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You spin around in Casper's desk chair as you stare at the ceiling, trying to not get dizzy. Your bord out of your mind and since Casper isn't home right now you cant tease him for your own amusement. He left about an hour ago saying he would be "Back in a bit". well, technically he didn't say anything. he had left while you were sleeping and left a sticky note on his computer screen. You knew it was to meet with 5012 about the uprising you two had started even though he never talked about that with you. You could tell that no matter how much he said all this change didn't affect him it really did. You could see it in the way his eyes never met yours when you would bring it up, could hear it in the way he said "You do not have to worry about it", could feel it in the way he held on a little tighter when 5012 was around. You wished you could do something to calm him down, comfort him in some way, tell him everything would be alright, but this was an entirely different world from your own. He had just learned that he had been lied to from the start of his... life? Job? his role as a grim reaper. How could you ever understand what he was going through? better to just stay quiet and not bring it up, to not make him uncomfortable. after all, all he cared about was you being safe, and you could at least do that for him.
you stood up and looked around the room, looking for something, anything, to do. you eyed Casper's scythe leaning against the wall next to his book shelf. he had always been careful with it around you (Funny, seeing as how he was supposed to have used it against you ages ago). It was strange that he left it behind, he usually brought it with him whenever he went out so you couldn't mess with it. you had made one too many jokes about decorating it with bows and stickers and he wasn't going to take any chances. Did he forget it? That didn't seem like him. Maybe he was asked to leave it behind. Regardless, you decide to take advantage of the chance to touch it for the first time. As you grab it you find it is a lot lighter than you thought it would be. The stick is cold, almost like metal, and yet it had the texture of wood. You reach up to touch the blade... but decide against it. You have no idea how this thing works and you don't want to accidently reap your own soul, if that's even possible. you turn around and gently swing it, cutting through the air like butter. It makes you feel like a badass, but you cant help but think it would be even cooler with a red ribbon hanging off of it.
With a mischievous smile you walk to the door of his room to search for a ribbon somewhere in his house but stop in front of a full length mirror on the wall. God you looked sick as hell. you took a moment to pose with the scythe, swinging it around, putting it over your shoulder, spinning around with it. You imagined what you would be like as a grim reaper, what you would wear, how you would act, even what your reaper name would be. Casper had chosen his own name, surely you would too if you were like him. It had to be something edgy, that much was clear. You made fun of your little reaper for saying edgy stuff all the time but now that you lived with him in the actual underworld you understood that that was just part of the job description. "Sunshine", although a nickname you've gotten used to, was not fitting for a grim reaper. As you pondered on this you continued to mess with the scythe and watch the mirror.
"Damn I look cool!" you muttered to yourself as you hit a final pose in the mirror.
"You do," a deep, familiar voice said from behind. You let out a small scream in surprise and turned around to see Casper standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. He smirks at your flustered expression. "You also look like you've been caught doing something you shouldn't have been doing."
"How long have you been watching me?" you ask, voice shaking a little.
"long enough," he says bluntly, "you are very amusing to me."
"Glad your having fun," you grumble. He laughs and walks into the room, shutting the door behind him. He then grabs his scythe out of your hands and goes to lean it back against the wall where it was before.
"Not fun, just glad you didn't go through on your threats to desecrate my beloved scythe."
"Beloved?" you ask, "ok... I see how it is." You dramatically cross your arms and turn your back to him, pouting.
"How what is?" he asks, confused. "What? what is it?"
You turn back slightly, looking at his confused face. "You love the scythe more than me obviously." He rolls his eyes with a laugh.
"Sunshine, don't be ridiculous," He scoffs as he sits in his chair. "My scythe is nowhere near you on my list of priorities, Azriel on the other hand..."
"Well at least that makes sense, he's much cuter than me," You walk over to the bed and picked up Azriel, hugging him tightly to your chest as you sat down.
"Don't say that," he says, a sudden darkness in his voice. you looked up to see him slightly annoyed.
"What?"
"While Azriel is charming, he is also nowhere near your level of beauty." You felt your face heat up and you quickly hid your face behind the plush axolotl in your hands. He laughs, you hear him get up and walk over to you and then crouch down in front of the bed. "Why are you hiding now?" he asks in a low tone that twisted your stomach into knots.
You speak into Azriel at first, then realize he cant understand you, so you lift your head slightly. "Cuz you always do this to me," you whine. He reaches up and lightly grips your chin, turning your face to look at him. The butterflies in your stomach are attacking you now, threatening to rip out of your body.
