he tended to carry. There were only so many places to hide extra pockets on the human body and Saguru didn’t need to start running a mental list when he was going to see relatives.

***

“Guru!” Jean said, pulling Saguru into a crushing hug the moment she opened the door. “It’s been ages!” Saguru patted her back as his aunt leaned in the doorway. To his right, Saguru could practically feel the suppressed laughter vibrating off Kaito.

“Jean, it’s good to see you.” His cousin had cut her hair since he last saw her, wavy brown hair a bit above her shoulders instead of down her back. She looked happy and healthy. “Aunt Henrietta,” Saguru said, giving her a hug as well. “You look well.”

She did, solid and warm. She was stockier than Mum and Saguru, round where Mum had inherited a more delicate structure, but it suited her. As a child, Saguru thought she had a face made for smiles with how her round cheeks had dimples and her eyes would turn into crescents. Both dimples were showing at the moment as she smiled widely.

“I’m glad you could make it,” she said. “I was starting to wonder if I should plan my next vacation to Japan. I think I might still. Can you believe your mother hasn’t visited since she came to help you move?”

“I have the impression that she and Father are rediscovering some of their old passions lately. They’ve been on trips often the last few months. If I remember correctly they went to relive some of their honeymoon stops.” He was glad his parents were still in love, but it was a bit baffling why they seemed to be rediscovering it now. He’d have expected this more when Mum retired and moved to Japan, not four years later.

“Well she should take a few of those trips out this way. Goodness knows they did some of their courting out here.”

“I’ll pass that along.” He stepped back and set a hand on Kaito’s shoulder. “Jean, Henrietta, this is Kaito Kuroba, my boyfriend. Kaito, this is my cousin and aunt.”

Kaito had a perfect charming smile on his face, accepting getting pulled into a hug by Jean with good humor. He was probably expecting it with how Mum was a hugger.

“Aunt Elaine’s told us all about you,” Jean said. “Which we should have been hearing from Guru, but he’s barely called.”

“I called you,” Saguru protested.

“Yes, and you talked about work, not a bit about how your life was going or how you’d started dating again. I had to hear it all second hand.”

Kaito was pulled into a gentler hug by Aunt Henrietta, and it was probably only Saguru who could tell he was a little uncomfortable with all the touching.

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Kaito said, his English copying Saguru’s accent as close as he could get it. “It’s a pleasure to meet more of Saguru’s family.”

“He’s even polite,” Henrietta said, eyes crinkling with good humor. That was in reference to how Mel had tripped and fell when Saguru went to introduce him the first time and their first impression had been of him swearing in panic, then in mortification. He was fortunate his aunt had a good sense of humor.

“Oh, he’s polite for the moment,” Saguru said.

“Saguru, I’m always a gentleman,” Kaito said.

“Of course you are. Except eighty percent of the time when you aren’t.”

“Maybe I’m just not a gentleman to you?”

Jean laughed. “Come in, come in, we shouldn’t keep standing on the front step.”

“Guru?” Kaito teased, under his breath as he leaned in close to Saguru’s side.

“That’s a nickname only Jean is allowed to use and if you use it, I’m going back to calling you Kuroba.” It wasn’t much of a threat and the sparkle in Kaito’s eye said he would use this new knowledge at some point. Saguru resigned himself for potential future embarrassment without much actual resignation.

“Don’t worry about your shoes,” Henrietta said when Kaito bent on reflex to take them off. “It’s perfectly acceptable to leave them on and we’re not staying in long anyway.”

“We’re eating out?” Saguru asked, surprised. He’d assumed they were eating in with the invitation.

“Our treat,” Jean said. She glanced at her phone as she led them to the lounge. “I’m waiting on a message from Donny. He got back in the country today and he wasn’t sure if he’d be free in time for our reservations.” With a quick smile in Kaito’s direction, she added, “Donny’s my husband. Gordon.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t wait?” Saguru suggested.

Jean just waved a hand. “If he doesn’t make dinner, we can always stop back here after to talk. I’m sure he’ll be in before bed. I thought he wasn’t going to be back for a few days, but business finished early. He’s probably going to be exhausted though.”

“As someone still a bit jet lagged, I sympathize,” Kaito said, earning a smile from her.

“I think he’s always a little jet lagged, to be honest,” Jean said. “He showed up to our wedding half an hour late because he still had his watch set to another time zone.”

“And he’d forgotten to charge his cell phone so no one could even get in touch,” Saguru remembered. “You were close to having me call the police and stage a manhunt.”

“Well he wasn’t going to leave me at the altar. I didn’t think he had cold feet, but if he’d had them he’d have gotten a talking to. Thankfully that sorted itself out.”

“At least your in-laws didn’t try to talk your husband out of marrying you right before the ceremony.”

“Seriously?” Kaito said.

“I did say we didn’t get along,” Saguru said. “Mel’s grandmother ended up pulling his mother away and talking her down from trying to stop the ceremony. It was a bit of a mess.”

“Never could have noticed once it got started though,” Jean said.

“They do like their public faces.”

“Huh. The most exciting thing at my wedding was Nakamori-keibu crying and getting horribly drunk,” Kaito said. “Meanwhile Aoko and I were both sober and there were maybe ten other guests and it was a bit rushed and awkward even if we were really happy at the time. I’m divorced,” he added for Jean and Henrietta’s benefit.

“So am I,” Henrietta said. “There’s no judgment here, dear.”

They sat on comfortable couches in a room that looked like it came out of a designer’s portfolio—and likely was in some designer’s interior decorating portfolio. Henrietta liked having up to date décor though the private areas of the home were a less picture perfect. Kaito looked perfectly at ease, but Saguru was willing to bet he was at least a bit uncomfortable. Kaito’s mother’s house was well decorated, but unlike this, it was an unchanging finery—like a museum, or like time had stopped, no time or interest in decorating once she started traveling. Kaito’s own tastes were eclectic and full of little cluttered signs of his life and personality everywhere; picture-perfect lounges weren’t part of his daily life.

“Now, Saguru. You’re back to teaching I hear?” Henrietta said, initiating conversation as Jean tapped at her phone.

“Yes, actually back to teaching Chemistry once the semester starts up. I was teaching English for a while, but the teacher who was on maternity leave returned and so I ended up applying for a different job.”

“And you met Kaito here because of one of your students...” There was a bit of humor in his aunt’s eyes. Between having tutored Mel before they were dating and now dating the father of a student, Saguru supposed she would find humor in how awkward a situation that could be.

“Actually we knew each other in high school,” Kaito cut in. “And he’s not Takumi’s teacher at the moment.”

“But I was when I started dating you,” Saguru grumbled. “Yes, before you say anything that wasn’t exactly something that the board would have been happy with. Somehow that never reached them despite how widespread the rumor mill is.”

Jean glanced up from her phone. “High school. As in that boy you all but stalked? The one you kept notes on in your case diary along with the thief you were chasing? That guy?”

Saguru flushed and Kaito started laughing silently, struggling to conceal a grin.

“Ah, yes, Elaine did mention something about that,” Henrietta said, looking even more amused.

“Is that how all your family remembers me?” Kaito asked.

“No.”

“You turned his hair green!” Jean said suddenly, pointing at Kaito. “That was you, right? He hadn’t got all the dye out when he was visiting and it took ages to get the story out of him.”

“One, I had a casebook, not a diary, and two,” Saguru lost his train of thought as Kaito started laughing against his shoulder.

When Kaito sat up again he was genuinely relaxed. “Wow. I hadn’t realized it took that long to wash out.”

“You dyed it before a school break.”

“So I didn’t get to see how long the result lasted. For the record, I no longer dye people’s hair without warning.”

“And yet so many other habits are still there.”

“Hush,” Kaito said, patting him like he was placating a dog.

Jean’s phone trilled. “Oh, that’s Donny.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, scrolling through the message. “He says he can meet us at the restaurant, but he’s going to be a bit late—better than not at all I guess.”

“And that means we don’t need to wait for him here,” Henrietta said with a sigh. “Well, I guess we can continue catching up at the restaurant.”

“Are we dressed nice enough?” Kaito hissed in Saguru’s ear, lips not moving, for all appearances just taking a moment to lean on Saguru’s shoulder.

“We’re fine. They’re not dressed for somewhere fancy,” Saguru murmured under the guise of helping Kaito to his feet. Both his relatives were sharp dressers, but between Jean’s slacks and Henrietta’s comfortable sleeveless summer dress, they were in their version of casual wear. They’d likely be going somewhere nicer than Saguru normally frequented, but nowhere that required a dress code.

“I am so glad I decided on the button down shirt and slacks,” Kaito said through a relaxed-looking smile. “Bet you something goes wrong.”

“I’m not taking that bet.” They both knew that if something didn’t go wrong tonight, that probably meant something really big happening before the week was out. “Help me make sure they’ll be okay if something does happen?”

“Of course.”

“What are you whispering about?” Jean asked.

They’d dropped into Japanese without meaning to again. “Ah, just assuring Kaito that no matter where we end up, there will be something that isn’t sea food.”

“Not a fan?” Jean asked.

“Not a fan of fish,” Kaito said, managing to keep a straight face at the thought of his phobia.

“We’re getting Indian, so you should be able to find something.”

“Not going to take me somewhere with traditional fare?” Kaito joked.

Jean patted his arm. “Enjoying good Indian food is part of the British experience. And I know Guru likes curry.”

“I’ll admit, Indian food isn’t something I’ve had much of. Is the curry anything like Japanese curry?”

