6

Eiji had told Ash that he felt ridiculous wearing his clothes. Ash had simply replied with "what other choice do you have?"
Which was fair enough – Eiji had lost all of his luggage when he had been kidnapped. Ibe had tried to track their stuff down, but it was taking forever. No one seemed to understand why two people had ditched all of their stuff in L.A and then flown to New York.

It was fair, but Eiji still felt ridiculous. Skinny jeans and baseball jackets just weren't his style.

And yet Ash had smirked and winked at him as he headed out the door. "You look great, sweetie."

"Shut up," Eiji had pouted at him, but just before he had closed the door his face had cracked into a smile. He was sure that his face was glowing as he headed downstairs, pockets in Ash's borrowed jacket.

They needed food, and he was determined to make Ash Lynx eat a healthy, balanced diet. It seemed to be one of the only things he could do. That, and take photos.

He wondered around the aisles, a little listlessly. He read some English, but he had no idea about what brands would be best. He was only now realising that he barely knew what food Ash liked to eat.

"Are you alright there, hun?"

Eiji had stopped jumping at everything so much, but he did turn and blink in utter confusion at the round, middle aged woman smiling at him.

"Oh, mmm," Eiji nodded. "Yeah."

"You just look a little lost," she continued, plucking down items from the shelf without even looking. "What are you looking for?"

"E-everything, I guess." Eiji still felt like a deer stuck in the headlights.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, just haven't seen you around here before, that's all," the woman said.

"Oh, we just moved in upstairs," Eiji said, forcing a polite smile onto his face.

"Of course, of course, I thought I'd seen people moving in," the woman started walking down the aisle, putting things in Eiji's trolley too. He didn't mind, she seemed like the kind of woman who knew what she was doing. Eiji was missing having a capable adult around and she seemed to have adopted him now. "Didn't think I saw you with those lads though."

She must have meant Bones and Kong. It was weird that they knew about this move before Eiji did. It was weirder that they had managed to keep quiet about it. It must have been Ash's orders.

"It was a surprise," Eiji said. "I wasn't meant to know about it."

"Ooh, fancy your boyfriend surprising you with a penthouse apartment! You are lucky!" She was piling bags of pasta into Eiji's trolley now.

"What?"

"Don't tell me that charming blonde boy hasn't snatched you up yet. Haven't you seen the way he looks at you?"

Eiji was sure his heart had stopped beating. Ash looked at him? In a way that made people think they were together? When he wasn't play flirting?

"And the way you look at him? You must be teasing me – the two of you are head over heels!"

He wasn't sure if he was quite 'head over heels,' but he was definitely at least a little bit in love. Maybe a fair bit in love.

The thought made his face even warmer and he smiled into the trolley. The woman misunderstood, she gave him a friendly nudge with her elbow.

"See, I'm always right," she said. "Sandra – I was right!"

A woman down the aisle turned and grinned at Eiji.

"Now, what are you thinking of, dear?" the first woman kept smiling at Eiji. "You should make his favourite dinner as thanks."

Eiji realised that he had no idea what Ash's favourite food was. Not fast food – he complained bitterly about it after the week straight in that van. Not Japanese food. He was saved from having to answer by Sandra interrupting her friend.

"And where do you come from?"

"Oh, um, I'm from Japan."

He might as well have said Mars. They both stared at him like he had three heads.

"Wow!"

"Really?!"

And then, both together, "say something in Japanese!"

He did. A large part of him wanted to resent them, but he couldn't find it in himself. They meant well, they were helping him buy food, and they made him surprisingly homesick. He missed having a mother to take care of him, and if these people were volunteering, then sure. It was like having two mother hens clucking over him and he enjoyed the attention.

And they thought he was dating Ash.

That was a fantasy that he wasn't quite ready to let go off yet.

"Have you asked Eiji out yet?"

Ash dropped his fork into his meal, staring at Max across the table.

"I was talking about-"

"I know, but believe it or not, I'm a little bored at looking at every white, business owner who walks through Golzine's doors," Max leant back in his chair, a smile at the corner of his mouth. "I want to check in on my son's love life."

It made Ash cringe, almost as much as he was sure Max cringed when he called him 'dad.' He really hadn't put enough thought into his cover story – he hadn't expected Max to lean so heavily into it.

