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Aoba reaches for his blaring alarm for the third time, sighing to himself. He finally has to get up. Light creeps through silk curtains and dances against his and Noiz’s bare skin, as Noiz reaches across him and turns the alarm off instead. He then throws it across the room.
“Aoba…” Noiz mumbles against his skin, holding him tight. His head is nestled in the crook of Aoba’s shoulder, arms wrapped around his waist tight. His legs are pulled up tightly into his body, but still pressed against Aoba. Aoba always thought it was cute that despite making a show of how big and strong and cool he is, Noiz prefers to curl up and cuddle against him every night.
Aoba smiles, letting out a little huff. “I know, I know. But I have to go!”
Noiz wraps his arms around Aoba tighter, pulling him close. “No, you don’t.”
“Noiz–” Aoba laughs a bit, taking in just how cute Noiz looks all groggy. “You’re the one who paid for these German lessons. I have to go!”
Grumbling, Noiz kisses up Aoba’s chest and neck. “I’ll just pay for new ones…”
Aoba flushes red but stands his ground, wriggling free of Noiz’s grasp a bit. “Nuh-uh. This is exactly what happened last week, and now I’m already behind! I’m going today.”
“I can just help you catch up, then we can stay in bed all day…” Noiz’s voice is still laced with that morning husk that makes Aoba swoon.
But Aoba stays strong, shaking his head. “Do you not remember how it went last time you tried to teach me? We ignored each other for hours afterwards.”
Sitting up a bit, Noiz runs a finger over Aoba’s chest, looking up at him with a bit of a smirk. “I won’t call you so many names this time, I promise.”
Aoba glares. “Like I believe that.” He tries to roll away from Noiz again, whining a little, “Cmon… I’ll make us breakfast before I go!”
Noiz pouts but relents, letting Aoba out of his grasp. “Fine. But I expect you to come right back to this bed and talk dirty to me in German when you get home.”
Rolling his eyes, Aoba lets out a little laugh as he gets out of bed. He can feel Noiz’s eyes tracing over every curve of his body as he gets dressed, which only makes it harder to leave. He’s got to stay strong though, Aoba really would feel bad missing another week of lessons. His teacher and fellow classmates are all so nice, and he really does want to be able to speak with Noiz in his mother tongue one day!
Aoba turns to face Noiz. “What do you want me to make for us?”
Noiz, who was laying on his stomach, lifts his head slightly to speak. “Eggs. And toast and jam.”
“That’s it? How do you want your eggs?”
“Scrambled.” Noiz plops his head back on the bed and stifles a yawn. “Thanks.”
Aoba smiles. “Of course.”
Making his way down into the overly large kitchen, Aoba gets to work. He knows that Noiz could just call a private chef to cook them some extravagant breakfast, but sometimes it feels nice to be able to cook a meal for yourself. Even if the meal is just scrambled eggs and toast. He hums to himself as he whisks the eggs with a fork before pouring the eggs into the frying pan with a satisfying sizzle.
Sprinkling in a little bit of salt and pepper as he pops the bread in the toaster, Aoba hears Noiz shuffle down the steps in the fluffy bunny slippers he had bought for Noiz a few weeks ago.
“Don’t forget to go light on the pepper. Makes me sneeze.”
Aoba turns to him with a pout. “Have I ever messed up after the first pepper debacle?” The image of Noiz uncontrollably sneezing, shooting Aoba glares of pure rage in between was one he wasn’t going to forget any time soon. As hilarious and adorable as it was, it was not a great impression for the first meal he ever cooked for Noiz… and Noiz clearly will never let him live it down…
Noiz smirks and shuffles his way over to Aoba, only wearing a pair of boxers and a blanket from their bed over his shoulders like a cape. Wrapping his arms around Aoba from behind, he plants a kiss on his cheek. “I know, I know.”
Aoba leans back into his embrace as he stirs the eggs. “I know what you’re doing.”
Tilting his head to feign ignorance, Noiz asks, “Hm? What am I doing?”
“This isn’t going to make me come back to bed with you.” Aoba pokes him in the side with the handle of his spatula.
All Aoba gets is a grunt in response.
