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Anji eyed the potted flowering burro’s tail in front of him. His eyes trailed down the beads of blue-green cascading down the sides of the pot and spilling onto the bookshelf it was kept on. He reached his hand out towards the delicate french pink flowers, which were blossoming on the ends of the succulent, and gently touched the petals. Anji turned his head to smile at Asuka, and gave him a curious look. “You keep a lot of these funny little plants around.”
“They are succulents, a personal favorite of mine,” Asuka replied rather simply. His busy eyes and hands were running along the bookshelf—too busy searching to look back at Anji. “I have obtained 1384 different species so far, including some endangered ones.” He broke his concentration to look at the plant he was inspecting. “That is a burro’s tail. Be careful with it. The leaves are quite delicate.”
“Intresting.” Anji waltzed closer towards Asuka and leaned towards him. “You know, I’d never thought you’d be a plant person.”
Asuka turned back to the bookshelf. “Ha ha. You would be surprised,” he said unamused as he found what he was looking for. He took the book off the shelf, taking care as to not drop any others, and started flipping through the pages. The dancer’s eyes followed each quickly moving page back and forth in piqued interest. Minutes followed after Asuka’s short, uninterested response when Anji got bored of the silence; awkward, comfortable, whatever it was—he just didn’t like it.
Anji stood up straight and broke the silence, much to the scientist’s dismay. Small talk was, and certainly never will be enjoyable to him. “What’s your favorite one?”
“I do not have a favorite, but I do enjoy bonsai succulents,” the scientist replied rather quickly and plainly.
“Wait, I thought those were two different things.”
“A plant can be both a bonsai and a succulent.”
“Aren’t they just trees, though?”
“Yes. Do you enjoy bothering people with your constant inquiries about redundant topics?”
Anji rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in mock offense. “Geez, I was just curious.”
Asuka gave him a barely visible smile with the corners of his mouth. “I know. You always are.”
Asuka almost dropped the book he was holding when he felt the dancer who was once beside him, pestering him with questions, now plopping his head on his shoulder. He was conflicted between feeling annoyed or flustered. Either way, he assumed he was most likely attempting to get a reaction out of him. After noticing he had frozen for an unusual amount of time—and he prayed to whatever god that was listening Anji didn’t notice—he decided to feign annoyance to hide the fact that his heart was stammering out of his chest. “...Please stop using me as a headrest.”
Of course, Anji feigned mishearing to continue to tease him. “What? Sorry, I couldn't hear you. I’m just so tired…”
Asuka pinched the bridge of his nose in slight annoyance. “Then rest. On a bed. Not on me.”
Anji inched impossibly further into the crook of Asuka’s neck. “...Nah. Your shoulder’s pretty comfortable.”
Asuka huffed out of his nose. He closed the book he was holding to cross his arms. “I’m glad that you're comfortable. But I am not.”
“Really? You mind that much?” Anji shuffled closer to Asuka and slowly snaked his arms around his waist, bringing him into a hug from behind. This was embarrassing; he could feel Anji’s infuriatingly charming smug grin against his neck. Against the voice of his conscience practically pleading for him not to give in, and his better judgement, Asuka leaned back—but only a little—into Anji’s embrace. He uncrossed his arms and pulled his jacket to his face to hide the faint tint on his cheeks.
“...I suppose this might feel a little nice.”