#kirararepairweek

Truly, Kira doesn’t mind all that much. They spend plenty of time with each other throughout the week and, so long as Kira puts her headphones in, she can use the time to catch up on one of her shows or do some homework that she’s behind on.

Mainly though, she uses the time to bake and be with Derek.

Just as Stiles and Scott launch into another bout of frantic yelling, the front door of the apartment closes. Derek comes straight to the kitchen, clutching a grocery bag in one of his hands. He's come straight from school, still in a tie and buttondown, black rimmed glasses perched on his nose.

“I picked up more chocolate chips,” he says, setting the bag on the counter. “I wasn’t sure if we had enough.”

(There’s definitely at least half a dozen bags already in the cupboard, but Kira firmly believes that you can never have enough chocolate.)

“Thanks!” she says, getting to her feet just as Stiles yells in despair in the living room. “Did they even notice you coming in?”

“I don’t think so,” he replies, loosening his tie. “They sound awfully busy.”

“They probably will be for a few hours. We might even be able to make two batches tonight. Do you want some tea?”

“Tea would be great,” he sighs, the sound enough to make Kira think that it’s been a long day. “But first…” He wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her in close, until his chin bumps against her forehead. Automatically, she tips her head back and cranes up onto her tiptoes, so that she can reach his lips. She’s still getting used to the feeling of Derek’s mouth; the feeling of his stubble against her skin, the way he tastes like coffee or tea instead of sugar and pancakes. It’s neither better or worse than Scott or Stiles. It’s just different and entirely pleasant, in a way that sends tiny shivers coursing down the length of her spine.

“Okay,” Derek says after he pulls away, gently bumping his nose against the end of hers, “what are we making tonight?”

It takes them ten minutes to gather the ingredients and whip them together. Stiles wanders into the kitchen long enough to grab two Red Bulls and kiss them both on the cheek before disappearing again to resume his yelling with Scott. Once the cookies have been popped into the oven, Kira sets the mixing bowls and spoon in the sink to rinse while Derek wipes down their counter space.

“So we’ve got fourteen minutes,” Kira says, peering at the timer she has set up on her phone before hopping up onto a clean, dry section of the counter. There’s flour on her thighs beneath the hem of her shorts and she attempts to brush it off. “What do you want to do?”

“We could go watch Scott and Stiles,” Derek says with a shrug, stepping up in front of her. “We might not hear the timer though.” On cue, both of their boyfriends yell in what Kira thinks is triumph. She bursts out laughing and tugs Derek in closer by his belt loops.

“Sometimes I’m not sure how I fell in love with them,” she says contently, laying her head against Derek’s chest.

“Me neither,” Derek murmurs, wrapping his arms around her back. “But I’m glad I did.”

“Me too.”

For a few moments, they simply stay like that, soaking in each other's affection. Derek’s heartbeat is slow and steady underneath Kira’s ear and his fingers are gentle on her back, slowly tracing back and forth over her spine. The room is starting to fill with the smell of melted chocolate and Stiles and Scott continue to serve as background noise, cursing and planning and occasionally yelping (although Kira is pretty sure that’s mostly Stiles’ doing.) Eventually, Derek sighs deeply and pulls her in tighter, his breath stirring some of the lighter wisps of hair resting against her forehead.

“Are you okay?” she asks, pulling away from his chest and looking up. He smiles slightly and nods, glasses balancing on the end of his nose.

“I am. This is what I needed after today.” Kira is pretty sure that something beyond the usual crap that comes with being a grad student happened to Derek today, but she also knows that there’s a chance talking about it will just upset him more. She decides to let him bring it up when he feels ready to. In the meantime, she leans up as high as she can to try and catch his lips. Thankfully, he meets her halfway, so that her neck doesn’t get strained (again).

This time, the kiss goes far beyond a simple peck. When Derek’s tongue first brushes against hers, Kira can’t help but moan and slide closer to the edge of the counter. She opens her legs further and tugs Derek in closer, until she can hook her ankles around the back of his thighs. His broad hands slide further down her back until they’re tucked into the top of her back pockets. His fingers flex slightly, just enough to make Kira bite back a groan. She tightens her legs around his waist and smooths her hands down his chest to his stomach. The metal of his belt buckle is cool against the heel of her hand, a marked contrast from the warmth rolling off his skin, even through his clothes.

