Chapter Text
When Xavier was nine, he heard the whispers from the group of rambunctious drunks his father was serving drinks to.
“The royal family was slaugh–.”
“Even the knights…”
“It was a man.”
“Wings.”
“It’s a blessing from the stars.”
Silence entered the tavern at the last whisper.
Blessings. Xavier thinks it's an odd word to describe the ludicrous whims of a God. He doesn't wait for the noise to make a return, immersing himself in the story laid out by the book in his hands.
—
I hate the sun.
It is the first coherent thought that surfaces in Hiro’s mind when he wakes up to the blinding ray of light from the open window. He carefully moves his body to the other side of the bed in an attempt to escape the harsh light.
The light was still burning his face. Hiro lets out a sigh as he peels the blanket from his body and moves to sit upright before standing up and walking towards the bathroom. Turning on the faucet, he cupped his hands together to catch the flowing water, splashing his face with it to clean himself of any filth that may have clung after a night’s sleep. Hiro mulled over his choice to get up, he should've gone back to sleep. He blamed it on the sun. It was always the sun.
Hiro broke out of his thoughts when he heard his name get called, exiting the bathroom in favour of following the sound. Striding to the bedroom door, he grabbed the knob, turning it over before flinging it open. On the outer side, Leo looked surprised at the abrupt opening, hand seemingly poised to grab the knob if Hiro hadn't flung it out of his reach.
Leo flicked his gaze to peer into the open room, eyes softening at the tired face of his partner. “Morning, Xav. Want to eat?”
At Hiro’s blank stare, Leo made an adorable laugh before quickly peppering Hiro’s cheek with soft kisses until the frown ran away from his face. “I made omelets. Eggs from the market, fillings from our garden.”
Squinting his eyes at him, Hiro tilted his head. “We should get chickens.”
Tangling their hands together, Leo led them to the living room, two plates with the promised omelets on the table. “Maybe after winter, we'll revisit this topic, alright?”
Sitting down, Hiro nodded his head, reaching for the cutlery to scarf down his omelet. He recognized the taste of tomatoes, mushrooms and onions. If Hiro was a wolf, he'd be whining for Leo to drop the omelet, even just the crumbs would satisfy him.
“I want a second name.”
“Leonis.” Knowing that Leo would question him, Hiro tacks on, “I didn't add a –nis to your name. When you introduced yourself as Leo, I thought it was a shorter version of Leonis. Leo is either a reference to the constellation or the animal. It wasn't far-fetched of me to come to that conclusion, given that Leonis is the brightest star in the constellation Leo.”
“I see you've been preparing for that question.” Leo meant it as a teasing remark, but came out as a questioning statement.
“Your name is one of many to take place in the corners of my mind. Why the interest?”
Leo sounded a hum. “You, actually. You refer to yourself as ‘Hiro’, but you're ‘Xavier’ to me. I know your friend gave it to you, but you never told the story behind it.”
Hiro swallowed the last of the omelet. “There was this child who explicitly called me his hero. He would pout if I didn't respond to it. When he passed, I settled with ‘Hiro’ as my other name.”
A playful smile made its way on Leo’s face, but Hiro didn't miss the glimpse of sadness that escaped. “It is pretentious to name yourself ‘Hero’.”
Leo got a shove for that. Hiro silently agrees, he wouldn't respect someone who's name is ‘Hero’. The name is a disaster waiting to happen. “He was a good child, it would have been a great loss to let him die.”
A hand ran through his hair, feeling another one snaking on its back, both squeezing him tightly. A hug. A shuddering breath spills out Hiro’s mouth, arms grasping at Leo to hold him closer. It wasn't enough. There was still space between them. Hiro tightened his grip, heart jackhammering in his chest. Hugs were scarce back then, but Hiro didn't have a Leo back then, too.
“You know, Xavier sounds like saviour.”
Hiro felt his body tense up, his mind surfacing out of that hazy state, scrambling to make sense of Leo’s words. “You noticed that too, huh?” He rolled his eyes, perching his head on Leo’s shoulder, the tension slowly seeping out. “Well, if you had a speech impediment, Xavier would sound like saviour.”
