#also fixing my clothes situation (as in the way they’re folded/sorted in my apartment) would be great

[justheretobreakthings]

Keith’s Scaly Secret

Written for @gentronlegendaryfriendships

Day Two: Wings AU | Adopting a Pet Together

Word Count: 2,933 Characters: Keith & Shiro Read on AO3 My house, my rules, my ko-fi

Story Summary:

Due to an upcoming dorm inspection at the Galaxy Garrison, Shiro learns that Keith has been hiding some unexpected contraband.

There was a lot about his time as a young cadet at the Galaxy Garrison that Shiro often found himself nostalgic for, but dorm life wasn’t one of them. There were times nowadays when he spent the afternoon studying with Keith and the library was too crowded, so it was usually easier to just hang out in his dorm than go all the way to Shiro’s apartment, but those times were also good reminders of Shiro’s distaste for the academy’s dorms. They were dim and cramped, the mattress on the bed was thin and the desk chairs were stiff and had terrible back support. And, although of course Shiro would never mention it out loud to him, over the last few weeks Keith’s dorm had started to take on a faint smell that Shiro couldn’t quite identify, but that didn’t seem to be from dirty laundry or old food the way most other smelly dorms were.

All in all, not Shiro’s preferred place to spend a Saturday afternoon, but with the amount of stress that upcoming linear algebra test was giving Keith, it was something he was more than willing to endure for the sake of helping his protégé get some studying done. It still was a bit of a relief, though, when they finally finished covering all the practice problems they could get and deemed the study session complete, and Keith announced that he was ready for dinner.

“Sounds good to me,” Shiro said, moving to stand from where he had been seated cross-legged on Keith’s bed and then stretching out his back. “You wanna go to the cafeteria, or would you be up for going out to eat tonight?”

“Either,” Keith said with a shrug. He shook out his hand, no doubt cramped from all the writing he’d been doing in the past couple of hours, and stood too as he closed his books. “I could go out.”

“Great,” Shiro said. He glanced at his watch before continuing, “We should probably be heading out soon anyway. Less awkward to not be in the dorm when they do the inspection, so it's definitely a good night to go out to eat. You know what, I’ve been craving onion rings, wanna go to that place across from - ” He paused as he noticed that Keith had frozen in place, eyes going wide. “Keith? What’s up?”

“What - what do you mean, the inspection?” Keith stammered.

Shiro frowned, taking a moment to realize what he meant, then he sucked in a breath through his teeth and stopped just short of slapping himself in the forehead. “Crap. Forgot we’re not supposed to say anything to you ahead of time. It’s nothing to worry about, they just go through and check each dorm to make sure there’s nothing dangerous, no contraband, and nothing’s been broken. They’re not going to get onto little things like laundry or bed not being made, so you’ll be fine.”

Keith, however, did not look reassured. “They can’t do that! That’s an invasion of privacy! It’s - they can’t - why didn’t they warn us?!”

Shiro’s frown deepened. “They said in the registration paperwork that living in the academy includes dorm checks. And it’s in the student handbook.”

Keith bit at his lip, eyes darting around the room as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I, um, I don’t - I don’t think I can go out to eat tonight.”

“Keith…” Shiro said slowly. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

At the best of times, Keith was an awful liar, and this time his ‘nothing’ answer was even less believable than usual. Immediately Shiro’s thoughts started casting about, trying to take a guess as to what Keith could possibly be hiding. He had that knife of his, but he’d entrusted Shiro to keep it in his apartment for him. Had he stolen it back? It wasn’t as if Keith hadn’t stolen before. After all, the very day they had met…

Shiro quickly shook that thought out of his head. Keith had grown a lot in the time Shiro had known him, he hadn’t lashed out that way in ages, and it wasn’t fair for Shiro to assume Keith had reverted to old habits like that. Still, he needed an answer. “Keith,” he said, trying his best to make his voice stern without sounding angry or threatening. “I’m not going to judge you for whatever you’ve got here. I promise. But you have to abide by the academy rules while you’re here the Garrison, and the staff is going to enforce those rules. I can’t do anything about that, but I can help you with whatever you need right now. Okay? So what’s going on, Keith?”

For several seconds more Keith chewed silently at his lip. Then, after a deep breath, he walked to his bed and lifted up the blanket that hung over the side of the mattress and down to the floor.

Shiro’s eyes widened.

The area under the bed was hollow, meant for students to use as storage space. Most cadets would fill the space with folded stacks of clothes, crates of books, extra bedding, and the like. When Shiro had helped Keith move into his dorm, he’d had very few personal possessions to speak of. Shiro was pretty sure that space beneath the bed had been left empty.

It wasn’t empty anymore.

Instead, a large, clear, rectangular tank stood below the bed, a little landscape inside, dirt and rocks and shrubs and water. A lamp, currently turned off, stood aimed into the tank past the chickenwire mesh that covered the top, its cord plugged into the outlet in the wall near the pillow.

And dozing on a rock in the middle of the tank... was a lizard. No more than half a foot long, speckled with scales in shades of brown up to the tail, where the brown stopped and turned to black and white stripes. The lizard turned to face Shiro when the blanket was lifted, fixing him with tiny beady eyes and darting out its tongue.

It took Shiro a while to find his voice. “Keith,” he finally said. “Why do you have a lizard?”

“I’m sorry!” Keith cried, and when Shiro looked back up at him, he was surprised to see the agitation on his face, and the tremor in his hands as he wrung them together. “I found her in the student garage and I took her outside and set her loose but then when I went back there again later she was back and I didn’t want to just leave her there because she might have gotten run over or one of the other students might have found her and hurt her so I took her back to my dorm and she seemed to like it here so - ”

“Hey, hey,” Shiro said, lifting his hands and making a calming gesture toward Keith. “You need to breathe, okay? I’m not mad at you, I’m not. I just - I’m - I’m a little shocked. I didn’t expect that.”

“Please don’t turn me in,” Keith said. He moved his hands to start wringing them in the fabric of his shirt. “I was just trying to help her, I wasn’t doing anything bad, I swear.”

“Her?” Shiro repeated.

Keith nodded. “Um, the, uh - for zebra-tailed lizards, the males have these black markings on the side and blue ones on their stomach. The females don’t.”

“Ah,” Shiro said. “You really did your homework for this thing, didn’t you?”

Keith nodded again, and Shiro got down on his knees to get a closer look at the tank. The lizard stuck her tongue out at him again as his face neared her, and she darted off the rock to hide among some grass instead. “Where did you get all this?”

“Just brought the dirt and plants and stuff in from outside. And I’ve been catching bugs for food.”

“What about the tank and the lamp?”

Keith didn’t answer, and Shiro squinted closely at the lamp. “Hang on, are these from the student bio lab?”

“They weren’t using them!” Keith snapped. “The tank was empty when I found it and the lamp wasn’t even working right, I had to fix it myself! It’s not like anyone even noticed the stuff was gone!”

“Did you get permission to take the tank and the lamp, Keith?”

“I - ” He hesitated, and Shiro turned back toward him to see his arms crossed again, eyes fixed firmly on the floor. “If I’d asked someone, they would have said no.”

“Well…” Shiro sighed. “Well, yeah, they definitely would have. You know you’re not allowed to keep a pet in your dorm.”

“But I - ” Keith’s chin trembled. “I was doing good, I swear. I did all the research and I’ve been feeding her well and - and I wasn’t gonna do anything to her. I wasn’t gonna hurt her or use her for a prank or anything, I swear. I promise, I was being good. I was being responsible. I promise. I just - I just wanted to help her.”

Shiro frowned as he straightened up, putting a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Keith? Hey, look at me.” It took a moment, but Keith complied, turning dewy eyes up toward Shiro. “This has nothing to do with that. Okay? I don’t think that you were going to hurt her, and I’m sure you’re a very responsible pet owner. I know you meant well, Keith, I know you did. But there are other reasons it’s not allowed. The lizard could escape the tank and get lost in the Garrison, or make a mess. Or that lamp could have overheated when you had it on and burned your bed. And you’re supposed to be focusing on your classes and your flying, not on taking care of an animal. There’s also the small matter of you taking things out of the lab without permission…”

Keith chewed at his lip silently for a long moment before he spoke. “Am I gonna get kicked out?” he asked, voice cracking on the words.

