#also langa in a ponytail GIGGLES

[domokyun]

this diva

[reki-of-the-valley]

Baked With Love

Here it is, the promised 8k of pure tooth-rotting fluff

Find it on AO3 here

In all the time that Reki had known Langa, he had never seen him hesitate. From that first day when Langa had taped his feet to a skateboard, he had always jumped headfirst into whatever it was that he wanted to do. He had never hesitated, always going for it and hoping for the best, so seeing him stare between the two jars he had placed on the table, brows furrowed and frowning, it was strange and somewhat endearing. Langa who never cared for consequences was hesitating between two jars of flour, face pulled in concentration rather than his usual spacey and lost expression.

“Dude, they’re both just flour,” Reki said, his chin resting on his folded arms against the kitchen table across from Langa. Both jars had been marked “flour,” but Langa insisted that there was a difference between them. He insisted that his mother used one for her baking while the other was kept for normal cooking.

“I know there’s a difference,” Langa said, brows still pinched, nose scrunching as he groaned. “They’re not the same. They can’t be.”

“Again, we’re just making cookies. Flour is flour and that’s all we need. Doesn’t have to be that baker’s fancy stuff.”

Langa sighed, finally settling for the jar on his right. “If you say so.”

“And I do. I guess you can say I’m a bit of an expert at making cookies.”

Reki grinned, laughing to himself as Langa nodded. Despite it being more of a joke than anything, Langa did trust Reki when it came to baking cookies. He had made hundreds if not thousands of them in his life and Langa always loved watching him whenever he would make. Langa had always been very vocal about his adoration of watching Reki work, be it in his workshop or in the kitchen. And, despite his burning face at the endless praise, Reki always loved the company. He loved having someone with him as he rambled away, his hands doing all the work.

While Reki loved baking with his sisters, it wasn’t the same as when it was just him and Langa. With his family, they were always bustling around the kitchen, bumping into each other, fighting to see who would break the egg – Koyomi won most of the time – and arguing about who would get the bowl and who would get the spoon once the cookies had been put to bake – the twins more often than not shared the bowl while Koyomi and Reki split what was left on the spoon. With his sisters, it was screams and giggles and grabbing at each other. And it was a lot of cleaning, which Reki found himself doing alone most of the time. Baking with his sisters was giving his mother a break, letting her sit down for an hour without worrying about the twins getting bored or asking for her attention. Baking with his sisters was just another activity he did with his family, being the good big brother he knew he had to be. Baking with his sister was Reki trying his best to be a good son, even if he would have rather be in his room or out skating with Langa.

But baking with Langa, it was calm and intimate, a little slice of heaven. It was quiet, low sunlight filtering into the kitchen as Langa sat on the counter, his legs swinging as he listened to Reki’s chatter with a content smile. Baking with Langa was muffled giggles and kisses in the middle of the night, with only the refrigerator light to light up their world. Baking with Langa was just… sweetness and domesticity. It always left Reki with a lightness in his heart, with the wish of baking cookies for Langa for the rest of his life.

Yet tonight, Reki was banned from working in the kitchen. Langa had insisted that he would be the one making the cookies all on his own. “You’re always making things for me,” he had said when Reki got ready to get to work. “I want to make something for you. I want to make these cookies for you, all on my own.”

And his face had glowed the moment Reki nodded, letting himself be pushed into the chair facing the kitchen. Langa, always so serious or spacey Langa, beautiful Langa with his boyish grin and his big, shiny blue eyes, had rarely seemed so excited. It wasn’t the same excitement as when he was on a skateboard, trying out new tricks or going up against strong skaters. Reki couldn’t quite explain the difference, but it was there. Langa seemed genuinely excited, not calculating in his excitement or expecting anything. It was an excitement that had a thousand butterflies blossom in Reki’s chest and stomach. It was an excitement that had him falling even more in love with Langa, childish, happy, and excited Langa.

“So, where do I start?”

Reki buried his face in his arms to muffle his laughter. He shouldn’t have been laughing – he knew Langa must have been pouting, not liking being laughed at – but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help it, even if he knew it wasn’t nice to be laughing at someone who was trying so hard to do something new, something nice, something for Reki, but then he was looking so cute, staring at Reki so expectantly, waiting for his instructions. Langa was waiting for Reki to guide him around his own kitchen. Langa always waited for Reki to explain to him new things.

“First things first-” Reki got up from his chair, laughter still lingering in his voice as he made his way to his boyfriend, his fingers slipping between the long, slender fingers he adored- “we tie your hair. I refuse to eat blue cookies.”

Langa tilted his head to the side. “What’s wrong with blue cookies? Sure, they look weird and- yeah, the person who made them was weird too, now that I think about it. Weird shit used to happen all the time in that school.”

Reki furrowed his eyebrows as he dragged Langa to the chair in which he had been sitting. “I meant your hair, dude. What the hell is a blue cookie? And why have you seen one? What kind of weird shit went down in Canada?”

