"That was the last of it, yes?"

"Yeah... I think so." Shinji stood up straight, panting lightly as he surveyed the few empty boxes around the room.

Kaworu nodded. "That should be enough for tonight, then. It's getting late."

Shinji collapsed onto the sofa, relieved but exhausted. If his back wasn't aching so much, Shinji might've been more annoyed that the couch was awkwardly positioned in the living room's center; they still hadn't quite decided where to put it yet.

It'd been three days since they'd officially started moving into the new apartment. Shinji would've thought that - given how organized he usually was - the move would be easy, but he'd been sadly mistaken. The two of them were moving in together, after all, so they had twice as much stuff to worry about. And as weary as it made him to think about all the work they had left to do, that feeling was overshadowed by the simple excitement of Kaworu moving in with him. He almost felt silly for it, but even after months of preparing, planning, scheduling, hiring, signing, and discussing, he just couldn't get past it; Kaworu was living with him!

Technically, they were already moved in, too. The movers had finished their part, and their separate apartments were empty, ready to be sold. This place was theirs now, and all they had left to do was make it feel like a real home by unpacking. It was just unfortunate that they hadn't even gotten their bed delivered yet; they were currently sleeping on two futons pushed together on the floor. It may not have been ideal, but at least it wasn't lonely. Something about sleeping on the floor with Kaworu even felt nostalgic.

He felt the cushions depress beside him, though he kept his tired eyes shut. Kaworu laid his head against Shinji's shoulder. "I think it looks nice so far. I'm a little surprised that there's space for everything."

With a light sigh, Shinji looked around. Kaworu's upright piano was the only large item they'd decided on a place for; it sat near the corner, not too hidden but not too obtrusive either. They'd filled up the shelves against the back wall with personal effects: Kaworu's large collection of books and magazines, Shinji's vinyls and cassettes, and other miscellaneous trinkets neither of them wanted to get rid of. The rest of the room felt homey, filled with furniture that Kaworu had mostly been in charge of picking out; he was the better interior designer between them, after all. He seemed to have gone to great lengths to make the living room feel as cozy as possible, with countless throw pillows, blankets, and cushions. Even though it wasn't quite finished, he felt proud of what they'd done. Of course, they probably would've been able to finish more than one room a day if they weren't so particular, but he didn't really care, not as long as Kaworu didn't either.

"Yeah, it looks really good. You knew what you were doing."

Kaworu hummed, taking Shinji's hand. Shinji squeezed his fingers reciprocally. "You can't just give me all the credit. You made it look far neater. Plus, you helped me pick out a color scheme."

The other man smiled. "That was only me being a perfectionist. This room feels a lot more comfortable than any of the others whether it's neat or not."

"You have been a little tense in the other rooms, haven't you? I'm sure all of the cardboard boxes aren't doing much for your peace of mind."

With a smile, Shinji leaned his head against his partner's. "How did you get to know me so well?"

Kaworu chuckled. "Well, it took me a few hundred tries, but I figured it out."

Shinji tried to fight down a laugh. "That's kinda dark, isn't it?"

"I suppose so. But most things in our past are, aren't they?"

Shinji stroked the back of Kaworu's hand. His was still a little bigger than Shinji's own, even after all these years of growing. "Yeah... but that's why it's nice we can move on."

"Of course," Kaworu conceded, "I don't think I ever imagined I'd get an ending as perfect as this."

The other man shook his head. "Neither did I. Not that I ever thought much about my future. For some reason, I guess I was too busy worrying about other things."

Kaworu laughed, further leaning into Shinji's neck. Shinji felt comforted by the softness of his hair against it. "Yes, we were all preoccupied back then, weren't we?" He sighed softly. "I can't believe that the biggest thing I have to worry about now is making sure I order curtains with the proper accent color, rather than..."

Shinji smirked at their hands as his lover trailed off. "...Rather than worrying about how soon you're gonna die?" He nodded. "Yeah, it must be kinda weird..."

Kaworu breathed deeply against Shinji's skin. Shinji knew how much he loved his scent from the countless times he'd sung his praise of it. It always made him feel a little prideful.

"After all that time, you would think I'd learn not to worry anymore, but I still get paranoid."

"I do too," Shinji murmured. "It was a long time ago, sure, but it was still just so... much. We were only kids."

Kaworu hummed. The sound vibrated against Shinji's shoulder pleasantly. "Oh... you went through so much pain. I'm so happy they're less frequent, but you still wake up from nightmares. I wish I could do more than just comfort you about them, my love..."

