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It was easy to say that you had someone that understood you to your very core, but it was harder to say that they understood what made you get to this point down to every event that took place.
Luckily for Lucy, Atsushi and Akutagawa could say that with certainty when it came to one another. All of them knew how the others upbringing led them to the points they were at currently. For them all, it was like looking in a distorted mirror; all so similar but there were certain small differences. It was bittersweet. One one hand, they had one another to go to when they needed support when the thoughts of their past were a little too strong for them to handle on their own, but on the other hand it hurt a little with just how much they understood it.
Today was one of those days that was a little hard for all of them. They were lucky that they had the day cleared as well so they could take it easy. They all decided that today would be spent with one another in the comfort of their own home.
Akutagawa was sitting in the middle of the other two. Atsushi would be on his right while Lucy would sit on their left, both leaning into them. The warmth from those two were more comfortable than any blanket or pillow that was present on the bed with them. Even though it was a hard day, smiles were showing on all of their faces. It was impossible for them to not feel at least a little bit better when the others were around. Lucy was handed the remote as she tried to pick the movie they’d have on for the moment, keeping the other two’s preferences in mind as she browsed. Akutagawa and Atsushi would be talking amongst themselves as Lucy picked. After all, they trusted her taste in movies the most since she had almost always had a good movie in mind which also considering their favorite genres and such.
Thankfully, the choice was relatively easy, putting on a kids movie that was one they had watched a handful of times before, The Lion King. Of course, the joking comments to Atsushi about how he must have had a role in the movie went on throughout the whole watch, in which he would jokingly pretend to be tired of the lion jokes or correct them about him being a tiger and not a lion. Even Akutagawa would add onto the jokes that Lucy would say. It was one of their favorite bits to ‘bother’ Atsushi with.
“I am sure that they could have made you easily look like a lion for the part.” Lucy would joke back to one of his rebuttals, a small laugh leaving her mouth after. It was nice to see her words become a lot softer than they were when they had first met her. Her words used to be sharper than any blade around, but now they were softer than the blanket the three were sharing.
It was also nice to hear Akutagawa laugh lightly at the two’s bickering. He too had become a lot softer over time, both with his words and actions. Their ‘irritation’ with the others had become very clearly a lighthearted joke. He sat there pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head, laughing as he did so.
“That would take far too much effort! Besides, I doubt they’d wait every full moon to get to shoot the scenes.” He would say with a small laugh like the others already were. It was nice to both Lucy and Akutagawa to see him get better when it came to his need to defend himself like this. Even with joke debates or arguments in the past, there would be a little bit of a hint that Atsushi was taking it as seriously. He never meant to, but it was a little hard to not do that when you grew up having to defend your every action and word. It was nice to know he was able to grow out of that to a great extent in the time he first acknowledged that it was an issue he faced.
They all had worked on themselves a great amount if they were honest. Akutagawa still struggled quite a bit but it was extremely clear that he indeed was trying. It also happened to help him that his partners both were extremely understanding and also struggled from the same specific issue of not quite knowing how to show and receive affection. It didn’t help that it was extremely awkward for a good portion of their relationship. The small flinches they all had the habit of doing when it came to the others' touches made another part of their past clear. It was quite painfully obvious just how much they struggled with touch when they first started dating but since it was a struggle they all had, there was really no making mistakes as long as they figured it all out together.
The progress was clear at this moment as well; Atsushi leaning onto Akutagawa’s shoulder as he slowly closed his eyes and eventually dozed off, Lucy holding on Akutagawa’s cold hand as she leaned into them, Akutagawa eventually leaving kisses on the both of their heads before they too ended up asleep like the other two. Physical affection had become almost second nature for them as time passed. A smile stayed present on the three of their faces, showing just how much they brought comfort to one another. After a while, they all had fallen asleep in the warmth of each other, the movie continuing on in the background.
It was hard for them to notice themselves whenever they got over a bad habit they had grown up with doing, but it helped to have the others notice. Of course, they never really commented on it too much because sometimes that could set back the great amount of progress they had made, but they made sure to acknowledge it and celebrate it to some degree when they knew that it wouldn’t.
Fixing poor habits like that was hard, but when they were with one another it made it a lot easier to deal with. It didn’t make it seem like a chore to get better; it was a reasonable goal with the others, something that they wanted to do for the sake of them. If they kept the other two in mind while actively working on their problems, it made it easier to think about. Even the harder habits like asking for help when needed had gotten easier, which was proved here too. They were able to rely on others without a problem at all really.
That’s exactly what these three did for one another though. They made the impossible possible. They made each other feel like a human that was worth something. It was something they could never thank each other enough for. Despite that though, they were glad to get to have the other two present in their lives.
The room that was occupied by those three was filled with love, and that’s all they could ever need.