She lets her fingers drop further, until they’re hovering just over his zipper. Derek sucks in a breath and gently bites her bottom lip, just enough for there to be a brief sting that sends a wave of warmth flooding through her.

Just when she’s made up her mind to start working on his belt, her phone starts buzzing beside her.

With a groan, she pulls away from Derek’s mouth and shuts off the timer’s alert. When she glances up at Derek, he gives her an apologetic smile, but she can’t help but notice how dark and blown his pupils have gotten.

“I think they’re done,” he says, smoothing a piece of her hair away from her face.

“I kind of want to let them burn,” she sighs, sliding off the counter and pulling on her oven mitts. It’s not really true; the whole kitchen smells amazing and she’s been looking forward to trying this recipe for some time.

But still. She wouldn’t have minded having another five minutes with Derek.

“Well, there’s always later,” Derek says, opening the oven for her. The cookies look perfect, golden-brown around the edges, chocolate chips just the right amount of melted. Kira’s stomach rumbles just looking at them.

“Well, these have to cool for a few minutes,” Kira says, setting the baking tray on the counter and pulling off her oven mitts. “So later could be now. I mean, if you want to!”

“I can’t think of anything I’d rather do now,” Derek says, reaching out to take her hand. “Should we invite them?” Kira thinks on it for a moment before nodding and sticking her head out of the doorway.

“We’re going to the bedroom, if you want to come!” she calls. Both Scott and Stiles yell back an acknowledgement but based on their tone, Kira is pretty sure they aren’t actually listening. She turns back to Derek and squeezes his hand.

“I tried,” she says with a shrug.

“Well, there’s always later for that too,” Derek replies, leaning down to brush another brief kiss over her lips. “Let’s go before the cookies get too cold.”

“Kira Yukimura?” Someone calls, and Kira’s head jerks up again.

The tattoo artist is holding up a clipboard and looking around the room to locate her. Kira takes a deep breath when Scott pulls her to her feet.

“Here,” she says.

The eyes of the artist land on her and they smile kindly. Kira looks at them, noticing the white tank top with sleeves so deep she can see their bra and the flower tattoo on their ribs. It reads ‘They/Them’ on the front, and Kira tells herself not to forget to address them with the right pronouns.

“I’m Malia,” they say after shaking Kira’s sweaty hand and nodding to Scott. Scott’s kinda a local here, so Kira assumes they already know each other.

She follows Malia to the back of the shop, where she has to sit down on a chair that reminds her of the ones at the dentist and clings onto Scott’s hand even harder.

“So, first tattoo?” Malia guesses, glancing at Kira’s pale face and then her hand holding onto Scott’s.

“Yes,” Kira responds weakly, feeling her stomach turn when they takes their needle.

“She’s afraid of needles,” Scott explains gently.

“Aha. And why are you getting a tattoo, exactly? I mean, the fact that you are is good for me since I get money out of it, but why would you do it if you’re so scared of needles?”

“He convinced me,” Kira says, nodding to her boyfriend.

“He’s, like, obsessed with tattoos and he made me like them too and it just felt weird loving them and not having one myself.”

Malia smiles, looking from Kira to Scott and back.

“Okay, so, do you have any idea what you want as a first tattoo?”

“Yes, actually.” Kira pulls a picture from her back pocket and hands it to Malia, who looks at it intently and frowns.

“That’s a pretty big tattoo to begin with,” they say slowly.

“You sure you’re up for it?”

Kira shrugs sheepishly.

“I have a high pain tolerance.”

Malia looks back at Scott, who nods with a grin.

“Okay, then,” they say.

“Let me make a sketch first before doing it for real.”

***

By the time Malia finally finishes, Kira’s pretty sure she crushed Scott’s hand.

“There,” they say proudly, rolling back their chair and stretching their arms.

“All finished.”

Kira looks down at her thigh, but can’t really see if it’s good from upside down.

“Can I see it?” She asks.

“Of course!” Malia offers her their hand to help her off and leads her to the full body mirror in the corner of the room.

