Chapter Text
“Hey, Yor,” Twilight said hesitantly as he sat on the couch, watching her put away the last of the clean dishes.
“Hm? What is it?” Yor walked around the kitchen wall and stopped in front of the coffee table.
“I know you said you were trying to find gripes because your coworkers mentioned that it’s normal for couples to fight, but was there anything else? You were acting pretty strange when you got home that night, but you didn’t start complaining until the next day.”
“Oh!” Yor squeaked, her face going red.
So there was something else, Twilight was right. Putting on a politely inquisitive smile, he prodded, “Come sit down. I know you worry a lot about making our marriage seem real, and I appreciate that. If you have any other concerns, please tell me.”
Yor sat stiffly beside him, hands balled into fists in her lap. “W-well you see…”
Twilight waited a beat to give Yor the opportunity to continue.
“I-it w-w-was just…” Yor’s voice trailed off into incomprehensible high pitched squeaks as she stared at the table, wringing her hands.
“Yor?”
“Th-they said-” Yor took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, and when she continued her words came out in a high pitched rush so fast even Twilight could barely understand. “They said that welcome home kisses are super normal and all couples do that but we don’t but that’s because our marriage is fake but then I was thinking maybe we should do things like that so our marriage is more believable at least anytime we have guests over like Yuri but I always get so embarrassed whenever the topic even comes up and there’s no way I’d be able to kiss you in front of people I can’t even think about kissing you without freaking out and then when I lost my balance and you caught me like that a welcome home kiss was all I could think about and I didn’t know what to do but I didn’t want to accidentally hurt you again so I jumped away!”
“Ah.” Twilight blinked a few times, then nodded. “I see. You know, you don’t ever have to worry about me kissing you without asking first, I promise. The last thing I want is for you to be uncomfortable around me. Physical affection is common among couples, but every relationship is different. If people start asking about our marriage you can just tell them you’re shy and don’t want to talk about it. You get flustered enough it’ll be plenty believable, and if you say you’re too embarrassed to talk about it, people will fill in the story on their own. I doubt anyone will get too suspicious.”
Yor shook her head back and forth in exaggerated jerky motions, fists trembling. “That’s not the problem. I-I mean it is, b-but that’s not the solution.”
“Oh?” Twilight studied Yor, daring to allow a smidge of optimism into his thoughts. Keeping her happy and comfortable in their marriage was vital to Operation Strix, but if she was at all receptive to the idea of physical affection that would be beneficial. Her claim of shyness and embarrassment would work for a while, and Twilight could pretend to be shy about such things in public as well, but eventually, someone would notice that they really didn’t act like a married couple. And if that someone was Yuri, things could get out of hand fast. “Then, what solution did you have in mind?”
“I-I-I-I-” Yor leaned forward abruptly and hid her face in her hands. “I-I think w-we sh-should… sh-sh-should… kiss!”
“Ah. I see,” Twilight repeated. “Do you really think that’s something you’ll be able to believably pull off?”
“Th-that’s why I need to practice!” she squawked. “You’re always so calm and collected, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you flustered! And you’re always so patient with Anya, I’m sure you could teach me how to act like a normal wife!”
“Ah. I see.” Twilight had not expected that precise scenario, but he supposed it was as good a one as he could hope for.
“Loid, will you please teach me how to kiss you without freaking out?”
“Of course,” Twilight said, keeping his voice carefully free of any trace of laughter, “if you’re sure that’s what you want. I don’t want you doing anything you’re uncomfortable with just because you think it’ll make our marriage look more normal.”
Yor sat up straight and nodded decisively, turning to face him on the couch. She stared at him, face turning a red bright enough to rival her eyes, and started shaking.
“Let’s start small, you don’t even need to think about that sort of kiss just yet. We’ll slowly work up to it.” Twilight offered her his hand. Baby steps, Twilight, he thought. Baby steps. You can’t afford to let her feel uncomfortable. “Why don’t we start with hand holding? That’s something simple that isn’t necessarily romantic. You hold Anya’s hand all the time, and I bet you used to hold Yuri’s hand a lot when he was a kid. Just think of it like that.”
Yor looked down at his offered hand, then turned her head away and shakily placed her fingers in his palm.
“We can just sit here like this until you relax,” Twilight said, shifting his grip slightly and running his thumb along the back of Yor’s hand, taking note of her twitching in response to each movement. “We won’t worry about anything else tonight, I want you to get comfortable with this first.”
Yor nodded. She still didn’t look at him, but she gripped his hand, her thumb hesitantly imitating his motions, though along his pinky finger as that was how her hand was positioned in his. “Thank you, Loid.”
