Our Place

"American or Traditional?"

This was the first thing out of his mouth when they were in the midst of studying for exams. As a second and third year- respectively- they had a lot riding on it than they had the year before. However, close to midnight, staring at the books for the past four to five hours, Setsuna thought her eyes would fall out of her skull. Sleepily, mind full of equations and figures, Setsuna gave him a look, unable to comprehend a thing he just said.

"What?" She blinked owlishly at him before rubbing her eyes and looking back at her mountain of textbooks and notes- wait, there was a sticky note on her forehead? "Chiba, you're not making any sense."

"I was thinking about what kind of house I'd like to get after all this." Mamoru told her, twirling his pen for a bit. "I've always been more fond of the modern look. What about you?"

"Me?" She wondered if she sounded like a parrot at this point. Still, the emerald woman pursed her lips for a bit, "Honestly, I don't know. I guess I like the European look- or rather an Old Victorian house."

"Figured it'd be something like that, Meiou." Mamoru grinned.

Oddly, she couldn't help but feel mildly irritated. Or it could be the stress of studying so much, "Oh? And pray tell, what did you figure out?"

Was her tired eyes deceiving her or did Mr. Calm and Compose just blushed? Rubbing her eyes again, Setsuna convinced herself she just had to be tired. There was no way Mamoru would ever blush around her.

"Well, I mean.." Mamoru began, his brows rose as he searched for the right words, "You're really…" His cheeks were pinking slightly, "elegant."

She arched a brow, " Elegant'?"

Now she could see his fave completely taking on that pink hue just a bit and tried not to grin. So she settled for a slight smile, instead.

"What I mean is- you've got that kind of air about you." Mamoru said, trying to gain control over himself. "Classical. An aristocratic kind of beauty."

Now her own cheeks heated as she turned her eyes back to the long inane equation, trying to settle the fluttering of her heart, "I see. So, what kind of house would you get if you had to compromise?"

"Hm…" Mamoru looked thoughtful again, "I don't know. It would depend on what my partner would like too."

"Would you go with whatever they want?" Setsuna asked, curiously, "No questions?"

"Not entirely." Mamoru answered, picking up his empty mug and then hers, "I'd like to blend both the styles, to be honest. Want some more coffee?"

"Yes, please." Setsuna smiled back at him. As he left, she wondered about it again. The kind of home that she wanted to make. "Hm, I don't think it really matters- the style of the house and all."

"Really?" He asked from the kitchen, pouring more coffee in each mug, "What does? For you I mean."

She smiled, feeling that it was true as she said, "I think the best home is one that has a lot of love in it."

Their eyes connected in that moment, sharing something that both had once longed for before it broke suddenly.
"Ah! Hot!" He had over poured the coffee and now it spread across the counters. "That's it. At three, we're calling it a day."
"Are you alright?"

He sighed but smiled as he mopped it up with a paper towel, "Yeah, I will be."

-2 years later-

"This is the one." Setsuna said, looking at the dark wooden floors in the living room before she turned to Mamoru with the biggest smile on her face, "What do you think?"

"It is something." Mamoru told her looking out the back door at the small yard, "It's enough for us. Did you see the kitchen?"

"I know!" It was odd, but she wanted to giggle like a school girl. Instead, she just smiled, walking over to him, "I knew you'd love it."

"I do." He agreed, slipping an arm around her and kissing her temple, "It's perfect."

Their first place, a compromised mixture of modern features with Victorian accents throughout the house. It wasn't entirely perfect, but for them it would be so.