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Akutagawa had a peculiar set of interests, or so did Chuuya come to learn.
Ever since joining the organisation, the raven was quick to make a name for himself; black hound of calamity, Port Mafia's vengeful hellhound and the commander of the vanguard forces. Akutagawa's status was recognised by the entire city, with the wanted posters hanging on each and every police station only fueled the terror he imposed. Yet, the raven did not seem to care for money or power that he came to obtain. It was something that Chuuya could relate to; after all, neither of them had joined the mafia for its added perks.
However, as years went by, Chuuya grew convinced that there wasn't anything in particular that the raven liked. That was, of course, until he had started spending more time with the other.
It all began as most things do, on accident. It was a hectic day, with Chuuya running on two hours of sleep and too many energy drinks to notice that he had accidentally reached out for Akutagawa's tea instead of his coffee. Almost immediately, he came to cough the drink up as the overwhelming taste of sugar made his teeth hurt at the thought alone.
"What is it?" Akutagawa came to ask him, seeing Chuuya swallow down some of his bitter coffee in an attempt to cancel out the sweetness lingering on his lips.
"Nothing, I just... it's nothing..." Chuuya waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "God, how much sugar did you put in that thing?"
"Four cubes."
"Four? That many?!"
"Yes," Akutagawa confirmed, picking up the small porcelain cup. "It's a habit from when I was younger, and sugar was considered a rare luxury." He proceeded to explain while observing the tea leaves swirling in the light green water of his teacup. "...I guess I grew to like it."
Chuuya's paused at the words, his eyes widening slightly at the confession.
Akutagawa... like it?
It was the first time the raven had shared his interests with him. Well, maybe "interests" was a strong word to describe the exchange; however, Chuuya did not care for the details as a sense of intrigue grew within him. So there were things that Akutagawa had liked, and little did Chuuya know that this was only the beginning of what would become a long list of discoveries.
Not long after the incident, Chuuya came to put his newfound knowledge to use. It was a warm spring day, a free one at that, and although the experience of inviting Akutagawa out to the town with him seemed a little awkward at first, Chuuya came to learn much more about the raven the second they entered one of Elise's favourite sweet shops.
That day Chuuya discovered that Akutagawa liked chocolate, but that was not all. Apparently, before joining the mafia, he came to work as a bodyguard and a backup in street fights before spending all his earned money on sweets, earning himself a visit to a hospital for malnutrition. If anyone else had told him such facts about the raven, Chuuya would have looked at them as if they were crazy but hearing it from Akutagawa himself only fueled the redhead's curiosity.
Soon enough, Chuuya came to add more things to his mental list of Akutagawa's interests, some simpler than the others. It included things like books - precisely ghost stories and short gothic tales - figs, candlelights and antiques. In fact, Akutagawa appeared to be particularly interested in gothic curios, a set of unusual and intriguing objects that fund their home in Akutagawa's apartment.
In fact, the first time Chuuya came to see the space itself, he could not name the feeling of walking within it even if he tried to. Every inch of the apartment screamed Akutagawa's name. The space was spotless, from his pure black Antoinette furniture to small details of the dark red cushions and series of dried flowers that hung from his bookshelves.
Everything had its place.
Everything had its reason for being in the apartment.
Until this very day, Chuuya didn't know how exactly Akutagawa came to accumulate all of the unique pieces within his collection; however, he didn't need to know the details of the item's origins in order to admire them. In fact, one of his favourite objects in Akutagawa's home was probably the black vanity table that stood in his lover's bedroom. Akutagawa told him about it once; an antique piece imported from France with hand-carved details and a silver-backed mirror. It was a piece of art, and not even the most expensive painting in the world could rival the sight of Akutagawa sitting beside it.
He was wearing nothing but one of his oversized shirts, its collar falling loosely around his neck with the top set of buttons undone, but the raven did not seem to mind. His hair was still damp from the shower, and Akutagawa proceeded to dry off the wet ends with the towel as Chuuya walked back into the room, carrying a large parcel in his hands.
