Work Text:
Today was a slightly off day. Maybe it was the sunlight that shined from Nagi’s bedroom window at just the wrong angle so that it would land directly in his eyes, or maybe it was the severe lack of noise that usually bounced around the dorm in the mornings, but there was just something different about today.
Nagi yawned and stretched; he had woken up a bit earlier than usual today and was rightfully exhausted, but he dragged himself out of bed anyways. Because of the lack of chatter throughout the dorm, Nagi came to the conclusion that many of the others were gone today. After tidying himself up and exiting his room, he wandered over to Mitsuki’s bedroom door, hoping at least he had stayed home today. Nagi got lonely when the others were gone, but especially when Mitsuki was gone. Nagi knocked gently on Mitsuki’s door, not wanting to wake him if he was still asleep.
“Mitsuki?” he called. “Are you awake?”
After a brief pause and some sounds of shuffling from inside the room, the door opened. Mitsuki looked up at Nagi and smiled. God, Nagi loved that smile. The man who stood before him was the physical embodiment of the sun, he was sure of it. Not like the sun that stung Nagi’s eyes that morning, but like the sun that’s warm and welcoming, the sun that casts a comfortable light on everything it touches. That’s the kind of sun Mitsuki reminded Nagi of.
“Morning, Nagi,” Mitsuki said. “What’s up? Do you need something?”
Well yeah, Nagi did need something. Something like a hug, maybe a kiss, just any sort of affection would do right now. Nagi always wanted affection. He briefly wondered if his clinginess ever bothered Mitsuki, but he quickly brushed the thought aside.
“ Good Morning , Mitsuki,” Nagi said. “Where are the others?”
“MEZZO’’ has work today, and my brother’s out with Riku—said something about having to keep watch of Riku so he doesn’t do anything stupid… as if!” Mitsuki let out a chuckle, a short but sweet sound that Nagi would do anything to hear. Nagi smiled at this. “...and I think Yamato-san said he was going out with Yaotome today.” Mitsuki finished, counting on his fingers to make sure he wasn’t missing anyone. “So it’s just us two for the day.”
“ Oh ? Just us?” Nagi piped up. Several possibilities ran through Nagi’s mind about what the two of them could do today.
“Yeah! Isn’t that great?” exclaimed the shorter man, wrapping his arms around Nagi’s middle. Nagi loved Mitsuki’s hugs. Mitsuki was small, but his arms were strong, so his hugs always made Nagi feel super secure. After a few moments, Nagi returned the hug, and Mitsuki spoke again.
“It’s not often we get time to ourselves, is it, Nagi?” Mitsuki rested his head on Nagi’s chest, a comfortable and familiar act that both of them were very used to. “What do you want to do today? We’ve got plenty of time.”
Nagi’s stomach growled, almost in response to Mitsuki’s question. Mitsuki laughed, causing Nagi to blush a bit.
“Breakfast first then, huh?” Mitsuki said, pulling away from Nagi’s embrace and poking him in the stomach. Nagi placed a hand where Mitsuki poked him and chuckled.
“ Yes , breakfast sounds good ,” Nagi said. He couldn’t deny that he was hungry; his stomach already gave that away, and Mitsuki’s cooking was always to die for. Nagi was a bit useless in the kitchen, but he tried his best to help Mitsuki whenever the older man allowed him to. He was usually given easy jobs, like cutting fruits and veggies, making coffee, or washing the dishes after everything was finished. Mitsuki’s skill was something completely foreign to Nagi, and not just in the literal sense of Nagi being from an entirely different country. Nagi had never prepared food before moving into the dorm, so cooking in and of itself was a very different concept. He was glad to have Mitsuki because of this, and he was glad to be able to help with little things.
The two of them made their way into the kitchen, and Nagi had a seat at the table while Mitsuki observed his workspace. There was a certain seriousness about Mitsuki’s expression as he pulled out his materials that made Nagi chuckle a bit.
“Hm? Is something funny?” Mitsuki asked from behind the counter.
“ No no no, carry on, Mitsuki,” Nagi said, waving his hand in the air. Mitsuki rolled his eyes—not a rude gesture—and got back to work.