“Very different,” Saguru said. “Japanese curry isn’t as spicy and has a simpler savory taste. Indian curry builds off a variety of spices and a broader range of protein and vegetable combinations than the average Japanese curry. And more bread and less rice.”

“Huh.”

“It’s an adventure then,” Jean said, grinning.

Henrietta brought around a car and they piled in.

Saguru supposed that at least they would be having an interesting night out regardless of his karma.

***

The restaurant was very different from the place Saguru frequented with Mel over the years, dim lighting and mirrors instead of wide windows, and plush sand-colored chairs and booths instead of pale wooden chairs, but the scent of curry and spices was familiar and the dimmer lighting made the atmosphere more intimate than it otherwise would have been. There were only two tables with patrons at the moment, one toward the front door, the other close to the kitchen doors in the back. On the ride over, Saguru had been filled in on what had changed in his relatives’ lives over the last year or so, and some of the latest gossip on his uncle’s family. Apparently one of his cousins had gotten engaged to someone the family didn’t approve of and there was an ongoing argument that Henrietta kept getting pulled into whether she wanted to be or not. Saguru wished his cousin and her fiancé luck. Considering how Uncle Gregory never really warmed up to Saguru’s father though, it wasn’t likely that this would blow over.

“Well,” Kaito said when they were seated at a table in the far corner of the room, “so far it smells great so that’s off to a good start.”

“How are you with spice?” Henrietta asked, opening her menu.

Kaito wavered a hand in the air. “I can tolerate spice, but not too much. I like to taste my food, not get burned by it.”

“Burn is another flavor profile,” Jean said cheerfully. She would happily eat things that would make Saguru’s tongue burn for hours.

“Try the butter chicken, it’s not spicy,” Saguru suggested.

“What are you getting?”

“Lamb Roganjosh.”

“You’re eating baby sheep?” Kaito said, looking exaggeratedly sad. “How could you?” He squinted at the menu. “Yeah, I’m going to go with your suggestion, Saguru, I don’t know what half of this says. I know conversational English, but some of these words I’ve never seen before.”

“Well some of them aren’t English, so that covers some of what you don’t know.”

“Well that’s entirely not helpful.”

Saguru smiled. “Point something out if you want to know more or just ask when the waiter comes.”

“How about you teach me, I like to learn.” He said it with a smile that made Saguru pause and wonder if it was a serious request or an innuendo, which considering the company, Saguru would hope it wasn’t currently an innuendo. With Kaito it very well could be the case.

He was saved from answering that by the waiter, arriving to collect drink orders.

“Mango lassi all around,” Jean said, “and an order of mix pakora and a bread basket! Might as well take our time since Donny will be late.”

Kaito looked at Saguru. “You’ll like the lassi, it’s sweet,” Saguru said. “The rest is flatbreads and fried finger food; probably not very spicy but filling. Jean, we’re not going to want our meal if we fill up on all this.”

“The joy of leftovers is that you don’t have to cook for a day,” Jean said.

“We might not have a refrigerator by tomorrow.”

“Leftovers make a decent breakfast?” she said, smiling.

“Well, it allows for a full experience...”

“I have had Indian food before,” Kaito said, “it’s just been a long time and everything was written in katakana, so it doesn’t exactly translate to knowing the word in English lettering.”

“So you have an idea about what you’re getting,” Jean said. “Now, so long as we’re on the topic of spicy things...” She grinned at Saguru.

Kaito, clearly sensing an embarrassing story, leaned forward. “Oh?”

“Did Saguru ever tell you about the time with the peppers?”

“No, do tell.”

Jean’s grin had teeth.

“Must you?” Saguru sighed.

Both his cousin and boyfriend ignored him entirely. “So,” Jean said, “back when we were kids Aunt Elaine had this whim to do a vegetable garden. And she doesn’t do things by halves so she got a whole bunch of plants and put in raised beds and everything in the back yard and put in pretty much anything you can think of. There were so many plants. Anyway, Guru and I got a kick out of seeing them grow and picking the ripe things. We were what? Eight or nine?”

“You were seven, I was eight, almost nine,” Saguru said, resigned to let the story unfold.

“Right. Kids. So Aunt Elaine had more produce coming out of that garden than she knew what to do with, but her peppers were all a bit behind everything else—peppers can be slow I guess? And Guru and I kept watching and waiting for them to be ready. Only we got impatient and decided to snitch one. Just one to share between the two of us.”

“Oh no,” Kaito said, clearly seeing where this was going.

“Yes,” Jean said, telling the story with relish. “I chose the pepper—and mind you Aunt Elaine didn’t label the plants, just shunted like plants off in the beds—took a big bite, and handed it to Guru. Who also took a big bite. From the top. Now I realized my mistake about a half second after I handed the pepper over, but by then it was too late. My mouth was burning and Saguru took a bite and then both our mouths were burning. And this was when we had no spice tolerance to speak of, so we were both standing there with mouthfuls of hot pepper and burning mouth, caught completely off guard.”

“Oh no,” Kaito repeated, grin matching Jean’s. “You must have been upset.”

“That’s an understatement. We both spit the pepper out and ran to the house because Saguru remembered something about milk and bread making things less spicy. Only by that point we were crying and Guru had the worst of it since he ate from the top.” Jean wiped a mock-tear from her eye. “Our mouths were burning for hours and Aunt Elaine told us we should have just asked.”

“To be honest, we’re lucky we didn’t get anything in our eyes,” Saguru said.

“True.”

“They were over it by the end of the summer and entirely willing to try the spicy food Elaine made,” Henrietta cut in.

Kaito laughed. “You should hear about the time I first had mapo tofu—”

Toward the back of the restroom, a woman screamed. Saguru turned. One of the two women from the table near the kitchen stared in horror through the bathroom door. Saguru’s mood sunk like a lead weight. Just past the door, in the thin strip of tile floor he could see from this angle, was a woman’s hand, pale against dark green tiles.

Saguru, Kaito and Jean stood up at the same time.

“I’m a doctor!” Jean said, making her way to the bathroom. “And he’s a detective,” she added with a thumb in Saguru’s direction. “Everyone stay calm.”

Of course something would happen; he was overdue. Kaito and Saguru exchanged a look and got to work.

***

The woman in the bathroom was still alive—Saguru’s luck wasn’t Kudo’s level of bad yet thank goodness—but she had a concussion and had had her research stolen. Research that by all logic should have been safely in her lab instead of on her person, and definitely should have had more than one copy of it. Between the suspicious gap of people using the restroom outside of the woman’s group—with the exception of one woman from another party who had left the restaurant almost half an hour before Saguru’s group got there—and the abnormal lack of backing up important files, their handling aside, there was something fishy going on. Why would anyone take the research, research on the effect of a certain species of plant extracts on the metabolism at that? How would they have known she had it on her? And, if the rest of the woman’s party was to be believed, why would they steal research that hadn’t had breakthroughs in months and had had its funding cut to the point where the woman, Amelia, had been working on it out of her own home after hours in hopes of finding something she’d missed?

Nothing added up for a theft case, but it did point to potentially a fraud case—unless there was something else at play. Kaito had chatted up the members of Amelia’s party as Saguru and Jean took care of Amelia and examined the surroundings. He’d found grudges in some of her coworkers and a worry that her failing research would lead to funding cuts for the rest of them. Saguru had found minimal signs of a struggle.

He’d handed most of the case over to the police since he didn’t actually have his detective license in London anymore, but the questions ticked over in his brain as he watched paramedics carry Amelia out and police officers photograph the restaurant bathroom.

“There’s something that doesn’t quite add up,” Saguru murmured to himself.

“Besides how weird the timing is?” Kaito said at his side. “It sounds like one of the women in the group and the man both used the restroom at some point after Amelia went in there, but neither one says they noticed anything.”

“And none of the staff used it in the interim. That leaves either one of them lying or the person who left earlier.”

“Which isn’t likely based on when they used the bathroom,” Kaito said. He looked at Saguru, one brow raised. “They both have the motive. The woman was working with Amelia on her project, and the man was convinced budget cuts were coming to him next because her research was failing.”

“And the angle of the head wound...”

“Leaves only her female partner,” Kaito finished. “Did you check the bathroom trash?”

“No, but I’ll go do that. Do you think she would keep evidence on her?”

“It’s possible. What about the weapon?”

“...The doorstop,” Saguru said. “It wasn’t in use, but there was a stone doorstop in the shape of an elephant.”

“Yeah, that could cause blunt force trauma.” Kaito clapped him on the shoulder. “You check the trash and talk to investigators, I’ll point the officer in charge in the right direction to check the woman’s pockets.”

Saguru glanced at the investigator who he was acquaintances with. “If he gives you problems, use my name.”

“Got it.” Kaito grinned and Saguru was glad he was here. It was so much simpler working with someone that had his back.

He hurried back over to the officers documenting the crime scene. “There’s reason to believe the research might be somewhere in the room.”

An officer who knew him from his detective days tossed Saguru a pair of gloves. “You know procedure.”

“Thank you.”

The elephant doorstop was already being noted as evidence, so Saguru took his search to the rubbish bin. There were plenty of wadded paper towels, but no memory stick. Nothing in the stall rubbish either, but in the second stall in the water reservoir to the toilet he found what he was looking for; one memory stick carefully sealed in two separate plastic bags, submerged under the tank float. Saguru brought it to the officers.

“I think it’s safe to say this isn’t an ordinary mugging,” he said to them.

“No shit,” one officer said, shaking his head. “Who hides something electronic in a toilet tank?”