Shiro shushed him lightly, squeezing his shoulder. “Don’t worry about that. Tell you what, I can get this taken care of, okay? We can save going out to eat for tomorrow, and tonight I’ll sort out the whole, uh, lizard situation. It’s gonna be fine. But we have to get the lizard out of your dorm, and we have to get the tank and the lamp back to the lab where it belongs. You understand that, right?”

“Yeah,” Keith said quietly. “I guess.”

“Okay.” He gave Keith’s shoulder one more pat before moving to slide the tank out from under the bed. He unplugged the lamp and laid it on top, then hauled the tank into his arms and got to his feet with a grunt. “You got any extra blanket or anything in here? Something we can cover this up with?”

Keith went to his closet, pulled out an oversized towel, and helped drape it over the tank, blocking its contents from view. “Thanks,” Keith said. “I’m, um - I’m sorry. About all of this.”

“I know, it’s okay,” Shiro said, giving him a soft smile. “I’m not mad, Keith. You’re not in trouble. But no more stealing from the labs, okay? And no more secret pets. Can you promise me that?”

“Yeah,” Keith mumbled. “Promise.”

“Good. Take it easy, Keith. I’ll see you tomorrow for that dinner, okay?”

Keith nodded, and Shiro gave him one last smile before opening the door and stepping into the hall and out of sight.

True to his word, Shiro was right on time the following day to pick Keith up for their promised meal. Keith was quiet as he climbed into the passenger seat of Shiro’s car, forlorn as he stared out the window at the buildings they passed.

“Everything go okay for you last night?” Shiro asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Mm-hm,” Keith said.

“You pass your dorm inspection?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s good. You know, I still need to give that towel of yours back to you, don’t I?” Keith replied with a non-committal grunt. “Tell you what, we can swing by my apartment before we eat and I can grab it for you.”

Keith raised a brow at him. “Or you could wait until next time you’re at the dorms.”

“Eh, I’d rather do it now. Don’t want to risk forgetting it. It’s fine, it’s on the way, it’ll only take a couple of minutes.”

“... Okay,” Keith said. He frowned at Shiro for a moment longer, but when Shiro didn’t say anything else or take his eyes off the road, he slowly turned back to gazing out the window.

A few minutes later they were parked in the lot outside of Shiro’s building, and Shiro turned the car off, unbuckled, and stepped out. He didn’t close the door behind him, though, and instead peeked back into the car. “You coming?” he asked.

“You’re just getting the towel, right?” said Keith. “Why do I need to come up?”

“Well, don’t want you overheating in the car. Come on. For my peace of mind.”

Keith sighed, but he unbuckled and climbed out of the car too with no further argument, and Shiro smiled as he led them up the stairs to the apartment he and Adam shared. He unlocked the door and pulled it open, stepping in first and then standing aside so Keith could see. Halfway past the threshold, Keith froze.

“Shiro?” he said. “Is that…?”

“Yep,” Shiro said, his grin broadening as Keith stepped slowly into the apartment. The faded loveseat that used to be up against the far wall had been moved further out into the den, and in its place stood a solid black table topped by a glass terrarium, fifty gallons at least if not bigger. It had the works: a substrate heater along the bottom frame, UVB lamp at the top, ventilated windows, a full biome inside bursting with cacti and succulents and various colors of dirt and rock surrounding a crystal-clear oasis in the center.

And resting atop a decorative cow skull, poking her head up from between the fronds of a ponytail palm that was giving her shade, was a very familiar zebra-tailed lizard.

“How did you - why did you - ?” Keith stammered.

“Well, see, Adam and I have been thinking about getting a pet for a while,” Shiro said, strolling toward the terrarium as Keith trailed behind in awe. “Initially, I actually had wanted to adopt a cat, but Adam’s allergic. And he grew up with mynah birds so we thought maybe we could get one of those, but it turns out this building doesn’t allow birds since they tend to cause noise problems. A lizard, though - they don’t make any noise, they don’t have any fur to set off allergies. It just made sense.”

“When did you get all this stuff?”

“Bought it last night, finished setting it all up this morning. Then I moved the lizard into the new tank, cleaned out the one you’d been using, and dropped that off back at the bio lab before I picked you up. She likes it, I think. She seemed to be really getting into exploring.”

Keith peered down into the terrarium with wide eyes. “So - so she’s officially yours now? Yours and Adam’s?”

“And yours,” Shiro said. When Keith turned curious eyes on him, he shrugged. “Well, you were the one who started taking care of her first, right? So I’m definitely going to need your help with her, especially when I’m not around. Besides, I think she missed you.”

“Can I?” Keith asked, gesturing to the latch on the screen top.

“Go ahead,” Shiro said.

Keith opened up the latch and set his hand down into the dirt next to the cow skull decoration. The lizard took a moment to gaze at it before scampering onto his palm, and Keith grinned as he pulled his arm out and she began skittering along his arm.

“By the way,” Shiro added as he watched, “Now that we’re official pet owners, you should really come up with a name for her. Got any suggestions?”

“Lizard,” Keith answered without hesitation.

“Are… are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Keith looked away from the lizard long enough to give Shiro an exasperated glance, as if this was something obvious that Shiro had no business being confused by. “Because she’s a lizard.”

“I, uh, I guess I can’t argue with that. Okay, Lizard it is.”

For a few moments more he contented himself simply watching as Keith let Lizard clamber around him, crawling up and down his arm and at one point slipping into his shirt collar and then reemerging in the cuff of his sleeve. Finally, though, his stomach gave a little rumble of impatience, and Shiro tapped Keith’s shoulder for his attention. “We’ve still got that dinner ahead of us,” he said. “You cool with taking a break for now, coming back later?”

“All right,” Keith said. He guided Lizard back into his hand and placed her back in the terrarium, letting his hand hover inside the tank for a few seconds as though reluctant to part with her before latching it shut again and turning around.

Shiro grinned and thumped him on the back. “No worries, kiddo. She’ll be right here waiting for us when we get back.”

“I know,” Keith said with a nod. He paused a moment, then with a hastily muttered, “Thanks,” he gave Shiro a quick one-armed hug before darting out to lead the way back down to the car. Shiro followed him with a smile.

[razorblade180]

Hey how about the Data farms couple going on their first date alone? Also how you holding up man?

{I’m alive so that’s something I guess😅}

[Jaune’s apartment]

Jaune:Oscar are you ready yet?

Oscar:*bathroom* NO!!!!

Jaune:I hate to rush you but your date is in like thirty minutes.

Oscar:I’m just making sure everything is perfect. I want this night to go well.

Jaune:You make it seem like this is your first date with Penny. The two of you hung out at the carnival and the lake where both of kissed more than once.

Oscar:I know but this is different; this time we’re actually alone and have no wingman to help.

Jaune:Ruby and I almost let you drown on accident. I can’t say we were helping you out a lot then.

Oscar:Maybe next time don’t abandon me to go make out with Ruby in the lake.

Jaune:You’re asking a lot out of me.

Oscar:*walks out in a tux* How do I look?

Jaune:*fixes tie* like a man trying to impress a girl that’s clearly into him. So just like most people.

Oscar:Cool, any advice for me? Final words of wisdom?

Jaune:Hmmm sometimes a girl will ask for help or bring something up they can actually handle. Just be a gentleman anyways.

Oscar:You mean how when Ruby says her purse is too heavy on her even though she carries a scythe?

Jaune:Exactly that, she just wants me to carry it for her and it’s fine. Most importantly, be yourself. Penny seems to like how much of a dork you are. *smiles*

Oscar:Who you calling a dork, you dork? *laughing*

[Ruby’s car]

Penny:*rocking back and forth*

Ruby:You seemed stressed.

Penny:I’m calm Hic! okay I’m a little nervous. Hic! I am losing my mind....*blushing*

Ruby:You’ll be fine. Just one question. Why are you going to a restaurant when you don’t eat?

Penny:I panicked asking him out. Anyways I’ll just eat the food and it’ll turn to surplus energy. Also if I’m going to have tastebuds then I want to use them.