Shinji shook his head, smiling softly at his doting. "I'm an adult, Kaworu-kun - a big boy now, right? I can handle them."

"I know, I know... But that doesn't mean I don't still worry about you. Some of them shake you up so badly; I know they do."

"You get them too sometimes. It hurts me to see you like that just as much, but all we can do is be there for each other. They won't just go away magically."

Smiling, Kaworu continued to squeeze Shinji's hand. "It's a shame I'm not an Angel anymore. I wonder if trauma erasing was one of my powers. I never did test most of them."

With a laugh, Shinji bumped Kaworu's shoulder in mock reprimand. "Come on, you don't wish you were an Angel. You always wanted to be a human." Kaworu looked at him as Shinji pulled back slightly. "Or should I say 'lilin?'"

With a little groan, Kaworu smiled. "Oh, it wasn't my fault I spoke that way. Don't tease me, Shinji-kun."

He giggled. "You know you love it, though."

"Mm, indeed I do," he sang quietly, detangling their hands to wrap his arms around Shinji's shoulders instead, allowing him to nuzzle into the spot just beneath Shinji's jaw. "But I love everything you say to me, darling."

Shinji squirmed and laughed as Kaworu kissed the sensitive spot with smirking lips. "S-Stop that! You can't just tease me to get out of being teased yourself."

"Can't I?" Kaworu whispered, pulling back to look into Shinji's eyes. He had a mischievous little glint in his own.

Shinji cupped his face in his hands. "Maybe to the old Shinji you could. But I'm not a nervous teenager anymore."

He tilted his head, staring at Shinji's face with familiarly tender, misted eyes. "No, you're so much more than that now. You've grown into such an incredible person, and I'm so proud of you... But even still, there are times where I can't help but miss him - that nervous teenager." He lightly kissed Shinji's neck, then continued, "He was so adorable..."

"You don't think I'm adorable anymore?" Shinji responded playfully.

"Now, of course I do, Shinji-kun, you know that I could never find anyone nearly as attractive as I find you. Your beauty is unmatched, after all." He hugged Shinji tighter into his arms as if to prove his point. "I only meant that you've changed. I love you just as much as I always have, but I spent so long dedicating myself to that version of you that sometimes it's hard to accept that I'll never see him again."

Gently, Shinji turned to hug Kaworu back. He was so warm Shinji felt like he could just sleep like that. "Yeah... I know it's hard. I miss the way you were too, you know?"

"Do you?" The older man asked, lightly running his hands along Shinji's back.

"I always got so nervous whenever you touched me, and you touched me a lot." He smiled as Kaworu laughed indulgently. "Now I'm used to it, but you were just so affectionate. You had no idea you made me so nervous, did you?"

Kaworu shook his grey head. "I just thought you were always like that. I didn't know it was weird to do those things - I thought I was being normal."

"Looking back, it was really cute how little you knew. You were so honest. I don't think I ever saw you get embarrassed."

"What reason did I have to be embarrassed? I just wanted to make you happy."

"Sure," Shinji shrugged with a smile, "But you were so bold for looking over and telling me that you loved me and that you were born to meet me even though we'd only known each other for a few days. I can't help but miss it."

Kaworu sighed. Shinji could picture the slightly embarrassed look on his face. He hugged him tighter. "I was rather hasty back then, wasn't I? But like I said, you were so cute. How could I resist you when you had such a sweet, little face?"

"I don't know how I resisted you either when you were as pretty as you were. Every time I thought about doing something like kissing you, I'd kick myself. I didn't think it was okay to love a boy," he mused.

"Oh, no, I could never imagine falling for a boy, no matter how precious and cuddlable he was." Kaworu kissed Shinji's cheek with a poorly repressed smile. "That would just be perverse. Boys don't love other boys, after all..."

Shinji groaned, realizing what Kaworu was getting at. He pulled back to look at him. "Oh, come on, you can't tease me for that! You kissed me in my sleep, and then started talking about how sticky love felt - of course I freaked out."

"I was a nightmare that time around," Kaworu responded, sounding shameful. "Oh, that poor cat..."

"Listen," Shinji soothed, "I'm sure that cat lived a full, happy life in every other universe. But anyway, I kinda get why you were so annoyed back then. I mean, I acted like I hated you, but I still hung around with you anyway. It was probably confusing."

