.
.
The start of Kazuma's day begins at 5 AM.
He wakes before his alarm. Opening his eyes, he has to squint to see the numbers on the digital clockface: 4:45. The colon separating the numbers blinks and Kazuma reaches out a hand to turn off the alarm. There is the sound of bedsheets shifting as he moves, and it never occurs to him that he can roll over and enjoy another fifteen minutes of sleep. He switches on a lamp, then pads barefoot to the bathroom where he will wash away the last traces of sleep from his eyes.
As he washes his face he mentally ticks off the things on his agenda: a meeting with the shinki in charge of overseeing Veena's wishes; a trip to the Near Shore to inspect her shrines. He will tackle his growing inbox of emails that have accumulated the previous day - he's found that communicating with his subordinates is much easier via email, unlike times past when he had to rely on sealed scrolls and other cumbersome methods of communication - and barring anything too urgent, will make a few conference calls to remote members of their team, shinki stationed in foreign outposts outside Japan. Mid-morning, he will meet with various project leaders and get updated on their progress, teams for spreading Veena's name as well as teams spearheading cooperative initiatives with other gods. Then there will be another briefing, more emails, and an examination of their budget and preparation before their patrol.
He closes the tap. Water swirls down the sink as he towels his face in front of the mirror.
xXx
.
It is 5 AM, and for the first time in decades Kazuma does not wake before his alarm. Beside him, Veena groans, stretching an arm over Kazuma's chest to grope at the clock at his nightstand. She pushes down the SNOOZE button with an authoritative click, and it's all too much to process this early in the morning: the fact that he had overslept, the fact that Veena was lying next to him; the fact that they are in a relationship and the newness of it all makes his head spin.
But Kazuma is nothing but disciplined, and even though he can feel the softness of Veena's body pressed warmly against his back, he gingerly pushes back the sheets and fumbles for his glasses, mentally ticking off all the things that need to be accomplished for the day.
"Stay," Veena says. Her voice is drowsy and affectionate, and Kazuma glances back at the bed. She is propped up on her elbow, her legs curling like a mermaid's tail beneath the blankets, and the strap of her nightgown has fallen down her shoulder. She smiles dreamily at him, messy strands of hair sticking up in all directions.
His heart wavers. He wants nothing more than to curl up beside her and spend the morning tucked against her body, but they have an interdisciplinary meeting with the western gods of Greece and Rome at 8 AM, and he still has several proposals to skim and more than a few presentations to prepare. "Veena I can't," he says, mournfully.
"Why?" Veena says.
"I have notes to go over, not to mention emails to answer and an early morning conference call..."
She stretches luxuriously, and he can see how the silk of her nightie skims across her body.
"...But I suppose they're not very important," Kazuma amends.
He runs down the corridor. His tie is undone and somehow he had missed one of the buttons on his shirt, and as he runs with folders shoved under his arms he tries to straighten his clothes, but only manages to drop his papers everywhere.
xXx
.
Unlike shinki, who are beholden to the confines of human laws, Veena does not need to worry about such petty things as eating or sleeping or getting dressed in the morning. As a god all she needs is the worship of her believers to sustain her. Even such quotidian things as getting dressed in the morning isn't much of a hassle - in a pinch, all Veena has to do is call out one of her non-combat divine garments, and there are at least a dozen shinki who can make up a suitable wardrobe.
Unfortunately for Kazuma, he does not have the same luxury.
He is sleeping, face-down against a pillow and breathing deeply, when he feels someone poking him in the back. Kazuma exhales groggily and cracks open his eyes, waking to the feeling of Veena's body plastered against him.
He smiles, half-asleep, as he feels Veena gently kissing him.
"We have an early meeting," he says, softly. He feels Veena gently mouthing the side of his neck, one hand caressing his chest while the other slides around his body. "We need to wake up early."
"Should I stop?" Veena says, softly. She feels nice and warm lying on top of him.
"You don't have to," he says. He doesn't want her to. "I just don't want you to be tired."
"I'll be fine," she says softly, and she positions herself to straddle him.
He spends the rest of the day staggering in a zombie-like haze, drinking a liter's worth of coffee and leaning heavily on his ability to pay attention to the people around him.
There is a report on his desk, which he is struggling to focus reading. His subordinates have compiled a list of wishes that Veena could directly grant versus those that could be outsourced to minor gods like Yato, but the words start to blend in together and he finds himself getting confused between the categories of wishes. He only has thirty minutes to read and approve of the compiled list before he has a conference call with Ookuninushi's lead shinki, and because of the time difference it may cut into his time to sleep. Rubbing his eyes, he fumbles for his cup of coffee only to find it is empty - he had drained the cup at least an hour ago.