Twilight smiled, though she couldn’t see his expression. “You’re welcome.”
They sat like that for over half an hour. Yor would start to relax, glance back over at him, then stiffen again and turn away with a furious blush.
Once she stayed relaxed through several minutes and glances, Twilight decided that was enough.
“How was that?” he asked, squeezing her hand gently. “Do you think you can do this again tomorrow night?”
Yor glanced at him, then their clasped hands and nodded once. “That was good. I can do this again. But, how are we going to go from this to… t-to k-kissing…?”
Twilight considered for a full quarter second, trying to decide the best way to answer. A part of him—a rather unpleasant part he was disappointed to find he possessed—wanted to just forge right on ahead tonight. That part was unsympathetic to her embarrassment. After all, they were just holding hands, and it had taken her a full thirty seven minutes and four seconds to get used to it. She was an adult, and shouldn’t be so flustered by these things. But, Twilight had to acknowledge that those unpleasant thoughts were likely caused by a certain jealousy. His body was not his own. It was a tool, one he used just as he would any other to ensure the success of his missions, in whatever way was most effective. Twilight had done much more than hand holding, much more than kissing, for his missions. And here Yor was, too flustered to even pretend to kiss him for the sake of appearances.
Yes, that was jealousy speaking. He envied Yor and her ability to still be flustered over such simple things.
But such thoughts were not only unpleasant, they were unproductive. He needed to give Yor the answer that would best progress this silly kiss training. That meant something that would push her just the tiniest bit and make her think about it, without being so much it made her uncomfortable. Given everything he knew of Yor’s psychology…
Contemplation done, Twilight turned her hand over and said, “I think to start I can make the hand holding a little bit more romantic.”
“How will you do that?” Yor asked, sounding genuinely curious.
Twilight raised her hand and brought it closer to him, running his thumb along her palm once, then raising his eyes to meet her gaze. A little bit of seduction, but not too much. Not enough to overwhelm her, just enough that her subconscious took note.
“Um, Loid?” Yor asked as he glanced down at her open palm again.
“Can I kiss your hand?”
Yor squeaked, then looked away and nodded. “Y-yeah, that’s fine.”
Twilight bent forward, brushing his lips across the callused skin of Yor’s palm. He lingered for a half second, then slowly straightened and released her hand. “If you’re still comfortable with it, we can try more of that tomorrow night. Does that sound good?”
Yor nodded, clutching both hands to her chest, cradling the one he’d kissed like it held something precious. Or like he’d burned it.
“Then, I’m off to bed,” Twilight said, climbing to his feet. “Good night, Yor. And nice work.”
“Oh! Th-thank you, good night, Loid!”
Twilight nodded and smiled, then turned to make his way to his room.
Bonus
~The Next Day~
Yor bumped into something, knocking several of her papers free of their stack.
“Watch where you’re going, Yor,” Camilla grumbled.
“Oh, I’m sorry about that,” Yor said, bending to retrieve her fallen papers.
“What’s going on with you today?” Camilla asked, crossing her arms. “You’re even more clumsy than usual.”
“She’s been distracted all morning,” Millie piped in.
“I-I’m sorry! I’ll try to stay focused.”
“What has you so distracted?” Sharon asked, walking over to join them.
“Oh, it’s just…” Yor looked down, feeling her face heat up. Despite her best efforts, her voice came out as a tiny squeak when she continued. “I can’t stop thinking about what my husband and I did last night. He said we can do the same thing tonight, and, maybe even a little more…”
Her coworkers all went silent.
Oh no! Did I say something wrong? Did that sound weird? A normal wife wouldn’t say that! Yor stared up at the three women, half panicking.
“This is the first I’ve known you to be distracted by thoughts of your husband,” Sharon said. “What’d you two do?”
“W-w-we!” Yor’s face burned. What should she say? Right, Loid told me how to handle this situation! Calm down, Yor. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “I can’t say it, I’d be too embarrassed!”
“Tch, go on and brag, why don’t you,” Camilla said, stepping around Yor and getting back to work.
“Was it really that intense?” Millie asked, covering her mouth with one hand, cheeks going faintly pink.
Sharon chuckled. “Well now you’ve got me curious. Just what happened last night?”
But Yor only shook her head, face hot at the memory.
Each time that day one of her coworkers tried to get her to talk about it, she stuck to Loid’s advice, refusing to say anything at all on the subject. By the end of the day they’d mostly given up, but they did give her sly grins when she said she was heading home.
“Well, have fun tonight,” Camilla said.
“Th-thanks!” Yor said, waving goodbye and leaving City Hall behind.