"Katsuki. Hey, love—wake up. It's moving day."

It didn't take long for Katsuki to realize the weird whispering of the tree in his dream that sounded vaguely like his husband wasn't, in fact, the damn tree. It was his husband, murmuring right in his ear, warm breath tickling his skin and a steady hand gently rubbing up and down his bare arm trying to coax him back into consciousness. An involuntary groan vibrated in his throat and, without even opening his eyes, Katsuki curled forward, his forehead meeting Eijirou's steady chest. His arm—the one that wasn't smushed between them—stretched around the other's waist.

"Aw c'mon babe," Eijirou murmured, though even his voice was thick with sleep. "We gotta get up and start packing."

"Fuck off," Katsuki grumbled. "'S too damn early."

Eijirou sighed a breath of warm air, head tucking down towards Katsuki's. "I know it is," he agreed. "But the sooner we get packed, the sooner we can move, and the sooner you can start sleeping in a king bed for as long as you want."

Katsuki groaned again, but this time he managed to peel his eyes open and lift his head. "Why'd I have to marry someone so goddamn rational?" he said.

"One of us has to do it," said Eijirou with a grin.

"Ugh." Katsuki rolled onto his back, stretched out his arms, squinted as the sunlight was shining through their stupidly thin curtains. "Let me at least eat and get some damn coffee in me first."

"Can do," Eijirou agreed.

Breakfast consisted of buttered bagels sprinkled with cinnamon and piping hot coffee, in spite of the warm late spring weather. They ate at the counter, gazing out the back glass door that didn't give way to much of a view, unless you could consider another building just across the walkway a 'view'.

"'S hard to believe this is our last breakfast in this apartment," Eijirou murmured as he absently brushed bagel crumbs off onto his sweats.

"Yeah, thank fuck," Katsuki said, eliciting a grin from the other. Eijirou knew apartment living wasn't exactly Katsuki's cup of tea, that the fact that they were moving back into his mom's house—er, their new house—was in part because of Katsuki himself. But to Eijirou it was bittersweet. It was their first apartment together, their first place of their very own. The place they lived through so much, even in as short a time as four years was.

But even Katsuki was nursing his cup of coffee slower than usual, savoring the moment. The walls were thin, the windows cheap, so he could still hear the buzzing of cars going past on the main road every so often. Could hear neighbor kids already up and playing. These were sounds he was used to. Sounds he'd grown accustomed to, learned to let fade into the background as he went about his day. It wasn't that he'd exactly miss them, but it'd definitely be interesting having to adjust to the quiet.

After breakfast was cleaned up the two shuffled around getting dressed and ready, though they remained in raggy clothes knowing digging through closets of things to start sorting and packing into boxes would result in dust, and a lot of it. Eijirou pulled his hair up into some semblance of a bun—its length was halfway down his back, after all—while Katsuki merely slapped some cold water on his face to wake up, and then they got to work.

"Ah man," Eijirou mumbled, scratching the back of his head as the two stood in front of their open closet. "How'd we let it get so bad? It's only been four years."

"Guess it's easy to collect a lotta crap in four years," Katsuki said, shaking his head at the floor to ceiling mess before he started digging in, going for the few things that would be the least likely to cause a fucking avalanche of shit once pulled out.

"We didn't really get rid of much when we moved out of Mom's, huh?" Eijirou hummed, studying an old stray sketchbook that only had a few mediocre sketches in the first few pages. "What a mistake."

Katsuki tugged the sketchbook from Eijirou's hands just as he was turning to toss it into the trash can. "The hell do you think you're doing with that?"

"It's got like three sketches in it," Eijirou reasoned. "And not good ones, and they're old. Plus the paper is wrinkled and yellow so I won't use it—"

"I don't care. We're not throwing your art away." As gently as Katsuki could be, he laid it on the foot of the bed and turned back toward the closet, unaware of the ghost of a smile on Eijirou's lips.

Katsuki's unwillingness to let Eijirou scrap any of his art or throw it away wasn't anything new, though it was becoming more and more rare. Eijirou knew it was because of the writing class he took during his early college days, before he'd even transferred to a university and took almost exclusively art classes. One piece of advice—and probably the only thing Eijirou remembered from that entire semester, if he was being honest—the professor gave was to never throw away any writing. "It could be useful someday and, if nothing else, it's something you can look back on and see the improvement you've made since."

Katsuki never let him scribble on a drawing since.

"He was talking about writing, babe."

"So? Writing's a form of art or whatever, right? Why can't it be about art too?"

He never admitted it out loud, but it was a little irritating at first to Eijirou. Katsuki wasn't really an artist himself, so he couldn't blame him for being unable to understand the feeling of 'this shit isn't going right, fuck it' while in the middle of an art piece. There was even once when Eijirou had scribbled over a sketch, and the next day he'd found the same damn one on the kitchen table with all of the scribbles meticulously erased. He ended up using that exact drawing as a reference to something else, even if it was a year or so later, and that piece was showcased in his college's art show, winning third place in a contest for best composition. Figured, but yeah, he definitely thanked Katsuki. A lot. (He'd gotten really good at refraining from rolling his eyes whenever Katsuki brought it up again, too.)

As it turned out, there was quite a bit of Eijirou's art stuffed into that closet, most of it unfinished paintings or old sketchbooks. Katsuki continued to stack them all without a single word. Eijirou merely handed them over and let him do it, a bubble of gratitude in his chest.

⚜️

"...shit," Katsuki murmured a few hours later when there were several boxes packed and stacked up around them, the closet half empty to the point where they could sit and still pull things down from the top of the pile.

"Hm?" Eijirou looked up from an old math folder he found from high school that never got thrown away to see Katsuki holding a small ziplock bag, which he held up. Inside of it were black rings and studs of sorts, a dozen or so in total. "Oh wow," he murmured, grinning.

"Did I really wear this much fucking jewelry?"

"Yup," Eijirou said, holding his hand out, studying the jewelry once it was placed in his palm. "Four in your lip, and I don't even know how many in your ears."

"Didn't think I was some damn emo kid," Katsuki mused.

"Nah, you weren't. They definitely suited you back then, but the minimal look suits you better now. 'S just how life goes," Eijirou said with a light shrug.

Katsuki had taken out three of his lip piercings when he decided they 'got in the way' too much, especially during their more intimate moments. It happened only a few months or so after he moved in with Eijirou and his mom. He kept one, saying he'd feel too damn naked without at least one, and never really bothered to remove it since. An infection in one of his ears resulted in a few of the others to come out, and then a few more when he'd simply decided he'd grown out of them. He was left with the lip, his tongue (Eijirou's favorite, and he wasn't afraid to admit it), and three in each ear total, even if they were different. Even the eyebrow piercing had come out when his body was beginning to reject it; to save himself from dealing with having a more prominent scar than he already would, he took it out, and in the bag with the rest of his jewelry it went.

