Chapter Text
The cold breeze of an October evening, the gentle rains that patter against the windows, the turning of the leaves, and even the small puddles of water are the most perfect conditions for a calming walk.
… for a dog, anyway. Neither Ichikawa nor Kikuchihara were excited when their pup, Kumo, was bounding around, and scratching at the front door, whining and nudging at it’s lead to really get the point across.
“Come on, buddy,” Ichikawa sighed, having to hold Kumo up to slip on the harness, “you’d think him wanting to go outside so bad, he’d be used to wearing the damn thing…” Kikuchihara snorted at his partner’s sorrow, being the one to deal with their senior cat, Sebastian, who just slips into his harness without argument. “Hey, he just wants to run and be free, can you blame him?”
“Yes, because if he throws himself into a puddle, you’ll be the one wrestling him into the bath tub tonight, Jin.” Ichikawa flashed him a smile, before getting back up on his feet with the pup’s lead in hand. “Nuh uh, we share dog, therefore, dog wrestling is shared between us!” Kikuchihara, with the small black cat balanced on his shoulders, quickly slipped his hand into Ichikawa’s as they walked out the house, locked up and began walking in the direction of the park.
Even with the occasional specks of rain, the two were content, taking the short path through a wooded area, away from the usual traffic, and occasionally swinging their hands between them, brushing up against their coats.
“Ah, Giichi,” Ichikawa perked up, humming in question and brushing his damp hair out of his face (very awkwardly) to get a better look at his beloved. “How was work today? You ran out like a bat out of hell this morning, I was worried.” Kikuchihara laughed lightly, helping Ichikawa move his hair, which proved difficult due to his sudden excitement to tell him about his day. “Oh! We managed to get new equipment in today, and Mao was adamant that we get the troubleshooting done before we start shooting tomorrow.” He sighed, but quickly followed with a laugh, “I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if Otomo was as stunned as you were, Mao was already there with Rei by the time I showed up.”
“New equipment? I bet that hurt the budget, I can practically hear it begging for you to not go for an extravagant location again.” Kikuchihara teased, earning a very judgemental side glance from his partner, who couldn’t keep up with the hurt look as he slipped into a giggle soon after.
“Well, we are re-doing the one we made in film club, so I doubt it would kill us. I think the worse thing would be herding away the students.” Ichikawa inched closer to Kikuchihara, letting go of his hand to side-hug his arm, resting his head on his shoulder. “Just wish you could join us some day, I know you’ve been itching to do the directing again since you left for uni aaaall those years ago.” Ichikawa finally teased back, chuckling when Seb nudged his small kitty head against his. “Oi, we’ve been planning something I’ll have you know!” Kikuchihara pinched his partner’s cheek, smirking, “Chiaki’s been slowly putting together outfit’s and we’re figuring out schedules to work around!”
As they approached the park’s open field, Kikuchihara placed a gentle kiss to Ichikawa’s head before letting him maneuver to let Kumo off-leash and run around. “You know…” Kikuchihara picked Sebastian from his shoulders and put him down to let his little old legs do some wandering, “I’d happily watch you direct any chance I got. Even just for 10 minutes before I run back to work.” Ichikawa blushed lightly at the statement, but still smiling at the thought of it.
“I’ll see if I can work out a visitor pass for you, like the rest of the team. Then you can come bother us as long as you’d like” He chuckled as Kikuchihara feigned hurt and placed his head on his shoulder. “Giichi, I can’t believe you see my presence as a bother, I’m deeply hurt you’d do this to me…” Kikuchihara exaggerated his pout which earned him a kiss to his hair, and a light ruffle to it too. “Oh give over, Mao would have to pry you out of my cold dead hands to get me back to work~”
Just as the two were about to get cosy, Kumo came bounding over, almost knocking Ichikawa off his feet as he jumped up at him, before running circles around them, stopping, barking at them, and running again, much to the dismay of the cat trying to enjoy the peace in the pile of grass. Kikuchihara laughed as Ichikawa stumbled a little, gripping onto Kikuchihara for dear life in fear of falling. “Are you alright?” He laughed, trying to lessen Ichikawa’s grip on his arm.
