Trapping game was just as successful as facing them head on. If you weren't of the brawny type, that doesn't mean that a brainy type couldn't get the same reward as their counterpart. In this instance, Coco took the latter, despite knowing full well he could hold his own against brute force.
However, he wasn't about to beat you into submission to meet with him, so he took the patient route. After all, he wasn't completely certain that you would want to speak with him after your last meeting together, and he thought long and hard about how he should do it. Little did he know that your workplace just so happened to be submitting a capture request at this time.
How it works is an establishment will fill out a request for ingredients, and gourmet hunters can access these via personal contact through wholesalers or on their own merit via an online system. Coco, being the recluse that he is, had a small outlet in Gourmet Fortune that he frequented to enquire about the jobs on offer and they would do the technical work. They didn't ask why he preferred this method, and he gave people employment doing this. A win for both parties.
He dropped in on a particularly warm day and asked to see the listings: being cooped up inside for so long made him need a breath of fresh air, but a simple walk around his neighbourhood wouldn't cut it; he needed to hunt.
After all, it was either the game or you.
After pleasant greetings, a woman with short hair flipped the monitor around for him to cast his eyes over.
"Nothing of high stakes going at the moment, sir." She said with her high pitched voice. "But there are a few smaller ones you could complete in a day or so."
Coco's eyes drifted over the screen, looking at the list of businesses who all requested services. That is, one of them stood out to him and he decided on it immediately.
Afternoon Delight. It was your work.
"This one, please." He said with a smile as he pointed to it on the monitor.
"Are you sure? It's not a high paying one." The clerk asked with surprise.
"It'll be fine. Could you please organise this one for me?"
"Of course, sir." She said; confusion written all over her face as she started keying in the data to register the job.
"Thank you very much." He said, and stood aside to wait for the job details. His attendant came back, her heels clicking on the slate floor as she passed over the paperwork to him. He thanked her graciously and retreated out of the door, studying the ingredient list. It wasn't much, but he would be making a trip back to the Archipelago for more sweet ingredients to bring to you.
With a high pitched whistle, Kiss swooped down from the heavens and picked his companion up without breaking his stride and off they flew towards the horizon.
You had your head in the depths of a cupboard in the store room when Ojiro seemed to materialise at your side and startled you.
"Oh there you are!" He chirped brightly and you jumped in fright; hitting your head on the top of the wood and letting out an expletive.
"I'm sorry for my potty mouth, Ojiro." You grunted, rubbing your head with a hand and squinting from the pain. "Did you need me?"
"Always! But this time for good reason!"
"Good reason?"
"Well, every time is technically a good reason, but this is different."
With a flourish, he pulled out a small, long envelope that was stuffed to almost bursting point and presented it to you. You took it gingerly with a hand and scrutinised it.
"What's this?" You asked.
"Open it!"
Sliding a fingernail under the flap, you picked at the tape barely holding it together and opened it; eyes widening at the stack of money that lay within.
"...what's this for?" You asked, trying to work out why exactly you had been handed a fat envelope of money.
"It's your bonus!" Ojiro exclaimed proudly. "I don't know how you did it, but having the Heavenly Kings dine here, particularly that Zebra fellow so often, has put us in the green. The super green, if that was a category!"
"But… I didn't actually do anything for that." You blinked, trying to process his actions. "Honestly, I've had very little to do with them."
"Then why do they seem to know you so well?"
"Beats me. But… I can't take all this money. I'd rather you invest it in expanding or something."
"Trust me my dear, I have already crunched the numbers on that. This is only a smidge of what was left over! I want to give it to you."
"But I-"
"-Goodness me, I've never had an employee turn down extra money before!"
Ojiro patted your head and shook his own.
"You're one of a kind, (Y/n). But please, take the money. Buy yourself something nice with it! Go on a date, do something with it so I can thank you."
You sighed and gave Ojiro a smile.
"Okay. Thank you, sir."
"It's fine. You work so hard here, and we wouldn't still be running if I didn't have you."
"You're just saying that-"
"- No, there's an element of truth to that! I had been considering cutting my losses and closing up the store and moving on before you dropped in one day. I don't know what you were doing prior, but it feels like you were born to be working with food."
Ojiro's words struck a chord with you and made you pause, mouth agape slightly.
"What's the matter? Did I say something wrong?" Ojiro probed, concerned by your reaction.
"Huh? Oh, n-not at all!" You almost squeaked. "Just...what you said has me thinking about something is all."
"Did you need an ear?"
"No, no it's okay!"