"Still think I look naked?" Katsuki asked with an amused huff, tossing the little bag into the trash. No use keeping it, he figured; he wasn't planning on reusing the jewelry, even on the off chance he decided to get more piercings again.

Eijirou snorted a laugh as well. "Nah. That went away after, like, a week."

Because he had. Eijirou was so used to Katsuki with all of his piercings in—that's how he'd been when they met, after all—that when they came out (the lip piercings especially) he almost didn't even look like... Katsuki. He looked older somehow, too, and the first thing that had come out of his mouth when Katsuki tugged the metal out of his face was, "You look naked." (The most awkward part about that was the fact that he was naked when it happened, and it took months for Katsuki to let him live that down.)

Not long after moving in with Eijirou's mom, Katsuki managed to talk him into getting a few piercings of his own. Only in his ears, Eijirou insisted, and starting with the lobes. He wasn't the biggest fan of needles, but after the first two piercings were done he was hooked. A tragus, double helix, and rook later, he had to will himself to stop. Sleeping was hard; he was used to sleeping on his ears, but it was tricky with healing piercings. "Worth it," he'd said about a million times, not that Katsuki was counting.

Katsuki talked him into tattoos, too, although that was much easier.

"How come I didn't have to bug you for a month?" he'd asked as they were waiting in the small lobby-like area of Katsuki's preferred tattoo shop, waiting to be called.

"'Cause I'm already used to the needles, and this is art, man."

Needless to say, after the first, Eijirou was more than ecstatic to start creating his own tattoo designs. Katsuki even helped him play around with the idea of becoming an apprentice, but in the midst of that he was just transferring to university and ready to pursue a career in illustration. His heart was set, so he settled for designing just their tattoos and chasing what he was after to begin with. Katsuki never said it, but he was proud.

⚜️

Amongst all of the junk in the closet, most of which was either being thrown away or stuffed in bags to be donated, was a book of old-fashioned polaroids, though the photos themselves weren't all that old. Eijirou's mom had found the camera at a pawn shop and gave it to Eijirou as a birthday present, and he used the thing until it was too worn out to work anymore. The photos were hole punched and bound together on a silver ring; the stack was novel-sized.

"Damn, I forgot about these," Katsuki said as he thumbed through them quickly.

"I was wondering where they were," Eijirou said, leaning over to get a better look. "I wish the camera hadn't broke. I'd have tons more of these."

"Just use your phone, weirdo."

"'S not the same, man. These can't be deleted, so even the really shitty ones are still in here."

Most of the pictures were random and didn't tell much of a story. A lot of them included themselves and their friends; a few of Eijirou's mom, maybe half a dozen or so during the holidays when Katsuki was with them. They were only taken within a year of graduation, and though it hadn't even been a decade since then, so many memories came rushing back.

Katsuki working at Sero's restaurant. Mina still only an intern at her wildlife preservation center where she was now working her way up the food chain, well on her way into the career. Before Kaminari and Jirou broke up and had their year-long break before they got back together and were stronger than ever. When Eijirou was still working on skateboard commissions to make his money before starting college.

It put smiles on their faces. They were glad for these photos, and Eijirou made sure to put them in a box where they would make the move safely.

When the bedroom closet was done, a solid three hours later, they spared ten minutes for a break before starting to slide things out from under their bed where they were forced to utilize as storage because of the tiny one-bedroom apartment with a whole two closets, one being for linens. The first thing they found, laying on top of everything else, were two long black leather-like bags (faux, or Mina would've killed them) with zippers running down the front. Eijirou's face broke out into an immediate smile when he saw them, and he wasted no time sliding his arms underneath them and lifting them onto the bed.

"'S only been like six months since we've seen these but it feels so much longer somehow," he murmured.

"Fuck, yeah," Katsuki agreed, sitting next to him. "We seriously been married that long, though? Six months?"

Eijirou nodded, gently tugging the zipper of the first one downward. He had to agree that the last six months simultaneously felt like the longest and shortest amount of time. Sure, he and Katsuki had been together for almost six years at that point without a single lapse regardless of arguments or disagreements, but he'd felt... married longer than that, strangely enough. After all, the two lived together since they were eighteen. Katsuki was going on twenty-five and not once since had they lived apart. They stayed at Eijirou's mom's for nearly two years before Katsuki's two jobs, between bussing at Sero's and working the front desk at a mechanic shop (hoping at that point it might take him somewhere—which it did), and Eijirou's work study allowed them to find a place of their own. They'd been in the apartment ever since for nearly four years now.

And yet they could both remember the wedding like it was last week.

It was... complicated, getting there at first. It started with Eijirou waking up from a dream where they never got married, where they actually broke up. It scared him so badly that it had the opposite effect by making him think about marriage. They hadn't talked too much about it before; they never really needed to. They knew they'd be together and stay together as long as it made sense, as long as they wanted to be, as long as they were still in love. None of that had changed.

Eijirou's mom was the first one he talked to, naturally. Aside from Katsuki himself she was his best friend at that point; he still spoke to his other friends, but it was infrequent. They all had their own lives, their own schedules. He was close to his mom and she had life experience, so he told her about his dream and how it made him feel. Naturally, she reassured him.

"Is it... weird that this makes me kinda, uh, want to get married?" he'd asked.

"Not at all," she said with a smile, her eyes glossy.

"Do you think I should?" He'd asked the question timidly, and she'd laughed.

"That's up to you, my dear. If you think you're ready to take that step—and by 'you' I mean both of you—there's no reason not to. But if not, there's also no need to rush into anything because of one silly dream. Sleep on it for a while. Don't make any rash decisions. If you still feel this way in a week or so, I think you'll know what you should do."

Needless to say, the feeling never went away. It never so much as faded. Hell, Eijirou was pretty sure it was getting stronger. He found himself distracted as he worked on homework (which figured, because finals were coming up and he still had a project he needed to finish; it was his second to last semester, and then he knew he'd have to start looking for jobs in illustration for advertisements or maybe even children's books, and he'd keep freelancing on the side because he genuinely enjoyed it). He kept eyeing Katsuki's hand—his left hand—trying to mentally photoshop a ring onto his finger just to see how it looked. It made him giddy.

At that point it was no longer a question of if he was going to do it, but when.

If he knew Katsuki (and he did, of course), there was no need for anything fancy or extravagant. Hell, he was pretty sure Katsuki would've been fine if he'd just asked on a normal day as they were eating breakfast or stealing some time to catch up on a few shows in the midst of their otherwise busy lives, what with work and school. But to him it was important that it wasn't just an everyday thing; it was a big deal, and he wanted it to be memorable.

"Y'know what we haven't done in a while?" he'd asked.

"Hm?"

"Gone on a date."

Katsuki's eyes flicked up. "Yeah, I guess."

"Wanna go on one?"

