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“Please?”
“No.”
“Pretty please?”
“No.”
“Pretty, pretty please?”
“Itto… cut it out.” Gorou sighed, trying his best to focus on his task at hand, which was to run some errands for her excellency. He had bumped into Itto along the way and despite their friendly chatter, the conversation somehow spiralled into Itto desperately trying to pet Gorou’s ears.
“Come on! Just once, I swear you’ll barely notice it!”
“I really doubt that,” Gorou muttered under his breath, an ear already twitching at just the idea of Itto’s hands getting near them.
“They look so soft,” Itto whined, his hands making grabbing motions towards them but not close enough for there to be contact. “Just one touch.”
“N-No! Itto, there are people around!” Gorou panicked which made the oni bellow out a laugh.
“Come on, it’s not that scandalous! Just a little pat and we’ll be good to go. Whaddya say?” Itto’s hand hovered just inched from Gorou’s ear, his expression excited and expectant. Gorou’s, however, was unimpressed and he used his hand to bat Itto’s away.
“Don’t you have anything better to do?”
“Not at the mo, no.” Itto pouted childishly as his hand was moved away from those precious ears.
“Well, I’m a little busy right now, so could you please-”
“Ah, isn’t this a surprise?” a voice flowed through the wind, gentle and graceful.
“Kazuha!” Gorou practically cheered, his head whipping around to see the samurai. He could barely contain his happiness, and his tail made sure to expose him of that by wagging enthusiastically. Not only was he happy to see his boyfriend but to have some assistance from the persistent oni would be great.
“Hello there, I didn’t expect to see you here today,” Kazuha smiled as he stepped closer to the Geo users.
“Hey, hey, Kazuha! How’s it going, buddy?” Itto greeted, slapping a friendly yet unintentional heavy hand to the smaller man’s shoulder which if he was fazed by, he didn’t show it. Gorou made note to ask to teach him that later.
“Hello, my friend. I trust you’re doing well?”
“Aha, you know it. I just happen to run into Gorou over here while he’s shopping for…” Itto paused to squint at the stall they were currently at and noted the pretty fabrics. “Dude, are you buying yourself a dress?”
“W-What! No! I mean, technically yes, but it’s not for me!” Gorou defended, his ears perked up and tail standing on end.
“Hey look, I’m not here to judge. You wear what you want to wear, bro. In fact,” Itto reached out to the stall and held up a royal blue dress then pressed it up to an exasperated Gorou. “This one matches your eyes perfectly.”
Gorou wanted to dig a hole and bury himself in it. The number of eyes upon him right now as a blue dress is held up against him was humiliating. He was a General, for heavens sake.
“You know, you actually remind me of someone… can’t put my finger on it.” Itto narrowed his eyes at both the dress and Gorou, but Kazuha quickly stepped in.
“I take it her Excellency is having you run some errands again?” Kazuha to the rescue, God bless that man. That sweet, amazing man.
Gorou, who had his face buried in his hands, nodded and muffled a ‘yeah’.
“Oh!” Itto dragged on for an obnoxious length of time. “That makes sense, haha! Well, I’ll leave you guys to it then. Got things I need to go do. Great seeing ya’, as always!”
“Until next time,” Kazuha smiled with a gentle nod of his head.
“See you,” Gorou forced a smile as if he didn’t want to strangle the oni.
“Oh hey, before I go. How about a quick pat?” Itto reached his hand out to Gorou’s ear again, who instinctively yelped and leaned away. “No? Aw, alright. Next time then! Later!”
And just like that, the Oni disappeared into the crowd of people. For the first time since they started talking, Gorou felt like he could breathe.
“You seem stressed, I hope he wasn’t too much for you,” Kazuha commented as he gently took the errand list from Gorou to have a glance over, idly selecting through the dresses to give his boyfriend a moment to relax.
“He’s a good guy, but… I struggle to talk with him sometimes. Ugh, I just want to go home, I’m exhausted.” Gorou’s ears drooped, his social battery completely drained from just one encounter with Itto alone. He could only pray that no one else showed up, especially a certain fox…
“When does her Excellency need these items by?” Kazuha pointed at the list; he must have noticed the number of items still on there.
“Oh, she said not until a couple of days. But I figured I would try and get as much of the list done today so I could have a day to spend …” his face heated up a little as he realised what he was about to admit out loud. “Uh… s-spend the rest of my time with you.”
Kazuha gave a gentle laugh, and the sound made Gorou melt on the spot.