Langa shrugged as he took a seat. “Public school. Was weird as fuck sometimes.”

Reki shook his head. There was no point in asking about that. From what he understood about Canadian public schools, it was a free-for-all of kids. From kids writing in sharpie on the floor next to the lockers to kids walking around with a bunch of stickers in their faces, things just sounded so weird. That and there was absolutely no consensus on how the education system worked throughout the country (something about provinces?) or even a consensus on language. Canada was weird, from what Reki understood. And the more Langa talked about whatever he saw, the more Reki felt terrified of Canadian kids.

Langa let himself be backed into the chair, trusting Reki as he always had. He only raised an eyebrow as Reki settled in his lap. But as soon as fingers were running through his hair, pulling it back to assess the situation, Langa melted, his head falling back with the motion. A content smile appeared on his pretty lips as his eyes shut.

“Don’t fall asleep on me, dude.”

“M’not…”

Reki chuckled, still racking his fingers through the silky blue hair. With Langa not paying attention to what he was doing, Reki knew he had free reign. He could do whatever he wanted with Langa’s hair, from childish pigtails like the twins to a low and messy ponytail to… well, whatever Reki wanted, really. And with that many choices, Reki hesitated. On one hand, he could make a fool out of Langa and laugh a little at him (not in a mean way! Just in a Langa-would-look-funny way), while on the other hand, he could try something new, something that would take time, more time for his fingers to be playing with every strand of hair, more time for him to be this close to Langa.

With a little contemplation and quick attempts to see what would hold Langa’s hair best, Reki settled on braiding. If done correctly, it would hold Langa’s hair back, keeping his bangs out of his face while he baked, and it would mean that Reki would have his fingers tangling with Langa’s hair longer than if he just pulled it back in a half ponytail. Reki had done enough braids in his life to know that they took more time and patience than ponytails or pigtails. He knew that Langa would melt under his touch, sighing contently as his hair was being played with, twisted into a braid.

Reki shifted in Langa’s lap, frowning and huffing as he let the hair fall from his fingers. Initially, getting comfortable on Langa’s lap had been an act of petty revenge, hoping to get him to blush the same way Reki had when Langa crashed on his lap a few days prior, but clearly, it hadn’t worked. Langa was just too cool for all of Reki’s tactics at making him feel embarrassed. Langa never turned red, except on rare occasions like when he first told Reki that he liked him or when he said ‘I love you’ for the first time. Langa was too cool for blushing, which Reki found terribly unfair, given how easy it was to get him to blush. Just a smile of Langa’s could get him to flush, nerves twisting in his stomach.

No matter how he looked at it, there was no way Reki was getting any work done from that angle. Not only was Langa extremely distracting, but there was also no good way to braid his hair back without being behind him. So Reki got up only to be pulled back down, Langa’s eyes snapping wide open, hands gripping Reki’s hips.

“Where you going?”

“I can’t tie your hair like this, you clingy baby. I’m not going far if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“But you’re warm. Don’t go away?”

Reki chuckled as he tapped Langa’s nose. “You’re so clingy, you know that?” Langa’s pout was one of the cutest things Reki had ever seen. Langa’s childish dramatic displays were just so fun, so different from how he acted when his walls were up. “But I really gotta get up, dude. Otherwise, you’re never gonna get to those cookies.”

Langa finally gave in, grumbling a little as his grip on Reki loosened, just enough for him to slip away. His sour mood quickly faded away as Reki’s fingers found their way back into his hair, his content smile reappearing, his eyes falling shut once more. Langa might have been too cool to blush, but he still had his weaknesses.

Reki hummed as he twisted the blue hair away from Langa’s face, a braid on each side of his head before coming together in a ponytail at the back of his head. Strands poked out from the braids, too short to be braided back smoothly, but they held rather well as Reki tied them off with one of the many colorful elastics that decorated his wrists.

Those were a courtesy of Koyomi, an annoying little sister who always forgot to tie her hair until it was too late. After a few times of hearing her complain, Reki had gotten into the habit of carrying a few elastics around, which seemed to come in handy for everyone with relatively long hair around him. At first, he had stored them in his bag, then they had migrated to his pockets until they found their way around his wrists. Now, he was just known as that guy that carried hair ties around, which the girls in his class seemed to really take advantage of, asking him for elastics whenever they needed some. And Reki didn’t mind helping out, though it was a little annoying to never get them back. There were certain colors that he really liked having as they matched his hoodies, not that he would tell anyone that.

After one last assessment of his work, Reki grinned as his chin dropped onto Langa’s shoulder. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, his arm draped over Langa’s other shoulder, slightly crouched, but if it meant he could be close to Langa, then it was worth it.

“All done.”

Langa shifted ever so slightly, just enough to be looking at Reki rather than at the kitchen sink. He was smiling, that pretty smile that Reki loved so much.

“You should play with my hair more often.”

A light chuckled rumbled through Reki as he pressed a kiss to Langa’s shoulder. “You really like that, don’t you?”

