Archive of Our Own ^beta

The first few days in a new apartment are always… liminal. Your things are there, but they aren't arranged. You're sleeping on your own mattress, but it's on the floor. The place is yours now, but it doesn't feel like home yet. Those feelings are only exacerbated when it's your first time moving away from your family.

Katsuki and Mashirao sat on their mattress on the floor, shoulder to shoulder. The only light in the room was a lamp that Katsuki had taken from his old room at his parents’ house, until they could get dimmer bulbs for the overhead lights. They didn't have a TV yet, but they had their handheld consoles, and they didn't have wifi yet either, but Mashirao had a hotspot included in his phone plan. Playing Animal Crossing was the only reasonable outcome.

They each had things the other wanted, so they rounded up each request to exchange. Katsuki was a completionist. His museum was full, he'd unlocked all the shops on Harv’s island, maxed out his house and storage, gotten every gyroid, and he had all the golden tools. His island was cute, but functional before all else. He put little decorations here and there, but most things were for convenience, rather than aesthetics. All of the terraforming he'd done was to get places quicker, without paying much mind to how it looked.

Mashirao, on the other hand, was a decorator. He'd redesigned his villagers’ houses and gave them all cute little yards. He'd spent weeks agonizing over flower breeding, which paid off in the end, as he had multiple fields of flowers, one of each variety, all arranged in neat, diagonal rainbows. He had orchards, paved walkways, and terraformed his island so no matter where you looked, you'd have a gorgeous view. Every plant and item was placed with intent. The things he'd completed along the way were a means to an end, and now he wanted to actually buckle down and finish off his checklist.

Katsuki wanted Zodiac fragments, the event DIY recipes he didn't have, two of each color and type of flower, and–

“How the fuck do you have that many pearls?!”

“Diving?”

“Holy shit. Give me twenty. Twenty-five.”

Pockets stuffed with things he'd be giving to Katsuki (he'd have to take multiple trips for all those damn flowers…), he took a look at his partner’s storage.

“Oh my God, please give me the fish bait. I need so much. I've been putting off grinding for the rare fish because I hate making fish bait so much.”

“Take it all. I don't need it. I've got like 500.”

“Thank you. I owe you so bad.”

So, Mashirao was content with fish bait, whatever spare genuine art pieces Katsuki had laying around, and–

“Wait, how do you have so many miles?!”

“From being the fucking GOAT cast master. A true angler.”

He turned to face Katsuki, eyes pleading, hands held out like a beggar in an old movie, “Tickets, please? Please, sir, would you spare some tickets?”

Katsuki laughed, and ran over to the Nook Stop to print Mashirao’s tickets.

They exchanged their items, and then played separately for a while, cuddling as they each completed their daily tasks. Katsuki laughed at Mashirao for closing his eyes while he fished.

“What, you gotta feel their auras? Sense them with your third eye?”

While Katsuki mocked him, the fish got away.

“Hey! I have to feel the rumble, if I watch I'll mess it up…”

Katsuki kissed his cheek, ruffling his hair in apology. “What are you trying to catch? Stringfish? Golden trout?”

“Yeah, I still haven't caught either…”

“Gimme.”

Mashirao passed his Switch over and watched intently. It took a good while, a lot of bait, and a small spat.

“Hey, don't throw that back, it's worth like four thousand bells!”

“What do you want me to do, research every fish I let go?”

“Yes! You just go around releasing fish based on vibes? You don't care about maximizing profits?”

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Fine. What do I release, O Wise Oracle of the river?”

“Crucian carp and bluegill are both really cheap. Toss them back first. My island, my profits, my rules.”

Katsuki grumbled, “Offer to slave away fishing for ya and this is the thanks I fucking get,” but relented, releasing the cheap fish first. He kept fishing, and fishing, and fishing…

“You really are good at this, honey.”

“Told ya. GOAT cast master, true angler, all that shit. I'm a regular Joe Brooks.”

Mashirao laughed, that laugh that never failed to make Katsuki’s heart sing. He scattered the bait, and then–

“Watch this shit, tiger. That's it. I know that damn shadow anywhere.”

“Get it, get it!”

It bit on the second nibble. He got it. Mashirao’s little villager held up the stringfish for the world to see, while the real Mashirao beamed at him like he'd hung the fucking moon, all because he caught a fish in a video game.

“Thank you, honey!”

He'd sit there scattering bait for eternity if Mashirao would keep smiling at him like that. He pulled him into a gentle kiss. He just wanted to prolong that smile a little further, see those pretty brown fox eyes gleam in the lamplight, watch the way it made his nose crinkle and commit the sight to memory for the millionth time.

Mashirao was still smiling against his mouth, tail wagging so hard Katsuki could feel it shaking the mattress. That smile was still there when they parted, and still there when Mashirao went in for seconds, pushing Katsuki down onto his back and straddling him, tongue brushing against his bottom lip.

Katsuki threaded one hand into the hair at Mashirao’s nape, while the other settled at the base of his tail, stroking along the meeting place of his skin and his sleep pants.

His smile remained, even as his eyes darkened, half lidded, and he moved to kiss and lick at Katsuki’s jaw, whispering, husky and heavy in his ear.

“Thank you. You did all that work for me…

I think you deserve a reward.”