Someone desperate to keep suspicion off them. The plastic bags showed forethought though. This was definitely planned. “We should go ask the woman who did it,” Saguru said.

“Already have it figured out?”

“The exact motive, no, but there are a few too many coincidences.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Saguru returned to the main room to find their suspect getting a pat-down with a very uncomfortable expression on her face. Kaito and Jean stood a few meters away while Henrietta sat in a chair looking out of her depth. Jean still wore her crisis-response calm. “It was in a toilet tank,” Saguru said coming up to them.

“Hmm, then this is completely unnecessary,” Kaito said with a nod toward the suspect.

“I have to wonder how she intended to get the thing back. Return days later?” Saguru shook his head. Their suspect’s discomfort was edging toward anxiety; though the other members of their party were having similar pat-downs to cover up that she was the main suspect, she had a guilty conscience. She was the sort who would confess with a bit of pressure and Saguru intended to hand that last bit of leverage to the officer in charge.

“Maybe she didn’t think that far ahead,” Kaito offered. “Or maybe this was really badly planned all around.”

Saguru suspected the latter. “I’ll just be a moment.”

The officer in charge was listening to one of the officers who had been investigating the crime scene, but he gave Saguru his attention as he approached. “So the missing research hadn’t even left the building,” he said.

“The files would have to be checked to be sure, but it is rather suspicious to have a memory stick in a toilet conveniently when one was missing.”

The man snorted. “With how things have been of late, it’d be my luck if we found a smuggling drop instead. But thank you for finding it. You must have worse luck than my team though; this is your second crime scene this week if I remember right.”

“I have a poor track record of stumbling into things lately,” Saguru said. “The one who committed the assault here was clearly Amelia’s research partner,” he said watching her turn out her pockets. “Between the angle of the attack and the timing, she’s the only one who could have. She would have known Amelia had the research with her and have been able to surprise Amelia.” But. “Although I don’t think it was a surprise attack.”

“Your theory is that the victim’s in on it?” the officer said. He sounded surprised, but he didn’t seem disbelieving.

“There wasn’t a struggle. Amelia had the only copy of her research on her which is fairly ridiculous as a researcher would know to have backup of their work. It’s common sense because if a computer fails or something else goes wrong, you have to have some sort of failsafe or else months of work would be lost. It’s almost as if...”

“She wanted it to be lost or destroyed,” the officer finished, his mouth a grim line. “They did say the research hadn’t had results in months, didn’t they?”

“I’m not sure if she hoped to get an out to her situation by scrapping her project in a way she seemed less responsible for, or if there was some other goal here, but either way there is enough evidence to take her partner in.”

“There is,” the man said. “And I’ll get to the bottom of it.” He held out a hand for Saguru to shake. “James Yule, by the way. Already know you; you have a bit of a reputation.”

Saguru snorted, shaking his hand. “Of course I do. Best of luck with the rest of the investigation.”

“Not tempted to see it to the end?” Yule joked.

“Believe me I am,” Saguru said, watching an officer lead the suspect a bit away from the others to read her rights. They’d found something in their search of her person, though what, Saguru had missed it. “But I am pushing the legality of helping here as it is.”

“Best of luck to you then, Hakuba.”

“And to you.” Saguru returned to Kaito’s side as the suspect was escorted out.

“That was anticlimactic,” Kaito said. “Did you figure the motive?”

“Not really, though it’s probably an attempt at scrapping the project.” There was a tiny part of him that wondered if there had been a breakthrough after all, something that made the project worth stealing, but nothing pointed to that. It was a failing project with cut funding, a cloud hanging over both researchers that they hadn’t been able to fix, nor had they been able to just call off. Making it seemingly disappear was an understandable desire. With the research gone, the people funding them would have called it a loss and canceled it, probably in favor of some other more lucrative seeming project. Maybe a project that could have put Amelia back into a better standing in the research community.

“Are you okay?” Kaito asked too quiet for Saguru’s relatives to hear. “It’s stolen science research...”

And a similar situation to the case he’d investigated when Mel died. But unlike that case, this was a very sloppy job. It wasn’t so similar that it had him on edge. It was nice of Kaito to notice though. “I’m fine. I highly doubt this is anything darker than two people feeling trapped by a bit of bad luck.” He would privately admit that part of the reason he wanted to hand the case over stemmed from the similarity though.

“Good.” Kaito squeezed his hand before turning to Saguru’s family. “So, that sure was a way to start the evening.”

Jean laughed drily. “Yeah, nothing like finding someone with surprise head trauma in a bathroom. At least it doesn’t look like she’ll have lasting damage. It was a minor concussion from what I could tell.”

“I’m so sorry this had to happen when we were taking you to dinner,” Henrietta said, still a bit pale.

Saguru and Kaito glanced at each other—it was more Saguru’s fault than anyone’s with his luck pulling at the universe around them, but it wasn’t like he could explain that. “At least everyone will be alright,” he said neutrally.

“Do you think we could get our food boxed up to go?” Jean wondered. “At this point it’s a bit of a question whether we should even stay.”

“Nothing is wrong with the restaurant itself,” Saguru said.

“True.”

Of course it was then that her husband finally showed up. Gordon was wide eyed as he wandered over, pushing past the last officers as they left. “What on earth happened? Did someone hold up the restaurant?” he asked.

“Nah, just an assault in the ladies room,” Jean said with fake nonchalance.

“The hell?” Gordon glanced back at where the police had been. “Is everyone okay?”

“Oh, we’re fine, Donny,” Jean said. “The lady was hit in the head but she’ll be fine. You have terrible timing, darling.”

“You don’t say,” Gordon said, shaken. “I always have run late.” He hugged Jean on automatic, looking her over before looking at the rest of their group. “Oh. Hello, Saguru, it’s been a bit, yeah?”

Saguru smiled at his cousin’s husband. “Gordon. It’s good to see you.”

“Pity about the...” He waved a hand. “I was expecting to show up for dessert, not a crime scene. This is a bit more your speed though.”

Saguru snorted. “Unfortunately. Gordon, this is my boyfriend, Kaito Kuroba.”

Kaito gave a little wave. “Hi! How was the flight?”

“Long,” Gordon said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Guru, I’m going to see if I can get our food to go,” Jean said, patting Saguru on the arm. “I hope you don’t mind a bit more of a wait.”

“We’ll live,” Saguru said with good humor.

“So,” Kaito said as she wandered over to the woman at the register who had yet to stop looking alarmed since Amelia had been found unconscious. “How do you guys feel about card tricks?”

“I... Neutral?” Gordon said, bemused.

Kaito grinned. “I promise that by the time our food comes you’ll have a stronger opinion.”

Saguru laughed, sitting next to Henrietta as Kaito started in on an impromptu performance.

“I think I like him,” Henrietta whispered.

“I like him quite a bit,” Saguru said, not hiding his enamored smile in the slightest. His aunt patted his arm.

Kaito sent Saguru a wink and pulled them all into his performance.

***

The next morning found Saguru and Kaito sitting on the bed eating leftover curry for breakfast as Saguru went through his emails on his phone. “There’s one from work,” Saguru said to Kaito, who of course couldn’t eat normally, but was sprawled half off the bed doing what could be considered upper body exercises between bites of curry where it sat on a box on the floor. “It sounds like Kate is trying to get together a group of faculty to go to the beach in the name of work bonding.”

“Over summer break?” Kaito asked. He did a push up to take another bite of food. “Sounds a little optimistic to expect people to want to be around coworkers for the longest stretch they have an option of not being around them.”

“She does seem to like everyone getting along as much as possible.” Saguru eyed Kaito. “How are you able to eat like that and not get indigestion? Or fall off the bed?”

“Practice,” Kaito said with a sparkling grin. “So are you going to go?”

“She’s suggesting the second weekend in July, and if that’s the case, I was hoping to see if I could visit London again around then. If it gets moved to a later date, I’ll consider, but I don’t ordinarily enjoy beaches.”

“You showed me a picture of you and Mel on a beach just the other day,” Kaito pointed out.

“That was carefully planned with my disability in mind, not a trip with a dozen other people.” Saguru took a bite of curry, scrolling further in his messages, most of it advertisements and the occasional social media alert (he’d blame Kaito for convincing him to get some of those accounts, but admittedly several of them were Mel’s past influence despite Saguru’s habit of rarely using them). “There’s also one from the landlord. I sent him an estimate for when we’d be dropping off the keys, and he said not to worry about any leftover furniture as he’d take care of it.”

“That’s convenient.”

“He probably either intends to keep it as a perk for renting the flat or sell it himself, but I’m not going to complain.” If Saguru didn’t have to worry about the rest of the furniture, that just meant taking the donations away and mailing the rest of the boxes. Which actually meant they could take care of it today and have a day or so to relax at a hotel or something until their scheduled flight back. “What do you think of a trip to France?”

“What, like in the future?”

“I was thinking tomorrow. It’s not cheap, but we could take a train to Paris for the day if you wanted.”

Kaito gave a shove of his arms so he was upright to stare. “Seriously?”

Saguru rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little self-conscious at the sudden scrutiny. “Well, you did say that you found Paris romantic and I’m familiar enough with the city that an unplanned trip isn’t that big of a deal. We’d just have to be back in London in time for our flight...”

He found himself with a surprise lapful of grinning Kaito. “I love you,” Kaito said.

Saguru hugged him back, holding his takeaway container out of elbow range in one hand as he held Kaito with the other. “I love you too. I take it that’s a yes?”

