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"When did you take that one?"
The question fell on Akito's ears rather casually for how intimate their current position was. Naturally, a chance to be home alone with Toya meant cuddling up as they pleased -- a very welcome change of pace in comparison to their daily life's draining hecticness as of late. As such, they laid together back-to-back on Akito's couch in near-silence, the snugness of Toya's arms around his midsection feeling nice and toasty as the younger aimlessly scrolled through his phone's gallery.
"Uh... An sent me that one, I think." Akito mumbled in half-remembrance. He wasn't nearly so bold as to record the sight captured within his screen -- that of Toya giving an innocent peace sign as he smiled toward the camera, proudly wearing the loose-fitted hoodie Akito had bequeathed him for the sake of saving his partner from the autumnal cold.
...He was, however, down bad enough to immediately save the photo to his gallery when it appeared in his messages.
"I see..." Toya muttered back with apparent absence of mind. Theoretically, having the house to themselves meant there wasn't any real reason to stay hushed... but Akito had found there was something about knowing you had no need to focus on anything but the one you loved that awoke a gentler part of you. It seemed Toya was similarly disposed, whether it was purely at a subconscious level or the rather unlikely opposite.
"..."
"...Toya? You good?" Akito inevitably asked, able to feel the burn of his partner's gaze even when it wasn't directly aimed at him. The pale hand that had been leisurely pawing along the fabric covering Akito's stomach seemed to grow anxious in unspoken anticipation, tugging upon the cloth as though something were building inside that could only be managed through physical stimuli.
"Yes, just..." Toya continued to murmur, lurching himself further over Akito's shoulder as he stared rather persistent daggers into the younger's phone screen. "Just wait a moment, please."
"Is there anything even worth starin' at in this picture...?" Akito thought to himself as his brain was riddled by pure confusion, though he obeyed his partner's request regardless. He really couldn't imagine what he was waiting for exactly, but-
"Ah... There we go." Toya smiled -- felt and heard rather than seen -- in a conveniently swift clearing of doubts. "Happy birthday, Akito."
"Huh...?" Akito muttered dumbly, like Toya had just spat something at him in an alien language. It was only then that the younger deigned to repay proper attention toward his screen, and that was the moment he put it together -- The clock had just turned to midnight.
"...Were you counting down the seconds?" Akito asked with a scoff, to which Toya let out the tiniest giggle before moving to sit up with the tiniest parting smooch to his partner's head. Akito, of course, followed suit on instinct until he could face Toya and that ridiculously joyous smile of his.
"Call me selfish, but..." Toya stopped to tuck a stray band of hair behind his ear; a rare display of sheepishness on his part. "I wanted to be the first one to wish you a happy birthday."
"That right?" chuckled Akito, predictably planting his unoccupied hand atop two-toned hair and tousling it up. Part of him wished Toya could find the courage to be 'selfish' more often, finding it crazy endearing that his partner could be this eager to celebrate him.
"Of course. You're my amazing partner, after all." Toya continued with a tone that was adorably giddy yet distinctly matter-of-fact in his typical Toya-like way, instantly leaning into the touch when Akito's hand fell down to cup his cheek. "It's only natural that I'd want to make sure your day is as special as can be."
"Y'know you don't have to go that far outta your way, right?" Akito implored, though the innocent look of attentive inquiry upon Toya's face wasn't helping his composure. "I don't wanna be pampered just cuz you're 'supposed to' or anything..."
"You don't need to worry about that, Akito. I like being able to make you as happy as I can, and today is the perfect day for doing exactly that." Toya dissuaded his partner's worries as bluntly as ever, encasing a paler hand atop Akito's own as he spoke. His expression melted back into a smile -- more warm and affectionate than before, as he somehow kept proving possible -- and Akito could feel the inevitable flood of heat creeping behind his skin as a result.
"To be honest..." Toya chuckled, apparently deciding the prolonged silence he'd carved out was the appropriate time to go in for the killing blow. "I've started to look forward to your birthday more than mine, Akito."
"Don't say that, dummy..." Akito huffed, dropping his phone upon the cushion to reach up and deliver another cleansing hair ruffle -- because if there was one thing Akito would never hear from Toya, it was self-deprecation. "You're plenty worth celebrating, dude."
"I know, I know..." Toya was quick to assure -- and how stupid of Akito, really, to think the older could feel anything but elation on his partner's special day. "But I gave it some thought, and I realized there's only one thing that feels nicer than being able to celebrate with the people I love."
"Uh-huh..." Akito nodded along in following, just a tick too late to heed the warning that were a pair of milky hands upon his face before a quick chaste smooch was stamped into his unsuspecting lips.
"...It's when my most favorite person is the objection of celebration, of course." Toya finished the thought in that special honey-laced tone of his -- and if Akito's sense of shame was dangling off a precipice as things were, then that was the moment it had been promptly shoved into taking its best attempt at a swan dive.
"You drive me freaking crazy, y'know that...?" Akito faux grumbled, though even someone as oblivious as Toya could sense the lack of intent within his words once he was suddenly being pinned down and repayed his show of affection a hundredfold.