You hugged the pay packet to your chest and gave your boss a stronger smile.
"Thanks for everything. I won't let you down!" You exclaimed proudly.
"Never even thought about it! Now, did you send off the capture request?"
"Of course. I finished it long before we opened this morning."
Ojiro shook his head with a grin.
"And here I was thinking I had to remind you. Why do I even panic?"
You grinned at him and swatted his arm playfully.
"You're managing, not panicking." You laughed, and put your belongings on a nearby cabinet. "Let me just finish tidying this up for the restock and then I'll be out on the floor again. Yell out if you need me."
Ojiro wandered back out into the service area with a hum to his step while you resumed deep cleaning the back and organising it more. It wasn't necessarily a hovel, but you did think the flow of it all could work better. Barely a handful of minutes passed when Ojiro's voice called out to you.
"O-oh, miss (L/n)!" He called, a hint of a squeak to his voice. "Would you mind coming out for a second?"
You wrinkled your brow a little before responding with a confident "Yes boss!". You took a moment to pat down your uniform and straighten yourself before putting on your best retail face to join him at the front.
Your heart basically froze when you saw who was standing at the counter.
Ojiro had stars in his eyes over the fact that the fourth and final Heavenly King had made his presence to his quaint little corner cafe.
Coco, upon seeing you once again, had a pleasant smile on his face, but his heart ached. He didn't realise how much he had missed seeing your face, and his eyes were rapidly trying to preserve every little detail about you that they could scan over.
You, however, could never forget what he looked like.
"Hello sir." You greeted, feigning as much warmth in your voice you could muster. "How can I help you today?"
Coco's eyes widened an infinitesimal degree at your somewhat cold greeting towards him, but he played it off coolly.
"I have the ingredients for a capture request that was placed this morning." Coco said kindly, gesturing to the expanse of containers and hessian bags around him around your eyes popped open.
"T-There might be a mistake…?" You said, looking at the sheer amount of volume surrounding him. "W-We didn't order nearly this much."
"This is Afternoon Delight, is it not?" Coco said smoothly, producing a small slip of paper with the order list on it. "Do you want to check the order number?"
You swallowed your resolve and shook your head at him.
"No, I don't think that's necessary." You said, knowing acutely well that Coco would have brought everything on the list. "We didn't budget for such an extensive amount though…"
"Consider it a bonus. It was... fun."
Your eyebrow twitched on his last word, and you looked at Ojiro for support. He had decided to busy himself cleaning the counter as a means of not paying that much attention to the exchange.
"I'll get your payment, good hunter." You said, moving towards the till and pulling out a separated amount of notes that you had prepared this morning. You weren't expecting the order to be fulfilled so soon, however and had intended on securing it in the safe in the office at closing. At least that was one less job to do. You stacked the payment into a blank envelope before handing it to Coco.
"Here you are sir." You said with feigned brightness. "Feel free to leave the stock there, and I'll put it out the back myself."
"Please, it would be my pleasure to assist you." Coco mused, waving down Ojiro's attention. "If, of course, that is alright with you?"
"My my, no wonder you're considered a gentleman!" Ojiro gushed. It took every ounce of self control not to roll your eyes. "That's certainly fine with me. (Y/n), won't you show Heavenly King Coco where to put it all?"
"Of course." You smiled at your boss, all the while dying slowly inside. "This way, sir."
"Coco is fine." The Heavenly King said sweetly. It was irritating at how pleasant he was while you were trying to be upset with him.
"Sorry sir, I tend to reserve first names for regulars." You quipped, taking an arm load of stock and leaving without waiting. "Perhaps another time."
Coco let off a quiet noise of amusement, carrying most of the remaining ingredients in one trip as he followed you to the stockroom. You permitted him entrance and he began to unload stock in various locations; made easier by reading the flow of your arrangements. You had to admit, you were marginally impressed by the way he began arranging it without instruction.
And you waited for him to say something...anything.
Did he even miss you like you did him?
Nothing.
Maybe... you should say something?
You went to open your mouth before Coco turned on his heel and left; going to gather the rest of his handiwork while you fiddled about with miniscule tidying. There wasn't really much to rearrange; Coco had done much too neat of a job of stacking and sorting for you to fault him.
You let out a large sigh of resignation. Maybe you should just get over yourself. After all, you had kept telling yourself that you weren't going to have a relationship with him that wasn't anything more than friends.
Heck, you figured you were back down to business transaction status.
"Are you alright?"
You hadn't noticed Coco re-enter the room and the way his voice carried such care in it had you all tangled up inside once more.
