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As Dante finished their routine closing statement, a collective sigh of relief was heard among the sinners. It had been a long, arduous day; grinding Mirror Dungeons back to back, something about Dante needing “as many Shards as possible” for “Uptying the upcoming Identities”, whatever that meant.
It all sounded complicated to Gregor —who was frankly too tired to even try to make sense of it— so he just nodded along to Dante’s words. Man, he couldn’t wait to just head over to his room and hit the sack-
“Gregor~!”
A jovial voice he was too familiar with snapped him out of his reminiscing, turning around to find none other than Hong Lu eagerly prancing toward him. He swore he heard Ryoshu chuckle and mutter something under her breath, but he was too occupied with getting his bug arm out of the way before Hong Lu inevitably crushed him with a bear hug to really pay attention to her.
Sure enough, the taller man enveloped him in a (far too strong for someone his stature, if you asked Gregor) loving hug, nuzzling his entire face into the older man’s chest as if to scent him. It was endearing and cute, in a way; as cute as a 20-something year old man throwing himself at a man in his late 30’s can be.
“Hey, Lu bud- Oof.” He futilely attempts to wiggle in the other’s iron grip before finally relenting. “Couldn’t wait until everyone left, mh?”
“I missed hugging you… And you were right here!”
“Missed you too, bud, but-” He nervously glanced around the room, where the sinners that didn’t immediately head for their rooms were now looking at the pair with varying degrees of amusement.
...Except for Meursault. That man’s poker face was unrelenting.
“Awww~” Among the crowd, Rodion spoke up, eager to tease her friends. “Look at the two lovebirds! Couldn’t wait until you got to your rooms, huh?”
“She’s right! Let’s go to my room, Gregor!” Oh, now he was definitely messing with him. Of course, Gregor knew he didn’t mean anything lewd with that statement, familiar with the younger man’s shenanigans as he was; unfortunately the others had no such insight into Hong Lu’s inner machinations and he was sure by the way Sinclair flinched that the fledgling would be sleeping with earbuds on tonight.
Playfully tugging on his sleeve, the heir made a show of dragging Gregor off to the back corridor and to his room (not that the other was resisting much, if at all).
It was a silent agreement between them that they’d always head to Hong Lu’s room rather than Gregor’s, as the younger man’s mental state tended to be less… volatile than the veteran’s, which led to much more outwardly lavish and pleasant rooms to spend the night in (and lavish was what Hong Lu was used to, after all).
After a short walk and a few light shoves, both men found themselves splayed atop a bed with way more pillows than necessary— Wings, was Hong Lu’s old room really this decadent?— and the younger man draped over the older one. They stilled for a moment before releasing a blissed out sigh.
“Mmm…” Suddenly Hong Lu sits up as if bothered by something, before shimmying his uniform’s coat off and popping open his vest. “There~ We should get comfortable, don’t you think?”
“Er, yeah-” Gregor sputtered, embarrassed— And for the Wings’ sake, it’s not like the other man was stripping in front of him, why was he so flushed— before clumsily making a move to get up.
Said move is cut short when the other abruptly shoves him back down, climbing atop him once again.
“You’ve worked so hard today…” Well, he was right, but... Gregor slightly narrowed his eyes, his glasses a little crooked from the previous sudden movement, which elicited a mischievous giggle from Hong Lu. “Let me take care of you~”
As he said that, Hong Lu unbuttoned Gregor’s vest, then the lower part of his dress shirt.
“There, doesn’t that feel better already?”
“I guess it does...” he huffs. “I still think this was a ploy to get me undressed, bud.” Not that he minded too much...
“Ah, you figured me out~!” Hong Lu giggles, then begins lazily tracing small circles on the other’s hairy belly.
That was… Odd. Odd, but pleasant. So Gregor made no move to stop him, closing his eyes contentedly. Yeah, he can get used to this-
“Gregor~ Your tummy’s so round...” The younger man sighs dreamily, resting his chin on the man’s middle, hands busy feeling up the rest of his stomach. “You could get pregnant and nobody would be able to tell!”
That’s one way to kill the mood.
“...Bud-” Gregor attempts to sit up properly, only to be stopped by Hong Lu gently pushing him back onto the pillows.