"I don't want to talk about it," Ash picked his fork pack up gingerly and toying with the pasta on his plate. He hated this restaurant. It was all fake, red leather sofas and glass lampshades that almost poked them in the head and it was full of bratty kids. But Golzine didn't own it and he would never think to look there.

"So you haven't asked him."

"No," Ash poked at his food a little more. He knew it wasn't a sufficient answer and he could feel Max's eyes boring into him. "There were times – there've been several times where I thought it would be good – perfect – to ask him. But I didn't. I couldn't."

"Really? Why?" Max continued eating, as though his stomach wasn't all knots at just thinking about Eiji.

"Because –" Ash swallowed. He stared down at the pasta. The way the sauce shone on it made him feel vaguely sick. "Because I'm not good enough for him."

Max burst out laughing. A real belly laugh, like the annoying uncle at a family gathering. It lasted for a good thirty seconds before he finally quietened down.

"What?" Ash snapped.

"It's just – you – Ash Lynx – this great big crime boss, and you don't think you're good enough for sweet little Eiji?" Max was still grinning.

Ash shoved the bowl of pasta away from him. He did it too hard, and it clattered into Max's plate, threatening to send it over the edge. But of course, he caught it and slipped it back onto the table. He raised an eyebrow at Ash.

"You don't get it," Ash was still holding his fork. He dropped it with a clatter, not caring that people turned around to stare at him. They were probably thinking he was much too old to have a temper tantrum. "I'm – not – I'm not worth it. I'm a monster – I don't even think twice about shooting someone in the head. I don't even remember faces anymore. Most of the time it doesn't bother me to pull the trigger and when it does it's because I murdered my best friend." He was scratching his jeans, so hard that he could feel his nails on his thighs. "That's bad enough, right? But I'm – I'm nothing. I'm what Golzine passed around – just a pretty thing to be used and forgotten about. A secret for men to savour. And I'm good at it." He paused, frowning back at the pasta. "My dad was right, when he called me a whore. So no, I'm not good enough for Eiji. I'm nowhere near."

He gritted his teeth so hard that it felt like he had lockjaw. He wasn't crying – he was close, very close, but not yet. The words sat in the air. People were gawping at him, but Ash didn't care. He couldn't find it in himself to care anymore.

"Come on, let's step outside," Max had a hand on Ash's upper arm in seconds, practically dragging him from the restaurant. Ash let him. It was all he could do not to start shaking. He just clenched his jaw – clenched his muscles – clenched everything and let himself be pulled outside. They stood under the outside cover of the restaurant, the Summer heat choking them even in the shade.

Ash stood there, sweat trickling down his forehead already. The heat was as unbearable as the tight feeling in his chest.

"You realise you have nothing to lose, right?" Max's voice lay somewhere between soft and casual – as though that hadn't all spewed from Ash's mouth.

"What?"

"Eiji's crazy about you."

"Shut up."

"Now, Ash, that's no way to speak to your-" Max stopped. The word was still sat between them, nestled among the others. "It's true."

"I think that makes it worse." Ash hated how small his voice was. He sounded like a child.

"You don't want him to get hurt, right?" Max, like a clockwork toy, pulled his cigarettes out of his pocket. He took one out with his mouth, then held it out.

Ash stared at it for a moment, disbelieving. His eyes flickered back to Max, but he was looking out at the car park, not at Ash – thank God. Max shook the box, gently, and Ash plucked out one of the cigarettes. He held it between his fingers the way he had seen so many people do. He wanted to stare at it, examine it from every angle, but that seemed childish.

"I just about went insane," he said, watching the sun glisten on the parked cars. They looked like shiny bugs. "I drove myself insane on that plane imagining the things he would do to Eiji."

He let the words sit in the air like the heat of the day. It was so hot out here he could see the air wobbling in the distance.

"Do you know what I see when I look at you, Ash?" he didn't answer – he didn't want to know the answer. "I see a survivor. Your father was wrong. You're no whore, you're a survivor. Tough as old boots."

"If anyone here is an old boot, it's you." Ash muttered, but his fingers were trembling so hard the cigarette was going to fall from his fingers.

Max didn't laugh. Ash didn't even see if he smiled because in the next second he was being enveloped by Max's arms. He found his face pressed against Max's chest, his fake glasses digging into his nose.