"Hmm? Oh, yes I'm fine." You said, giving him a proper little smile this time. "Just a lot to do today."
Coco had to restrain himself from reaching out to touch you in any way; just a hand on the shoulder… something.
"Okay…" He said quietly, hesitating slightly which he covered with a small clear of his throat. "Is there… is there anything else I can assist you with?"
You shook your head; awkward tension brewing between the both of you that never used to be.
"No… I think that will be all for now." You said quietly, looking him in the eye finally. "Thank you… for your help."
The corner of Coco's mouth tugged up into a small smile.
"Well, I should be off then." He finished, gesturing for you to leave before him out of courtesy. You took his lead and he closed the door behind you both; not before his eyes noticed the previous pay envelope on a cabinet close to the door.
A spike of anxiety flashed through his system from it; wondering if you had been 'working' again.
While you turned around to lock the room behind you, Ojiro's voice called out to the King.
"Mister Coco sir, can I interest you in a dessert? On the house of course!"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude." Coco said kindly, moving out into the dining area again.
"It's no trouble at all!" Ojiro practically twinkled. "And our beautiful little server is the one who makes such delicacies! They're always baked with love and care~."
"Perhaps I could indulge in one then." Coco said, not wanting to overstay his welcome, even if he was there to work, technically.
You mentally slapped your forehead. It wasn't like him to not be able to read the room.
Well, your room at least.
"Oh how wonderful! (Y/n), would you mind serving our guest?"
"Of course." You said, directing Coco to a place the furthest away from the counter where you would be working. At least you could cover your actions with the notion that this was a table with a nice view outside and the sun warming it nicely. "Would you like to choose from our menu?"
"I'll leave it up to you to decide." Coco said as he folded himself neatly into the chair. "I'm sure you have impeccable taste.
"Well...not with everything." You said quietly before turning on your heel quickly. "I'll be right back."
"Pardon me-" Coco called quickly, not able to help his hand from stretching out towards you. "Might I… might I have a cup of tea as well?"
You have a short puff of air through your nose and nodded; a fraction of a smile on your lips.
"Sure… You like green...right?"
"Y-Yes. I do."
"I'll be right back."
Your skirt floated around your thighs as you finally turned to retreat, unaware of Coco's lingering gaze at your retreating back.
Ojirio was watching this exchange hungrily and he couldn't stop the smirk on his face.
"So… you two know each other?" He probed, twinkle in his eye.
"Huh? No, of course not." You said waving a hand dismissively at his comment. "Why on earth would you think that?"
"Just the way you talk to him. It's not your usual effervescent way. Kind of sounds like you've met before."
"Contrary to your belief Ojiro, I haven't joined this convoluted friendship circle of the Heavenly Kings." You scoffed, hoping your tone would cover your lie.
"Then how did you know what tea he liked?"
You blanched at your small slip up.
"He's covered in green! I guessed!" You hissed with a squeak.
"Lucky guess then. Well, I'll leave you to it."
"Much appreciated."
You selected a large shortbread cream from the cabinet while the tea finished steeping in the teapot. You flicked your eyes up to look at your customer, heart making a weird kick at seeing Coco in the afternoon sun; lost in thoughts you could never know.
You didn't hate him. You just hurt.
You brought his order over on a tray and placed it down softly on the table, taking a moment then set his tea cup and side plate down in front of him in the preferred setting. Coco slid a napkin in your direction; black ink written neatly across the top of it.
[Can we talk?]
"Here, let me clean that mess up." You said, pretending to clear a nonexistent spill up; all the while writing back a response with the pen from your pocket.
[Haven't we, already?]
Coco let out a ghost of a laugh before he wrote back.
[Properly. I want to talk about us.]
You frowned and pursed your lips slightly at his response. About us? What did that mean? Hadn't he already established that long ago?
"...Our opening hours are between seven thirty AM until six PM." You finished, taking away the napkin and pocketing it in your apron. "Please enjoy your meal with us today."
You trotted back behind the counter to continue the rest of your shift, hoping that Coco understood your rather cryptic message.
Message received.
Even with the changing seasons moving into summer, spring still retained many cool evenings and you shivered slightly walking home from work. You were beginning to think you might need to start wearing tights underneath your uniform just to stop from catching too much cold.
Ever since your mistaken bravery on your way home once before, you had become overly cautious about your surroundings; crossing streets before having to pass groups of people or, sometimes, individual men as you went home. Anything to keep yourself at a further distance from trouble happening again. You used to feel so calm and in control of everything; what happened to that confidence?
