Oberion was rifling through papers at his desk when Hoseok arrived so he took up his normal position near the window with a book. They often met like this, when the mage captain's attention was elsewhere and they had the time to themselves, if not the attention. After some time Oberion asked the other how he had spent his day.
Hoseok looked up from his book and out the window for a moment and after a deep breath in and against the windowpane. "Atreus and I were discussing love."
"A dangerous topic. What did your placid friend have to say?"
"Well he didn't say much-"
"To be expected."
Hoseok carried on as if the other hadn't spoken and finally turned to look at him. "-but he did help me realize that you love me."
Oberion went very still and leveled his partner with a gaze that would have made greater beings very uncomfortable. And it worked on him just a little, but he had a purpose and would not be swayed. "Do I." Came the quiet response, sounding barely like a question and more a warning.
"You do." The hawk unfolded himself from the window seat and walked closer to the desk. He kept the book in his hand because he needed to hold onto something. This situation did not call for fidgeting.
"How did you come to this conclusion?" The dangerous gaze never strayed from the other and for every deep breath that Hoseok took, Oberion seemed not to breathe at all.
"For one, you tease me when you torment others. Your bitter edge never touches me." Oberion blinked as if struck but otherwise did not react. "You spent all your time alone, everyone said so. But you seek me out, or call me to sit with you even when there is nothing to do. You like being around me. You create reasons to leave the city with me and share adventures when you could have easily done it by yourself. You teach me when you have no patience for anyone else." Inhale. "I've seen you all the way naked." Another blink. "And maybe the most important. Because I love you. And it would hurt so much if you did not feel the same." There were no more blinks, no more deep breaths. The room was silent as if Hoseok had declared himself to the walls.
Oberion stood up then, crossing to him in the terrible silence. And then, though everything on the dark Appositi glittered in some fashion, from jewels to wings and his hard eyes, they all paled in comparison to the smile he gave Hoseok. And when he leaned down to kiss the other man he whispered his answer. "And how lucky you are that I do."