“Saguru,” Kaito said, his eyes glinting the way they did when he was either very happy or plotting mischief, “I am one hundred percent onboard with romantic spontaneity.”

“Good,” Saguru said as words seemed to leave his brain in favor of all his mental capacity taking in Kaito’s happy face. Not for the first time, Saguru was struck by how attractive his boyfriend was.

“So. Would France be a good place to seduce you?”

Saguru blushed to the tips of his ears. “Kaito.”

“Mm, that’s a yes, right?”

If Kaito kept looking at him like that, Saguru was going to break his own rule about not getting up to anything in the apartment. Regretfully, he pushed Kaito back so he could get a bit of breathing room and perspective as to why now was not the time or place. ...Mostly just the wrong place. “Save it until we’re in Paris.”

“One kiss?”

“...one kiss.”

“Mwah!” Kaito gave him an over-exaggerated kiss on the lips before sliding out of his lap. He dropped back down to eat half off the bed again.

“You know you could eat up here.”

“I could,” Kaito said. “Actually, if you sat on my feet, I could do sit-ups and eat whenever I was upright.”

“That sounds even more uncomfortable.”

“I have to get exercise in some way. I’m getting out of shape,” Kaito lamented. “It’s awful. I spent so much time keeping in shape before, but there’s nothing challenging anymore. So I just have to fit exercise in where I can.”

“During breakfast?” Saguru asked. He was more or less used to the fact that Kaito had trouble keeping still without something holding a good portion of his attention, but this was both a bit ridiculous, and a relatively new development of the past two weeks.

“Wherever I can fit it in.”

He handed Saguru his food and Saguru took it, giving Kaito counterweight on his legs so he could do crunches that should honestly make him not want to eat with how he kept using muscles around his stomach.

Kaito, of course, didn’t seem bothered at all. “I should take up parkour.”

The image of Kaito throwing himself off buildings in civilian wear had Saguru wincing. “Wouldn’t that draw attention?”

“So I’ll find a group to do it with. But really, it would satisfy my inner adrenaline junkie and keep me in shape.” Kaito did a few sit-ups, taking a bite of his leftovers. “It wouldn’t be all the time, but it seems fun.”

“You’re thirty-five.”

“So I have a few good years of it before I’ve pushed my body too far. I’ve been thinking it over and parkour seemed the better idea than going hang-gliding every other weekend. Cheaper too. I tried sports the last few months but...”

But none of them had kept Kaito’s interest, Saguru knew, though doing some gymnastics workouts every now and then had helped. “Please don’t do anything that could get you killed.”

“I wouldn’t. I know my limits. And the limits of an average person, so I won’t push too much.” Kaito did a few more sit-ups before pausing. “I bet I could take some pretty cool footage doing it though. Think Takumi or Shiemi would be interested?”

“If Takumi thought it would help him with his lacrosse, maybe. I think Shiemi is more interested in your sleight of hand than the athletic side of your tricks.”

“I’m a little sad that I probably won’t get to pass on some of my harder tricks...” Kaito sighed and apparently decided he’d done enough exercise for one morning because he wiggled his feet free to sit cross-legged. “I’m definitely going to have to write a book with how I did all my tricks and have that be a legacy.”

“Inside the family of course.”

“Of course.”

“I’m sure Takumi will appreciate that even if he never learns to do all of your tricks.” Like Kaito had appreciated his own father’s notes.

They finished their breakfast in companionable silence, Saguru’s mind half on plans to get to Paris and half on what was left to do. Besides the boxes, he still needed to get Mel’s forgotten gift to Mel’s mother...

It was a bit of a coward’s way out, but Saguru thought Mel would forgive him if he mailed it instead of meeting his mother-in-law face to face. He wanted to end this trip on a high note, not have old problems weighing him down. And this way she could be honest in her emotions instead of hiding them in front of Saguru.

“You alright?” Kaito asked, nudging Saguru with his elbow.

“Mm.” He shook off his discomfort, instead turning his mind toward perhaps visiting one of his favorite cafés in Paris. They had pastries Kaito would love. “I’m fine. I just remembered Mel’s box of gifts that needs taken care of.”

“Ah.” Kaito gathered up their empty containers. “Are we taking a side trip after the post office or...?”

“No, I will be mailing what I’m sending along... It’s probably for the best that way.”

“Okay,” Kaito said. He gave Saguru a kiss on the cheek. “You know them best. I’m going to shower real quick then we can start in on taking those boxes where they need to go.”

“Thank you, Kaito.”

“Anytime,” Kaito said with a wink and a parting wave.

***

There was a time, Saguru reflected as he followed Kaito aimlessly along Paris streets, when Saguru had been in Paris, contemplating Kid and feeling possessive of the thief. He’d called Kaito, been smug about it too like his emotions weren’t transparent, and gave him a warning about the French thief, Chat Noir. He’d never asked Kaito what he’d thought about that call, though perhaps the irritated tone one the other end of the phone line and repeated assertion that Kaito wasn’t Kid was answer enough for what Kaito felt back then. Here and now, the person Saguru had been wouldn’t have recognized the person he was now. But he’d probably understand how Saguru’s eyes were drawn more toward his boyfriend than the city streets around them.

Kaito, of course, didn’t seem able to keep still, flitting back and forth between street stalls and up to shop fronts with enthusiasm, occasionally practicing rusty French on the vendors. He always bounced back to Saguru’s side with an interesting thing he’d learned or to point out something of interest and frankly it was refreshing to see Kaito so enthusiastic. It had Saguru taking interest in things he wouldn’t have thought to notice let alone appreciate too.

“You know,” Kaito said, their hands linked together and swinging as they walked alongside the Seine, “when I was here with Aoko, we didn’t do anything like this, just walking around. We went to a bunch of tourist spots and looked up high rated restaurants and had most of the trip carefully planned out. Aoko likes structure like that, and me being, well, me, I provided any spontaneity on the trip by interacting with our surroundings. But it was still controlled. I think I like this more.” He grinned at Saguru, sidelong. “Not that there’s anything wrong with carefully planned trips or tourist attractions. I just like seeing how people live. Of course I’m enjoying the company too.”

“Of course,” Saguru said, mock serious.

“If there’s any place you like here, we should go,” Kaito said, a bounce in his step.

Saguru thought about that long-ago phone call. “If it still exists, there’s a café I used to frequent in high school.”

“You came to France a lot as a teen?” Kaito asked.

“Often enough.” Saguru shrugged. “Mum has friends in Paris, and I’ve had quite a few cases that led me out of England over the years. A few of the times I left Japan was actually to come here because I was asked to look into some things. During one of those times I happened to hear about Chat Noir.”

“Huh.” Kaito stared off into the distance for a moment, thinking back. “Wait, that phone call where you gave some cryptic warning and got weirdly possessive about Kid.”

Saguru rolled his eyes. “Of course that’s what you remember of it.”

“Well what impression did you expect me to have back then?” Kaito said, amused. “I mean I hadn’t ever given you my phone number either, so you were kind of having a stalker moment, Saguru.”

“I took the time to warn you!” Saguru protested. “You would have gone in blind!”

“I’d have been fine,” Kaito said, confident in his skills as ever. Or maybe he was remembering with the same arrogance he’d had back then, thinking he could pull off anything with enough bravado and sleight of hand. “Chat Noir didn’t actually want to hurt anyone. She was just trying to right a wrong.”

Saguru paused. “You know I don’t think anyone ever figured out what happened with Chat Noir.”

“No, they didn’t.” Kaito grinned.

Saguru narrowed his eyes as Kaito’s seemed to sparkle with mischief. “You’re going to make me work for that story aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” Kaito said, sing-song. “Either way, Chat Noir is a nice lady. We still send each other letters sometimes.”

“Of course you keep in touch.” What was Saguru expecting really?

“It pays to keep connections,” Kaito said. “So this café is someplace you went to when all that was going on?”

“It’s where I called you from,” Saguru said.

“Sap,” Kaito teased. “You want to visit there because it’s connected to a memory of me, don’t you.”

The blush on Saguru’s cheeks gave him away despite ignoring Kaito’s words.

“You do,” Kaito said, draping himself on Saguru’s shoulder. “Aww, you love me.”

“I’m dating you, so I would think it was obvious at this point,” Saguru said. Kaito just grinned wider and Saguru cracked, laughed. “Fine. Yes, I love you and want to go see if that café still exists because I’m feeling sentimental. Anything you wanted to see?”

“The Louvre,” Kaito said immediately. “I know it’s a tourist spot but one, it is one of the most famous museums of the world, and two, I now have a professional interest in it outside of my old night job. I didn’t have near the appreciation of museum work the last time I was here.”

“Done,” Saguru said. “We’ll grab something to eat at the café, or someplace close if it no longer exists, then head to the museum.”

“Are the two even close to each other?” Kaito asked curiously.

“No,” Saguru smiled, “but that’s part of the fun, getting from A to B, right?”

“We’re ducking into any store that looks fun and taking pictures to send to Takumi.”

***

“You know,” Kaito said later, “I always forget how small the Mona Lisa is. Like it’s built up so much but when you actually see the painting? Tiny compared to most famous portraits. I would not want to be in charge of the preservation for that either. Da Vinci was not the best with ensuring his works would actually be well preserved for the long run. Genius technique and skill or not, that’s really something that bothers me about his work.”

Saguru laughed. “That would bother you.”

“Hey, as a museum worker I totally feel sorry for the conservator that has to deal with things like that. That said, I have a much higher appreciation for their ceramics and pottery collections than I did the last time I was here.”

