"Alright, Hamlet… What shall it be today?" Another calm, casual day seemed to be laid out in front of Shion. He had woken up, completed his morning routine, helped his mother out a bit downstairs in the bakery, and headed back to his room with a nice cup of tea in preparation for an uneventful day. He wasn't complaining, though: he enjoyed the peace. …not that he complained when that peace was interrupted by a rare visit from a certain blue-haired young man…. But that didn't seem to be happening today. "How about Julius Caesar? We haven't touched that one in a while…"
The small white rat twitched his little nose, standing upright on Shion's shoulder. Shion took that as a yes and sat on his bed, book in hands. "Okay, ready?" He smiled at the rodent perched on his shoulder, then cleared his throat and began to read. "'Hence! Home, you idle creatures, get you-"
"Shion, dear? Your friend is here to see you."
The sound of his mother's voice interrupted Shion. When her words clicked in his mind, the book dropped from his hands, startling Hamlet off his shoulder and onto the table beside his bed. It seemed as if Shion's feet had a mind of their own and were carrying him out of the room at a sprint. He skidded to a halt when he reached the front door and nearly collided with his visitor. …There he was. Arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe, hair pulled into a high ponytail, expression a combination between a scowl and apathetic. "Nezumi," Shion breathed.
"Hey," Nezumi responded casually. Upon seeing Shion, however, a smirk had grown on his face. How like him… It seemed that now that his visits had gone from monthly to weekly, he assumed they had lost their significance, but in actuality, that wasn't the case. Every time Shion saw Nezumi standing on his porch, his heart leaped, as if they had been apart for years. It was always a relief to see him alive and well; who knew what types of trouble he could be getting in? This visit was particularly reassuring for Shion, because while his visits had, as mentioned, become weekly, it had been nearing 3 weeks since his last visit. Shion was getting worried.
"Come in, please!" Shion insisted after giving Nezumi a brief hug, backing up and motioning his companion inside. "Can I get you anything? Tea? Something to eat?"
"I'm fine," Nezumi answered, unfazed by Shion's enthusiasm. "…although, one of those wouldn't be so bad…" He nodded at a plate of chocolate chip cookies on display. Shion smiled and plucked one off the top for him. Nezumi nodded his thanks and glanced over his shoulder at Shion's mother, who was talking with a new customer that had just entered the bakery.
"Oh, don't worry, she'll understand," Shion eased his concern with a smile. Nezumi raised an eyebrow and shrugged, taking a bite out of the cookie. "Come on, let's go to my room."
By the time they had entered Shion's room and closed the door behind them, Nezumi had finished his cookie, and was licking chocolate remnants off his fingers. "That mother of yours… She's some sort of baking goddess."
Shion laughed, sitting on his bed and setting his book beside his teacup in order to make room for Nezumi. "I'm glad you liked it." Content that there was nothing left on his fingers, Nezumi accepted Shion's unspoken invitation to sit beside him and did so.
"…so," they said in unison, resulting in a grin from both of them.
"You look well," Nezumi said, stretching his arms out behind him and sitting back on his hands.
"I can say the same to you… What have you been doing?" Shion asked. He brought the question up each visit, and every time, Nezumi would either change the subject or just shake his head.
This time, however, Nezumi partially complied. "If I told you, you'd worry."
Shion's eyes widened. "Well now I'm even more worried! What do you-?"
Nezumi cut him off by placing a hand over his mouth, telling him to "shhh." Shion pouted/glared, and Nezumi just chuckled. "You're cute." Pink tinted Shion's cheek, his scar blending in. "Look, I'm not dead, am I? I've still got all my limbs, nothing's broken, and I'm okay enough to visit you. Relax." After a short pause, Shion finally nodded, his blush already faded.
Hamlet found his way up onto the bed, and made himself comfortable on his former owner's knee. Nezumi stroked the top of his head with his index finger. "Do you still have your other rats?" Shion had asked this last time, but the answer could have changed in two and a half weeks.
"Mhm, 'course I do… They help me with my mission." Nezumi emphasized "mission" with a teasing tone, resulting in a whine from Shion.
"What is this 'mission' of yours?!" he demanded, bringing his face close to Nezumi's and furrowing his eyebrows in frustration. Nezumi just laughed, abandoning stroking Hamlet to ruffle Shion's white hair.
"Relax. I took so long to come see you this time 'cause I was finishing up that mission. It's done, I swear. You don't have to worry about it anymore, okay?"
Shion's expression softened into one of surprise, relief gradually building up inside of him. He gave a slight nod to his head and went to lean back; however, Nezumi had sat up and wrapped one arm around Shion, pulling his body as close as his face had just been. "I missed you. Cuddle with me," Nezumi insisted, leaning his head onto Shion's shoulder. Shion stared down at him in shock.
"Cud-? Who are you and what have you done with Nezumi."
Nezumi sat up again, putting on a hurt expression. "Oh, I see how it is… You don't want my embrace, you reject my comfort. You're cruel." He sighed dramatically, hanging his head and closing his eyes. Shion smiled, shook his head fondly, and made himself comfortable snuggling up against Nezumi's side. Smirking in contentment, Nezumi rested his chin atop Shion's head and pulled him even closer. "How long are you staying?" Shion questioned, peeking up at Nezumi. It wouldn't be unusual for Nezumi to pull away and tell him he had somewhere to go…
"All day," was Nezumi's response. …wonderful…!
