Prompt: Favorite Series (2020, Part 7 of 7)
Onodera Ritsu was an easily flustered man. So, it was moments like this when his lover was asleep that he took the opportunity to admire him. Normally, Ritsu wouldn't be able to so blatantly stare without his boyfriend making some sort of comment. So, the brunette had to take what he could get. The aforementioned boyfriend, Takano Masamune, was very handsome after all. Not that Ritsu could ever let him know that. He already had such a big head.
Yes, Takano and not Saga, but Ritsu and his high school sweetheart hadn't suffered a breakup. In fact, his high school sweetheart was the one in bed with him right now. Unfortunately, Masamune's parents had gone through a divorce and Masamune found out the man who raised him was not his real father. Thus, the name change. It had been a difficult time, to say the least. It was not something either of them enjoyed reminiscing about.
Ritsu had been very worried when Masamune told him everything that happened with his parents. He was concerned not only for Masamune's well being, but also for their relationship. Masamune had the tendency to push everyone away when he was hurting.
Ritsu had been afraid of being annoying or making things worse, but he stayed by Masamune's side through the whole thing whether he wanted him to or not. There had been definite moments of tensions, moments where Ritsu thought Masamune might be slipping away from him, but in the end they got through it together.
The habit of carrying all your burdens by yourself was one that both Ritsu and Masamune had to overcome, neither of them used to relying on someone else during rough times, but a lot had changed over these past 8 years. That included Ritsu moving into Masamune's apartment after he graduated from his University. Masamune had offered Ritsu to move in with him much sooner than that and as much as Ritsu would have liked that, Ritsu knew he'd never get any schoolwork done with Masamune around.
Ritsu sighed contently as he watched Masamune sleep, reaching out to gently brush some of his hair out of his eyes. He smiled affectionately, his hand moving down to cup his cheek with a feather-light touch.
Masamune turned his head and kissed the palm of his hand, making Ritsu jump. "Good morning." He greeted gruffly, his voice rough from just waking up.
"G-g-good m-morning." Ritsu went to pull his hand away, but Masamune held on to it and continued to press kisses against it.
"Please, feel free to keep staring." He said between kisses.
"I was NOT staring." Ritsu quickly denied.
"Mm, you're getting better at lying. Should I be worried?" Masamune asked.
"Shut up." Ritsu said.
Masamune smiled tiredly. They both had today off, so he was looking forward to spending the day with the brunette. Both men worked as editors, Ritsu working for his father's company in the literature department and Masamune working for a magazine called Weekly Earth, but both of them were starting to consider leaving their positions due to trouble with coworkers.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Masamune asked.
"I thought it was my turn to make breakfast."
"I don't mind."
"Just say you hate my cooking." Ritsu said, making Masamune laugh.
"Yeah, I hate your cooking."
"Jerk."
"You know I'm joking." Masamune gave another sleepy grin. "But if you wanna cook that bad, be my guest." He said.
Ritsu sat up and stretched a little. "I'm gonna shower first."
"Is that an invitation?"
"No." Ritsu rolled his eyes, used to the casual perversion.
"What if I crash the party anyways?"
"Go back to sleep if you're gonna be annoying." Ritsu stood, his words holding no real bite.
Masamune laid there contently, watching Ritsu walk off to the bathroom before he rolled over to grab his phone. He scrolled mindlessly for a couple minutes before Ritsu's ringtone went off. He set his own phone aside to check the caller ID, wondering if it was An or another friend of Ritsu's that he knew.
Mom
Masamune frowned and rolled back over to face away from it. 8 years later and Masamune still hadn't met Ritsu's parents. Ritsu had met his mom in high school, albeit it was an accident. Masamune thought the two of them would be alone all night and his mom ended up coming home while Masamune was being very affectionate with Ritsu on the couch.
It had gone okay after Ritsu stopped losing his mind and Masamune had gotten over the embarrassment. Masamune didn't have a lot shame, but no one wanted their mom to walk in on them making out with their partner.
Kotoko had been certainly shocked at first and while she didn't love the idea of Masamune having a boyfriend, she was not going to try to get in the way.
Ritsu probably only saw her once more after that, but it made sense since Kotoko was not heavily involved in Masamune's life, if at all.
Ritsu's mother on the other hand...
Ritsu visited his parents' house about once a month, though somehow he managed to keep them from coming over here, and he got frequent calls from his mother, usually about marriage. That silly engagement between An and Ritsu had ended a while ago, but that didn't stop Youko from trying. She was starting to try to set up match making sessions as well.
Masamune sighed, some of his good mood stolen from him as he stood and put a shirt on. He then slid into the bathroom to brush his teeth, Ritsu already in the shower with the curtain closed.