You questioned if it had been marred by the fact that Coco had seemingly popped out of nowhere to protect you when things went sour. It gave you a false sense of security that you had started to depend on. Now that he was metaphorically out of the picture, you suddenly didn't feel as safe you once did.
You rounded the last corner before your apartment building, wondering if maybe he hadn't understood what you meant earlier. You thought he might have met you just a small ways away from your work to walk you home or something.
Maybe he changed his mind and decided he didn't want to talk anymore.
Maybe he still didn't want you.
You shook your head roughly to snap yourself out of your thoughts. Giving yourself any sort of false hope that he may have changed his mind would just lead to more heartache and you weren't prepared to deal with that right now. With a heavy sigh, you had ascended the staircase to your home and entered autonomously into it; muscle memory guiding you through your standard after-work routine of changing and settling in to try and relax.
Well, relax certainly wasn't the word that you could use right now.
Tired of twiddling your thumbs waiting, you made yourself a cup of tea; the dark brew giving a nice sense of calm as you sipped at it lightly as you stared out the window. A soft rapping on your door interrupted your thoughts and you padded over to look; heart beating harder with every step closer.
You hesitated before turning the knob.
"...Who is it?" You called, trying not to let the lump in your voice show.
"...It's me."
You swallowed and steeled your nerve before opening the door.
Coco stood, a hesitant air about him this time; something highly unnatural than his normal composure.
"...Hey." You said softly.
"Hi (Y/n)." He said quietly back. "Can… can I come in?"
"Oh. Yeah." You said, stepping aside to let him in. You only just noticed now that he was holding a rather delicate little vase in both of his hands; filled with magenta sakurasou flowers and your eyebrow twitched. You locked the door behind you and noticed Coco standing in the middle of the room, looking somewhat lost.
"You can sit anywhere." You chuckled softly. "I promise, I'm not going to bite."
"Thank you." Coco said sheepishly. "Honestly, I'm not even sure what's come over me."
"Wouldn't be anything to do with the fact that you broke my heart last time you were here?" You tried to joke, but it came out sounding a little more harsh than you intended. "I-I mean… I'm sorry. That was rude."
Coco's mouth twisted into a frown and he averted his gaze; very unlike him.
"It's mean because it's true, I suppose." He said quietly, and then only just realising that he was still holding the vase.
"O-oh, ah...these are for you."
He presented them out to you and you took them from him.
"Sakurasou?" You questioned, eyeing the flowers off. They looked beautiful, however. "So… you desire something?"
"Some... one." Coco admitted quietly, pink tinting his cheeks as he took a seat at the kitchen table.
"Oh… lucky them." You said with a small snort at the end.
"You don't-"
"Coco, I know you're here to talk about 'us', but didnt you tell me time and time again that we couldn't ever be anything?"
"There might be a way."
You froze at the counter, finally looking up from your blooms and making eye contact. Something in the way he held his gaze with yours made the bitterness in your heart soften a great deal.
They were longing.
"...might?" You clarified quietly.
"...Yes."
The two of you stared at one another for a moment before you shook your head our of your reverie.
"...I made some tea. Want a cup?" You asked with a light croak to your voice.
"Yeah… I do." Coco said just as croakily.
"I-It's black… is that okay?"
"That's perfectly fine."
Two steaming cups later, you had settled opposite his placing at the table.
"So… how?" You asked finally, clearing your throat slightly beforehand.
Silently, Coco pulled a thick book from behind his cape. You blinked in surprise. You hadn't even noticed it tucked under his arm when he entered; too busy being occupied by seeing the flowers he was holding in his hands.
"I remember that book." You joked softly, trying to stop the thundering in your heart from escaping into your voice. How could you not, you bought it for him.
"It...could be our solution." Coco said quietly. He had a hand perched on the top of it by his fingertips. "Did you… ever read it?"
You shook your head.
"No, I never quite found the time to. Is there something important?"
Coco took a deep breath before pressing on.
"Are you familiar with 'Gourmet Cells?'"
Again, you shook your head; a rather blank expression on your face.
"No… that's not anything I'm familiar with."
"For brevity's sake, gourmet cells are present in the embodiment of all life. The majority of people would have an amount so low that it would barely be recognisable."
"...Okay…" You said, trying to follow along.
"In an easy perspective, the Heavenly Kings all possess a large quantity of Gourmet Cells." Coco continued, ever-aware of how much info he might burden you with. "It helped us enhance our individual abilities and overall strength."