They then fell into silence; not an awkward one, simply a quiet pause as they sat there engulfed in each other's warmth. Nezumi fiddled with Shion's hand, almost as if he was observing the feeling of his fingertips against his. He then skirted his hand across more portions of Shion: his lower back, up his waist, his scrawny shoulders, through his hair, and finally to rest upon that distinctive pink scar permanently etched onto his cheek. Nezumi wasn't doing this to be a tease; he was simply reassuring his subconscious mind that Shion was in fact sitting beside him, living and breathing.
Shion looked up at him with his innocent, yet impossibly experienced and intelligent, smile that could make Nezumi bend over backwards and then some. Nezumi didn't return the smile, which caused Shion's to fade. He glanced away with his eyes and the silence began to become uncomfortable. With a short cough, Shion picked his teacup up off the bedside table and took a long sip. Would it be like this all day-?
"…marry me."
The teacup shattered to the ground, spilling its remaining contents while Shion choked violently on the rest. Nezumi's protective instinct kicked in immediately and he pounded Shion hard between the shoulder blades, then proceeded to rub up and down his back. But Shion was hardly concentrating on breathing correctly. Surely Nezumi was just joking around?! He had said it so casually, as if he had simply said that he was hungry…
"…huh?!" he managed to spurt out when he finally could breathe in without coughing painfully.
"I said 'marry me,'" Nezumi repeated, resting his hand on Shion's lower back. Shion just gaped at him, blinking rapidly, robbed of his words. Nezumi pursed his lips slightly. "Tch, I guess that's not good enough for you. Hm…" He closed his eyes and sat back a bit. "Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove: O no! It is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken; it is the star to every wandering bark, whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle's compass come: love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved." Smirking ever-so-slightly at the awestruck look Shion always got on his face when Nezumi recited Shakespeare for him, Nezumi dug into his pocket and pulled out a little something.
A ring. It was faded slightly with a chipped diamond on top, probably not even made of real silver, and most likely had been stolen. ...But… It was a ring nevertheless, and Nezumi was offering it to Shion. While his expression looked cool and composed, maybe even bored and impatient, his eyes gave away how anxious, determined, and pleading he truly was.
It started with a slight, indistinguishable nod. Then Shion nodded again, and again, until he resembled a bobble head with tears welling up in his eyes. He then flung himself at Nezumi like a child greeting their parent upon return from war, burying his face in his chest and allowing a couple tears to trickle down his cheeks… "Yes…." He hugged him tighter, the shattered teacup forgotten and unimportant. "Yes, Nezumi, yes, I'll marry you…!" He sniffled and leaned back slightly, a smile inching onto his face. "Because," he took a short deep breath, "hear my soul speak: the very instant I saw you, did my heart fly at your service."
Now Nezumi was smiling too: a soft, relieved, affectionate smile that did his expression justice. He slid both hands onto Shion's cheeks and slipped his fingertips through his hair, tracing circles with his thumbs and simultaneously wiping away any tears that continued to fall. He kissed Shion's forehead, then the tip of his nose, and finally his lips, the faint tastes of tea and chocolate chip mixing perfectly. To his surprise, Shion grasped Nezumi by the scarf and pulled him as close as possible, adding an unexpected dash of passion to the kiss.
They pulled away after what felt like an eternity, and Shion planted his ear against Nezumi's chest right where his face had previously been. "…your heartbeat… I can hear it so clearly. But sometimes, I think… that if things had taken a slightly different turn, I wouldn't be able to. With all we've been through… With all you're secretly going through… We've come far too close to losing each other."
"Hey…" Nezumi cupped Shion's chin in his hand and turned his head to face him, a slight smile gracing his lips. "We've come too far to lose each other. With all the close calls we've had, don't you think we would've been dead a long time ago if we were gonna die?"
Shion tilted his head slightly. "You're right…" He nodded in agreement, and adjusted his sitting position so he was as close to Nezumi as physically possible while still sitting next to him. "Marriage, huh? We need to start thinking about the wedding… Hamlet can be our ring bearer!" he exclaimed, smiling at the little rat on the bookshelf. Nezumi stared at him with an expression that clearly said "You are an idiot," yet he couldn't hide the adoration in his eyes. Shion looked up at his new fiancé with a teasing grin. "You can be the one to wear a dress."
A flustered blush exploded across Nezumi's face. "Who says one of us has to wear a dress?! And if one of us is gonna be the bride, it's not gonna be me-"
"I'm kidding," Shion insisted, poking his nose. Nezumi huffed, his cheeks continuing to redden, and he had to fight back the smile that was twitching onto his face.
"Look, we're not getting married tomorrow. We've got time to plan things out. So for now… relax. And put your ring on." Shion nodded sharply, smile bright and eyes twinkling, and eagerly slid the secondhand ring onto his finger. They once again slipped into a peaceful silence, which was broken by Shion a couple minutes later.
"We're getting married, Nezumi," he breathed.
"Yes, Shion. I'm aware," Nezumi answered with an edge of sarcasm. Shion crossed his arms lightly.
"I mean-" He sighed, shaking his head and smiling serenely. "…I love you, Nezumi…"
Nezumi's eyes widened slightly; why that took him off guard, he wasn't sure. Shion just accepted his marriage proposal, of course he loved him… Still, it was a relief to hear those words come out of his mouth. …Now that he thought about it, that was the first time either of them had outright said it. It seemed neither of them felt the need; they knew perfectly well how the other felt about them, and didn't need mere words to prove it. Nonetheless… "I love you too, Shion." He leaned down and kissed him again, this time making sure to savor it. "Now that wasn't a good-bye kiss. In fact…"
"We'll never have to have one of those ever again," Shion finished for him, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. Nezumi buried his face softly in his hair, planting a brief kiss atop his head.
"Took the words right out of my mouth… my husband."