#chuki

A Chuki Hello!

Ko-Fi Reward

Yuki rubs the back of his neck as if that would help with the feeling he has right now, of ants crawling all over and under his skin. A sun-hot prickle down his spine, flushed cheeks. He slides his eyes sideways to see the source of his issue, Charles, smiling beatifically at something that Pierre’s just said.

He feels awkward and out of place in their trio, leaning against the warm metal barricade and wishing he had a water bottle, something, anything to cool him down. 

“Yuki,” Pierre says, bringing him back in, “what was that thing you showed me the other day? On instagram.”

He blinks, mouth opening as he struggles to remember. He feels like the heat is baking into his skull, makes his brain move sluggishly through things that he knows he remembers. He glances over at Charles, who looks at him patiently, attentively, head tilted down to hear him.

“Uh,” he stumbles over his words and feels his ears go hot and red, “oh, uh, yes. With the dogs?”

His voice pitches up at the end in question and he tries not to cringe— he wants to seem cool, in front of Pierre but also Charles always, and he never seems to be able to manage it. 

“Yeah,” Pierre doesn’t seem to notice, smiling at him, and Charles, mouth pulled upwards with easy confidence, “it was so funny, this guy, he was driving and there were all these puppies in his car and he just couldn’t do it—“

Yuki looks up at Charles when he pats him on the shoulder, feels like the heat imprint of his hand on his shoulder lasts far beyond the contact. His bracelets click together, and the sound seems magnified in Yuki’s ears. The sun is behind Charles’ head and lights up his hair golden brown; Yuki has to squint and look away, slides his eyes back to look at him like an inevitability. 

“You should send me your funny videos too Yuki,” Charles pouts exaggeratedly, cheeks dimpling, “I would also love to see dogs.” 

“Yeah,” Yuki’s mouth is dry, he thinks hysterically that he has to find the funniest, cutest dogs on the internet now, “um. Yes. I can do that.”