“Oh wow,” Kira mutters when she sees the tattoo. It’s big and obvious and beautiful and absolutely what she wanted. The colors are all spot on.

“I love it.” Then she turns to Scott, whose eyes are fixated on her thigh.

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s amazing. You did a great job, Mal.”

Malia beams at him and Kira’s attention is shortly drawn to their beautiful smile.

Now that the anxiety because of the needles faded away, Kira realizes Malia is beautiful. Their brown hair is short and wild, like they rolled out of bed like that this morning. They have a sleeve just like Scott, vines and flowers connecting the tattoos where Scott’s sleeve is more random. Their long, tanned legs are clothed in shorts, revealing another tattoo on their leg.

“Come on, let’s get you covered up,” Malia says eventually, guiding Kira back to the chair to finish the job.

June

It’s summer in California and Kira decided to take out her old rollerblades to get to work. Her tattoo healed nicely and she purposely picked some high waisted shorts to show it off. She’s gotten a lot of compliments out of it already, especially from Scott, who enjoys tracing the outlines of it with his tongue when he’s busy between her thighs.

She’s not really paying attention to the road, thinking about the picture she took of him last night, her legs pulled up just enough to reveal the tattoo and his dark hair between them, so when she crosses the street, she doesn’t even think about looking for traffic.

Suddenly there’s a loud honk and the sound of squeeking brakes. The bumper of al old Volkswagen Van bumps her against her hip just hard enough for her to lose her balance and the rollerblades slip from underneath her body, causing her to crash onto the ground, right on her butt.

“Ow,” she mumbles, trying to get up but slipping again. The person behind the wheel emerges in front of her and crouches.

“Are you okay?” They ask.

“Ye- yeah, I’m fine,” Kira replies. When she looks up, her mouth drops into a perfect ‘o’.

“Oh, hi! It’s you!” She says, maybe a bit too cheerful to match the situation she’s in.

Malia’s frown turns into a smile to match Kira’s and they reach out to help her up. Kira’s blades roll from underneath her a few more times before she’s steadily back on her feet.

“Are you sure I didn’t hurt you? I didn’t see you coming and I hit the brake as fast as I could but-”

“Malia, I’m fine, I swear. I’ll probably be late for work now, though.”

“I’ll give you a ride!”

“Oh, no you don’t-”

“If you’re gonna say I don’t have to, just keep it to yourself. I literally ran you over, it’s the least I can do. Come on, I’ll help you in.”

Malia takes Kira by the arm and rolls her to the passenger side of her car, opening the door for her and helping her in with her rollerblades.

When Kira is seated, they walk around the front to get back behind the wheel.

“So, where am I taking you?”

“The sushi bar. I’m a waitress there.”

“Oh, I love sushi! Maybe I’ll stay to grab a bite.”

“You should. We have very good tuna rolls.”

They fall silent after that, and Kira looks around in the van.

“Nice car,” she says.

Malia grimaces and jerks her thumb over her shoulder, pointing at the mattress in the back.

“It’s also currently my home,” they confess.

“Oh,” Kira says dumbly.

“Yeah,” Malia sighs. They don’t look proud about it.

“L.A. Ink isn’t as realistic as you’d think it would be.”

Kira giggles.

“Really? A reality show on TLC isn’t realistic? Outrageous!”

Malia squints at her before focusing back on the road.

“Stop making fun of me!” 

“Or what? You gonna hit me with your car again?”

Malia gasps dramatically and clutches their chest.

“Auwtch, Kira! You’re too small to be so savage.”

Kira rolls her eyes at them and smiles, but then Malia’s expression turns serious.

“Seriously, though. Please don’t tell Scott I ran you over or he’s gonna kick my ass.”

“Scott wouldn’t kick your ass if you drove me straight into the hospital,” Kira reassures them.

“He doesn’t do violence.”

“Okay, then he’d probably never talk to me again and that’s even worse.”

“Do... do you and Scott know each other well?” Kira wonders. Malia glances at her, probably trying to detect a sign of jealousy, but Kira is just curious.

“Everytime Scott wants a new tattoo, he comes to me for it. It’s no big deal and it’s not like we hang outside of the shop, but he’s a nice guy. I enjoy talking to him.”

“Yeah,” Kira smiles.

“He’s the sweetest guy I know.”