"What, right now?"

"No, no. Let's plan for one. Maybe next weekend or something, since we're both free for once."

"Sure. What do you wanna do?"

"Lemme surprise you."

Katsuki was skeptical, but not to the point where Eijirou thought he might be onto him. He hadn't dropped any other hints, after all. He didn't want to do or say anything that would allude to what he was really planning. He wanted it to genuinely surprise Katsuki, didn't want him to see it coming at all.

That gave Eijirou just under three days to come up with a ring, or something of the like. Katsuki wasn't big on jewelry that wasn't for his piercings or the shark tooth necklace that he never took off. With his mechanic work, even if it was just learning, he didn't want a ring or even a bracelet to get in the way or risk having it get ruined in the process. And he sure as hell didn't want it to be anything super fancy or expensive; if it was, he could already hear Katsuki chewing him out for spending too much money, and then he'd run the risk of Katsuki never actually wearing it because he was surprisingly minimalistic.

When the weekend rolled around he was antsy—not out of nerves but because he was anxious. He wanted to ask already, wanted to get an answer and start planning. He already had so many ideas; his artistic brain was running wild with hypothetical wedding ideas. It was to the point where he didn't even have the capacity left to worry that Katsuki might say no.

They ended up on the beach Saturday afternoon—the same beach Katsuki took him to years back to watch the meteor shower for their six month anniversary. It felt like so damn long ago, but the place remained virtually unchanged. This time it wasn't deserted, though, since the weather was beginning to warm up. Still, they found a corner to themselves and laid out a huge blanket to sit on with the paper bag full of food they'd picked up to go on the way.

It was after eating, wading around in the cool saltwater, Eijirou convincing Katsuki to build a sand castle, and then lying on their backs, gazing at the sky for a good half hour that he finally decided to just ask.

He'd sat up, rather abruptly, and reached for Katsuki's hand. The other poked an eye open and lifted a brow. "What?"

"Sit up for me," Eijirou said.

Katsuki did as asked. "What, Ei?"

"I just wanna ask you something, 'kay?" Internally he'd scolded himself for being so casual.

"'Kay..."

He'd sucked in a deep breath and faced Katsuki head-on. By the way Katsuki's face relaxed though his eyes widened, Eijirou could tell he'd caught on. He wasted no time.

"I don't wanna make this a huge deal 'cause I know you don't like it when I do, but I had to do something, y'know? This isn't any old date. You probably know that by now."

Okay, so he wasted some time. For some reason he couldn't get the words out.

"And since you're the best freaking friend I've ever had and the person I love the most in the entire goddamn universe, I had to make it somewhat special. You deserve it. And the whole world. And I honestly don't know what I did to deserve you or what made fate decide you should be transfered to be my roommate back in high school to start all of this, but I can't even argue. Guess I'm too selfish to. I'm just really freaking glad you feel the same way about me somehow, and—"

Katsuki's hand came up, his palm pressing gently against Eijirou's cheek to stop him. "Stop babbling like an idiot and ask me already."

The widest of smiles broke out across Eijirou's face. "Will you marry me, Katsuki?"

Katsuki's face mirrored the smile, even if it was a little more crooked. "Fuck yeah I will."

A bubble of laughter that carried across the beach escaped from Eijirou's chest before he leaned in and kissed Katsuki, hard and long and passionate for as long as he could without it getting awkward for the people who'd turned their heads at the sound of his laugh.

"I don't... really have a ring or anything..." he murmured when they pulled apart. "I tried to think of something that'd go well with your job and suit you, but I haven't figured it out yet..."

Katsuki lifted a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. "Eh. Doesn't have to be anything fancy. We should just go find something together anyway so I can get you something too."

At that point Eijirou was smiling so hard his cheeks were sore.

⚜️

Riding on cloud nine after that didn't last long, unfortunately. Plans ensued almost immediately with Eijirou spilling out all of the ideas he'd had building up for the past few weeks and they were jotted down. The first person they told was, naturally, Eijirou's mom. After the congratulations and about a million hugs, though, Eijirou couldn't help noticing the way Katsuki's face had gone blank on the ride home, his demeanor darkening.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothin'."

"Katsuki."

Katsuki huffed, turning his head to stare straight out the front window instead of the one beside him. "I'm jealous, okay?" he muttered.

"Of what?"

"You. Your mom. Your relationship with her. All that dumb shit."

"Oh..."

Yeah, Eijirou got it. Easily. And he hated that it left a heaviness in his chest.

Katsuki hadn't talked to his parents in years at that point. After he moved out they only tried to reach out to him once, but when he realized it was the same old shit, he blocked their numbers, changed his, and hadn't bothered to try and talk to them again.

Eijirou could only sympathize, admittedly, but he did so hard. He couldn't imagine not having his mom in his life, let alone being on bad terms with her. Katsuki's relationship with his parents—his family in general, really—was a far cry from Eijirou's, but still.

A lot of talking about it ensued after that in between the wedding planning and tossing ideas around amongst themselves and their friends—once they knew, obviously. For weeks Katsuki remained conflicted. Sometimes he claimed not to give a fuck, that if they didn't want to be involved from the get go and were bigoted and ignorant enough to shut him out of their lives because of his relationship, they didn't deserve to know about the wedding.

But other times, no matter how hard he tried to mask it, Eijirou knew he was upset about it under the surface, that he wanted to tell his parents he was getting married, that it was important enough to him to want them to be involved. It was especially obvious when they were talking to or about Eijirou's mom and the role she would play.

"She's basically your mom, too," Eijirou tried to reassure him. "I mean, she's your mother-in-law. You still have a parental figure and someone who cares about you like a son who's gonna be there."

He had a feeling that wasn't really gonna work, though, and it didn't. Katsuki appreciated the sentiment, but it was hard to get past the fact that she wasn't his mom. His own parents had raised him, been there for a solid eighteen years of his life. Regardless of their shitty ideals and beliefs, there was a part of him that still loved them, still wished things could work out.

And apparently it was a bigger part than he realized, because he found himself agreeing when Eijirou offered to call them. Ei had been trying to coax him into it gently for weeks, to just give them a call and see what happened, but he kept feeling too damn chicken shit to do it.

"How would you feel if I tried to give 'em a call?"

At first Katsuki thought he was joking. He was pretty sure his parents hated Eijirou. He was the one they believed 'turned him gay' after all.

"Seriously. Even if it doesn't work, I'll... just let 'em know the news and see what they say."

"Yeah. Fine. Do... what you want," Katsuki'd mumbled before turning his attention back to the laptop in front of him.

Needless to say, Eijirou was good at reading Katsuki and picking up on the meaning lying under his words. The following afternoon, Eijirou made the call.