Ruby:Wait, Atlas knows how to turn food itself into energy that’s good enough to power an Android?

Penny:........

Penny:I cannot confirm or deny the previous question.

Ruby:Were you trained to say that?

Penny:I cannot confirm or d-

Ruby:That answers my question. Anyways, I just want you to remember to have fun, don’t do anything crazy, and if you guys go on walk or something then say you’re cold.

Penny:If I get cold I just turn of my-

Ruby:Trust me Penny, just say you’re cold. *parks car* Best of luck!

Penny:What will you be doing now that we aren’t hanging out. *gets out*

Ruby:I think I can find something to do. *mumbles* like my boyfriend.

Penny:What?

Ruby:Nothing!🎶 *slowly driving away*

Our nervous android walks through the door to see many tables set in a beautifully designed restaurant that looks like something only the elite could afford. Well let candles are on every table and a chandelier shines nicely on the ceiling.

Penny:*takes a breath* (If you were made to fight a war, you can handle a date.) *sees Oscar*

Oscar:*patiently waiting at a table in his tux.*

Penny:(You can’t handle this)

Oscar:*swaying in the chair*

Ozpin:(Stop loo-)

Oscar:*jolts* (Oh my god you scared me!? I thought we agreed you’d go away for the night?)

Ozpin:(I wouldn’t have said anything if your heart wasn’t beating like a drum. Are you sure you don’t want me around)

Oscar:(Positive)

Ozpin:(Remember that time you were folding clothes and basically had a panic attack because Ruby’s bra somehow got mixed in with your clothes?)

Oscar:......(Just don’t speak unless I say something to you.)

Ozpin:(That’s fair. What if you space out though?)

Oscar:(I’m not gonna-)

Penny:Hey Oscar.

He turns to see his beautiful date in front of him, and beautiful was an understatement. Right now he was captivated by Penny wearing a long green dress with no shoulder straps. It shimmered slightly in the candle light and had a decent size slit on the right side. On her ears and around her neck were some sort of gem that matched her now curled hair perfectly. The girl was shyly twiddling her thumbs as her face was a little red.

Oscar:*flustered beyond belief*............

Ozpin:(*cough* )

Oscar:*snaps out of it* H...Hi! You look...wow.

Penny:Really? It’s not too much? I could take of the necklace or-

Oscar:No, you look....you’re perfect as you are.

Penny:Th...thank you. You...look very handsome in that. *blushing*

Oscar:Thanks *pulls seat out for her*

Penny:*snorts* hehehe

Oscar:What’s so funny?

Penny:Nothing really, it’s just a little weird for someone to do things like this for me. I’m not exactly delicate. *sitting down*

Oscar:I know, but this is a date and I was raised to do this sort of thing. *sits down* So, how have you been?

Penny:I’ve been fine. Spent time with Ruby earlier and she helped me get ready for tonight. Other than that it has been a tad boring though. For the pass few weeks I haven’t really left the base here. Doing a lot of test.

Oscar:Test?

Penny:Just some routine maintenance. Making sure I’m learning about the world efficiently as well as properly. Oh, also I got some upgrades I wanted that should’ve been obvious in hindsight.

Oscar:Please tell me it’s a floating device?

Penny:*giggles* Yes, I can float now. I told my father about the lake situation and we both agreed that a situation like that shouldn’t happen again. I was so tired of seeing the bottom of-

Her train of thought was cut off by Oscar’s look. A calm smile was worn on his face with soft eyes. She could tell he was listening intently but there was something about that look that started to make her a little shy. Everything about the situation even made her stomach feel fluttery. Was that even possible!?

Oscar:Something wrong?

Penny:Sorry, it’s just.....why are you looking at me like that? Not that I mind your smile since it’s really nice.

Oscar:Oh, well thank you. *smiles* I’m smiling because not so long ago you were afraid of tell me anything about yourself. Now you wanna full conversation about it. It’s nice.

Penny:Heh, you’re looking at me new in approved. Physically and emotionally.

Oscar:So, anything else you want to share? I’m all ears.

Penny:*grins* Okay! Umm...hold out your hands, palms up.

Oscar:*does it*

Penny:*holds them*Notice anything strange? Or should I say normal?

Oscar:...Umm, I’m bad at guessing games. All I feel is warm pal- hey your hands are warm, and also really soft.

Penny:Yep! Body heat, more sensors for feelings, and just about anything to feel more normal I suppose. It’s weird, last week I bummed into a soldier and it actually stung a bit. Pain wasn’t a feeling they wanted to give me but I think it’s an important part of-

Oscar:Feeling alive? *rubbing her hand*

Penny:Exactly, I know I’ll never truly be normal but I want to get as close as possible. I want us to feel as normal as possible...

Oscar:*red* Us?

Penny:Yeah, us.... *eyes widened* wait are not? *gasp* did I miss read these signs? Ruby told me about this thing called “subtext” and how to read it but I’m starting to think I might have been seeing it wrong. Which is really scary if- *rambling*

Oscar notices they’re drawing a bit of attention around and starts getting a bit anxious himself. He tries to calm her down but nothing seems to work.

Ozpin:(I know you’re not asking for help but might I offer a small tip?)

Oscar:(Uhhhh sure?)

Ozpin:(Let her know she’s not wrong.)

Oscar:(Geez I’m dumb.) Penny, look at me. *holds hands tighter*

Penny:*worried* Y..yes?

Oscar:I....I like being an us. You didn’t miss read anything. Spending time with you is really nice and this entire day felt super long because I wanted it to get to the part where I got to see you again. I want....I want to be your..... *flustered*

Penny:*eyes widened* Yes...

Oscar:*red* What?

Penny:*looking away*.............

Penny:Be my boyfriend, please?

Oscar:...So do you have better sensors everywhere?

Penny:What?

Oscar:You said you can feel . That would mean you could everywhere right?

Penny:Yeah, but what does that have to do with-

Once again her words were cut short. Instead of his eyes though; it was his hand rubbing her face. Penny knew her sensors where in full effect because the sensation was way more intense than the lake. Not only that but she was definitely feeling way warmer than usual. It was nice, so leaning into it felt more than natural.

Oscar:*pulling back* Feeling better?

Penny:Can you always do that if I ramble?

Oscar:*chuckling* Only if you do same for me.

Penny:Consider it done. *rubbing her arm* uh, could we possibly, you know. *leaning*

Oscar:As eager as I am?

Penny:No Hic! yes...*blushing*

Oscar:Good to know. *leaning*

“Ms. Polendina?”

Penny:Huh? *turns head*

Soldier:Sorry to have interrupted your night out but you are needed back at the base for a briefing. I was told to escort you.

Penny:Awwww but that was supposed to be tomorrow. I’m in the middle of a date, *sheepishly* with my boyfriend.

Oscar:*internal screaming*

Ozpin:(Please stop screaming)

Oscar:If it’s not too much to ask, maybe I could walk her home?

Soldier:I’m not sure if-

Penny:*puppy eyes* Pretty please Mr...*looks a tag* Mr. Tanaka sir!

Tanaka:......Sigh, please don’t dilly dally on the way ba- *hugged*

Penny:Thank you! I mean... *salutes* Yes sir!

Oscar:Shall we then?

Penny:We shall, too bad we didn’t even get to eat.

Oscar:I know right!? The service here sucks.

[City Streets]

The road to the base is relatively quiet. Snow gently falls to the ground while street lights make a trail of golden light. Both of then continued to enjoy each other’s company and walk casually. Cool air blows lightly, causing Penny to remember Ruby’s words. She slowly wrapped her arms around herself and started to rub them.

Oscar:You cold?

Penny:Uh...something like that. *supressing hiccup*

Oscar:*takes off blazer* Here you go.

Penny:Won’t you be cold though?

Oscar:I don’t mind a little cool air. Farm life had its frigid moments. *drapes it over her*

Penny:(This smells nice) That reminds me, I spent so much time talking about me that you didn’t talk much about yourself.

Oscar:Nothing much to tell really. Life’s been pretty average.

Penny:You have two souls.....

