bunnyblock | IC INBOX

[His eyes flick to the thing that the other had been fixing, then back to the other as he approaches. The smile lingers on Noiz' face, and he nods his head, once.]

...I've never had a photo album before.

[And that, in and of itself, is enough to excite him.]

I want to fill it. [And maybe he'll get a little focused on such a task, but... Sometimes Noiz IS like a little kid, so--] With important things.

[And only then will he pause, looking at the other.]

You always look okay. [Said so easily.] What is... that? [What you're working on. He's never seen one.]

[ Aoba makes a wavering complaint in his throat at the compliment. It's embarrassing, saying that sort of thing so bluntly... but it's not like he hates it. Quite the opposite, really, and Aoba tips his chin down as he smiles in spite of his earlier protest. ]

Now you do. [ Ah, he really likes it. Aoba presses his fingers against the fabric he was tugging at on his shirt and feels his heart beating. It's stupid how something so minor like this can excite him.

And then Noiz says something weird. ]

Heeh? Only the most important piece of furniture a home could have for half the year!

Come on, I'll show you... [ He takes him by the wrist and tugs him along, pointing to one cushion on the floor. Grumbling all the while: ] You broke into my home like it was no big deal and you've never seen something like this? Honestly...

[He's going to shift just enough to close the precious little book, holding it between his fingers before he tucks it under one arm. When he's grabbed by the wrist, he's just going to move the arm to wrap an arm around him, despite how he seems to be getting scolded for not recognising the ...

Thing.

Aoba's working on.]

I didn't pay attention to anything that wasn't in your room.

[At least he'll be truthful about his crime of breaking and entering. See, he really does care.]

It... just looks like a blanket attached to a coffee table.

[He may have japanese roots in his family due to his Grandmother, but his family lives in Germany. They may use chopsticks and speak the language, but things like having a kotatsu and sleeping in futons was definitely not something he was familiar with.]

You really are clueless...

[ Aoba glances back only when he feels his hand being directed around Noiz' waist and it makes him trail off a little, his gentle scolding losing whatever heat it might have had.

Oh. That's right.

This is the thing he's started to do. Holding him, pulling him close at random times. It's... enough that Aoba doesn't bother taking a seat on the other side of the table where he envisioned himself sharing the space with Noiz, and instead just... kneels down and pulls Noiz down with him. Noiz has become so much more physical, but in a different way. It's like he's spoiling him. ]

Sit like this. [ Aoba uses his other hand to retrieve the photo book from under his arm and places it on the table. This means they're squeezed in on the same side, embarrassingly close. But Aoba endures it, lifts the blanket to show him what's beneath. An orange glow spills out. ] ...You keep your lower half warm while sitting under it.

[Just because he can't feel it anymore, doesn't mean he's lost the understanding for it. Aoba had said, clearly before, that he'd wanted to 'cuddle like this' every so often. Noiz hadn't forgotten those words, nor had he forgotten what it felt like to be so close to someone.

He wouldn't deny Aoba that sort of feeling. And he had started enjoying that closeness, as well. So when he's pulled down to the kotatsu, he doesn't complain. He gets as comfortable as he can, squeezed next to the other, and lets his feet settle under that orange glow.

He can't feel the heat. Sorry Aoba. But instead of saying that--as he's learnt that constantly reminding Aoba that he can't feel X or Y always makes the other frown, today he'll try a different approach.]

...It'd be useful in winter. [Use logic instead.]

Instead of turning on the heat in the house.

[Thin walls would make the heat escape. A thick blanket around a heater....
It makes sense to him.]

[ Aoba feels a little cramped, a little awkward, but the more Noiz takes this in that calm and distant way he does for anything unobjectionable, and yet stays in the present with those gestures - unremarkable maybe to anyone else, but for someone who was so neglected in his youth that he grew up feeling very much like he was on an alien planet, it's nothing short of a miracle. Something like this would have probably earned him a hostile response and maybe a demand to know why he'd participate in this kind of pointless exercise.

All this, and without having used Scrap. ]

Yeah! [ Noiz gets it! Aoba smiles warmly and nods. ] Granny had one too, and around this time of year...you could always see a small bowl of tangerines for snacking on, or a piping hot cup of tea.

[ Ah, how nostalgic...and now he can make new memories with Noiz with this. Opening yet another act of that domestic fantasy of his...

Aoba realizes he's spacing out, daydreaming about foolish things like playing an innocent form of footsy under the kotatsu with warm socks and Noiz not even realizing it, or catching him knocked out beneath it because who doesn't love a nap under one of those?! A-anyway! He gives his head a little shake, his cheeks feeling about as hot as the heat lamp under the table. ]

W-which means... you should really spend some time under it, so you don't catch a cold. [ And surely not for any other reason ever. ]

[Just to make sure you don't catch a cold, huh? He turns his head to look at the other, an almost cheeky smile moving up his lips as he rests an elbow against the low table.]

...It'd be a good place to have a nap, too, wouldn't it.

[Because falling asleep next to a warm fire is similar, right? Even if falling asleep on the floor could be considered uncomfortable, there are worse positions that he's fallen asleep in.]

I've never had a tangerine. Are they good?

[Once again, Noiz' horrible diet just makes him strike Aoba with a curious, quiet look.]

Mm, especially after I get some better cushions.

[ Aoba makes a derisive sound - are you kidding me - but it's so amused that it loses any seriousness. Really, Noiz, all that pasta and pizza... never once did he try some common fruit!

...He rests his elbow on the table too, but opposite to Noiz, so he can look into his face. ]

They're sweet. I think you'd really like them.

[ Aoba makes a mental note to buy some, but then he's also distracted with how nice this is. Cramped, but he doesn't mind it. And Noiz has been spoiling him lately with being so close. It's hardly the first time Aoba's realized he's handsome but... right now... ]

Can I take your picture?

[Speaking of 'spoiling' him lately with being close, he's going to take a moment to lift a hand up, drawing fingers over the others' cheek when he mimics Noiz' pose on the table.]

We could go and buy some together. [He's going to pick some hideous green ones, you'd best babysit him, Aoba.]

...Sweet, huh. [He gives him a look, for a moment--almost pouting. It's true that he DOES like sweet things, but having it pointed out...

At least the expression doesn't last long when the other asks to take his picture.]

Yeah.

Go ahead.

[A pause:]

You should be in it, too.

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it's either tangerines or clementines I FORGET it's been ages

All tiny oranges are good and pure in the eyes of gaa