He was probably meant to hug back. His arms felt like lead at his sides. He felt like a robot that had short-circuited – trapped in his own head. Ash's hands moved in slow motion, very slowly coming to rest on Max's back. It was a bizarre feeling. Men Max's age didn't usually hug Ash like that. Or, they did – they must hug their sons like this, maybe their friends. Ash didn't usually hug like this.

He should probably feel sad about that.

They stayed still for a long time. Ash shut his eyes and savoured this moment – of feeling small, but protected – for as long as he could bear in the summer heat.

Then he pulled away, slowly, so that Max didn't think he was repulsed by him. They still hadn't said a word, but whilst Max was lighting up, Ash took a moment to cuff at his eyes and nose.

"You're good enough for Eiji, kiddo," Max said. "But I'm not the one to ask."

"Oh no?" his voice was slightly strained, but it wasn't awful.

"You need to get past Ibe. He won't let anyone touch that boy."

Ash rolled his eyes. At least his smirk was back.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked, holding up the cigarette. It was a little crumpled from the hug,

Max glanced at it, breathing smoke out from around the one in his mouth.

"It's not even legal for you to smoke."

"Then why'd you give it to me?"

"Because – you were sad," Max shrugged.

"I hate you."

"Almost as much as you hate Eiji?"

Ash considered, twisting the cigarette between his fingers irritably.

"Yes."

"Then I can live with that."

Ash sighed, rolling his eyes again. One day they would just roll right to the back of his head and stay there.

"Hey," Max said and Ash glanced at him. "Chin up, kid. It'll all be okay, one of these days."

Max had a hold on his shoulder. Ash let it sit there.

"I don't know how you can think like that."

"What's the alternative?"

"Assuming I won't live till my twentieth birthday."

"If you really thought like that, you'd run back to that apartment and make the most of every second with that boy."

It wasn't some big motivational speech, but that was hardly Max's style. A speech like that wouldn't have made Ash feel better anyway. In a weird way, Max had known exactly the right thing to say. It was weird – really weird, that he was that used to Ash already.

What was weirder was that he was right. Ash had to tell Eiji.

He had to tell him now.

Not just because of the speech, mind, because he had clocked the police car pull up two minutes ago. The officer was walking over to them now, her eyes on Ash's cigarette.

"Will you pick up the bill for me, dad?" Ash said, handing the cig back. He couldn't stop the smile on his face. Max wouldn't suspect anything – he'd suspect that he had succeeded in cheering Ash up.

"You know the next one is on you."

"Excuse me, sir, did I just see you give a cigarette to a minor?" the police officer had snuck up on Max's blind side.

"No – well, I mean – he was just holding it is all-" Max stammered.

Ash smirked, taking this as a chance to slink away. He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold it, there – you're in trouble too, Mister."

He couldn't believe that in all this time of his own mind stopping him from asking Eiji out, now it was a police officer.

And it was all Max's fault.

"What kept you so late?" Eiji didn't even look around when Ash walked in the door. He was curled up on one end of the sofa, flicking through random tv channels.

"You didn't lock the door, Eiji. Anyone could have got in."

Eiji glanced up then. A week or two ago, Ash was sure he would have apologised profusely. Now, he smirked and shrugged.

"I know you'll always save me when I get into trouble," he said. "You're my Prince Charming."

"What does that make you?" Ash kicked the door closed, climbing onto the arm of the couch so that he could nudge Eiji with his feet. "You're too old to be a Princess."

Eiji just laughed, nudging him back.

"So what kept you?"

"Max gave me a cigarette and we got stopped by the police," Ash tried to say it like it was no big deal.

"Oh."

"That doesn't bother you?" Ash said.

"Max would never let you smoke," Eiji was smiling, and the sunset behind him made his hair shine. It made all of him shine – it made his eyes sparkle and his skin turn gold.

Ash shrugged. He knew he was pouting, but he also knew that it made Eiji smile at him.

"I – actually meant to talk to you," Eiji stood from the sofa, running a hand through his hair. He looked nervous and it made Ash's stomach drop. This was it – this was the moment where Eiji told Ash he was going back to Japan – that he couldn't do it anymore.

"What's wrong?" Ash stood too, feeling oddly tall still in his shoes.

"Nothing's wrong," Eiji wasn't convincing. He wasn't looking Ash in the eye.

"When?"

"What?" he looked at Ash then, all shining Bambi eyes.

