Guardian

15

Namjoon's first word was 'yeah'.

He said it while Jimin's back was turned, almost without realizing, in response to one of Jimin's questions. He couldn't remember which, unfortunately, as Jimin had dropped the book in his hands and yelped before racing to cup Namjoon's face in his hands and make him repeat the word until they were both laughing so hard they couldn't breathe.

Namjoon reached out and wrapped his arms around Jimin, nuzzling his shoulder, and Jimin sighed, pressing his face into Namjoon's shoulder in return.

"You caught me off guard," he grumbled.

Namjoon chuckled, making Jimin squirm. "Yeah," he mumbled, and Jimin smacked his side playfully, laughing and sitting up.

"Any other surprise words to show off?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Namjoon smiled and shook his head. But when Jimin started laughing while getting off of him, he lowered his eyebrows and shushed him, provoking another explosion of laughter and a few more playful blows to his shoulder.

"Be serious with me!"

"I am," Namjoon grunted, and Jimin shrieked.

"Oh my god, you're one of those-- those fucking children who say nothing for years and then start speaking in paragraphs--"

Namjoon rolled his eyes and shook his head, sitting up and squishing Jimin's cheeks between his hands. "Silly," he said, leaning forward to nuzzle Jimin's face, and to his surprise Jimin turned red to the tips of his ears, grumbling and smacking his shoulder some more before getting up to retrieve his book.

"You startled me," he said softly.

"Sorry," Namjoon said, standing awkwardly and following him to the couch.

"How many words do you know?"

Namjoon bit his lip, searching for the words, then stuttered, "Lots-- Tae taught me."

"Of course," Jimin said, rolling his eyes. "He taught you everything, didn't he?"

Namjoon flopped down on the couch next to him and rolled into his lap, frowning at him. "You taught me lots too," he sulked.

"Oh, sure," Jimin said, laughing. "Like what?"

Namjoon frowned, reaching up and staring at Jimin for a long time. He blinked slowly, thinking, then sighed, tracing Jimin's eyebrows with the tips of his fingers. "Like... special," he said softly, touch running down Jimin's face to his lips, then his chin and neck. "Pretty. Good."

"That's a lot of words," Jimin said softly.

Namjoon nodded, chuckling. "We'll talk soon."

"Oh, will we?" Jimin teased, laughing when Namjoon grumbled and flipped over in his lap to hide his face in his arms. "I look forward to it."

Namjoon nodded, smiling to himself.

They lay together in silence for barely a minute before Jimin groaned, slapping his book down on the couch and squirming out from under Namjoon. "I forgot!" he said. "I need to run a quick errand. Also, Joon?"

"Hm?"

"When's your birthday?"

Namjoon stared blankly at him. Jimin's shoulders sagged, and he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Okay, we'll need to learn those words next. What do you want for dinner?"

Namjoon tilted his head. "Food?"

Jimin snorted, turning away and pressing a hand to his mouth as he crouched down. Bemused, Namjoon crawled off the couch and scooted to sit next to him, leaning over. Jimin's shoulders shook with suppressed laughter for a long, long time.

"Alright," he said. "Alright. I'll just grab whatever looks good. Think you'll be okay here by yourself?"

Namjoon nodded. Jimin smiled, leaning over to give him a quick hug, and hopped to his feet, grabbing the keys off the bowl in the counter and racing out the door.

Namjoon sat where he was, watching the space Jimin had left behind, then decided to go to the bed, already tottering clumsily from fatigue. He wished he'd anticipated how long it would take his muscles to reacclimate to being human, but it was fine. He was fine. He was doing better. That was all he could do, right?

He sighed, pausing for a moment to steady himself on the counter, and heard a knock at the door. He perked up, staring, and flinched when he saw the handle turn and the door push in, quickly.

Jeohoon stood on the other side. 

*panicked voice* I'm working on it! I'm working on it! 

I had both of my critiques for my first two projects today. They went really well! The people who chose to critique my work were super nice(not that they could be mean, since we're required to keep it constructive, but...)! 

My siblings are re-enacting various famous marvel lines behind me as I write. Idk what's going on lol

YES i'm trying to defuse tension! I need to buy myself a little bit to write the next part!