His parents were seated at the main table in the living room: his father at the head of the table, reading a dense financial newspaper, while his mother sat beside him checking out one thing or the other on a tablet. A porcelain teapot stood between them, but the table had not been set for breakfast.

Hibiki grinned and darted up to both of them, loosely tugging Tristan along by his hand. He didn't want him to be left out of the interactions, or believe that he had to leave himself out. After all he was his boyfriend now, so he considered him part of all of this. Even small moments like these – perhaps especially these ones, because they were intimate.

His father saw him come up first, looking at him from atop a set of reading glasses and smiling widely. His mother was more reserved, the corners of her mouth contently raised as she observed the interaction. Too eager to wait, he wrapped his arms around his father before the man could even begin speaking. A hefty chuckle left him, and he felt a firm pat on his back.

「What did I do to earn this?」His father asked as he let go again. In response he gave a small bow, one of happy gratitude, and then signed quickly.

'For the holiday'

Immediately his father waved that away, since it was obvious why he would be brought along: but it hadn't been about him.

Well aware that Tristan would feel awkward with Japanese and sign language flying around, he wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close. For good measures he kissed his cheek and grinned, to make doubly sure his parents couldn't mistake his intentions.

"Thank you for allowing me to join." Tristan said, picking up well enough on what was happening despite the different languages. He too made a small bow; that regal dipping of his head he'd seen him do a few times. It wasn't correct, but it had a dignified, enigmatic quality to it.

"Did you enjoy your time here?" His father asked with a nod of his head back to Tristan: a small sign that he had accepted the gratitude. The acknowledgement made him smile. He noticed his mother picked up that it made him happy, as she hid her own smile behind a small sip of tea from a porcelain cup.

"Yes, absolutely," Tristan beamed. "I had a wonderful time, and I think it really helped me to get to know Hibiki better too."

He grinned and nodded, although in Tristan's mind getting to know probably hadn't referred to their many nighttime activities. Despite that he set aside the dirty part of his brain for a second, and leant in towards his shoulder to show he was content.

"It was good to get to know you too." His mother nodded, smiling quite forthcoming which he knew was a big concession from her. "But how about we continue over breakfast downstairs?" She took his father's hand as she referred to the restaurant downstairs. The man nodded decisively, and his mother's hold over his father was always entertaining to see. Besides, he knew that the moment the elevator doors closed, an army of personnel would swoop in to sort everything out.

"Yes, let's have a good breakfast to start our journey home." His father said, as he gestured for them to go ahead. Without hesitation he grabbed Tristan's arm and pulled him along.

The hotel lobby was busy, with a constant stream of guests leaving and arriving. He didn't care much for the crowd, and instead ducked and weaved through whilst keeping an iron grip on Tristan's wrist. He didn't want to be separated, not while there were this many people around.

Once at the restaurant, all it took was for Tristan to say 'Yukimura' and they were quickly delegated to a secluded table set for four. Unlike their regular breakfast in the penthouse, the restaurant served actual breakfast from a menu.

He gestured for Tristan to take a seat at the neat table draped in white, placed beside a large window overlooking the hotel gardens and lake. Both were covered in snow and ice, but bright coloured christmas decorations hung in the trees and hedges cheered up the view.

He took his own seat beside Tristan, and had more eyes for him than for the outside. With a smile he took his hand, and gave the back a small kiss. A smile spread on Tristan's face even though he tried to pretend to be wistfully staring out of the window.

"This really was a wonderful week." He said as the smile turned into a content sigh.

In response he laid his head down on Tristan's shoulder and held his hand for a moment. He felt Tristan's other hand run through his hair, which made him smile widely.

"It makes me hopeful that we can make this work."

He glanced up at Tristan, surprised by the notion that they would possibly not work out. There had been nothing but gentleness and love between them. So he nodded, but then pouted a little to say he didn't enjoy the idea of them not working out – he didn't like having to think about obstacles in their way.

"You know I have to worry about that. It's my job." Tristan ran a hand along his cheek and smiled, and in return he sighed and chuckled. Maybe he was right, and someone had to consider those things. But if there was ever something that came between them, it would have to be from the outside. So he made a heart gesture to tell him that.

