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Vyn picks up the habit of cussing.
It’s probably Luke’s fault. Or Marius’. None of them know what exactly and how exactly it happens. Luke is known for cussing under his breath while he’s busy with something else (usually while tracking something or trying to fix something), while Marius releases one or two expletives when he’s tired and/or angry (or sometimes, when talking about the multiple boring fuckers he has to meet in a day).
Now, given Vyn’s background as someone who was raised to be quite literally perfect, cussing probably was never on the habits he’d pick up. He’s calm, collected, and always uses language in a way that is not vulgar or less than decent. As such, whenever Vyn cusses, it leaves everyone speechless.
The first time it ever happens is when Rosa is out in disguise, pretending to be wooed by yet another PUA. Vyn is seated a few tables to the left, angrily reading a text from his tablet and pretending to drink some tea. This is supposed to be their private investigation, but Luke, Marius and Artem somehow found an excuse to tag along, so they’re all scattered around tables pretending to be normal people (emphasis on pretending).
Everything is going well up to the point in which the guy starts to get a little pushy. He’s holding Rosa’s hand over the table way too tight, and leaning in way too often to try and kiss her, reaching out to touch her face way too much-
Vyn slams his hand down on the table, then glares at the guy who now looks terrified.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he asks in a low voice, light gone from his golden eyes. Rosa is about to say something, until the cuss word registers in her brain and she just stares up at Vyn dumbly like he’s just grown a third eye. She helplessly looks at the tables in which Luke, Artem and Marius are seated at, as if to confirm if the moment is indeed real, and they’re all staring at the scene with blank expressions.
“I… Um… Am okay…” Rosa stutters. She doesn’t know what to do.
“Wh-What’s your problem, man!” the guy finally recomposes himself and tries to put up some bravado. It fails miserably, because Vyn just stares down at him for what feels like ages, and he just shrinks into himself even further.
After all is said and done, and the guy is on his merry way to wherever the hell shitty PUAs go when they get exposed, Rosa asks him about it.
“Vyn… What was that?” she asks, still thinking about the scene in the dessert shop.
“That what?” Vyn asks innocently.
“You. Said a cuss word.” Luke blurts out, as he walks closer with the others. They all have similar expressions of awe.
Vyn stops and thinks for a second before answering.
“Oh. I suppose I did.” he says like he’s just made that discovery.
“That was kinda hot.” Marius mumbles, but they all catch it.
“It was scary .” Luke retorts. In the same voice tone Marius just had. Artem sighs loudly.
“Well why don’t we enjoy a peaceful meal now?” he suggests, but he still has a blank expression.
A few days pass, and they all forget about the happening.
Until it happens again.
They’re all at the NXX kitchen for a break time. They’ve been working for hours on their respective cases, and some of them haven’t even gotten proper sleep, or rest. Vyn is one of them, so it’s no surprise that he drops a teacup and it breaks.
“Shit.” it is surprising, however, what he says once he notices what he’s just done. The word coming out of his mouth is like a paralyzing spell, and everyone else stops what they’re doing to stare at him.
“Did-Did you just say shit .” Marius blurts out and he’s so shocked he can’t even manage the proper intonation a question is supposed to have.
Vyn sighs.
“I’m picking up bad habits from you.” he declares simply, then turns around to get that mess cleaned up.
Luke picks up the habit of wearing an apron and a dishcloth over his shoulder when he’s cooking (or attempting to cook).
Artem taught him that. One day, while all five of them were hanging out in Rosa’s house and she and Luke were cooking, Artem reprimanded him for not wearing an apron and getting his clothes dirty. The dishcloth over the shoulder was something he learned during his “one-on-one” cooking lessons with Artem.
“What… Are you doing?” Artem asks incredulously as if Luke had just committed a crime right before his eyes.
“Drying my hands…?” Luke asks, patting his hands on his apron (that happened to be a gift from Artem).
Artem sighs, then grabs the nearest dishcloth and hands it to him.
“Thanks!” Luke says with a bright smile, then finishes drying his hands. He looks down before him when he’s done, looking for a place to put the cloth down. Once he notices that there’s no space in the counter, he just puts it over his shoulders and it stays there for the rest of the cooking session.
From then on, whenever Luke steps into a kitchen to cook (or attempt), he has an apron on and a dishcloth over his shoulder.
“Sorry, I’m late.” Artem says as he walks in and notices that everyone is there.
“Not really, you arrived just in time.” Luke says as he detangles the strips of his apron from one another.
“Let me help you with that.” Artem says as he walks behind the counter. After helping Luke with the detangling, he ties the apron for him. And sneaks in a neck kiss that has Luke blushing and shivering.
“Thank you!” Luke says once he’s done.
Rosa walks up to them with a dishcloth in hand and another one over her shoulder.
