Clear X Aoba Dramatical Murder

Sunday Shifts

The streets were unusually quiet for this late in the morning, only a few people strolling down the path between Mediocrity and the other shops. Aoba was sitting at the front counter, his large boots propped up on the top of it and one of the magazines from the stock in his hands, though he wasn't actually reading it. For once, the shop was empty of three noisy children, and the cleaning robot was rolling around in peace. But the peaceful quiet was broken by the jangling of bells as the building's door was opened.

Aoba looked up from his magazine in surprise, only to see the familiar gas mask and head of messy white hair that he had stared at so many times before, sitting on his roof while the light of the moon and stars shining down on them. But those nights had passed, and he hadn't seen the man standing before him now in quite a while.

"It's...been a while." Aoba was standing fully now, leaning over the side of the counter to get a closer look at the figure in front of him. He couldn't seem to find the right words, but he knew Clear got what he meant when he saw him start to shuffle his feet forward in response.

"It has." His wording was too vague, Aoba noticed. He began to slowly make his way around the counter.

He reached Clear, the light from the shop's ceiling glinting off of the mask covering his face. Slowly, Aoba reached up with his right hand grabbed one of the straps wrapping around the top of Clear's head, undoing it and moving onto the next one when he heard the clip of it coming undone.

It was moments later, when all of the straps had come undone, the mask practically hanging off of the man's lean face, when Aoba reached up and began to tug on the metal covering his face. It slid off easily, heavier than Aoba had expected in his palm, and he set it down on the counter behind them before reaching back up and cupping Clear's cheek. Without the mask, Aoba could clearly see the boy's wide pink eyes, staring down at him with a spark of fondness.

Aoba's own eyes widened when Clear's lips began to curl into a smile, like he knew something he didn't. He cocked his head to the left as he continued silently staring up at Clear. Clear moved his head to match Aoba's position, bringing up a hand to lay over his hand so it didn't fall off when he moved. He was still grinning.

Aoba tried not to think about how fast his pulse was, and was definitely not thinking about how fast Clear's felt beneath his hand, how Clear's his head had seemed to just have tilted forward just so, so that his hair was falling around them.

Aoba was just beginning to look away when Clear's hand suddenly moved from his own and both of them wrapped around Aoba's waist, pulling his closer. Aoba gasped, his hands moving to wrap around Clear's neck, and his head tilted up as their eyes locked once again. Clear's grin grew even larger before he began to lean forward.

Their lips met, and it was like Aoba was on fire. Clear's lips were both hot and cold, hard metal but still soft, and, this close to the boy, Aoba could faintly hear the whirring of his mechanical heart. Aoba leaned into the touch, and their arms tightened around each other, lips moving like they already knew what to do, like two gears made specifically to fit with the other finally being put in the same machine.

When they finally pulled apart, panting but not even noticing the way their lungs were burning for air, they rested their heads together and smiled, not knowing any other way to express how they felt in that moment. Aoba's heart was swelling with happiness and adoration, and he couldn't think of anything but the man in front of him, of any place he'd rather be.

"So, 'been a while,' huh?" Clear as the first to get his voice back, and Aoba could only stare up at him, his kind smile.

"...Yeah. Does this mean you're back?" Aoba's voice was weak, but Clear seemed to hear him, because he averted his gaze.

"Well, that depends." Aoba tilted his head. "I can only stay if you want me to."

"What do you mean? Of course I want you to stay, Clear!" Clear smiled fully now, leaning down to give him another peck on the lips.

"Then I'll stay."