“Professional appreciation,” Saguru said with a nod. He gave Kaito a sidelong grin. “Although I noticed you eying the eagle brooch.”

“What can I say, old habits die hard.” The brooch had a nice sized garnet in it. Kaito had eyed several other gems in other exhibits too, but since he was retired, Saguru didn’t dwell on it. Kaito wasn’t going to be stealing anything these days. “Their security is pretty tight though. I am more than happy that I’m never going to try and take anything from there.” Kaito hummed as they meandered back toward their hotel. “We should come back sometime. There wasn’t nearly enough time to look at everything.”

“Of course. Perhaps a trip to London, then here, with Takumi along?” Takumi would like London, but he could appreciate Paris’s streets the same as Kaito did, taking in their unique storefronts and anything that caught the eye.

Kaito squeezed Saguru’s hand where their fingers were laced together. “Sounds fun. Ooh.” He stopped walking so fast that Saguru kept going a step or two past him until he was stopped by the tug of his wrist. Kaito’s eyes were riveted on a park across the street where a magician was doing tricks. “...Would it be rude to join in? It would probably be rude to join in.”

There were only a few people stopped to watch. Saguru saw Kaito’s hand twitch toward his pockets that he kept full of tricks even now. “How well could you incorporate yourself into his act without taking it over completely?”

“Mm...” Kaito tilted his head. “Depends on if he played along. My French probably isn’t good enough to get a conversation across...”

He fidgeted and Saguru gave him a little push. “Oh, go on. If you’re so worried about it, leave him any tips people hand out.”

“You’re the best,” Kaito said in a rush, untangling their hands to head directly over.

Saguru took his time following. The distance let him appreciate how Kaito seamlessly integrated himself into the group of watchers and waited just the right moment to add a complementary trick to the one the magician was already performing. The man, to his credit, paused for only a split second of surprise before rolling with it like it was all part of the original show.

In a matter of minutes it was much more spectacular than anything the original magician could have pulled off. And yet Kaito somehow managed to make it look like it was the street magician’s skill coming to the forefront. Saguru shook his head fondly as people started to gather, pulling out cell phones to watch Kaito got a juggling arc started between him and the magician. Only the objects being juggled kept mysteriously changing.

The street magician started laughing with the edge of incredulity when objects started changing color too, but he had a remarkably good stage presence in keeping himself together while being blindsided by so many surprises. The tricks escalated until Kaito dropped a smoke bomb and used the distraction to reappear at Saguru’s side.

When the smoke cleared, the other magician had his hat in his hands, quickly turning surprise into a theatrical bow. The crowd—because there was a crowd now—clapped and tossed money his way. A few tried to give some to Kaito too when the noticed where he’d vanished to, but he waved them off. Showing his skill in escaping and working crowds, he whisked him and Saguru away before anyone could pin them down to ask questions about the performance.

Two blocks later and Kaito broke down giggling into Saguru’s shoulder. “I shouldn’t have done that!” he said after a moment. “But that was so much fun!”

“I think the crowd agreed with that,” Saguru said. “And I don’t think the magician was complaining with the results.”

“He was pretty skilled,” Kaito said cheerfully. “Not just anyone could keep a performance going like that. That’s probably the most fun I’ve had doing that kind of thing in a while.”

“Good.” Saguru looped an arm around Kaito’s waist, pleased when Kaito leaned into the touch as easy as breathing. “Dinner before heading back to the hotel?”

“Something romantic and French?” Kaito suggested with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Saguru rolled his eyes but squeezed Kaito’s waist a bit tighter. “I’m sure we can manage that.”

“Because this is Paris.”

“Right.”

It wasn’t terribly funny, but they both laughed anyway. Everything was a little bit funny and great at the moment. Saguru was thirty-five and in love all over again and very glad in that moment to be alive.

***

Kaito stepped onto the balcony. Saguru was showering in the little hotel room he’d rented for them, and Kaito couldn’t stop smiling because it had been a fantastic day. His arm muscles were pleasantly stretched from his juggling show and his heart was light. They’d had a whirlwind, impulsive vacation day in France and it had honestly been everything Kaito could have hoped for, including getting to indulge in simple public affection like hand holding and flirting and even a few over-dramatic kisses that had Kaito blushing almost as much as Saguru. He just couldn’t do things like that in public in Japan and while it normally didn’t bother him too much, it was so nice to just... be for a bit here.

He held up his phone to snap a photo from the balcony; not a super photogenic location like some of the places they wandered today, but it was still France and that alone added to the interest of the shot. He’d send it to Takumi over the internet later. For now he took a moment to close his eyes and exist and feel happy.

Something landed next to him.

Kaito jumped half a meter to the left and banged his elbow into the railing. “Shit, ow, what?”

Ruby Jones crouched on the balcony railing looking way too amused. “I see retirement is treating you well,” she said in English, the shared language they both spoke best.

“Retirement is great,” Kaito said fervently, rubbing at his elbow. “Where the hell did you come from? I thought you lived in America.”

“I’m visiting relatives,” Jones said.

“Yes, but how the heck did you end up here?”

She grinned. “Someone saw your little show earlier and recorded it. Did you know you’re currently trending?”

Kaito blinked. That still didn’t really explain how she’d found his balcony when they could have been staying pretty much anywhere in Paris—or not at all—but okay. “Okay. Hi. How’s life been?”

“Pretty good. I have my routine and a good enough paycheck to take trips like this once a year. Can’t complain. Although it’s hell to keep in shape these days.”

“Ah, yeah, retirement and aging are hell on the body.”

Jones gave him a cool look. “Are you calling me old?”

Kaito put a hand on his heart. “Of course not, I’m talking about myself. You, a lady, are ageless.”

She laughed. “You’re just about as much of a flirt as I remember. Speaking of flirting...” She grinned. “How long have you been interested in men?”

“Almost as long as I’ve been interested in women,” Kaito said with a mirrored grin.

“Boyfriend or husband?”

“Boyfriend, but in a way that isn’t like I’m a teenager for goodness sake. We’re both serious about it, but marriage is a... complicated issue with us.” They hadn’t talked about marriage. It was too soon really. But also... well, between Mel’s memory and Kaito’s failed marriage, the topic was a bit of a loaded subject to touch upon. Kaito didn’t care one way or another, but maybe someday he’d bring the topic up to gauge how Saguru felt about it. Granted, they couldn’t marry in Japan anyway, even if it was a possibility in the UK.

“He’s cute. I take it it’s a romantic getaway?”

Kaito snorted. “The trip? Not really. Being here in Paris, yes.” And if she was here too long he’d make it clear that she was intruding on said romantic trip, but he could talk a little bit. Saguru liked long showers when he was relaxed enough to enjoy them. “Now that I’m retired, I have both the funds and time to actually take vacations. Shocking. I’m not even injured this time.”

Jones snickered. She had to know how much it cost to upkeep phantom thief gear and how easy it was to get hurt in the process. “I can’t say I ever regretted the thief life, but it is nice to come out the other side. And civilian life is treating you well?”

“I work in a museum, ironically enough. It’s quiet, I like my coworkers, and the job is fulfilling. What more do you need?” It would never be how he’d expected himself to end up but... “Okay, I admit I miss having an audience sometimes.”

“So you pull stuff like you did in that video to fulfill the need.”

“Exactly. It’s like you understand too well.” They shared a look. One ex-phantom-thief to another. “Not to be rude, it’s lovely to see you face to face after such a long time and such a scattered acquaintance, but I have a boyfriend to return to and a romantic evening to indulge in.”

“Of course, Kid.” Jones smirked. “You have fun.”

“Oh, believe me I plan to.” Kaito matched her smirk right back.

Jones stood up on the railing, reaching up toward the balcony above her. “To answer your earlier question,” she said positioning herself, “I saw you by chance from my window. I’m staying in a room two floors up and a bit over.”

“So entirely by luck.”

“Luck, fate, casual whims of the universe...” She shrugged and gave a hop to catch onto the balcony above them. “You take care.”

“Enjoy your visit with family,” Kaito said, giving a little wave.

Jones was up and climbing almost as fast as Kaito could have. Not bad for a lady almost two decades in retirement. Maybe it was just second nature for people like them to want to keep hard earned skills sharp and muscles strong. Behind him, the balcony door opened.

“Were you talking to someone?” Saguru asked, looking soft and rumpled in a robe with a towel draped over his shoulders. His hair was still dripping a bit. “I thought I heard voices.”

“An old kind of friend popped in for a visit, but she’s already gone.”

“Old friend?” Saguru frowned. “Do you have friends in Paris?”

Kaito smiled and tugged at a lock of Saguru’s wet hair. “Sometimes. I think she mostly wanted to congratulate me on my retirement. Well, that and be nosy, but that’s to be expected.”

Saguru nodded like of course any friend of Kaito’s would have a tendency to not mind their own business and have boundary issues as a given. “Wait, were they on the balcony?”

“My turn in the shower,” Kaito deflected.

“Kaito—was that one of your underground connections?”

“If I don’t say, you can’t feel conflicted over it!” Kaito said. He pressed a quick kiss to Saguru’s jaw as he danced past him into the hotel room. “I’ll be out in a tick and we can order in for dinner and make out like we’re sixteen again.”

“I wasn’t making out with people at sixteen.”

“Like we’re twenty then.”

Saguru snickered and Kaito slipped into the bathroom to take a very fast shower—he had all the time in the world to indulge in hygiene on some day he wasn’t in Paris with his boyfriend.