“It feels nice. You’re good with your hands.”

It was an innocent remark. Reki knew that it had to be, because if it was Langa, there was no other option. There weren’t any dirty undertones to the remark, he knew that, but that didn’t stop the blush from exploding under Reki’s skin. There wasn’t any kind of raunchy joke in what Langa was saying, yet Reki still felt the twist in his gut as he straightened out, brushing off dust that he knew wasn’t there and tugging on the hem of his hoodie. Nervous laughter bubbled out of him, his eyes refusing to focus on anything.

“Right! Okay! So those cookies!”

Langa slowly turned to Reki, eyebrows pinches as he stared blankly. He hadn’t meant it like that, Reki knew that. Langa didn’t have a dirty mind. Langa was a good boy. Langa had never made a sex joke as far as Reki was aware, which meant that he wasn’t going to start now. Especially not when he was staring at Reki, looking so confused.

“What…?” His eyes snapped open, wider than Reki had ever seen in his life. His pale cheeks and ears turned a bright red as he waved his hands around frantically. “Wait! No! I didn’t mean-! I mean, I don’t know, but-!” Langa froze, his eyes squeezing shut as he tensed. He ducked his head as he always did when he embarrassed himself, but his bangs didn’t fall over his eyes as they usually did. There was no curtain protecting him from the outside world as he sat there, curled up on his chair, nails digging into the wood and his face pinched.

With a deep breath, Reki regained his composure. There was still that twist in his gut, that uncertainty, but he wasn’t going to let it linger. Not when Langa was so tense, looking so horrified by his accidental remark.

“S’okay, dude.” Langa’s eyes slowly fluttered open as Reki stroked his cheek tentatively, smiling softly at him. “It’s okay, I know what you meant. I just… I know.”

Despite the verbal reassurance, Langa did not relax. His nails still dug into the wooden chair, his ankles curling around one of the legs of the chair. He seemed so stiff that Reki couldn’t help but press a kiss to the corner of his mouth. Reki knew that he didn’t do it enough, that he didn’t initiate enough kisses or cuddles or anything remotely romantic. He always waited for things to happen, never chasing them, and Reki knew that Langa would have liked him to be a little less tense, a little less hesitant, a little less scared. It wasn’t on Langa to start everything, even if Reki was scared. Even if he was terribly afraid of doing something wrong. So maybe that was why he had pressed a kiss to Langa’s mouth, the touch making the boy melt against him, tension fading away slowly.

“Don’t worry about it. Really.” A small smile traced Langa’s lips as Reki pressed another quick peck to his mouth. “But you really should get back to those cookies. You know, if you want them ready before next week?”

Langa’s fingers curled around Reki’s, cold winter against Reki’s natural summer heat.

“Can you… Can you help me a bit?”

Reki nodded enthusiastically as he pulled Langa off his chair. It was so easy to grin around him, natural as breathing. And Reki loved helping. He loved feeling useful to those he cared about. He loved feeling like others could count on him, no matter what. So whatever Langa needed, Reki would be there. Whatever Langa needed him to do, Reki would do it with a grin.

“So, first step is,” Langa stared at his phone, scrolling up and down on the cookie recipe he had found earlier, “heat the oven.”

Reki leaned against the table and watched as Langa fiddled with the buttons and knobs of the oven, his whole face pinched in concentration. Reki felt the tightness in his chest, the butterflies crashing and fluttering against his heart. He felt all his emotions bubbling up in him, ready to spill out, spill until all he knew was Langa’s adorable concentrated expression, spill until all he knew was the sweetness of Langa’s chewed lips, spill until all he knew was Langa. Langa with his serious focus, messing with the oven as if it were a time machine that required the utmost precision to avoid the collapse of the whole universe.

“So, now that that’s done,” Langa straightened out and turned back to Reki, pulling his phone out once more to check the recipe, “we need to start mixing things.”

“Did you read the whole paragraph before starting?”

“Yes.” A beat of silence. Langa glanced down at this phone, eyes skirting over the screen as he quickly scrolled down before bouncing back up to find Reki’s. “Yes, I did.”

Laughter broke from Reki’s lips as he made his way next to Langa, shoulders bumping against each other. “Alright, you tell me what you want me to do and I’m on it.”

One by one, Langa listed off the ingredients that he needed. Reki made his way around the kitchen, opening cabinet after cabinet, trying his best to find where most of the ingredients were hidden. This wasn’t his kitchen; he didn’t know how Mrs. Hasegawa organized her kitchen, but he managed. The flour was already out, sugar had been found, eggs from the fridge, and all the extra little things that made cookies soft and sweet had been eventually spotted. One by one, all the ingredients that Langa had listed off found themselves on the table next to the bowl Langa had taken out earlier.