"When are you going back?"

"I'm not – at least I don't plan to," Eiji said. "No, it was – I –" he stopped, staring at Ash as though he lost his train of thought. He cleared his throat, looking down so that his fringe flopped across his forehead. "I can't look at you and do this – you're going to have to close your eyes."

Ash raised an eyebrow, his lips quirking upwards despite his nerves. Then, he obeyed, his eyelids fluttering as he fought to keep them closed.

"You better not take me to a new apartment, I was just getting used to this one," he said, still fighting that smile, because he knew Eiji was flustered and he knew it would make him worse.

"Oh my God, shut up, this is hard enough!" Eiji snapped, his hands pushed Ash's shoulders. Not really hard enough to make him lose his balance, but he went to step back as a kindness.

That was when Eiji's hands kept him in place. He froze – wishing he could open his eyes – wishing he could see what was happening. How was Eiji looking at him?

He must have been on tip toes, to hold Ash's shoulders like that.

Then Eiji pressed his lips against Ash's. It was more of a brush, really. Barely even a second of contact. A nano-second of contact that transformed Ash's heart into a butterfly. It wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. He started to open his eyes, his mouth open to ask what the hell was happening when Eiji said-

"Wait, no – that was bad. Let me try that again."

Ash wanted to laugh. That was Eiji's voice alright. But it couldn't be Eiji.

It was Eiji's lips that met his a second time – properly this time. It was still a chaste kiss from a Disney movie – a kiss Ash was only vaguely familiar with.

Yet it was still a kiss. From Eiji Okumura.

Ash opened his eyes, half expecting himself to be lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling, the ghost of the kiss still on his lips. He wasn't. He was staring at Eiji, who was watching him carefully.

For a moment, his brain wasn't working. In fact, he didn't think his brain had been working since he walked into the room. It definitely wasn't working when he said, "I can't believe it took three tries to get that first kiss right."

But Eiji was smiling at him.

"Third time lucky?" he said. "I am a lucky charm, after all."

"You're a dork, that's what you are," Ash said, taking Eiji's face in his hands. It squished his cheeks ever so slightly as he grinned at Ash.

"That's no way to talk to your boyfriend," he said.

The word froze the smile on Ash's face. Boyfriend. It had slipped off of his own tongue so easily when it was a joke. Now it was serious.

"Shit-" Ash's hands relaxed on Eiji's face. "Shit – you mean-"

"What?" Eiji's own smile started to fade. "Is that okay?"

Ash nodded. He kept nodding, he went to press his head against Eiji's and paused. He looked over Eiji's face, Eiji's slightly nervous eyebrows and worried eyes. Then he tilted his head and kissed Eiji, savouring the moment. He barely pulled away, feeling Eiji sigh against him. His eyes were closed, a small smile on his face.

Eiji looked like an angel. An angel who closed his eyes and sighed when he got kissed by the boy he liked. The boy he liked – who was Ash. Who had been called demon and wildcat and all the nicknames held some truth in them.

Maybe he was right after all. Maybe he wasn't good enough for Eiji – he certainly wasn't what Eiji deserved. Eiji deserved someone much better than him – someone a lot happier who he could be a lot happier with.

He kissed the top of Eiji's nose, feeling out of his depth. He didn't do this.

Eiji smiled, his eyes full of stars when he opened them to look at Ash. He caught the troubled look in Ash's eyes immediately. He put a hand to Ash's, turning it over so that he could link their fingers.

"It's okay," he whispered. "Let's just – chill, yeah?"

Ash nodded. The tight feeling in his chest loosened. He sat down heavily next to Eiji on the sofa, suddenly feeling conscious of everywhere his body was.

"You're worried," Eiji said. He still had hold of Ash's hand.

Ash let out a long breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

"You said we'd be safe here."

"I know."

"You don't want to see me get hurt."

"No."

"Well I don't want to see you get hurt either."

"I can take care of myself, Eiji."

"Can you?" the question was harsh, it stung Ash. But he supposed there was a glimmer of truth in it – he did seem to get into a lot of trouble. "I can't go back to Japan and not wonder about you every day of my life," Eiji shifted, leaning his weight against Ash's. He had done it so often that it was comforting. "But, everything will be okay."

"That's what Max said," Ash leant his head against Eiji's, revelling in the feeling of Eiji's soft, thick hair against his cheek. "You old people are all the same."

