Chapter Text
Seven months later
"It's raining pollen."
Kai entered the shower and came up behind Minna, slowly dropping to his knees behind her as he placed a line of kisses all the way down the scar on her back. "Ay, that it is." She sighed and washed the conditioner from her hair as he wrapped his arms around her and enjoyed the hot water falling all around them. "You know, it's my first willow bloom, maybe I should stay home."
She huffed. "Well, Mr, you have baby animals to bottle feed and naked, lost hikers to save so you can't have the day off."
He spun her around, smirking as he pressed his fingers into her scalp and her head fell back into his hands. "I could call in sick and spend the day helping you, you keep saying how busy you are at this time of year."
****
They left the shower far more pruny than they would have liked, and Kai sighed as he sipped his fire root tea. "I'll be home after it gets dark so don't you sit at the dock and worry about me."
Minna huffed. "You're acting like I was the one that set out a search party because I was late coming home last week."
He beckoned her closer, pulling her into his lap as he buried his face in her neck. "I was worried you had capsized your boat."
She scoffed. "That sounds like something you'd do." She remembered fondly the day he dived into the water to save a bird only to have to rock his boat all the way over once he had freed it from the fishing net.
He shot her a cheeky grin, and placed his cup on the side table, rolling on top of her and wiggling his fingers into her sides in payback for her teasing. "Kai.. AHHH." She was laughing so hard she could barely breathe and his wide smile made the sides of his face hurt. "Enough, I take it back."
He stopped, and she bit his ear lobe. "You are cruel to me."
"Never." He kissed her and she placed her hand on the back of his neck to hold him to her. He pulled back enough to talk, his breath falling against her lips as he spoke. "Are you sure you don't want me to spend the day with you?"
She smiled and pecked him. "Finish your tea and go to work. I need to leave in twenty minutes and we do not have time to fuck again."
He sighed and sat up, downing his tea in one and pecking her cheek hard. before getting up. "You are so difficult."
"You love me."
He gazed down at her, her eyes full of mischief and his whole body filled with affection. "Ay, I do."
He kissed her one last time before walking over to Zephy and scratching his ears. "You stay out of trouble while I'm gone."
The creature chattered at him and he turned to Minna, her smiling face filling the room with brightness. "I love you too Kai."
Before he left he made sure to check his pocket for his most prized possession, the pocket watch he had bought from her store all those months ago. If he was being honest, she undercharged him by a mile. He turned back around tapping his pocket out of habit. "I'll see you soon."
She jumped up, racing over to kiss him before waving him out the door. "Off you go."
He opened the door, the blosum scented air hitting him in the face as he went to leave but he spun on his heel and returned to her side, cupping her face and leaning in. "One more for the road."
The kiss was filled with adoration and love and the world fell away as she wrapped her arms around him. They parted and she brushed his nose with hers, smiling softly. "Was that enough?"
He nodded. "Ay but only just."
Her face filled with mischief. "You are going to see so many naked people today a whole lot of bare butts and I think it's hilrious."
He raised an eyebrow. "I'm not the one who's spent the last month making pretty glass pricks, I never knew sex toys could be so fancy."
She pointed to the door while doing her best to fight back a smile. "Goodbye Kai, I will see you tonight."
He kissed her again, a cheeky grin on his face. "Goodbye, beautiful. I'm looking forward to celebarating the willow blooms with you."
****
Kai wasn't nervous, he had just never lied to Minna before, and he was terrified she'd change her schedule and catch him. James met him at his satellite office, a huge smile on his face as he led Kai to his boat. Over the last seven months, he had grown close to everyone on Minna's little island, her childhood friends becoming his as they swapped stories over dinner and drinks.
"Minna's going to love the ring you got her." Kai had agonised over it, she was the creative one, she was the one who could take something as dull as a piece of glass or a white sheet of fabric and turn it into something beautiful. He settled on something after two weeks of work and many ruined notebooks, and now that it was time to collect it, his chest was filled with emotions.
"I hope so, it's only the thing that's going to kick off the rest of our lives." Everything was so loud at this time of year, the animal calls, birds songs and insect chatters did their best to drown out his thoughts as they grew closer to the island where her ring awaited.
There was a distinct smell in the air, the odour of molten metal managing to overcome the wonderful smell of the willow blooms as they docked and made their way to the stall. The vendor grinned and waved, and Kai took a deep breath as he walked to the counter. "Good to see you Kai." He took the ring box from under the bench and placed it in front of Kai. "I have to say, this is some of my best work."