Looking out the window, Hiro saw the sun in the middle of the sky. Excitement spread throughout his body. Mid-day is the usual time for Hiro to tend to their small farm. Stealing one last hug from Leo, he dashed out the cabin, snatching the sunhat off their tall potted plant before Leo could remind him to. Hiro approached the potatoes first. Those were his firstborns, after all.
The soil surrounding the potatoes seemed…disturbed? Hiro did a dramatic gasp.
No! It can't be! How is evil still running amok?
Hiro carefully grabbed the foliage of a potato, feeling his heart drop to his stomach as it gave no resistance at his meager pull. Just as he feared, a bite-marked potato! It was a bad omen. A sign of a great evil lurking. Pulling out the two more potatoes, Hiro let out a sigh of relief at the sight of their bodies still intact. It seems that their potato farm was a recent discovery for the monster. A gentle ruffle of his hair interrupted his scheming.
“Oh. What's all this?”
“Leo! Our farm is being attacked! This is definitely the work of an ugly gopher. Disgusting underground animals. They should've been eradicated!” There is no word that offers a semblance of the utter monstrosity a gopher possesses. Hiro shudders at the imagery of their smirking little faces.
Leo continues to pet his hair. “Gophers? That's adorable!”
“They're savages.” Hiro pointed at the poor potato, looking very sad and alone on the dirt, having its innocence stolen by a horrendous creature. “Look at what they're doing to my children—our food supply, Leo!”
Rolling his eyes, Leo placed two boops on Hiro’s nose. “They're just hungry, Xav. Let them have a few potatoes, we have plenty to go around.”
Narrowing his eyes, Hiro grasps the offending hand. “Don't have children, Leo. Why are you even defending them? Are you secretly part-gopher? I can't be with an evil thieving little rat!” Throwing his hands up, he continued, “They're invasive, too. Right now, it's just a few potatoes, but tomorrow, it'll be many, until we have nothing left. They're going to kill us.” Releasing his hold on Leo’s hand, Hiro began to stalk off towards the cabin without waiting for another retort. “I already have a plan. I won't let us become victims of famine, Leo!”
Hiro chose to ignore the alarmed ‘famine?’ from Leo. Fastening his pace, he arrives at the basement. Dumping out the stack of books inside the box he found hiding in the corner, cutting off a string of yarn from an abandoned scarf project, and grabbing the two sticks that were once used as canes, Hiro now had everything he needed to stomp on the rat’s happiness. Skipping out of the cabin with his materials, Hiro saw Leo opening his arms for a hug, immediately leaping for it, never one for refusing affection. The hug they shared was warm, but the desire to make the rat meet its demise burns brighter.
Breaking out of the hug, Hiro snatched one of the sticks first, looping the yarn around it to make a knot, then pushed it down the soil until it could stand on its own. He hoisted the box up by placing it on the upper part of the stick, breaking open the three previously pulled potatoes and scattering them under the box. He tied the other end of the string to the other stick, completing his masterpiece.
“Xav.”
“Leo.” Hiro smiled at Leo’s raised eyebrow. “There's no reason to be extravagant; if it works, it works, and trust me, this will work. We just need to be fast. Plus, it's a rat. Are you saying it deserves a war strategist pulling on its tail?”
“It's a box.”
“A box with a stick tied with another stick. Genius, right?”
Leo scrunched his nose. “Didn't you say it's an underground animal? If the box falls, wouldn't it just burrow under?”
“That's why I said we need to be fast. When we see the rat, we pull the string, then the rat is going to be confused, that's when we strike. We use the box to scoop up the rat, close it, and ship it off with a ‘throw this overboard’ note attached.” Hiro elaborated, motioning his body to dramatically act out every step. He received a gentle pinch on his nose for the trouble.
“I think the gopher would prefer the war strategist.”
“Too bad, he's retired now.” Hiro stuck his tongue out while crossing his arms, throwing his head to face the other way in a poor imitation of a haughty child.
It's a waiting game now.