"Did you order something?" He asked, reading the address label in an attempt to figure out the origins of the said mail. It was an international package, that's for sure, but when it came to Akutagawa, it was nearly impossible to guess just what might be hiding inside it.
"Yes. Did it arrive already?" Akutagawa looked up, setting the towel aside as Chuuya came closer.
"Seems so."
"Show me."
It was not long after receiving the parcel that Akutagawa ripped it open with the handy help of Rashomon, reviling a bunch of blue-coloured tissue paper stuffed within it.
"What is it?" Chuuya proceeded to ask, leaning on the tabletop with one hand as he looked over Akutagawa's shoulder, the curiosity keeping him guessing.
"It's called Morpho Didius, or blue morpho..." Akutagawa explained, but the words did not help Chuuya's imagination in the slighted. That was until Akutagawa removed all the layers of paper, pulling out two black frames.
It was an ornate design, black as the night to match the rest of Akutagawa's furniture; however, it was not empty. Within it, against the dark background was a pop of colour, a blue so vibrant that it made Chuuya feel as if he was seeing it for the very first time all over again.
"...and this one is called a blue mountain swallowtail." Akutagawa continued, revealing the second frame for Chuuya to see.
"Butterflies?" Chuuya raised a brow, eyeing the two insects.
Akutagawa never showed interest in entomology, or at least from what Chuuya could recall, so seeing him purchase not one but two butterfly specimens was quite unexpected.
"I didn't know you liked them." He admitted, leaning over to take a better look at the little creatures.
Both of them were as beautiful as they were unique. The first butterfly - or as Akutagawa explained, blue morpho - was almost entirely blue with only a thin set of black lines around the rim of his wings. In the meantime, the second insect had much more black decorating its wings. The said colour covered almost half of the surface, and Chuuya assumed that it was the irregular patterns along the edge of its lower wings that had earned it its name as a swallowtail.
"I don't, but..." Akutagawa lifted the frame, holding it beside Chuuya's reflection in the mirror as he smiled at him. "...I liked the blue."
Chuuya tilted his head slightly, processing the words until the realisation had finally hit him, making the corners of his lips curl upwards as his hands found their place around Akutagawa's shoulders, pulling him close.
"Is that a confession?" He teased, resting his head on Akutagawa as their eyes met in the mirror's reflection.
"It's as close as you'll ever get to one," Akutagawa replied, breaking the eye contact while setting the frames aside, the familiar sense of seriousness returning right back onto the raven's face.
"Isn't that right?" Chuuya could not help and let out a quiet laugh at the words.
After all, that's how their relationship was.
There were no love confessions or no heartfelt conversations. Oh, no. Their love was hectic and fierce, filled with heated nights and bared teeth that painted their skin red and purple for weeks. However, once in a while, there were moments like these... times when Akutagawa would simply allow Chuuya to hold him close as a comfortable silence fell between them.
They never pointed it out nor mentioned it afterwards. Yet, they continued to do it because despite the word "love" never crossing their lips, there were moments like this that neither of them had to say anything to know.
However, nothing lasted forever and eventually, Chuuya loosened his hold, reaching out for the towel that Akutagawa had set aside before continuing to dry his hair for him as the raven ran his fingers down one of the frames.
Later that evening, the two insects had found their honorary place atop Akutagawa's dresser, right between the pile of poetry books Chuuya had recommended to him and a couple of candles. Looking at them, it was almost as if they had always been there, and it was only a couple of weeks later that a new parcel arrived at Chuuya's doorstep.
Papilio deiphobus, or rather a different variety of the swallowtail butterfly, has found its way onto Chuuya's desk. Its shape was almost identical to the one Akutagawa had brought; however, its colouring was pitch black with only faint hints of blue so light it appeared silver in the sunlight and or once Chuuya came to realise that he long grew to like silver more than gold.