"Kazuma?" Veena knocks, then pokes her head through the door. "Are you ready for our briefing?"
"Uh-" he stands, shifting his papers. "I'm sorry, Veena, but I haven't had a chance to look at your wishes yet."
"That's unusual. You're usually so punctual." She strides into the room behind him and leans over his desk, fondly rubbing his back. "Anything I can help you with?"
"Nothing that is worth your attention, no," Kazuma sighs, then sets down his papers. He wants nothing more than to curl up next to Veena and bury his face into the side of her neck, but there are papers to read and projects to sign off on, and while before he would spend his entire day slogging through his workload, he finds that for some reason, he has considerably less amount of time.
Above him, Veena frowns and gently presses her fingers into the nape of his neck. "Are you sick?" she asks. She massages his neck.
"No." He smiles. "Just a little tired."
"You should go to sleep then," Veena says.
"I have too much I need to go over," Kazuma says.
They go on patrol. Usually, after her patrol is over, Kazuma will make his way back to the office and work until nightfall, making conference calls with shinki stationed remotely in America or India, or else reviewing and reporting to the various teams he shares joint projects with: he never felt lonely before, not when he spent his days overseeing Veena's wishes and managing all her projects, all his waking hours devoted to proselytizing and spreading her name.
But things are different now, and after patrol Veena takes him by the arm and insists they go and try this new sushi place that opened in the Near Shore, Ebisu had blessed the patrons with his presence and so she knows the fish is especially fresh. The papers lay unattended on his desk while Veena cuddles and hugs and kisses him, and when it's time to sleep she wakes him up to make love to him.
His work is suffering. He knows what he has to do.
xXx
.
"You can't?" Veena says. She had wanted to take Kazuma to dinner. "Kazuma, this is unusual. You have never turned down a request from me before."
"I'm sorry, I have some catching up to do." He smiles at her, ruefully. "Perhaps you can take Kuraha or the others from the combat team?"
"Another time - for now I wish to spend time with my Kazuma." She sprawls back luxuriously on the couch, pawing at a stack of reports. "So? What is it that we're looking at? Wishes? More heavenly grant proposals?"
"Just the network allocations for collective worship. Nothing you need to concern yourself over."
The clock ticks. Outside, the sky darkens, and Kazuma switches on a desklamp, typing on his laptop and rifling through his papers. Veena is getting restless - she moves from sprawling on the couch to pacing around the office, until finally she convinces Kazuma to look at his papers on the couch beside her.
She rests her head on his lap. Absently he strokes her hair while he scrolls through the latest budget proposal, sighing loudly and rubbing his eyes.
"Kazuma?"
"Yes, Veena?"
"Is this how you used to spend your time?"
Kazuma looks down. Veena has turned on her side so that she's looking up at him. "It was," Kazuma says. He lets his hand brush gently over her scalp. "I used to do more work before."
"I thought at least you spent your free time with the Yatogami?" Veena says. Kazuma shakes his head.
"Not every day," Kazuma says. He picks a strand of hair from behind her ear thoughtfully.
"You are busy with so much," Veena says. "I had no idea this was how you spent your days."
Kazuma smiles. "Well," he says, quietly. "It helped me keep my mind off you."
She frowns, and Kazuma looks away, suddenly embarrassed. They have been together for a few months now but this is something he has not yet openly admitted.
Veena furrows her brow, her head still on his lap and her gaze trained at a spot across the room. "Kazuma," she begins, and her gaze shifts up to meet his. "Was that because you used to feel lonely?" Kazuma smiles and shakes his head.
"I was never lonely," Kazuma says. "I'm happy just being by your side. Even now, I want nothing more than to be useful to you."
"You are more to me than just something useful," Veena says. She sits up and pats the center of her lap.
"Veena?"
"You are exhausted," Veena says. "I can feel it through our connection."
Kazuma blushes. "Oh, Veena, I'm fine, really-"
She reaches a hand and pulls him down onto her lap, plucking off his glasses and reaching to set them on the table.
"Veena?"
"I shall look at these reports," Veena says. "Believe it or not, Kazuma, your master is more than capable."
"You don't have to," Kazuma says, but Veena's lap is comfortable and he's already starting to drowse.
That evening, the only thing he's aware of is the warmth of Veena's lap and the gentle, soothing way she is stroking his scalp. It feels nice, and when she's finished she nudges him awake so that they can crawl into bed. He passes out with his face buried deep in a pillow, and as he starts to drift he feels her spooning him, one arm clasped protectively around his chest and her face tucked against his shoulder.