Disclaimer: Don't own Spy X Family, nor any of its characters.

Rating: T

A series of connected one-shots, where the duo have come to realize a certain reality they've been trying to deny, and gradually move forward from there.

Home

Afternoon

"Oh wow, I knew we were getting low, but this..." Yor breathed, peering into the package for a moment; nothing but crumbs were left. "I'm sorry, Bond. It looks those last few are all you're getting today."

Bond made a half-whimper, but nonetheless pushed his nose against her hand, which made her smile.

"Normally I'd make some more for you, but you've already had enough for today" she said, glancing up as she remembered their walk earlier - she missed how Bond's expression turned shocked, then quickly relieved at that latter part. "Still, I'll definitely have to add treats to the shopping list tomorrow."

It's actually good timing though, that they ran out just a day beforehand.

Yor let out a breath, if smiling as she turned to the nearby basket, lightly putting the empty package into it. Behind her, Bond's ears perked up and he blinked, rapidly looking between her and a nearby plate on the counter, which was slightly hanging over the edge.

She began to turn back, acting on her next impulse to finish up today's cleaning-

-and while doing so, veered a bit too close to the plate, where her momentum moved it rather rapidly.

"Okay, time to- huh? Ah!"

She nearly freaked as - in mid-motion - she realized the plate was suddenly falling! Yet before she could do more than stop in place, Bond leapt forward and caught it in his mouth, making a strained sound afterward (it was heavier than he'd thought) - Yor let out a breath, amazed as she realized.

"Oh wow" she whispered, relieved that it hadn't broken; she quickly bent down to take it from his mouth. "Bond, that was great!"

He made a little bark, then when she rubbed his head affectionately, he leaned into it contentedly.

"Good boy. Very good boy" Yor praised, making sure to scratch behind his ears a bunch. "If we weren't out already, and if I didn't have to clean the rest of the apartment, I'd definitely bake you some more treats! But you'll have to settle for getting a bunch tomorrow, okay?"

His head jerked up, but he simply barked again, panting happily-

-and she giggled, glad to see it.

...

Dusk

With Yor in the bath, this was as good a time as any:

"Alright, Anya" Loid said, putting the fake family photograph on the table - Anya leaned closer to it, wondering. "I've had some time to think up a story for your previous mother, which I'll discuss with you now."

"Okay" Anya breathed, holding her fists up; he's glad that she's using indoor voices. "I'm ready, papa!"

He nodded. "I'm thinking that Faline was a kind, yet rather quiet woman; she kept to herself for the most part, and rarely liked to raise her voice or get mad. Though, whenever she got excited about something... then she became a hyper bundle of energy."

Theoretically, Anya could get away with being almost exactly like this imaginary woman, but that might raise some eyebrows. This way, Anya has some shared elements to her - and him, as Yor no doubt sees - but is still a unique individual, which is the easiest way to accept and blend in when/if Yor ever brought up the topic.

Such as with Melinda Desmond and her friend group, though that'll take time to come up, if it ever does. Yet better safe than sorry.

The little girl blinked, before gasping. "Like me?" she asked, to which he smiled. "Ooo! That sounds good, papa."

"Great" he answered, lip quirking. "Of course, beyond her energy, your hair and looks come from her as well. But you still get your seriousness from me, or so I'll say to Yor."

That is, it looked that way on the surface, though he wished Anya could be that way for all things (like her schoolwork).

Then he tapped the photograph. "For the first story, I'll talk about when this picture was taken" Loid outlined, with Anya looking excited. "It's alright if you don't remember everything correctly, since you were younger then than you are now. But make sure to go along with me correcting you if that happens."

"Mmm-hmm" Anya breathed, before raising a hand. "Can I add stuff to your story too? Please?"

Loid blinked, glancing up briefly. "If it fits in, then I don't see why not."

"Yay! I wanna say that this mama was really into stories, like cartoons and stuff" she said with energetic haste, making a number of motions as well. "And also that she liked animals a bunch."

Stories and animals- yes, those would easily work. While cartoons could be a childhood carryover trait, having this Faline woman be into literature/tv as a whole would definitely play into her quiet/sophisticated nature, as those who kept to themselves often liked to immerse themselves in tales of history or fiction. Animals by itself was nice, but it would also serve as a nice tie-in for Anya's chimera doll, which had (falsely) been given as a gift by her previous mother years ago.

He definitely had more thoughts about the subject, but that was the gist.

Lip quirking, Loid looked back at Anya. "Yes, those are acceptable" he said, to which she grinned. "I can easily say you got your love of cartoons from Faline's love of stories. And the animals bit works perfectly, because I also meant to say that your chimera doll was a gift from her."

Anya jolted, seeming shocked as she blinked. "Mr. Chimera?" she wondered. "You mean like Mr. Penguin was from you papa!?"

"Indeed. You don't completely remember her giving it as a gift, but you do know that she gave it to you. Understand?"

"...Yes, I got it!"

He's not sure what that pause was about, but she seemed sincere, so he went with it.

Late nighttime

Her heart was beating so fast... in fact, she worried about being able to sleep like this...

Even now, Yor kept brushing a hand over her chest beneath the blankets, which was slightly tingly as the sensations came up again. Her cheeks felt really hot, but not just because of that; she's starting to come to a realization about such experiences, but it also left her unsure as to what to do about it.

Although, um... if she talks about it, that should help make it less scary.

It'd be embarrassing, but Loid would probably have all sorts of advice about what she could do, and be gentle and understanding as well.

Just the thought was already making her feel a bit better too.

