AGGGGHHHHHH I'm so tired of being a few hours late, but it's the week before Christmas and I work in retail hell. so I'm a little wiped from work and just the holidays in general ;w;

however, please enjoy some fluff for your patience! and have a lovely holiday season :D

Hakuryuu doesn't remember falling asleep on the couch, but he does remember Judal coercing him into his bed and curling up next to him. It's significantly more comfortable than the futon, even if Judal is somehow hogging the covers while still cuddling him aggressively. He feels so rested he almost wonders if he should ask Judal where his bed came from, because he never sleeps this well at home.

Judal is snoring quietly against his throat, and Hakuryuu realizes that there might be another reason he slept so well. He knows he should get up and start his day, but instead he gives into the urge of going back to sleep.

The next time Hakuryuu wakes up, Judal is curled up half on top of him, staring at him. It's unsettling.

"Good morning!" Judal says excitedly.

"Hello, Judal," he says, reaching up to tuck some of Judal's hair behind his ears. His expression brightens even more. "You're very close."

He grins widely. "Watching you sleep. You're cute."

"You're weird. Let me up," Hakuryuu says, and Judal rolls off him begrudgingly. He's in some very skimpy pajamas, looking much more energetic than he usually does first thing in the morning. He's probably been awake for awhile, and finding out that he was watching him sleep should almost definitely worry Hakuryuu more than it does.

He saunters out of the room. "I'm gonna make you breakfast this time," Judal calls over his shoulder.

Hakuryuu smiles softly. He has no idea what Judal is going to come up with, but perhaps they can do brunch somewhere after he's exhausted the food options in his home. He's trying to figure out what to wear, since he doesn't plan on spending the day in his rumpled clothes from yesterday, but he also doesn't think he left any clothing here. Even though he and Judal are similar sizes, he doesn't want to go looking through his clothes without asking.

For now, he settles on suffering through whatever Judal has cooked in his current attire. He can sort it out after they eat.

The kitchen smells like burning but Judal looks happy. "Hey, Hakuryuu. I found that pancake mix you used once," he explains, gesturing at the sad, burning lumps on the stove that must have, at one point, been pancakes.

"Why did you buy it if you didn't know how to use it?"

"I probably thought I was gonna somehow teach myself to cook, one pancake mix at a time," he says, flipping one of the pancakes with a spatula. "Shit, I burnt both sides of this one, too."

He looks over his shoulder to see a pile of rejects in the sink and shakes his head. "Let me help."

Judal passes him the spatula sadly. "I dunno what went wrong."

"Well, you have the heat on high, for one."

"Yeah, 'cause I wanted them to be done quickly," he says innocently.

Hakuryuu tries not to be condescending but really, how did Judal get through life for this long without knowing how to cook? He can't imagine it. "Higher heat will cook the outside faster, but usually it will burn before the inside cooks properly. Especially for how thick these pancakes are. What did you do to the batter?"

"I liked those fluffy ones you made, so I just made the batter thick. You know, kinda fluffy?" he explains, poking the batter to illustrate his point better.

"Thick batter is just going to be thick pancakes that take longer to cook," Hakuryuu says, taking the bowl of batter away from him. "Do you want pancakes, or were you just making them because you couldn't find anything else to make?"

Judal's face twists like he's sucking on a sour fruit, before he finally blows out a breath of air in frustration. "I like pancakes, but yeah, you got me. I haven't been grocery shopping lately 'cause you've been spoiling me with food."

"If I can get something to wear, I was thinking we could go out to a nice brunch," Hakuryuu offers, and he can feel himself smiling as Judal's face lights up.

"That sounds better. Lemme just, you know, get you home for a sec," Judal says, wandering off to presumably get his wand. Hakuryuu takes it upon himself to clean up the mess Judal made trying to make breakfast, rinsing out the bowl and wiping down the stove while he waits.

"You make a good maid," Judal teases, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen.

Hakuryuu shakes his head as he dries his hands. "Just because you don't know how to clean, it doesn't mean it's some sort of task only for menial laborers. I wanted to clean it up before everything stuck together."

"Thanks," he says simply, before drawing a teleportation sigil in front of Hakuryuu. "There you go!"

Magic has become a part of his life, but Judal's casual skill still throws him for a loop sometimes. It's very convenient though, and he'd never complain. Now he can take his time, get some fresh clothes on, and enjoy a leisurely brunch before he convinces Judal it's time to open the store again.