The toast pops up, and Noiz lets go of Aoba to go take it out, causing Aoba to pout. “Hey, I said I was gonna make us breakfast…”
Noiz ignores him, spreading butter on all of the slices. “What jam do you want?”
“Whatever’s open is fine with me.” Aoba replies, focusing on the eggs.
Noiz flashes him a little side eye before turning his heel and checking the fridge. “Strawberry or apricot.”
“Hmm… apricot.”
As Noiz makes his way back to the counter, his belly button piercing catches the light streaming in from a nearby window, causing it to flash slightly and catch Aoba’s attention. Aoba stares at it and watches how it moves against his skin for a moment before letting his eyes wander up and down the rest of Noiz’s body. His skin is so smooth… and wow, his ever so slight happy trail and v-lines draw his eye right to where they need to be. Man, he really hit the jackpot.
“Just a reminder,” Noiz says with a smirk, meeting Aoba’s eyes, “I still have a couple other piercings you’re more than welcome to play with.”
Aoba chokes and feels himself turning bright red, returning to his eggs to avoid eye contact. “How you can say things like that so casually, I’ll never understand.”
Noiz chuckles lightly in response as Aoba takes the eggs off the heat and adds them to the plates Noiz has already set up with their toast. Noiz’s eyes scan the plates and he nods with approval, taking them to a small dining table. They sit across from each other, and Noiz takes the opportunity to immediately start playing footsie under the table.
Aoba raises his eyebrows. Man, Noiz is doing everything in his power to try and rile him up, huh? He thinks back to the Noiz he knew just half a year ago and can’t help but laugh a little. That Noiz wouldn’t be caught dead playing footsie to try and keep someone in bed with him.
Noiz squints. “What.”
“Oh, nothing, just thinking about how different you are from when I first met you.”
Noiz’s squint becomes even squintier. “And what does that mean?” He shovels some eggs into his mouth, still glaring.
“Nothing bad!” Aoba smiles. “It’s just nice to see you so much more open. If you asked me a couple months ago, I never would have thought you’d be such a touchy guy.”
The hint of a blush kisses Noiz’s cheeks, but he doesn’t break his gaze. “Of course I’m… touchy. I have nineteen years of not feeling things to make up for.”
Aoba reaches across the table and grabs Noiz’s hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it. “I like how touchy you are. And, I like that you chose me to touch.”
Noiz stares at Aoba incredulously, fork halfway to his mouth. “Do you hear yourself? And you say I say things too casually…”
They both laugh at that comment and eat their breakfast, neither of them letting go of the other’s hand the rest of the meal. Eventually, Aoba gets up to put their dishes away, but Noiz grips his hand tightly.
“Uh– Noiz?”
“Sit back down… please.” Noiz grumbles, looking up at Aoba with some sort of determination in his eyes.
Aoba hesitates for a moment but obliges.
Noiz looks like he’s thinking about how to say the right words for a moment. “Stay with me.”
“Noiz… I’m going to my lessons today. It only takes two hours! Then I’ll come right back home to you.”
“Let me teach you instead.”
“We’ve been over th–”
“Please. I want to. At least let me try a little.”
Aoba sighs. Last time Noiz tried to teach him really was a disaster. Noiz was impatient as always, and he himself definitely got way too defensive about his mistakes. It was just a recipe for disaster. Yet, Noiz has such a look in his eyes. Does he really want to try again? But, his lessons… he’s only been for two weeks, he can’t flake again…
Searching Noiz’s face and only finding his resolve written all over it, Aoba deflated. “You’re not going to let me say no, are you?”
Noiz shook his head curtly, not breaking eye contact. Man, he can be so stubborn.
“Okay, how about a compromise?” Aoba smiles as Noiz’s face lights up like a little puppy. “You can teach me while we clean up from breakfast. I’m still going to my lesson afterwards. But, if we don’t kill each other, I’ll let you give me… supplemental lessons. How does that sound?”
Noiz looks down at their hands while he thinks. Aoba bites the inside of his cheek, waiting eagerly for his reply. After an agonizing couple of seconds, Noiz meets his gaze again. “Sure.”
Grinning, Aoba gets up from the table and grabs their dishes. “Then we have no time to spare! I have to leave in about 20 minutes.”
