shindeku//eyes of sage and rosemary

part five; mabon

september 21st

"Hito, burn the sage." 

"Damn, do I get a please?" Izuku rose a brow at his boyfriend from his position on the step stool, a playful glare in his emerald eyes; Hitoshi rose his hands in defeat and walked to the shelves behind the register counter. He did as requested before looking up at the shorter witch who had busied himself with grabbing a few items from higher shelves for the incoming holiday. His back was turned, and that only made Hitoshi's next move all the more sinister. 

With a near silent chuckle, he reached up and grabbed a handful of his lover's ass. He was expecting a scolding, but instead he got...something far more pleasant-a quiet squeak that turned into a pretty moan. It was barely audible, but Hitoshi heard it; his face blossomed in a million shades of fuchsia, and he stepped back. "Heh...sorry 'bout that. It was enticing." Izuku watched him for a few moments, his face twisted into an expression of skepticism. He turned, got off the step stool. He trotted to the taller witch and pulled him down for a quick, yet sweet kiss on the lips.  

They had been dating for a almost two months now, though they acted like they've been a couple forever. Some attributed it to them being friends for a while, but they had barely been friends for a year; it was't a problem to either of them that their relationship had sprouted so fast, as they both knew what they wanted. They were confident in their feelings for the other. 

As with many Wiccan holidays, there was a small festival that honoured the holiday, and the respective gods and spirits. Izuku attended all of them; he was a staple for many young witches in the area. In celebration for the autumn equinox and the coming festival, he had purchased gold eyeliner. It went without saying that he looked pretty damn good with it, even if the makeup was subtle. 

Izuku planted one last kiss to Hitoshi's lips before pulling away and heading to the front of his shop to open the doors. He switched the sign from CLOSED to OPEN, unlocked the doors, and turned to face his boyfriend. "Run the shop with me. "

"What?" The taller witched looked a little taken aback. 

"Run the shop with me," Izuku repeated, smiling kindly at the other. "I'll pay you for the hours you work." 

"Will you still help me get my father back?" The question stung him a little, settling in the air like oil on water. Izuku was hoping he had forgotten about that. "You're still going to help me with that...right?" 

"Hito...there's nothing I can really do..." 

The aura soon turned bitter. Hitoshi's smile wavered a little, though he quickly covered it up with a response to Izuku's earlier question. "Yeah sure; I'll run the shop with you, babe." 

Those words were enough to bring an ear splitting grin to Izuku's lips, and despite the guilt he felt for declining Hitoshi's request, he bounded over to his boyfriend and hugged him tight. 

__

What Hitoshi didn't understand was too much for Izuku to explain. He knew it would crush him, and the last thing he wanted was for Hitoshi to feel just as lost as he had the day his father died. The last thing he wanted was to make Hitoshi feel like there really was nothing they could do. He didn't know if that was selfish of him. 

Izuku was a medium of sorts; which meant he could see, hear and speak with the dead. It wasn't something he learned, though that is possible. He was born like this, and was taught to embrace this...gift. His mother taught Izuku how to be a good witch, but she never taught him to be a kind one. 

That came naturally to him, as if his calling was not to be a medium, but a kind person. 

Izuku closed up shop rather early that day--a bit too early. As  much as he enjoyed the summer months, he couldn't stand the heat that came with them; so he made plans with Hitoshi for him to spend the night at Izuku's place. 

His apartment was small, though not that small that he was cramped up in a tight space. It was a studio apartment, with partitions that separated each part of the place. Each partition was made of dark oak wood and shoji paper, decorated with ink paintings from a bunch of old Japanese artists. He owned countless succulents and flowers, little bonsai trees and other flowering plants; they were scattered around the place, on counter tops and cupboards, but his favourite ones sat on the window sill facing east. 

The walls were painted a muted shade of crimson, with pale grey streaks running along the walls in pinstripes. There were fairy lights everywhere, but they only added to the whimsical feeling of his apartment. The furniture was either a dark oak, or black, in exception to the bar stools in the kitchen--those were lighter oak. 

On the farthest wall from the door lay his bed, which wasn't the oddest sight in his little abode. His comforter was black, with white speckles replicating stars; the headboard was a light wood finish, and had dream catchers dangling from the bedposts. It was a cross between a book shelf and a bed, so he had stacked a few notebooks and trinkets on the two shelves above his head. His laptop lay on the center of his mattress, along with a textbook sized edition of Oracle: Everything You Need to Know about Reading Tarot. His tarot set lay in the box it came in, and rested on the coffee table in the center of the room. 

He took off his shoes as he walked in, cranked his mini AC up to high and trudged to his bed, unbuttoning his jeans in the process. It was way too sticky out for him to be fully dressed, and besides--this was his home. He could go without pants if he damn well wanted to. 

When he had changed into a looser fitting t shirt, he called his boyfriend over. He had warned Hitoshi to give him a little time just to tidy up the place, though it as evident that he wasn't going to do that. It couldn't be too bad right? 

It took him about an hour, but when Hitoshi finally knocked, the apartment had cooled down. Izuku stood up and answered the door, urging Hitoshi to join him on his bed. There was a hint of hesitance on his face, but after some confirmation that it wasn't weird, he sat. 

"You do this often?" Hitoshi asked, gesturing to Izuku's lack of bottoms. He chuckled.

"Yeah." They didn't exchange much conversation after that, focused on getting comfortable. Izuku flicked off a light-switch that was next to his bed, and turned on the one controlling his fairy lights. The room lit up in a faint gold. He pulled up Spotify to put on some soft background music. When his boyfriend was comfortable, he took out a pen and a notebook that rested against the shelf closest to his pillow. As Izuku opened it, he uncapped the pen with his teeth and wrote a name down on the top of the page. 

"I've never seen you take notes on me," Hitoshi observed, the smallest hint of a smile gracing the corner of his mouth. "It's new." 

"It is," he confirmed, more focused on making sure every letter he wrote down was eligible. 

"Can I see?" 

"No." 

"What's it about?" 

"You'll see." 

"When can I read it?" 

"Samhain." 

Hitoshi cursed under his breath. He didn't come over just to be a spectacle for Izuku--but he wasn't complaining. He enjoyed watching the smaller witch write. His eyes squinted in concentration ever so slightly, and his knees were pulled up against his chest. His unruly hair stuck out in multiple directions, as if the curls were straining for sunlight. 

Hitoshi felt as though he were in the presence of a king. 

When Izuku finished writing, he put the notebook and pen back on the shelf and leaned forward against Hitoshi. He held himself up by resting his hand on Hitoshi's knee, and pushed his face up slightly so that their lips just barely brushed together. Hitoshi caught a whiff of Izuku's scent--white sage and peppermint. It was gentle, but warm, and it made him feel nothing but happiness. 

"You're the most important thing to happen to me," Hitoshi breathed, pressing the smallest kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "I don't think I've ever felt as safe as I do with you." 

Izuku paused. He wasn't sure how to answer without making a complete fool of himself. It took him a few moments to gather his thoughts. The song from his laptop hummed a sweet acoustic melody. 

The words left his lips before he had time to register what he was saying; they rushed out of his mouth like the way the wind forces the scent of summer. "I love you."