Hakuryuu pulls his phone out of a pocket and glances at it, just in case anyone has been trying to get a hold of him. Apparently, Alibaba has, and it takes a fair amount of self control not to just clear the notifications without looking at his texts.

Alibaba: Hey uh
Alibaba: Are you ever coming back?
Alibaba: We've been in here awhile now and we're both kinda antsy
Alibaba: Cassim especially
Alibaba: I guess you're dealing with the uh
Alibaba: Genie
Alibaba: But I think it's been like a day now

How is Cassim the one who's more antsy about being stuck in a small room? He was in prison. Shouldn't he be used to it by now?

Hakuryuu: We're coming back to the shop today.
Alibaba: Oh good!
Alibaba: You're letting us out right?

He has to talk to Judal about this. He's fine with letting Alibaba run loose; he's just oblivious and bad at following directions. But Cassim is an escaped convict, and he's sure the only reason Judal hasn't turned him in yet is because it would be more trouble than it's worth. However, now that they've got the genie taken care of, there's no reason to keep helping Cassim.

Hakuryuu sets his phone down on his dresser while he gets ready. He'll deal with it after he's had time to think and be calm.

"Yo, are you done yet?" Judal calls from his living room, impatient as always.

"Almost," he says. "But you can come in if you'd like. I have to show you something."

"If this is some terrible setup to show me your dick, I'm gonna be so disappointed in you," Judal tells him, but joins him in the bedroom anyway. "Aw, you're dressed."

"...why do you sound disappointed that I'm fully clothed? You just said you didn't want to see anything inappropriate," Hakuryuu points out, handing Judal his phone.

He takes it without question, scrolling through the texts from Alibaba while Hakuryuu gets socks on. "Man, his prison boyfriend is so annoying. I guess we can just let him loose, though. It's not like I want more people bound to serve me."

Hakuryuu takes his phone back as they leave, slipping it back in his pocket. "Here I thought that you would want something like that. You love being the center of attention so much."

"I love being the center of your attention," Judal clarifies, hopping back through the teleportation circle. It closes up after Hakuryuu comes through, leaving them in Judal's kitchen again.

He doesn't have an answer to that. They haven't talked openly about their feelings for each other - beyond that they've developed a close friendship - and Hakuryuu isn't sure how to bring it up. He doesn't think now is the right time for it either, but he's realized that it's probably going to happen eventually. Judal ignores things but no one can do that forever, and he's uncomfortably aware of how much he wants some sort of clarification on how Judal feels about him.

"I should text Alibaba back," Hakuryuu says, cringing at how awkward it sounds.

Judal shrugs. "Yeah, probably. I wanna get something to eat, but I guess that can wait until after we've set a convicted murderer loose on the city."

"Judal-"

"I mean, he is one," he says. "I looked it up and like, shit, I really shouldn't be judging people for whatever they've done with their lives, but he killed all these people in a bank robbery gone wrong. He was leading some sort of, I dunno, cult thing? All about anarchy and shit, and somehow robbing the bank was gonna...help them overthrow the government or something."

Hakuryuu realizes now that maybe he should have asked Alibaba what Cassim had done wrong, even once, instead of getting blindsided by it now. "Alibaba talks about him like he's just misunderstood and keeps ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Sure, if you call coercing people into stealing from their own families to fund his needs a misunderstanding," Judal says. "I'm not gonna sit around and tell you he's a monster or anything, since I'm not that big of a hypocrite, but I don't know what the fuck sunshine boy Alibooba is doing with him."

"They were raised together. Alibaba has told me the story before, but I'm sure he'd love to explain it to you, too."

He makes a disgusted face. "No thank you, I'd rather not let him think we're gonna be friends or something. That's your responsibility."

Hakuryuu: I'm sorry for the late response, but we're coming down now.
Alibaba: Thanks!
Hakuryuu: I'm not trying to tell you what to do, Alibaba. But I think you should reconsider what you're going to do with Cassim now.
Alibaba: What are you talking about?
Alibaba: I'm not gonna give him up to the cops after all he's been through

Hakuryuu sighs. This isn't going well. He didn't expect it to, but he doesn't know how else to phrase it, nor does he want to say anything in front of Cassim. He knows better than that.

Judal plucks the phone out of his hands. "You look stressed- oh yikes, I see why. Welp, it's not our problem."

"I think it might be partially our responsibility, at least."