Malia carefully parks in front of the sushi bar and waits for Kira to change into her normal shoes. Kira thanks them for the ride, promises them she won’t tell Scott about the incident and waves when they take off.

She doesn’t stop smiling the entire evening.

***

The next night, they’re sitting at a booth and waiting for Kira to come take their order.

“Finally,” they grin once Kira is there.

“It surely took you long enough.”

“Sorry, I’m still recovering from that terrible car accident I was in yesterday,” she fires back.

“Oh, shut up,” Malia growls, but they’re grinning even wider now.

“Anyway, can I take your order?”

“Yeah, I’d like to have the tuna rolls.”

“Just tuna rolls?”

“I would also very much like your company, but your shift isn’t over yet.”

Kira can feel a deep blush spead over her cheeks and she tries to hide her face behind the notebook she’s holding, but Malia looks very smug and proud of themselves.

“I’ll get you your tuna rolls. Oh, and my shift is over in an hour.”

***

They’re still sitting at the booth when Kira comes out of the kitchen an hour later, smelling of fish and probably sweat. She’s suddenly nervous and not at all as confident as she felt an hour before, now that the restaurant is empty except Malia.

They’re playing with the straw in their drink, blowing bubbles into their drink. Kira thinks she can maybe sneak past them and go home to her boyfriend before she makes a mistake, but then she bumps against a table and Malia’s head jerks up. Their dark eyes find Kira’s and they urge her to come over.

“Hi there,” Kira says once she slid into the booth with them.

“Shift over?” Malia asks.

“Yeah. Finally.”

“Finally,” Malia repeats.

“So, Kira,” they say, spreading their hands on the table.

“I never asked you this, but what’s the story behind the fox tattoo? I forgot to ask the other time.”

“It’s silly,” Kira disregards. She’d rather talk about Malia’s life instead.

“I’m sure it’s not. Please? I always ask the stories behind tattoos. I can’t believe I didn’t ask you in the shop. Guess I got distracted because you’re so cute.”

“I -uh, well...” Kira is a bit thrown out of the loop by Malia’s flirty comment, but she shakes her head and continues: “The fox is kind of like... the family animal? That sounds weird. Families don’t have animals. Anyway, the fox represents wisdom and cleverness and it’s also just a really pretty animal. I like it.”

“Did you know I have a fox tattoo too?”

“Really? Where?”

Malia’s eyebrows shoot up, a smirk spreading across their face.

“If you want to see it you’ll have to buy me a drink first.”

“Wh- oh.” Kira’s cheeks turn hot again and Malia full on laughs now. Kira notes they have a very nice laugh, one that makes her giggle too.

Now that Malia broke the ice, it’s a lot easier to talk to them. Kira tells them about her family, about her mom and dad moving back to New York once she graduated highschool, about sharing an apartment with Scott, about the fact that she’s more of a cat person and he’s more of a dog person and they can’t seem to agee on which of the two will be their first pet. Malia is a very good listener, staring at her intently as they sip their drink.

When Kira feels like she told them her entire life story, it’s Malia’s turn. They don’t hesitate before starting, telling her everything they find interesting enough to share. Kira learns about their little sister, about the fact that their family lives in Chicago and they came here to become a tattoo artist. Their father didn’t really agree with their life style and that made holiday dinners a bit awkward.

They end up talking until the manager of the restaurant tells Kira they’re closing and they should go. Malia offers her a ride home, which she gladly takes. They show her their music collection, old cassettes with the name of the bands written on them with sharpie. Nothing looks familiar, but that’s probably because the music is really old and Kira is more of a Top 40 kind of girl anyway.

“That’s my stop,” Kira says when Malia stops in front of her apartment building.

“It was really nice talking to you when you’re not stabbing me with needles or hitting me with your car. We should do it again.”

“Yeah, totally. Same time tomorrow?”

“It’s a date,” Kira smiles, and she kisses Malia on the cheek before she realizes what she’s doing. She quickly jerks away, looks at Malia with big eyes and jumps out of the car before they can say anything else. 

When she enters their apartment, the first thing she tells Scott is: “I think I just went on a date with Malia.”

He looks up, not jealous or confused like she expected him to be, but pleasantly surprised.