Checking his Coil with a panic, Noiz’s eyes widen when he sees the time. He stands up quickly and rips the plates from Aoba’s hands, wrapping his free hand around Aoba’s wrist and pulling him into the kitchen behind him. Aoba lets out a giggle as his blanket cape falls off his shoulders and Noiz doesn’t even bother to pick it up.
Noiz looks around for a moment a little frantically before throwing the dishes in the sink and focusing on the fridge. “We’ll practice some vocabulary.”
Aoba nods with raised eyebrows. He made this big show about wanting to teach him, and then didn’t have anything planned? Typical Noiz. Making his way over to the sink, Aoba begins to wash the dishes as Noiz rummages through the fridge, pulling out an assortment of food, talking to himself under his breath. He huffs a laugh at the pure chaos.
After another minute of listening to Noiz mumble to himself, Aoba hears the fridge door shut. Suddenly, Noiz has wrapped his arms around him from behind again, taking a deep breath to slow himself down.
He holds an egg up in front of Aoba with one hand, the other one still securely around his waist. “Do you know how to say egg?”
Aoba wracks his brain for a moment before shaking his head. “No, don’t think so.”
“Egg is Ei.”
“Ei” Aoba repeats.
This earns him a kiss on the cheek. “Good.” Noiz holds up a slice of bread. “What about this?”
Aoba turns off the tap, putting the plates in the drying rack next to the sink. “Um… it’s not coming to me, either.”
“Brot. That’s bread.”
“Brot.” Aoba repeats again.
“Very good.” Noiz gives him another kiss on the cheek, holding it a bit longer this time. “Your pronunciation is pretty good.”
Aoba could get used to this kind of positive reinforcement.
They continue like this for a couple more minutes, Noiz continuing to grab random items of food, as well as any utensils laying around to test Aoba with. Each correct pronunciation lands him another kiss on the cheek. When he remembers a word they already went over, he gets a kiss on the lips instead, so Aoba tries his damndest to put every word in his memory bank.
Eventually, Noiz sighs, checking his Coil. “It’s almost time for you to go…”
Aoba pouts as Noiz lets him go. “Aw, already?”
Noiz takes his chance. “You could just not go…”
“No, no, I’ll still go.” Aoba’s heart hurts a little watching Noiz deflate.
“Fine.” Noiz begins to turn away, but changes his mind and flips back towards Aoba. “One last question before you leave. Bonus round.”
“What do I win for the bonus round?”
Noiz’s eyes light up, as if he wasn’t expecting Aoba to play along at all. “You choose. But it’ll be hard– I’m really gonna test your brain here.”
Aoba will never turn down a challenge like this. “Okay okay, one final question. Hit me.”
Noiz stares Aoba down for a moment before smirking. “Tell me that you like to eat eggs in a full sentence.”
Full sentence? Aoba had only just started learning how to piece those together… “Um…”
“You can do it. Just remember, I said eggs plural. So it won't be just Ei.” Noiz speaks with a softer tone than usual, watching Aoba almost excitedly.
Right, right, plural. He went over those a bit…
Noiz let Aoba think a bit longer, but all Aoba could get out was the ‘I’ “Ich… Ich…”
“Do you want to figure it out together? That will reduce your prize, though.”
Aoba laughed. Of course. No help was ever free with Noiz. “Fine, I’ll take your offer.”
Noiz takes Aoba’s hand and with a surprising level of patience and gentleness, guides Aoba through the grammar and conjugation of the sentence. Aoba can see what looks like pride gleaming in Noiz’s eyes the further and further they come along. It makes his chest all warm and fuzzy, seeing Noiz like this is so sweet and comforting. A sight Aoba knows is saved only for him.
“Okay, now try putting it all together.”
Aoba nods, taking a breath to organize his thoughts. “Ich essen– esse gerne Eier. Ich esse gerne Eier!
Noiz, who was mouthing the words alongside Aoba subconsciously, breaks out into a massive grin.
Aoba’s heart skips a beat seeing that. “Did I do it? Was that right?”
Noiz nods. “It was perfect, Aoba.”
Excitement and pride bubbling up, Aoba bounces in place before grabbing Noiz’s face and kissing him. “Yes! Thank you, Noiz!”