"So, that explains your… physique then?"
"Somewhat." Coco chuckled, easing slightly. "It definitely helped alongside hard work and intense training."
"So...does that have anything to do with me?"
"It might. Those...spots on your tongue. The ones I thought were a potential illness?"
"I know the ones."
"...I want you to look at this."
Coco slid a long finger into the book at his crow-feather bookmark, turning the pages gently to his designated page before rotating it to your direction. On the inside was a thinly inked diagram of a quite detailed tongue with an identical marking to yours.
"What… is this?" You questioned, burrowing your brow as you scanned the words inside.
"An answer, I think." Coco said, leaning on his elbows and gauging your responses. "When we… when we weren't really talking anymore, I had this inkling that I had seen them before. I spent a long time looking for this."
"I don't… I don't quite understand what it's saying." You said sheepishly, blushing out of embarrassment. A fleeting thought wormed its way into your mind; of what Coco must think of your intellect right now.
"It's written in a very old manner, so it's okay if you don't." Coco said gently. He pointed to different parts of the information with his finger and continued to explain.
"The easiest way I can explain it is that, those who bear these markings have the ability to withstand various toxins and poisons. Eventually, these spots would have covered the tongue completely."
You made a squeamish face at that remark.
"But the doctors are right, it wasn't anything to be concerned about, illness wise. In fact, it was actually a sign of how strong the immunity was in the system."
"So… you think I might be immune… to poison?" You blinked, trying to wrap your head around this information.
"I think there's a very high chance you could be… and I think you might be immune to mine the most."
"How do you figure?" You raised an eyebrow at him. As much as you wanted to believe it, you didn't want to base it off of just baseless conjecture.
"Well, poisons and antidotes work off of the colour wheel." Coco said, swallowing down any sort of brewing excitement. "My poison is purple...and the opposing colour of my shade of purple is-
"-Green." You interjected, eyes widening in realisation. You rested your elbows on the table and covered your mouth with both hands; letting this information wash over you. Your eyes clicked onto Coco's.
"You… you truly think that this could work?" You asked from behind your hands.
Coco nodded and swallowed once more; mouth suddenly feeling very dry.
"...I do. But, I want this to be your decision." He said quietly. "I know I hurt you, and there's a lot of risk in this-"
"-How much risk?"
Coco hesitated before responding.
"...I don't know. I've never met anyone else with this so I don't know how it'll work. And I don't know how strong your nullification is, so we'd have to tread carefully to begin with."
Coco took a deep breath and exhaled slowly with closed eyes.
"...All I know is," He pressed on. "My poison is strong, highly toxic...and if you're not comfortable with this, I'm not going to force you."
You groaned as you rubbed your face with your hands, taking all of this in.
There were so many contributing factors that made this a difficult decision. On the one hand, you could risk it all and be happy with the one person you genuinely felt a connection with.
On the other hand; death.
Were you willing to take that risk?
"...I need to think about this." You said quietly, dropping your hands to rest them on your elbows. "This is a lot to take in, Coco…and I'll be honest…I'm a little scared."
"Of course. I don't want you to feel pressured by me at all." Coco said, placing the bookmark back and closing the tome.
"I'm not pressured, it's just…Coco, I can't go through all of this and have you flip flopping on your decisions either.
You sighed and leaned back in your chair, hands fidgeting in your lap as you averted his gaze.
"I don't want to feel like this again in the future…" You said quietly. "If I'm going to commit to trying to be with you, then I need you to promise me that you can't chicken out either. I get it, being the way you are hasn't exactly made it easy to get close to anyone...but you need to work on these fears too. I'm not saying jump straight in to bed together immediately, but you need to let yourself get close to me too; physically and emotionally."
Coco had also began to avoid his gaze, letting your words sink in. It's true, he couldn't expect you to risk it all if this was going to work. He needed to work on himself at the same time.
"...I know that." He answered quietly. "And…I will. But only if you want this."
Silence fell between you both again; almost a dejavu moment like it had been weeks ago.
"I'll think about this…" You said, scraping back your chair and getting up to walk to the pantry. Coco followed your movements, fully prepared to leave if you wanted him to go. Rather, you pulled out a colourful menu from inside and began dialling a number on your phone.
"What do you like on your pizza?" You asked Coco, much to his surprise. His eyebrows flew up rather high.
"Oh, anything really." He responded, while you tapped your foot waiting to be connected through. "You...don't want me to go?"
"No. I'd…like you to stay." You smiled back at him.
"...it's been a while."