***

Later, much much later to Kaito’s immense satisfaction, he curled up under the sheets with Saguru by his side, already halfway to sleep with his face mushed against Kaito’s collarbone. It was adorable. Kaito took a picture with his cell phone, one for his private photo collection. A lot of those photos were candid ones with Saguru missing most of his clothes, asleep, or otherwise unaware and open. He’d gotten a few of them this trip, like one of Saguru talking to his aunt and cousin and grinning openly at whatever they were talking about. Saguru looking at a street sign. Saguru ordering lunch. ...Saguru changing, from multiple angles... Kaito was glad that he had his phone locked or there could possibly be some potential issues if someone got ahold of it. Still. He took another with himself in the photo too, grinning at the camera honestly. He wanted proof of these little happy moments. Needed them for when his head wasn’t in the right place to help get him back to normal.

He flipped back to the other folders with photos from the trip and started attaching his favorites to an email to send to people back home. “Paris is looking pretty nice this time of year” was all he wrote for a caption. He... wasn’t going to include Aoko for this particular photo collection. There was starting to rebuild their friendship by sharing parts of their lives, and there was blatantly poking at old bruises, and that would be a bit too close to the latter.

The message sent and Kaito felt warm inside. He’d gotten a message from Jones with a photo of him kissing Saguru on the balcony. He’d saved that photo too. He sent back one of a stray cat he’d found when they were eating lunch. There were a few other emails on his phone, from his mother and one from Kudo that sounded like another of the puzzles they’d been sending back and forth from the subject line.

Saguru patted his arm rubbing his nose into Kaito’s shoulder. “You should sleep,” he mumbled.

“Just sending a few emails.”

“Kaito,” Saguru grumbled, curling around him. He was a bit bigger and heavier than Kaito and it was definitely noticeable when he did things like that. Saguru rested his chin on Kaito’s chest where he was currently squishing most of the air from him. “I know you act like you still never sleep, but we have an early trip back to London to catch our flight home and it is very late.”

Kaito flushed; he hoped he’d never stop reacting like this to having Saguru holding him down and being bossy. Granted his brain tended to skew it more toward much less platonic moments of this sort of thing. Gah. Bad brain.

Saguru snorted. “Your brain is still in the gutter isn’t it?”

“Okay, I’m still recovering from years of repressing and you are still naked and less than an hour ago you were—”

Saguru cut him off with a kiss. “Shush. Sleep. Or I will take your phone and toss it wherever you threw my shirt.”

Kaito pouted, but Saguru merely raised one eyebrow at him, eyelids still droopy with sleep. He was annoyingly good at ignoring Kaito’s pouts. But that was something Kaito liked about him whether he’d admit it or not. Kaito liked people who didn’t let themselves be pushed around and stood by lines that they drew. And at the moment it seemed that getting rest was one of those lines. “Oh, fine,” he said with a sigh. He set his phone back on the charger, having to stretch and twist to get it with Saguru weighing him down. “Better?”

“Yes.” He got another kiss as a reward.

Kaito wound his fingers in Saguru’s hair and kept the kiss going. “Mm, sleep now?” he said after he’d kissed Saguru thoroughly.

“...sleep. Right.” Saguru stared at his lips. Kaito grinned and got a light smack on the arm for it. “Stop being distracting.”

“Stop letting yourself get distracted,” Kaito said in return. Saguru rolled off him and Kaito curled around his back, happy enough to be the big spoon this time. “Okay, now we can sleep.”

“Goodnight, Kaito.”

“Night. ....Guru.”

“Okay, that’s it, I’m smothering you with a pillow,” Saguru said, grabbing one of the extra ones to hold over his shoulder in a very pathetic attempt at suffocation. “How many times do I have to say that only my cousin is allowed to call me that!”

Kaito laughed, warding off the pillow with one hand.

“I’m sleeping on the floor,” Saguru threatened.

Kaito wrapped around him with arms and legs. “No, you’re trapped.”

“We are grown adults, this is ridiculous!” Saguru said, squirming, but he was laughing too. Kaito squeezed him tight until they were both breathless from laughter and exhaustion.

“Goodnight for real?” Kaito whispered against Saguru’s neck, arms and legs going loose into a cuddle.

Saguru’s hand found his by their hips and pulled it across his chest, fingers linked. “Goodnight. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

***

Morning was a rush of early alarms and hastily gathered clothing. Saguru wanted to laugh at Kaito’s caffeine-deprived pinched expression when the alarm went off, but he wasn’t much more awake. And he definitely empathized with the desire to stay up later last night. Regardless, it was morning and it was time to go.

“Can we get coffee on the way? Or tea?” Kaito asked, barely bothering to look presentable though it would take him a few seconds to do so if he wanted to.

Saguru made a point to straighten Kaito’s shirt for him before he finished buttoning his own. “Something quick, yes. Nothing so nice as sitting at a café.”

“Ugh.” Kaito rubbed at his eyes. “Pity they don’t have hot tea in vending machines here.”

“There’s still convenience store coffee.”

“Saguru, we’re in France, I’m not getting shitty coffee from a convenience store in France.”

“No? It has all the caffeine you require.”

“And none of the taste. I can have bad coffee any day.”

Saguru snorted. “Come on. If we’re quick we should be able to get drinks and something to eat on the way.”

“Thank you.” Kaito gathered their bags in a quick sweep of the room, catching anything they’d missed in their scramble to get ready to go. “Caffeinate, eat, catch our train to London, get to the airport, take a horrifying amount of time to get home.”

“At least there’s plenty of time to nap during the flight and layovers?” Saguru offered.

“Very true. C’mon, I want a croissant. I should have a proper French croissant. You should have one too.”

“And if I don’t want a croissant?” Saguru asked, following Kaito out of the hotel room.

“Well it’s not like you’re short on other options, but why wouldn’t you want a croissant?” Kaito tossed a hand up, compensating lack of energy with dramatics.

“I have nothing against croissants, I just wondered what you would suggest otherwise.”

“Haven’t the foggiest. Right now my brain’s stuck on croissants and all other French baked goods have fled out of my vocabulary.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Thank you. Now come on, we’re wasting time we could be caffeinating.”

***

They were almost to the station back to London when Kaito stopped, croissant and coffee in one hand and bag in the other. “Saguru, we forgot something.”

“What?” Saguru glanced at their bags and all they’d packed, mind coming up blank for what might be missing.

“Omiyage.”

“What?” It took a second for Saguru’s brain to switch back to Japanese since they’d been using English almost the whole trip. “Wait, shit, you’re right. Souvenirs.”

“They’ll expect something from France since I took pictures here.”

“And we never got anything in London.”

“Yeah, but we can get something at the airport, but we have....” He glanced at his watch. “Twenty minutes to get something and get on the train to London.”

They looked around but most businesses weren’t open just yet unless they dealt with morning crowds like cafés. “So long as it’s something from France, it doesn’t have to be a nice something,” Saguru said.

“Convenience store snacks and candy?” Kaito said.

Saguru pulled out his phone and typed rapidly. “There’s one a block out of our way.”

“Thank goodness for technology.”

***

Stepping off the plane into Japan again was a moment of déjà vu. He’d done the same thing so many times in his life, stepping into Narita airport with its familiar architecture and Japanese signs. The annoying process of walking through quarantine and immigration checks. And he could walk to the baggage claim in his sleep regardless of which gate he came in at by this point. Thankfully he’d actually managed to get some rest on the last flight so he didn’t have to do that.

What set this time apart from the others was Kaito at his side, yawning and just inside Saguru’s personal bubble enough that their shoulders brushed, though not enough to draw attention. It was a world of difference to how they’d started out the first flight from London. Saguru decided the world could just learn to live with a bit of impropriety.

Kaito blinked at him when Saguru caught his hand and tugged him to get their bags, but he linked their fingers like he’d only been waiting for Saguru to reach out. Like he didn’t mind how it could draw stares or displeasure.

For the first time, Saguru wondered if the lack of obvious affection in public in Japan had been for his sake, not because Kaito didn’t want it.

“At least your bags aren’t hard to spot,” Saguru said.

Kaito’s bright blue bags were practically lit up against the myriad of nondescript black, brown, and navy travel cases. Saguru’s merely had green ribbons tied to the handles to make them stand out.

“I should text Mum,” Saguru said while Kaito retrieved their luggage. “She’s probably already seen the notice on the travel board that we arrived but—”

“I think she definitely has,” Kaito said nodding in the direction of the arrival lobby. Just past the customs inspection counters was Mum, a sparkly ‘Welcome Home’ sign made out of poster board and what had to be an entire container of glitter held up in the air. Surprisingly, Takumi was at her side. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t holding a sign and was a few steps away from Mum like he was worried he’d catch the glittery mess. Knowing glitter, it was unavoidable.

They made their way through customs as quickly as they were able, and as soon as they were clear, Takumi was at Kaito’s side. “Okay, so I saw the pictures you sent but you have to tell me everything and what you did and if you ate anything cool and Shiemi wants to know how you ended up in France.”

Kaito snickered and pulled Takumi into a hug. Takumi flailed with all the embarrassment of a teenager having affection poured on him in public.

“Tou-san!” Takumi complained. He was smiling though.

“Not even a welcome back?” Kaito asked, ruffling Takumi’s hair until it was a mess.

“Ugh, hi, glad your plane didn’t crash into the ocean. How was your trip?”

Saguru left them to it and gave Mum a hug, careful not to brush up against the glitter monstrosity. “Did you make that intending to shed glitter everywhere or...?”