Reki slid back into his chair, chin resting on his folded arms against the table as he watched Langa measure his ingredients one by one. He read the amounts to Langa who seemed to struggle a little, spilling next to the measuring cups as he poured or splashing as he mixed with vigor. A literal child in the kitchen, but Reki didn’t have the heart to get him to calm down. He seemed to be having so much fun, his blue eyes sparkling like snowflakes under the warm afternoon sun. As long as he wasn’t the one stuck wiping everything down, Reki would let Langa be, let him have fun with his messy attempt at making cookies.

“Dude!” Reki coughed, waving his hand around. “Be more careful with the flour! That shit is volatile!”

“I didn’t think-!” Langa scrunched his nose before sneezing into his arm. “I didn’t think it would explode like that! It doesn’t do that in movies!”

The white cloud fluttered around before falling onto the counters and floor, snowfall right there in the kitchen. The impromptus blizzard had Reki chuckling and rubbing at his nose.

“Watch a cooking show and you’ll see you’re supposed to be careful with your ingredients, man.”

“Well, I’m sorry I don’t go looking for things that don’t exactly interest me. And all you send me are skating vids, so maybe this is on you. Maybe you,” Langa’s blue eyes narrowed onto Reki, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, “should start sending me baking videos instead.”

A sly smirk pulled at the corner of Reki’s mouth as he flicked more flour in Langa’s direction. Langa yelped, sneezing again.

“Maybe I will; no more skating for you until you learn how to be careful with flour.”

Langa shook his head, rolling his eyes and rubbing the flour out of his nose, but he didn’t bother concealing his pretty smile. “Pass me the chocolate.”

Reki slid the bag across the table, but not without stealing a handful of chocolate chips which he immediately stuffed in his mouth. Langa raised an eyebrow at him as he poured into the bowl a lot more chocolate chips than he was probably supposed to, but then again, when was there ever too much chocolate?

“Those are for the cookies, Reki.”

“C’mon! It’s chocolate! You know I never have at home.”

Langa gave the batter a mix, trying to spread the chocolate chips equally throughout the dough. Reki stretched over the table, stealing some of the cookie dough and plopping it in his mouth before Langa could swat him with the wooden spoon he was using.

“Stop stealing my cookies! And stop complaining. You have a bunch of sweet at your place.”

“Never for long.” Reki licked his thumb, getting the last of the dough he had managed to grab. “Everyone hogs them, so I barely get any.”

“I buy you sweet almost every day.”

“A personal choice?”

Reki almost missed the eyebrow raise and the playful smile as Langa turned on his heel, fetching two spoons from a drawer. “Are you telling me to stop?”

“What?” Reki took advantage of Langa’s turned back, stealing more cookie dough. He knew he wasn’t supposed to, but raw cookie dough was just too good to pass up. “Never!”

Langa sighed as he came back to his bowl. Reki had successfully taken more dough, but he had left so much evidence that it was impossible for Langa to not know.

Giggles broke from Reki’s lips as he covered his head with his arms, ducking for coverage as Langa hit him repeatedly with his wooden spoon.

“Stop stealing my cookies!”

“Then stop leaving it unattended, dude! And pass the chocolate, I want more.”

Langa huffed, (sorta) gently smacking Reki on the head one last time before handing him the bag of chocolate chips. “Just don’t eat them all. My mom likes having some with her lunches and I don’t want to be scolded when she inevitably believes that I am the one who ate them all.”

Quiet calm fell back in the kitchen, Reki plopping chocolate chip after chocolate chip into his mouth while Langa went over his recipe once more, making sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. Reki watched as Langa muttered English words, his eyes glancing around the kitchen, pointing at everything he put into the dough. And once he seemed satisfied, he got to work, scooping the dough with his two spoons and desperately trying to make them into perfect little balls. Reki watched as Langa struggled, groaning every time he dropped a spoon or when the dough didn’t fall the way he wanted. It was a little sad, just watching him try so hard yet fail so miserably.

Reki felt Langa tense, his breath hitching, as Reki’s arms caging him against the table. His hands found Langa’s, warm palms guiding the repetitive motion of scooping dough with one spoon and scraping it off with the other, while his chin rested against Langa’s shoulder. And under his touch, Langa melted, leaning back into Reki, relaxing against his chest. And just like that, Reki was snuggling his boyfriend, smiling into his shoulder as he helped him prepare the cookies for the oven.

“It’s really just,” Reki did the motion once more, scoop and scrape, his fingers tightening around Langa’s. “Just like that. You don’t have to try to get them all round and cute. They’re gonna melt in the oven anyway.”

Langa huffed, but still, he turned his head just enough to press a kiss into Reki’s hair. “I know how to make cookies, you know. I’ve watched you make enough and it’s not the first time I’m making them.”

“Really?” Reki nuzzled Langa’s shoulder, muffling his giggles. “Because you’re really shit at this, dude.”

“Thanks. Not my fault I rather just buy them instead of struggling to make them.”

“Correction-” Reki pressed a kiss to Langa’s jaw, grinning into his skin- “you steal the cookies I have at home.”