“Really? Did you have fun?” He teases.

“I - that really wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.”

“How’d you think I’d react?”

Kira shrugs, walks over to the couch to sit next to him.

“I don’t know. Angry? Sad? I basically cheated on you! At least, I think so. I never cheated on anyone before so I don’t really know the rules but I’m pretty sure I did -”

“Kira, calm down,” Scott chuckles, reaching for her hands.

“I’m not angry and I’m not sad, okay?”

“Why not?” Kira squints. Lack of jealousy often implies loss of interest, which means Scott isn’t interested in her anymore, which means he’d probably break up with her soon because she’s boring him. Oh god, did she just start the beginning of their break up?

“Because, a) I don’t think going on a date with someone necessarily means cheating. And b) did I ever tell you about my relationship with Allison?”

She’s really confused now. What does his ex have to do with anything? Is he planning on getting back together with her? The thought of losing Scott is almost too much and she feels all color drain from her face.

Scott notices how pale she suddenly is and reaches out to touch her face.

“Kira, stop worrying! All I wanted to say is that I used to date Allison, but I also used to date Stiles. At the same time. And they didn’t date each other.”

Kira looks up to him, her eyebrows knitting together in a frown.

“So you were in an open relationship with them?”

“Yeah. I dated them and they could date others too if they wanted and it worked perfectly. Allison eventually fell for a girl who didn’t like the idea of her dating other people so she broke up with me, and Stiles and I decided we should stay friends when I met you because I really liked you and I didn’t know how you felt about the whole open relationship thing. All I wanted to say is that if you like Malia as more than a friend, I wouldn’t mind if you dated them too.”

She doesn’t know what to say. Out of all things she’d expecting him to say, him being okay with her dating Malia was on the bottom of the list.

But then Scott breaks out in a dorky grin and all the tension that had been building up in Kira’s body vanishes immediately.

“As long as I’m your main bae, you can date whoever you want.”

Kira rolls her eyes at him for using the word bae in an actual spoken sentence, but then she kisses him on the nose and smiles.

“Thank you,” she whispers, and she means it. Having Scott’s blessing to date others feels weird, but it also feels... right. Natural. As if they’re not meant to only date each other.

They both have a lot of love  to give, and it only seems fair to give some of that love to other people.

July

Kira feels better going on dates with Malia after that. They meet up in the sushi bar every day, talking till late at night and kissing each other goodbye when Malia drops Kira off. It’s always an innocent kiss on the cheek, but Kira’s face feels hot till at least fifteen minutes after Malia left. 

Scott observes her with a teasing smile, kissing her hot cheeks when she comes back from dates and asking if she had fun. It feels good being able to talk to him about it, and making out in bed afterwards is even better.

Kira’s interest in Malia is definitely changing into a solid crush and she’s not proud to admit that she starts fantasizing about them.

It doesn’t happen all at once. She doesn’t just decide to picture Malia next to her in bed or their lips on her skin and she certainly doesn’t imagine it’s them instead of Scott when they’re having sex.

It starts with thinking about how it would be if Malia stayed over. How it would look to have Scott and Malia in their tiny kitchen, or how Malia’s long legs would casually be thrown over Kira’s lap when they watch a movie. She imagines Scott and Malia talking about tattoos, their eyes lighting up like they’re children again.

Then she starts imagining them on dates with her and Scott. Her and Malia watching Scott as he takes a wave in the ocean, tanning and reading a book. Malia would probably choose a comic book and Kira would probably tell them to pick up a real book every one in a while, to which Malia would stick out their tongue.

Her favorite thing to imagine is them all holding hands. Malia and Scott are about the same height, sometimes it even looks like Malia is slightly taller. Kira loves picturing herself in the middle, her taller partners on both sides of her as they walk down the street.

The image of them holding hands with Kira in the middle inevitably changes to them sharing a bed, Kira still in the middle. And the bed sharing leads to... well, other fantasies. Sometimes she shares them with Scott, whispering them in his ear as he takes care of her. Dirty talk never really was her expertise, but she’s becoming rather good at it.

Soon, her boyfriend and her crush are irreversibly connected with each other, even though they don’t know it yet. She can’t picture Scott without Malia or the other way around, and she doesn’t want to either.

