Work Text:
With a drop of her quill, Kokomi sighed and rubbed her temple in an attempt to recollect her train of thought. Each deep breath she took did nothing to relieve herself from the burden of her workload. She wished to do nothing more than hole herself up in her room with a book in hand, ignorant of the conditions surrounding her. But of course, that was only a luxury that she could barely afford.
The Divine Priestess listened to the faint sound of the ocean waves, the collision of rocks and tides muffled from the solitude of her office up on the island’s higher grounds. The rushing stream of the waters heard from the distance did not do much to help fight against her lethargy, and instead prompted the slow droop of her eyes. Soon enough, the words written on her monthly expenses report blurred as she fought to keep herself awake.
This moment of tranquility was interrupted with the creaking of floorboards from outside of her door, to which she sharply inhaled and froze.
Waiting in anticipation, her door had creaked open following a knock, a familiar face peeking through the crack.
She sighed in relief and sagged back into her chair once she made out who it was, reclining her head against the top of the backrest as she closed her eyes.
Quiet footsteps indicated that Kokomi was being approached, yet she didn’t have the energy to display her full attention. It was only when a pair of chilled and calloused fingertips grazed her forehead and brushed her bangs out of her face that she groaned in response to their presence.
“Hey, it’s way past bedtime you know,” Kaeya joked as he ran his fingers through her hair, gently scratching his nails against her scalp. Soothed by his touch, she reluctantly fluttered her eyes open and tilted her head up to look at him.
Kokomi exhaled, the cold touch of his hands gently massaging her head and his thumb against her temple grounding her against a mild headache.
“There’s still so much to…”
“No, none of it is worth it at the expense of your own health,” he interrupted. His nimble and elegant fingers slid down her nape, applying pressure in the areas most tense. Kokomi grimaced when he moved his hands to rub her shoulders, feeling the consequences of having been at her desk for too long. Kaeya’s eye shone with concern, and he twirled a strand of hair around his index finger.
“It can all wait the next morning once you’re well-rested. I know that if it really had to be done and dealt with so urgently, you would have prioritized it above all else,” he stated as he tucked the strand behind her ear.
Kokomi exhaled and bit her tongue, assembling some sort of rationale in her head. However, not only did she lack the energy and desire to defend her case, but she couldn’t even find a way to refute his claim. Not that she wanted to anyway, the more she leaned into his gentle touch.
“…Fine. Stay with me,” she mumbled out lazily as she latched a hand on Kaeya’s shirt and slumped into his torso, burying her face into his shirt. It would be laughable to any civilian to see how easily she had given in, yet she couldn’t bring herself to care.
Laughing softly at his girlfriend’s uncharacteristic clinginess, he wrapped an arm around her back and the other beneath her thighs, gently lifting her up to hold in his arms.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, darling,” he quipped with an exaggerated blink of an eye, which likely indicated he was trying to wink under the eyepatch.
That caused her scoff lightheartedly, weakly punching his shoulder as she buried her face into his collarbone.
“That was so corny, Kaeya.”
His chest rumbled with a breathy and quiet laugh, trying to not disturb Kokomi out of her tranquil state. The delicate beats of his heart and wintry skin was something she could only describe as “home”, akin to the solace of submerging herself into the water as she neared the seabed.
Her head slacked off to the side as Kaeya lowered her onto the bed in her room, and she shifted uncomfortably on top of the sheets. Her eyebrows furrowed, her limbs unable to find rest due to the aches of her body.
Just as he tugged a blanket over her form, Kokomi took his wrist in her grasp. He paused in his actions, patiently regarding her.
“Kaeya…can you pick up that book over there?” She pointed to the top of a miniature bookshelf in the corner of her room, a book lying on the top.
He looked at her flatly, but obeyed anyway. Once he picked up the book, he walked back to the mattress and sat down with his back against the headboard, gently scooting her over.
Smiling at his girlfriend curled up in a fetal position, he flicked her forehead weakly so as to not disturb her.
“What, you want me to read you a bedtime story?” he whisper-giggled. She pouted at him and pulled the blanket over her nose.
“Well yes, actually,” Kokomi confirmed, snuggling into Kaeya’s torso.
The skin around his eye crinkled affectionately, and he opened the book without another doubt.