Oscar:Life’s been my standard of average. *smiles* Just the occasional internal monologue and grimm patrol.

Penny:Is he talking right now?

Oscar:Nah, we made an agreement for him not to intrude on our date.

Ozpin:(Tell her I said hi...)

Oscar:He says hello.

Penny:Hi Professor. I wish my body guards also didn’t intrude. I suppose you’ll have to tell me more about having two souls another time. Seeing magic would be quite the experience.

Oscar:Funny, I wasn’t thinking you’d actually call it that. I thought you would’ve gone a more scientific route.

Penny:Well I’d be lying if I said it didn’t sound illogical and completely goes against what society knows. However, I can’t deny that it might exist; there’s one shred of evidence that supports it.

Oscar:Really? What’s that?

Penny:It sounds a bit ridiculous but...how do I explain this? *stops walking*

Oscar:*stops*?

Penny:I know I’m not human when it comes to most things. Indeed I have an aura which people consider a soul but even so, I’m still not like everyone else by a wide margin. This is a fact and it’s a fact that I’m okay with; different doesn’t mean I’m inferior or superior. It makes me well, me. But ever since I met you things feel....different.

Oscar:Different?

Penny:*twiddling her thumbs* Like, everything that we do feels scary yet exciting. Things make sense but at the same time, not at all. My stomach starts to feel a little weird too. It’s not some glitch either; I’ve checked plenty of times. I know I’m an android but whenever I look at you......*blushing* it’s like I forget that. I become... just another girl. *looks down*

Oscar:Maybe you’re more human than you think.....

His hand makes it’s way to her chin and tilts her head up. Beautiful green eyes stare right at him with pure and varying emotions; each one he was certain he was feeling too. Fear, anxious, excitement, apprehension, courage, confusion, yet also clarity. The nerve he worked up at the restaurant had vanished and he found it a little challenging to get any closer than he already was. Penny didn’t move either for a moment. She was too fixated on his eyes again; Both her hands found their way to his sleeves however and was tugging Oscar closer painstakingly slow. Pushing down all their anxiety, they both go in for for a kiss. Time stopped mattering and so did the cold. Only thing they focused was each other; their simple kiss under a street light in the snow.

[The base, several minutes later]

Penny:*In uniform and walking though the halls*

Ciel:Oh, There you are Ma’am. You are several minutes behind schedule.

Penny:I’m sorry. Penny Polendina is here and reporting for duty. We’ll still make it before the meeting actually starts. You shouldn’t let that watch rule your life ya know.

Ciel:I suppose you might have a point to a degree. So, was your night out a pleasant one?

Penny:*blushing* Best night yet...

[Jaune’s apartment]

Oscar:*walking in* I’m back Ja-

Jaune:*watching a movie* Oh, you’re back earlier than I thought.

Ruby:*only in Jaune’s hoodie* Oh no, did something happen? Also hi!

Oscar:*avoiding eye contact* Hey Ruby. Penny got called into a meeting so the date was cut short.

Ruby:And after all that work I put in to make her look all cute for the night; not that she needed it. Was it nice while it lasted at least?

Oscar:Yeah.....really nice. *blushing*

[hydrospanners]

Ask meme for Nirea! 2, 4, 5, and 9!!

Thank you for asking!! You are a goddess! I moved #9 up above #5 because I completely lost control and direction with that one and it turned into some kind of weird pseudo-fic and the only apology you’re going to get from me is the cut I put it under because it got so unnecessarily fucking long. Here is the link to the meme!!! I can’t promise all of my answers won’t be so excessive but ask anyway!!

2. Would they be a class specific character? (ie. Imperial Agent only. Republic character only)Nah, fam. Rea could wiggle her way into every class’ story. Whether you keep her or not would depend on your choices/alignment though.

4. Where would you recruit them from? Alderaan. She hates it there and I love to fuck with her.

9. What would they say if you clicked on them? “Hey, did you see that Cathar earlier? With that ass? Damn.”“Wanna see a trick?”“Bet you can’t do this.”“I don’t know whose idea weather was, but they deserve to be punched. A lot.”“I hear ya.”“We should get another droid.”“I just want one day where no one tries to kill me. Is that so much to ask?”“How far do you think I can bend this before it breaks?”“Hey look at this. Think it’s edible?”“Got time for some pazaak? We can play Nar Shaddaa rules.”“Are we there yet?”“Hey, do you smell that? Smells like--Oh. Shit. I think that’s me.”“See that thing over there? I bet you twenty credits I can lift it.”“Don’t mind me. Just admiring the view.”“Spot me a few creds? I’m good for it, I swear.”“You’d be so bored without me.”“Yeah, yeah. I’m with you.”“We have a saying on Corellia: Fuck off, I’m busy.”“Ugh, I’m bored. This is boring.”“Don’t look at me. This is your show.”“It wasn’t me!”“Alright you get first guess this time, chief. Is it mud or is it blood? Right there on my leg.”“Don’t worry, chief. I can’t resist me either.”

5. What would their recruitment mission be? It’s an ordinary sort of day in your extraordinary level 30 life. You’re just doing your thing, fighting crime, doing crime, rescuing random people and murdering somewhat less random people. You’re headed to Alderaan for your own reasons.

That’s when you get a call from whoever it is that’s always calling you with problems that only you can solve. From whoever usually preaches to you about duty, who gives you orders or threatens your life or just offers you good old-fashioned credits in exchange for your services, like any sensible person would. There’s a problem, they tell you. (There’s always a problem.) It’s a mission gone sideways, a crashed ship with a not entirely inconsequential Jedi on board who may or may not have gone rogue. Information is scarce, danger is guaranteed, and the problem is on Alderaan where the political situation is too unstable for any big, bold moves.

You take the job. It’s already on your way, and besides, you see potential in it. Potential good, potential credits, potential prestige. The potential to quiet your insatiable bloodlust, however temporarily. Whatever it is you’re looking for.

The Republic bosses want answers. What happened to the ship? To the mission? To the Jedi? They want you to bring her back into the fold if you can. They don’t say what to do if you can’t, but you can guess. The Imperial bosses want an edge. They want whatever was on that ship, but mostly they want the Jedi. She’s a thorn in the Imperial side and if they can’t make use of her, if she hasn’t fallen like rumor suggests, they want her out of the way.

Maybe you ask what the ship’s mission was, what the Jedi was even doing there. Maybe you know better than to ask questions. Regardless, the only information you get is a name.

Nirea Velaran.

A human woman, physically formidable for her species and notoriously unpredictable. She’s good with words and better with lightsabers and ‘dangerous’ is the only thing anyone will say about her for sure. That, and she’s Corellian.

It’s not the profile you’re used to for Jedi. Maybe that peaks your curiosity. Maybe it worries you. Maybe a job is a job and you don’t give a fuck about the details.

On Alderaan you follow the columns of smoke to a small lake nestled between snow-capped peaks, an oasis that might have been peaceful before a small frigate blew a crater into the mountain. The ship is split down the middle, its innards scattered across the ice. You don’t see any bodies, but your scanners detect something alive and moving in the wreckage.

You find a scavver in the remains of the ship’s engine room, greasy and poorly-clothed, elbow deep in the ship’s hyperdrive. The only weapon you can see is a shock stick that’s seen better days, leaning against the wall on the other side of the room.

She’s unconcerned by you and your armed companions. Asks if you’re in the market for an Aratech repulsion compensator. They’re hard to find, she promises, because Aratech pulled out of the hyperdrive manufacturing business almost as soon as they got into it. They make good speeders and, in her opinion, they ought to stick with that. She promises to give you a good price on account of her not having to haul it down the mountain if you buy it up here. She also tells you how the Jedi wasn’t interested on account of not having a ship anymore.

Maybe you notice the knowing gleam in her blue eyes, maybe you don’t. Either way, this scavver has information you want. You negotiate. With charm, with reason, with threats. It doesn’t matter how. You get what you want in the end, just like you always do.

The scavver takes you to the ship’s bridge, where she says she met the Jedi earlier. You find a Republic Senator’s corpse on the floor, two distinct lightsaber wounds in their chest, but none of the carbon scoring you’d expect from a fight. You get what you can from the ship’s damaged computers, but it doesn’t amount to much more than navcharts, a manifest, and escape pod launch records. When you turn to ask the scavver where the Jedi was headed, you find that she is gone and the path out of the bridge is sealed behind you.

