Celebrations
Tamaki Suoh / OC
"Let's play a game."
I turned to face the waiting princess. A teasing smile played at her lips. My gaze snapped back to her eyes.
"What kind of game?" I spoke with my "princely" voice, tucking a finger just underneath her chin. The touch sent pulses of heat down my arm. I sunk my front teeth into my lip to hold down a blush. My daughter had such cute company.
She spared a moment to glance behind her, catching the wandering eyes of those meddlesome twins. She turned around with a smirk.
"A guessing game." She spoke simply, the smirk never fading from her face. She bounced excitedly, shifting in the loveseat we shared. So, the twins were involved? But surely nothing could be that devastatingly evil if it could make her this happy.
"I would love to play a game with you, my princess." Her grin grew even larger at my response.
"Okay." She reached a soft hand up to the base of my collarbone. My eyes rolled at the feeling. As soon as it had come, it was gone.
She had swung her feet onto the seat, stretching her legs over my knees and crossing them at the ankles. She fingered the golden pin she had swiped from my collar when I wasn't looking.
She suddenly made two fists, the pin disappearing in one of them.
"Which one?" She giggled, mischief swirling in her eyes.
I studied the two tightly closed fists in front of me. After a moment, I tapped the back of her left hand with my finger. The feeling of her skin touching mine flooded my body with a warm buzz.
"I win." She opened the opposite hand to reveal the glittering badge. Her smile sent me spiraling even further into this odd feeling. My fingers itched to touch hers again.
"What's my prize?" She moved her legs off of me and folded them beneath her, sitting so close to my side that her body heat made me dizzy. She reached across my chest to refasten the pin onto my blazer, just above my thumping heart.
"Come on. You can't think of anything?" Her airy tone made it exceedingly difficult to concentrate on the words she was saying. Her hands still pressed gently onto my chest, constricting my lungs even more than they already were. A whimper escaped somewhere deep in my throat.
"Can I help?" She hummed, the sound vibrating through her body and into mine.
"I might have an idea." Her tongue darted out to dampen her lips. My mouth grew dryer the longer I watched her.
She inched closer, impossibly slow. I raised an arm up to separate us, but I had no strength (or desire) to keep her back. This was all too confusing. I considered this girl a daughter of mine. Family. But the closer she got to me, the more dissatisfied I was with that thought. I timidly rested a hand at the small of her back and let my eyes flutter closed.
"Surprise, boss!" My head lurched forward at the scream behind me and I felt my forehead collide roughly with hers. My hands grasped desperately for her as I felt her fall, trying to blink away the stars clouding my vision. My arms could only feel the cool air around me. Suddenly, I felt so cold without her.
The first thing I saw was her staring back up at me. She was on her back on the couch, her hand clutching her head and eyes unfocused.
"Happy…" I glanced around at the host club members behind me. At some point, the twins had released confetti into the air, pieces dusting the hosts' hair and shoulders. Honey-senpai held a frosted cake out towards me with his little arms. The lot of them looked uncomfortable to say the least. "Birthday?" The twins finished uncertainly.
Her chuckles cut apart the tension in the room. She threw her head back to bark out the laughter in loud spurts.
"Remind me never to surprise you again." She pushed out between giggles, her hands shifting to cover her mouth.
"It's all red." She traced a thumb over the pounding area of my forehead. My hands twitched as she sat up to look over the back of the couch to meet the eyes of the other hosts.
"Can we party now before anyone else gets hurt?" Her smile was infectious as she singlehandedly re-sprouted the happy atmosphere.
"You're not celebrating properly." Kyoya spoke with a lilt to his voice. He had appeared out of seemingly nowhere to rest a heavy hand on her shoulder. A flustered Tamaki stood faithfully at his side.
"Pamper the birthday boy. It's become obnoxious how little he pays attention to anything that isn't you." Kyoya left the two alone after dragging Tamaki to where she stood. He glared at Kyoya's retreating back before he turned to face her again, shuffling from one foot to the other.
"Didn't I do enough pampering earlier?" She teased, a content smile playing on her lips.
"That was all you!" Tamaki squawked, pointing an accusatory finger at her. His face felt impossibly hot, and his eyes were only able to focus on her.
"Really?" Her grin only widened. "I could have sworn you leaned in." She took a step away from the window she was leaning against to close the distance between the two of them.
"When?" Tamaki's voice was barely above a whisper. He was too scared to break the dream-like state he found himself in when her fingers barely touched his.
"You were here." She took a firm hold on his shoulders, pulling him in so their chests met. "I was here." She placed a light hand onto his cheek, dropping her thumb down to play with his bottom lip. "And you leaned in." She placed her mouth just above his earlobe, speaking the words so softly he almost didn't catch them.
"Y-you have a very active imagination." His eyebrows knitted together with apprehension. His whole body felt alive with the feeling that he was beginning to understand. Adoration. Tenderness. Maybe even love.
"Was that it?" She pulled away from him and he immediately regretted his embarrassed excuse. "Then, can I take my prize now?" He could only nod as her eyes were gazing into his and he forget how to speak entirely altogether.
The hand that lingered on his cheek drug downward to latch onto his blazer. She nimbly unattached the pin and held it tightly in her hands once again.
"T-that-" Tamaki tripped over his words, stupefied to see her holding the trinket with such care. "That's what you wanted?" He couldn't see what she saw in that little thing.
"Mm-hmm." She hummed quietly to herself, turning it over in her palm. "It reminds me of you. So, I want it." She smiled so kindly at the thought, peeling her eyes away to watch the blush trickle down Tamaki's neck.
"Oh, you've got a little-" She pointed to the side of her face. Tamaki pawed dumbly at his face, finding nothing there.
"Here." She reached for her forgotten piece of cake on the windowsill, picking up a dollop of frosting on her fingertip and painting it over his lips. Her mouth quickly followed suit, planting her lips onto his in a chaste kiss.
"All gone." She spoke blissfully against his lips. Tamaki felt faint. She led him to a chair and laughed as he collapsed into it.
"Happy birthday, senpai." She congratulated before being whisked away by the twins for a dance. Once Tamaki regained the ability to think, he chased after her.