***

The first time Malia kisses Kira is when they’re on the beach.

It’s mid july and the heat doesn’t subside, not even when it’s dark out. Even in the middle of the night it’s still hot enough to walk around in shorts and a tank top, and that’s exactly what both of them are wearing.

They’re lying on beach towels and staring at the night sky, listening to the soft music coming from Malia’s van, when they turn to Kira and look at her with mischief in their eyes.

“Wanna go skinny dipping?” They ask.

“What? Now?”

“Yes, now! Come on, there’s nobody around and I’m so hot. Let’s just do it!”

“I don’t know, Mal. I’ve never gone skinny dipping before.”

“Then this is the perfect time to do it! Or are you scared?” They stretch the last word to tease her and Kira immediately sits up.

“Of course I’m not!”

“Okay, prove it.”

“I wil!” Kira gets up, unbuttons her shorts and lets them slide over her hips. She doesn’t miss the way Malia’s eyes dart from her thighs to her legs and up again, which only makes her feel more confident. She gets out of her shirt next, throwing it at Malia’s face as she unclasps her bra too.

“Are ya coming?” She wonders, raising an eyebrow at them still sitting on the towel. Malia quickly gets on their feet and undresses too. When they’re both naked, Kira turns to the ocean and breaks into a run, followed immediately by Malia.

The quiet night air fills with their giggles as they race to the water and then screams once they get in, the cold water biting at their skin. Kira trips and falls into the sea, immediately wet from head to toe. Malia dives in next to her, wrapping their arms around her waist to pick her up.

“It’s a lot colder than I expected!” They scream into Kira’s ear, pressing their body against her back. Kira tries to ignore the feeling of their nipples against her skin, how their arms are wrapped around her body just below her breasts. Though the water is cold, Kira is suddenly very warm.

They don’t last very long in the water, already making their way back to the shore after a few minutes. Malia makes a run for their towels, picking theirs up to hold it out to Kira.

Kira walks into their arms, letting Malia wrap the towel around her body. They do the same for themselves and then run to their car, followed by Kira.

The car is warmer than outside from standing in the sun the entire day, but Kira slides close to Malia anyway.

“See, told you I wasn’t scared.”

Malia raises their eyebrows at her.

“You didn’t really last very long in there, did you?”

“Neither did you!”

“True, but I didn’t have to prove I wasn’t scared to skinny skip in the first place.”

Kira nudges them in the ribs. “Shut up.”

“Make me,” Malia says smugly.

Kira looks at them, her eyes darting from their eyes to their mouth. Malia bites their lip in anticipation.

“I will,” Kira whispers before leaning forward into their personal space.

Kissing Malia is totally diferent than kissing Scott. Where Scott is gentle and soft, Malia is rough. There’s teeth and tongue and hands all over her body, setting her skin on fire.

Kira loses track of time, but when they finally part for air her skin is dry and she isn’t cold anymore.

“Wow,” she mutters, resting her forehead against Malia’s.

“I know,” Malia says with a breathy laugh. They sit like that until they get cold again, then move to get dressed.

Kira sleeps in the back of Malia’s car that night, cuddled up in their arms and pressed against their warm body.

August

They start hanging out all together, just because it’s easier for Kira that way. Malia hangs around in their apartment a lot, cooking or watching a movie with Kira or joking around with Scott. Kira is just really happy her two partners get along.He’s really passionate about a new tattoo idea and draws it out for Malia, though he’s a terrible artist and Malia can’t make anything out of it.

“Is that a tower?” They wonder, pointing to a spot on the drawing.

“No, that’s a paw! Come on, am I that bad?”

Malia giggles, patting Scott’s leg.

“I’m just teasing, Scottie. it’s a pretty cool design, but do you still have room on your body to put it on?”

“You bet your pretty ass I do,” Scott grins. He stands up and turns around, lifting his shirt to show Malia his bare back. 

“Wow, it’s like looking at an empty canvas,” Malia says. They sound impressed, as if they weren’t expecting another empty spot on Scot’s body. Honestly, Kira doesn’t blame them. If she let him, he’d even tattoo his face.

Scott looks over his shoulder.

“You think you can estimate if it’ll fit?”