You make a new path, of course. You always do.

The scavver’s trail predictably takes you back to your ship. The good news is that it’s still there. The bad news is your protocol droid is disassembled with apparent care, lying in a neat pile at the top of the boarding ramp. The word sorry is scrawled across its forehead in very poor handwriting using what you suspect to be lipstick. From the loving way the droid was taken apart, you guess the message isn’t for you.

There is no apology scrawled on the floor where one of your speeders used to be.

You follow your speeder--a simple task with all of your skills and your crew and your resources--to a valley below the crashsite, where the plains of pristine snow are pocked with scorched-black escape pods. Dozens upon dozens upon dozens of them, their hatches all hanging open. A path of brown mud and green grass marks the slow march of their inhabitants out of the valley.

There is another ship at the other end of the path. A freighter, small enough you aren’t sure it can even carry the hundreds of people slowly shuffling aboard. They are aliens, all of them, and clad in identical grey jumpsuits. You catch the gleam of metal around some of their wrists and ankles.

The scavver watches you from the ground beside the boarding ramp. Maybe you already guessed and maybe you didn’t, but you see now that she’s not what she seemed. The shabby cloaks and scarves have been thrown off, leaving her in a Jedi-brown combat suit she wears like a second skin, a lightsaber at each hip, standing tall and sure. The Force swirls around her in a storm of certainty and power and even if you can’t feel that sort of thing, there’s something about the way she holds herself that tells you it’s there all the same.

This is your objective. This is Nirea Velaran.

She tosses you a careless grin as the freighter’s aftermarket guns spin round to face you. You could perhaps kill her before they get you, but you wouldn’t survive to enjoy the rewards of a job well done. She tells you this doesn’t have to be stupid and you don’t have much choice but to talk. To let her explain.

What she tells you is an indictment of the Republic’s system of law, a story of a prison that’s little more than a slave mill for aliens, of Senators that blithely profit from the gaps deliberately written in their own laws. A story of the Jedi Master who knew about it and did nothing, who sent her to prop up something broken, who cared more about law than justice. It’s the story of a Jedi Knight who murdered a Senator in cold blood and will die before apologizing for it.

She’s cavalier about what she’s done, but passionate about her reasons for doing it. Whatever the price of this liberation turns out to be, she’s clearly prepared to pay it. Clearly prepared to ensure its success no matter what it does to her.

The boarding ramp begins to rise as the last of the prisoners scrambles aboard. You don’t know if she planned for the ship to leave without her, but she doesn’t seem to care. The guns remain fixed on your position.

You consider your options as your target considers you. Her attention slices through you like a laser, hot and sharp and precise. Looking for something specific, you think, and you can’t tell from her inscrutable expression whether she found it.

When she’s seen what she needs to, she offers you some flattery and a gratuitous wink. Maybe you appreciate it; maybe you don’t. She asks for a ride off this shit planet. Promises to put your droid back together and put a little life into your drab little ship. Mentions how it’s generally better to have someone with a talent for destruction and mayhem working for you than than against you. And maybe she hints that she’s got talents beyond wanton chaos. Maybe she offers to show you what they are.

Accepting her offer will have consequences. This Jedi is the sort of person who wears trouble like a signature fragrance. You are familiar enough with trouble by now to know you can’t stand that close to its storm without being swept up yourself. But maybe you can make that storm work for you. Maybe it’s your kind of storm.

Or maybe it isn’t. Maybe you have enough trouble of your own. Maybe you aren’t interested in the kind of trouble a willful, bleeding-heart Jedi carries with her.

She watches you with a look that’s shameless and hungry and not entirely trustworthy. There’s a kind of calculation to the fire behind her eyes and a tension in her body that tells you time is short. You ask yourself: is Nirea Velaran a risk worth taking?

[ivyfics]

With Me - Chap 1

He isn’t an evil ghost. No Poltergeist wannabe, no blood-curdling screams in the ungodly hours of the night. Sometimes Tetsurou moves shit around. Writes things on mirrors with soap, but useful things like ‘you’re out of milk’ and ‘the lady next door is peeking when you shower.’

Kuroo haunts his apartment as he pleases, uncaring of who might also be living in it. He's used to watching people come and go. Then moves in Tsukishima Kei.

Read on AO3

Pairing: KuroTsukki Rating: M Chaps: 1/? (May change in the future)  Additional Tags: Ghost!Kuroo, Haunted!Tsukishima, Tiniest bit of crack, Future angst

 NEXT CHAP - INDEX

So Tetsurou was dead. Is dead. Was?

He has a body but it’s fake?

Fitting into a category of the undead variety always messes with his sense of self so he’s going to ignore all of that existential pile of uncertainty and go with ghost.

Ghost describes him well enough. His original physical body is dead, he thinks. There’s very little else that could explain his crossing through solid things and imperceptibility.

That’s just a fancy word to say he’s see-through.

Tetsurou would know, seeing as he finished reading a thesaurus two days ago. An entire thesaurus. The whole thing.

There’s not a lot to do when you’re dead.

Anyway, back to his smokin' hot bod.

Tetsurou has a body now.

Unlike the last one, this one feels different, like adding extra features to a character in a game and trying to figure out how it works. There’s an opacity setting, for one. That was fun to find out. If he concentrates he can pick things up or make himself visible for a second or two.

He isn’t an evil ghost. No Poltergeist wannabe, no blood-curdling screams in the ungodly hours of the night.

Sometimes Tetsurou moves shit around.

Writes things on mirrors with soap, but useful things like 'you’re out of milk' and 'the lady next door is peeking when you shower.'

The apartment he’s staying at—technically, you could call it haunting, but Tetsurou would like to think of himself as more of a roommate than anything—is not the best, but the people in it are decent enough-ish. Old walls with questionable stains make up the surprisingly garish but well-lit hallways, and the landlady changed the locks after his first tenant moved out, so it’s pretty safe.

Given, she changed the locks because she was sure they would come back to steal things, which they did, but Tetsurou digresses.  

He might have locked out the previous tenant a time or two but the dude was an ass so he had it coming.  The lock is finicky at best and having to wait in a hallway for hours when the key is in the lock but won’t budge was the last straw for the dude after a string of questionable happenings, all courtesy of the live-in undead element of his housing situation.

Being a ghost is pretty okay, but the lack of subtlety means his apartment has a revolving door. One tenant leaves, another arrives. What’s Tetsurou to do, not take advantage of the supernatural prowess he now possesses?

(That’s fancy talk for being super awesome. In a spooky way.)

He’s gone through maybe six in the past year, the last one breaking the record at three weeks before he was moving back out.

Big baby.

Tetsurou’s not expecting anyone so soon, the douchebag not being gone more than two days, but when he’s watching his novela the lock snaps and the hinges on the front door creak, giving way to the terrible dye job the landlady who owns this place has been sporting since he can remember.

She’s stout and her voice is a squeak, rushing over to turn the t.v off right when Federico is telling Luciana that they’re related. Her shirt is this awful shade of yellow that clashes with the orange and purple from her hair.

If Tetsu was still alive he’d offer his services as a hairstylist but at least death brings the benefit of not having to deal with that misery. (Not that her hair could be anything other than a home bleach job.)

Besides that whole thing, there’s what he assumes is the new tenant standing awkwardly by the door. The new dude is tall.  He’s blonde, a first when his hair looks that healthy, curling and framing his face. Natural, too, according to his eyebrows. Either that or he can afford a really good stylist.

Karen’s twitchy, moving things around and fluffing out cushions—including the one right behind him, her hand going through Tetsurou before quickly snapping back as if burnt— all while avoiding eye contact with Eye Candy over there.

“The previous tenant vacated quickly,” Tall Dude says in that way that’s not phrased like a question but actually is.

“Ah, yes. He had some–uh, family things to attend to, so he was on his way,” Karen replies, hands wringing together.

Tetsurou snorts. “Yeah. Family stuff. Definitely not scared shitless.”