"Do what?" His eyes are soft as he gazes up at you, like you're the most precious thing in his world. your face is so hot it feels like you've been sunburnt despite not touching sunlight since you came to the underworld.
"Nine hells you have no idea what you do to me Casper..." you try to turn your face away again but his hand moves to cup your cheek and pulls you back to face him. you refuse to look at him though.
"I do though, you know how I do?" he asks, "Its because you do the same to me, have from the start." his words are gentle, reminiscing, honest. You continue to stare at the floor, you wish you could hide in a cave and not be perceived forever. You turn your face away as much as you can with his hand still on your cheek. "Why are you still trying to hide your face?"
"Because you're making my face all red, its embarrassing," you mumble.
"I happen to like that shade on you, it complements your cute face." you shut your eyes tight, trying to calm down. "Look at me," he says quietly. You do, slowly opening your eyes to meet his. You've always loved that shade of red. His eyes slowly drift from your eyes to your lips then back up in a way that makes you feel like you're gonna pass out. "There you are, Sunshine."
You laugh to fill the silence left by how stunned you are, shoving Azriel in his face and standing up. "Shut up!" You shout teasingly as you make your way to the door. He follows you out into the hall.
"What?" he asks, "did I say something wrong?"
"No," you yell over your shoulder as you walk into the kitchen. You hadn't eaten since he left and were waiting on him to make breakfast.
"Then why needlessly toss Azriel aside?" He comes up behind you as you're reaching up to grab something out of the cabinets, putting his hands on either side of the counter in front of you, trapping you. You try your best to control your breathing as you shut the cabinet and turn to face him.
"Because its to early for this shit, Casper. Can I at least make breakfast before you make my heart do backflips?" You deadpan, crossing your arms. He considers that for a second, then smirks. he leans down so his mouth grazes your ear.
"No," he says simply. The butterflies in your stomach have all but torn you in half as he raises his hand to cup the other side of your face as he presses a gentle kiss into your cheek. he then lets go and cheerfully starts gathering ingredients for breakfast like nothing had just happened. like you aren't standing against the counter with a face as red as his eyes and your heart beating out of your chest. "How do you like your eggs?" He asks casually.
"Oh hell no!" You shout making your way over to him. He looks down at you with a cocky smile that makes your knees weak.
"What? Still too early?" He asks. You cross your arms. He focuses on the food as he continues talking, mainly to himself, "Technically, there Isn't really a day and night cycle here, so it all depends on when we sleep, which I suppose would mean its pretty early for..."
"You cant just tease me like that and act like nothing happened," You grumble. He shrugs, turning back to the food in front of him.
"I have no idea what your talking about, mortal," he smiles to himself as he cracks eggs into a bowl. You grab the collar of his shirt and pull him down so he's facing you. He looks at you with confusion, his face slowly turning red like yours.
"kiss me for real or I'll tell 5012 about Azriel," You threaten. His eyes go wide. You had suspected that Casper was hiding Azriel from his superior and now you knew you were right. You smirk.
"You're truly a nightmare, Sunshine," He grumbles. You let out an evil little laugh.
"And you love me for it," You say, pulling him closer by the collar. He smiles, his eyes drifting to your lips as he slowly inches forward. one of his hands made its way across your side and to the small of your back, pulling you in so your pressed against him. As he gently presses his lips to yours you move your hands around his neck to card your fingers through his hair. he loved when you touched his hair and now is no different. he wrapped both his arms around your waist and holds you tighter as you play with the white strands cascading down his back. This felt nice, warm, it felt like you finally found something you didn't know you needed. You are slightly upset when he pulls away but at least your still with him. You two had gone through a lot together, There was a time you didn't think you'd ever experience anything like this with him. Back when you were hiding out in his home from the rest of the underworld all you wanted was for him to be safe. What he was doing could cost him his job, and for that matter his life. But now here you both were, holding each other in his kitchen, at an undetermined time of day, the city light coming through the window framing the starless sky. You burry your face into his neck and he runs a hand through your hair.
"Are you happy now, Sunshine?" he asks, softly. you smile as you breath him in, enjoying the moment. The truth was that you had never been so content in your life.
"I love you," you say back. He breaths out a laugh and presses a kiss into the top of your head, stroking your hair. It was clear he shared your contentment.