Laughing came as natural as breathing when it came to Langa and his dramatics. Laughing was inevitable when he was whipping his head to the side to look at Reki, his eyes big and blue and bewildered. And when his voice was cracking, pitchy and funny, it was impossible to not laugh, happy and bright.

“You give those to me! And your mom insisted I bring home the last batch!”

“That’s not how I remember it going.”

“Well then, if you’re just going to insult me,” Langa shook Reki off, his arms falling to his side before looping around Langa’s waist, his whole body snuggling closer to his boyfriend’s, “you’re not having any of these.”

“You’re probably gonna end up eating them all anyway, dude.”

Langa huffed. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t. In fact,” Reki nuzzled Langa’s shoulder once more, bumping his nose against the skin right below Langa’s jaw, “if I remember correctly,” he grinned into the skin, “you said you loved me just yesterday.”

Langa’s hands froze mid-scoop, his whole body tensing against Reki. A wildfire ignited under his skin, the snow-white skin turning to a blaze. Wildfire like never seen before. Langa was too cool for blushing, at least until he was reminded of his sudden love declaration over a late-night meal, Reki offering him the remains of his fries.

Langa’s shoulders untensed, sagging a little as he returned to his cookie dough.

“I meant it,” he whispered, his voice a little scratchy, tainted with embarrassment. “I meant it when I said I love you.”

“I know.” Another smile was pressed onto Langa’s shoulder. “I know you mean it.”

“I love you, Reki.”

Reki’s heart flipped in his chest. Sure, he had brought it up to tease Langa, but hearing him say it again, it left Reki as big a mess as it did the night before. It left him with those thousands of butterflies in his chest and stomach; it left him with giggles threatening to break from his lips; it left him with an explosion of color in his face and ears. Because Langa loved him, truly and wholly, and he meant it. Langa had meant the words he said. He never would have said them if he hadn’t meant them. He wasn’t the type to say what Reki wanted to hear. Langa spoke honestly and freely, even if his words sometimes came out clumsily and tripping over each other.

“I know you do.”

Something squeezed in Reki’s chest as he squeezed Langa’s middle before peeling himself off of the boy. He had wanted to stay there, warm against Langa’s body as he worked methodically, scoop and scrape, but the tray had been filled, 24 cookies laying neatly before the two.

He watched as Langa made his way to the oven, carefully pushing the tray in without burning himself. He was beautiful like that, crouched in front of the oven, looking through the glass door. He was beautiful like that, his hair pulled back, strands starting to slip undone. Langa was beautiful in every way possible, no matter what he was doing. And Reki loved him. Reki loved him in every way possible. Reki loved him, loved his shaky hands, loved his funny concentrated faces, loved his blue silky hair, loved his impulsivity, loved his kindness, loved him from head to toe, inside and out. Reki loved Langa, but whenever the words started to form, they clogged in the base of his throat, refusing to come out. Saying I love you turned out to be a lot more difficult than he had anticipated.

“Don’t feel obligated to say it back,” Langa had said the night before, his face flushed as his fingers tangled with Reki’s on his lap. “Only say if when you feel like it. Take all the time you need. And,” his smile faltered for a moment, but as soon as those sky-blue eyes met Reki’s, the smile eased its way back onto Langa’s lips, “if you never feel like saying it back, that’s also okay. I don’t want you saying it because you feel like you have to. Only when it feels right. Say it back to me when you’ll mean it. Because I mean it. I mean it when I say I love you.”

Only when it feels right. When would that be? It always felt like the right moment, but at the same time, it never felt like the right moment. Saying I love you for the first time, it had to be special, didn’t it? It had to be something straight out of a Hollywood movie. It had to be grand gestures and memorable. But then again, Langa had said it in the dead of the night, in a shitty 24-hour burger joint, over a half-empty carton of fries that Reki had pushed his way. Yet his eyes had shined like a thousand snowflakes under the clear moonlight, blurting out that I love youbefore clasping his hands over his mouth. His cheeks had flushed as Reki felt everything inside him twist, scared and excited and, and… and in love. Langa was the one saying the magic words, but Reki was the one who was so madly in love at that moment. Or maybe they both were. Maybe that was why Langa was laughing, grinning, fingers intertwining with Reki’s as he said it slower this time, in a way that was so genuinely Langa. No grand gestures. No fireworks. Just Langa and Reki sunken in a shitty booth in the back of an empty restaurant, giggling and grinning and burning up.

“I guess that’s it for now.” Langa got up, brushing off the remaining flour that had clung to his jeans. “We just have to wait now?”

Something strummed through Reki’s entire body, contracting, squeezing, choking. I love you. It was there, hanging on his lips as he watched Langa straighten out, beautiful Langa with his gorgeous blue eyes skirting over the kitchen. It pounded against his chest as he really took in the scene: a messy kitchen, soft white noise bouncing against the windows, a beautiful boy leaning against a counter. It was there, everywhere. And it had Reki dreaming of a future, one with Langa in it, one where they would have a place all to themselves where they could bake cookies together and just be happy, infinitely happy, forever the two of them.