"Is it really? Sounds like being friends with Cassim is his own mistake. The genie didn't make them besties out of nowhere," Judal says, unconcerned. Hakuryuu opens his mouth to disagree but thinks better of it; Judal isn't wrong. Sometimes you just have to let your friends fail on their own.

Hakuryuu: I see.
Hakuryuu: I'm not going to force you to.
Alibaba: Yeah I hope not
Alibaba: Judal will let us out right?
Hakuryuu: Of course. We just have to come down.
Alibaba: Thanks

There. That's taken care of. Hopefully things will go off without a hitch and there won't be a murdering spree on the news tomorrow, but Hakuryuu has learned that he's not a particularly lucky man.

Judal flounces down the stairs, keys in hand, and Hakuryuu follows him. They'll send Alibaba and Cassim on their way and then open the store, and somehow things will fall back into place until they've settled into their regular rhythm. He feels almost in a trance as he watches Judal unlock the door and lead the way through the winding back rooms. But there it is- the empty space of wall near the hideous chair and the singed painting of ducks. Judal gives Hakuryuu a sideways smile and makes a flourishing sort of "after you" motion.

Hakuryuu sighs and returns the door from the subspace it goes to when not in use. He thinks he sees a proud tinge to Judal's smile, but he's sure it's just in his imagination.

Judal opens the door without fear, only to find an angry Cassim in his face. "What took you guys so long?" he snaps at them and Judal rolls his eyes.

"Maybe I shoulda just left you to eventually wither away and starve in here," he says. "Talk about being ungrateful."

Cassim whirls on Hakuryuu instead. "You wanted to turn me in. How do I know there aren't cops out there?"

"How do you- oh, Alibaba. Thanks for knowing when to keep things to yourself," Hakuryuu says tersely.

Alibaba has the decency to look embarrassed. "I mean, Cassim was using my phone...I thought you knew that."

"I didn't realize he was reading all your texts."

"Haha, well, you know how it goes sometimes," Alibaba says defensively. He looks uncomfortable but stubborn, and Hakuryuu doesn't want to have another fight with him.

Judal sighs loudly. "Alright, we all hate each other for some dumb reason or another, but I don't really care. Everybody out of my shop. Except Hakuryuu, you have to work today."

"Oh, good, we are opening up today."

He ignores Hakuryuu's jab at his inconsistent hours and points at Alibaba. "Lucky for you, your car hasn't been towed yet, but if you ever leave it in front of my store for this long again I'll make sure it's impounded for life," he says before shooing everyone out of the room.

Hakuryuu leads them back to the front of the store, not trusting himself to stay calm if he tries to talk to anyone. This way he doesn't have to. Judal is somehow handling things better than him; it's probably because he doesn't have any actual stake in the anyone else's lives or feelings but his own. It's impressive.

He thinks he sees Cassim swipe something out of the corner of his eye, but Hakuryuu has had to admit that he's gotten biased against him, and that this is probably his brain trying to convince him to hate him even more. He shouldn't let irrational anger rule his thoughts.

"So uh, thanks for all the help," Alibaba says to them awkwardly.

"Don't mention it. And don't ask for it again," Judal tells him shortly. "Out you go!"

Hakuryuu waves as they go, not sure what else he should be doing. This has been one of the worst friendship interactions he's had in awhile, and he can only hope that Alibaba gets the hint and leaves him alone after this.

Judal lets out breath when the door shuts behind Alibaba and Cassim. "I don't want to meet any of your other friends," he gripes.

"I don't have many others," Hakuryuu assures him. "I really am sorry about this mess."

"Still not your fault. I just think it's kinda funny that a polite guy like you has such messed up friends," he says, leaning against the counter. "And ugh, I'm still hungry! You promised me food."

"I can still take you out to eat," he tells Judal. "Or order something, if you want to open-"

"Nope," he cuts in. "I wanna go out and not think about work."

Hakuryuu offers him a hand and Judal takes it, grinning triumphantly. "Someday I will make some set hours for this place and force you to stick to them."

"But you haven't yet," Judal shoots back, locking the door behind him. "I think I do want pancakes now, so we gotta find somewhere that does breakfast food this late."

x･x･x

Judal pulls Hakuryuu onto the loveseat with him when they get back and leans into him. It's more touchy than he usually is within the confines of the shop - usually nothing more than a brief kiss - but apparently today he wants to cuddle in full view of the windows. They are full of whatever random decorations Judal decided on, but it's still not the right place for public displays of affection.

He doesn't have the heart to complain, though. It's nice to just sit quietly together after all the stress of the past week.

