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Boxes are scattered everywhere and it’s hot in that basement. Nahyuta wipes their brow again, sighing as they stay focused. This needs to be done.
“I wish you told me you were a hoarder,” Nahyuta grumbles, digging through the boxes. “You have so much stuff.”
“I am going to make you watch that hoarder’s show. Then you will realize having to organize some boxes is normal, Monk.” Simon sighs, wiping his brow, “Do you need to take a break? You’re awfully cranky.”
“I would rather just get this done.”
Spring cleaning. For some reason, they thought they would like it, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. Nahyuta had heard of the ritual, but never really had to engage in it. They’ve always been a minimalist and always assumed Simon was too. They were wrong. Simon, turns out, actually has a ton of boxes in the basement.
They’ve barely dented through anything and it’s been an hour.
“You can probably donate all the shirts,” Simon sighs, looking at a shirt that definitely is too small for him.
“Okay. A growth spurt, I assume?” Nahyuta takes the shirt, tossing it in a bag.
“Yeah, I gained some weight over the years too.”
“Such is life,” Nahyuta shrugs it off. “So have I. You know, I am surprised how many notebooks you have. Were you an aspiring writer?”
“I...You should toss those. I haven’t looked at them in years.”
“You paused,” Nahyuta picks one of them up, about ready to open it as he notices Simon holding his breath. “Do you mind if I look through them?”
Simon pauses, then stands up and walks over to his partner. “Let me look at it first.”
“Of course,” Nahyuta hands the notebook over as they reach out to another book. It’s far more heavy than the one they handed to their partner. “Oh, your psychology texts.”
“Yes, I’d rather donate those.”
“Do you wish to not have these anymore?”
“They’re outdated,” Simon hums, looking through each page. Nahyuta can’t help but notice how long it’s taking him.
“Taking a trip down nostalgia road?”
“Yes,” Simon affirms. “This isn’t a notebook. This is Metis’s diary, actually.”
“Oh!” Nahyuta exclaims. “Wouldn’t your sister keep those?”
“If she had known, yes. She probably thought the exterior of the journal was something that I had.” Simon pauses. “I’m actually going to give this to Athena. I think it would help her heal if she had this.”
“Oh, yes. I heard her relationship with her mother was...complicated.” Nahyuta frowns.
Nahyuta doesn’t pry where they don’t belong, but Juniper has mentioned a few offhanded comments as they gardened together. Metis wasn’t a bad mother by any stretch of the means, but she was emotionally distant to a child that needed an abundance of attention.
Almost like their own mother...
“Yes, it was. I think this will help drown any doubts about her mother.” Simon hums, wiping something from his eye.
“Are you crying?”
“No, there’s too much bloody dust down here.” Simon bluffs, then closes the book. “I better go through all the books myself. Just put all the clothes in a donation pile. Oh, except one thing.”
“What would that be?”
“If you see kimonos or jinbaori, I do want to keep those.” Simon instructs as he moves over to the notebook box. Nahyuta switches over, clearing out so many clothes without pondering too much on the memories of each item helps.
Simon examines each book carefully, admiring each one as if he’s found priceless treasure. He immediately turns bright red on one of them, tossing it in the trash without looking.
“What would that be?” Nahyuta asks, following the amazing toss. It had landed right in the bin.
“...Self insert fanfiction.” Simon grumbles.
Nahyuta immediately laughs, crawling to the trash can. “Please let me read it.”
“No. You are not rummaging through trash like a raccoon.” Simon protests with a bit of a smirk. “I’ll send Taka after you.”
Nahyuta snickers, “Oh, I see that look. You want me to try, don’t you?”
“Perhaps.”
“Maybe later.” Nahyuta knows better than to play Simon’s game. They grab another box of clothes, putting aside the traditional clothing. They pick up a yellow kimono. “Oh, this is tiny. Was this an impulse purchase you made for future children?”
Simon looks up with a look of shock and if Nahyuta isn’t mistaken, horror, in his eyes. This must be very important.
“Oh, shit!” Simon’s standing up, scrambling over as he almost snatches out of Nahyuta’s hands. “That’s where that went! Aura called me asking for it and we thought it had accidentally been tossed.”
“Huh?”
“It’s...too small for her anyway. I was supposed to store this in my room for Athena’s twelfth birthday. Her mother made this for her.”
“Oh? It looks like it was crafted by professionals.”
“Yes, it does. She spent months on it. It was supposed to be a surprise. We were going to try to take Athena to a festival that following year. She had...made so much progress with her sensory overload issues. We thought she was ready.” Simon explains. “When she was younger, Athena loved exploring and poking her head wherever she could, but I had a chest she never could get into. Metis asked me to store it in there.”
“Why her twelfth?”
“Well, that was her next birthday before Metis passed,” Simon frowns. “I…”
Nahyuta was going to playfully snatch the self insert fanfiction to tease him for a moment by reading it outloud, but it seems this spring cleaning has really unearthed some horrible memories. They stand up, then grab Simon’s arm.
“I think you’re the one that needs to take a break. Come, let’s get lunch and donate what we already have.” Nahyuta offers, “I’ll pay.”
Simon can only nod, biting his lip to not cry. Something he's gotten more comfortable doing around his partner lately. “I better call Athena to get her things.”
“Okay, but we should get everything sorted first. She can decide what she would like to do with her sentimental items.”
“Yeah.” Simon places the kimono down as Nahyuta helps pack the items that are to be donated in the bags. They grab his shoulder, offering a welcoming smile to help calm Simon down.
“Are you sure you don’t want to donate your works of art?” Nahyuta teases, holding up the journal with the fanfiction.
That causes Simon to laugh a bit, “You better bloody keep that in the trashcan. I told you. I’d send Taka after you.”
“I will, I will,” Nahyuta promises, tossing it back where it belongs. After a moment of awkward silence, they turn to Simon. “Will you be alright?”
“Yeah, I think so. Thank you for helping me clear out the basement today.” Simon actually smiles for the first time today. “I meant to do it before moving.”
“It’s been a busy year,” Nahyuta hums. “Also, we are not done. We still have quite a few things to look through. I never did anything like this before. I didn’t think it would cause so much mental stress on you.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s common. A lot of useless junk and trinkets are connected to memories,” Simon explains. “I just didn’t realize I had so much stuff from before I went to jail. Aura lied when she said she threw it all away.”
“Do you blame her for that? At one point, that was probably all she thought she had left of you.”
Simon doesn’t respond, closing the box he was working on. Grabbing Athena’s items, he goes upstairs without another word to Nahyuta. They pout as they grab the bags full of shirts, following him upstairs.
Did they go too far?
Nahyuta decides that while they’re loading the van to apologize. They turn to Simon, and sigh.
“I-”
“No need to apologize.” Simon interrupts, throwing the last bag in. “I think you had a point. I’m actually glad she ended up keeping those. I’ll admit I’ll need a breather, though. So, to Whet Soba we go.”
“Alright,” Nahyuta hums. “To Whet Soba we go, then back to memory lane.”
“Yes, I’d rather get this all done today. Spring cleaning is always quite a bit of a chore.” Simon frowns, looking down at the wheel. “It’ll be nothing once we get remodeling the basement and start building the other rooms.”
“With that, new memories, I suppose?”
Simon smiles at that, keeping his eyes on the road. “Yes, I think that is a good way to view it.”