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For as long as he could remember, Reki had hated showering.
When he was a kid, it had been a boring nuisance. Slowing down had never been his forte, nor had attention to detail. Often, he would get sent right back into the bathroom - after spending as little time as possible under the rain head - to actually rinse the suds out of his hair.
When he'd gotten older, had started recognizing the disconnect between his body and brain, he’d begun making excuses, doing everything in his power to avoid seeing himself unclothed. Showering in the dark had quickly proved to be a hazard, and wearing clothes while he cleaned himself was less than comfortable, so he just avoided it. Which was not a long term solution. So he sucked it up, sped through his hygiene routine, and kept his eyes on the ceiling. Or let tears mix in with the water, depending on what kind of a day it was.
Now, though, Reki loved showering. He loved letting the water run down his scarred chest, warming his skin as the sight that greeted him when he looked down warmed his heart. He couldn't help but grin at his appearance in the foggy mirror while he brushed and dried his hair with a towel around his waist, with no burning urge to cover up itching under his skin, no need to towel himself off and redress while still damp then complain about his clothes clinging to him.
“Rekiii!” Langa's call was accompanied by the bathroom door sliding open, a cool gust of air from the hallway kicking up the steam and tossing it about the room in swirly whisps. “We're going to be late.”
“Okay, okay,” Reki chuckled and pressed a quick kiss against Langa's pout, “I'm almost done.”
“What are you doing in here?” Langa caught Reki by the waist as he attempted to retreat, so much for complaining about being late, and kissed him back properly. “It's awfully quiet.”
“Nothing.” Reki felt the dusting of pink flare to life below his eyes, and Langa smirked at the obvious lie.
“You were checking yourself out again,” Langa released him easily when Reki shoved at his chest and turned away, face flushing fully red now, probably darker than his hair, “weren't you?”
“Maybe…” Langa's arms snaked around him from behind, slowly, gently, and then Reki's feet left the ground. A squawk of surprise preceded the fit of giggles as Langa held him up by the waist and spun them both back to face the mirror before letting Reki's feet settle upon the tile below once more. He didn't let go, however. He kept his hold and rested his chin on Reki’s shoulder, admiring their reflection.
“You do look awfully handsome with a flat chest.” Langa nosed into Reki’s hair, one hand traveling up his torso to brush the healed scars. Sensation was returning, slowly but surely, Langa's fingers were cold against his skin as pins and needles prickled to life just below the surface wherever he touched.
“I do, don't I?” Reki didn’t flush that time. He smiled proudly, accepted the compliment with his head held high.
Because it was true.
He did look awfully handsome with a flat chest.
When Langa pulled his nose out of Reki’s hair, there was a grin on his face as well. He loved it when Reki agreed with the compliments. It was a rare occurrence, for Reki not to hide his crimson face and sputter an incoherent string of flustered syllables back at his fiance after he voiced his admiration.
It felt good to finally see what Langa saw.
“You’re even more handsome when you’re confident.” Langa pressed a kiss to Reki’s jaw, earning a hushed chuckle from the slightly shorter man before he turned his head and their lips slotted together, somewhat awkwardly given their positioning, but perfectly nonetheless. “Seriously.” Langa pulled back first and Reki tried to chase his retreating lips, but a finger appeared against them instead, which greatly hindered his ability to pout, but didn’t stop him from trying as the warmth of Langa’s arms left his skin. “We have to leave in five minutes. Finish getting ready.”
“Or we could just stay here.” Reki caught Langa’s hand before he could turn fully, batting his lashes over slightly widened eyes, but Langa didn’t fall for it.
“It’s Joe and Cherry’s anniversary.” Langa shook his head firmly despite the smirk on his lips. “We’re not skipping it.”
“Fine.” Reki groaned with a flourish and a very dramatic sigh. “What do you think of me wearing this?” He released Langa’s hand and stepped back, arms splayed at his sides, waggling his eyebrows as he shifted his hips to show off the sway of the towel. “I think it fits the dress code.”
“I have no complaints,” Langa winked as he backed out of the room, “but Cherry will.”
Reki chuckled and dropped his arms, casting one more glance at himself, giddy. He stared at the wrinkled pink lines standing out against smooth skin for a few seconds, lost in the view of himself until Langa reappeared and physically dragged him across the hall to their bedroom.