“Actually, Takumi and Shiemi made it,” Mum said, eyes sparkling with humor. “I, of course, was willing to track glitter everywhere to use it. Flight in okay?”

“It went fine except for the layover in Hong Kong. We almost missed our connection.”

“Because of your bad luck,” Kaito said. “A child went missing and we ended up walking almost the whole airport looking for them. Thankfully it was not a kidnapping but that was a mess. We only made our flight because they held the plane an extra ten minutes for us to get there from the other end of the airport.”

“But the child was reunited with their family and no one was harmed so it’s all well,” Saguru said. “I slept the whole last part of the trip from the moment we took off until we landed though.”

“Anything we missed while we were gone?” Kaito asked Takumi.

Takumi shrugged. “Nothing big. Had lacrosse practice. Babysat the Kudo girls. Aaaand maybe kind of set up a date for Shiemi.” He grinned. “It went okay so she didn’t kill me.”

“Ooh, spill! Blind date or what?” Kaito leaned on Takumi’s shoulder. “Because she didn’t mention this at all in her emails.”

“They’d met a few times but didn’t realize they both liked girls. Only Amari-chan mentioned she thought Shiemi was cute—wait, uh, Amari-chan is on the girl’s lacrosse team for clarification—and I know Shiemi has checked out the girl’s team practice before so...”

“So you played matchmaker,” Kaito finished.

“Yup. They’re going on their second date on Tuesday. Either this will go great or I will have to apologize to both of them when it erupts in flames, but either way it’s nice to see Shiemi be happy.” Takumi smiled softly, affection for Shiemi shining through.

“I think it’s cute,” Mum whispered to Saguru. “Though if anyone set you up at that age you would have been mortified.”

“I was just settling into the realization I was gay at that age so, yes, mortified would be about what I would feel. Along with horror and probably fear,” Saguru said drily. Thankfully Shiemi wasn’t the type to let public opinion shame her; if she ever did get outed before she was ready, she wouldn’t let it upset her life.

“Oh yeah,” Kaito said as they all meandered toward the exit in their huddle of baggage and people. “Takumi, what would you feel about moving?”

“You’re asking now at the airport?” Saguru said with a sigh. “We haven’t even started looking at anything. We’ve only just brought it up.”

“No time like the present to introduce the idea,” Kaito said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “So?”

“Wait, like moving out of the apartment?” Takumi glanced at Saguru. “And moving into someplace with Hakuba-sensei?”

Mum smacked Saguru’s arm with so much giddy enthusiasm one would think Kaito had just proposed he marry Saguru in front of her. Saguru rolled his eyes. “Yes, move in together. Honestly, we’re just talking about the possibility at the moment and if it would be uncomfortable to you, we don’t have to. The arrangement we have now has been fine.”

“But you’d like to,” Takumi said, seeing through to the heart of the matter.

“Well we’re practically cohabiting right now already,” Kaito offered. “Just with a few extra doors between us. You’d get your own room of course.”

“If I didn’t I’d be pretty annoyed,” Takumi said, “since I live with you a third of the time.” He was silent for a while as they passed a group of tourists trying to find somewhere, a map tugged back and forth between hands as they argued in what Saguru thought was some Slavic language, though he didn’t have the ear for what. “It is a little weird,” Takumi said finally just when Saguru was starting to worry that he really did hate the idea. “But that doesn’t make it a bad weird. All of this last year has been a little weird, but in a good way. Mostly. Like I wouldn’t want to be around you guys being super romantic or anything because that would be weird in a bad way, but I don’t mind how you usually are and it wouldn’t be too different from how things are now. Just a new space. The new space part would be weird though.”

“You know I never thought I’d spend almost a decade living in that shoe-box apartment,” Kaito mused. “It’s home. But honestly I would not mind something bigger. With thicker walls. Takumi, we’d both get bigger bedrooms.”

“That is a selling point,” Takumi said. “Are you thinking house big or larger apartment big?”

“We are not doing logistics in an airport,” Saguru said.

“I’ll have to think on that,” Kaito said, ignoring him completely. “It depends on whether I want a workroom space or not and how much room Saguru needs. Or if I want to move my doves from Kaa-san’s place. Hmm. Two adult incomes leave more possibilities, but honestly despite living in a cheap apartment for years, I’m not all that rich. Committing crime out of your own pocket and not keeping the spoils is actually a really expensive hobby. Don’t recommend that.”

Saguru sighed.  Mum giggled at him.

“It has to be close enough to school,” Takumi said. “And I want proper furniture in my room.”

“Yeah, location is probably going to narrow things down a lot. And might be what takes the longest finding someplace.” Kaito’s hands moved like they wanted something to fiddle with, but he’d taken his magic props off his person for the plane ride. “Preferably ground floor or no higher than one set of stairs...”

“It has to be a good neighborhood or Kaa-san won’t let me visit.”

“Well obviously.”

“I take it we’ve decided that this is happening instead of hypothetically happening,” Saguru said.

“Duh,” Kaito and Takumi said in stereo. Kaito turned to him. “We have Takumi’s blessing and we definitely have your Mum’s with how she’s smiling. And we want to be domestic with each other, so yep, it’s happening. But,” Kaito added holding up a finger, “probably not for a while yet. Logistics.”

“And I have to be there picking the place since I’m going to live there too,” Takumi said. “I call veto rights if it’s awful.”

“We all get a say,” Kaito said.

Saguru looked between their equally serious expressions and had to laugh. “Okay, yes, we’re going to make this happen then.”

“Wonderful,” Mum cut in. “And now that that’s decided, I’m taking you out to lunch to celebrate and you can tell us all about your trip. How exactly did you end up in Paris anyway?”

Saguru followed them out the building as Kaito enthusiastically started up a story about the various mishaps with theft-related crimes they’d brushed into and how everyone on the police force still seemed to know Saguru’s face and name, chiming in when the moment called for it. In front of him Mum still had the glittery sign shedding all over Kaito’s bright blue luggage as they walked shoulder to shoulder, Takumi tagging along a step behind. He had his phone out, texting Shiemi from the look of it, and listening with the rest of his attention. The air was heavy with the threat of spring rain, as familiar as the muggy springs in London. London had been home, but this... This was home too, as much for the people as the place.

Ahead, Kaito tipped his head to the side to include Saguru, holding out his free hand.

Saguru took it. Home.

[mnemememory]

Love your writing!!! If you're still taking prompts, how about trini's mom walking in on trini and Kim during a tender moment like Kim's holding Trini's hand and Trini's mom is like *raises eyebrows* what's going on here?? Idk if this makes any sense or anything to go off of. Hope you have a great day!!

cross-posted on ao3

Summary: Kim wants to come over, and Trini regrets everything

mild trini/kim

A/N: thanks so much for the prompts, sweetheart! I’m sorry this took so long, but it kind of got away from me :P

Trini knows this is a bad idea.

Things involving Kim always seemed like bad ideas, though, so she just figured it was her usual mantra of ‘don’t say yes to the pretty girl don’t say yes to the pretty girl oh man are you stupid’ and just went along with it anyway. Because apparently saying no to pretty girls was something she found difficult.

So when Kim says, “Hey, Trini, I don’t think I’ve ever been to your place” – well. Trini had put up a token protest (because there is no way this wasn’t going to blow up in her face) but ultimately had caved, because hey, maybe it would be nice to bring a friend – a friend, Zach – home. It’d stop her parents from worrying so much, wouldn’t it? This was what they wanted. Win-win.

Except Zach wouldn’t shut up about it. “You’re introducing her to your parents!” he says, grinning up at her. She’s taken to hanging out near the abandoned gold mine, letting the height soothe the way her muscles stretched too much beneath her skin. “You haven’t even been on a second date yet! Wow, someone is moving fast.”

“I could kick you off and watch you bleed out,” Trini says. “I’d laugh.”

Zach isn’t deterred, which is more than a little bit annoying. She misses the times where intimidating people had been as easy as breathing. “I’m sure you would,” he says, hopping around from one rock to the other like a rabbit on speed. Trini’s been waiting impatiently for his heart to explode for the past ten minutes, but so far, no dice. “And I’m sure it would be suitably entertaining.”

Trini’s brain catches up to his earlier comment. “And we aren’t dating! Have not been dating! Why are you like this?”

“What do you call that time you went to Krispy Kreme –”

“We were training.”

“With donuts,” Zach says. “By yourselves. Eating.”

“I will kill you, it will be painful, you will scream by the end of –”

“Calm down, calm down,” Zach says, laughing as he dodges out from one of her airborne attacks. Trini lands on all fours, fingers gripping into the rock as easily as anything she’s ever done. It feels almost like cheating, the way her body responds to things in ways that shouldn’t be possible. All that work, all those stretches, all that time and energy – now, with her little yellow hunk of rock pressed against the lining of her pocket, she’s all but invincible.

“That wasn’t a date,” Trini repeats, turning around to glare at him. “And this isn’t one, either. My parents have been begging me to make friends, in any case. This will get them off my back.”

“Whatever you say, Trini dearest,” Zach crows, and then dodges back once again as Trini hauls a well-aimed rock at him. “Hey, ow, you don’t need to go that far –”

“Is it okay if I bring a friend over tomorrow?”

The table cuts silent.

Trini inwardly cringes, and then steels herself and glances up. Her mother is staring at her, face paler than she’s seen in a while. Her family is smiling, like he’s proud, but also like he has no clue what’s going on. It’s not an unfamiliar smile.

Her brothers break first.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” one of them crows, stretching out over the table to grin at her.

