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In the early hours of morning, Heath and Akira blinked their eyes awake to the morning sun peeking its rays through the curtains. Shino remained in deep sleep beside them, sprawled out like a cat. Heath sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Akira rolled over and drowsily smiled up at Heath.
“Good morning. You’re up early.”
“Good morning. So are you.” Heath ran his hands through Akira’s hair and they both leaned in to touch their foreheads together, a show of affection that was soft, yet invigorating.
Once Heath got off the bed to get dressed, Akira brushed his fingers through Shino’s bangs, a way of saying “don’t worry, we’re not going far.” A ghost of a smile formed on Shino’s lips at the touch. He began carefully making his way out of the bed to also get himself dressed, trying not to disturb the younger wizard.
Heath and Akira made their way downstairs to the kitchen, which was empty and dark. Heath opened the curtains with a quiet whisper of his spell and the kitchen was bathed in light, welcoming the new day.
After stretching and letting out a huge yawn, Akira took out a recipe book from the cupboard, flipping through the pages containing breakfast dishes. Meanwhile, Heath took out some mugs, deliberating upon what drink to prepare. Upon glancing over and seeing Akira nodding off, his head cutely bobbing up-and-down, as he turned the pages back-and-forth, he went over and placed a hand on his back, which caused Akira to jolt back awake.
“Would you like some coffee?”
“Mm. Yes please.” With that, Heath gave Akira’s shoulder a light squeeze and immediately set to work on brewing some coffee. Akira put down the book to temporarily rest his eyes until Heath set down a warm mug in front of Akira.
“Thanks.” After taking a few sips of coffee, Akira returned to flipping through a few more pages before he stopped on a recipe that was to his liking. “Hey Heath, how do lemon pancakes sound?”
“That sounds good to me.”
“I’m glad. I hope Shino will like them too.”
“Mm! I’m sure he will.”
The two took turns quietly stirring the pancake ingredients together in a large bowl and making sure they added a little extra lemon zest just for Shino. After a couple rounds of mixing, Akira noticeably slowed down, looking down into the batter with a soft smile on his face.
“Master Sage, is everything alright?” Heathcliff asked, his voice laced with concern.
“Hm? Yes it is.” Akira paused before turning to face Heath, “I’m just happy.” And he gave Heath a bright grin that Heath couldn’t help but smile back as well.
“Oh, Heath your cheek!” Akira set down the bowl and grabbed a nearby towel and wiped off a few drops of batter resting on Heath’s face.
“Thank you…” Heath said with a blush forming across his cheeks.
“You’re welcome,” Akira replied, not moving his hand down from Heath’s cheek. Their eyes remained locked on each other, time seeming to slow down as they were mesmerized by the other. After a moment, Akira closed the distance between them and leaned up to kiss Heath, who caught him by the waist and met him in the middle.
“Good morning,” a deep voice laced with sleep muttered. Akira and Heath pulled back from each other to see Shino in the doorway to the kitchen, with a mischievous yet fond smirk on his face. Heath turned red and the sight of Shino reminded Akira that the breakfast he and Heath began making for all three of them was abandoned on the counter.
“Good morning, Shino!” Akira said as he turned back to the bowl full of pancake batter, giving one last vigorous stir while Heath collected himself enough to light up the stove and place a frying pan over the flame. Akira tried to quickly but carefully pour the batter into the pan and watched as it spread out into small circles. Shino chuckled at his partners’ flustered reactions.
“It smells good,” Shino said while taking a deep breath, inhaling the faint scents of batter and lemon. The smell reminded him of home.
“Ah. Thank you, Shino…” Heath replied, still trying to recover from his embarrassment. Shino walked over to watch the pancakes sizzling in the pan. Akira flipped them over, trying to concentrate fully on the cooking to recover from his own high. Once the pancakes were fully cooked, Akira moved them off the stove and onto a plate that Shino stealthily grabbed from a nearby cupboard and set down for him.
“Let’s let them cool for a minute before we add syrup and whipped cream,” Akira suggested. Heath and Shino nodded. Silence fell over the trio. Though not for long.
“Oh, yeah. Heath, Sage, me too.” Shino didn’t give Heath and Akira time to fully process what he meant. First, he closed the distance between him and Akira and leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. Upon pulling back and seeing Akira’s flushed face, Shino leaned back in to rub their noses together. Then he made his way over to Heath, grabbing his arm and leaning up to kiss him too. Heath was left speechless once Shino pulled away. Shino observed Heath’s stunned reaction with amusement.
“Shall we eat soon? I’m hungry,” Shino asked, breaking Akira and Heath out of their lovestruck daze.
“Y-yes, of course!” Before Akira could leave to find the syrup and whipped cream to top off the pancakes, Shino grabbed his hand to stop him.
“You both woke up early to make this, didn’t you?” Shino hesitated before saying, “Thank you.” The solemn way Shino said it seemed to indicate that he wasn’t just talking about the lemon pancakes.
“Of course.” In a moment of warmth and boldness, Heath wrapped Shino in a hug from behind. In turn, Akira stepped closer and hugged Shino from the front.
“You’re welcome,” Akira whispered. Shino closed his eyes, content being enveloped in the embrace of the two he loved most in the world.