yuus good time

yuus first knot

Mika's apartment could really use a little bit of extra flair. Next time he made a visit, Ferid would have to bring him a few pieces of decor to spruce up the bland living room. As he laid sprawled out on the black leather couch in front of the TV, he debated whether the empty spot on the adjacent wall would be better served by a bold tapestry or hanging wood carving.

Neither, Ferid decided after a long consideration. His favorite rendition of The Abduction of Ganymede by Le Sueur, framed in oil rubbed bronze, would fit the space quite well.

Even after determining how quickly he'd be able to prepare the gift, there was no sign of its eventual recipient. Ferid was within a hair's breadth of switching on the television to stay his boredom when, thankfully, the jiggle of a key in the lock stopped him.

Ferid immediately swung his feet to the floor and sat up straight. As the door cracked open, he prepared his best smile. "Welcome home, Mi—"

Ferid cut off his greeting once he realized he was mistaken. Instead of the burst of blond hair that belonged to his nephew, there was a messy mop of black hair and a pair of glowering green eyes. Yuuichirou, Mika's cute omega boyfriend of six months. The door clanged shut behind him.

"The hell are you doing here?" Yuu asked. He locked the door out of habit, weakening his not-so-subtle hint for Ferid to leave. "Mika said you gave him your spare key... and I can't see him giving it back to you." Yuu pulled his backpack off of his shoulders as he walked into the kitchen, and set it on the island separating it from the living area. Trying to put as much space between them as possible. Cute.

"Well, about that..." Ferid shrugged helplessly. "It seems like I had another one lying around after all. Silly me."

Yuu frowned, but remained surprisingly docile while emptying the contents of his bag. He looked distracted, as though he was intently searching for something he'd misplaced. Ferid was a little disappointed that Yuu wasn't going to snap at him like he usually did—hopefully Mika's repeated advice of 'don't engage' hadn't finally sunk in...

"Anyway, where is our Mika?" Ferid pried his cell phone from his pocket and swiped. No new messages, no missed calls. Same as the last time he looked. "I've been trying to get in touch with him, but I think he's blocking my calls."

When Ferid glanced up from the screen, he swore he caught Yuu with an unsolicited deer-in-headlights look. It vanished as soon as Yuu started to reassemble his things, either having found what he was looking for, or giving up on the search entirely.

"He's still working on his research project..." Then, Yuu glanced up at him and quickly added, "But he should be home soon."

Yuu's strange demeanor was easing away Ferid's earlier disappointment. Maybe getting to the bottom of it would provide him with as much entertainment. "Theeen... I guess I'll just wait for him to get back."

Now that brought a grimace to Yuu's face. His hands found the college textbook still on the counter and pulled it open. "Actually, I could be wrong. Sometimes he loses track of time, so... It might be pretty late before he gets back. I think you should just go home."

Yuu had never wanted him to leave so badly before without outright saying it. If he were his normal self, he would have threatened to physically boot him out the door by now. This kind of anxious behavior—avoiding his eyes, fingers raking at the pages in his book—only piqued Ferid's interest further.

He surreptitiously took a long breath. A tantalizing scent tickled his nose.

Haha. So that was it.

What great timing. Ferid had never had an opportunity like this fall into his lap without any interference. Had he done something good recently? Ferid's smile widened despite himself.