“Interrupt me whenever you want.”
….
Minutes had passed by, minutes of tuning in to Kaeya’s melodic and soft voice as he narrated the fundamentals of military tactic. She always loved listening to his voice when he wasn’t adorning his usual facade, because the huskiness of his natural tone made itself apparent. Seeing him gently break out his shell when he was around Kokomi always made her heart swell with pride and affection.
However, this still did nothing to relieve her current dilemma. Kokomi kept her eyes shut, hoping to be lulled to sleep as time passed, but the responsibilities of work plagued her mind. She swallowed, eyebrows furrowed in mild frustration.
This, of course, did not go unnoticed. Kaeya paused at the end of the page, bookmarking it before shutting the book closed and discarding it on the nightstand.
“Mimi, what’s wrong?” He asked, placing a hand on the top of her head. Kokomi sighed, blinking her owlish eyes.
“I don’t know. My mind is all fuzzy, I can’t relax,” she said honestly.
The knight in response hummed thoughtfully, stroking her hair in a couple of seconds of silence.
“Why don’t we step outside for a bit?”
….
Kokomi’s bare feet sank into the sandy shore, the night breeze blowing grains of sand against her ankles. She’d been reluctant to get out of bed with her current dreariness, but the fresh air had already been doing wonders for her anxiety. She whirled her head over her shoulder to glance at Kaeya, who had not yet discarded his boots, and she noticed the faint crinkles around his eye as he smiled tenderly. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off immediately by the squeeze of his hand.
“Come on,” Kokomi said, dragging him closer to the edge of the water, where the waves lapped over one another.
“Wait, you-“
He interrupted himself as his girlfriend let go of his hand and started to discard layers of her clothing, quickly looking off to the other side. Speechlessly, he listened to the ripples of water as she dipped herself in, clad in just her undergarments until her chest was fully submerged.
It was until she gestured at him that he snapped out of his trance. Quickly discarding his boots and unnecessary layers, he descended into the water, a shiver creeping up his spine. Thankfully as a cryo wielder, he wasn’t affected by the chill of the water. But the unrelenting, gentle gaze of the woman beside him made his heart stutter, and he brushed his shoulder against hers.
She smiled at the contact tiredly, her soft features highlighted under the silver gleam of the moon. She was always so composed and meticulous in her demeanor for the general public’s sake, yet it was in these simple moments that she looked the most like her unadulterated, human self.
Turning away from Kaeya, she swiftly plunged her head into the water and disappeared from his line of sight under the glittering surface. A few moments of silence pursued, and the man dipped under the water to search for his companion.
After finding himself at a dead end, he reached back up to the surface, frowning ever so slightly.
“Kokomi?” He called, receiving no answer.
A second had passed before Kaeya was ambushed completely, a splash of water striking his face, infiltrating his nostrils. He yelped and blinked in surprise at the invasion of his general senses, caught off guard by what just happened. Before he could make any type of observation or pull himself together, he heard a persistent and hearty giggle coming from behind him.
Whipping his head in the direction of the offender, the giggle turned into full blown laughter as he rubbed at his eye to clear his vision.
Recovering quickly from the surprise attack, Kaeya made out the figure in front of him, though he didn’t need to look to know who it was. There, just a couple of feet away from him, was his beautiful girlfriend with her hands clutching the sides of her stomach as her whole body shook in hysterics.
“You-“ she started before slapping a hand over her mouth. She couldn’t even finish her sentence, throwing her head back as she plunged into another fit of exuberant laughter. This continued on until she was gasping for air, nearly tumbling over in the water with tears streaming down her face. Although, it was hard to tell given she was already completely soaked, yet the redness of her cheeks gave it away.
“Oh my god, that was—” another snicker tore out of her throat, “you should see yourself! You look like a sopping wet cat,” she breathed out. She swiped her hands across her face, wiping off the hot tears that stained it. She exhaled elatedly with shaky shoulders, a bright grin on her face.
Kaeya ran his hand through his drenched hair.
“Well at least I’m a cute sopping wet cat, right?” he remarked with a toothy grin.
“Of course you are,” she quipped. His remarks were usually corny and downright terrible, but Kokomi still felt compelled by his charm.
