Chapter Text
It had been fifteen minutes, and they hadn’t come home. Altare checked the time again, now they were sixteen minutes late. How dare they.
Hugging his favorite Cultare plushie to his chest, the young man huffed in frustration. They had a dinner date in an hour, if anything happened at work, a quick message or anything would be greatly appreciated. Yet, his partner left him uninformed and worrying at home, most importantly, left him alone.
What if something happened to them when they were driving home? He wanted to make a call, but Altare didn’t want to become that “something” which put their important ones in danger. Four minutes later (which made it a total of twenty minutes), Altare jumped up, running to the front door.
He opened it before the other person could, literally dragging them inside. While Altare was desperate, pouting and sulking a little because he missed them, he was not a crybaby. They kept him waiting without a proper reason, made him worried. There was nothing wrong with taking action as soon as you hear their car approaching from outside.
“Did something happen? You usually leave a message if you know you’d be late?” Altare asked innocently, unaware of the fact that he was all over his partner because god, he missed them. Of course he knew something was up, but he wanted to let them speak. If that sounded like a complaint, yes he was. His partner, as expected, looked rather apologetic.
Turns out a distributor made a serious mistake, and if nobody took care of the matter today, tomorrow it would evolve into a bigger mess. “You’re taking too much responsibility.” Altare sighed, though he totally understood.
But how could I make you happy if I’m not a responsible person? He heard his partner smile. Altare knew, but he was too spoiled to think about anything other than their dinner date and cuddles afterwards.
He wanted to let go so his partner could change, it was when he smelled something really, really sweet. “What’s this? You’re using cologne now?” But something wasn’t right about this musk. It’s posh, too heavy and too sexy for just anyone to wear. “What’s this smell?”
Of course, it was Magni showing off his new cologne at their office. Altare saw Magni’s Instagram post about that, even let his colleagues tried it out. “Okay, okay, I understand.”
He closed the bedroom door to give them some privacy, all while pondering. An evil plan came to his mind.
※
Altare was very clingy today. His partner thought to themselves. It wasn’t annoying at all, instead it was a surprise they welcomed with gratitude.
They tried to apologize formally about being late, but Altare shook his head. “You’re just doing your job, I understand. And you’ve done the same thing for me before, you know?”
No, they didn’t remember. Altare giggled. “Aww. Now I know your eyes are always on me.”
Dinner was nice. If Altare was a cat, he would be purring contently in his partner’s arms right now. On second thought, he didn’t need to be a cat to do that, right?
His partner asked if he wanted something else. Obviously, they were still trying to make up for what happened earlier, but Altare felt he should appreciate the effort without pointing it out. “Well, it’s been a long day for both of us. How about we go home and get to bed early?”
His partner stared at him. Altare stared back, with slyness glinting in his emerald eyes. “What? I mean it. Look, we’re both tired, we need rest, doesn’t sleeping sound tempting to you?”
It was. They went straight home and showered. Altare came out of the bathroom, almost burst into laughter when he saw the awkward look on the other’s face. “What are you waiting for? Lie down! You must be very exhausted.” He bounced onto the bed, pinning his partner down before they could react.
What’s all this for? Altare heard his partner asking. Needless to say, he knew what they were thinking, what they were drooling over. Exactly in the way Altare wanted them to be.
“Nah. We good.” He flipped onto his back and closed his eyes. “Good night.”
※
“Hey.”
He heard the other body shifted, followed by a very soft grunt. Altare found that noise absolutely adorable. “I used your shampoo. I smell like you now.”
His arm tightened around his partner’s waist. There is no way to get away from him; nor could anyone take them from him.
END