“How do pancakes sound?” he asked, assessing the fridge for options.
“Anything sounds good as long as you’re making it, Mitsuki,” Nagi said. Mitsuki paused for a moment, a visible blush fading onto his cheeks. Nagi smiled an almost devilish smile. He got him.
“Wah, Nagi! Why do you have to say such embarrassing things?!” Mitsuki shouted. He almost sounded angry, but the smile on his face gave him away. He wasn’t angry at all. Nagi chuckled.
“Because I love you , Mitsuki!” Nagi exclaimed, hopping up from his seat and throwing his arms into the air in a very exaggerated motion. Mitsuki loved this loud and expressive side of Nagi; it’s one that could put a smile on your face no matter who you are or how you were feeling prior.
“... I love you, too , Nagi,” Mitsuki tried in English. Mitsuki’s English was nothing to be admired, but Nagi appreciated the effort. He chuckled and wandered over to the counter to where Mitsuki stood.
“Is there anything I can do to help you, Mitsuki?” Nagi asked. Mitsuki tapped his chin and thought for a moment.
“There’s still coffee left in the pot from when the other boys left, but it’s probably cold by now. Do you wanna dump that out and make a fresh pot for us?” Mitsuki eventually decided, pointing to the half full coffee pot that was unfortunately abandoned before the two woke up. Right. Easy jobs. Nagi was always given these.
“OK, I can do that for you,” Nagi said, wandering over to the coffee maker. Mitsuki was sure he didn’t need to babysit Nagi—he’s made coffee plenty of times before—so he sighed a rather relieved sigh and got back to his own work. Nagi still wasn’t entirely sure how the coffee maker worked, he just knew he had to pour some water and stuff into the filter on top, push a button, and let it work its magic, but he didn’t investigate any further beyond that. He was, after all, pretty useless in the kitchen. The coffee dripped into the pot in a sort of rhythmic pattern at a steady tempo, each drop a single beat. 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. Nagi tapped on the counter in time with the drops. 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4. After around five short minutes, the coffee maker beeped, and the rhythm of the dripping stopped. Though this task was rather mundane, Nagi was happy. Happy he could be of use to Mitsuki. He wanted to do whatever he could to help Mitsuki, and if making coffee was all he could do to help right now, he was satisfied with that. As long as it made Mitsuki happy, Nagi was satisfied.
Nagi glanced over at Mitsuki, who was whisking the pancake batter in a swift yet careful motion. He had a very focused, very serious expression on his face, his brow furrowed as though he was deep in thought. Was he really that into this? Nagi sighed and wandered over to where Mitsuki stood. Standing behind him, he placed his hand over Mitsuki’s, still held firmly onto the whisk. Mitsuki visibly tensed up, as though he had forgotten the other man was in the room with him.
“Mitsuki, if you keep furrowing your brow like that, you’ll get wrinkles. Please relax. ” Nagi said quietly, placing a kiss at the top of Mitsuki’s head. Mitsuki stayed still for a moment, then let his muscles relax. He sighed, then chuckled a bit. The two of them stood there in silence for a few moments longer before Mitsuki spoke.
“Maybe having someone else here with me isn’t so bad…” he said quietly, mainly to himself. He set the bowl and the whisk down on the counter and leaned back into the taller man’s embrace. It was little moments like this that Mitsuki loved the best, moments where it felt as though nothing could go wrong for as long as he stayed in Nagi’s arms.
“Nagi, the coffee’s done right? I’ll get the pancakes on the stove and we should be able to eat fairly soon,” Mitsuki said. Nagi nodded and freed Mitsuki from his embrace.
“ Of course, Mitsuki,” Nagi said quietly. He walked back to the coffee pot, and grabbed their two mugs from the shelf above it. He spilled a bit while pouring the coffee into Mitsuki’s mug, causing him to let out a curse in Northmarean.
“Hm? Nagi, are you alright?” Mitsuki said, glancing over to see what happened. Nagi had already begun wiping up the spilt coffee with a damp cloth and hoped to God that Mitsuki wouldn’t notice. Mitsuki, however, did in fact notice, and let out a chuckle.
