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“Iori. Am I a good boyfriend?”
Iori looks up from his book. He jumps a bit when he sees Riku sitting on his knees by the couch, looking at him with wide, open eyes. Almost begging. Sparkling and bright and eager to please. It’s almost all too consuming. Iori bites back the word cute from flying out of his mouth.
Instead, he regards Riku carefully and puts his thumb along the spine of his book. “Of course you are. Have I said something to make you consider otherwise?”
Riku is someone who requires extra affirmation. Not that Iori minds. His boyfriend is simultaneously simple and complex. Simple in the way that if you give him what he wants he is easy to please and deal with. Complex in the way that there were parts of Riku Iori still couldn’t figure out.
One of them being how he got to some of these ridiculous questions…
Riku’s entire demeanor shifts from that of a pouting puppy to that of an excited one . It’s almost blinding. Iori squints as the physical manifestation of the sun appears on Riku’s face. He smiles, and the expression wraps its claws around Iori’s heart and squeezes.
Adorable. He wants to reach out and ruffle Riku’s hair. He wants to stroke his thumb along the ridges of Riku’s cheekbone. Will I feel the heat of his blush under my thumb? Will it scorch me? Will I burn?
Shuffling closer, Riku nuzzles his nose against Iori’s thigh, sighing. “I’m glad,” he sighs, as if in sweet relief. As if he’s been holding onto this weight of guilt for longer than he’s been alive.
Iori frowns. “What’s on your mind?” He allows himself an indulgence. He decides out of his two desires, he’ll go for the most tame one. Resting his book on his lap, he reaches out with his hand and runs his fingers through Riku’s hair. Soft to the touch. Red strands of hair flow easily through his fingertips like water.
After nearly half a year of dating, there were many things Iori found himself still enamored by. Like the way Riku loves openly. Or the way Iori never has to doubt that he’s on Riku’s mind twenty-four seven, because no matter where he is—whether on stage or in a crowd of people or in the darkness of their rooms—Riku always finds him. Riku always comes to him. Riku seeks him like a homing missile.
Iori has become greedy with Riku. It’s an odd feeling. He’s never wanted much before. Then he met Riku. And that all changed. Riku’s gluttony has rubbed off on him, he thinks.
Tilting his head to the side, Riku smiles softly. It’s warm, like butter melting on toasted bread. “I was watching TV…”
“How all good thoughts begin.”
“I saw a couple going on dates! And being cute! It looked like they were having fun and I kept thinking about how it’s been so long since we’ve gone on a date…” Riku sighs. His eyelashes lower like butterfly wings kissing the slopes of his cheek. Iori bites down hard on his bottom lip. He’s cute. He’s cute. He’s adorable. He’s adorable. I can’t. “We’ve been so busy, recently. Our schedules hardly give us time to cross paths…”
Ah. Iori’s heart curls in on itself. Weakened and softened, a doe bowing before the lion. He gets it now.
The past couple of weeks for both Iori and Riku had been hectic. Meetings. Photoshoots. TV interviews. Promotional work. They’d been pulled in separate directions. They were parallel lines desperately trying to meet.
He laughs softly. Riku’s sentimentality would never stop being endearing. Iori wishes he could write songs to perfectly encapsulate the way Riku makes him feel. Lucky to be alive in the same timeline. Lucky to exist within the expanses of his concern and worry and love.
The sound causes Riku to shoot his head up, with indignation written on his face. He’s about to protest when Iori leans forward and kisses the words out of his mouth.
“...!” Riku relaxes in his grip the more he strokes his thumb along his cheek. When they part, Riku’s cheeks are warmed. He’s blinking rapidly. Like he’s trying to get his brain to kickstart. “Iori… did you do that to shut me up?”
“A bit.”
“Hey!”
“Only because I sensed you were about to go on an unnecessary tirade.” He smiles softly, teasingly. “We should go on a date.”
“Right now?!”
“I don’t see why not.”
“But… where would we go?”
Iori hums. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. But then he gets an idea, “Describe to me what the couple in that drama did. We can recreate it.”
The sparkle he gets in Riku’s eyes is worth it.
***
Pacing back and forth, Iori recites the plan for today item by item. It’s a short list, really. Lunch at a cafe. A stroll in a park. Then dinner. He looks at the bouquet of flowers in his hands. Golden, brilliant sunflowers tied together with a white, lace bow.