Malia glances at the design, then back at Scott and stands up too. They walk over to him and reach out a hand to let their fingers slide over his back.

Scott jerks a little in surprise but then lingers in the touch as Malia drags a finger over his skin. Kira has to bite her lip in order not to giggle. She knows how sensitive Scott’s back is and how much he likes being touched there, and she’s almost certiain he’s getting turned on by this.

Malia has no idea, innocently biting their lip as they look back at the design.

“I think it should fit,” they decide, letting their hand rest on his shoulder.

“Great,” Scott replies, and Kira notices the change in his voice. Malia must notice too, because they ask if he’s okay.

“I’m fine! Hey, how about I go change and then we all go out to grab something to eat?”

He doesn’t wait for Malia to reply before walking to the bathroom, not even bothering to take his shirt.

Malia looks at Kira and frowns.

“What was that about?”

Kira grins.

“Nothing, he’s just weird sometimes,” she says cheerfully. Then she jumps up too to give Malia a long kiss.

“I can go for sushi,” she says.

“Tuna rolls?” Malia asks with a grin.

“Tuna rolls,” Kira nods.

***

Malia is a nice drunk. They giggle a lot and are really happy about everything, constantly smiling and laughing. Scott and Kira support them as they walk home, both swaying a bit on their feet too. Kira is the least drunk of them all but she enjoys watching her partners.

Once home, Scott leads them straight to the bedroom.

“Uh, Scott?” Kira asks.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t you think it’s a better idea to put Malia on the couch?”

Scott frowns confused.

“Why?”

“Doesn’t it - bother you... to sleep in the same bed?”

Scott still doesn’t seem to get it, his intoxicated mind slow to catch up.

“Are they sick?” He wonders.

“No, but- you’re not dating them.”

“Aren’t I? It feels like I do. They’re always here and I really like them and they’re really pretty,” he babbels.

“Sometimes I really want to kiss them.”

“Really?”

Scott nods fiercefully.

“And then I want to kiss you, and I want to kiss you together, and I want to share a bed and cuddle and kiss some more,” he mutters, swaying on his feet as he’s holding up Malia. They look up and giggle.

“Iwannakissyoutoo,” they slur, moving their head forward. Scott pulls back and shakes his head.

“Not now, we’re drunk. When we’re sober.”

Kira shakes her head and has to surpress a smile as she gently guides them to the bedroom. Scott and Malia fall on the bed together, giggling and nuzzling against each other. Kira can just take off their shoes before they both fall asleep. She rolls her eyes at them and gets in too, nestling herself against Malia’s back.

***

Scott doesn’t bring up the kissing until Malia leaves the next day. He sits down next to Kira on the couch, holding his head and clutching a glass with water and aspirine.

“Do you really think they want to kiss me?” He asks.

“Or was that just the alcohol talking?”

Kira raises an eyebrow.

“You want me to ask them?”

Scott shrugs.

“I don’t know. I really want to kiss them, though.”

“So it wasn’t the alcohol talking with you?”

“No. I’ve actually been thinking about it for a while. About Malia, and about you. About you two together, and me.”

“Me too,” Kira confesses.

“It just doesn’t feel complete. When I’m with Malia I miss you and when I’m with you I miss Malia. I want both of you.”

“Well, if we’re both on the same page, I guess we only have to convince Malia.”

Kira grins.

“I guess we do.”

***

They decide to ask Malia at dinner, and Kira has never seen Scott more nervous. She’s almost offended that he’s never been this nervous around her, but he’s just too cute biting his lip and walking circles around the table until Malia arrives.

They must’ve rehearsed the conversation at least twenty times, but when it’s finally time it doesn’t go as planned. They were supposed to wait for dessert before asking Malia, but Scott blurts it out over the main course.

“Malia, Kira and I were wondering - well, uh... remember that night when we were kinda drunk? And I said I really wanted to kiss you and you agreed? I - uh, I meant that. Kira and I would really want you in our relationship instead of just being with Kira. If, ... if you want to, of course.”

Malia puts down their knife and fork and a grin spreads across their face. Their eyes dart from Scott to Kira and back.

“Does that mean I can finally kiss both of you?” They ask.

Scott smiles too, his shoulders relaxing almost immediately.