After a minute silently thinking about it, Yor slipped out of bed before she could change her mind, taking in a shaky breath. Quietly, she opened her bedroom door and moved across to Loid's, shutting her eyes and quickly-yet-quietly tapping it twice... her heart beat almost became painfully-fast for a moment afterward, but she reminded herself t- that this is for the best!

If she keeps this to herself, it'll only be even harder to speak of later! And, of course, it'll only slow down how well she'll get used to things like this!

Not long after, she sensed faint motions coming her way, before the door half-opened and Loid appeared.

"Yor?" he breathed, quiet as he idly rubbed at the corner of his eye.

"I- I'm sorry to disturb your sleep, Loid. It's just that I... need to get something off my chest" she admitted, if glancing off.

A slight reaction, before he slipped out of his room and closed the door behind him. "Then, how about some water?" he offered, gesturing toward the kitchen; while surprised, she nodded, relieved to have something to distract herself with.

It wasn't much later that the two of them were seated in the living room, though the lights stayed off and they remained whispering:

"S-So, Loid... I..."

Across from her, Loid didn't say a word as he waited patiently; he simply sipped his water. Seeing him so composed helped reassure her, just as Yor thought it would, and so she worked even harder to get the words out there!

"I- I've realized something" Yor breathed, with some difficulty. "About our... um, w-what we've been doing recently..."

He seemed to jolt, but that's all she knew because she was glancing downward.

"...Which is?"

Mmm; Yor wrapped her arms around her stomach. "When it comes to the touches themselves, I'm- I'm still nervous, but I know I can handle them little by little" she whispered, feeling her cheeks start to become hot - it didn't help that the sensations from earlier kept 'intruding'! "B-But when it comes to the thought of... of "more", where'd you s... where you and I would, um..."

Oh, her heart's going to literally beat out of her chest!

"Where I'd see you... undressed? You're not certain you can handle that?"

Loid's quiet, yet awkward sentences made her squeak and snap her gaze to him, her breathing way up. He was currently glancing down as well, with that furrowed brow he usually got... but aside from his voice, the darkness made it difficult to tell if his cheeks were hot too.

It was only after awhile that she realized she hadn't answered, and so Yor quickly (if quietly) gave a "Mmm!"

That was all she could 'say' right now!

"I suppose that, well, I'm not surprised" he slowly mused, if still awkwardly. "As I recall, you were much the same regarding your first kiss."

"..."

Then he lifted his gaze a bit, if only half-looking in her direction. "Even so, there may be a way to help you" Loid continued, to her little breath - as he went on, he started sounding normal again, which she admired after-the-fact. "It'll sound a little complex at first, but hear me out, Yor."

"R- Right."

After a moment, he closed his eyes. "When it comes to intimate situations and the nervousness involved, there are always several parts involved in such reactions. One being the person's personality, another being their experience - or lack thereof - among other things. Two in particular that I'm thinking about however, is the reaction to being seen in such a state, and also being in your partner's presence in such a state."

Yor made a sound, already feeling a bit easier as he talked, though she wasn't quite following his reasoning yet.

"Normally, both aspects are handled at the same time. But in this case, there are ways in which we could handle the 'presence' angle, while avoiding the 'being seen' angle - in essence, handling part of the nervousness rather than all of it at once" Loid mused, opening his eyes; he looked at her. "For instance, I could wear a blindfold one night-"

Ah? A blindfold?

The image of him wearing one came to mind, as if he were a prisoner being harshly interrogated and refusing to talk even when he's being- wait, that's not important right now! And she wouldn't want to see Loid like that either!

"-and I'd just sit there in our rooms, doing nothing" he continued, even as she listened. "Then, Yor, you would... undress to whatever level you feel that you could handle, and then just sit nearby. From there, we could do nothing for awhile and let you get used to things. Or we could talk. Or even do small stuff, if we're up for it."

Oh... w-wow, that's... that's quite a situation...

Even if Loid wouldn't be able to see her, wearing only her delicates (o-or less) while he's nearby...

Loid let out a breath, glancing away- she didn't realize, but he was struggling a little too. "This arrangement seems like it would be the best option for you, Yor. If you agree, of course."

Then he paused, seeming to glance at himself.

"...Hmm. Perhaps I could help out, somewhat."

"Huh?" Yor wondered.

He shifted a bit, before his fingers grasped his shirt fabric. "Well... if I were shirtless while blindfolded, or a bit more, perhaps it'd be easier for you" he mused, quiet - she made a sound, startled. "Or, I hope it would. The idea is that seeing me somewhat undressed could make you feel easier about being the same way. But if you don't believe it would help, I wouldn't have to do that."

Oh... yes, that's true...

But now that he's said that, Yor started to realize maybe it would be a good idea; if she's just looking at Loid and not touching him during this big experience, she should be able to handle it, or at least better so.

She thought it should be, but she couldn't be sure until it occurred in practice... though um, she did admit that at some point, after feeling Loid's good muscle tone a few times, she's started to wonder if she'd have a different reaction seeing him shirtless (compared to that day at the hotel's pool).

"It..." she whispered, if taking a moment to steel her courage. "I-I'm thinking it sounds good, Loid, right now. But I'll definitely need some time before I'm sure."

Even in the darkness, she saw his lip curve. "Of course, Yor" he breathed back, gentle. "I've said it before, but let's take all the time we need."

"Right. And, um, that's all I wanted to talk about, so- so we should get back to bed."

"Yeah, definitely."

A bit of a 'breather' compared to last chapter, but hey, this is part of what SpyXFamily's all about right?