H E A V E N L Y

“Don’t look at me like that.”

She’s not actually looking at him as she speaks. Maki’s busy punching in numbers on the vending machine, for her….. seventh snack. (Don’t worry about it.) They all await her at the bottom, to be grabbed. Anyway, she doesn’t need to begin to guess his expression. She might cave, if she looks at him. (Don’t worry about that either.)

“Look at you like what? You’re not even looking at me.”

It’s blatant from the whine in his voice how exactly he’s looking at her. He scratches the side of his face whilst making back-and-forth glances between the vending machine and Maki. At the bottom of the machine are all sorts of snacks—and he is this close to just leaning forward and taking one. But, he also realizes how swift Maki is.

It’s pretty blatant she’s not looking at him purposefully. That gives him an idea. (It’s not mischievous in the slightest.) Stepping up next to her, he bends his knees to match her height—yes, this posture is going to hurt if he has to keep it up. Kaito smirks and waves one hand in front of her face… then he slowly extends his hand to the snacks, attempting to grab one. (Not mischievous at all, really.)

“They will make you think every person you meet is wearing a mask to hide their fangs.                                & they will be wrong.”

It was five minutes past midnight. Five minutes into April 12th. His birthday. She asked him to meet him her at a field. She’d been searching for some time for a place to view the stars. On her own, Maki tested out various locations. She was careful to sneak off after training, pretending to be asleep on nights she didn’t spend with him, so as not to be caught. She couldn’t identify stars or constellations the way he could, but she did have an eye for detail. She could tell the difference in the night sky, based upon location. Light pollution was less here.

She was seated on top of a blanket. A small picnic basket rested beside her. Inside, she had packed two bowls, two spoons, store bought ice cream. She purposefully saved money up for it, despite her usual frugality in regard to her work. A cake for two, chocolate with vanilla icing, handmade was also stored inside.

It was pretty apparent to him why she’d wanted to meet at this specific time—five minutes past midnight. So oddly specific…five minutes into the date of April 12th. Why, there would be no other reason…than to celebrate his birthday. After all, he’d been mentioning it quite a bit as of lately. He was pretty vocal when it came to the day. To someone like Kaito, birthdays were big celebrations. Or at least, they should be.

But he wasn’t sure what to expect from this invitation of hers. Maki found ways of surprising him constantly. He loved that about her—her little ways of keeping him in wonder. Being with her, watching her, talking with her…honestly, part of him was thinking that spending just a regular day with his friends on this very special date would be just fine.

Arriving at the field, a field that seemed to be just as precise as the date she desired to meet him at—Kaito made sure to be on time. Being late today? Not going to happen. Waving at her, he casually walked right on up. “Of course,” She was seated on a blanket…and he knew it wasn’t his imagination—she’d improved her posture just a bit upon his arrival…depicting her excitement. The astronaut wasn’t about to hide his—a bright, big smile on his face…enough to illuminate the night sky. He took note of what was beside her.

A basket, hm? So they were going to have a picnic here. At night, too. That was something he’d never done before, but it sure sounded like it’d be fun. Especially with Maki—gazing up at the night sky, talking with her…on his birthday. “I made sure that my schedule was completely clear—I’m pretty busy at midnight, you know?”

my heart may be tainted, and twisted, and ugly, but it is yours:

to break or caress, to save or scar

amidst our rhapsody, our destiny, our love, my heart implores:

i only want to be where you are

for bird // @astralheart

love, chesh // @withoutalignment

Growing up, birthdays had never been a big deal for Kokichi. It was just another day he had to survive. Most of his friends didn’t know their exact birthdays, so those of them who did had quietly agreed amongst themselves not to make them a thing. DICE celebrated one birthday, for all of them, on New Year’s Eve, to mark that they’d made it through another year.

But Kokichi knew birthdays were important for most people. And, he’d realized, this birthday in particular was a big deal for him. The day the person he loved most had entered the world was certainly something to celebrate. 

Kokichi wanted to be the first thing his boyfriend saw on his birthday. A reminder that Kokichi would always be there beside him, in one form or another, no matter what. The astronaut would never be rid of him.