Black Rims’ mouth curls, eyes fixed on the tiny line of grime by the sink, “Anything weird with the apartment?”

“Oh, well, yes,” Karen tries to shrug, upper lip sweaty, “the water heater tends to be temperamental, no matter how many times I have it fixed. It’s why the price is so...reasonable.”

Tetsurou laughs. “So that’s what we’re calling driving the price down because it’s being haunted now?”

Focusing back on the screen, he narrows his eyes and throws his hand out with a curl. It’s theatrics, mostly. Just because he’s dead doesn’t mean Tetsurou has let go of his penchant for flair. It clicks back to life, Luciana weeping dramatically.

She’s pregnant with Federico’s baby so it’s a logical leap from where he left off.

Tetsurou glances over to Blondie to see his reaction, only to crash on the landlady. “Did you just cross yourself? I’m a ghost, Karen, not a demon. Rude.”

Big Bird interrupts before Karen can try and flub out an excuse for Tetsurou’s antics, “I’ll take it.”

 Boxes take up half the wall of the living room, and in this apartment, that’s not saying much. There’s not many, five at most, but they’re stacked neatly and out of the way so at least New Dude is not an absolute slob and Tetsurou won’t have to deal with that entire situation.

Being dead doesn’t make dealing with disgusting laundry and week-old Chinese leftovers on counters any more pleasant.

What Nerd Alert appears to be though, is a lonely loser with no friends.

Is that too harsh?

Tetsurou doesn’t think so but no human contact does tend to make him rough around the edges.

He’s seen many a people move-in and even the lowest, most annoying of them had:

A lot more things.

Like, a lot more emotional things. Knick-knacks and such: photos, mementos, discolored and raggedy stuffed animals that have seen way too much with their dead beady eyes ( Mr. Fuzzle was also haunted, in a good way. Someone’s grandma was definitely a witch of some kind).

Someone to help them move in.

No seriously, you’d be shocked. There was this particularly foul asshole maybe three tenants ago that was just the worst. A flaming pile. He had his elderly aunt do all the heavy lifting for him while he had a beer, and yeah, human trash chute, but the point is even he had someone there.

Stringbean has no one. He’s quiet as he sorts the only two boxes belonging to the bedroom. He’s been at it for the past hour, dusk melting in through the one window the living room can boast. There’s not much to do and Tetsurou gave up on human sightseeing less than a half-hour in, silence pressing on his nerves. The screen’s been on since then but it’s been ignored by the living resident, which Tetsurou can admit is a bit off. When Hipster Pants over there walks to the kitchen to get some water he stands in front of the lit television and gives absolutely no shits about it. Keeps on walking, pulls out a water bottle from one of the boxes, fills it up, and goes back to the bedroom.

Tetsurou is baffled.

He hovers over the back of the couch, bored. There’s not much to do once the six o’clock news flash on the screen. Tetsurou doesn’t pay attention to them, muting the sounds. You care less after you die, he's found. 

Low murmuring blends in with voices from the living room, volume low. It piques his interest and starts him into motion. A perk of being a ghost is not having to walk if you don’t want to, so Tetsurou floats.  Eiffel Tower is on the phone, spread out on the bed, clothes strewn around him. Black hoodie pulled up, it covers his earphones and Tetsurou swears he’s talking to himself as he folds for a hot minute before he shifts and a white cord peeks through.

Oh, thank God. He’s not a complete loner.

“Aki, it’s okay. I can move in by myself,” Four Eyes says, leaning over to grab another tee to fold, “you can’t help it. It’s fine.” His voice is soft, unhurried and low.  He has long fingers, graceful as he does something as mundane as clothes folding. They go through the motions mechanically, leaving neatly folded stacks in their wake. “It’s not a lot. I’m almost done.”

It’s a half-truth at best. Piled around him are the rest of his clothes, taking most of the bed. The rest of the boxes are still packed neatly, labeled Kitchen, Winter Coats, and Books.

Two to three hours’ work at best.

A pretty good attempt to reassure whoever’s on the line.

Natural Blonde sighs, pausing to bring the shirt he’s folding to his forehead for a second, eyes closed.“I’ll be fine on my own. Say hi to mom for me. Bye, Aki.”

It lasts only a moment—whatever it is that he’s doing—slow exhales and shut eyes, before he’s setting it aside and grabbing the next one.

Tetsurou was wrong. New Kid has someone, too. News forgotten, Tetsurou looks at him work through the pile, tracking his fingers all along.

Beanpole is in college.

It says so on the student ID sitting on the kitchen counter. His name is Tsukishima Kei.

It’s a pretty name.

It suits him.

NEXT CHAP - INDEX

[spectrumscribe]

Your Home. (Our Home.)

Based on @ramskulls‘s awesome Green-thumbs AU, in exchange for some excellent artwork. Featuring police officer Casey and flower shop owner Leo, and a lot of cute boyfriend fluff. (also minor background relationships even more rare than theirs.)

AO3 version if preferred.

Summary:

Casey and Leo move in together. Accidentally. And without noticing.

---------------------------------

It starts, probably speaking, with a forgotten jacket.

It’s still casual at that point for them; coffee shop dates, movie nights, the occasional bar trip with Leo’s siblings. They’re testing the waters still, Casey and Leo, to see where they really click, and where they might need to work on things. So they’ve been sticking to light stuff; things straight out of fourth grade. Hand-holding, knees touching, and rare and momentary kisses- things that are so sickeningly sweet, its tooth rotting. It took them months to reach this point, but each slow step of the way has been wonderful to experience.

Of course, there’s always a point that a relationship moves a level upwards. Neither of them noticed reaching that point, or going above it. Not until much later.

Leo’s hours in the shop are steady, regular. He knows his schedule and work hours like the back of his hand because he’s the one who made them. Owning a flower shop can be tiring at times, especially when customers get overly picky, or cause a fuss because their rose order wasn’t just right, but it’s worth it. Mostly because he loves his work, and partially because he just likes being in charge of his own job hours.

Casey on the other hand, his hours can go all over the place depending on what tough case is on his desk that week. He’s not exactly high up in the system yet, but he’s up there enough that he’s called into all sorts of messy situations. When it’s not stressful, his work is just plain tiring, and sometimes he wonders why on earth his younger self wanted to be a police officer so much. Most nights, or days, depending on the shift, he’s pretty tuckered out from either paperwork or dealing with plain old stupid people for too many hours.

Leo’s apartment is a nice place to retreat after the worst days or nights; the plants scattered throughout the apartment, combined with Leo’s preference for calming colors and soft fabrics, makes the whole of the home one big comfy space to crash. Which Casey definitely ends up doing fairly often now, since they’ve decided to make things a little more official between them.

Casey comes over, stays the night or day, and then heads out again afterwards; taking himself and his possessions with him out into the world until he returns. The cycle goes on like that uninterrupted for a good while, without much change beyond the days of the week.

Except eventually, after a long twelve hour daylight shift at work, and Casey had been too tired to wake back up after a movie night on the couch, he spends the night in Leo’s home… and forgets his jacket when he leaves for work the next day.

Leo doesn’t notice that the coat has been left behind until he’s making breakfast for himself, and finds an article of clothing that definitely doesn’t belong to him; draped over a chair in his small kitchen eat-in.

“Huh,” He mumbles, picking up the worn but loved jacket. “He must’ve forgotten it.”

Leo runs his thumbs along the collar of the jacket, feeling the softened threads from years of use. He briefly wonders if it smells like Casey.

Then, face heating, he sets it back onto the chair. He’ll give it back to his boyfriend later, whenever they have time for another date.

Casey doesn’t notice he’s forgotten his jacket either, until a stiff breeze blows by and he finds himself shivering for a moment.

--/--

“Did you steal my socks?”

Leo has to actually pause what he’s doing for a moment- searching for clean pants in his closet- to give Casey an incredulous look.

Casey gestures at his feet, which remain bare, despite his best attempts to locate his socks.

Leo continues giving Casey an incredulous look.

Casey stares back, then glances at Leo’s much larger feet, and makes an ‘ah’ face. “Oh. Wait.”

“…Casey.”

“It slipped my mind.”