“Hi baby.” she gets up on her tip-toes to kiss Artem’s cheek, then puts the dishcloth over Luke’s shoulder. “Let’s get cooking! You go sit down on the couch, today you get to be pampered!” she tells Artem, who just laughs and walks away from the kitchen.
Marius picks up the habit of wearing sleeve garters.
Since he has to be at Pax more often, Marius starts wearing suits more often too. Since it’s a pain to be wearing the whole thing during an NXX meeting, he often takes off his suit jacket and lifts his sleeves up for convenience.
“What in the actual fuck is that atrocity.” Vyn asks, pointing at Marius. He is now taking advantage of the fact that cussing seems to get everyone’s attention.
“What atrocity? Me? I’m an atrocity?” Marius asks innocently.
“Your sleeves.” Artem points out. Marius looks down at his sleeves, folded up in a messy way. In comparison to Artem’s and Vyn’s sleeves, Marius’ look like a rat’s nest.
“Oh.” Marius sighs. “Yeah, I don’t care.” and he proceeds to get back to his work.
A few days pass, and Vyn brings Marius a gift. It’s a pair of sleeve garters, custom-made , with his family symbol and all. Marius laughs once he realizes what they are.
“They’re for old people, like you and Artem! I’m not wearing them!” he jokes.
“Yeah, I doubt you’d know how to.” Artem fires back nonchalantly, then takes a sip of his coffee. Vyn laughs in agreement, and Luke just nods solemnly from his seat.
A week from then, Rosa walks into a Marius struggling to put up his sleeves with the help of his brand new sleeve garters. He’s so lost in thought he doesn’t notice she’s been staring at him for a while now.
“Let me help you.” she says with a sigh, walking closer to him.
“J-Jiejie!” Marius shrieks. “You scared me.”
“Yeah, you look like you’re having a hard time.” she comments jokingly. Marius blushes, then pouts. “Here, let me help you.” she sits beside him.
“Do you even know how to do this, jiejie?” Marius teases back, but he’s still blushing. And still pouting.
“I’ve seen Artem and Vyn doing this plenty of times.” Rosa says as she adjusts his sleeve garters to the right position, then gracefully lifts the sleeves up. In less than a minute she manages to accomplish what he had been trying for five.
“Thank you…” Marius says as he dumbly stares at his arms.
“You’re welcome.” Rosa says, picks up her tablet and starts reading from it.
When Artem and Vyn walk into the room and comment on how neat his sleeves are, she doesn’t mention she was the one who helped him.
Artem picks up the habit of back-hugging and neck-kissing.
Marius is always taking advantage of his taller stature to sneak in back hugs and neck kisses. Everyone is half-pleased when the spell turns on him and Artem unconsciously picks up the habit. The other half is concerned about the fact that they now have two boyfriends with the same habit.
It all starts innocently, with Artem casually back-hugging them while they do tasks during their dates at each other’s houses. Until the first kiss happens, and it’s all downhill from there.
Vyn is rambling about tea while the others patiently listen. Artem is behind him, hands around his waist, carefully watching every single one of his movements because he also wishes to know more about the art of making tea. He mindlessly presses a kiss to the back of his neck, and Vyn stops .
“Is everything ok?” Artem asks, and Vyn feels the question rather than hears it.
“Did you just. Kiss my neck?” he asks. Marius looks up at the two of them with a small smirk on his lips, while Rosa and Luke just stare at the scene incredulously.
“Oh. Sorry.” Artem apologizes.
“No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it.” Vyn says, then resumes his lesson on tea-making. Marius has a smirk on his face for the rest of the day.
It’s all fun and games for him, until he also becomes a victim of it.
“Where’s your apron, hm?” Artem asks as he walks in. Vyn and Luke are sitting on the other side of the counter while Rosa and Marius attempt to make noodles.
“I’m not going to be cooking for long-” Marius starts. Artem casually hugs him from behind, then steals a neck kiss. He stops functioning for solid ten seconds, shiver running down his spine and blood rushing to his face. Artem doesn’t let go, and just lays his chin on his shoulder and watches what he’s doing.
“You’re wearing black and using flour. Recipe for disaster.” he comments, then reaches out to one of his hands to better guide him through the process of shaping the noodles.
“I get it, I get it! You’re distracting me!” Marius blurts out, face still red.
“Typical teenage hormones.” Vyn comments with an amused smile and Luke snorts.
“Vyn!” Marius yells out in frustration. Rosa can’t help it anymore and laughs.
“Could you please stay there for a little longer?” Luke suggests, pointing at Artem who’s still in the same position.
“Gege!” Marius retorts in a reprimanding tone, but doesn’t try to shy away from Artem’s touch.
“I intend to.” Artem says with a pleased smile, then proceeds to hold Marius’ wrist to better guide him. “You have to open your arms like this…”
Marius obediently follows Artem’s teachings, despite the teasing comments coming from his boyfriends and girlfriend.