With their changed numbers it wasn't surprising no one answered the phone, but the voicemail greeting let him know his parents' shared cell phone number was still the correct one and he left the message, letting them know they had news they should know about, and left his number for them to call back if they wanted. By the time he hung up and set the phone down, Katsuki had the strangest of grins cocked in the corner of his lips.

"What?" Eijirou asked.

"Think they'll assumeI'm terminally ill or someshit?"

"Wha—oh shit," Eijirou whispered, pressing his hand to his mouth. "I made it sound like that, didn't I?" He was starting to scramble for his phone again but Katsuki grabbed his arm.

"Let's see if they care," Katsuki said. "Or if they're that fuckin' bigoted that they don't even care if their son is dying since he's marrying another man."

"But that's... so..." Eijirou was at a loss for words, but even he eventually backed down. Admittedly even he was curious, regardless of how dirty that was. Wasn't like Katsuki's parents hadn't done worse shit, like effectively disowning their own son...

Two days later the phone rang in the morning and woke them both up, but they both snapped to attention when Bakugou's sleepy eyes recognized the number.

It turned out to be his dad, and by the sounds of things his mom didn't even know he was calling. There was indeed an edge of worry in his tone when he greeted them but it quickly faded when he was told the real news. Masaru was open about it, less stiff than they expected, than he'd been back when shit hit the fan. He even congratulated them, and thanked them for letting them ('us', he said) know.

"So are you guys coming or what, then?" Katsuki had asked—by then the phone was on speaker. He was masking his fear with aloofness, laying back while fidgeting with a Rubik's cube.

Even Eijirou was taken aback, if just a little, by the question.

Masaru blew out a long breath. "I don't know," he said. "I'm sorry. I'd love to be there myself. I've had more than enough time to think these past several years. But your mother..."

"...is a stubborn bitch," Katsuki finished for him.

"...she's set in her ways quite a bit. I've managed to move her a little, but it's not easy trying to get through that hard exterior of her's without hitting a nerve."

"Yeah, well, don't go out of your way," Katsuki mumbled with a sarcastic edge to his voice.

They didn't hear much from Katsuki's parents for a few days after that save for a couple text messages between them and Masaru, which led to a conversation about Katsuki's skepticism. It was hard for him to believe—understandably so—that his dad had such a change of heart without having reached out to him. Eijirou made the point that their numbers were blocked, and he didn't know where they lived anymore.

"Still coulda tried harder..." Katsuki muttered. Ei had no argument for that.

In the midst of the planning and parent thing, they hadn't gotten around to getting rings, or something of the like, to celebrate and show off their relationship—not until after a night out, that was.

Eijirou had been getting tired of so much planning around work and such. He wanted a night off, and a night on the town seemed like just what they needed. They went out, had dinner, walked a nearby outdoor mall, and close to the end of the night found themselves at a small bar with live music. They opted not to drink any liquor but enjoyed juice cocktails the bartender made for them and listened to the performance. It wasn't until the band ended their set and were packing up to get off stage that things got... interesting.

Katsuki'd gotten up to make a bathroom run while Eijirou held down the table, merely sipping at what was left of his drink and passing the time on his phone when he noticed someone pulling out a chair and sinking down into it beside him. Immediately he knew it wasn't Katsuki; they moved much differently and were bigger—bulkier—than Katsuki's modestly toned and relatively lithe figure.

The person turned out to be someone Eijirou thought he vaguely recognized but couldn't place, and he wasn't modest at all with his muscular build, thick beard, and prominent facial bone structure (Eijirou was an artist, he noticed things).

The first thing out of his grinning mouth was, "Hey, what are you doing over here all by yourself?"

Eijirou would've had to have been born yesterday to not understand what was going on, and immediately he stiffened. But he was nice—sometimes maybe too nice, and he humored the guy. Though now he didn't fully remember what the man said, it was unmistakable flirting, and increasingly so. The more it went on the harder time he had politely brushing him off and couldn't find a good time to interject that he was engaged.

Not until Katsuki's rather... obnoxious return, that was. Eijirou hadn't noticed in the midst of his awkward encounter, but Katsuki picked up on what was happening from across the bar. He didn't even need to hear a word; the bastard's body language was all he needed to get it, and he wasted no time swooping back in.

He plopped himself back down in his chair on Eijirou's left, surprising both of them, and slung an arm around his fiancé's shoulders. He didn't even attempt to soften his glare.

"Somethin' I can help you with?" he'd asked pointedly.

The man sat back, brows drawing together in confusion. "No...? Something we can help you with? We were having a conversation—"

"No shit? Looked to me like you were flirting and failing miserably at taking a damn hint."

"Katsu—" Eijirou started.

The same thick brows lifted. "I'm sorry? And who are you to butt into a conversation that has nothing to do with you?"

Katsuki'd snorted. "I'm his fiancé," he said, jerking his head in Eijirou's direction. "Who the hell are you to be so fucking persistent with someone who's clearly not interested?"

"Yeah? Don't see a ring." The burly guy—who was proving he was much more brawn than brains—looked back at Eijirou. "That true, or is this guy giving you shit?"

"Ah..." Eijirou wanted nothing more than to disappear, eyes shifting everywhere but on either one of them. "Yeah, 's true, but he doesn't have to be such a dick about it." He sent a relatively gentle elbow in the direction of Katsuki's ribs.

"Least I'm not so fuckin' pompous to keep flirting with someone who's not interested, let alone fail to make sure they're single first."

In the end Eijirou had to effectively drag Katsuki from the bar before he ended up starting a real fight with the guy. Don't get him wrong—Katsuki was strong and Eijirou knew it; all of his time in the mechanic shop plus their weekly-ish gym visits kept him in good shape; it wasn't like Katsuki didn't have fighting experience, either. Even still, he couldn't see Katsuki walking away without a few bruises or even a black eye if things continued, what with all the sudden freakin' testosterone practically crackling in the air between them. And the last thing they needed was for him to get arrested for physical violence...

Katsuki didn't hold anything back that night, honestly, and it was the next day when they went to look for rings—or something of the like.

It did turn out to be rings, but not in the traditional way. They ended up finding a small craft shop where the owner crafted all of her own jewelry from scratch, essentially, but you couldn't tell. It was all so refined, so perfect, looked like it was brand new out of one of those fancy jewelry shops at the mall. The jeweler asked for three days to alter them for size, and after that the rings never came off.

It was the day after when Masaru got in touch again and suggested they get together for lunch, just the three of them. Katsuki was skeptical, part of him convinced his dad was going to pull some bullshit and bring his mom anyway and it almost, almost had him not wanting to go.

"He's really trying though, babe," Eijirou had told him. "I don't think he'll do something like that when he seems like he wants to make things work."

"Yeah, but how the hell do you know he's not putting on some sort of ruse to 'fix' me again like they did from the get go? My mom definitely would, and no doubt she'd put him up to it."