“That’s a good thing!” He flashes the other man one of his signature saccharine smiles, complete with a cheeky wink, but Gregor’s having none of it.
“Mmh. You just… You can’t be saying things like that to people, ‘kay?” Wings, he was blushing like a schoolgirl over one jokey remark that he knew meant nothing. “...’S a little insensitive.”
He sits back up with a huff — This time met with no resistance from the younger man on top of him— only to be face-to-face with Hong Lu’s best impression of a remorseful kitten’s eyes. Damn it.
“I didn’t mean to insult you…”
“I know, bud.”
“I love your tummy…”
“I know you do, bud…” If the last five to six minutes’ fixation with it said anything. “You just need to, uh, phrase your… compliments… a little more carefully, ‘mkay? I’m not mad at you, Lu.” To emphasize his point, he ruffles the other’s hair endearingly. Wings, he needs to grow a spine.
The younger one leans into the touch, his expression now that of a cat that got the cream. Damn it. He really was weak for this man. Suddenly, he was pushed down into the pillows again, Hong Lu crawling on top of him once more, eyes glinting with mischievousness.
“I know! Let me make it up to you, Gregor~” He says, leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss onto Gregor’s chapped lips. To the other’s surprise, he does not deepen the kiss, but instead moves to pepper smaller kisses onto the rest of his face. His chin, cheeks, forehead, even the tip of his nose; before pressing another reverent kiss to the older’s lips again. Only after making sure the other man’s entire face had been plastered with kisses (and that he was as red as a tomato) did he pull back.
“You’re beautiful, Gregor.” He whispers solemnly, his earlier playfulness gone. “I truly mean it…”
With a swift motion, he brings the older man’s one good hand close to his face, kissing its knuckles.
“From this-” He then trails lower, to the unbuttoned part of Gregor’s shirt, kissing his exposed belly, not lingering this time. “To this-” Carefully, he sits up and hovers his hand over the other’s bug-like arm, meeting the older man’s eyes while he lovingly presses a quick kiss to its chitinous carapace.
“To this. All of you… It is beautiful to me, Gregor. And I will repeat it a thousand times if you need me to.”
“...Lu-”
The tender moment was interrupted by an antenna springing to life atop Gregor’s head.
“Ooh!” Hong Lu was back to his bubbly, carefree self, gasping at the fully erect antenna as if it was a wondrous creature. “Was that too much, Gregor?”
“Mm. No! I mean- It’s not that I didn’t like it-” It’s just that nobody has ever said such things to me. “I’m just- Not used to it-” I’m not used to being wanted. I’m not used to being loved. “Wait- Don’t take this the wrong way, I-” He was tripping over his own words like a fool, getting redder and redder by the second, which seemed to amuse the other man. Damn him... Thankfully, the other silenced him with a soft kiss before pulling back and looking deep into his amber eyes.
“You’re so cute when you get flustered~”
Gregor somehow grows even redder. “Wh- LU!”
“So easy to get riled up~ Hihi!” Despite the teasing words, he leans in and pecks Gregor’s forehead. “Sorry for teasing you, Gregor. You’re just too cute.”
Ignoring the (somehow still going) older man’s sputtering, he plops down and slots himself on Gregor’s side, effectively spooning the veteran.
“Yaa~wn… I’m feeling so, so groggy… Nap with me, Gregor? Pretty please?”
“You say that as if you weren’t spooning me already…” Nevertheless, he leans into the taller man’s tight embrace. Wings, he felt like he could melt into it. “Not fair, you always get big spoon…”
“Mmh~ You’re just perfect for spooning!”
“’M not that small...”
A chuckle.
“...Hey, bud.”
“Sorry, sorry~!”
Their idle bickering and teasing went on for a while, no real venom behind their words.
“...But you do kind of look like a teddy bea-” Noticing the older man’s slight shift in breathing below him, Hong Lu goes silent then leans down to place a kiss to Gregor’s messy hair. “...Sleep well, Gregor. My precious treasure.”
That night, the two men had an unusually refreshing sleep.
If you asked them, they would’ve both told you they dreamt of peaceful gradients; red and jade mixed with the richest almond color.
It was a pleasant dream.