“Then let us finish up here and head back home, yes?”
With a tired whine, Gorou nodded.
~*~
Back at their shared abode, the crackling fireplace cast a warm glow over the cosy living room area. Kazuha’s lap looked so inviting to Gorou, that his eyes kept darting over. That would be the perfect pillow for his head, but with drooping ears, he hesitated.
Kazuha, ever attuned to his dear Gorou’s moods, gently questioned. “Is everything alright?”
Gorou’s tail twitched nervously under the certain question, forced to reveal his inner dilemma. The General sighed. “I’m just… feeling a little self-conscious tonight.”
“Oh?”
“Sometimes being reminded constantly that I have different ears, and a tail makes me feel… like a pet, I guess.” Gorou’s voice sounded quiet and small; his gaze locked on the floor beneath their feet.
Kazuha’s eyes softened with understanding, and he reached out to tenderly caress the saddened male’s cheek. Gorou leaned into that tender touch, almost nuzzling into it.
“Gorou,” Kazuha said softly, earning Gorou’s eyes to lock with his. “Your ears and tail are a beautiful part of who you are. There is nothing to be ashamed of, my love.”
Gorou felt his face heat up Kazuha’s reassuring words. His ear twitched when he heard Kazuha’s hands pat his lap gently, a silent invitation. Gorou’s tail gave a hopeful little wag, betraying his joy at the acceptance and he carefully laid his head on Kazuha’s thighs.
Kazuha’s laughter startled him. “Your posture is so stiff, Gorou.”
“Oh, um… sorry!”
“You don’t need to apologize, just relax for me,” Kazuha coaxed, his deft fingers stroking through Gorou’s hair until they found Gorou’s soft ears and began rubbing in gentle circles. “These beautiful ears are a part of you, and there is nothing wrong with enjoying what experiences they bring.”
Unfortunately, the moment Gorou felt those fingers by his ears, he couldn’t suppress the giggles that bubbled up from his throat, his body shaking with mirth as Kazuha stopped talking when he was interrupted abruptly.
“S-Sorry!” Gorou giggled up at him.
“Did I say something funny?” Kazuha feigned ignorance, using his fingers to continue to rub in that particularly ticklish spot on his ears, sending the doggy general into another wave of giggly laughter.
“Hehehe – Kazuha! That t-tickles!”
“Could you repeat that, my love? You were giggling so much, that I couldn’t quite make out what you said,” Kazuha teased, not letting up and keeping his beloved in a mess, delighting in his carefree giggles.
“It - TIHIHICKLES! Nohoho Kazuhahaha!” Gorou burst into boyish laughter once he felt a hand move from one of his ears down to his exposed tummy, scribbling and scratching the skin and sending Gorou into a new frenzy of laughter.
His tail thumped rapidly into the cushions of the sofa as he wiggled around in Kazuha’s lap. The samurai must have found it endearing to see a strong general laughing and squirming because he was ticklish.
Kazuha used a single finger to draw circles around Gorou’s bellybutton before playfully dipping it inside and wiggling. Gorou wasn’t even aware he could make the noise he made when it happened, a loud yelp mixed with laughter which even made Kazuha laugh a long with him.
Of course, Gorou face heated up with a blush because of it, but hearing Kazuha’s laugh compensated it.
“I wish to test something,” Kazuha stated to himself over the hysterical man in his lap and began to knead his fingers experimentally around Gorou’s tummy, which tickled a lot more than the scribbles that Gorou was now cackling and arching up his back.
“No, no! Nohohoho!”
But Kazuha didn’t stop, he kept going and going, even using an arm to wrap around his boyfriend to keep him from rolling away. Because of this trapped position the tickling seemed to feel a lot more intense and that’s when it happened.
Gorou’s leg began to kick, his foot thumping against the arm of the sofa as he laughed, and this must have been what Kazuha had waited for.
“There it is. Just look at that joy, this is how it should always be,” Kazuha cooed down to Gorou, who had tears of mirth forming in the corner of his eyes, his smiling face beaming up at his beloved.
After what felt like hours, Kazuha finally relented and leaned down to place a small kiss to Gorou’s nose, letting his thumb sweep away the tears of joy that fell.
“How are you feeling?”
“Really tired now…” Gorou’s voice was still wheezy from all the laughter. “But… thanks. I think I needed that.”
“Anytime, my love. Just promise me to remember, that you are a beautiful just the way you are.”