Laying down next to him, Leo rests his head on Hiro’s lap. “Do you think we would've met if the war didn't happen?”
Hiro tilted his head. “No.” He paused before letting out a huff of air. “We…we were very young and were placed on the war front while those cowards who waged the war sat comfortably in their ivory towers, going back to their family, living in a pretty house with a pretty garden.” Hiro laced their fingers together, blinking slowly before continuing, “It shouldn't have happened, Leo, but it did, and we're here now, but I would never want for it to happen again, even at the price of not knowing your existence.” He squeezed their hands together, getting a gentle squeeze back in return.
Leo brought their tangled hands to his lips, giving cascading kisses to the back of Hiro’s hand. “Mhm. I am sorry, Xavier. I would have wanted to meet you, still.”
Hiro felt a tingling sensation at Leo’s hot breath. “You love me that much?”
Stopping his kisses to look at Hiro’s eyes, Leo let a smile grace his lips, vision narrowing as it widens to its limit. “What do you even know?”
Hiro averted his gaze to stare at the potatoes instead. “I wish you could've met me before the war. My love was endless back then.”
A short laugh was pulled out of Leo. “You wouldn't have even tolerated me, much less love.”
“No, that's the thing. I would've loved you even if you were the rudest, noisiest, selfish little brat ever to exist,” Hiro took in a breath. “Love is very self-sufficient. I didn't need a reason to love, I would do it just because. Love should replace magic in that one saying, ‘no one walks…’, something something.”
Leo heaves himself up, amusement shining in his eyes. “No one walks through this world untouched by magic?”
“Yes! It's weird, isn't it? Probably because magic has three syllables and nobody likes odd numbers. No, no, think about it. Love makes more sense. No one walks through this world untouched by love. It sounds…better—gooder.”
Hiro felt a hand come up to one side of his head, guiding him to face Leo. Another hand joins on the other side, thumbs drawing soothing little circles. Hiro feels his smile widen as he stares back at the heart in the eyes of his friend. “You are the last person I'll love.”
Leo places a gentle kiss on the top of Hiro’s hair. “Well met, a star shines upon the hour of our meeting.”
“My jaw hurts, you make me smile way too much.” Hiro leaned in closer, placing his face in the crook of Leo’s neck, the sight before him turned his face impassive. “The potatoes are gone, Leo.”
—
Suffice to say, Hiro failed the plan.
It wasn't that they got outsmarted by the rat, it was the lack of preparation and resources to build a good trap that squandered Hiro’s chance to successfully catch the thief. Let it be known that Hiro was merciful, even towards the greatest of evils.
Hiro nodded his head at the sound logic. The sun was beginning to dive under the ocean, prompting Leo to usher them both back inside. Hiro was grateful that dinner was not a staple in their routine, allowing them to retire early most nights. His back certainly begged for as much rest as possible, grimacing at the thought of only being twenty-six yet already having back pain. Satisfied with his final survey of their little farm garden, he went inside. Hiro quietly observed Leo fluttering around the cabin, closing the windows, pulling the drapes together and locking the doors. Wouldn't want any strays to enter, eating their potatoes, tipping the water jug over, just overall being a very rude visitor, right, Larry?
Shaking his head, Hiro went upstairs, stopping on the fourth step, “Leo-leo, I'm going to wash up first,” Continuing his climb on the stairs once he hears Leo’s hum. By the time Hiro finished his nightly ablution, he already had a welcomed guest on his bed. A shame that his guest was already snoring softly. Hiro slowly walked towards the lamp to switch it off, laying down on the other unoccupied side, once the moon had remained as the only source of light.
I wouldn't mind if this is the day I get stuck in a time loop.
Laughter bubbles out of his throat at the thought, leaning down to press a soft kiss on Leo’s cheek while intertwining their hands together, Hiro lets his mind wander.
This is what Hiro has been longing for. A quiet life. One where he can just exist, spending his waking moments doing and thinking of nothing. Besides, only those who are blessed can maintain their grip on a grandeur life. It's truly fitting, Hiro thinks. A simple life for a simple man. What a waste that would be to crave for more.
—
This is no such story.
Desist.