He got dressed quickly, his clothes already laid out for him. That was Langa’s doing, of course. He knew better than to let Reki decide what to wear at the last minute. Neither of them enjoyed sorting through the mess of clean and dirty clothes that always ended up exploding about the room when Reki was in a rush and had a dress code to meet. Langa checked him over, ensuring his cropped hoodie and ripped jeans did in fact go together, before they slipped on their respective favourite shoes: Langa grabbed his pastel pink high tops, the ones with white detailing and light blue laces that matched his hair and eyes and the button down shirt he was wearing under his black waistcoat, while Reki tugged on his canvas low tops that had been white at some point, but were now decorated with doodles in every colour of the rainbow.
Their outfits weren't cohesive, they both knew they wouldn't seem to match to any passers by on their way to Sia la Luce, but they were perfect.
.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.
“What’s up, slimes?” The sound of a tail scrape followed the greeting and they turned to see Miya had appeared behind them.
“Pronouns?” Langa asked as Reki took in the outfit choice: black mini skirt, white dress shirt, red sweater vest with white trim, red fingerless gloves, and red knee-high socks.
“She/they.” Miya popped their board into their hand with their strappy, studded boot and smirked at the two, falling into step between them.
“How the hell do you skate in those things?” Reki gestured to the platform boots that brought Miya’s height closer to Langa's, allowing her to look down upon him. Reki didn't like that. It felt like cheating that Miya was coordinated enough to walk in those things. And then there was the fact that she was still growing. They would tower over Reki one day, he was sure of it.
He was also sure of the fact that Miya would never let him forget that fact.
“Talent, get some.” Miya snickered and dashed down the path to the front door of Joe’s restaurant before Reki could come up with any sort of a comeback that wasn't just huffing and stuttering.
“You're plenty talented.” Langa wrapped an arm around Reki's shoulders to console him. “Not skating in platform boots talented, but talented.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Reki feigned annoyance but he was smiling as he slid out from under Langa's arm and opened the door, ushering his fiance in with a dramatic swoop of his arm that flowed seamlessly into a bow and made Langa laugh.
Langa's laughter was without a doubt, the most beautiful sound in the world.
“Hey, boys!” Joe called from the kitchen, interrupting whatever argument Shadow and Miya had gotten into in the fifteen seconds between her running in the door and Langa and Reki entering. “Love the crop top, kid!”
“Isn't it some kind of health and safety violation to be shirtless in the kitchen?” Langa’s head tilted as he asked, brows furrowing at the sight of Joe’s altogether unsurprising lack of clothes.
“My kitchen, my rules!” Joe just grinned and flexed while Cherry rolled his eyes and sipped his wine from his comfortable-looking seat atop the bar. He was dressed in a floor-length turquoise gown with a slit in the skirt that ran almost up to his hip, revealing chunky boots similar to Miya's, as well as the various kanji and flower tattoos that covered almost every centimeter of his legs.
“Just don't injure yourself.” Cherry tutted and tried to hide his smile behind his wine glass. “I don't feel like performing first aid tonight. And you don’t need more scars.”
“Well excuse me for not being blessed with a tiny chest.” Joe brought a hand to his chest, running his fingers over the barely visible marks of the past, but with a grin on his face. “Some of us here had to have double incision.”
“And inverted T.” Langa added with a raised hand.
“You act as though I was suggesting something egregious.” Cherry scoffed and muttered under his breath while Joe returned his attention to whatever he was doing.
“See?” Reki elbowed Langa in the ribs, lightly, and pointed to Joe, “I could have come shirtless.”
“I told you, I wasn't the one who would have a problem with it.” Langa’s eyes wandered pointedly toward Cherry as they approached the bar and the man atop it. “And did you really want to walk six blocks in a bath towel?”
“I think I would have to draw the line at towels.” Cherry stifled a laugh rather poorly as he responded, which meant he was already a few glasses deep into the bottle next to him.
“You said we were supposed to wear whatever made us feel good!” Reki protested and Joe smirked as he placed glasses of wine before them, red for Langa, rosé for Reki. “I felt good in-”
“Correction, I said to wear an outfit that sparked joy.” Cherry silenced Reki with a wave of his hand and the force of his words. “Emphasis on outfit. A towel is not an outfit.”
