Chapter Text
"What about this piece? I think it compliments the rug you just bought quite well." Jade pointed to a large painting adorning the wall of a small antique shop Azul had brought him to. It was a rather gorgeous Baroque style oil painting of the brutal descent of damned souls and it had captivated Azul a few moments prior.
"It is intriguing but we're not shopping for me, we must find a suitable gift for the owner of our seafood supplier. You do remember that we are invited to his retirement party?" Azul said, glancing at the painting before returning to his search for a suitable gift, preferably a nice set of chairs or a candelabra set.
Ever since Azul and Jade started Mostro Inc. a week after graduation, the duo had been glued at the hip. With equal shares in their company, wherever one went, the other went as well. From their office floor, to company funded outings, and even to Azul's personal apartment, Jade and Azul had invested the last six years into this business venture and subsequently, each other.
"I remember, I am the one who RSVP'd yes for us despite the event being in almost exactly a year." He hummed as he walked away from Azul's side to view a vintage end table. This too, would look lovely in Azul's living room but he kept the comment to himself even if he wanted to purchase it. Jade was more often than not at Azul's place multiple times a week so he felt as if he should have a say in the decor.
"Lady luck favors the prepared, my dear and if we want to absorb the company, I must choose the perfect set of gifts to secure his favor. They're just as much of an investment as real money is." The pet name wasn't foreign to the two of them but the way Azul said it casually in public caused the eel to blush a light pink. It was all business though, it was not meant to be flirty or affectionate, Jade only wished his body would understand that.
When Azul was speaking with a worker about the history of one of the furniture pieces, Jade quietly purchased the painting at the register, asking for it to be delivered to his shared apartment with Floyd. Christmas was coming up soon and Jade knew that the two would end up spending the holiday working together again, just like they have for the last five years. After returning to Azul's side, the shorter man jumped, not realizing Jade had wondered off.
"Well, let's continue our search elsewhere. I have a a few more ideas but nothing here is what I had in mind." Azul sighed as the two began to leave the the establishment, Jade opening the passenger door. While Azul knew how to drive, it was one of his least favorite man-made necessities and, therefore; offloaded the responsibility onto Jade who gladly chauffeured his business partner around town.
"Shall we return to the office or continue the search? We can make one more store before five." Jade asked as he started the luxury car that Azul owned, watching said man as he buckled up.
"No, let's go back to my apartment. If we want to keep looking then we have to get an early start. Right now, we should focus on the end of year reports. This seems to be our biggest year so far." Nodding at the change of plans, Jade started to drive to Azul's apartment in comfortable silence. The two had been inseparable for years and while conversation came easy, they never felt the need to force it.
"Oh, Floyd left food for us by the way. He said he knew that we would be locked away for a few days before the holidays and didn't want us to starve." Jade chuckled at recalling his brother's words. Floyd had spent the entire day in the kitchen prepping food to hold the duo down for the next week. He was involved in the business but had taken a much more lax position that allowed him to opt in to his duties whenever he wanted.
"As long as it follows my diet plan I sent over then I don't mind." Azul sighed as he rested his hands on his thighs which were visibly larger than they used to be when he was sixteen. Although he loved his business, the stress of it all had caught up to him. That in addition to Floyd frequently cooking for him led him to gain weight. It brought back a lot of his insecurities from childhood and while he tried to ignore the feeling, it had taken a toll.
Jade on the other hand adored Azul's weight gain. The return of his love handles and chubby stomach made it rather difficult for Jade to keep his hands to himself. While he knew Azul hated it and never brought it up because of that, Jade could not deny that his favorite part of staying the night at Azul's was seeing how soft he looked in the silk pajamas Jade had gifted him over the years. Jade knew that Azul blamed the weight gain on stress but if you were to ask the eel, it was because Azul was actually a lot more content with his current life and didn't need to stress about how other teenagers perceived him. But Jade would never say that aloud.
"Well he did say a few of the meals were a few ideas he had after visiting Silk City so I am not quite sure of the nutritional value of them." Floyd was their designated menu curator for the expanded Mostro Lounge that Azul had invested in immediately after graduating and in order to keep Floyd entertained, he was often flew out to different countries to study the cuisine. Often times, the food he brought back was delicious but also fattening.
"Then I suppose we have to try it regardless of it's make up." Another sigh escaped Azul as they finally arrived to his apartment. They had bought a few things earlier including household items like toilet paper, Jade's mushroom caps that Azul begrudgingly agreed to keep in his fridge, and their favorite toothpaste. It was oddly domestic but the two refused to acknowledge such a fact, instead just quietly putting away the items they bought together.
"I'm going to take a shower first, can you heat up the food? I'll pull up the end of year reports on the TV too." It was an after work ritual for them at this point. They would leave the office last, go to Azul's apartment, eat whatever they picked up or Floyd dropped off, and get back to work in the quiet, intimate environment of Azul's living room. Even on weekends like these, the only place that Azul and Jade wanted to be was right next to each other.
"Take your time, Floyd let me know that this one requires more assembly than usual." Jade mumbled as he watched his business partner disappear into his bedroom. What an odd feeling of melancholy he was experiencing as his eyes returned to the food in front of him. Azul was right there and would soon be seated next to him, thighs touching and discussions continuing into the late night. Yet for some reason, Azul seemed so unattainable, even if Jade wasn't sure what it was that he wanted.
