Chapter Text
Rio was gentle waking her when they arrived. Anzu pinked when she realized she’d wrapped herself around his arm in her sleep. She jerked back, knocking their heads together.
“Sorry!!” she said, hopping to her feet and bowing. Rio smiled, punching her upper arm lightly. She looked at him, confused.
“I didn’t mind,” he said smiling. She blushed and straightened, frowning. ”Honestly! It made me feel like I have a shot.” He teased. He loved how pink her face could get.
“In that case I hope I drooled all over you.”
“Oh, you did,” he laughed when she spotted the wet spot over his collarbone and looked absolutely horrified.
She buried her face in her hands.
“Please let me wash that for you,” she said, her voice muffled by her hands.
“If you want to. I have plenty of others.”
“I saw,” she growled, and he remembered her closet half full of his clothing. He held up his hands defensively as she advanced on him. She leapt for him but he was fast, spinning out of the way and running down the aisle of the train.
She finally caught him in the station, but all she did was tug on his ear and make him promise to clean it out. She ran her fingers lightly over his collarbone where the spot she’d made had grown cold. He shivered.
“I’ll wash it,” she sounded dejected. “I had to do laundry anyway.”
“Okay,” he said sweetly.
Walking home, they strolled slowly, enjoying the moonlight and the cool breeze washing over them. He glanced at her. Her eyes were large and fiery even now, framed by dark lashes. She was so beautiful, he wondered vaguely if corporate had chosen her for an easy first assignment. Then he thought of her cat-jumpers and stubbornness and suppressed a laugh. The blue ribbon in her wild red hair shone softly in the light. Her lips were parted slightly, white teeth peeping out. She was smiling happily.
“I had fun today - the balloon, the sky, everything was amazing. Hot air balloons are the new way to travel,” she said. He agreed. “So what did you learn?” she asked, turning her face up toward his in the moonlight.
“You want my notes on your preferences?” he asked, tone teasing.
“You were doing this to research relationships, right. So did this help?” there was a curious glint in her eye and she was leaning toward him. He felt her warmth.
“It did… actually. I should probably tell you…” they had arrived at her house.
She turned on the doorstep to look at him, all her attention unwaveringly fixed to his face. He felt exposed suddenly.
“I’ll tell you after you start your load,” he said with a wink.
“Right.” They went in. Both boys of the house were still up when they arrived, not that Rio was surprised. when he looked evilly at Anzu, completely prepared to egg on his rivals who had already seen his arm around her waist, Anzu rushed him out the door and the boys off to bed.
Rio pretended to leave through the front door and then materialized in Anzu’s bedroom.
Muffled voices said goodnight downstairs, then he could hear the shuffle to various bedrooms. If Anzu was ending up with anyone, he was glad it would be one of these two.
Anzu cursed, grabbing her heart when she opened her bedroom door and saw him.
“Hi!” he said grinning.
“Right, hi,” her eyes dropped to the dried mark on his shoulder. “Laundry time.” With a heave, she grabbed her laundry basket in one arm and held out a hand for his shirt.
Rio quickly pulled the button down open and shrugged out of it, passing it over to her. She was lingering, one hand on his shirt, her eyes on his chest. He raised an eyebrow.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“Yes!” she yanked the shirt and put it in the top of the basket, heading to the laundry room. “Put a shirt on.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, disappearing down the hall.
Rio attempted to follow her. “Ah, ah, ah! You wait here.”
He shrugged when she put a hand on his shoulder to stop him then yanked it back like she’d been burned.
“Okay,” he said. Her bed was very comfortable. Rio rolled around on top of it, enjoying the plushness, messing up her careful arrangement of plushies. He was distracting himself.
When she came back through the door he stopped his squirming and sat up.
“Hey!”
“Hey…” Her voice was slow. She was lingering in the doorway. He took a breath and smiled, patting the bed beside him.
“Why don’t you sit. I need to tell you something.”
She hesitated, then came and sat at his elbow. Anzu stole glances at him, color in her cheeks. Not all of them were at his face, a situation he felt he might have understood better from an outside perspective. He should have put a shirt on. The situation in general was fascinating. He wanted to understand, but first…
“So tonight I think I realized what it means to love,” he said carefully. He glanced at her, she had shifted to face him on the bed, and he mirrored her movement, trying to avoid breaking out in goosebumps even with her large eyes on him. “I think I’ve been learning for a while. I no longer think you should change who you are for love. And if someone loves you truly, they should love you. It also means that if you find love with someone else…” he took a shuddering breath and met her gaze full on. He smiled. “You finding happiness will make me so happy. Even if I’m just the wizard lending you a hand.”
Anzu was silent for a while. She laced their fingers together on the bed, and he felt his heart stutter. She met his gaze.
It was silent in the room. One kitty clock ticked and somewhere a last bird cawed in the night, but other than that, silence fell.
She shifted toward him on the bed, and Rio remained frozen. Electricity crackled in the air between them.
“After a date…” she began, swallowing.
“Yeah,” he whispered.
“It’s not unusual to have a goodnight kiss.”
”…you want me?” he said, his voice low and raspy. It was unrecognizable to him, and Anzu shivered.
His breath caught in his throat. She shifted forward and stopped, he could feel her breath ghosting across his face.
Her beautiful lips were full and kissable. He already had kissed her, twice before, but not like this.
She was waiting for him to close the distance, he realized. He grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger, then brought his lips down to hers. The pressure was gentle at first, just a brush of pressure and breathing. Then his tongue passed over the seam of her lips and she let out a little needy gasp into the silence.
Her mouth opened and she melted, pulling him down to the bed with her. He was beyond shocked at this turn of events. His stomach somersaulted in him, and all he could hear was that needy gasp echoing in his head. He wanted to see if he could get her to make that sound again.
Fingers skated over skin, lips skated over throats, teeth and panting filled the room with heat. She rolled her hips up against him and his jaw aches as he reflexively clenched and rolled his hips back. That needy gasp again.
When Rio finally propped himself up, he was panting. He stared down at her in wonder, carding fingers through her bright hair.
She smiled up at him, laugh sounding like pure joy to his ears. He buried his face in her neck, feeling the damp spots where his lips and tongue had been moments earlier, and blew a raspberry against her skin, causing her to muffle her squeal in her hand in case anyone thought the underwear bandit was back. She scowled up at him and began punching his arm.
“I can’t believe you did that,” he said when he pulled back and looked down at her, wonder in his voice. Her frown melted. She chuckled, then bit her lip.
“Me neither,” she whispered. “Stay with me?” she asked. She hadn’t stopped running her hands over his bare skin since they’d begun, and he was very aware that he was shirtless now.
“Promise,” he said, voice a little gruff. She came back to bed with pajamas and cat-PJs and curled up against his chest.
Rio drifted off holding her, arms wrapped around her back.