"Hey!" Eiji elbowed Ash. "Let's just – take it one day at a time."

Eiji stayed, pressed against Ash, his fingers tracing patterns on the back of Ash's hand.

It wasn't just that Eiji would be in danger. It was that Ash had no idea how this worked – this romance thing.

But it was one day at a time. One of Ash's problems at a time.

For today, they were chilling, and Eiji was leaning against him. It made his chest feel as though it was on fire.

He squeezed Eiji's hand and buried his nose into Eiji's fluffy hair. Baby bird hair.

Ash couldn't remember falling asleep. He didn't realise they'd been sat there in silence for so long. He didn't realise he was that comfortable.

But he fell asleep on the sofa, leaning against Eiji Okumura.

"You're extra peppy today."

The voice made Eiji jump. He almost spilt boiling water all over the kitchen side. He turned to see Bones leaning across the counter, staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm in a good mood," Eiji admitted. He leant against the side, waiting for his tea to brew. He found himself grinning again, running his hand through his hair self-consciously. "I – well, I kissed Ash yesterday night."

Bones just stared at him. Even Kong, leaning with his back against the counter, just stared at Eiji.

"So?" Bones asked. "Don't couples do that all the time?"

"What do you mean?" Eiji dunked the tea bag up and down with his spoon.

"You're together, aren't you?"

"Well, as of yesterday, yeah."

That made Kong turn around. It made Bones stare, open-mouthed at Eiji.

"No way," Bones murmured. He stared at Kong, then back at Eiji. "The way you two stare at each other all the time – you had to be together."

"You live here with him, for God's sake," Kong added.

"That was –" Eiji brought the mug to his face so that it would look like the heat on his face was from that. "It was more to keep me safe."

"Boss wants to keep everyone safe," Kong nodded in agreement to Bones. "He doesn't give just anyone an apartment."

"I know," Eiji said. "I figured – but, I don't know – it seemed ridiculous to think that he really liked me like that."

Bones cocked his head to the side like a dog.

"Why?"

"Because I'm me," Eiji said. "There's nothing remarkable about me."

"You're an award-winning high jumper."

Eiji hadn't even seen Ash move. He was just suddenly leaning against the open wall of the kitchen, his hair disheveled and his arms crossed.

Bones and Kong looked suitably impressed, staring at Eiji with wide eyes and open mouths. Eiji glared at Ash, hating how he felt his own mouth dip into a pout.

"Yeah, I'm a high jumper who can't jump," Eiji said. "At least, I can't land."

"Well, there's that," Ash pushed his fringe out of his face, looking at Eiji from between the golden strands in a way that made Eiji's heart stammer. "But at least you're cute."

It was getting easier and easier to hide when his heart was skipping a beat and when his face wanted to burst into flames.

"Yeah, one of us has to be," he said, taking a sip of tea.

Kong and Bones were staring at him like he had just shot himself in the head, turning to goggle at Ash's reaction. He still had a hand in his hair, his teasing smile frozen on his face.

Then he laughed and let his hair fall back into place.

"No need to be so smug about it, Eiji," he said. He had a habit of drawing out the syllables of Eiji's name that he couldn't get enough of.

Eiji laughed, stepping forward so that he could rest against the divider of the kitchen and the living room. He wanted to lean right forwards and kiss Ash. He didn't have the confidence – not in front of Bones and Kong – not when Ash's eyes were glinting at him like emeralds.

But he did still have the confidence to keep teasing. Part of him enjoyed the astonishment on Bones and Kong's faces when he got away with it, and partly because he laughed Ash's laugh. There was a special laugh he had for Eiji and a special smile that he wanted to see again and again. Before going back. If he was going back. Which he wasn't thinking about.

"You are good for some things, though," he said. The steam from his tea curled up between them like incense.

"Oh yeah?" Ash was leaning his elbows on the counter now. It would be so easy to kiss him.

"You make a great pillow," Eiji grinned.

Ash rolled his eyes, glancing at Bones and Kong as they snorted into their hands, then he raised an eyebrow at Eiji.

"I think I'm good at this too," he said, and before Eiji could react Ash's hand was tugging at the collar of his t-shirt, and Ash's lips were against his. His mouth was warm and the touch was all-inducing. Eiji couldn't think. Even when Ash pulled away he could only blink at him, sparks coming from his broken brain.

