[ FIVE TOUCHES ] send for five times our muses almost touch and the one time they do. (for devereux 🥹)
they've been married for three days. they should be on their honeymoon. devereux's ring has been carelessly tossed onto the bedside table; she'll have to remember to grab it before she leaves the house. she has no plans to do that for a while, though. right now she's just trying to teach seunggi how to play little nightmares. she's not one to just give people answers, but he's been stuck on this puzzle for what feels like hours. "oh my god it's just—" reaches out to grab the controller from his hands, do it herself. stops just in time. "look to the right. more. up. yes, jesus, that's it."
two months and they still aren’t used to sharing a home with someone. now there’s someone bearing witness to their mood swings, their migraines, their midnight snacks when they’ve been drawing for three hours straight. they flip on the kitchen light and their heart nearly bursts out of their chest. “jesus shit, you scared me. i thought you went to bed hours ago.” but no, he’s leaning against the counter, wearing his pajamas and eating their choco pie. they think about brushing past him to get to the bowls, but somehow that feels too intimate. “move, i want ice cream. don’t you have a meeting in the morning?”
it’s their six month anniversary so they’re going out to dinner. devereux’s ring is on his finger because they have to keep up appearances, but also because he forgot to take it off when he got home from grocery shopping yesterday. it’s fine. doesn’t mean anything. he’s just getting used to it by now. he’s just finished his makeup when seunggi walks into his room and devereux freezes. his husband is attractive; so what? he knew that. he shouldn’t be acting like he didn’t. “i’m almost ready. your tie is crooked, by the way,” he says, because getting up and fixing it feels like a strangely dangerous game. it’s fine.
the universe’s reward for surviving ten entire months with each other is a thunderstorm. xe’s laughing as soon as seunggi walks in the door; on his trek from the car to the door he’s managed to get completely soaked. “i’m sorry, i’m sorry.” an apology? from devereux hwang? strange. “i told you you’d need an umbrella.” the rain seems like enough of an i told you so. seunggi looks like a forlorn little kitten left out in the rain, so xe won’t bully him too much. xe walks over to him and lifts xir hand, nearly brushes his bangs away from his eyes. no, no. bad idea. “god, you look miserable,” xe says with one last laugh. “go change. i refuse to let you freeze to death and leave me a widow.”
they barely find themself keeping track of the months anymore. they rarely take off their ring. na seunggi has wormed his way into their stone cold heart and they’ll be damned if they ever let him find out. this is a business transaction, they remind themself as they argue over the last french fry. a business transaction, they remind themself when he compliments the truly disgusting zombie sprite they just finished drawing. business, they remind themself when their parents send him a birthday card. i am nothing but a means to an end for him, they remind themself when their tired head droops toward his shoulder halfway through the movie. they scoot to the other side of the loveseat and don’t look at him again until it’s over.
she’s wine drunk. not thinking clearly. should just go to sleep. the only problem with that plan is that this stupid hotel only gave them one bed and it’s big but nowhere near big enough, not when all devereux has been able to think about all night is how much she wants to rip that suit off him, push him down and make him moan. the idea would terrify her if she hadn’t caught him staring at her more than once during the long, stupid event. “seunggi,” she says quietly, kicking off her heels. walks closer, looks up at him. weaves her fingers through his hair and god, it’s just as soft as she’s always imagined. “you don’t have to just look.”