“Nobody wants to see that towel fall off, either.” Shadow set his beer down on the bar with a thump and a laugh. He was wearing his normal S attire, leather and straps and buckles, though hadn't done his usual mohawk or facepaint. Instead, his hair sat in a neat braid, straight back off of his face, showing off his undercut, and there were streaks of black and glitter running down from his eyes, connecting and diverging in winding rivers all the way down his neck. “Bad enough we have to look at this one half-naked all the time.”
“Hey, Shadow?” Reki cut in before Joe could defend his shirtlessness. He ignored the quips and raised an eyebrow at Shadow. “You know they make waterproof mascara, right?”
“New manager break your heart already?” Langa jumped in as though he’d been planning to ask the same question.
“Like I already told the pipsqueak,” Shadow slammed a fist down on the bar and shoved his thumb in Miya’s direction as he grumbled, “it was intentional! It’s called art!”
“Hey!” Miya crossed their arms with a sneer. “I’m taller than Reki, don’t be calling me pipsqueak.”
“You’re only taller than me because of your shoes!” Reki snapped back.
“Seriously though, Shadow, how’s it going with the new manager?”
“Why are we talking about my love life when it’s their anniversary?”
“Because successful romance is boring.”
“Are you bored of me?”
“No, that’s not what I meant, oh my god I love you I was just-”
“Quit before you dig yourself a deeper hole, slime.”
“Don’t cut him off, let him suffer!”
“Now, now, why don’t we-” Joe’s interruption was interrupted by four thwacks of Cherry’s fan and four sounds of surprise.
“Enough bickering already, that’s our job.” Cherry gave each of the guests a stern glare, though it was softened by the tipsy blush that decorated his cheeks.
“Yes, yes it is.” Joe agreed before anyone could protest. “Now, food is ready, who’s helping me?”
Reki and Miya assisted Joe in getting the various dishes to the table that had been set out in the center of the room while Cherry and Langa refreshed drinks and Shadow “supervised.”
“You really should have let us take you guys out.” Reki brought up the topic for what was probably the fifth time as Joe handed him a massive bowl of pasta that had to weigh close to five kilograms. “You shouldn’t have to cook your own anniversary dinner.”
Joe smiled and handed a pizza to Miya while he grabbed another pasta dish to carry himself. “You really think Kaoru would have wanted anything else?”
“It’s my anniversary, I get to choose the meal.” Cherry piped up from the table as he poured himself another glass of wine.
“Is it not also my anniversary?” Joe teased as he set his tray of pasta down. “Where’s my choice?”
“You would have rather done something else?” Cherry kissed his husband on the forehead and then very affectionately shoved him back a few steps.
“Absolutely not.” Joe chuckled and shook his head.
Langa’s arm found its way around Reki’s shoulders and pulled him close to bury a few kisses in his hair. He turned his head after the third one to properly capture Langa’s lips with his, and squeaked when a very heavy boot stomped down on his mostly defenseless foot.
“No PDA at the dinner table.” Miya scampered to the other side of the table while Langa held a complaining Reki in place and forced him into a chair.
“Alright, I’m gonna be cheesy for a minute.” Joe raised his wine glass once everyone had settled in.
“Oh dear.” Cherry sighed, but with a fond smile on his face.
“Shut up.” Joe planted a kiss on Cherry's cheek, silencing him. “We’ve all been through a lot. Together and apart. And when I look at all of you, happy and comfortable with yourselves, feeling safe to express yourselves as Kaoru and I do… I’m so proud to call each and every one of you my family. And there is absolutely nothing else I’d rather be doing tonight to celebrate ten years with the man I love, than enjoying an amazingly prepared meal with my family.”
“Okay, humble brag.” Miya snorted, and Reki snickered along, but everyone raised their glasses as well.
“Happy anniversary, my love.” Joe turned fully to face Cherry, who grabbed his chin with one hand and hid their kiss behind his fan with the other.
“Happy anniversary.” Cherry was smiling when he lowered his fan and addressed the rest of the table. “And thank you all, for celebrating with us.”
“Happy anniversary!” Reki started the chorus of cheers and everyone else joined in.