“Yep yep, jeez!” Ichikawa snorted, “I keep forgetting how much energy he has… you have the ball?” He questioned, patting his pockets just incase he had one, just for Kikuchihara to hand one to him out of thin air. “I knew you’d forget one, so I grabbed it before we left.”
He grabbed it with a smile, “God, you’re a life saver.” quickly pecked him on the lips and ran off with Kumo to play, leaving Kikuchihara with Sebastian, who pulled on his own leash, wanting to wander further from where they were stood.
“Awfully adventurous today, Seb.” Kikuhcihara hummed, walking alongside the cat and watching Ichikawa get muddy just from being jumped on by Kumo. He chuckled at the ‘meep’ in response from Sebastian, bending over to pet the black cat’s head.
Though, just as he was getting used to the quiet (and little mrrp’s from seb), a distant shout quickly turned his attention back to Ichikawa, and the muddy ball homed in at his head. The ball bounced off his head and splattered small drops of mud all over his face, quickly making him wipe it off with his thumb in hopes none got in his eye, but that didn’t stop Ichikawa from worrying and running over, repeating apologies and making sure he’s alright.
“Shit, I’m sorry I didn’t see you from down the hill, are you okay??” A cold hand held Kikuchihara’s chin to allow Ichikawa to check over his face, though, not wiping any mud to make sure it didn’t spread. Kikuchihara took hold of his partner’s “I’m fine, don’t worry, it’s just a ball and a little mud.” He snorted and laughed, “although, I think this look suits you better than me.” He smirked, and wiped the mud on his hand onto Ichikawa’s nose and cheek, making him squeak and quickly retreat back down the hill to Kumo “Heeey!! That’s not fair!”
“Get back here!” Not going down without a fight, however, Kikuchihara scooped up Sebastian, and picked up the ball, laughing harder and pursuing Ichikawa with full intention of getting him as messy as he is, maybe even messier.
‘-___.___–’
Finally home, drenched, and coated in mud from the shins to the elbows (and Sebastian hidden under a coat to keep him from getting too wet), Ichikawa and Kikuchihara quickly got to washing up and getting clean, including wrestling Kumo in the bath.
While Kikuchihara took his turn to shower, Ichikawa was settled in pyjamas, scouring the fridge, freezer, and cupboard to get inspiration for dinner. He stood at the counter, mindlessly staring into the two open cupboards, before groaning, closing them and going back over to the fridge to look again, once more, staring in hopes of suddenly gaining an idea.
Ichikawa slumped at the kitchen island after a while, just as Kikuchihara finished up in the shower and also changed into pyjamas, towel around his neck to prevent his shirt from getting damp. He snickered at the sight of Ichikawa slumped over the counter and quietly scooched behind him, wrapping him up in a big ol bear hug. “Whuss the matter pookie-bear?” kikuchihara put on a silly baby voice, pressing gentle kisses to the back of Ichikawa’s neck.
“What d’you want for dinner? I genuinely can’t think of anything to make that isn’t what we’ve already had this week…” Ichikawa whined, sinking into Kikuchihara’s hold. “Well… I’ll settle for anything. Maybe we could make pasta and watch a film before bed? Nothing too tough to think about then” Ichikawa hummed in thought as his partner played with his hair, twirling it between his fingers. “We’ll do that then, you can pick the film this time; but nothing we’ve already seen!”
“Giichiiiiii…” Kikuchihara pouted again, nestling his head onto Ichikawa’s shoulder “What we feeling then, thriller? Action? Hell, maybe a chick flick?”
“A chick flick, Jin, are you insane? That’s for drunk film night only.”
“Only cause you cry at the breakup parts sober.” Kikuchihara teased.
“Just go pick a film!” He laughed and shooed Kikuchihara to the living room, while he got ready to make dinner.
–
“You picked one yet?” Ichikawa asked, walking in with two bowls, and placing them on the coffee table, getting comfortable next to Kikuchihara. “Yep!” Kikuchihara beamed, immediately taking hold of Ichikawa’s hand as he skipped through the trailers “not telling you what i picked though” he hummed, snuggling into his boyfriend’s side after grabbing his food, and starting the film.
