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Yama slowly straightened from where he was looking over the row of sunflower seedlings, confused at the statement. Harlock stood just a scant few feet away from him, outwardly as inscrutable as ever. But Yama knew him well enough now to see the stiffness in his posture, the slight nervousness in his face.
Still, that only made him more confused, not less. “But I have to stay,” Yama said. “I don’t think I can leave the Arcadia. At least, not permanently.”
“I wasn’t just talking about Arcadia,” Harlock said softly.
Yama was about to ask what he had meant when–
Stay with me forever.
Oh. Oh.
They hadn’t been together very long, hadn’t mentioned anything of it to any of the other crew. In fact, Yama had assumed that Harlock saw their–relationship? Maybe?–as a casual thing, and that was why he preferred to keep it quiet.
But apparently he’d been mistaken on that.
“You want me to stay? With you?” Yama repeated.
Harlock’s gaze, normally so intense and focused, darted to the side and scanned the seedlings. He actually looked uncertain, perhaps the first time Yama had seen him that way.
No, that wouldn’t do.
Yama stepped closer and took Harlock’s hand. “Of course I’ll stay.”
Harlock looked back to him, eye widened in faint surprise, as though he hadn’t actually expected Yama to say yes. Which was kind of ridiculous. Why wouldn’t he say yes? He wasn’t stupid enough to let go of this fiercely honorable, fiercely protective man who had given so many of them a place to belong and something to believe in.
Yama kissed his cheek and then picked up a spray bottle and handed it to Harlock. “Here, Captain. Make yourself useful.”
Harlock stared at him and then at the bottle. “What?”
“Help me with my plants,” Yama said. “If I’m going to be staying with you forever, I’m going to need some help with these.”
Harlock slowly smiled, a brilliant one that was still so very, very rare, and he threaded his fingers through Yama’s. “I’ll be happy to help.”