September days always made for good picnic days, or so Tamaki had always thought. Obviously it was too cold in January or December for a picnic, and it was hard to know in the spring if it might rain. In September, it was starting to cool down again from the heat of summer and there was the excitement of fall in the air. Plus, if it got too chilly, he could always use it as an excuse to snuggle up to Kyoya, or steal his jacket.
At the current moment, however, it seemed that his snuggle buddy/picnic partner was running late. It made sense, Kyoya had said that the lunch with his father's clients might go a little longer than expected, especially if someone mentioned the topic of the tomfoolery going on in America with regards to their upcoming elections and the ridiculous candidates. Even Kyoya liked to laugh at candidates like "Vermin Supreme", or whatever his name was. So Tamaki was content to wait with his picnic basket on the bench, not wanting to give the ants a head start on their mission to eat their food before Kyoya or Tamaki could do anything about it. It was a beautiful day, with the wind blowing gently through the slowly-coloring leaves of the trees and an errant beam of sunlight floating down between the branches to dapple the grass in the quiet park. Tamaki was humming to himself quietly, a piece that he had always loved to play for his mother, so he didn't hear the approaching footsteps and nearly jumped a mile out of his skin when a cool hand was placed over his eyes.
"Guess who?" came the ever familiar, ever-so-slightly warmer than usual voice of his best friend and, more recently, boyfriend. Tamaki laughed, grabbing the hand and standing up so he could turn around and face Kyoya. He pulled him in closer for a hug, smelling the faint scent of the cologne Kyoya occasionally wore for business functions. The two broke apart smiling, and began unfolding the red and white checkered blanket Tamaki had bought specifically for picnics, having seen such a thing in so many movies and television shows and just knowing that it would make the whole experience more authentic. Kyoya had rolled his eyes at the time, but made sure Tamaki got one big enough for what he wanted to do with it and one that wouldn't irritate Tamaki's skin too much.
It wasn't often that the two of them got to escape from all their various commitments to be able to sit together like this, but they did their best to have time to themselves at least once every week to relax and be happy. They texted during the day and called sometimes, but Tamaki couldn't help but think about how nice it would be if they could just get an apartment or something together, but so far he had had no luck in convincing Kyoya to buck his family's expectations. He sighed heavily, supposing that this was as good as it could get for now. Sitting in a nearly deserted park on a wonderful September day, trying to feed Kyoya and being rebuffed but being close to him nonetheless.
"Have you heard anything about your mother recently?" Kyoya asked him between bites of his sandwich. Tamaki shook his head; the two of them had been trying to track her down in their spare time with some leads that looked promising but still needing a couple of the favors they had called in to follow through. "I could send in my family's police force's best investigator, if you really wanted me to. The choice is yours, of course, but the offer is serious."
"No, but thank you anyways. I want to do this myself. If I could just get my grandmother to agree to my going to look for her myself…" Tamaki said wistfully, watching some of the warmth in Kyoya's face be replaced with an almost unreadable expression, one that always came over him when Tamaki mentioned his grandmother. Even when they were still just friends, Kyoya had been less than happy with the way she treated him, doing his best to cheer him up even if it meant letting Tamaki talk him to death with one of his demented schemes for host club activities.
"Don't ruin our afternoon by thinking about my grandmother, Kyoya. I just want to be here, with you, enjoying your company and this day, poetic in its beauty and inspiring lovers to acts of-" He found himself silenced by Kyoya stuffing a cream puff into his mouth, cutting off his monologue on the day. "Kyoya, I was just getting to the good part! About how days such as this put me in the mind of couples holding hands, whispering sweet nothings into one another's ears, lazing about and creating an idyllic scene like-" Once again he found himself silenced with dessert, Kyoya looking slightly exasperated but amused at the same time.
"Is all this sentimentality necessary? I agree that it's a beautiful day, but you sound like you're a teenage girl writing a fantasy love story or some such thing," he inquired, his tone belying his amusement. Tamaki sat up straighter, leaning in to Kyoya so he could whisper in his ear.
"Well, yes, I think it is necessary, and I suppose you might be right about the fantasy love story part as well, since I was trying to create an ideal atmosphere for what I want to say next." Kyoya pulled back an inch or two to look at him, slightly on-guard where he had been very relaxed and, to a certain extent, unshielded all afternoon.
"What?" Kyoya asked cautiously. Tamaki leaned in even further, closing the distance Kyoya had created moments before.
"I…I looked in your desk drawers while you weren't looking," Tamaki stated as seductively as he could, earning himself a smack on the shoulder from a now very exasperated Kyoya.
"That's what you wanted to tell me? You are the single most ridiculous person I have ever has the misfortune to meet, I'm not certain sometimes why it is that I love you so much," Kyoya replied, and fell silent. Tamaki got over the giggles he had had as a result of his little trick quickly, gaping at Kyoya and what he thought he had just heard. Kyoya himself looked rather frustrated with himself, presumably for letting slip what he did at the end of his sentence.
After a few moments of silence that felt like hours, Tamaki found his words. "Kyoya…you said you love me. Did…did you mean that?" Kyoya turned his head slightly, trying to hide the highly uncharacteristic blush that was spreading slowly over his face and neck. "Kyoya. Look at me. Please?" Tamaki begged him, grabbing his chin and turning him gently to look at him, even though Kyoya still wouldn't look him in the eye.
Finally he spoke. "I hadn't thought about it so much. But I suppose what we say without thinking sometimes is more true than that which we present to be true, isn't it?" he pondered aloud, slowly looking Tamaki in the eye.
"I never thought that you would be the first to say it, no offense meant. I mean…you're much more reserved. But I'm glad you did. And just so you know, I love you too, like a Frenchman loves fine wine, like the night loves the stars, like the rain loves the flowers, more than I know how to express with mere words," Tamaki expounded, stopping before Kyoya could stuff another cream puff in his mouth. He grinned sheepishly, and pulled Kyoya back down to lay down again on the blanket, keeping his hand intertwined with Kyoya's, gently rubbing his fingertips over the soft skin of his hand as they whiled away the rest of the afternoon, on into the evening when a light rain began.