Reki knew he could be reckless. Not like Langa, but he didn’t care for the scrapes and bruises he’d get when he tried a new trick on his board. He was impulsive by nature. If he wasn’t held back, he would be on a constant shopping spree, adding even more colorful hoodies and t-shirts to his closet. Reki rarely thought things through to the end, but when it came to his heart, he was calculating to a fault. When it came to his heart, he got so caught up in his head that he lost all his impulsivity, all his recklessness. When it came to his heart, Langa had to be the first to act otherwise nothing would happen.

What was Reki afraid of? Everything. Nothing. If he acted on impulse, maybe he’d go too far, too fast. If he acted as reckless as he did when he skated, then maybe Langa would realize that he was too much. And what if what he did was weird? What would he do then? Reki had never been in a relationship, he didn’t know how he was meant to act. And asking Langa what he was supposed to do, how he was supposed to act- no, that was too embarrassing. So he let Langa take the reigns on the relationship, even if he knew that Langa would have liked him to be just a little more assertive, just a little more sure of himself, just a little less afraid. He knew that it wasn’t right to have Langa make all the decisions for him, but Reki didn’t want to be pushy. At least, normally he didn’t like being pushy. But with I love you right on the tip of his tongue, love, desire hazing his mind, well…

“Hey.”

Langa jumped, his eyes growing three sizes as Reki pushed him into the counter, arms caging him once more, lips hovering over his. Langa’s breath was warm and uneven against Reki’s burning skin, something close to choked laughter. Langa was almost always the one initiating kisses and cuddles, but when Reki found the courage to act on his impulses, it always caught him off guard, leaving him a blushing mess.

“Hi?”

“You’re pretty, you know that?”

Langa relaxed, his shock starting to fade, unlike his blush. Arms circled around Reki’s waist, pulling him flush against Langa. Pretty laughter broke from his lips as they met Langa’s in a kiss.

“Is that so?” Langa said against Reki’s lips. “I don’t think you say it enough.”

They fit like the two last pieces of a puzzle, perfect against each other. With Langa’s arms around Reki’s waist and Reki’s arms around Langa’s neck, there was no leaving one another. Neither one was ready to let go, heads tilting to the side as the kisses left the realm of innocent pecks.

“You’re,” Reki gasped between kisses, “you’re so freaking beautiful. It’s,” another kiss, hot and wet, “it’s almost unfair.”

Langa was truly intoxicating, from the way his lips would quirk into a smile as he would press another kiss to Reki’s lips, slow and deep, to the way his fingers were fiddling with the stray threads on the hem of Reki’s hoodie. Langa was danger and Reki knew damn well that he was losing all his senses with every kiss that was pressed to his mouth. Langa was everything, good and perfect and so very hot.

It really didn’t take much for Reki to be breathless. All it took was a laugh of Langa’s, a touch of Langa’s, a kiss of Langa’s. Everything about Langa had him soaring high. Just one look with those heavy-lidded eyes, a flash of blue behind those long lashes, it was enough for Reki to lose himself completely to Langa. I love you.

“And you’re,” Reki laughed, panted, almost cried, “you’re so amazing. At absolutely everything.”

“Stop,” a kiss was pressed to the corner of Reki’s mouth, “stop talking.”

Reki didn’t need to be told twice, not when Langa’s mouth was pressed to his once more, their warm breaths mixing. Reki didn’t need to be told twice, not when Langa’s cold fingers were digging into Reki’s burning skin as he held him firmly against him. Reki didn’t need to be told twice, not when Langa’s tongue was licking at the seam of his lips, pressing against his, swiping against the roof of his mouth. Reki didn’t need to be told twice, not when he was whimpering into Langa’s mouth, lost to his touch, to his kisses, to his love.

Strands of blue hair slipped through Reki’s fingers, slipping from the elastic as he fisted at it. And with the little tug, Langa’s breath hitched and he melted against Reki, his fingers digging deeper into his sides.

“You,” Reki ran his fingers through Langa’s hair, freeing it from its braids as Langa let out a choked-out moan, “you really like that.”

“No?” More choked-up sounds rang against Reki’s ear as he trailed kisses along Langa’s jaw, his fingers following the natural line of his spine. Another whine as fingers moved from Reki’s hip to his arm, squeezing hard enough to leave a bruise, body curving under the touch. “Shut, shut up.”

“Make me.”

It had meant to be a joke, teasing and taunting, but as Langa’s ankle curled around Reki’s, flipping him and crashing his back into the counter, everything in Reki burned. His breath hitched, his heart hammering against his chest as Langa licked at his lips, biting his kiss-swollen lips, eyes darting down as he ran his thumb over Reki’s bottom lip.

“As you wish.”

