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After waving off their friends, the heavy lock finally slid into place. The click gave an air of finality for the night, letting them both know it was finally time to relax…sleep. At least after they cleaned up a little bit.
3 am. Kakucho wandered back into the living room, having just ushered the last of the party guests away after Izana had whispered in his ear.
“I’m tired, Kakucho.”
Kakucho had nodded, knowing what Izana really meant, and gathered up their friend’s coats and keys and miscellaneous things that they needed to cart off in order to return Izana’s apartment to normal. All that was left was the remnants of the party. Cups and plates and bottles… streamers hanging around the windows. Kakucho sighed, knowing this was a task for him. He’d never let Izana clean up on his birthday. This would just be one of his many gifts for him.
Speaking of Izana, Kakucho looked around, wondering where he had wandered off to. Kakucho spotted him, squatting down in one of the closets, inspecting something Kakcuho could not see due to the dim lights in the apartment. He smiled to himself as Izana pulled out his guitar, stashed away in the closet for safe-keeping. He hadn’t wanted to let it get damaged with so many of their rowdy friends about. Especially not when alcohol was involved.
Izana heaved a large sigh as he sat down on the couch, pulling his guitar into his lap. He closed his eyes for a moment, before taking another deep breath, steadying himself as the last of the alcohol of the night flowed through his fingers. When Izana began to play, the first few notes were off key and out of tune, but Izana soon picked up a rhythm that felt more familiar, and came through as a recognizable song even as he was intoxicated.
Kakucho watched him for a moment before stepping away, letting Izana have his moment in peace. He knew his boyfriend needed a moment, or maybe a moment and a half, to relax and recenter after being surrounded with so much activity and noise for the evening. He knew Izana loved their friends, but…they could be alot when contained to a small apartment. They were much easier to handle in small doses sometimes, but he was sure Izana was glad to see them all at once.
Celebrating him. The center of attention, like he deserved to be.
Pulling an empty trash bag from below the sink, Kakucho began to make his way around the kitchen. He tossed paper plates and half empty chip bags into the trash, followed by the drink cups that he first needed to empty into the sink. The pizza boxes were next, consolidated down to a single overstuffed box that he jammed into the fridge, hoping he and Izana would eat some of it before he needed to throw it away.
Kakucho still wasn’t much of a drinker compared to the others, but he still felt the warmth of the alcohol he had consumed in his cheeks. He also wasn’t much of a dancer, but he still felt himself begin to sway with the soft tunes plucked from Izana’s guitar.
Stepping around the kitchen, Kakucho dropped a wet washcloth onto the floor, cleaning up a half-dried puddle of some sort of brown liquid (whiskey or soda? Who could say?), spinning around once as he tossed the rag into the sink, missing his aim by about a foot. Kakucho laughed at his mistake, tired yet happy about spending a day focused solely on Izana, and reached over to grab the rag to wipe down the counters.
When he finished the kitchen, Kakucho turned off the lights, flooding the living area in darkness, now illuminated only by the city lights through the window, and the glow of Izana’s fish tank. He could see the back of Izana’s wavy white hair through the glass, his colorful fish lazily swimming around after coming out of their hideaways now that the party had ended.
Kakucho always liked to listen to Izana play his guitar. It was a skill that Izana had tried to teach him once, but Kakucho had never been able to pick up because he much preferred watching Izana play than listening to the words he was trying to say. He played just about every day, even if it was only for a few minutes, so he could calm down and destress from the day. Kakucho never interrupted him, because even if he was in the same room, it felt like Izana’s private time. His “me” time, to just be with himself.
He still liked to watch him. Just to listen. Such a soft melody, drifting through the air. Izana’s favorite songs, strummed out on an acoustic guitar, slowed to his liking so each note hit each emotion they were meant to.
Izana was so talented, Kakucho thought. Handsome and smart and talented. He was so lucky to get to spend another year with him.
As Izana continued to strum, Kakucho quietly cleaned up the mess around them. Pulling the streamers off the windows, and scooping the rest of the party supplies into the trash. He pushed the furniture back into their designated spaces as well, the coffee table out of place due to the dance battle Shion had incited with Rindou. (Shion lost, of course). Picking up the couch pillows that had been discarded on the floor, Kakucho fluffed them, setting them back into their place beside Izana.
Izana stopped strumming when one of the pillows fell against his arm. He opened his eyes, looking at the pillow before shaking it off. Looking up at Kakucho with tired eyes, he nodded at the seat beside him.