Eijirou had to sympathize with that. He was no stranger to Mitsuki's homophobic ideals, and with knowing that back then, at least, they believed he was the problem, doubt weighed on his shoulders, too.

But it was too easy to remember how upset Katsuki was under the surface that his parents might not be at his own wedding, how envious he was that Eijirou's mom would be, and that while he appreciated the sentiment in her being like a second mother to him, it wasn't the same. Worst case scenario, they'd end up walking out of the restaurant with the intention of truly never speaking to them again. As much as that would surely hurt and leave a scar on Katsuki's heart, Eijirou would do absolutely everything in his power to help him through it.

It took some convincing, but eventually Katsuki did agree to lunch, even if as they walked up to the restaurant doors his fingers were tight as vices around Eijirou's hand with nerves. As admittedly nervous as he was, too, Eijirou kept his cool. He had to—for both of them.

It wasn't a trick or a ruse, as Eijirou figured—and hoped. He couldn't blame Katsuki for his paranoia, but he was glad. Their conversation was actually... pleasant. They stayed away from the subject of Mitsuki unless she was mentioned in passing as Masaru talked about the last few years where their communication was non-existent. The longer they were there the more they loosened up, the easier it was to talk, even laugh.

But none of that meant all was forgotten or forgiven. Masaru was the one to bring it back up on the way out, facing his son directly with a deep breath.

"I'm really glad to see you again, Katsuki, and I'm so proud of you and so happy for you. I wish I hadn't let so much time go by... no, I wish I hadn't even let things turn out the way they did to begin with. I know it's not going to be easy for you to forgive me, but I'd really like to do whatever I can to build our relationship again, if you'll let me." He reached into his coat pocket. "And I know this won't really mean much but it's a start." He drew his hand back out and dangling from his fingers were a set of keys—a familiar set, at that, though Katsuki hadn't seen them in several years.

"The bike is yours, son. Always was. You earned it, and Mitsuki had no right to take it away from you for something so unrelated to why we gave it to you in the first place. I know you have another now but this one's all yours to do whatever you want with."

Katsuki hesitated. He almost wanted to tell him he didn't want it, didn't need it for any reason. But even he could see the silent plea and hope in his father's eyes. After all, this short lunch hadn't been a complete shit show and not even he could deny (as much as old wounds may have wanted him to) the effort his dad was putting in, or how genuine he seemed.

"This isn't part of some shitty plan to try and 'fix' me again, is it?" he muttered.

"Katsuki," Eijirou hissed.

Again, the surprise on his father's face was genuine, his arm lowering to his side. "No, not at all. I... understand why it's hard for you to believe. We were much too harsh on you back then. I've had a lot of time to think since it all happened and honestly... I've let your mother control me a little too much. She has a way of getting inside my head, I suppose..." He laughed awkwardly. "We have our own problems we really need to work out—but we will. I'll work on it with her. I just... I want my son back."

Masaru's smile was a little sad, his shoulders hunched just slightly. Quite the opposite, Katsuki's relaxed and he held out a hand.

"I'll take it. The bike."

Masaru's smile widened, hope overshadowing that sadness. He placed the keys gently in Katsuki's palm and said, "You're welcome to come get it at any time. Your house key is still there and the bike is parked in the garage. Your mother works the same hours... if you don't want to see her."

Katsuki pocketed the keys, nodding but saying nothing.

Eijirou took it upon himself to murmur, "Thank you."

Masaru shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm going to talk to her—a lot, and I'll keep in touch. And once again, congratulations. You deserve to be happy, Katsuki." He reached out and gave his son's shoulder a pat.

"Thanks," Katsuki quipped, more out of awkwardness than hostility, which had finally seemed to completely ease out of his demeanor. And then he was the one to say, "Talk to ya later."

Even if it was a bit awkward, they parted ways after that on a good note.

"I'm proud of you," Eijirou was sure to tell Katsuki on their way home.

"Hmph, for what?"

"Aw, you know what," Eijirou said with a grin.

Katsuki did.

⚜️

Katsuki ended up getting the bike only a few days later, though he immediately put it up for sale. Said he didn't like the memories connected with it, and he liked his newer bike better anyway. In the end Eijirou couldn't blame him, and the sale allowed them to increase their wedding budget anyway (which incidentally gave Eijirou a whole new slew of ideas).

Over the next two weeks or so there were a few more lunches with Masaru, and though he never said it or even really alluded to it in intentional subtle ways, Eijirou could just feel Katsuki's happiness and relief from rekindling his relationship with his dad. He didn't really... change, but there was something... brighter about him. Something more at ease, like he'd been holding onto some tension he could start to let go of now. Eijirou could only imagine how much better he'd feel—they'd both feel as a result—if his mother came around.

It was almost two months before that happened.

If Eijirou thought the nerves were high between the two of them for their first lunch with Masaru, he hadn't even really known what nerves were. Both of them were tense the whole way to the restaurant. Katsuki's jaw ached from clenching his teeth for so long; Eijirou's leg refused to stop bouncing no matter how hard he made a conscious effort to stop it. Katsuki insisted upon driving to keep his mind occupied, but they both knew it wouldn't—and didn't—work.

Mitsuki was civilized, to Katsuki's mild surprise. Too easily he was able to imagine her showing up only to go off the damn rails and spew her bigoted bullshit, which was why he was taken aback when she offered him a smile—a tight one, but a smile—when they walked up to the table.

"I hear you're getting married," she said, eyes on the menu, once the small talk was done.

"Yup."

"Guess this whole thing is working out for you, then."

"...yup."

"Mitsuki—" Masaru began.

"What? I'm not angry."

"He's our son," Masaru hushed, leaning towards her.

"I know, dear," Mitsuki quipped. "I gave birth to him, remember? Thirty-two long hours."

Masaru could only sigh, but then even Mitsuki relaxed, lowered her menu, and met Katsuki's eyes.

"...listen, I apologize. I'm not used to this, and it still doesn't feel right to me. But your father has made good points and even I can see that you're happy like this, and that's what matters, even if I don't understand or agree with it."

"Why don't you?" The question spilled from Katsuki's mouth without a thought. "The hell's so 'wrong' about it to you? Did your parents teach you some shit about it?"

"Not specifically," Mitsuki said. "They never spoke of anything like it. I suppose you could say they were more conservative, and I guess it caught on. But I still agree with that more than... this. But obviously I have to be okay with it if I want my son back in my life."

"'S that whole procreation bullshit, huh?" Katsuki huffed. "And since two men can't make babies, it's unnatural?"

Mitsuki stiffened, eyes dropping back to the menu. "That's what makes the most sense to me," she quipped.

"Your mother is trying, Katsuki," Masaru jumped in, sensing the hostility beginning to brew. "She wants you to be happy even if she doesn't understand the source. We both do."