So Kokichi quietly picked the lock and entered Kaito’s dorm room shortly after midnight, and began to decorate. 

Kaito would wake to a room bedecked with balloons and streamers, a moon-and-stars pinata set filled with confetti and candy, two new potted plants, and a pile of gifts wrapped in Milky Way-patterned paper that could have come from the whole school, not just Kokichi (but they were all from Kokichi). 

Hey, he could afford to splurge, and he absolutely had.

Many of the gifts were humorous in nature - Astronomy for Dummies; a starry-furred plush toy of a horse wearing one of Kokichi’s extra scarves; a giant gift box that contained seven smaller and smaller boxes, only to reach a handful of fake lottery cards; a jack-in-the-box that had a plastic dick on a spring instead of a puppet; and a toy that looked like a stick of gum with one piece pulled partway out, but if you pulled the piece, it gave you a small shock. Some gay porn mags tucked inside high-level space science books, too. (Kaito had way too many straight dude porn mags for someone dating another guy, anyway!)

But Kokichi had put genuine thought and consideration into a few of them. A new set of workout gear; a 10,000-piece puzzle depicting a variety of potted house plants; a one-of-a-kind 1/8th model of the Curiosity Mars rover that Kokichi had commissioned himself; and, inside a simple envelope, a note declaring the hour of a dinner reservation for two at Kaito’s favorite restaurant, and two tickets to a movie that Kaito had mentioned wanting to see when it came out. Kokichi had not only bought their tickets, but completely bought out the entire showing, so it would be just the two of them.

When Kaito finally began to stir, Kokichi sat on the bed beside him, a rare smile of soft, warm fondness on his face. 

The astronaut always looked forward to his birthday. He’d consistently had this vision in his head—for what he’d wanted it to be like. Each year, it got bigger and better. After all, nothing was impossible…right? Getting older was an accomplishment, not something to be averse to. Being that this was the case, another year older, was he. That must mean he’s getting wiser, too—that’s what he’d like to think, anyhow.

Ouma had gotten into the habit of sneaking into his room quite often. He was pretty much his live-in guest at this point. Kaito really didn’t mind, honestly—he kind of liked it…but he’d never, ever admit that out loud. Sure, the Supreme Leader was his boyfriend…but saying something like that—it was still against his nature. Kaito was much more the type to show his affection through gestures, actions. Those spoke louder than words, right? Well, in that case, what he was about to wake up to was about to speak…and very, very loudly.

Jostling around on his bed, he propped himself up with his elbows and—not surprisingly to him—felt and heard a certain Supreme Leader. It was a nice way to awaken…taking a moment to wake himself up, rubbing his eyes—oh. It’s his birthday. It’s his birthday. “Hey…hey, that’s right. That’s right, it’s my birthday!” Repeating himself with a tone of excitement, he bounced off the bed, staring at Ouma momentarily, however…hurriedly enough finding himself positively starry-eyed at the décor surrounding his dorm room. It…wasn’t like this yesterday. He’s pretty darn sure it wasn’t, anyway.

Playful balloons and streamers, a moon-and-stars piñata—which really caught his attention—, this mound of gifts wrapped in Milky Way-patterned paper…no, this stuff definitely wasn’t here yesterday. And he already knew who the culprit was, why, the answer was so obvious—it had this person’s name written all over it…Ouma.

After taking in the sight, slowly, he turned his head to look at the male sitting on the side of his bed. Standing in front of Ouma, he put his hands on both hips, a beaming grin on his face. “…Yeah, you got me a ‘little something’, did you?” Sounded like one of his lies. This was obviously overboard…in an incredibly heartwarming way. He didn’t need to do all of this. But he did—man, the astronaut was practically over the moon.

Stepping up closer toward him, grabbing the small male by the back of his head—he pulled him in to his robust chest…a soft embrace, showing his appreciation. “Thanks…this is amazing. I really love it.” His words were a whisper, speaking into the Supreme Leader’s ear…pushing him away lightly—he went back to his childish demeanor. Pointing towards the wrapped gifts, moving his hands almost hyperactively, the anticipation is practically killing him.