"You can't imagine how frustrated I was; not that it was justified, of course, I did overstep a lot of boundaries. I just wanted to know what your face looked like when you weren't sneering at me. I thought you'd have a pretty smile." He leaned a little closer to whisper, "And I was right. You have the most glowing smile I have ever seen."

"You do too," Shinji murmured back, holding his hand again. "And I never would've admitted it back then even if my life depended on it, but I always thought you were really pretty. You always have been, every, single time..."

Humming in satisfaction, Kaworu nuzzled against Shinji's cheek. "I must say, I'm elated that you've grown so bold, my love. I would've died from euphoria if you had said that to me when we were younger."

Shinji giggled. He wondered if they were in such a nostalgic mood because of how tired they were. Late nights seemed to be the most conducive to long talks. "Sometimes I'm still surprised that someone as amazing as you chose me of all people to end up with. After all that time of being apart, a sad piece of me wondered if your feelings had moved on too. I really was convinced that's what'd happened a few years ago."

"Oh, my dear," Kaworu murmured, sad but convicted, "My feelings for you certainly changed over that time - I grew to see you as my equal, rather than revering you, but I never could've fallen out of love. We've been through far too much for that." He cupped Shinji's face, stroking his cheek lovingly. Shinji laughed internally at how pronounced the bags under Kaworu's eyes were. "And I could say it over and over again: I've never met anyone who compares to you. You are my everything."

Gently, Shinji leaned in to kiss him. They let the kiss linger, both of them yearning for contact. He murmured as their noses brushed together, "I'm so excited to settle into this place. As soon as we get back to work, we'll actually get to come home to each other."

Kaworu stroked the back of Shinji's head. "I can't wait either. You don't know how long I've fantasized about being domestic with you. No world hanging in the balance, no alien Gods, and-"

"No Evas," Shinji finished, smiling as Kaworu giggled. "Yeah, we can be normal and boring. I'll get home before you every day, and I'll cook you a nice, warm dinner."

"And I'll do the cleaning and the laundry on the weekend."

"You won't forget to wash the sheets too?" Shinji asked with an eyebrow raise.

Kaworu smirked. "No, I'll clean them too; only the most pristine, wrinkle and bacteria free bedding for my dear Shinji-kun." He continued as Shinji kissed his cheek appreciatively, "And when we're not busy with that, we can laze around and watch TV."

"Or I can listen to you recite from that new poetry book you got with my head in your lap."

Kaworu raised his eyebrows, obviously impressed by the romantic proposition. "You'd like that, would you? But Shinji-kun, I'm not sure I could ever stop reading to you, then. I'd have to read the book through ten times over just to get across how strongly I feel for you."

Shinji smirked, running his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. "Maybe not, then. There are plenty of ways you can express your love for me that don't make you lose your voice." His tone grew a little lower. "You don't even need to speak at all. There are more physical things we could do..."

Kaworu laughed teasingly into Shinji's neck. "You really are bolder, aren't you? Where did you learn to be so risqué?" he asked in a mock-scandalous voice. "But maybe we could indulge soon. It has been a few days..."

Shinji closed his eyes with a sigh. "Only if we finish unpacking by tomorrow." The little noise Kaworu let out meant that they both knew they wouldn't get the time to really relax until at least another few days. They'd have to keep working.

"But it's late anyway... we really should be getting to bed."

"Mm," Shinji assented, sleep already creeping into his brain. "I guess I'll just worry about showering in the morning."

"I suppose I will too, then." Shinji blinked up at Kaworu as he slowly stood from the cushions and offered a hand. "Let's go rest, my love."

Shinji took it, following Kaworu back to their unimpressive, box-filled room. He kneeled down on their makeshift futons, straightening out the blanket before slipping beneath it, Kaworu joining a moment after. He sighed indulgently as the ache in his back melted away slowly.

They couldn't hold each other properly when summer was in such full effect, though Kaworu still reached out his hand for Shinji's own. He really did think it was sweet how Kaworu still found it hard to resist from touching him.

"Maybe we can start with the kitchen tomorrow," Kaworu wondered sleepily. "The new dishware we bought should be arriving by then."

Weakly, Shinji nodded. He didn't mind where they started, just as long as they'd get it over with. "Whatever you want, Kaworu-kun."

Recognizing Shinji's tone, Kaworu squeezed his hand. "Goodnight, Shinji-kun. I love you."

He smiled softly as he drifted off. "Night. I love you too."

Shinji was just glad he didn't have to worry about work in the morning.