Bones elbowed Kong and muttered something about leaving before it got too 'mushy' and 'icky' in here. They waited for Ash to tell them what to do for all of half a second, before they were gone from the room.

"Since you're speechless, we'll call that one a win to me," Ash said. His fingers slipped around Eiji's on the handle of his mug and the touch shocked Eiji back into reality.

"You cheated," he said.

"Are you the one who has to start all the kissing then?" Ash asked. He tilted his head to the side and Eiji's gaze caught on the curls of hair at the nape of Ash's neck. They really were too long – he should get them cut – but not before Eiji had tangled his fingers in them.

Eiji wanted to say 'yes,' and smirk back at Ash, but there was still those nerves he had seen yesterday in all that green. There was still a spark of fear in Ash that they were going ahead, and they were doing this. He couldn't help but wonder if Ash had ever been with someone – like this – before. He didn't think so. He didn't want to ask and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"No – that was – I mean," he took a breath and found himself smiling. "I liked that. A lot."

Ash didn't reply. He was staring at Eiji, his eyes taking in every detail of his face, but slowly. He was taking his time, as though he had been told to memorize exactly what Eiji looked like.

"Good," he murmured after what felt like an infinity. He slipped the mug from Eiji's hands and took a sip. Immediately, he grimaced and put it back down. "That's not coffee."

"No, it's green tea," Eiji said. He felt defensive of it as he pulled it back to himself.

"I didn't know we owned green tea."

"You wouldn't, you never go food shopping."

Ash laughed, he leant further across the counter. "Then should I give my dutiful little housewife another kiss?"

Eiji laughed and blushed and realised he didn't know what to say. This was all so easy and so natural and yet stilted and awkward. It was like playing roles they thought they were meant to. He leant back across the counter, tilting his face towards Ash. He wanted to be close to Ash, always. He wanted to have Ash's mouth as close to him at all times as possible so he could show him how his heart was bursting with a hundred different emotions for him.

Ash moved slowly and almost teasingly, tilted his head towards Eiji.

Then, he pressed a kiss onto Eiji's cheek, letting his mouth linger there, just above Eiji's skin so that it tingled.

"I can't believe you're so easy about this," Ash whispered.

"Well," Eiji found Ash's hand, lining the base of their palms up, and then each finger. He watched them interlock with each other like parts of a puzzle coming together. "Being your pretend boyfriend got me into so much trouble, it seemed silly not to get into trouble and kiss you whilst I'm at it."

Ash laughed without sound against Eiji's cheek, his fingers tightening on Eiji's. He needed him, Eiji realised. Ash needed him, and he needed him to be patient and calm about it all. He wasn't sure he could live up to that, not at all the time.

"You know, you're not just a good pillow," Eiji murmured.

Ash pulled away, toying with Eiji's mug instead, like a bored house cat.

"No?"

"No," Eiji bit his lip, trying to see Ash's future reactions playing out on his face. He was not a fortune teller, he wouldn't be able to tell how this would go. "You – probably hear it all the time and I bet you hate it now, but you're – handsome, Ash. You're so –"

He broke off, the word stuck in his throat. How many times had a man Ash hated said that to him? How many times had that word made Ash's skin crawl? Eiji let it stay silent. He had said it once. That was enough. Any more times and –

Ash's lips twitched. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a breath that seemed to come from the very core of his being outward, before he seemed to allow himself to smile. He opened his eyes again, smiling at Eiji as though he was an angel.

"I do," he said, simply. "And I thought I hated it, but you say it different," he paused, tilting his head to the side and examining Eiji again. "I like the way you say it."

"Oh – good," Eiji didn't pay attention to the words falling out of his mouth, he was preoccupied with the relief washing over him like a tidal wave. He hadn't realised that worry had wormed its way into every crevice and now he was so relieved. "Then I'll keep saying it. I'll say it every day if you want – all day, every day-"

"Eiji, shut up," Ash shook his head, but he was smiling. He was grinning like he couldn't control it.

Eiji did, unable to help his own smile. This was Ash Lynx – Ash Lynx genuinely happy. Ash Lynx grinning like a seventeen year old should grin.

Ash Lynx, leaning over the counter to kiss Eiji again. Just one more, lingering kiss that promised so many more, before telling Eiji to get the coffee machine going.