That seemed to ease the tension enough, and the rest of the meal was... decent, at the very least. They managed to start up a few conversations that didn't have to do with, well, that. A few jokes were cracked here and there, and in the midst of it Eijirou and Mitsuki seemed to get along a lot better than any of them expected. She had really liked Eijirou all the way back when she thought they were only friends.

"How ya feelin'?" Eijirou asked back in the car as they were buckling up.

"Exhausted. She exhausts me," Katsuki muttered, letting his head fall back against the seat.

"Yeah, I feel that," Eijirou agreed. "But?"

"...but it wasn't a complete shitshow, I guess. Dad can come to the wedding. We'll see how it goes with Mom."

Eijirou couldn't help smiling at that.

Admittedly, it did take quite a while for Mitsuki to come around, for her discomfort and disapproval to cease being so obvious. She and Eijirou truly did get along—all four of them did, really, apart from Mitsuki's ideals driving a wedge between them. Slowly, the wedge was coming away, though. It took months. Nearly six months, in fact, before it got to the point where Katsuki let her hug him again, before he stopped feeling the tension in every muscle when they were getting together for lunch or dinner or a family game night (that, surprisingly enough, was Mitsuki's suggestion).

"How are you feelin'?" Eijirou had asked again at one point. He needn't specify what he meant. Katsuki knew.

"...better," Katsuki replied after some thought. "But weird, too."

"Why weird?"

"'Cause we don't talk about it. 'S like we're all pretending it's not a thing anymore, like that amount of time we didn't talk didn't even happen."

"Like the elephant in the room."

"Yeah."

In the end they decided together that they needed to ask just how Katsuki's parents were feeling about it, too—Mitsuki specifically. They had to lay it all down, that they couldn't dance around the fact that they were together, engaged, set to be married in less than a month. Katsuki himself decided it was all or nothing—they had to accept it even if they didn't agree or like it, or they could just go. And that was exactly what he said.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to fully understand it, let alone like it. It doesn't make sense to me," Mitsuki said, and just as Eijirou felt his heart beginning to sink, she continued. "But I love my son, and not even I'm so damn blind to the fact that he's happy, and that it's because of this guy over here." She playfully nodded in Eijirou's direction. "And I like him, too. I don't want to live out the rest of my life estranged from my only son because I don't agree with his happiness—that would be just plain stupid. So even though ya idiots never asked for it, you have my blessing."

After that—some hugging and celebrating and a whole meal—Eijirou expected Katsuki to scoff out something about his mother's relatively pompous comment, but it was quite the opposite. He didn't notice it until they were shuffling in the front door of their apartment (he'd been too focused on the road, he figured), but Katsuki was in tears.

"Whoa, babe, what's wrong?" Eijirou asked as soon as he saw them, already reaching a comforting hand in his direction.

Katsuki swiped at his eyes, shaking his head. "Fuck," he hissed, already practically barreling into Eijirou's arms by the time he reached for him. His head tucked straight into Eijirou's shoulder, his hands grasping the back of his shirt like vices.

"S'okay, I'm here," Eijirou cooed, holding the other close. His voice remained deceptively calm despite the spike of worry. Katsuki wasn't a crier.

"'S so stupid," grumbled Katsuki when he got his tears under control. He stayed close, but freed a hand to swipe at his face again.

"What is?" Eijirou asked.

"This. Fucking crying about this shit with my parents. It's ridiculous."

"What's got you upset about it?"

A sniffle and a couple of deep breaths later, Katsuki stepped back. "Nothing," he muttered. "I'm fucking happy. I'm relieved. There was a point that lasted so long where I thought I'd never get them back in my life, that my life would just be about bullshit homophobic parents who disowned me and that was it. I fuckin'... resigned myself to that fact, and even though I'd accepted it, it felt shitty as hell. But now all this is happening and it freaking hit me that it actually is." He shook his head, wiped his nose. "Ugh. That doesn't even make sense."

But Eijirou was smiling—wide. Seeing Katsuki's tears pierced him in a way nothing else could, but finding out those tears were due to happiness and relief left a reflection of that very feeling settling into him. Once more he pulled Katsuki into his arms and kissed him gently.

"I'm really happy for you," he said. "Seriously. I can't even... ah, there aren't words. I'm so glad."

A huff blew from Katsuki's lips. "...you're an idiot," he murmured, and though there were tears still in his eyes and shining on his cheeks, he smiled into their next long, warm kiss.

⚜️

A canopy of maple trees. A buffet of entirely breakfast foods. Their favorite music, and all the people they loved gathered in one place. It was inevitable, but the day of their wedding was one they would never forget.

Many usual traditions were left out. The attire was more casual than generally expected, and any religious aspects were kept out. They wanted it that way.

While Katsuki wasn't too keen on the ceremony aspect, he caved and let Eijirou have it. For years Eijirou pictured himself saying his 'I do,' strong and proud, with unwavering eyes locked with Katsuki's. To bring it to life would only take a moment, and since Eijirou let Katsuki be the deciding factor for a good seventy percent of the rest of the event, he couldn't say no.

And when it came right down to it, he too was more than eager to say a "hell yeah I do" with a grin pressed into his face that couldn't be erased even by the chuckle of the crowd and Eijirou.

Being the sap that (Katsuki would claim) he was, Eijirou had tears flooding his eyes when it came time for them to kiss. He threw everything he had into it, as if he hadn't already told and showed Katsuki he loved him so, so, so much in every way humanly possible. Applause erupted around them and both of them came out of it smiling. The ceremony was short and sweet, but that was all they needed.

While the ceremony was memorable, it was the reception that the most stories would be told about in the future.

Almost as soon as the music started, Katsuki had a drink in his hand, as did most of the guests. Somehow he talked Eijirou, who was never really that interested in drinking alcohol, into trying different concoctions of things that were laid about the drink table, even if it was only a sip here and there. There were so many ideas he had and things he already knew tasted good it had Eijirou a bit skeptical, if he was being honest.

"Jeez, do I even know you?" he joked as Katsuki handed him yet another cup with something mixed with fruit punch—vodka, he thought.

"Shut up and drink it," Katsuki said with a grin.

Of course Eijirou knew Katsuki did some, er, not so responsible things before his parents made him go to the boarding school where they met, but that night he learned he underestimated just how much he dabbled in party culture before then. Some of the mixes he made were pretty good; even Eijirou had to admit that. No way was he going to let Katsuki get so drunk he wouldn't remember the night, though.

The alcohol did help him loosen up, though. Dancing was something he was against from the minute they started planning the wedding. He made every excuse in the book—he wasn't coordinated enough, Eijirou wasn't coordinated enough (after which he reminded Katsuki that he skated for a solid seven years, immediately shooting down that argument); his shoes wouldn't be suitable; he didn't want to get sweaty in his tux; he hated being watched, blah blah blah. Eijirou had a counter argument for every single one of those until Katsuki stopped giving excuses and just flat out saying no until Eijirou eventually gave up.

