This sat in my documents for SIX MONTHS. Goes to show I have an excellent work ethic/schedule.
Anywho, I'm almost done with the next chapter of ITF, and I needed a break. Here ya go.
Summer
"Aah, it's warm today...Souji?"
Naoto undid her tie as she let herself into the apartment, briefly stopping short at the sight that greeted her. "What are you doing?"
Her voice was laced with laughter when she saw him lying on the couch, arms behind his head and a spoon in his mouth. A small tub of what looked like neopolitan ice cream was sitting on the coffee table, and the table was moved closer to the couch. The proximity seemed to make access to the treat even easier. He opened one eye and smiled upon seeing her, taking the spoon out of his mouth and waving it in greeting. "Welcome home!"
"Thank you. Would you mind telling me what you're doing?"
"Hygge. And cooling off."
"We could just turn on the AC. And...hig-what?"
"Too many other people are using the AC, don't want a power outage. And it's hygge."
"Okay...and what would that be?"
"Enjoying life. And you're back! My day just got even better!"
He reached down to scoop some of the strawberry ice cream, holding out the spoon to Naoto as she took off her vest and straightened her shirt out. His eyes shone merrily as she gave him a look, but she relented in the end. Taking the spoon, she ate the ice cream and kept the utensil in her mouth to cool down as she took off her watch and set it on the table. She sat in the chair adjacent to the couch and toed her socks off before tossing the spoon back to Souji. "Thank you."
Souji ate another bite of the vanilla and chocolate part before reclining even more on the cushions. "Mmmhm."
Naoto reached to the bottom shelf of the coffee table and picked up one of the many books waiting there. Sticky notes adorned some of the pages, and a dark blue bookmark waited for her towards the latter half. Before opening to the page it guarded, Naoto glanced up at Souji one more time. He was seemingly falling asleep, Tora nestled in his shirt and looking generally like a fuzzy, striped croissant.
She smiled. She wouldn't have it any other way.
Fall
Naoto made sure Souji was asleep before fetching her laptop looking out one of the larger windows of the apartment. It was a particularly stormy night, with thunder audible in the distance and rain pouring down liberally. She closed her eyes, listened to the rain beating on the glass for a moment, and smiled.
Tonight was perfect.
Clambering onto one of the larger windowsills, of which she had converted into a little cove of sorts, she propped up a large pillow behind her and reclined, letting out a happy little sigh as it accepted her. She placed the laptop on the top of her lap (wow!), and put on her headphones.
She managed about an hour of peacefully typing away for her report before she heard Souji groaning from their bedroom. "Naoto?"
She glanced up at the doorway before ultimately deciding to fix the punctuation of her last sentence. Her ploy to let Souji stew over became a resounding success when he said in a more deadpan tone, "...Are you writing on the window again?"
"Indeed I am."
"Okay. Come back to bed when you're finished."
"I will."
Naoto hummed along with the song she was listening to for a few notes before smiling and going back to writing.
Winter
Souji had just put his feet up on the coffee table and was about to doze off under a big, fluffy blanket when he heard someone jostling the lock to the door. Naoto burst in a moment later, releasing a shaky breath as she fumbled with the lock on the doorknob. As she turned, she saw Souji on the couch, throwing off her snow-soaked coat and jumping onto the couch. Souji moved his hand just enough to open the blanket welcomingly, an offer she took wholeheartedly as she snuggled against him. "Hey."
"Hello. Warm me up."
He needed no second bidding, pulling her close with an arm around her shoulder. After a moment, he scoffed. He ignored a jab about the day's field work, instead pointing out that, "A shower would help."
"I'm sure it would. Now stop squirming."
Ironically, she squirmed against him and buried her nose into the soft material of the blanket, closing her eyes and relaxing as feeling returned to her toes. "...I'll heat some water later."
"Thank you."
Spring
"How's the book? The sequel to the Amazing Khan saga, right?"
"It's, uh...it's a book. Maybe an acquired read, but it turns up the machismo to eleven."
"I figured that was why you followed the series in the first place."
"Well...it tells me not to believe in me. It says 'believe in the Khan that believes in the you'. What does that even mean?"
"I'd say that Khan has a low opinion of you."
"Nah. Well...maybe there's some underlying message here."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I think I'll keep reading."
"You do that."
Souji smirked and turned a page for effect, turning it back when he thought that Naoto wasn't looking. The off-duty sleuth resumed typing away on her phone, idly scanning pages of the site she was looking at for tropes she wasn't aware of. "Rise-chan called. She wanted to go out for drinks later."
"You tell her no?"
Naoto stiffened slightly against his shoulder, shuffling away from him just enough to bring her head to his lap. "...No?"
"So you do have fun when she drags you along."
"I suppose so. So do you."
"Mm. I have enough evidence of your antics, I'm good."
"You don't have-"
"You're quite the drunken master, you know? You pinned me."
"W-well, I-"
"I thought I heard you counting before you fell asleep on me."
"Well, I'm sorry. Maybe you should've stopped me."
Souji closed his book but kept a finger on the page, giving her a quizzical look as she wore a faint, teasing grin. "Oh, so now you wanna wrestle?"
"I understand if you're worried. After all, I pick up skills quite easily."
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
"Alright, then."
Souji casually dropped his book on the floor and reached down to grab her wrists. Despite her best efforts, his strength outweighed hers, so he simply pinned her hands to her chests while she squirmed in his lap. "1, 2, 3."
"Wait, I-"
"I win."
"I demand a rematch."
As soon as Souji released her she sat up and dropped her phone on the carpet. She managed to straddle his lap, but held back enough to not topple them over. "Ready?"
Souji smiled one of the rare, purely happy smiles and nodded. "As I'll ever be."
Whether it was Naoto or Souji that set the trap that the other fell into, it didn't really matter. What did was that their surroundings were forgotten for the next few minutes as they immersed themselves in a personal little world.
The match was a draw.
I don't feel too hot about the Spring section of this one. I'll leave the verdict to you, though.
Also, if I offend my grossly misunderstanding the true meaning of Hygge, I'm sorry. I thought it was worth writing about, but I really am no expert.
Till next time.