"Hey, Hakuryuu," Judal says softly, nuzzling against his ear. Hakuryuu's breath catches and it takes all his self control not to pull him even closer.

Hakuryuu clears his throat. "Yes?" he asks, and he's proud of himself for managing to keep his voice even.

"You know, I've been thinking about, I dunno," he begins, before rushing to continue. "So we've got a pretty good thing going together, right? You're here almost every day and just- I can't stand to spend this much time with anyone but you."

"Oh," Hakuryuu says softly, taking his hand.

"That probably sounds pretty stupid, but whatever. You figure it out," Judal says, cheeks ever so slightly pink as he refuses to meet Hakuryuu's gaze.

It's not that hard to figure out. If Judal thinks he's being subtle, he needs to work on his delivery. "It's not stupid."

"Oh, good," Judal says, still looking at their joined hands.

"I mean- Look, I'm not sure what to make of everything between us," Hakuryuu admits slowly, trying to figure out how he's going to say what's on his mind. It's still this confusing mess of feelings that he's been trying to ignore, but-

"Why did you save me?" Judal asks, interrupting his thoughts. He's staring at Hakuryuu now, eyes wide and serious.

"It was the right thing to do," he answers without thinking. He wouldn't leave him to fall that far without trying to help, at least.

Judal shrugs. "But you coulda freed yourself."

"Maybe I didn't want to see you die."

Judal sucks in a breath in surprise and there's silence between them, as heavy as the weight of Hakuryuu's words. It should go without saying that he wouldn't want to see anyone die on his watch, but there are so many other factors wrapped up in their relationship that it all feels so complicated. He's admitting to wanting Judal alive more than he wants freedom from his contract, but now that he's said it, Hakuryuu realizes he's felt that way for awhile now.

"I'm not the best at expressing myself-"

"Better than me," Judal interrupts, and Hakuryuu frowns. "Sorry."

"Like I was trying to say, this isn't something I'm particularly good at, but I'm trying to say it anyway. I care about you and enjoy spending time here, and it's not just because I have to be here. I like to be around you," he says.

Judal nods. "I do, too."

"So we should keep doing what we're doing," Hakuryuu says firmly. "It's nice. I feel like I can trust you."

He keeps nodding and Hakuryuu thinks he may have said the wrong thing, but eventually Judal gives him a crooked, nervous smile. "Are we dating then? We're kind of dating. Maybe I'll even give you a raise."

"You don't pay me in the first place," he points out, and Judal laughs.

"Maybe I'll start," he teases, squeezing Hakuryuu's hand back.

"I haven't decided if you can actually afford to," he shoots back, and they both end up laughing. He doesn't know if this is the right way to talk about any of this, but it's the way that's working for them, and that's what matters most.

Judal wipes away a tear as he tries to stop laughing. "Look, I've got money, it's just not always written down the way it's supposed to be, okay? I could pay you uh, I dunno? Some dollars? I'll be honest, I don't actually know what minimum wage is. Last time I had a job it was like a dollar or something an hour."

"That's embarrassing. You haven't worked for that long?"

"I own a business," Judal says proudly. "I don't have to listen to anyone else now!"

Hakuryuu ruffles his hair softly. "I take it that was a problem before."

"Can you really see me holding my tongue against asshole bosses? Hell no!" he declares shamelessly. He considers his misbehavior like it's a badge of honor and Hakuryuu shouldn't find that as attractive as he does. But in a way, Judal's honesty about himself is refreshing and exhilarating, and Hakuryuu finally gives up on decency to pull him into a kiss.

Judal grabs the front of his shirt to kiss him back fiercely, more possessive and needy than usual but he's not complaining about it. It's the last bit of stress relief Hakuryuu didn't know he needed. It puts everything else from his mind - Alibaba, Aladdin, Cassim, and the mess of the genie - and replaces it all with the feeling of Judal's lips on his, his teeth nipping at him softly, and Hakuryuu relishes every bit of it.

He has no intention of stopping, but the bell above the door jingles to alert them to an incoming customer, and Hakuryuu feels like he's a silly teenager all over again as he pushes Judal off of him. It's embarrassing to get caught like this anywhere, let alone at his place of employment.

At least Judal also has the decency to look ashamed. His cheeks are bright red as he tries to compose himself for the customer, greeting them and shuffling them into the store so that they hopefully don't notice Hakuryuu on the loveseat. He's sure he looks just as ruffled as Judal.