“What’s his name?” the other one says, eyes blown wide with delight. He doesn’t wait for her to answer. “Trini and new guy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N –”

“Boys!” her mother snaps, and then both snap their mouths shut. Trini glares at them wrathfully from across the table, and then turns to fully face her mother. “Is it a boy?”

“No!” Trini says, and she wishes her voice doesn’t sound so defensive. They don’t know, she thinks. “No, it’s one of my friends. Kim.”

“Kim,” her mother says, like she’s tasting the name on her tongue. Trini feels to abrupt urge to leave. “I guess so, as long as you’ve finished all your homework.”

Homework, yes. Trini loves homework. She loves that she doesn’t need to do it to pass.

“We’ll just be studying,” Trini says, and the words feel hollow in her mouth. Studying, right. She wonders if Kim even bothers to study. Why did Kim even want to come over, anyway? It’s not like they don’t see each other enough, even outside of school and Power Rangers training. This is the most social that Trini’s ever been, and it’s starting to freak her out, the way she’s fallen so easily into a pattern.

“Well, that should be fine,” her mother says. “Do you share classes, then? How did you meet?”

Trini sinks lower into her chair, feeling her shoulders bunch up. “Mum.”

“What’s her last name?” her mother continues, relentless. “Do we know her parents?”

“I doubt it,” Trini says, skin itching. She wants to be outside, stretching out over the rocks and rocketing towards the stars. She’s fast; faster than she’s ever been before. If she starts running, though, she doesn’t think she’s ever going to stop. “Mum, how many friends do you have here?”

There’s a brief, ugly silence.

“Trini,” her father says, but Trini’s done. This is a horrible idea. She’ll just tell Kim that her parents don’t want her to have friends over – it should be easy enough. Of course, she has an awful vision of Kim telling her, Oh, okay, I’ll swing by in the middle of the night and just take a look at your place then, which. Is less than helpful.

Trini shakes her head and shoves her chair back, almost tripping in her haste to leave the table. “I’ll wash the dishes,” she says, grabbing her plate and shuffling towards the kitchen. It’s almost physically painful, keeping her speed normal and human. I’m fast, she thinks, and then wonders if she’s really fast enough.

“Bring her here,” her mother says the next morning, when Trini’s trying to bolt outside the door before anyone else is awake. Her mother is sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a mug of coffee so strong that Trini is getting a second-hand caffeine hit just from the smell alone. “I want to meet her.”

“Maybe I don’t want her to meet you,” Trini says, and then regrets it.

Her mother glances up, face old. It’s strange to think of her that way, but there are lines, there. Bags. Without her makeup on, she looks tired. Trini has to glance away before she says anything else that she’s going to regret.

“Bring her here,” she repeats.

“I’ll think about it,” Trini says, and then curses herself. A deal is a deal. She’ll think about it, and then she’ll tell Kim, and then Kim is going to want to come anyway. No amount of saying ‘I don’t think this is a good idea’ has made her change her mind yet.

“See you later,” Trini says gruffly, and then backs out of the house and closes the door.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Trini releases the death-grip she has on her backpack strap, forcibly turning her neck so give Kim a smile. Kim arches her eyebrow and silently reiterates the question.

“I’m fine,” Trini forces out, and she’s not lying. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Kim gives her a look. “Are you sure?” she says. “I don’t have to come over, you know.”

“No, no,” Trini says. She’s already let the cat out of the bag on this one; Kim wanted to know what her family was like, and if she doesn’t get this over this, it’s just going to escalate. Best get it done quickly and with as little pain as possible. Like ripping off a band-aid.

As a kid, Trini had hated ripping off band-aids.

Everyone’s home; she can already hear the boys running screaming down the hallway, can already hear her mother yelling in the background. Her father isn’t being obvious about it, but he should be there, too. Trini inhales sharply and reaches towards the doorknob, before hesitating.

“Is there something wrong, Trini?” Kim says.

“Oh, they’re going to love you,” Trini says, grabbing her hand and pulling her forward.

She doesn’t announce their presence inside, because that would be too abnormal for anyone to cope with. Instead, Trini drags Kim upstairs as fast as she can, almost tripping over the stairs in her haste to get out of the firing zone.

“Trini?” her mother calls, and Trini freezes with her hand on her door. Damn. So close. “Trini, are you home?”

Kim is a silent wall at her back, and Trini’s words stick in her throat. Respond, damn you, she tells herself. C’mon, just – respond!

“Yeah,” she says, and then clears her throat and breathes in deeper. “Yeah!”

“Is your friend with you?”

“We’ll be studying in my room,” Trini shouts, and then shoves Kim into her room and closes the door with a slam. She closes her eyes, steels her shoulders, and then turns to give Kim a wide smile. “So.”

Kim doesn’t look impressed. “So,” she parrots. “Trini, just how many friends do you actually have?”

Trini rolls her eyes. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”

Kim ignores her and flops onto Tirni’s bed, splaying out dramatically across the duvet. Trini averts her eyes from the way Kim’s shirt rides up over her stomach and rests herself against the wall. Everything’s clean, if a little dusty – she’s taken to sneaking out via her window every night and just curling up wherever she finds someplace comfortable. Rita’s attack left her more than a little leery of sleeping – well, anywhere.

“This is nice,” Kim says, eyeing the plastered-over cracks on the far wall. Trini hasn’t had the time to paint over them, but she’s planning on it. “Very neat.”

Trini huffs a laugh under her breath, reaching up to link her fingers between Kim’s. Kim rolls over and grins at Trini from above, face almost heartbreakingly beautiful.

Trini knows that this isn’t what Kim wants, she knows that she doesn’t – that she can’t – that this isn’t –

There’s a knock on the door, and then Trini’s mother is opening the door and is looking at them before Trini has time to let go.

“Studying,” her mother says, arching her eyebrow.

Kim steps in before Trini can start an argument. It’s handy, having friends. Friends. “We were just about to get started,” she says, sitting up and smiling. She doesn’t let go of Trini’s hand. “School was pretty gruelling, so we decided to take a break beforehand.”

Trini’s mother smiles, but there’s something fake about it. She’s showing too many teeth. “You must be Kim.”

“That’s me,” Kim says, straightening. “Kimberly Hart. It’s a pleasure meeting you, ma’am. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Trini squeezes Kim’s hand in warning. “Is there something you wanted, Mum?”

“I came to see if you wanted anything to eat, or drink,” her mother says. “You didn’t even come into the kitchen to say hello.”

“We’re fine, Mum,” Trini says, clipping off her words. “Anything else?”

“Dinner’s at seven, if your friend wants to stay,” her mother says. She doesn’t move away from the doorway, and Trini feels herself gripping Kim’s fingers with too much force. She tries to relax her hand, but she finds that she’s locked her arm up all the way to the shoulder.

“Mum,” Trini says.

“Come say hello properly before your friend leaves,” her mother says, and then exits the room. She doesn’t close the door. There’s a brief silence as Kim doesn’t talk and Trini just waits for it, just waits for her to say something. There’s a reason that Trini never brings anyone home, and her mother is 70% of it.

With her father claiming at least 10%, the remaining 20% proceed to hurtle into her room without even having the grace to knock. Trini leaps up and makes a grab for her brothers as they start shouting questions at Kim, but Kim just laughs and sits up.

“You didn’t mention you had brothers,” she says.

Trini freezes, and her brothers give her identical looks of betrayal. “You haven’t mentioned us?”

“You’re cute,” Kim says with a grin. “But we’re busy, so scram.”

With starry eyes, one of her brothers drops to the ground and opens up his arms. “Marry me.”

Trini grabs each by an arm and herds them into the hallway. “Get out,” she hisses, face red and heart beating fast enough to kill her. “I’ll kill you later.”

“I’m going to marry your friend,” one of them says, eyes gleaming. “She’s pretty and mean and –”

“You need better standards,” Trini mutters, slamming the door shut.

“I’m glad you’re making friends, Trini,” her father says that night. Kim’s gone home – Trini had almost had to beg her; C’mon, Kim, please don’t do this to me, you’ve seen enough – but her parents won’t stop talking about it. We’re so happy for you, they say, This is great, you need to branch out more and stretch your wings and –

“Can’t you find anyone better, though?” her mother says. “She seems a bit…”

Trini closes her eyes. Don’t do this to me. Please.

“Kim’s great,” she says, but the words feel dry and hollow. Everything feels dry and hollow; her lungs aren’t working properly, but she’s breathing just fine.

“Oh, I know, honey,” her mother says. “And I know that you’re trying to fit in – and she seems sweet, but –”

“But what?” Trini says. “You saw her for like two minutes.”

“You two seemed awfully –”

Please, PLEASE don’t do this.

“She’s a friend from school. I thought you wanted me to make friends,” Trini says, lounging back. She’s faced Rita Repulsa down. She’s driven an alien mecha sabre tooth tiger, this can’t be that difficult – this isn’t that –

“We know, honey, we just don’t want you hanging out with the wrong people.”

“She seemed nice to me,” her father says.

Her mother shoots him a glare. “You didn’t exactly talk to her, now, did you? Kim Hart, was it? I think I’ve heard that name –”

“Are you serious?” Trini says, glaring. “You cannot be serious, this is ridiculous, I can’t believe that you’re –”

“Wait, Trini, where are you –”

Trini sits on the top of the gold mine and breathes; in and out, in and out. The stars stretch out overhead and devour the darkness, the jagged edges of the horizon silhouetted black.

She’s free, she’s free, she’s free –