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As the sun beat down on the rocks by the bay, Hajime was becoming more and more distracted. Komaeda was busy trying to count out the lines on hermit crab shells. The way his lips dipped inward, the gentle breeze that ruffled his hair now and then, Hajime watched enthralled as Komaeda's fingers ran across the smooth underside of each shell.
Komaeda was a bit too appealing. Hajime sometimes found it difficult to bear. The tip of his nose was slant, endearingly so if you asked Hinata. With a neck that was a bit too long, a bit too perfect, a neck that begged to be bitten.
“Isn’t that right Hajime?”
“I’m sorry?” Hajime blinked hard, he’d been zoning out again.
Komaeda smiled kindly, “I said seashells can be worn for protection. Don’t your people often give them as gifts?”
Hinata averted his eyes while taking a small breath of air, “Well sure, sometimes. Although they tend to have a lot of different meanings depending on the shell.”
Komaeda picked up a shell from behind the rocks his tentacles were coiled on, Hajime really hoped this wasn't leading where he suspected it might.
“Scallops protect travelers, turtle shells represent longevity. It’s kind of a long list.” the implied tone of 'please don't make me recite it' followed.
A few of Komaeda's long peuce tendrils were moving on there own, bringing him closer to where Hajime was settled on the sand. “Oh really? So let me ask you this Hajime, have you ever dabbled in divination?”
Hajime’s eyes widened slightly, “Can’t say that I have.”
Komaeda’s eyes lit up, “Oh really?” One of his tentacles snapped in excitement.
"Because recently I learned how. Do you want to learn?" Komaeda's eyes seemed to simmer with excitement.
Hinata's brow furrowed in thought, this didn't sound like hobby Komaeda would normally be interested in. He picked at one of his lose scales, shades of smokey charcoal shimmering in the late afternoon sun. "What exactly would we be divining for?"
"Love of course." Komaeda stated, no hint of shame coloring his voice. His delicate fingers traced a pattern in the sand, now fully seated next to Hajime.
Hinata repressed the urge to scoot away, settling for a minor twitch of his hand. "Why?"
Komaeda's smile was small, "It's one of the first things that comes to mind. Love. It's a funny word." Komaeda hummed seeing the confusion on Hajime's face. "Say it enough times and it sounds like a machine working really hard, all of it’s gears turning rhythmically. Yet, never losing itself. You can always hear every syllable."
"Love, Love, Love, Love, Love, Love." Komaeda chortled.
Hajime's brows furrowed in response, it sounded cryptic.
"A message that's always repeated over and over again. Every where that you turn, Hajime-kun." Komaeda's attempts to explain didn't seem to be getting through. "Love is a like a curse. Yet it's also the cure, it's like hope, in it's own way." Komaeda sighed. "You can un-clench your jaw, Hinata-kun. We don't have to..."
Hinata opened his mouth slightly, he hadn't realized, "If it's that important to you," adjusting himself he replied, "what kind of question do you have in mind?"
"Hm, maybe something like, when will Hinata-kun finally kiss me?" Hajime jolted at this, curling his fingers into the sand below.
"I-"
"Or maybe, when will he realize it was a mistake?"
"wha-"
"There's plenty of people that willingly let themselves venture into pits of despair Hinata-kun. And it isn’t until they've touched it, or rather been smacked in face with it. That when love, like a toxic virus, sinks into them all too quickly. Do these poor souls try with all their might to claw their way out of its pits. Some to no avail, some even die." Komaeda grinned griping the shell in his hand tighter.
Hajime chose to look away, Komaeda was always like this. Biting his lower lip, he huffed out a single laugh.
It was ludicrous. Comical because it was so unbelievably dark, all you could do was laugh. A dirty black humor that Komaeda was using to cover his insecurity.
"Komaeda come here." Hajime extended his hand, palm now covering the hand Komaeda gripped the shell in.
"Are you going to comfort me Hinata-kun?"
"What could I possibly say to change your mind once it's set?" Hinata conceded, he took a soothing breath. He leaned into Komaeda, arms working themselves around his waist. The octopi in question seemed to relax into the embrace a bit, hand still loosely wrapped around his shell.
"If you don't have any objections, I'd like to kiss you." Hajime's own tail slapped against the wet sand, almost impatiently.
Komaeda's eyes widened comically, as if he hadn't been expecting such a response. "But we, haven't..." Komaeda trailed off.