She had a hand over her mouth, clearly still amused by the entire situation. Her soaked hair clamped onto every surface of skin that it reached, long pink locks pressed against her sides. Her whole figure emanated a delicate glow under the moonlight, a stark contrast from the pitch dark night and deep blue waters.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he quickly retaliated and splashed water onto her face. He watched as she gasped in shock and staggered backwards, spitting water out of her mouth. She gaped up at him, his eye twinkling playfully.
“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?”
….
After a long, intense water fight that had escalated between the two, they both agreed to call it a truce after a stalemate had pursued.
They both got out of the water and dried off as best as they could before heading back to Kokomi’s residence. Glancing at the clock, Kaeya realized over an hour had passed while they were gone.
So much for convincing her to get some sleep, he thought, unimpressed. He looked at the priestess next to him from the corner of his eye. At least she seems livelier now.
Kokomi grabbed his hand, smiling at him.
“We better clean off now.”
He nodded happily, allowing her to lead him into the bathroom with a change of night clothes. She started the water for the shower, and grabbed towels for the both of them. They both stripped and stepped into the shower once the warm water came in.
Kaeya looked down onto the tiles and bit his lip, suddenly feeling flustered. He peered down at the sprinkles of water against the floor to distract himself from the intense look he was subjected to by his girlfriend, attempting to subdue the erratic beats of his heart. Being the recipient for such adoration sent his mind into a haze, a giddy smile making way on his lips. It was an overwhelming experience to have someone perceive you and your behaviors so attentively, but this vulnerability didn’t signal the alarms in his head like it normally did. Not when it was Kokomi.
Stopping the water flow, Kaeya felt himself flush at how loud the silence was. He wasted no time, reaching out to grab the shampoo bottle, and tapped Kokomi’s shoulder.
She blinked at him, and he blinked back.
“May I?” Kaeya asked, holding up the bottle. She nodded slowly, turning herself around.
He lathered the product onto his hands, and gingerly tangled his fingers into her scalp. She loosened up into his touch, permitting him to scratch his nails against her roots with his cold hands. The faint aroma of lavender and lemon wafted through the humid air, and she inhaled softly as her eyelids fluttered shut. Without even realizing it, Kokomi leaned against Kaeya’s chest, slumping into his body.
With a light poke to her cheek, he nudged her forward to not get shampoo all over him and went back to scrubbing the area near her neck. She groaned in annoyance and flopped her head forward.
Kaeya giggled light-heartedly, and elbowed her gently.
“Come on, don’t fall asleep on me. I’m almost done,” he whispered, pecking her cheek. She waved him off with a flop of her hand and lazily wrapped her arms around his slim waist, pressing her face into his sternum.
“Well finish quicker,” she mumbled, feigning impatience.
Kaeya reached for the shower handle and squeezed her shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah.”
He dowsed her head in water, gathering water to her locks as he squeezed the remaining bubbles out. Once he deemed her hair clean, he wrung out the excess water and reached for the conditioner.
Rubbing it against his hands, Kaeya raked his fingers through her locks with the product, and then gathered her hair into a hair clip once he was done.
She whipped her head around and grinned up at him, taking the shampoo bottle in her grasp.
“My turn,” she declared in a tired sing-song voice, tugging on his curls. He froze, and shook his head hesitatingly.
“Mimi, I can do it myself. You shouldn’t waste your time-“
“Please,” she said, cutting him off. “I want to do this for you, Kaeya. After all you’ve done for me.”
He blinked in surprise, lips parting to suck in a shaky breath.
“Alright,” he replied softly, giving in to her demands. She took this as her queue to grab the extra shampoo bottle that he left at her place, and begun to thread her fingers in his hair.
Kaeya, due to their height difference, had to lean his head down to give Kokomi enough room to work with. The position they were in would undoubtedly result in neck cramps for later, but that didn’t matter. He sighed, staring down on his feet, conscious of Kokomi coiling her fingers around his curly strands along with her gentle breaths fanning his face.
A low moan escaped his mouth, and she smiled at him fondly.
“Enjoying yourself?”
He groaned in response, too unperturbed to verbally respond.