Akito kissed at Toya's lips impatiently, waiting for him to finally catch the cue that he wanted him to reciprocate. After a moment's worth of lagged processing, Toya seemed to have successfully rebooted his consciousness and began to push his lips back into his partner's. With a pleased hum from the younger followed by the sensation of muscles relaxing where Toya had already been rendered boxed in, they were well on their way to losing themselves in passion.
"It's his birthday now..." Toya began in his head -- a halfhearted and wholly unnecessary excuse for how readily he was allowing Akito to render his lips bitten and swollen as they danced. "...so it should be fine to spoil him a little bit."
...Wait. It was his birthday.
"...A-Akito." Toya stammered out the next time they pulled back for breath, fighting his instincts to just forget about everything but how nice it felt to stay tangled up in each other like this. "I'm sorry, but could we stop for a moment? I actually had something prepared for you."
"...Oh. Sure." The disappointed pout on Akito's face was obvious -- and Toya would be quite the liar if he tried to claim he didn't feel the same way -- but regardless, he pulled himself up just enough to let Toya slink out of his hold. Even if it was officially the most acceptable of days for him to make selfish demands, Akito couldn't help whipping his head in whatever direction Toya wished for him to look.
"I promise I'll have more for you later, but..." Toya began as he stood up, the unspoken promise of an eventual gift barrage now solidified for the umpteenth time in a row... Even outside of birthdays, Toya never failed to go completely overboard when the time came to show somebody gratitude or hospitality, especially when it was aimed toward his 'most favorite person'.
"...This one is a little bit time-sensitive, so it's better to give it to you now." Toya made his way across the room as he spoke, opening up his bag where it hung neat on the coat rack to produce a smaller one from inside. As he unzipped that, the material from the inner lid made it clear that it was an insulated cooler bag of sorts, ensuring its obscured contents would remain nice and chilled.
"Here you are, Akito." Toya hummed with a certain excitement that could've told you he was the one receiving the present rather than Akito, carefully slipping a box out of the cooler and placing it on the table in front of the couch. "Happy birthday."
With an endeared chuckle, Akito glanced downward, only for a wave of shock to color his face as he realized what he was looking at. He never thought he'd see it in person -- the new autumnal cheesecake flavor from that fancy shop which always drew a crowd too massive to justify waiting for... and it wasn't just a slice, too -- Toya had gotten him a whole damn cake.
"What in the hell...?" Akito muttered on instinct, marveling at the treat before him as though it were a wondrous treasure for the ages -- mostly because he was still trying to wrap his brain around how the fuck Toya had gotten his hands on it.
"Do you not like it...?" asked Toya dejectedly, a misinterpretation for the ages that sent the corners of his mouth drooping into a frown.
"Wh- No, of course I do..." Akito assured quick as a lightning strike, his simple words thankfully enough to earn a sigh of relief from his partner. "It's just... ain't this place super expensive? The line's always crazy long, too..."
"We didn't have any practice scheduled after school today, so I had ample time to wait for it." Toya explained like it were the most trivial affair imaginable. "It was a lucky coincidence, too. I just happened to pass by the shop on my way home and remembered that you were interested in it."
"T...Toya..." Akito could only drop his gaze back to the cheesecake before him in shock. His reddening cheeks seemed to be the only part of him with any clue how to respond to such an idea -- that Toya would willingly and stupidly casually wait for hours on end just to bring him some sweets he would enjoy regardless of price...
...and worse yet, when he looked back up at Toya, silver eyes half-lidded from both ends as a consequence of his regrown smile, it became more and more obvious that his earlier statement was far from a lie. Truthfully, was their anything to do but bow his head in defeat as wanton flusterment came swinging?
"A-Akito? You're sure it's alright?" Toya immediately swooped in to sit beside Akito, perfectly sweet and adorably oblivious thing that he was. He placed what hoped to be a soothing hand upon his partner's back, though he clearly struggled to figure out what he was meant to be comforting Akito over and why.
"...I dunno what the hell I did to deserve you, man." Akito sighed, spontaneously deciding the best way to display his gratitude and assure his partner in one punch was to drag him into another smooch by the back of the hair -- a brief yet firm connection, producing a 'chu' sound as he pulled away with an accompanying headpat. "Thanks, Toya. For always makin' me happy."
"...That's all I could ever want, Akito." Toya let out the tiniest of chuckles, lacing his arms around his partner's neck with all his typical grace. They'd been through this song and dance so many times, even when Akito had so few people close to him that Toya didn't even need to worry about beating everyone else to the punch... but after all these years -- through every painful loss, resounding success, and whichever motion of the earth chose to spin their lives on their heads, they were both certain that this quiet intimacy could always be something they could trust.
"So... Do you want to eat your cheesecake now?" Toya hummed, his object of inquiry redirecting his attention to where he'd pulled back with a lazy press of thumb against his own slightly puffy lips -- newly wet with a distinctly kitten-like swipe of tongue that enticed Akito more than it should have. "Or should we simply pick up where we left off?"
"...I love you so much." Akito announced -- a complete non-answer and a resounding declaration at the same time as he pinned Toya to the couch once more.
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🌕☀️
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"Happy birthday, Akito." The boy in question -- half-awake and in need of sustenance -- was greeted by the sight of his mother frying up a batch of pancakes. "Sorry for not waking you, but you and your partner looked so comfortable together on the couch."
"Mom...!"