"Seeing as you've already made your own prediction, I don't think we'll be needing the shells."
Komaeda looked away, his curling tentacles highlighting his embarrassment. "Besides, I've already decided." Hinata traced his finger tips along the tentacle closest to him, trying to catch Komaeda's eyes. "I'm just going to keep chasing you, no matter how you try to push me away."
"That sounds like a challenge." Komaeda retorted, facing Hajime head on now.
"One to last a life time." Hinata leaned in for a kiss.
Swiftly, one of Komaeda's tentacles was slapped against his face. "Hm!" A few more wrapped around his arm and hip. They squeezed him gently, preciously. Hinata tried to look at his face but Komaeda had his face buried in his hands.
"Awr uo brashing?"
"Of course not. I'm just...I just needed a minute."
'but I can’t kiss you like this.' Hinata mumbles from beneath the tentacle wrapped around his mouth.
"You never considered the possibility, that despite the circumstances, maybe I wanted to be the one to kiss you? I mean, I am the one who expected it after all."
He peeled the offending appendage from Hinata’s face, who immediately glared. “Now I have suction cup marks all over my face.” Komaeda let out a chuckle, “I know, they look great on you.” And gently kissed the aforementioned marks.
Hinata couldn’t help but roll his eyes as Komaeda did as he pleased. He was tempted to go back to examining the earlier topic, but found it impossible while he was being distracted. Instead he settled for weaving his fingers into thick tendrils of white.
Komaeda rubbed his chest tenderly, fingers tracing over his pectorals and down his sides. Hinata sighed, relaxing into his embrace.
“Komaeda?” Hinata nuzzled his hair line as Komaeda began to kiss his collarbones.
“Hmn?”
"I really meant what I said." Komaeda stuttered in his motions.
Hajime took the opportunity, pushing the other up against the sand, leaning his weight on him. One stout tentacle wrapped itself firmly around Hinata's tail, he could feel the individual suction cups cling to his scales.
"If that's the truth, I'll need more convincing." Hajime's heart jumped to attention, he swallowed it. Komaeda looked willing underneath him. He wasn't trying to escape anyone's feelings. He met Hajime's eyes head on, not a challenge but a question.
Komaeda looked calm and Hinata realized just how close he was to those pretty lips he'd been admiring earlier. Pressing forward in that moment, he was more than a little anxious. Whether it was just hanging out or trying to accomplish something, the only time he really understood Komaeda was when he was looking him straight in the eye. Even then there was a lot of guesswork to be done. Komaeda was thinking a lot of the time they spent together. Always reaching for new heights of understanding even if his conclusions often left Hinata bewildered. He hoped that Komaeda would understand the strength of his feelings in this moment. He hoped, in this moment he could get them across.
He ghosted his lips over Komaeda's, whom insistently pressed forward, closing the would-be gap. Hajime hummed into the kiss, content just to be so utterly and literally wrapped up in Komaeda. He felt insanely happy, he moved his forearms to cradle Komaeda's head. Their chests pressed together as he adjusted his lips to the kiss. It was chaste, their lips nudging at one another, moving gently across the surface.
Embarrassingly enough, Hajime felt his chest fill with a mix of emotions, some of which brought a warm wet feeling to his eyes. His lips stilled, stubbornly staying connected to the face in front of his own. He pulled back a centimeter, just enough so he could still feel lips brush against his own as he spoke.
"No matter what the future holds, right now we're here together." he whispered, low enough that he was sure only Komaeda could hear him. He wanted it to be a sort of spell, that only Komaeda could hear. Said merman was looking thoroughly debauched from such an innocent kiss. His head seemed to be swimming as his complexion flushed.
"What's the matter, merman got your tongue?" Hinata smirked, suddenly overcome with a giddy sensation swelling up from his stomach. His smile spread as Komaeda closed his eyes and gripped him a little tighter.
"If you die while in love with me, technically you can never stop loving me." Komaeda seemed to be muttering more to himself than to Hajime. Nevertheless it seemed like Hajime got his feeling across, albeit somewhat.
"Don't write me off, I plan on dying old, curled up next to you."
"There's no way I could be that lucky."
"Huh, contradictory much?" He smiled as he felt Komaeda curl up against him in the sand.
They both watched as the sun crept towards the horizon, between their hands clasped was a particularly lucky hermit crab shell. As they gently cradled this moment between them, the future did look exceptionally bright.