This caused him to flinch under the start of the water, the foam gliding down his tresses onto his neck and back. Kokomi’s delicate hands extracted the product in his roots with dexterity, and she scrunched his thick tresses with a conditioner that gave his hair a sleek shine under the bathroom light. After this process, she gathered his hair into a hair clip that matched hers.
Kaeya made a content noise, and grabbed two washcloths from the shower caddy.
They remained in a silent state as they cleaned their bodies, where none had said anything to disrupt the atmosphere. That was until Kaeya carelessly discarded his washcloth to the side for later, and gestured at Kokomi.
“Let me wash your back,” he offered. She had no reason to deny given her exhaustion, so she allowed him to.
As a military strategist who conducted herself behind the scenes, it made sense to Kaeya that she was not littered in scars as he was. She, instead, had rather supple skin, and even a mole on her left shoulder blade (apart from the various other ones that Kaeya was aware of).
Though, this wasn’t to say she looked all meek and mild. In truth, she had toned back muscles sculpted into her beautiful figure that served as an indication of her strength on her otherwise cute appearance. Running his bare hand over her muscle, Kaeya felt giddier about her than he was when he first met her in bottleland.
“Kae?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah?”
“You stopped, is everything alright?”
“Oh yeah, sorry. Got lost in thought.”
She glanced back at him curiously, but didn’t push it.
“Once you’re done, I’ll do yours too,” she yawned.
Kaeya sighed exasperatedly, but didn’t have the heart to deny her.
Once he had finished and her back had been lathered in soap, Kokomi had Kaeya turn around.
She sudsed him up, starting from his shoulders. There were numerous thin, pale scars marked on his shoulder blades, the shape of them not bigger than the width of a sword. Her fingers lingered at these spots while she gingerly cleansed his torso, memorizing the imprints carved into his body for the millionth time. She reached the sides of his lean yet muscular figure, caressing her fingers over the large burn scar that marred his abdomen. Kokomi stared for a considerable amount of time, momentarily reminiscing the day he opened up to her about it.
She exhaled through her nose and pressed her forehead to his shoulder blade, inhaling the fresh and comely fragrance of the soap that was spread on his body.
“You’re so beautiful,” she murmured.
Kokomi hadn’t realized she voiced that thought until she felt a shift in Kaeya’s muscles, his upper body quivering briefly with a weak laugh.
She didn’t need to look at his face to see the expression he was making.
….
After the couple changed into a comfortable pair of night clothes, they headed back to Kokomi’s main bedroom.
Sliding into the bed, Kokomi lazily threw the blanket over them and placed her hands on the back of his head to pull into her chest. He adjusted the rest of his body until it was completely pressed up against her, throwing his arms around her waist as she wrapped hers around his shoulders.
The rustle of fabric as they settled into the mattress, the gentle sighs of contentment, the toned and strong arms holding her body—it had all cleared her mind. The peace of simply having him here comforted her more than anything.
As if this wasn’t enough, the knight in her arms absentmindedly drew shapes and circles onto her back with his finger, gently emitting small amounts of cryo from his fingertips as he did so. A pleasant shiver ran up her spine, and she buried her face into his hair.
“Thank you, Kae. That was fun,” she mumbled into his hair. Kaeya snickered in response.
“I was hoping to get you to bed much earlier, you know,” he retorted. “You don’t sleep nearly as much as you should. It’s no wonder you’re so drained,” he added on.
Kokomi giggled and shifted backwards to take hold of Kaeya’s face in her hands, gently cupping his cheeks.
“I know dear, you tell me this all the time,” she cooed as she brushed the navy bangs on his forehead. She traced her fingertips along the wound on his left eye, something he kept hidden from the world.
“But even when I’m running on four hours of sleep every night, I am at peace when I am with you.”
His breath hitched and lips parted, eyes fluttering open to look up at her. He was sure that she could feel the hammering of his heart in his chest with their limbs tangled and their bodies flush against one another.
Hands still laid on his face, Kokomi leaned down for a chaste kiss. It was nothing more than a lingering press of their lips, drowsiness overcoming the two.
Pulling away from the kiss, Kokomi wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face into his soft hair, feeling Kaeya exhale softly into her collarbone as he wrapped his arms around her midsection.
“Goodnight, Kae. I love you.”
“Goodnight, Mimi. I love you, too.”