"Hand me that broom, okay?" Kaito called out from across the room, face a little dirty from smudges of dust. "I'm almost done over here."
Stepping over things that were in the way, Akaito nodded and brought the requested item.
"Over here's looking pretty good, too. It's nice that there's all these boxes to put stuff in already." Nudging one of the cardboard boxes with the toe of one of his shoes for illustration's sake, Akaito smiled over at Kaito. "I wonder if the previous owner ever threw anything out. Not that it's not making it easier for us, but now I get even better why we got offered to stay at this place in exchange for cleaning it up."
"Yeah," Kaito laughed a little and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "And they're all different sizes to boot. If we were kid-sized I'd be tempted to try to build a cardboard fort or castle or something, just for fun."
"I'm surprised at you," Akaito said, frowning. Kaito blinked, startled by the unexpected words, but Akaito's next statement made him grin. "I would have expected you'd want to build a cardboard ice cream parlor."
"And you'd want to build a giant cardboard habanero," Kaito retorted, but his comeback lacked heat, and Akaito just grinned it off good-naturedly. "I think you need a shower first, though. You're a little dirty."
Akaito laughed for real this time. "Look who's talking! Maybe we both need one. Or we could take a break and swim for a little first."
"That actually sounds really good," Kaito agreed as he straightened up, dustpan full, and put the broom to one side. "I feel a little like an old man right now. Kind of sore from playing too hard yesterday, maybe?"
"If you're an old man, so am I," the amused reply came. "Though is 'middle-aged' too early to be considered old? Hell if I know. Not that we're going to get any older."
"Haha," Kaito laughed at that. "It seems like every year I get de-aged more, actually. But my body still gets stiff like this anyways when I overdo it. Figures!"
"This time five years from now you'll be too young for me to seduce," Akaito smiled with a twinkle in his crimson eyes.
"I guess you'll just have to turn shotacon, then," Kaito said, but his voice suddenly sounded a little less relaxed. "Or I'll have to become a trap for you. Those are the usual choices in fanfics like this, right?"
"Yeah, I guess," Akaito replied, the suddenly uncomfortable feeling being a little contagious. "Anyways, let's grab changes of clothes. When we come back, we should try to get at least a little more done before we goof off again."
"Yeah," Kaito replied and smiled. He was still right next to Akaito, but the redhead felt like he was suddenly farther away. Serious eyes watched Kaito's back as he dumped the contents of the dustpan and headed out first towards their temporary room.