And that was why Eijirou wasn't at all expecting it when Katsuki, flushed slightly from his buzz, had taken Eijirou by the hand and led him toward the dancefloor near the small cottage that was part of the wedding venue, where the music was playing and lights were flickering and people were already dancing.

"You sure about this?" Eijirou asked him.

"Wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't," Katsuki responded, pulling him close and lacing his fingers together behind Eijirou's neck. "We did it at prom anyway, remember?"

"Are you sure you're not just drunk?"

"Please, I've only had like... three drinks. I'm not some shitty lightweight, 's only a buzz. Just fucking dance with me."

Eijirou had no more questions after that, just a bright smile and the eagerness to hold his new husband by the waist and dance with him, even if it wasn't much more than rocking back and forth and moving in circles. He couldn't take his eyes off of Katsuki—didn't even want to. Sure, he was glad for all of the people around them, all the love and support surrounding them, but right then it was Katsuki and Katsuki only who mattered.

They were on and off the dancefloor for the rest of the night, bouncing between the food and drinks and making the rounds to talk to people. They spent the most time with their friends from high school who they hadn't talked to all that much in the past year because they were so busy.

They weren't surprised to find Mina was still working with her conservation company, though only part time because she was part time elsewhere as a dance instructor. "I missed it," she'd said with a casual shrug. "No reason I can't make a living off of both of the things I love." She also had a new boyfriend after breaking it off with someone she'd met just after high school. It'd been a bad breakup, and the group had been worried she was going to take a long time to heal. But as they all knew and Eijirou said, she was strong and lifted herself back up. "We just made things official a couple weeks ago," she said, blushing and beaming at the same time. "He couldn't make it because he took a trip abroad to Spain. It's been planned for years." Needless to say, they were all very happy for her.

Kaminari was still bouncing around jobs here and there, trying to find his place in the world. He and Jirou, who was excitingly negotiating a contract with a legitimate record company who discovered her via the wonderful world of the internet, had been back together for several months since their year-long breakup. They found it was too weird to be apart. They were better together.

Sero, unsurprisingly, was still working as the manager of his family restaurant—and thriving. He loved the job, and he'd learned tons of new cooking tricks from their chefs, too. He was getting around to traveling, too, now that he was making plenty of money to support himself and get out of town for a while. Eijirou and Katsuki would never admit it, but they were jealous.

At one point, after beginning to feel a little buzzed himself, Eijirou found himself on the dance floor with his mother. She reiterated just how happy she was for him, how glad he found someone he could be completely at home with. She even did the mom thing and mourned for a second—just a second—how she wished her baby hadn't grown up so much so fast.

"I'm sure you noticed I didn't bring a present," she said in the midst of their conversation.

Eijirou's attention turned back to her from Katsuki who was talking to Eijirou's uncle over by the food table. "Oh, don't worry about it, Ma," he said. "I'm just glad you're here."

She laughed and shook her head. "You're too much of a gentleman sometimes," she said. "But I do have a present for you."

Eijirou's initial reaction was to tell her to return it because she didn't need to be wasting her hard-earned money on them, but he knew that would've been fruitless. She was stubborn, and he was curious.

"Okay," he said. "Give it to us whenever you can."

"Well, it's not exactly something I can wrap up and bring over," she said, and took a deep breath. "I want you to have the house."

"...wait, what?"

"You heard me."

"But Mom—"

"You're a married man now, Eijirou," she said with a smile. "You're starting your own family, and while you're still absolutely my family, it makes more sense for the two of you to live in a house than just me. The place is too big for one person anyway, and it'll give you plenty of room to do your art, for Katsuki to work on his mechanics, for you to host parties and fill up with kids if you want, or maybe some fur babies."

"But what about you?" he pressed lightly. "What if you find someone you wanna be with? It'll be the same in that sense, won't it?"

"It would," she agreed, "but you're the one getting married right now. Mine is just a 'what if,' and your old mom isn't even looking for anything like that right now. And if that does happen I'll be fine. I don't want any more children—I just need you. Maybe I'll adopt a dog or something but I'd prefer a quiet life in a small condo or something. You're the one who deserves the house, and I can't bear to sell it. I want to keep it in the family."

Slowly, albeit a little sadly, Eijirou's smile mirrored his mother's. "You're not old, Ma. But I understand. I'll talk to Katsuki about it, okay?"

"Talk to me about what?" came Katsuki's familiar voice from the right, drawing both of their attention as they hadn't noticed him approaching.

After exchanging a look with his mother and pulling in a deep breath, Eijirou reiterated their conversation to his husband (a term he was already more than comfortable with; it felt so natural).

"Wait, seriously?" he asked, sobering eyes wide and on Eijirou's mom.

"Don't sound so surprised," Shiori said with an amused laugh. "Of course I'm serious."

"But... why'd you just... give us your house?" he mumbled.

As much as he hated it, Katsuki was able to watch as her smile was laced with pity. "Because I love you both," she reasoned. "You deserve to have a nice place of your own with more room and, well, less rent. Besides, it's much too big for just me."

It was all too easy to see Katsuki still didn't get it, still didn't really believe it, and Eijirou couldn't blame him. This wasn't something his parents would ever do. He was conditioned to believe there were strings attached, to think it was some kind of prank, and it made Eijirou's heart ache.

It was at that point when Mina clanked a spoon against her champagne glass to start toasts, and even though it wasn't officially planned they went along with it. All of their friends from high school got in on it and had fun, telling stories of how they snuck around and made silly and poor excuses to escape and be alone. Most of their stories elicited laughter with the crowd which in turn inspired someone else to take the mic and tell a story.

"Really fucking glad I got a few drinks in me before this shit started," Katsuki muttered to Eijirou at one point, and though he laughed, he could only agree.

People had more stories than even they could remember, and to both of their surprise even Masaru stood up at one point and spoke, causing Katsuki to be tense and giving Eijirou the job to keep him as calm as possible by holding his hand securely. Masaru said nothing about the mess that went on between the four of them, but kept it short and sweet by saying he was proud of his son and glad he'd found happiness. Even Mitsuki could be seen clapping as he sat back down, her smile surprisingly gentle in her son's direction.

When the music started back up, Mina dragged both grooms over toward the cake and had them cut it. She insisted they follow through with some wedding traditions, like linking arms and eating cake, even taking a few shots.

Well into the evening the party went on with music and dancing, talking, joking, telling stories. People got to know each other on each side of the family, and a few more times Katsuki and Eijirou made the rounds to everyone again as they'd been inseparable since the toasts ended. Hundreds upon hundreds of photos were taken between blurry cell phone pictures and high quality professional photos they'd decided to splurge on nearly last minute. Some were posed but most were absolutely genuine and in the moment.