“Jeez, Nagi, it’s only coffee, how do you manage?” Mitsuki teased.
“ Sorry , Mitsuki…” Nagi said quietly. He rinsed the cloth in the sink and let it hang on the edge to dry off.
“It’s okay, it’s okay! Don’t worry about it! It happens!” Mitsuki laughed, returning to his pancake duties. Nagi sighed and began pouring milk and sugar into the two mugs; he liked his coffee to be very sweet, whereas Mitsuki preferred to keep his mainly bitter with just a hint of sweetness. Something about bitter coffee being more “manly” or whatever. Nagi didn’t entirely get it, but he complied anyway. Anything to make Mitsuki happy. He took a step back to observe the two mugs, decided he was satisfied, and brought them over to the table where he sat down to wait for breakfast to finally be served.
“Nagi! What toppings do you want?” Mitsuki asked as he began preparing the plates. “I’ll be having strawberries and whipped cream on mine. Do you want the same as me?”
“ Yes , thank you , Mitsuki,” Nagi replied. “Honey as well, please .” Anything was fine with him as long as Mitsuki was making it, because Mitsuki can make anything taste good. It’s his own little “Mitsuki Magic” that was special to him alone. He observed Mitsuki while he worked, watching him cut and place every strawberry carefully so that the dish would look both presentable and tasty. Cooking to Mitsuki was every bit an art form as the singing and dancing they do on stage, and he tried his best to make his food look as good as it tastes. It was well worth it, too, oftentimes the other boys would refuse to eat Mitsuki’s desserts because of how cute they looked, especially the rabbit-shaped pastries. Mitsuki saw this as an accomplishment.
Eventually, Mitsuki finished preparing the pancakes and brought the two plates over to the table.
“They’re done!” Mitsuki exclaimed, setting the plates down and taking a seat next to Nagi.
“ Oh , they look delicious!” Nagi said, admiring the pancakes on the plate in front of him. Mitsuki laughed.
“I hope they taste as good as they look. Let’s eat!” Mitsuki said.
“ Yes , let’s,” Nagi said, picking up his fork and taking a bite. As expected, they were delicious. Mitsuki’s cooking was always delicious, but somehow they tasted even better knowing they were just for the two of them.
“Wah, these are so good! I really did a good job this time!” Mitsuki exclaimed after swallowing. Nagi glanced over at Mitsuki to see a bit of cream was left on the corner of his mouth.
“You really did, Mitsuki. They’re delicious, as always,” Nagi said with a smile. He placed a hand on Mitsuki’s cheek and brushed the cream away with his thumb. “Look here, please. ”
Mitsuki blushed a bit, but he did as told and faced Nagi. They sat there like that for a few moments, Nagi’s hand lingering on Mitsuki’s cheek, gazing into each others’ eyes without a word. Mitsuki broke the silence after a bit.
“God, Nagi, you’re so handsome! If I keep looking at you, I may just pass out,” he said, placing a hand over his heart as if it was about to stop beating at any second.
“Then please , close your eyes,” Nagi said quietly, leaning in. Mitsuki did as instructed and allowed his lips to meet Nagi’s. The kiss was a flavorful one, tasting of savory affection and sweet pancake toppings. Mitsuki’s lips tasted of sweet strawberries and cream, but also that usual Mitsuki sweetness that he always had. Mitsuki was sweeter than pancakes, after all. He was sweeter than any of the pastries he could make.
Nagi’s lips, of course, tasted of honey; there was plenty of it lingering on them from the pancakes. There was also a subtle sweetness that only Nagi’s lips had; Mitsuki had experienced this sweetness several times before.
After several moments, Mitsuki broke the kiss and gazed back into Nagi’s eyes. Nagi pouted slightly, and Mitsuki giggled.
“I love you, Nagi, you know that?” Mitsuki said, placing his hand over Nagi’s that still rested on Mitsuki’s cheek. Nagi smiled. Of course, he knew that. He didn’t have to be told; he could see it in Mitsuki’s eyes, his gestures, everything. There wasn’t a single sign that could possibly imply that Mitsuki didn’t love him.
“ I love you, too, Mitsuki,” Nagi said. “ Thank you for the pancakes.”