The night ended near midnight after they made extensive progress on reports and cleaned up Azul's kitchen. The notes about Floyd's dishes had been written up and sent and the two found themselves standing together in Azul's en-suite bathroom with Azul applying his nighttime skincare routine and Jade brushing his teeth. The melancholy returned but this time it was Azul who felt the foreign pang in his heart as he watched Jade take out the eel barrette from his bangs. There was no time to dwell on it, though as he noticed Jade was speaking to him.
"Christmas and New Year's land on a Wednesday this year. Floyd wants to go to Port o'Bliss for week and extended an invitation but understands we will be busy." Those two holidays didn't mean much to the trio as they had little cultural importance in the Coral Sea but Floyd had taken a liking to the traditions and for the past few years, had traveled around the world observing the different celebrations. Jade and Azul on the other hand, had preferred to work during the holidays as they were uninterrupted by most of their workers. Floyd, who insisted that only couples willingly spent the holidays alone together without their awesome twin brother, would usually tease them about their take on the holidays.
"I have his gift ready but I won't be able to vacation around that week. You are free to go if you wish, just finish your responsibilities beforehand." Azul said as they left the bathroom into the main bedroom. This statement had caught Jade off guard as it was unspoken tradition that they would spend this week together but perhaps Azul was just trying to act benevolent.
"You're being oddly charitable." Jade observed, laying down on the left side of Azul's unnecessarily large bed. "I have already let Floyd know that we won't be able to make it that week but scheduled an outing with him for before he departs."
"That is what I was going to suggest as well." Azul yawned, subconsciously announcing their bedtime and cutting the conversation short. Without saying anything else, the two of them quietly fell asleep with their backs facing each other.
Sharing a bed was something the three of them had been doing long before arriving on land. It was intimate, yes, but they never regarded their actions as anything but platonic, at least until Floyd left the mix. Now it was just Jade sleeping in Azul's bed almost daily, waking up to read him the daily stocks, and driving together to their office floor. It was domestic and intimate and the duo had been asked plenty of times if they were married or dating, but the answer was always no.
'We're just business partners.'
'He's a long time friend.'
'There's never been romantic feelings between us.'
These were just a few sentiments that the duo shared when asked about their relationship. And even if they did have such feelings for each other, they had signed a contract to not mix business and pleasure. Even if that clause was not about their own relationship but about potential employees, it was something they had fervently agreed on to protect their company when it was just the two of them at the start.
That wasn't to say that Jade and Azul haven't had their fair share of relationships over the past five years. Although, they didn't last very long since after all, they had been running their own business since they were nineteen and invested everything they had into it. There was little outside of each other that the duo deemed important enough to keep up. Especially when both of their most recent relationships tragically crashed and burned. Unfortunately for their ex partners and themselves, Azul and Jade would find comfort in each other after their respective breakups. Which, ironically, was the main reason they couldn't keep a partner.
Not that they minded, though. There was little time in their lives to dwell on failed relationships when they had much more important matters to tend to. So once more, the following day, the two spent their Sunday finishing last minute Christmas shopping and looking for an appropriate gift for a soon to be retired man. And just like the previous day, they found each other in Azul's bed, with said man attempting to wrap another gift for Floyd and Jade doing something business related on his laptop.
"Ugh, I'm just going to put it in a bag and Floyd better be grateful." Azul groaned as he pushed the poorly wrapped present to the floor and threw himself onto his pillow. Jade just chuckled at his business partners frustration and put the laptop to the side.
"I don't know why you try to wrap the gifts, you know I do it for you every year." Jade said as he took the scissors away from a sulking Azul. One thing that never changed about Azul no matter what his weight was his cheeks. They were always just adorably chubby and whenever Azul would sulk, it took everything for Jade not to bite into the delicious pout.
"Yes well I would like to be less dependent on you for such menial tasks." While Azul was quite a talented businessman, he seemed to lack any competency for everyday household tasks. Besides being unable to wrap presents, Jade would often be the one ironing and steaming their laundry, preparing their tea, or fixing whichever appliance decided to break, usually with Floyd's help.
"I see no need for you to worry about that as long as I am around." The feeling returned once Jade said those words. Both Azul and Jade shared a fleeting look that told them they had just experienced the same emotion, but in true Azul and Jade fashion, quickly looked away and ignored the look in each others eyes.
"True enough I suppose." Azul mumbled as he slid under the covers. With winter approaching, the apartment had cooled significantly and while the two were quite used to the cold in their merforms, their human bodies still had yet to adapt to the temperature. So tonight, Azul had opted to wear a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt he borrowed from Floyd nearly eight years ago. Jade knew that his brother had no interest in Azul as a romantic partner but seeing him wearing his brother's clothing caused his possessive nature to flare. It immediately killed his need to have any further conversations with Azul.
"Goodnight, I have a meeting I must go to as soon as I drop you off tomorrow." Jade said as he laid down, back facing Azul just as it usually does. Except this time, it felt like there was a very intentional boundary put in between them, no words needed.
"Goodnight then, I won't bother you." Azul was just as quiet as he too laid down, facing the wall. Simple words he's uttered before but saying it now was a definitive status on their weird relationship. They were just business partners.