#in the wonder egg ep from last week it was rika’s birthday too. twins <3 watching it was just :( aoi is a good friend

[lizbotw]

“hold on, stop, you’re doing it all wrong.”

the brush paused midway in your grip, black nail polish blotting a dark moon on your nail. sukuna pulled a chair up to your desk, abandoning the pile of papers he’d been steadily working through on the bed. you let him take the bottle from you with a muted clink of glass, staring at him uncertainly. “ryo? what-”

“where is your base coat?”

“base...” you thought for a moment. “well i...”—he was already gently tugging your hand over to his side of the table. you let it happen, duly noting how warm his palms were—“just didn’t feel like doing one this time. i don’t-”

“you always need one. don’t you want it to last?” you absentmindedly tilted forward when he leaned to press a kiss to your cheek, chastising you. “what am i going to do with you?” a brush of lips against your temple followed the sentiment and he murmured the words into the skin, smirk carving its place there, “it’s like you’re helpless without me.”

his breath was warm and gentle, vibrations tickling. you sighed, almost getting so caught up in the feeling you forgot to reply—his words sunk in and in a instant you shoved him away, trying not to smile. “oh, shut up.”

sukuna chuckled, a low, deep sound, and bent to rummage in the bottom drawer of the desk where he knew you kept your nail polish collection.

“oh, no, babe. come on, you don’t have to—” you tried to stop him, laying a hand on his arm, but he shook you off, producing from the sea of bottles a clear one in triumph.

he set about unscrewing the top, continuing to wave off your attempts at intervention. “i want to. going to lose my fucking mind if you start complaining about it chipping again.” satisfied with wiping off the excess polish on the brush, sukuna finally poised it right above your nail. “hold still now.” he added, quite threateningly, mischievous glint in his eyes, “or else.”

you did as you were told, enjoying how he fell into a rhythm of careful strokes. “that was one time.”—sukuna glanced up at you incredulously, memories of past weeks of your complaining coming to mind.—“okay, maybe a few times...,” you corrected yourself in a mumble. not your fault the stupid polish never stayed on at the corners.

there was a few minutes of comfortable silence as he worked. once he finished the first layer—“let it dry or i swear-” (you rolled your eyes when he said that)—next it was the black nail polish you’d originally been trying to apply until you’d been so rudely interrupted. the process was similar to before, sukuna fully focused because he’d be damned if he was about to be told he was bad at this, and you finding it funny how his tongue would occasionally poke out the side of his mouth when he struggled.

pretty, wispy strands of hair fell onto his forehead—with your free hand you brushed them back carefully, trying not to disturb him. you let your touch linger for a moment, carding through the locks. “you look nice like this.”

sukuna smirked, not looking up. “yeah?”

you hummed, distracted by how soft his hair was. “yeah.” the skim of fingertips over the back of your hand still on the table as he held you in place tickled. “you should do things for me more often.”

sukuna sat back for a moment, reaching for a tissue to blot out a smudge, and tilted his head at you. “do you want me to?”

“maybe.”

mystified, he picked back up the brush, eyes cast onto his work once again. “you know i’ll do it if you want.”

you smiled to yourself, choosing to stare off to the side. “yeah, i know.”

after a few layers of the color under sukuna’s expertise, the top coat came.

(“this step is extra important—in case you didn’t know,” sukuna told you pointedly, playfully. you couldn’t stand him sometimes.

“god, shut up.”)

the final step was over before you could complain about your limbs being stiff from sitting in one spot for so long. glossy black nails glimmered as you inspected them in the sunlight—perfect and smooth. you were almost disappointed there was nothing to complain about to get under sukuna’s skin.

“look, now we match.” sukuna flashed his own hands, signature dark colors painted precisely on each finger from when he’d redid them yesterday. “feel honored.”

oh, this was fun. time to knock him down a peg, you decided—you grimaced. “ew. who said i wanted to match with you?”

the same dark-toned fingers were wrapped around your chin in an instant, firm in their grasp. sukuna leaned close, lips curled and teeth peeking out—a few strands of the hair you’d tucked back had come undone again, splayed across his forehead, and you resisted the urge to push them back. “careful.” (what a meaningless warning—he knew you never filtered your words, especially when it came to him.)

instead of taking heed, you smiled, tipping forward to brush your nose against his. “what are you doing?” you asked with the tone of someone who knew exactly what he was doing.

sukuna matched your grin, letting his gaze drop down to your lips when he teased, “don’t i deserve a reward for all my hard work?” the fan of his breath was warm, familiar. this felt just like every other time, didn’t it?

you bit back the desire to close the gap yourself—you would not lose. “i guess you did an okay job.”

sukuna scoffed and, deciding he was above vying for your praise, kissed you instead.