Try as you might, sleep avoided you at every moment this night. It could have been due to the fact that just mere feet away from you was the object of your desires, resting on your couch yet again. He insisted on sleeping out there when you asked him to stay longer, despite your protests about bed size and comfort.
Even though your plush bedding was keeping the cool night at bay, you couldn't stop the uncomfortable build up of ice from settling in your stomach. After all, it's not every day that someone drops a barrel of information on you about some hidden miracle that dwells within your system. it was hard to believe, even if you chose to believe it. But why would anyone lie about something so specific? Why would Coco lie about it?
Coco.
What were you going to do?
The thought of exposing yourself to poison terrified you; the mere idea that too much could result in your young and untimely death was a thought that would scare anyone. How would someone approach that? However, the thought of being able to share something that, quite literally, no one else could with Heavenly King Coco was a creature comfort in itself. It ruled out the temptation of someone else in the future.
"I would not mind not being alone anymore."
He said it so calmly, like he had thought these things a dozen times over in his life. For God's sake, he was twenty-seven! That's too young to be concerned about loneliness and company for the future.
And yet, he was so resigned to that notion.
You huffed and rolled over to your side, clamping your eyes shut in a vain attempt to trick yourself into sleeping. You knew it wouldn't work, but you still tried. You gave up after about ten minutes, rolling once more onto your back with your hands behind your head, lost in a tirade of thoughts.
You blinked and pulled yourself out of bed, padding over to your bedroom double doors. The one you opened creaked softly into the space and you cursed yourself for not thinking ahead.
Oh well, you were already this far.
You padded out into the living room; soft sleep sweater hugging your skin gently with a light warmth as you tiptoed over to the couch. You peeked over Coco's large form as he slept; his barrel chest rising and falling softly with silent breaths. It took you a moment to realise that he had shed both his turban and his long sleeved shirt; sleeping half-naked on the seat. The blanket you had loaned him rumpled around his limbs from the waist down.
You let out a soft puff of air from your nose and smiled in his direction. Maybe being scared was a good thing. After all, you figured he's been terrified of hurting people his whole life, maybe it was time to share that burden with him.
"Are you alright?"
You jumped on the spot, cheeks flushing slightly in the darkness. Unbeknownst to you, Coco could see them clear as day.
"Yeah…just thinking." You said quietly. "...aren't you cold?"
"No, I tend to run a little warm sometimes, actually." He said with a small chuckle. "But I'm comfortable, nonetheless."
"Hm."
You crossed the small distance remaining between you and sat on a small space available on the lip of the couch; your body a hair's breadth away from touching Coco's side.
"Is something troubling you?" He asked quietly, brow burrowing slightly. Your eyes had adjusted enough to see a small amount in the darkness.
"A lot." You laughed lightly. "Just so much to think about I guess. Can't sleep from all the thoughts in my head."
"...I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. I just… I guess I never considered myself as being anything inherently… special."
"...I think you are."
You turned to look at his face with a soft smile on your lips.
"You wouldn't be here if you didn't, I suppose." You joked, catching him off guard. You heard him laugh softly in return.
"You got me there." He said eventually.
You felt a warm feeling spread on your knee; flicking your eyes down to see his hand on it.
"...You're right, you can run warm sometimes." You said through flaming cheeks.
"You look a little warm yourself." Coco said and you whipped your eyes back up to his.
"How do you-"
"-good eyes." He quipped back.
This.
This felt…right.
You grinned sheepishly, now fully aware that he could see you perfectly.
"Coco…" You whispered, shifting your body to face him better. "If I did something…would you hate me for it?"
"...No."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
You exhaled again and dropped your face to just above his.
"...Do you trust me?" You breathed.
"…
…
Unequivocally."
How very like him.
You closed your eyes and tipped your forehead against his, letting it rest there for a moment. His warmth matched the heat on your cheeks and made you feel warmer all over. You lingered there briefly before moving down his face slightly, turning to press a light kiss on his cheek. You heard a small, sharp intake of air through his nose as you did so. In doing so, you took your hand and cupped his opposite cheek; running your thumb over it softly.
Strangely enough, your heart was calm and steady. You had expected it to be trying to jump out of your chest but it didn't; instead beating strongly to a confident rhythm.
That's when you knew it was time.
Your hair gracefully framed your face all the while this had proceeded, but you felt Coco's hand shift from your knee and slide so gently up the nape of your neck and underneath its silky curtain. You paused to drink in the moment and found his eyes almost aglow in the dim light. You smiled softly at him before pressing your lips against his own.