James leaned over Kai's shoulder and smiled. "Well, aren't you going to open it and give us a look?"
He straightened his back and did as requested, all the tension leaving his body when he laid his eyes on the ring, it was prefect. "Is it to your liking?"
He fought back tears and smiled. "Ay, she's going to love it." He paid the last bit of the bill and slid the ring box next to his precious pocket watch and thanked the vendor again before turning to James. "You better get me back to work before I get caught."
James smiled. "Sure. You gonna be able with keep it for the rest of today? I wouldn't want you getting all excited and taking the wrong track."
Kai chuckled. "Ay. If I'm being honest, if I don't distract myself I don't think I'll last till tonight."
James gave him a hearty slap on the back. "Well then, off we go."
****
Kai must have tapped his pocket a million times before his understanding boss recalled him to his desk in an effort to soothe his anxiety. But still, even though he hadn't left the area since the last time he checked, he fought the urge to check again. A soft chime from the speakers let him know his shift was over, and he debriefed his replacement as he readied himself to head home.
The whole planet was so alive that it was easy to take his time on the journey back to his house. There were boats everywhere filled with couples watching the mating displays from the various animals around them, and he paused to watch the coral whales with their massive colourful tails show off for their mates. He docked his boat just as it was dark enough for the blue algae to begin to glow and took his time getting to the door, pausing to listen to the birds dancing in the sky.
Minna was sitting on the couch when he walked in the door, shooting him a cheeky smile as she stood up with her hands behind her back. "I need your advice on something."
"Sure Love." Judging by the look on her face, she had been planning this all day. She brought her hands forward, presenting him with two colourful, solid glass phalluses. "Which one do you like better, I need to know which one to put on the main display."
It still remained as funny as the day he found her making them in her studio, and he pointed to the one that was a mix of reds and oranges. "That one." He shook his head, more to himself than to her. "I still can't believe you only charge twenty Sesterces for these, I know places where they'd fetch a very pretty penny."
She rolled her eyes and placed them in the padded boxes on the tea table. "They're for a celebration Kai, hell, most people never use them."
He made a face and pulled her into his arms. "Well, I for one think that's a terrible shame."
She shook her head. "I know what you're thinking and the asnwer is no."
He grinned. "I wasn't but now that you mention it."
She did her best to stop herself from laughing but failed, and he found himself tumbling into it with her. "You are so inappropriate." She scratched his beard and smiled. "Do you want to go out on the boat tonight and watch the animals or stay in?"
He placed his hand on her cheek and smiled down at her. "I think we'll stay in, we got plenty of time to watch the animals, I wanna spend the start of my first willow bloom right here with you."
She nodded and pecked his lips. "Ok, I like the sound of that."
****
Despite the darkness outside and the late hour, the animals were still in full swing. Kai and Minna were lying in the middle of the bedroom floor, pillows and blankets all around them as they watched the firebirds with their wings dipped in blue algae, light up the sky above them.
They had smoked more vermilion joy root, this one a mild version mixed with the willow pollen that left them feeling warm and floaty. He had been running his hands all over her body as they kissed, their clothes slowly coming off as the kisses became increasingly intense.
Minna broke away, her lips puffy and red from Kai's teeth and nipped his neck, slowly making her way down his body to his hard cock. He propped himself up on the pillows, rearranging them so he could look down at her as she wrapped her hands around the base and swirled her tongue around the tip. Her hair fell around her face so he reached out and gathered it in his hand, not using it to guide her movement but instead so he could get a full view of her plump lips as they wrapped around him.
Pleasure zipped up his spine, lapping at every inch of his body as she worked her mouth in a steady rhythm. "Fucken 'll, Love, just like that." His head tipped back, and his eyes fluttered closed as she took him further into her mouth. He fought the urge to buck his hips, willing himself to enjoy the sensations as she intended them. One hand shot to the blanket, squeezing the fabric in his fingers as his muscles grew tighter, and she let out the sweetest moan that had him looking down again to meet her eye as he pulled her off him. "Come 'er."
He grabbed her face and slammed her lips into his, licking the taste of himself from her mouth as he slid his hand between her legs. She gasped into his mouth when his fingers made contact and gave her that cocky smirk he wore so well. "Is that all for me?"