It was a while after sundown when people started to say their goodbyes and trickle out. Unsurprisingly Katsuki's parents were among the first to depart; even so they both hugged their son and Eijirou, congratulating them again, and leaving them floating in a strange it'll be okay feeling.

Maybe it was because he was ridiculously biased because it was his own wedding, but Eijirou knew that'd be a night his memory would hold onto for as long as he lived.

Needless to say, everything with moving worked out and that was why they were beginning to pack. It'd been six months because they didn't want to 'pay out the ass' (Katsuki's words) to break their lease with the apartment complex. It also gave Eijirou's mom plenty of time to find a nice place to live in a location that was a happy medium between family, work, and her son.

⚜️

Time flew. In the last six months Eijirou had found a position as a commissioned illustrator for a relatively new publishing company that mainly worked on children's books, but occasionally needed artwork for novel covers. He signed a two year contract with them on top of continuing with freelancing online, which turned out to bring in a good chunk of change that did well to help pay their bills.

Katsuki was almost done with his apprenticeship at the mechanic shop, and there was a good possibility the owner of the place would offer him a full time position with them. Sure, he came home smelling like grease and had black caked under his nails, seemingly permanently, but it was clear he enjoyed what he did.

In that time they also rescued their nine-year-old Maine Coon named Nebula from an abusive family that resulted in her losing her left eye. She was skittish and was currently hiding under their dresser while they made all the noise from pulling things out of the closet and under the bed. She was used to them, though; she warmed up to them quickly the moment she met them—Katsuki especially, to their surprise.

It had been on a whim to show up at the shelter. They'd been on a date that sort of took them wherever the wind blew, which incidentally landed them in the downtown animal shelter as soon as Eijirou saw the sign for it. Katsuki was skeptical of it at first; they didn't really have the means of taking care of an animal no matter how small, and they weren't even sure what their apartment complex's policy regarding pets was.

Of course, Eijirou insisted they were just going to look.

Needless to say, they found Nebula and her one bright green eye shining at them from her corner curled up in a small kennel by herself and fell in love. They were still insisting they just wanted to look, and she was fluffy and looked like she needed some love. They were taken into a small room with a few toys and a litter box to meet with her. Katsuki had already been preparing himself to put his foot down and say a firm no when Eijirou started giving him those shitty puppy dog eyes of his that he could just feel coming.

But then, after slinking nervously around the little room (incidentally ignoring all of the toys), the cat tiptoed curiously up to him. Cautious himself, he extended a hand in her direction and let her sniff. A second later, her head pushed up against his fingers with the sound of her purr—loud, unsurprisingly given her size—filling the room.

The shelter worker—Kendo was her name—gasped gently and pressed her hands to her mouth. "That's amazing," she murmured between her fingers.

While Eijirou looked up to ask her why, Katsuki's attention was completely on the feline in front of him, now jumping up into his lap, her purr machine not so much as ceasing. She had an odd pattern to her breathing, Katsuki remembered noting somewhere in the back of his head, amongst the nerves from not knowing how to handle a cat and suddenly having one in his lap.

"She doesn't open up like that for anyone. Ever. She's usually extremely shy and has even been known to hiss at people out of fear. She was brought in just a few weeks ago from someone who rescued her from an abusive household so it makes sense that she doesn't trust people very much. I've never seen her eagerly jump into someone's lap like that... let alone heard her purr."

Even Katsuki had issues holding his ground after that. She was attached to him from the get go and refused to leave his lap for anything, leaving Eijirou to have to fill out all the paperwork. They even ended up purchasing a harness and leash for her rather than trying to put her in a box or carrier to take her home, and she rode in Katsuki's lap the entire way. As much as he'd been against it in the beginning, Katsuki couldn't even be mad—not even when long gray fur was stuck all over his clothes by the time they got home. He'd never say it, but he wouldn't give Nebula up for the entire world.

⚜️

Packing everything up and getting it all moved over to the house took three straight days with only a few breaks other than the two nights for sleeping—one of which was spent on the floor of their room in the apartment so they could get up early and pack what was left into the moving truck before handing in their keys and heading to the house.

By the time everything was unpacked and the moving truck had been returned to the rental place, Katsuki and Eijirou both flopped onto the living room couch (the huge sectional Eijirou's mother insisted they keep) surrounded by boxes in unison.

"I've had enough of this moving shit," Katsuki grumbled, rubbing his face.

"Same here," Eijirou agreed, letting his head fall back and his eyes slide closed. "A week's worth of moving is enough for a lifetime I think."

"And yet we still have about a billion fucking boxes to unpack," Katsuki groaned, tossing an arm over his face and slumping into the cushions.

A grin found its way onto Eijirou's face and he sat up, reaching slowly for the other, starting with his hands. His pinkie linked with Katsuki's. "Hey, you don't even have to think about that right now," he murmured, inching closer.

Katsuki's arm lowered fractionally so he could peek out at his husband who was slowly but surely closing the distance between them with one of the slyest smirks he'd seen on that face in a while. He couldn't help but snort quietly and lower his arm completely. That was invitation enough for Eijirou to close the distance, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

"Hmph, be a man about it," Katsuki grumbled, tugging lightly, almost playfully, on the other's shirt and turning his head to offer his lips.

As he often did, Eijirou took the initiative and kissed him more firmly—but it wasn't enough for either of them. At the same time Katsuki tugged him even closer, tilting his chin forward to prevent their kiss from breaking, Eijirou leaned in further too, maneuvering his whole body to get a better angle. Somewhere in the midst of their kissing, drawing closer and closer together until Eijirou had to swing a leg over to straddle the other and sit in his lap, his lips tilted into the subtlest of smiles—but only for a split second before Katsuki's rather demanding lips prevented it from remaining.

"See?" Eijirou asked, rather breathless and lips damp. "Bet you've already forgotten all the boxes."

Katsuki clicked his tongue. "Shut up, you beautiful bastard," he grumbled before kissing the other again, arms like vices around Eijirou's waist.

He was right, though. Other than the silly little mention of them, all of the moving boxes surrounding them was the furthest thing from his mind. All he could and wanted to focus on was his husband, was Eijirou, and his soft lips and the way his tongue flicked expertly against his own; the weight of him in his lap and the warmth of not only his body but his presence as a whole. It was all he needed, all he wanted.

In the midst of their affection a blur of gray fluff cut into their vision, breaking them apart to see none other than Nebula wedging her way in between them, her purr box on at full volume. It elicited a laugh from the both of them and pets for her, beneath her chin and just above her tail, exactly the way she liked.

Even among all of the moving boxes and clutter around them from the move, they knew this was their new normal. This was what they would get to wake up to every day going forward, what they got to keep close. This was what the rest of their lives would get to be like. It settled into the atmosphere around them, comfortable and warm. In a way they never had before, they were not only looking forward to but were eager for their future together. It wouldn't be perfect and they knew it, but neither of them would have it any other way.