“My feet… are at least three times the size of yours.”

“I’m half awake, give me a break.”

“Three times. The size.”

“Look, when I’m spending time with you, I’m not exactly giving your feet a ton of attention. That’s not my sort of thing.”

“Oh my god.”

Casey tosses a pillow from Leo’s bed at him. Leo keeps laughing regardless of the assault.

Casey, in the end, cannot locate his socks at all, and goes to work with his feet bare inside his shoes. There are spares to be found in his locker, but still. It’s the principal of the thing, being unable to find his own god damn socks.

He blames the fact that Leo looks unfairly cute when he’s either falling asleep or just waking up, so much so Casey couldn’t keep track of where his socks went. It’s a reasonable enough excuse for their disappearance, in his opinion.

Leo rediscovers the wayward socks later that week, when he’s doing his laundry and finds clothing that is most definitely not his own in the pile of whites.

He snorts, smiling to himself, and puts them through the wash. When they’re done and dried, he folds them up into a little ball, and sticks them inside the pocket of the jacket in his kitchen. The one Casey still hasn’t remembered to take home.

--/--

“I can’t go out tonight,” Casey sighs into his phone, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“What? How come?”

The sucking, gurgling sound comes from somewhere in his bathroom again, and Casey can’t even bring himself to look. “The pipes are going bezerk in my bathroom. I had the whole tub backed up with… you don’t even want to know.”

“Oh no, that’s- that really sucks, Casey. Can I do anything to help?”

Casey, for a moment, counts himself lucky for the hundredth time his boyfriend is so sweet. “Not really, but thanks. I’ve got a plumber on the way and… I think it’s draining. Kind of. Mostly I’m just hopin’ here I don’t have to replace the floor as well as clean my pipes.”

“Are you sure I can’t help? Do you need a place to stay for tonight, or however long it takes to get the repairs started? You know I’d be more than happy to host.”

Casey gets another whiff of the smell coming from his washroom, which has unfortunately gotten into the rest of his apartment as well, and wrinkles his nose. Yeah, he won’t be able to sleep with that in the air. He’ll need to find somewhere else to go for however long it takes to get things cleaned up. And as much as he doesn’t want to impose on Leo… spending the night with his boyfriend would be much better than spending it alone in a motel.

“You know, that sounds really nice. Want me to pick up dinner?”

He ends up packing an overnight bag and his uniform for the next day, and driving over to Leo’s apartment. The smell of flowers and hints of incense greet him as Leo opens the door, and after spending extended time in sewage hell, it’s a literal breath of fresh air.

Plus, Leo’s smile is always a sight for sore eyes, and Casey probably will never get tired of having it aimed his way.

They end up sprawled on Leo’s second-hand couch, eating pizza and garden salad. It’s a million times better than a lonely motel room would have been, and they talk late into the evening as they swap dinner for ice-cream desert.

Casey wakes up with a hard edge being pressed into his arm, and he finds that the tip of Leo’s shell is pressing on him, along with Leo’s skull. The turtle mutant had apparently fallen asleep pillowing his head on Casey’s arm, like Casey had fallen asleep with his legs tangled around Leo’s.

It sucks to move out of the cozy position, pins and needles in his fingers be damned, but Casey’s phone is chiming an alarm and work is just a short while from now.

He sighs long-sufferingly, and extracts himself from the warm covers of Leo’s bed gentle as he can. Leo makes a complaining noise at the loss of heat, but mumbles sleepily a “g’morning” anyways.

Casey brushes his teeth, gives himself a quick shave, combs his hair and gets into his uniform fast as possible. Early shift plus late night equals him having slept in a little and needing to rush to work. He throws what clothes he can see from yesterday into his bag, kisses a still sleep bleary Leo on the cheek, and blows out the door.

Leo rubs his eyes and yawns wide enough his jaw clicks. Sometimes, Casey is high energy in the oddest moments. Like the morning after a late night, despite that the effect is supposed to be contrary.

Ah well, he got a cheek kiss and a good night’s sleep with a warm person he enjoys being around. An early morning is an easy price to pay.

Leo gets up slowly, swinging his feet onto the cool floor of his room, and set to starting his own potentially hectic day.

As he’s leaving, he notices that Casey forgot his civilian shoes in the entryway.

Leo shakes his head, pushes the two shoes gently together and out of the way, and goes to work. His work in the shop begins sooner than usual, but he uses the extra time before opening to double check orders in the back room.

He sends Casey a reminder that he’s now forgotten jacket, his socks, and his shoes in Leo’s home. The reply doesn’t come until during lunch hour, when Casey replies with a text of oh shit I KNEW I forgot something!!

Leo rolls his eyes, tells Casey at least you’re cute enough to make up for the forgetfulness, and laughs when Casey shoots back okay how dare you say that to me, I’m Hot not cute.

A hot Mess more like.

Ah ha ha, funny. Hilarious.

:D

God dammnit you and your outdated emojis

;D

Stoppit that’s unfairly adorable.

;3c

You put that paw away right now

3’:

….i take it back, bring back the paw

:Dc

Omg

Casey ends up staying in Leo's apartment another two days afterwards, while his pipes are fixed and the vents air themselves out of sewage stink. It's definitely not an arrangement Casey complains about, or Leo, though Casey does end up forgetting his razor and toothbrush in Leo's bathroom when he goes back home.

--/--

After the fifth time Casey falls asleep in Leo’s apartment, too content and comfy to rouse himself, Leo suggests Casey just start keeping a spare uniform in his closet; to avoid the early morning rushes back to Casey’s own home to retrieve his work things.

“You sure?” Casey asks, glancing at Leo’s closet from their position on the bed. “I don’t wanna take up space you need.”

“My closet is plenty big enough,” Leo insists, paging through his latest thrift store book find. He’s partway through, and the plot line has just introduced a possible love interest. He’s not so sure how he feels about the lizard alien just yet, but she is described to have a large sword, and swords are always excellent. “Plus, that jacket will finally have company if you do.”

Casey mumbles, “oh yeah, that darn thing,” and goes back to crushing candy on his phone. They remain in their reclined spots against the headboard for a few more hours, reading or gaming, until it’s time to go meet Leo’s three siblings and April for a late evening Denny’s supper.

Casey does in fact bring a uniform with him next time he’s spending the night; hanging it neatly on the far end of the pole in Leo’s closet. The jacket is hung next to it, because no matter how many times Leo has reminded him, Casey still can’t remember to take it home, and at this point it seems like a lost cause. Better to just give it a new home.

Joining it soon enough is a spare pair of running shoes, for the nicer days when Leo likes to jog in the nearby park, a nice dress shirt, for when they’re invited to a spontaneous dinner party at Mikey’s place, and an assortment of forgotten CD’s, hairbands, socks, and toiletries.

Neither of them really notice it, beyond finding it suddenly easier to make plans or get out the door in the morning.

--/--

The person who brings the state of Leo’s apartment to his attention, is none other than their resident genius. Which isn’t that surprising, in all honesty.

It happens because, during one of Donnie’s breaks from his free-lance coding commissions, he trips over a pair of Casey’s shoes in Leo’s entryway.

“Oh, you didn’t tell me Casey was here,” Donnie says, stepping over the black work shoes. “I would’ve prepared myself if you had.”

Leo rolls his eyes and smiles, because Donnie has a vague hopefulness in his voice about a Jones appearance. Few people can bicker as passionately as Donnie can, and Casey happens to be one of those people. Leaving the two of them together for long periods of time tends to generate rants and good-natured arguments the stuff of legends.

“He’s out with his little sister today, Donnie. He’s not even available for a date until later this week. Hasn’t been at all lately, actually, since he got assigned to a stakeout case.”

“So why’re his work shoes in your apartment, then?”

“Because he sometimes leaves them here, when he falls asleep too late to go home.”

“…his running shoes, too?”

“That’s because we go running on the weekends, sometimes.”

Donnie glances away from the shoes, and focuses on the coatrack. “Leo, is that his favorite hat? I saw him wearing that just last week.”

Leo shrugs. “He probably forgot that, too.”

