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The dorm is oddly quiet when Azami returns from his shopping trip, bags full of seasonal cosmetics that caught his eye.
“I’m back,” He calls out as he steps inside, brushing off the snow clinging to his coat.
“Oh, welcome back,” Yuki greets as he walks into the living room. There’s a pile of fabric deposited neatly on the table alongside a sewing kit, and a sketchbook spread open on his lap.
From the kitchen, he can hear a muffled “welcome back”.
Azami spares a glance at the kitchen - it’s mostly the adults from Winter Troupe along with Omi - before turning back to Yuki. “Are those the costumes for the next play?” He asks, sitting down next to him.
“Mhm,” He watches him tap the pencil against the sketchbook in contemplation, following the minute up and down movements with his eyes. After a few beats, Yuki starts scribbling something along the margins of the page and then passes him the sketchbook, “Here, tell me what you think.”
“Huh, is this Homare-san’s costume?” He wonders out loud, “The details on his suit cuff look pretty elaborate.” The costumes this time around looked pretty grand so he couldn’t wait to come up with makeup looks for it.
“They’re going with a royalty theme this time so the costumes need to look fancy and elaborate,” Yuki frowns a bit at the thought of his workload but Azami could see the slightest hint of excitement in his eyes.
“Be sure to get some sleep,” He reminds him. Azami already has his hands full trying to fix a certain two (maybe three) Spring Troupe members’ terrible sleeping habits and more than half the company’s almost non-existent skincare habit, so the loss of one of the few people who actually cared about their skin would probably drive him mad.
“Yes yes,” Yuki brushes him off, taking the sketchpad back.
“Yuki-san...”
“Anyway, you went shopping right?” Yuki cuts in, trying to curb the coming lecture, “Find anything good?”
“Ah, that’s right. There’s this new palette that I wanted to try out for this play,” Azami fishes out a metallic blue case, “And I also found this.”
“Oh, the packaging looks cute.”
“I thought you might like it,” He says, passing it over, "I can try it out on you when you're free."
Yuki inspects the casing - it’s a light pink with gold sweeping across the back in thin strokes, forming flowers and stars. It reminds him of the fairy tale-themed one he bought before. “Mm, the colors look nice too,” he comments, turning the case around to take a look inside.
He handles it carefully , Azami notices, gaze drawn to Yuki’s hands for some reason. His fingers still tingle from where it brushed against Yuki’s. He wonders if he’s sick, or anything of the sort.
“Did you get anything else?” Yuki asks, returning it to him. Their hands brush again and he feels his own tingle, but Azami tries to ignore it.
“I had to buy new moisturizer and wash for the dorms since the one Shitty Sakyo got is too watered down. Just because his skin's already shitty doesn't mean he has to drag down every else with him,” He grumbles, trying hard not to focus on the way Yuki’s fingers curl around his pencil, “And it’s getting colder so skin tends to dry and crack easier so...”
Yuki hums in acknowledgement as Azami continues to ramble on about proper skincare for cold seasons, picking out a few products from his bag as he does so.
“By the way, Yuki-san,” He pauses, a question coming to mind, “You sew a lot so don’t your hands get rough?” He’s been wondering about that for a while, after all.
Yuki considers it for a second, glancing down at his hands, “Not really? I don’t make that many mistakes anymore, anyway.”
“Even so, you should take care of your hands more,” Azami insists, turning away to rummage through his things again, “The skin on our hands age faster since there’s less sebaceous glands, which makes it dry faster. That’s why it’s important to moisturize your hands regularly so they don’t get rough and wrinkly. It’s getting colder too so your hands tend to dry up faster. That’s why hand creams that are….”
Yuki stares, watching him sift through the cosmetics in his bag and take out several plastic tubes. “How did we even get here?” He sighs, barely absorbing anything that comes out of his mouth.
It doesn’t really take too long until Azami finds what he’s looking for, but Yuki couldn’t help but feel like it took hours with how much he’s been talking about the differences among occlusives, emollients, and humectants in the products he's holding.
“Here,” Azami reaches out, taking Yuki’s hand in his. He picks up a tube of hand cream and squeezes out a small blob. It smelled sweet, like vanilla with a slightly earthy undertone. “Azuma-san recommended this one to me. It’s got really good reviews on #cosme too.”
Yuki’s about to retract his hand but Azami only tightens his grip. He looks up at him, confused, but Azami’s not even looking at him.
“This certain brand also has shea butter in it, which is both a good occlusive and emollient, and makes it good for cold seasons,” Azami comments idly, moving to rub the cream all over the expanse of Yuki’s palm.
He didn’t really know what to expect, but Yuki’s hands were surprisingly soft. There was only the slightest hint of a forming callus at the tips of his fingers and what felt like a fading cut across the length of his index finger. His hands didn’t really show signs of someone who spent countless hours working with a needle — although it was telling of how skilled Yuki was.
He adds more pressure as he massages in a bit more cream, working his way to the back of his hand. It feels kinda relaxing , he thinks to himself as he moves onto the other hand. He doesn’t have to think too much about what to apply, how to apply, or how much to apply - it was just mindless ministrations, following the lines on his palm, feeling out the creases on his fingers, and going over his knuckles and between the gaps of his fingers.
And Yuki’s hands were warm - a stark contrast from his own that felt ice-cold from staying in air-conditioned shops for too long. He tries to chase after it, a comforting feeling seeping in through his fingertips and chasing away the cold clinging to his skin in short bursts.
Azami doesn’t know what’s gotten into him, but all he knows is he wants to feel it again — wants to do it all over again .
So he does.
He goes through the motions again - fingers rubbing circles against his palm, following the lines, feeling out the creases, the fading roughness, going over his knuckles, seeking out every inch of skin on his hand, chasing after every bit of warmth. Yuki’s hands were soft. And warm. And small.
He’s not even thinking anymore. What was he doing again?
“Azami!”
“Huh?” He looks up, meeting Yuki’s slightly flustered(?) gaze. “What -”
Azami pauses, glancing down at their hands - Yuki’s nestled in his, fingers slightly intertwined. He finally realizes how the entire scene could have looked like from an outsider’s perspective and he jumps, promptly letting go of Yuki’s hands.
Faintly, he can hear the whistle of a kettle in the kitchen.
“I-I-I’m — ” The words stick to his throat, and he can feel his face flush. Yuki’s frowning up at him, cheeks red, and an indescribable look in his eyes. Probably anger , he thinks to himself. He might just get killed.
They stare at each other in silence for a moment. He should really say something. Maybe apologize. But his mind is still reeling, unable to process anything. Hands? I h-hh-hel - HANDS. Holding hands was for after marriage, and they weren’t even married yet. Yet? Uhhh…..
Azami finally looks away, unable to hold eye contact any longer. His gaze lands on Yuki’s hands once more and the feeling of his hand in his’ comes to surface. He feels his face burn.
He really needs to apologize now.
Azami tries to sift through his thoughts again, feeling out the beginning of an apology on the tip of his tongue. “I...”
But then he hears the sound of footsteps approach. “Do you guys want some tea?”
Shit.
“I have to go,” comes out of his mouth in a hurry as he grabs his things and gets up. Yuki tenses, fingers digging into the hem of his skirt. He’s probably glaring. Not that Azami would know because he still can’t really look at him.
“Huh?!” Maybe he shouldn’t have just left, but he really doesn’t want to have this conversation right now - especially with someone else present. He’ll apologize later when he’s calmed down (and when he finally stops thinking about Yuki’s hands).
But it felt really nice,
Azami tucks the thought away as he runs back to his room, not even daring to look back.