"Yes, please touch.." She didn't get to finish her request because he flipped them over and shoved her legs open before kissing and nipping his way down until he threw her legs over his shoulders and dove in. She wove her hands into his hair and held him to her, she tasted like the candies she had to hide in the back of the cupboard because he could down a whole packet in one sitting, and there was nothing he loved more than when her thighs tightened around his head.
Her breath hitched when as he slid two thick fingers inside her and her toes twitched against his back as he pressed his rough fingertips to her G-spot. He felt her shift, moving his eyes to watch her take a puff from the pipe. She beckoned him closer with a finger and he replaced his mouth with his thumb as she blew the light red smoke into his face.
He took a deep breath and returned his lips to her body, enjoying the high as the weight of her legs returned to his back. "Kai, oh Gods." He loved the sound of his name coming out of her mouth, it had to be one of his favourite sounds. "I need..."
He lifted his head up to speak. "Give it to me Sweetheart." He dropped his head back down and sealed his lips around her clit as her whole body stiffened, and she came around his fingers.
She dropped her legs off him as her head lulled to the side and a smile appeared on her face. "You are so fucking good at that."
He grinned and settled over her, kissing her like she had the last breath on the planet between her lips. "Turn over gorgeous."
She did as he asked and he pressed his lips to the back of her neck as he rubbed his cock up and down her slit. "Please Kai."
"Your wish is my command." He took his slow, making sure she felt every ridge and vein. He bottomed out, burying his face between her should blades as he slid a hand around her body and under them to rub her clit as he started to rock his hips. She pushed against him, and he enjoyed the curve of her ass as she twisted herself to kiss him.
His hand left her clit only briefly to bend her leg, pushing her knee towards her shoulder and folding her leg against her ribs to open her up like he was folding a piece of paper. She sighed at the stretch. "Mmmmm that feels nice."
"The stretch or my cock?" By the uptick in her moans, he knew it was the latter. He shifted his hand again, and she whimpered at the unintentional edging as he grabbed one of the many pillows and placed it under her hips. Between the new angle and his hand returning to her clit, Minna was fast heading towards the edge with Kai close behind.
He was so warm on top of her, his moans rumbling in his chest as he pressed it against her back. "Please."
He pressed his lips to her ear. "Whatever you want." Each drag of his cock alone her walls pushed little gasps from her chest, and she reached back to pull his lips to hers as she hit her peak. It only took another handful of thrusts for him to follow her, and he fell on top of her as he caught his breath. He rolled on his side, taking him with her as he buried his nose in her hair. "That was something."
She chuckled. "Yes, it was, we should do it again."
He huffed. "Give me ten minutes and a snack."
She smiled. "Only if you go and get it, I can't feel my legs."
He grabbed her face and kissed her cheek hard before hopping up and pulling on a pair of pants. "I'll be back, you want anything speical?"
She shook her head. "No dear, I'll have whatever you're having."
He did his best to contain himself as he made his way downstairs to collect the ring from his coat. He stopped by the kitchen to pick up her favourite bubbly sweet berry wine and the silver jelly sweets she loved so much. When he returned to the bedroom, she was wearing her long green robe, wiping her sweat damp skin down with a wet cloth. She tilted her head and smiled. "Wow, you're really treating me aren't you?"
"You're worth it." He placed the tray of things down and walked over to her, placing his hands on her cheeks and he leaned in to brush her lips with his. "I love you so much."
She smiled and kissed him softly. "I love you too." He had a strange look in his eyes and she looked at him rewardingly as she tried to decipher it. "Where's this coming from?
He dropped onto one knee and started, the ring in his shaking hands as he did his best to say the words in the language they now shared. He knew he had fumbled it, he had been practising every chance he got but with the knot in his throat it was hard to weave his tongue around the words.
"What?" She had tears in her eyes, and her chest was jumping as she waved her hand in front of her face to calm herself down. "I think I got what you were saying, but can you repeat it?"
He smiled and nodded. "Minna, I have loved you from the second I laid eyes on you and it would make me the happiest man in the whole universe if you would be my wife."
She dropped to her knees and kissed him, holding him so tight to her that he thought he would bruise. "Is that a yes."
She nodded emphatically with tears in her eyes. "Oh I'm sorry, yes, yes I'll marry you." He slipped the ring over her finger and she glanced down at it. "It's so beautiful."
She kissed him again, and the whole world stilled, and everything was right with the universe because she was his, and he was hers.
Fin