Noiz’s eyes widen in surprise at Aoba’s sudden kiss before smiling and kissing him back, hugging him close. He pulls back and brushes Aoba’s bangs away from his face, looking at him so softly. “Perfekt. Ich liebe dich.”
Puzzled, Aoba looks at him with wide eyes. “What does that mean? Ich… liebe dich?”
Noiz’s eyes suddenly grow as wide as a cat’s, and a red brighter than Aoba has ever seen crawls up Noiz’s face. It was almost as if saying that set off some sort of kill switch in Noiz with the way he freezes in Aoba’s grasp. Then, Noiz starts trembling from head to toe.
“N–Noiz!? Are you okay?”
Noiz puts his head in his hands and shakes it back and forth, reminding Aoba of a wet dog. “Holy shit.”
“Noiz? What? Stop freaking me out!” Aoba’s concern grows by the second, so he grabs onto Noiz’s shoulders to try and calm him down. “What happened?”
“Holy fucking shit, Aoba.” Noiz pulls his hands back to look at Aoba, his bottom lip trembling as his eyes frantically search Aoba’s face.
Aoba reaches out to cup Noiz’s cheek, but Noiz flinches away for a moment. The sight of Noiz this way makes Aoba’s chest ache. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Noiz shakes his head again. “I haven’t said that– I haven’t heard someone say that to me in years– I don’t–”
“Slow down– say what?”
Noiz opens his mouth and shuts it over and over, unable to look Aoba in the eyes for more than half a second. “Ich liebe dich. I… I love you.”
Now it’s Aoba’s turn to have a little meltdown. I love you? Noiz– Noiz said that to him? Holy shit– he repeated it back too– did they just fucking confess to each other? In GERMAN?
The room feels like it’s spinning, everything around them becoming fuzzy. Aoba’s heart is thundering so fast in his chest he can feel it in every cell of his body, hear his blood racing in his ears. This is the last thing he expected. Yet, it didn’t feel bad, or wrong, or scary. Not in the slightest.
Aoba finds his voice again, his own hands now also trembling. “O–oh… I see…”
Noiz looks at Aoba desperately, trying to gauge his reaction. “Just forget I said that. Please.”
Aoba shakes his head. “Like I could do that… I… I don’t really want to forget.”
His voice ever so wobbly, Noiz pauses. “What? You–”
“In fact,” Aoba’s eyes start to well with tears. “I’m really happy you said that.”
Noiz blinks. Then blinks again. The room must be spinning for him too. “You mean that.”
Aoba reaches out to cup his cheek again, this time Noiz allowing it. “I do. Did you mean it?”
Noiz lets out a small laugh, nuzzling into Aoba’s hand. “I can feel your pulse racing through your fingertips. It’s weird, but it’s a good weird.”
When Aoba doesn’t say anything, Noiz swallows and works up the courage to answer his question. “I also meant it. I was happy seeing you so happy. It… slipped out. Didn’t even realize I said it until you repeated it back to me.”
Well shit, that absolutely opens up the floodgates for Aoba. Tears pour from his eyes as he smiles. “Can I hug you?”
Noiz’s eyebrow raises. “As long as you don’t get your tears all over m–”
Aoba pulls Noiz into a tight hug, crying right into his shoulder. Noiz freezes for a moment before gently placing his shaking hand against the back of Aoba’s head. “Say it again.”
Aoba looks up, wiping his face with his sleeve. “Hm?”
Noiz looks away, blushing. “Say it again, please. I want to hear it again.”
Aoba kisses his cheek, whispering against his skin, “Ich liebe dich.”
Noiz shivers, Aoba’s voice enough to send chills throughout his entire body. He grips onto Aoba with the strength only an adrenaline rush could provide. “You’re not going to that lesson today.”
Shaking his head, Aoba agrees with him with a laugh. “Definitely not.”
Noiz continues, his fingers digging deeper into Aoba’s skin. “The only lesson you’re getting today is repeating that over and over for the next two hours.”
Aoba laughs and kisses Noiz’s jaw, his entire body feeling light with joy. “I’m more than happy with that. But only if you say it back.”
Noiz mumbles, “I think that can be arranged.”