"I come in peace." Masamune said before he grabbed his toothbrush.
"I didn't say anything!"
"Yeah, but you forget that you think way too loudly. You were definitely yelling something in your mind about me being a pervert." Masamune said, his tone giving away his amusement.
Ritsu just grumbled something intelligible as Masamune brushed his teeth. The older man actually kept true to his word and didn't jump Ritsu in the shower, even if he wanted to. Instead he left to go into the kitchen.
Masamune decided he was too impatient to wait for Ritsu to finish his shower, so he put on a pot of coffee before starting breakfast.
"You do hate my cooking." Ritsu said, coming into the kitchen just as Masamune plated the food.
"I didn't feel like waiting." Masamune shrugged. "You want coffee?"
"I shouldn't." Ritsu sighed. He was getting addicted to the stuff.
"So, that's a yes?" Masamune asked, already pouring the hot drink into two mugs, adding creamer and sugar to Ritsu's and leaving his own black. They sat down together, Ritsu thanking Masamune for the meal.
The two ate in silence, which wasn't unusual, but Ritsu could tell there was something on Masamune's mind. He seemed a little more spacey and there were no attempts to hold his hand or make any flirty comments, which just wasn't like Masamune at all.
"What's wrong?" Ritsu asked.
"Hm? Nothing, nothing's wrong, I was just thinking..." He trailed off, taking a deep breath and bracing himself for the response he might get. "You...want to marry me, right?"
"M-M-Marry you?!" Ritsu was glad he hadn't been drinking or eating at that moment because he surely would've choked on it.
"Yeah, not right now, I want to propose in a more romantic way than that, but like...you do want to marry me, right?"
Ritsu blushed a deep red. Masamune had to fight back a smile at the sight. It was nice to know that after so many years Masamune could still make him blush like that.
"Y-Yes, o-of course I want to marry you, b-but why are you suddenly asking about this?" He asked.
"...Your mom called while you were in the shower." Masamune said honestly.
"Eh?! Did you pick up?" Ritsu asked. Did Masamune talk to his mom? Not only that, but did Masamune talk to his mom about MARRIAGE?!
"No, I didn't, but I know she's always trying to set you up and it just made me start thinking about us." Masamune said. "I want to marry you, Ritsu. I want that more than anything in the world and honestly I want to do it soon. The only thing that could make me happier than waking up next to you is waking up next to you as your husband." Masamune paused briefly before he spoke again. "But, unless we're going to have some sort of secret ceremony...I need to meet your parents."
'A secret ceremony wouldn't be too bad, would it?' Ritsu thought. It sounded like a great idea! He was in no way, shape or form prepared for Masamune to meet his parents! Oh God, Ritsu felt like he was forgetting how to breathe.
"Hey." Masamune recognized that panicked expression, reaching out to hold his hand tightly. "It doesn't have to be today, tomorrow, or this week. It doesn't even have to be this month. And you have to remember that you're not alone in this. We're gonna get through this together."
Ritsu took a deep breath and nodded. As terrified as he was, he knew Masamune was right. His parents were constantly asking to visit his new apartment, his mother was still trying to set him up with women, and Ritsu wanted to take the next step in his relationship with Masamune. None of that would be resolved until Masamune met them.
"Okay...so, what's the plan? For when you meet them."
"I'll dazzle them with my charm, of course. Your dad will be begging to give me his blessing to marry you."
Ritsu laughed, making Masamune smile. "And if you somehow don't dazzle them and this blows up in our faces?"
"Impossible."
"I'm serious, Masamune...they could disown me." Ritsu's smile was gone now.
"I know. And if that happens, there isn't really anything we can do about it. But, in the end it's their loss and I think they'd eventually realize that." Masamune said.
"And if they don't?"
"I'm not gonna lie or try to sugarcoat it, it'll fucking suck. It'll hurt. You'll feel betrayed and abandoned and angry, but you won't feel like that forever. Trust me when I say you eventually stop caring about your shitty parents."
Ritsu took another breath and squeezed Masamune hand. "I'm visiting them for dinner next week. Come with me."
"You're sure you'll be ready by then?"
"I'll be scared, but...I want to marry you, Masamune. I've wanted to since I was a kid and I don't want to wait much longer."
Masamune couldn't help but to smile. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Once they were finished breakfast, Masamune insisted on cleaning even though he had cooked.
'If he does this too often I'll get spoiled.' Ritsu thought as he went back into his room to grab his phone. He went to 'missed calls' and dialed his mother back.
"Good morning, mom." He greeted when she picked up. He spoke quickly before she could go off on some tangent about some 'lovely young lady' she'd recently met. "About dinner next week...there's someone I'd like you to meet."