Coffee and hazelnut wafts through the air. There’s a few people in the cafe scattered across. Sitting at tables or couches, chattering quietly. Iori has reread the menu about twenty times and is going for his twenty-first read when he hears the door chime ring. He shoots up immediately as Riku walks in.
Iori’s breath hitches. As Riku enters, wearing glasses and a mask, it’s like the world … stops. Everything pivots to Riku. The sun tilts its beams to halo Riku. Chatter stops. Riku scans his eyes over the crowd and that greed wells up inside of Iori again. Hungry and starved. Preening with delight with the knowledge that those eyes are seeking only one person-
“Ah!” Riku finds him and Iori’s heart bursts. In three, quick strides, Riku is barreling into him. Arms wrapped around his shoulders. Masked lips pressed to Iori’s masked cheek. “Hi, Iori.” Riku whispers—breathlessly and love-filled and sweeter than the smell of vanilla.
Iori melts.
He wraps his arms around Riku’s middle and squeezes. He holds Riku tight with the flowers still in hand. “Hello, Riku.” He murmurs, daring the world to shift back into focus and take them apart.
Thankfully, the world allows them to be.
“I’m glad you got here safely,” Iori sits on one end of the table, Riku the other. Their feet touch underneath. A constant, subtle reminder of their connection.
Riku holds up the menu, excitedly reading it over. He oos and aws at all the various flavor combinations for teas and coffees. “Yeah! Traffic was kind of crazy but my taxi driver put the pedal to the metal!”
The sunflowers lay on the middle of the table. After a few minutes of intense deliberation, they decide what they want for their lunch. Iori takes the lead and orders their meals at the counter. When he returns, Riku’s staring at him wide-eyed and blushing.
“Is there something on my face?” Iori takes his seat.
Shaking his head, Riku reaches out and takes Iori’s right hand in both of his hands. Riku’s palms are warm. Sunlight seeps into his flesh where their skin makes contact. Iori holds back the urge to kiss his palm.
“You’re really handsome—you know that? That’s what I was thinking when you were walking back.”
“Handsome? Even with my mask on?” He teases.
“That does nothing to hide your beauty! If anything, the mask accentuates your jawline to a tee!”
“I’m flattered.”
Conversation dissolves into silly things about their past few weeks. Riku’s appearing in a movie soon as a second lead. He’s never been in a horror movie before so he was worried his acting would come across as inauthentic. Riku’s nervousness is adorable. The world melts away as Riku talks. All Iori can focus on is the animated flutter of his hands as he speaks, the melodic pitch of his voice that always sounds, to Iori, like angels are singing when he speaks. He smiles fondly.
Spending time alone together is rare. Going on dates is even rarer. He’s happy Riku took the plunge and expressed how lonely he felt recently. It allowed Iori to get some quality time with him. It allowed them as partners to reconnect. As Riku went on about how one of his sneezes accidentally knocked down a very important prop for the movie, Iori blurts out:
“I’m in love with you.”
The confession makes Riku stutter. He’s mid-bite of his large, chocolate chunk cookie. The cookie falls to the plate, making a soft thud onto the porcelain. Riku blinks several times. He looks like he’s not sure what to do at this point. He swallows his cook like a fish gulping several tons of water at once. “Huh?!”
“I’m in love with you.”
“What?!”
“Yes,” Iori’s smiling so wide his cheeks threaten to split apart. He doesn’t know why, but now, he wants to say those words to Riku. Riku’s reaction makes it worth it. “Don’t cry!” He says, laughing.
Riku rubs at his face, tears cascading down his face like a waterfall. Oh, the way he shows his emotions without remorse would be the death of Iori. “B-But! I-” he hiccups and sniffles. He reaches for his napkin and blows his nose, sounding like a trumpet horn. Iori considers, briefly, that Riku cannot get any cuter. “I wanted to say it first…”
“Is that why you’re crying?”
“No! Of course not. I just-When I think about how you… love me too. That you feel the same way I do. That it’s not one sided. That it’s okay to say I love you know because I know you feel it too… I can’t stop crying! Oh, this is so embarrassing.”
Iori chuckles, bringing Riku’s hand to his lips for a soft kiss. A cascade of red flurries across Riku’s face like a wildfire. It’s so adorable Iori wants to eat it.
The two smile at each other. Nervous and excited. Affirmed in the way that they know both know their feelings are mutual.
The rest of their date is heavenly. And it’s all either of them could ask for.