Hi everyone :9

Sorry, if you only follow me on here. I've been busy working on a story over on AO3. You know that means it's got adult content. Please head on over to my account on AO3 (KorrinBelle) if you're interested. But for the near future you can look forward to a few more chapters of Domesticia on a weekly basis.

In other exciting news, I started a crowdfunding account on a website that starts with a 'P'~! ヾ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ You know the one. Apparently I can't say their name here. At All. Because this website is run by control freak censor nazis.

If you're so inclined you can become a "patron" of my work and support my writing and receive access to scrapped works, WIPs, planning notes, and various other things. If you're interested, head on over to (the name of the crowdfunding website that starts with a P) dot com slash korrinbelle

And now, along the same line~

This chapter of Domesticia is brought to you by VineTabris, Jaiden, and Angerawr. Thanks so much for supporting me!

Now... after what is probably the longest introductory note I've ever written, I hope you enjoy the story. Thanks as always for reading and commenting. It means a lot to me. (´∀｀人)

Lullaby

It was evening when Rin arrived home, past Lily's bedtime, which explained why no one came to greet him. He would have liked to think he was worth a better welcome after his first day back on the job, but it was probably for the best that he wasn't greeted with any kind of special fanfare.

Lily had seemed fine when they first told her Rin was going back to work, but when the day came, and she realized what it really meant, she'd clung to his legs and cried. Rin had to watch as Ryuuji pried her off and then turn his back on her as she howled, fat tears trailing down her cheeks as she struggled in Ryuuji's arms, trying to reach him. Rin could still hear the cries well down the hallway as he left the building. It certainly hadn't made things easy on him either.

Now, he was simply too tired and dirty to care. He kicked his shoes off in the entryway and headed straight towards the bathroom where he practically fell in to the shower after dropping his clothes haphazardly on the floor. He'd wash up first and then go kiss his daughter goodnight, even if she was already asleep. It was a ritual he hadn't yet missed even once, and he didn't plan to start now if he could help it.

It wasn't until he was finished, feeling refreshed and a little more human, that he realized he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Ryuuji either. Lily might have been in bed at this hour, but there was no way Ryuuji was too—it wasn't that late—yet most of the apartment lights were low and silence filled the air.

Almost.

On the edge of Rin's hearing—still blown out from the sound of the shower he'd just had—was a low, soothing baritone—the sound of Ryuuji's voice.

Rin tiptoed down the hallway and peaked in to his daughter's room. A thin sliver of light pierced the room from behind him and fell upon the room's occupants. Ryuuji and Lily both looked up to see who was intruding on their space, but only for a moment. Ryuuji didn't even slow in his recitation of the children's book he held, even as he gave Rin a slight wave in greeting. Well, that was his Aria habits coming through. When he read out loud he gave it his full attention. The difference was that in the rush of battle, Ryuuji's voice was powerful, commanding, unyielding. Here, it was soft, steady and comforting. His voice was clear even though he was speaking in hushed tones and the rough drawl of his Kansai-ben felt oddly like home.

"What'chya reading?" Rin asked as he approached the bed, only for Lily to shush him. She did however pat the space on the bed beside her, inviting him to join them, so he did. He kissed her quickly on the forehead before scrambling across the blankets to lie down beside her on the edge of her tiny bed where she curled up in the crook of his arm. There wasn't even so much as a stutter of hesitation as Ryuuji continued Lily's bedtime story.

Rin wasn't so much interested in the story or the words themselves as he was in cuddling up against his daughter's side as Ryuuji's voice washed over him. Bedtime story? It was almost a lullaby, and Rin felt his eyelids drooping as the exhaustion of the day—temporarily chased away by his shower—settled back in to his bones and caught up with him as he rested his head against Lily's.

"The end," Ryuuji read a while later, finally looking up from the book only to be met with the sight of his daughter, her arms thrown haphazardly up over her head, and his husband with his arm thrown over Lily's chest, both of them sound asleep.

"Rin," Ryuuji whispered, "Rin, wake up." He reached over and shook his husband's shoulder, trying to stir him without waking their daughter, but Rin only snorted, scratched his nose, and mumbled something incoherent as he slipped in to a deeper slumber. Ryuuji sighed and circled the bed, slipping his arms under Rin's frame and lifting him with a grunt.

"How many children do I have?" Ryuuji asked the darkness sarcastically as he looked down at Rin's prone form in his arms, the other man's head lolled to the side. Ryuuji sighed as he slipped out of their daughter's room with Rin in his arms, softly toeing the door shut behind them.