“Sit with me, Kakucho. You can finish that tomorrow.”
Kakucho nodded, not wanting to deny Izana of anything he asked for on his birthday. He deposited the trash bag on the coffee table before sitting on the couch, pulling his feet beneath him as he leaned back, not wanting to interfere with the space Izana needed to continue playing.
Kakucho pulled a pillow onto his lap as Izana’s fingers found the strings again, never needing to look directly at them in order to play. He plucked out a few chords before resuming the song he had been playing. One of Kakucho’s personal favorites. Izana always just looked so at peace while playing, like he had not a care in the world and everything was going to be okay.
Sometimes, like tonight, Izana sang the words under his breath. Never loud enough for Kakucho to hear them, because Izana did not like the way his singing voice sounded. “Like a dying cat” , Izana had said once when Kakucho asked how it sounded. Kakucho didn’t believe that, because he liked Izana’s speaking voice very much. There was no way that it sounded terrible when he matched it with his masterful guitar skills.
But even so, he never asked Izana to sing louder. He didn’t want to frustrate him when his time was so precious. He’d much rather be entranced, watching Izana’s soft lips from around words he couldn’t hear, hoping he’d get a kiss later when Izana had retired the guitar for the night.
As Izana approached the end of the song, he slowly opened his violet eyes, watching his own fingers as they moved across the strings. He finished the tune with a gentle flair, strumming all the strings one after another, before securing his pick on the neck. Straightening his back, he set the guitar down in its stand that he had placed beside him on the floor, before flopping onto Kakucho, head pillowed on his crossed legs.
Kakucho’s fingers found his hair, playing with the waves and tucking them behind his ear. Izana sighed, fingers tickling the bottom of Kakucho’s foot. Kakucho jumped at the contact before shifting to set both feet on the ground, keeping them away from Izana’s tickling fingers, and giving him a more solid surface on his lap to rest his head.
“Did you have fun today?” Kakucho asked as Izana shifted, laying flat on his stomach with his head on Kakucho’s lap. Kakucho scratched his back through his shirt, just how Izana liked.
“Hm,” Izana hummed contemplating the question. “I suppose so. It was pretty fun.”
“Good, I’m glad.” Because he was. Kakucho was satisfied when Izana got his way. “Did you get everything you wanted?”
Lifting his head, Izana rolled onto his back, before resting his head on Kakucho’s lap again. He opened his eyes, half asleep and hazy, and tapped his lips with one finger. Kakucho smiled, leaning down to give him the kiss he had been fantasizing about while Izana was singing. Soft and slow, Izana’s fingers dragging up the side of his neck. Kakucho smiled against his lips, pressing a second kiss onto Izana’s forehead and a quick peck to the end of his nose when they parted.
“Now I have…” Izana sighed, eyes closed again as he drifted closer and closer to sleep. “Even though it's only just now my birthday, you know.”
“You’re right. We celebrated a day early.”
“Then, I guess we will have to celebrate more later.” Izana yawned, mouth stretching wide as he lifted his arms above his head to pop his back.
“After we get some sleep.”
“And then we’ll spend all day in bed.” Izana smiled, lips turning upwards in a mischievous grin.
“Drinking the liquor Mucho got you for your birthday,” Kakucho agreed, only able to imagine what mischief the pair of them would be able to get into with that arrangement.
“And eating the Mont Blanc Ran got for my birthday cake.” Izana licked his lips, imagining eating the desert that Ran never shared.
“Listen to the new vinyl Mochi bought…”
“On the record player Rindou refurbished for me.”
Kakucho nodded, even though Izana’s eyes were closed, considering their day together. After a pause, Kakucho scratched at Izana’s scalp, enjoying the way Izana’s nose wrinkled.
“What did Shion get for you again?”
“A new bonsai…and some new shears.”
“Then we can set that by the window after you trim it up.”
Izana hummed, turning on his side, and wrapping his arm around Kakucho’s waist. He pressed his face into the softest part of his belly, nuzzling in as he relaxed.
“And I get to spend the whole day with you.”
“Until you kick me out.”
Izana chuckled, squeezing him tightly, until Kakucho began to worry about Izana snapping his back. His arms loosened slightly, Izana’s hands cold as they found their way under his shirt, spreading their chill across his lower back.
“As if I’d ever do that.” Izana’s nails scratched at his skin, surely leaving behind little red marks that would be gone in a few moments. “You’re going to be the only birthday gift that matters. You’re never allowed to leave now.”