Jaya Week Challenge 2023

Day 7: Forever

Future|SFW|Fluff

He inhaled the sweet aroma of the apple pie when he took it out of the oven. Wearing mittens, he placed it atop the window to cool, exposing it to the salty breeze of the sea around them. Satisfied with himself, he tossed the mittens aside and flopped onto the small sofa, letting his back rest after a hard day's work.

He chuckled to himself. A simple morning exercise and making dinner would have been nothing years ago, and yet there he was with his back aching like he had single-handedly defeated the Overlord. He rubbed his goatee and sighed. Maybe he was getting old.

He only sat up when she came into the room, dressed in her casual yukata, one that matched his kimono in colour (albeit, hers had more red accents throughout it). Her ruby bracelet and Yang medallion were accompanied by a necklace carrying her elemental animal, the phoenix.

He was staring at her, he realised, but she didn't seem to notice. He couldn't help it; even after all those years, his gaze still drifted towards her whenever she entered the room. Her raven locks were touching her shoulders, and he could even notice a few grey hairs amongst them; his were more discreet. Her natural wrinkles complimented her dimples whenever she smiled, much as she hated them at first.

The same scenario would play out many times, in fact: she would playfully envy his baby face and he would playfully brag about his smaller number of wrinkles. Although, he supposed that she was in a better place, for she had surely won in the pain department. She almost never got sore or easily tired, unlike him.

She looked out the window at a distant ship swimming across the endless sea, then down at the waves that crashed against the rocks. She eyed the pie carefully, turning to him with a frown.

"Do we really want all that seawater to blow into the pie?" she said.

"Salt gives flavour," he replied casually, stifling a yawn. "And besides, we live in a lighthouse. That's the only kind of wind we have here."

"Only if you want Zippy to swoop in and eat it."

As if the universe wanted to prove her right, a distant roar circled the lighthouse. The dragon landed, wagging its tail and sticking out his tongue. His body was noticeably bigger than the last time they had seen him, a prime example of dragons' fast maturity. After all these years, he still acted like a youngling.

They looked out the window and down on the rocks. He was waiting for them patiently, jumping from rock to rock. Nya laughed.

Jay wasn't as enthusiastic. "He treats this house like a hotel," he mumbled under his breath. "Comes to our place once a month, eats all our food, then leaves like nothing."

"Come on, don't be so harsh on him. He loves you."

"If he loved me he'd clean up his mess before leaving."

She leaned against him, pinching his cheek before pecking his face with kisses all over. "You sound like your dad," she said when she pulled away. She walked towards their freezer.

He crossed his arms, pouting. "Because I am a dad," he said. "Twice."

She rolled her eyes, tossing the frozen steak over the window and straight into Zippy's mouth. He flew around happily, taking it on the roof to devour it. Jay groaned.

Nya nudged him. "You made worse messes when we were younger," she said. "Need I remind you of the plant underwear?"

"I'm pretty sure you were responsible for that some of those times."

She punched his arm. "Walker."

"Smith."

He grabbed the pie and set it on the counter. But before he could begin to cut it, she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. Standing on her tiptoes, she rested her head on his shoulder, gently pulling away to rub his back.