*looks at hands* I've just... completed my first multi-chap story holy shit. A short and sweet epilogue looking into the life (after life-and-death fiascoes) between our favorite PI and his boyfriend. I hope y'all enjoyed going on this journey with me! Hopefully finishing this work will inspire me to finish my other... numerous... fanfics...
Review letting me know what y'all thought ^^
. . .
. . .
TWO MONTHS LATER
It was funny how quickly human beings adapted to changes in their environment.
Seijuro ate a really clean diet, so Sena started meal prepping every Sunday with his boyfriend instead of spending money at the dining hall. It just became easier to make more of what Seijuro was having than cook extra meals just for Sena. Seijuro worked out in the mornings, so Sena joined him for weight training at dawn instead of his usual workouts at night. Seijuro was pretty bad with texting, so Sena called him on the commute to and from school. Sena found himself content to have Seijuro helping out with Pit, joining him in the dining room to do work while he studied, and sleeping in a little later on the weekends with him.
Seijuro also occasionally needed help hunting murderous occult beings, and Sena would help, as good boyfriend are wont to do.
But, in all honesty, even with sometimes facing adrenaline-inducing monsters – it wasn't some negative, drastic change. It was a give and take. And it was as easy as falling into step in one swift, smooth movement.
Sena's parents took over maintaining the Haunted Mansion (as Seijuro had once called it jokingly, but had said it with such a deadpan delivery that Sena almost had a hernia laughing) once summer ended and Sena went back to school. Sena had already renewed his on campus housing for that semester so it was kind of a waste that he only kept three shirts, a pair of shorts, and a chipped mug at his dorm.
"You don't even reside there two nights out of the week," Seijuro had said.
"My roommate likes basically living alone," Sena had said and cuddled closer to his boyfriend. "And you like having me over."
"I do."
Sena often wondered what his younger self would think of all this. Child Sena would have severely doubted the veracity of his older self dating someone so spooky.
"I don't think kid me would have liked you," Sena said one day, looking up from his notes. Seijuro was working on the dining room table while Sena sat on the floor, taking up most of the space on the living room coffee table.
"And why not?" Seijuro asked, mildly affronted.
"When I was a little kid, I really hated scary stuff. Like going to my grandma's house? I cried the entire way there every time we made the trip."
"But your parents still took you."
"Well I did love my grandparents after all. It was just that damn house. It wasn't so bad when people were there, but I always made my parents take us back home instead of spending the night."
"Hm," Seijuro said, crossing his arms. "Because you were scared of the Haunted Mansion?"
"You don't have to say it like that."
"So you think I'm scary?" Seijuro got up from his seat and stalked over to Sena.
"I'm saying little five year old Sena would think you're scary," Sena said, looking up to where Seijuro towered over him. The sleeves of Seijuro's white button up were rolled up to his elbows and the first few buttons were undone.
"And what do you find me?" Seijuro asked as he crouched over his boyfriend. Seijuro's muscled arms were on either side of Sena's shoulders, pressing him against the couch.
"Um… eh…" Sena swallowed thickly. Seijuro's eyes were dark, smoldering. Sena felt himself shudder. "Y'know w-what I think of you. I think you're really s–"
The TV lit up.
"Hello nightowl," Akaba's greeted them from the screen. He wore his usual purple-tinted sunglasses and blazer, taking up most of the TV's screen. His red eyes narrowed slightly. "Is this a bad time? Doesn't matter. Movie's starting in fifteen minutes."
"Oh yeah, it's Saturday," Sena said, scooting out from underneath his boyfriend. He gave Seijuro a quick peck on the cheek before scurrying to the kitchen to find a large plastic bin and turning on the faucet. "I always forget."
"Akaba."
"Fuu… Seijuro."
"Be nice," Sena said, walking back to living room, careful to keep the water from sloshing as he placed the bin down next to the sofa.
"Fifteen minutes seems like too much advance time to prepare," Seijuro said. He sat on the couch next to Sena. He cupped a hand against his mouth and put it to Sena's ear and said, "We could have done 'stuff' in that time."
"We have time to do 'stuff' after," Sena hissed back quietly.
"Lover's spat?" Kakei's low voice asked. He had an inflatable inner tube and set it down in the bin to sit on. "Interesting."
"Not at all! Seijuro was just saying some… bold things."
"Like what?"
"Eh… um…" Sena turned to Seijuro for help, but his boyfriend was busy trying to get the remote to work. "Where's Takeru?" Sena asked Kakei.
"He's on his way. Troublesome to keep track of that guy."
Right on cue, black shadows curled from underneath the sofa. The lifted from the ground, and moments later, Takeru had materialized in front of them.
"That… is a most unbecoming garment," Akaba said from the TV's speakers while Seijuro kept pressing buttons at random on the remote.
Takeru was wearing a hand knit black sparkly sweater, two sizes too big and fluffy. He seemed out of breath.
Kakei snickered.
"I really don't need to be listening to this from either of you," Takeru said. "Sitting on a giraffe floaty and wearing neon colored swim trunks is not a look. Sorry I was running late. Dude, your grandmother," Takeru raised his eyebrows and fell back on the couch on Sena's other side, "a handful. She's very strong-willed. She says hi by the way."
"Yeah, grandma doesn't really let go of ideas once she gets them. I find it's easier to just go along with what she wants."
"Funny you mention that," Takeru said, wrapping his arm around Sena's shoulder. "You know she still thinks I'm a contender for your heart?" He wiggled his eyebrows.
"She's not right about everything," Seijuro said sharply, glaring until Takeru removed his hand.
"I'm kidding," Takeru said. "Obviously I'm not gonna try anything until you're dead. Which... with your line of work and all…"
"Takeru, please, the movie's about to start," Sena jabbed Takeru in the side.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Takeru said, and then mouthed to Kakei 'I'm not kidding'.
"I can and will have Seijuro exorcise you."
"I vote we kick him off the island," Kakei said. Takeru turned severely to look at Kakei with betrayal in his eyes.
"Dude, what?" Takeru asked. "Not cool!"
"I second the vote," Akaba said.
"Guys," Sena said, "we talked about this at last house meeting. Guests can only submit proposals to the dwelling's owners."
"I propose we kick him off the island," Kakei said.
"I second the proposal."
"I approve of this proposal after careful consideration," Seijuro said, finally landing on the right channel. They were just in time to catch the B-list horror flick Akaba had seen back when he'd been alive.
"No one is getting kicked off the island," Sena said.
"Thank you–"
"On movie night, at least," Sena finished. Takeru groaned lightly, but Sena knew it was all lighthearted teasing. The opening credits rolled on the screen, and he leaned his head against Seijuro's shoulder.
"Fuu… I'm not a fan of the framing in this shot. It's very basic, simplistic, but you can tell that the director clearly thought he was doing something new, but it's all Eraserhead derivatives."
"We voted that you wouldn't talk during movies anymore," Kakei whispered. He shifted his weight in his giraffe seat and water splashed onto the carpet.
"You splashed onto my pants," Takeru said. He smirked at Sena, "Guess I'll have to take them off huh?"
"Takeru," Seijuro threatened above Sena's head.
"Fuu, now here, the director chose a tracking shot when it should have been a lateral shot. How do things that miss so much rhythm even get green-lit?"
Pit chose that time to leap onto Seijuro's lap, which was the only reason that kept Seijuro from lunging at Takeru. For better or for worse, scary or not, Sena liked having them all around, and he suspected Seijuro did too (at least a tiny little small bit). Sena smiled to himself as his attention went back to the movie, ignoring the chaos around him. It was funny how much a person could adapt given the right incentives.