Donnie puts his hand under his chin, and hums. Leo watches Donnie’s perplexed expression for another moment, before turning away and going to find his wallet before they head to the movies.

When he finally finds it, buried under his couch cushions, he finds also that Donnie has disappeared into the washroom while he was waiting. Leo opts to use the extra moments wisely and go find candy to sneak into the theater.

When Donnie comes out, he’s giving Leo a Look.

“What,” Leo asks, tucking his Snickers bar into his satchel. “something on my face?”

“Hm, no,” Donnie says in a casual tone. “I was just wondering why there’s a pile of Casey’s clothes in there.”

Leo opens his mouth, and then closes it as his cheeks get hot. “Those could be anyone’s.”

“Unlikely,” Donnie replies, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “The only person any of us know who wears that sort of punk band shirts is Casey.”

“We know Irma,” Leo points out, because Langstein is more punk than even his boyfriend.

“Yes, but I’m sure you’d be much more fearful for your life if April’s girlfriend’s clothes were on the floor of your apartment.”

Good point. April wouldn’t show him mercy at all if Leo did something like that.

“Also,” Donnie continues, smirking. “last I checked, you were homoromantic, not hetero.”

Leo’s cheeks get hotter. “We had a shower, okay? Last time he was here. I guess I forgot to pick them up again. And before you make any jokes-”

“Sensual not sexual, yes, yes I know,” Donnie waves him off. “We’ve been over how your relationship works plenty of times while you were drunk. I don’t need another lecture.”

Were he not green and scaly, Leo would’ve been red. “Shut up, like you don’t enjoy talking in-depth about relationship dynamics.”

“My status as a secret romantic will remain a secret, and thus you speak of lies.”

“Donnie, that’s about as much of a secret as Mikey’s pansexuality was.”

“Shush. Let’s just go watch people fall in love or blow each other up, shall we? Great. Off we go.”

Donnie kicks Leo out of his own apartment, and Leo forgets the comments about Casey’s multitude of things in his home until later. Which is the point when Mikey drops his elbows onto the counter of Leo’s cash desk in his store, and asks brightly, “So, you two officially moving in together? Took you long enough.”

Leo stares at his brother for a moment, and then tilts his head. “Huh?”

“Casey? Moving in with you? It’s been like, half a year or something. Get on that shit, brother.”

It’s only ten in the morning, and Leo is fairly certain Mikey shouldn’t be making this little sense so soon in the day. “Again, huh??”

Mikey rolls his eyes. “Donnie told me Casey’s stuff is all over your house, I called Casey to ask about that, he says he keeps forgetting things but also that he’s got a ton of spare clothing stuffs hanging in your apartment, and then I called April to ask if that’s how it went for her and Irma and sort of Donnie-”

It’s too early in the day for this, and that’s something Leo thinks loudly as he looks at the ceiling despairingly.

“-and she agreed it sounded a lot like you two were moving in together, fi-nal-ly, which Donnie and Irma also agreed with, and then ta-da here I am taking a break from work to ask if it’s true or not,” Mikey finishes, all without taking a breath.  “So? You moving in together or what? Casey just made a lot of noises when I asked and hung up.”

After trying and failing to figure out what all those words together were meant to mean, Leo slowly puts his hands together in front of him, and says, “Mikey, shouldn’t you be at work helping Raph tattoo people?”

“No, I should be here asking about your love life,” Mikey replies straight faced.

“…I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Leo says helplessly. Mikey’s train of thought is very often too chaotic and confusing for him to follow, and this seems like one of those times. “We haven’t moved in together, at all.”

Mikey stares at him for a long, long moment, and then slowly smiles. “Ooooooh… so that’s how it is?”

Leo feels even more confused now. “How what is?”

Mikey winks at him. “Nothin’, bro. You’ll get it soon enough.”

“Mikey??”

His brother just laughs, reaches across the counter to pat Leo’s cheek, and then exits the shop in a swirl of energy and brightly colored tattoos. Leo is left standing at his shop counter, head whirling and confusion tangible.

His phone vibrates in his pants pocket right then, and he automatically takes it out, for lack of other reactions. The screen shows a series of typo ridden messages from Casey, all seeming to be him trying to phrase ‘hey did we accidentally move in together??’ without stating it obviously.

Leo puts a hand against his temple, and feels too tired for just a few hours of being awake.

--/--

“So like, should we… make it a real thing?” Casey asks later, hands curled around the tea Leo had made them both. They’re sitting in Leo’s small kitchen, feet touching under the table as they sort out their accidental semi-move in.

Leo curls his own hands tighter around his cup, feeling awkward. “I… don’t know? I mean, you spend a lot of time here already, and I have accumulated a fair amount of your possessions… do you want to? It’s a big step.”

Casey tilts his head one way, then the other, and finally makes a frustrated noise and runs his hands through his shaggy hair; mussing it all the way through. “God, I don’t know?? I love spending time with you, and your place is really nice- but jeeze, that’s a huge thing!”

Leo hums, nodding. He takes a slow sip of his tea, trying to calm his nerves. “Well… it worked out well enough for April, Irma, and Donnie. Maybe we should… try?”

Casey lets out a harsh breath, leaning away from the table and tapping his fingers on its surface. His expression looks the way Leo’s stomach feels. Finally, after what feels too long, he eventually says, “Okay, okay. Look, I love you, Leo, I really do, but I also like having my own space sometimes. Sharing a home all the time might make me kind of squirrely.”

Leo relaxes a fraction, smiling wryly. “No, I agree. I love you, too, but I do need some time alone now and again. I waited enough years to get out of my brothers’ space, after all.”

Casey relaxes in his chair at Leo’s words, smiling lopsidedly with clear relief. “Dunno how you did that, Leo. Your bros are great, but wow can they get rowdy.”

Leo laughs. “You know, I’m not entirely sure how I did it either.”

A beat of silence, filled with good warmth, and Casey asks, “So we keep doing what we’re doing, just for now?”

Leo thinks about it briefly, and smiles. It sounds about right for where they’re at, and he’s more than happy that they’re on the same page. “Yeah, I think that would be good. If and when we feel ready, maybe then?”

Casey grins back, and reaches across the table for Leo’s hand. “Sure, if and when we’re ready sounds good to me.”

Leo takes Casey’s hand, closing his three fingers around Casey’s five. Casey’s hands are always warm in his, like Leo’s are always gently cool in Casey’s. The opposition feels right, in a sense.

--/--

Casey keeps his separate apartment, for whenever they need a little space to themselves, and they continue on as they had been. Items he owns make their way into Leo’s home, and sometimes they don’t leave when Casey does. When Leo discovers the forgotten items, whether left on purpose or not, he simply smiles, and finds a new home for them in his.

The apartment is still largely Leo’s, but a good chunk of it does belong to Casey. Which is perfectly fine by Leo, since it sort of shows how they’re slowly meshing their lives together. Not completely yet, but one day.

Mikey clicks his tongue and says they move too slowly in his opinion. Leo reminds him that not everyone goes through partners and relationships as quick as his brother does, and receives, “Well yeah, but still. Slugs move faster than you guys,” in response. Raph just huffs and comments that he didn’t think they’d do it any other way. Leo nor Casey can figure out if he means that positively or negatively, and Raph supplies no further explanation than what he’s already given.

Donnie, April, and Irma exchange glances with each other, seem to shrug without actually doing so, and let the subject drop without ever saying aloud that they will. As they tend to do. Leo and Casey, privately of course, still think it’s them who have the confusing relationship here, not the two of them.

Casey’s jacket, the thing that likely started the accidental move in in the first place, has a proper home on a hook now; right in the entryway, along with some of Casey’s shoes. In Leo’s bedroom, a drawer of his dresser has spares of Casey’s shirts and pants. The bathroom has two cups with different toothbrushes and paste, and a razor kit tucked neatly in the corner of the counter.

More often than not, after a hard day or night, Casey will end up on Leo’s couch or bed. And more often than not, that’s where he’ll stay for the remainder of time before his next shift. When he does this, Leo never turns him away, and rarely suggests Casey go back to his own home.

It’s comfortable, living together and yet not. It’s not official, even though they themselves are official, but it’s more than enough for where they’re at.