His voice was raspy, low and… And as Langa’s fingers found their way under Reki’s chin, tilting his head up as he pressed their lips together, Reki felt himself slip. His arms tightened around Langa’s neck as Langa steadied him, hips flush as he held himself up against the counter. Langa. Always Langa. Langa with his addictive kisses. Langa with his sweet kisses. Langa who always knew exactly what he was doing. Langa who always knew exactly what he wanted. Langa who never hesitated. Langa that Reki loved so much. Langa that Reki loved most in the world.

“I,” Reki pulled back as Langa chased, another kiss cutting him off. “I love you.”

The words broke out before Reki could swallow them back, a whisper against Langa’s lips. Lips that froze, the next kiss never coming. A wave of anxiety crashed against Reki’s chest, choking him. Had he messed up? Langa had told him to shut up, but he didn’t. He kept talking because all he did was talk. He was always talking, talking too much when no one wanted to hear him. Reki didn’t know how to shut up and now he ruined a good moment because he just couldn’t hold his words back any longer.

“Really?”

Langa broke into a grin, his eyes twinkling with those blue snowflakes, and Reki couldn’t help the smile that grew against his lips. His voice had come out a few octaves higher, sounding so excited and happy. And as he glowed, shined, beautiful and overjoyed, Reki melted.

“Yeah, yeah, man. I mean,” there was laughter in his voice, lighter and higher than usual as he cupped Langa’s cheek, his thumb rubbing soothing circles into the soft skin, “yeah, I do mean it. I love you, Langa. Have for a long time.”

“I love you too. So, so much.”

Both broke into giggles against each other, wide grins pressed together in a poor attempt at a kiss. It was hard to kiss when they were both smiling so big, but it was even harder to pull apart. All Reki wanted was to be close to Langa, whispering “I love you” over and over against his boyfriend’s lips. All it took was saying once for Reki to want to say it over and over, every day until he couldn’t speak anymore. He was ready to say it now and forever.

Slow kisses filled Reki’s head and heart. There was no need to rush; they had forever, after all. There was need to be rushed and heated. Things could be taken one step at a time, slow and steady. They could enjoy the calm, peaceful moment, live blissfully in the present. And when Langa was touching him like that, his thumb rubbing comforting circled in the small of Reki’s back, it was wonderful. Peaceful and calm and so, so comforting. Nothing could pull them apart. Nothing could ruin-

Reki yelped as the smoke detector blared throughout the apartment. Langa scrambled away, muttering English curses under his breath as he opened every window in the room before pulling the oven door open to take out the burnt cookies.

Reki simply watched, frozen against the counter, his hand covering half his face. He felt the mixture of horror and laughter bubbling up in his chest as he watched Langa run around, controlling the situation. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the blaring alarm to shut off, the apartment plunged back into silence. And when Langa crashed next to Reki, elbows pressed into the counter and pushing his bangs away from his eyes as he huffed, Reki dropped his head onto Langa’s shoulder, moving closer.

“Well shit, man. Didn’t you put on a timer or something?”

Langa pursed his lips as he glanced at Reki. “I was going to. But then someone,” he flicked Reki’s forehead playfully, but Reki didn’t miss the blush creeping up his neck, “jumped me before I could. And then I forgot.”

Reki giggled into Langa’s shoulder, arms wrapping around his middle to hug him. When Langa put it like that, it was a little embarrassing. Reki who had always been so careful, who was always so calculating when it came to his heart, who was also always so caught up in his own head when it came to love and Langa, he had let himself get carried away. He had let himself get so carried away that the cookies had burnt. He was the reason their cookies were charred and good for the trash.

“Reki? Reki!” Reki glanced up at Langa who was shifting to face him. Langa held his face so gently, his thumb stroking Reki’s damp cheeks. “Reki, what’s wrong?”

“I burned your cookies,” Reki laughed. He felt the tears in the corner of his eyes, he felt them streaming down his cheeks, but they weren’t from sadness or distress, even if he was gasping, choking, hiccupping as Langa continued brushing the tears away. These were tears of laughter, purely joyful and ridiculous. “Your cookies burned because of me, man!”

“No, no, my love.” Langa peppered kisses all over Reki’s face, from his cheeks to his nose to his eyebrow to his forehead. “It’s not your fault, my love. I would have burned them regardless.”

Reki felt his heart flutter as he raised an eyebrow at Langa. “My love?”

Langa froze mid-kiss, his fingers going rigid against Reki’s cheeks as he tensed. “Too soon?”

Was it too soon? Reki shook his head. It absolutely was not too soon. Reki kept shaking his head, laughter sweet on his lips as he beckoned Langa closer.

“Never.”

It had always been a dream of Reki’s to be called “my love.” It was one of those things he had heard in movies and in tv shows when he was young, and ever since he had wanted to find himself someone who would call him all those cute pet names that they said in his mom’s shows. My love. Sweetheart. Darling. Honey. All those cute little pet names that would make his heart flutter when he thought of someone saying them to him.