"I love you too, and I know we have a good thing going. I want to be prepared for what comes our way, so we can keep going. You can't just barge through life."

He let out a disagreeing huff. If he wanted to he'd barge wherever he damn well pleased. But that didn't mean he didn't appreciate Tristan's foresight.

He ran his fingers along his cheek and smiled, before writing a quick word.

'TOGETHER'

A bright blush lit up on Tristan's cheeks, as he saw the vast amount of gears in his head try to process what that meant. But he nodded nonetheless.

It felt like something had changed over the course of this week. Perhaps it had simply been the sheer proximity, or perhaps that the first hurdle in the form of his parents had been overcome, but their relationship felt real. Like they were no longer just feeling their way towards one another, but had begun to lay small links together.

He liked that.

Before he could ask Tristan whether he felt the same, his parents joined them. Both smiled at them, and he grinned back.

"Everything should be taken care of." His father said, which he understood to mean that after their breakfast they would be able to simply walk up to his car and start the journey home.

"Do you need anything for the way back?" His mother addressed the both of them, whilst his father caught the attention of a waiter. He glanced up at Tristan, who immediately shook his head.

"Oh no, I think Hibiki will take care of that."

He grinned and nodded confidently. Whatever it was, he'd be able to fetch it. He was absolutely certain he could take care of Tristan, even better than he could take care of himself.

His mother smiled at the answer: she was well aware that he would have trouble keeping a potted plant alive if he wasn't invested. Tristan and Maki were the exceptions.

"Make sure to eat healthy though. We wouldn't want you to get sick." His mother continued. At the same time the menus arrived, but he retorted with a quick huff nonetheless. If it was up to them, he'd only ever eat vegetables: it didn't matter that they had seen him lose plenty of weight over the past few years.

So he ordered waffles.

A little over an hour later, after a well-made breakfast, they stood outside next to the idling cars.

"You're welcome to join us this summer." His father said as he gave Tristan a firm pat on the shoulder. Hearing his father make the offer made him smile, as it meant that they hadn't been lying about trying to accept this relationship. He grinned and nodded, answering for Tristan as he would drag him along either way. Even if they would need to last six more months, he was sure of it.

"I would love to, if I am able to." Tristan nodded a bit more reserved.

"Please don't feel pressured, if you want to go elsewhere with Hibiki." His mother added, hinting at them staying together as well.

"Well, he was talking about Greece." Tristan looked at him and smiled, to which he happily nodded and bounced back. The sea and shores there were one of his favourite places – even amongst beaches in general.

"I think I'd like that too, but we will have to plan it out." Tristan continued, and he nodded decisively to say that they should, before grabbing his waist and smiling again as he pulled him in.

"We will stay in touch, and of course visit while you are in England." His father smiled. Usually that meant they would see him for a day or two in-between travelling for their work. Not for very long, but regardless seeing them did make him happy. Especially now that he felt they had gotten more accepting of him as a whole.

"Yes, I'm sure Hibiki will keep me up to date. And thank you again for allowing me to come along." Tristan said with a grateful nod of his head. Rather than letting his parents and Tristan get stuck in a loop of politeness, he went in for a hug towards his mother first.

"You are welcome." He heard his father say, while his mother held him for a moment.

「We're very happy for you.」His mother whispered in his ear, causing him to grin as he pulled away. 「Make sure to study well, and to stay safe. Okay?」She gave him a little squeeze of his cheek, and he puffed them up because he was definitely an adult that needed neither advice nor pinches. Still he nodded and smiled, relieved to know once more that he didn't have to fight them.

He went in for a hug from his father too, who pulled him in with a strong grip.

「I will try to see if I can squeeze in a visit.」

With a firm pat on his back he was let go of again, and the goodbyes weren't half as drawn out as they could have been.

"We will see you next time." His father said, as he gave Tristan a tug on his sleeve to get him to walk towards the car.

"Yes, I look forward to it." Tristan responded with a wave, before joining him at the car. Once he had unlocked the doors, he gave his parents an enthusiastic wave too. They both responded with more reserved, but loving, waves regardless.

He hopped into the car and pushed the passenger side door open for Tristan.

A few moments later, he drove off of the hotel grounds, his bodyguards faithfully in tow behind them.