Kira stretches her arms above her head and groans. She doesn't even know how long she's been sitting at the kitchen table, but her wooden butt and sore back tell her it's been a long time since she moved.

She gets up to get the blood flowing back to her feet and get some feeling back in her numb buttcheeks and ends up in front of the fridge, peering in it to find something to eat.

Somehow, she gets the genius idea that this is the perfect time to bake some muffins.

In her defense, Kira's always had a sweet tooth, and it only gets worse when she's under a lot of stress or sleep deprived. Today, she just so happens to be both.

Kira finds a muffin mix in one of the cubboards and gets out the molds from underneath the sink. She makes the batter, pours it into the molds and puts the muffins in the oven.

While she waits, she pours herself a glass of milk and gets back behind her computer. Work goes by a lot faster now that she has something to look forward to, and before she knows it she's made a connection between the legend of the Wolf of Waasland in Belgium and satanic rituals.

When her muffins are done, Kira jumps up to get them out of the oven. She isn't patient enough to wait for them to cool down and pries them out of the molds onto a plate. She carefully picks one open with her finger and stuffs a piece into her mouth.

It only takes her two bites to realize the mix had been past the expiration date.

Kira spits out the piece of muffin into the sink and holds her head under the tap to drink some water. It feels like she just ate a piece of mildew, bitter and crumbly in her mouth.

"I can't even bake muffins with a muffin mix," she mumbles to herself, staring at the whole batch of ruined sweets.

For some weird, paper related reason, this makes Kira cry.

Derek finds her ten minutes later, literally sobbing on the floor, her fingers stuffed in her hair and her knees pulled to her chest.

"Hey," he says softly, still making Kira startle despite his whisper.

"I thought I heard something. Why are you crying?"

Kira wipes at her eyes, sniffs.

"The muffins were past their expiration date," she whimpers.

Derek raises a thick eyebrow.

"What?"

She sniffs again, a small sob escaping her lips.

"I wanted to bake some muffins and - the mix wasn't good anymore. I - I just wanted some muffins and I'm so tired and that stupid paper isn't going anywhere. Who cares about the devil jumping on your back on crossroads? Who cares?"

Derek sinks to his knees in front of her, his eyebrows knitted together in worry. Kira looks at him and notices his hair is sticking up on the right side from sleeping weirdly.

"Kira, why don't you get some rest?" He offers.

"I can’t! I need to finish my paper!"

"That paper will still be there tomorrow. Please just get some rest, I promise you'll feel better in the morning."

Kira pouts, glancing back at the wasted muffins.

"I just wanted some damn muffins," she mumbles.

Derek chuckles, shaking his head slightly. He reaches out to touch her face.

"I forgot how cute you are when you're tired," he smiles. Kira squints at him.

"I'm not cute," she bites. It only makes Derek smile wider.

"No," he agrees, a fake serious tone creeping into his voice, "you're terrifying. Everyone should fear you, oh Grumpy Kira."

Kira slaps him.

"I'm not grumpy!"

"And I don't have a beard. Come on, let's get you in bed." He reaches for her hand, which she takes after glaring at him some more.

Derek guides her to her room, even pulling back her covers and tucking her in. Kira wouldn't normally let him, but it's 4am and she hasn't slept in 28 hours and her muffins were a disaster and she just wants to sleep. At this point, a goddamn polar bear could've tucked her in and she would've let it.

"There, all good?" Derek asks, looking down at her, a smile still tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Mhh," Kira hums, her eyelids heavy now that she's tucked into her comfortable bed.

"Good. Get some rest."

"I will. Thanks, Der."

Derek bends down to press a kiss to her forehead.

"You're welcome."

The next morning, when Kira wakes up from sunlight streaming into her bedroom and she stumbles to the kitchen to get back behind her computer, a plate of fresh muffins is waiting for her. They're still warm.

Kira calls Derek's name, but then she remembers he had a morning class and probably already left. When she picks up a muffin to sink her teeth into, she sees he left her a note.

Thought you might enjoy these. Good luck on your paper, and I'll bring you home some donuts for tonight so you won't feel the urge to start baking them at 3am. Derek

Kira smiles as she takes place behind her computer again and starts typing.