With time, he had given up on that dream – “those are just for girls,” his friends had told a few years back when he had first expressed his desire to be called so – but hearing the pet name come out of Langa’s mouth, it had Reki’s heart soaring. They weren’t just for girls. It wasn’t just a stupid fantasy of his. It wasn’t because Langa was there, whispering his name followed by “my love” over and over into his skin, pressing kisses all over his face, damp cheeks and all.

When Langa’s lips met Reki’s in a kiss, it was sweet as ever. Langa’s arms found their home around Reki’s waist while Reki’s fingers fiddled with a stray lock of blue hair, their smiles pressed together. It was just so easy to be in love with Langa, beautiful Langa, beautiful Langa with his funny nose that would bump against Reki’s every time he would pull back to breath before pressing another kiss to Reki’s lips. Beautiful Langa who only seemed to only care for Reki. Beautiful Langa who called Reki his love and meant it.

“You’re,” Reki rubbed his nose against Langa’s affectionately, “you’re so shit at making cookies, you know that?”

Langa shut his eyes as he took a deep breath, his usual half-hearted annoyance appearing on his face. Reki chuckled against him, shaking the two ever so slightly. It was just so much fun to tease Langa, lovingly making fun of him.

“Ever the romantic, aren’t you?”

“You said you liked honesty, so I’m just being honest with you. You’re absolute shit at baking, man, but you’re my shitty baker.”

“Can’t,” Langa inhaled sharply, “can’t I have just one nice moment?”

Reki twirled a lock of Langa’s hair around his finger before pushing himself up, catching Langa’s lips in a kiss. “We are having a nice moment. You just don’t like that you’re finally bad at something.” Another short and sweet kiss was pressed to Langa’s lips. “But I still love you. I love you even if you would be an absolutely shitty househusband.”

“I would be-! Wait, backtrack.” Langa quirked an eyebrow as a sly smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. “You tell me you love me for the first time like 20, 30 minutes ago and you’re already thinking of marriage?” Reki gulped as Langa leaned in, close enough to feel his every short breath, but far enough to not be able to kiss him quiet. “Moving a little fast, don’t you think?”

“I-!” Reki huffed, straightening himself out. He felt the burn in his ears and in his face, but he persisted. He was not going to be tongue-tied. “You know what? Yeah. I am. But only because you-” he jabbed Langa’s chest, Langa who was laughing so freely and prettily- “started it by saying you wanted to skate infinitely with me! So, who’s moving fast now, huh?”

“Bold of you to assume I’d say yes.”

“Excuse me?” Reki was taken aback by the statement, especially when the implication hit him like a truck. Or a car. He scrunched his nose, eyes narrowing onto Langa. “Well bold of you to assume I’d be the one proposing.”

“I confessed first!” Langa’s eyes were big and round as he held a hand to his heart. “And I said I love you first! The least you can do is… It’s the least you could do!”

“Fine!” Reki pushed himself up onto the counter, his legs dangling in the open air. His head fell to the side as he swayed side to side. A grin stretched across his face as he stuck his tongue out playful. “I’ll propose the day you manage to make me an amazing cookie. The best cookie I’ll ever eat.”

“Oh c’mon! Low blow,” Langa whined, all pouty and cute. “That’s gonna take forever, Reki.”

“Then start working on it, Pretty Boy.”

Langa huffed, peeling himself off of the counter only to squeeze his way between Reki’s knees. Determination sparkled in his eyes as his entire focus fixated on his boyfriend. His fingers dug into Reki’s thighs as the boy’s ankles hooked behind his back, pulling his hips into the counter. And as soon as Reki’s hands were cupping his face, all signs of a pout faded.

“You know what?” Reki hummed, playing with the blue bangs as he had the habit of doing. It kept his hands busy while he focused on his boyfriend’s moving mouth. “I’m gonna make you the best fucking cookie ever and then you’ll be stuck with me until the end of infinity.”

A smile pulled on the corners of Reki’s mouth as he leaned down, meeting Langa in the middle for yet another sweet kiss. He had lost count of how many they had shared in the past hour or so, but Reki couldn’t be bothered by that. When it was just him and Langa, it didn’t matter how many kisses were shared, as long as they could be close, smiling and having fun. But it definitely felt good to be able to kiss Langa so freely, alone in the apartment. There was nothing to worry about as Langa’s fingers dug into his jeans, pushing himself up, chasing Reki’s mouth every time he pulled back to laugh. There was nothing to worry about as his fingers raked through Langa’s hair, playing with the locks as he got to kiss his boyfriend. There was nothing to worry about, not even the thousands of butterflies that erupted in his stomach, not even the giggles that threatened to break from his lips, not even the clumsy attempts at copying Langa and the clumsier attempts at making Langa feel as good as he did. Reki didn’t have to worry about anything because Langa too seemed lost to his touch, to his kisses, to his love. Because just like Reki, Langa was in love.

“I can’t wait,” he breathed against Langa’s lips, pretty and pink and oh so sweet. “I can’t wait to love you forever.”