“Oh, you’ve put on-”
“Before you go on one of your film-nut autism rants, eat.” Kikuchihara snorted.
“Right-!”
–
With dinner soon finished, the two got continuously closer over the duration of the film, ending up with Ichikawa laying ontop of Kikuchihara, gently stroking Kumo who’s asleep on the floor next to them, and Kikuchihara’s arms wrapped around his torso, stroking his hair absentmindedly. “You got it out of your system?” Kikuchihara said gently, moving his hand to stroke Ichikawa’s cheek. “Yeah… Mao and Runa never let me talk about film lore.” Ichikawa blushed, fake pouting before smiling up at his partner, making him blush too. “Is that how I get you to stop watching a film and look at me…” he trailed off, noticing Ichikawa’s gaze fall to his lips.
“Your heart’s beating really fast, Jin…” He snuggled into Kikuchihara’s chest, now making him turn bright red. “Y-yeah, when you look at me like that-” he let out a squeak when his partner shifted on top of him, now face to face with him and giving him a smug look. “Like what, Jin?”
“Giichi…”
“What, wanna kiss me too?” He leaned in closer, purposely keeping a small distance between their lips, only feeling each other's breath ghosting across their faces. “Hmm… What if i do?” Kikuchihara moved his arms up to wrap them around Ichikawa’s neck, pulling him the last few centimeters to softly connect their lips.
Ichikawa, fully expecting the advance, immediately melted into the kiss, running his hands through Kikuchihara’s ginger hair, brushing his cheek with his thumb as their lip’s danced to their familiar tune, occasionally pulling apart for air or to take off Ichikawa’s glasses so they can get closer.
“Mnh-~!” Ichikawa gasped into the kiss, feeling Kikuchihara’s hands wander downward to his waist, dragging digits down his spine to make him shiver. “You’re still not used to that are you?” Kikuchihara smirked, playing with the waistband of his pyjamas.
“W-wait, not yet-” He shuffled in the other’s grip, quickly taking hold of his wrist before he goes further. “Huh? You okay?”
“Y-yeah uh-” he gulped a little, trying not to stumble over his words. “I wanna save this for tomorrow… is that okay?”
“Oh- oh! Yeah that’s alright” Kikuchihara, leaned up to kiss Ichikawa’s cheek, pulling him back down onto his chest, resuming playing with his hair. “Of course I don’t mind, whatever makes you comfortable, Giichi.”
Ichikawa’s face flushed again, nestling into Kikuchihara’s shirt, muttering, and hiding his face.
“... Giichi~” He hummed in a singsong tune, brushing away his boyfriend’s hair to see his face. “There something you want to tell me?”
Ichikawa paused for a moment, hesitating before quietly repeating himself. “...I love you, Jin.”
Kikuchihara quickly blushed as red as his partner, pulling him up into a tight hug. “Oh, Giichi, I love you too!!”
“gOOdneSs-” Ichikawa sputtered, but laughed and returned hug, pressing a kiss to his partner’s cheek, and getting comfy on top of him. “You’re such a dork.”
“I’m the dork, mr director?”
“Yes.” Ichikawa snickered. “Yes, you are.”
—--
3:14 am. Ichikawa began to stir from where he fell asleep on top of Kikuchihara, who is still snoring and adorably laying with his arm over his eyes. The film they had put on repeating it’s theme tune on the title screen.
Ichikawa carefully raised himself off his partner, trying to avoid putting his hands on parts of the couch that could pinch Kikuchihara’s skin and wake him.
He stepped over Kumo and Sebastian, trying his best to keep them asleep, despite knowing they’ll follow him anyway, perhaps in search for a midnight snack (if they begged him hard enough, anyway.)
Trudging through the hallway, Ichikawa tried his best to avoid the creaky floor boards he knew about, and made his way towards the downstairs closet, which held all their old coats, and dug through it, fishing out an old jacket he’d meant to donate years and immediately went for the inner pocket, pulling out a small, black, velvet box.
He gently sighed in relief that it was still in the pocket he remembered, and returned the jacket to the closet, but bringing the box to his current coat, which he and Kikuchihara completely cleaned of mud, and slipped it into the pocket, ready for tomorrow, before returning to his spot on his partner, as quietly as before.