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There's a secret about the charismatic EonCore Tech Chairman that almost no one knows. He is not a morning person. Anyone who has worked with him would sooner believe the sky had fallen than accept that fact.
To the public, he was composed, sharp, and impossibly confident. Every meeting gets handled with effortless precision, despite how much he despised them, and every interview ends with reporters hanging on his every word.
They did not have the privilege of witnessing the version of him that stumbled through his mornings with eyes half-closed and a tail dragging behind him.
Years of late nights and even earlier mornings had left him with a routine that never changed. First came his grumbling, usually an incoherent string of complaints directed at the very existence of dawn itself, though he never truly meant any of it. Then, the slow trek to the bathroom, where he'd take a cold shower to wash his stubborn weariness away. Once he'd convinced himself that he was at least halfway functional, he'd crawl back to your bedside and wake you up before the workday began.
It wasn't often that you managed to wake before he did. Today happened to be one of those rare mornings.
You stirred beneath an almost suffocating weight. For one hazy second, you wondered if someone had thrown another blanket over you. The warmth shifted, tightened, and you realized you were being held hostage.
Valko had somehow wrapped himself around you during the night. Every inch of him was tucked beneath the covers, except for the tips of his ears and the end of his tail. His arms were cinched firmly around your waist, as though letting you go might allow you to disappear.
You smiled despite yourself. There were very few people who ever saw him without his walls, and even fewer who saw him vulnerable. Only you were entrusted with this version of him; soft, unmasked, and completely at peace.
It was strange, though. By now, he was usually halfway through dunking his face into a bowl of freezing water, for what he insisted was his morning 'cold plunge.' He says that it helps him get the swelling down, but personally, you thought he looked perfect with his sleepy morning puffiness.
You carefully lifted at the edge of the blanket to find your lover still asleep. One ear twitched at the rustling, but that was it. His mouth hung wide open and he's highkey drooling a pool on your stomach. You had to bite the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing at the ridiculous scene.
So much for the intimidating Chairman of EonCore Tech.
Your fingers found his hair almost instinctively. You comb through the tousled strands in slow, gentle strokes.
If you could preserve a single moment forever, it might have been this one. Valko asleep in your arms, nothing wedged between the two of you. No meetings, no executives, no smear campaigns. Just you and the man you love.
You leaned in close enough for your lips to brush the tip of his ear, "Valko… rise and shine."
His ear flicked. "…Mmnhnnnngghhhmmmm…" The sound barely resembled human language.
"I'm… up…" The blatant lie earned nothing more than an amused smile from you.
Most people imagine Valko as someone who naturally filled every silence. He had an authentic charm that made conversations feel painless. There was rarely a moment when he didn't have something clever to say.
Perhaps those traits belong only to Chairman Valko. Morning Valko, on the other hand, operated on an entirely different frequency. He answered with whatever thoughts floated to the surface even before his brain had a chance to filter them. Which made him surprisingly honest.
Perfect.
"I've got an all-girls party tonight," you start at a casual whisper. "I'm going with Tara, Simone, and a few other people from work. Help me decide what to wear."
"Mmmkaay… readyyyy…" He groans without opening his eyes.
"I'm thinking about that red dress with the fur trim. The one you said made me look like a wolf. Or the sage green two-piece you bought me. The one with the thigh slit, also with fur trimmings."
"Hmmmm… the one… I bought…" A pause. "So… your friends know… that I have a sense… for fashion too…"
How unexpectedly adorable. You couldn't stop yourself from smiling. "I'll make sure they know of your impeccable taste." He hummed in approval without ever opening his eyes.
You spent weeks collecting questions for this very moment.
"If you weren't a wolf," you asked, "what animal would you be?"
"…A fish… So I could… fight 'm…"
You blinked, "Fight who?"
"…Rafayel…" A beat later, he meekly added, "…Glub glub…"
You continued tossing questions his way, absentmindedly scratching behind his ears to gently urge him awake. Each answer came slower than the last. Unfortunately, the drowsy fog in his mind was beginning to clear up.
You pondered about what to ask for your final few questions, as you wrapped up this interrogation session.
"What do you want for you birthday?"
Without hesitation, he answered, "You."
Your heart melted. It's cheesy and cliche, but it gets you every time.
"…Just you…" Another sleepy pause. "…Naked… under an apron… maybe-"
You whack him upside the head.
"Owie…" He whimpered, sounding far more offended than hurt.
Despite the smack, he makes no attempt to untangle himself from your person. "Behave." You chided, already thinking of one last question for him.
"If we had a baby, what would you want their name to be?"
He shot right up, eyes finally open, with his ears perked up, swiveling towards you.
"A-are you pregnant?" He tried to hide the nervousness in his voice, but the stiffness of his tail gave him away.
"Do you want me to be?" You ask in an unmistakenable tone of tease.
"Okay… so that means you aren't." He collapsed bonelessly against you again, every ounce of tension leaving his body.
You rolled your eyes, he knew you too well. "We'll talk about this later," you said, quietly shelving the conversation for another day.
"Are you at least gonna answer my question?" You poked at his side.
"If they're a girl, then Koko… And… if they're a boy… then also Koko……"
You could already feel him drifting back to sleep. He must have been very tired from the day before. You chuckled quietly as his breathing settled into a slow, even rhythm.
He'd fallen asleep again. That was the second half of his quirk. If Valko drifted back to sleep after barely waking up, he'd remember absolutely none of it.
You've tested the theory more than once before. Every conversations, every confessions, and every absurd answers are all forgotten by breakfast.
Which is why mornings like these feel so precious. They belonged only to the two of you.
You nestled closer, you own eyelids growing heavier as the warmth beneath the sheets coaxed you back towards sleep. You convince yourself that it's okay if you both woke up a little later… You pressed a kiss to the top of Valko's head, silently sealing the agreement. He answered with nothing more than a contented snore, his arms tightening around you instinctively.
And somehow, learning these little pieces of the man who would always be your home felt like the best way to begin the day.