When Hakuryuu has a chance, he slips into the office to try to straighten himself up. His shirt is rumpled from Judal clinging to it and his hair is a mess, but it could be worse. He'll just hide back here until the store is empty again to avoid feeling more shame. He doesn't think he can face Judal right now without thinking about how a customer almost caught them making out, and he's also afraid to think about how little he cared about the risk of being out in the open. He needs to get himself back in line, but Judal somehow manages to teach him to be careless for the first time in his life.

It's terrifying and wonderful all at once.

Judal pokes his head in the room. "You gonna just hide in here all day, or what?"

"I didn't want to interrupt your customer," he says lamely, and Judal gives him a knowing look. "I just- Don't look at me like that. I needed to straighten up."

"Oh, come on, it's not like we were fucking on the couch," Judal says, like that makes it so much better. "Though I bet it would actually work pretty well on that one...it's comfortable enough."

"Judal!"

He grins. "Come on, I'm just teasing you. I don't actually have some sort of voyeurism kink or anything," he assures Hakuryuu, but then pauses thoughtfully. "I mean, unless you were into it, but it doesn't seem like your cup of tea."

"I most certainly am not into it," Hakuryuu says sharply. "I barely allow kissing you here. It's a compromise because I like you so much."

Judal laughs and waltzes over to kiss him, because he's an asshole, but Hakuryuu can't bring himself to complain anymore. He doesn't pull Judal into his lap, tempting as it sounds, and instead pulls back after a brief kiss.

"You're no fun," Judal says, pouting as he drags Hakuryuu to keep him company at the counter. It's prime browsing time for people who have nothing better to do than paw over antiques they have no intention of buying, and Judal likes to make up stories about anyone who spends too much time looking things over. He doodles mini comics on the backs of receipts, each one more ridiculous than the last, and Hakuryuu has to cover his mouth a few times to hide a smile. One of them leads him to disguise a laugh with a cough, and after that he takes the pen from Judal.

"You hate my joy," he says under his breath, and Hakuryuu rolls his eyes.

"I like to be professional, and you're trying to make me laugh at these nice people who are trying to shop here," Hakuryuu corrects him quietly.

This time Judal rolls his eyes dramatically. "They're not gonna buy anything. Let me have fun at their expense, since they're wasting my time."

Hakuryuu elbows him subtly and Judal actually goes quiet as a customer comes up to ask him questions. He falls into his facade of a polite, helpful shopkeeper - with just a side of eccentricity - and walks them around, helping them compare a few lampshades until they finally leave without making a purchase.

"Told you so," Judal says triumphantly, glaring at the now closed door.

"You shouldn't give up on helping browsers just because you think they aren't going to buy something. You could be wrong."

"But I'm usually right."

Hakuryuu sighs, shaking his head. "I think I might have bad taste in men."

"It's weird, 'cause that's usually my problem. But you're a good catch," Judal tells him, grinning widely, before he presses a quick kiss to Hakuryuu's cheek.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome!"

Judal gathers up his various doodles from the day and stashes them in a random drawer. Apparently he needs to give Judal a folder to store those in, too, or they're going to end up mixed in with important bookkeeping documents.

"I think my subconscious realized we were dating before either of us did," Hakuryuu tells him, thinking back to the night before. Judal cocks his head to the side, listening intently. "I thought that you were being a terrible boyfriend when you laughed at my car sickness."

"Maybe I should be offended that you think so little of my driving skills," Judal whines. "I didn't crash into anything! That's an improvement for me."

"Please don't tell me that."

"Why not? I thought you might be proud."

Hakuryuu feels a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. This isn't cute. This shouldn't bring him so much joy, and yet his mood feels lighter just from being around Judal. "I'm relieved you didn't cause an accident in my car. Do you even have insurance?"

He shrugs. "Unless I've been accidentally paying for it for the past few decades, probably not. But enough about my failures as a driver. I think it's cute that you decided I was your boyfriend without telling me."

"Wait, that sounds bad-"

"I just said I thought it was cute," Judal interrupts, patting his hand sympathetically.

"I thought you might be using sarcasm to express that I did something that made you uncomfortable," Hakuryuu explains.

"Nah, I like the whole creepy possessive thing. I think it's romantic," he says, and Hakuryuu breathes out the last bit of stress he was holding in.

"You probably shouldn't."

Judal kisses him again, properly this time, and pulls back with a far too wide grin. "You're the one who fell for the guy who basically owns your soul, so you don't have room to talk, Hakuryuu."