Ocean Mist (Azul Ashengrotto/Yuu)

22 ~ Coming Back

"Hey, Azul?"

"Hm?"

"Are you awake?"

"Mmhm."

They hadn't moved from where they were on the couch in his office. Azul had himself curled up against Yuu, his eyes burning from crying, and Yuu had her arms protectively wrapped around him.

She let a soft laugh escape her as he let out a yawn. "Want me to carry you to bed?"

He stiffened. "My room's a mess. It's fine, I can walk myself there."

"Too bad, I'm gonna carry you~" Ignoring his protests, she picked him up bridal style and begun navigating the Octavinelle hallways.

"Well..." Azul tugged at his pendant, a self-soothing action. "I appreciate you... letting me get that mess out of my system." He let out a hollow laugh. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

Yuu held his face in her hands. "Azul." A firm kiss to his lips. "When will you stop apologizing?"

"When I stop feeling sorry, I suppose," he responded, voice still hoarse from crying, though a small smile appeared on his face. He pushed the door open, hesitating before kissing Yuu's forehead.

She caught his wrist before he disappeared into his room. He turned to look at her curiously.

'Is this too selfish of a request?'

Yuu shook the thought away, still holding Azul's wrist as she asked, "Can I spend the night with you?"

His expression changed with embarrassment and she couldn't help but let out a laugh. "You make that face as though I didn't spend a whole week in your room~"

"Fine," he grumbled.

"Do you not want me to?"

He paused, bringing a hand to the back of his neck as he seemed to sort through something in his mind. "No, I do, I just... I don't want you to spend too much time with me and get bored."

"Azul, sweetie, you know who I am, right?"

"Yes..?"

"Then you should know how clingy I am. I literally want to spend every waking moment of with you."

A dry laugh escaped him. "I tend to get over-attached too quickly. I'll become a bother to you."

Yuu wrapped her arms around him tightly, stepping forward so she could fully shut the door behind them. "Azul, do you want us to work out?" She glanced around. "Also, your room's not a mess. It's neater than mine is on a regular basis."

"Of course!" he answered quickly before clearing his throat, glancing away with pink-tinted cheeks. "I-I mean, of course I do."

She squeezed him tighter in her arms, pressing her face against his back. "Then stop saying that kind of stuff like it's inevitable. When you get all 'you're definitely gonna dump me' or 'you'll get bored of me some day', it hurts. 'Cause I don't want any of that."

"I'm... I'll try my best," he answered hesitantly, careful not to phrase it as an apology since he knew that would only earn him another lecture from Yuu.

Not that he minded her lecturing him about his self-worth (he actually was quite fond of the look on her face when she fervently explained why he should have more confidence), but he didn't want to rile her up again and make her upset.

Any sign of negative emotion on her face melted away and was replaced with an adorably mischievous grin. "Hopefully Vil doesn't notice I'm gone..."

"I'll let him know where you are so he doesn't think you're missing," Azul sighed as he pulled out his phone and selected Vil's contact.

Yuu swung his closet open and filed through his clothes. "You have a lot of hoodies," she commented. "You don't seem like a hoodie guy."

"I'm partial to clothing with hoods," he responded distractedly as he typed out his message to Vil, moving to sit down on his bed. "I find dark, confined places soothing, and hoods give me a similar feeling."

She hummed in response, pulling out a periwinkle hoodie with the Board Game club symbol on the front and Azul's last name written on the back.

'Kinda like a varsity hoodie but for board games.'

"Hey, I'll be back in a second," she called as she headed to his bathroom and he absentmindedly nodded in response, still distracted by his phone.

"I'm back!" she sang, and he froze as he looked up from his phone to see her wearing his hoodie. She sat next to him and moved her hand over his, quickly kissing his beauty mark. "Do I look cute~?"

'Oh, you know exactly what you're doing.'

He mumbled something unintelligible and she gave him another quick kiss, this time on his nose. "What was that? I didn't quite catch what you said."

'Just be normal, like you were before you overblotted,' he internally scolded himself. It frustrated him how much Yuu had started flustering him again and how hard it was for him for him to initiate affection-it was as though he'd forced them to backtrack in their relationship, and he wanted to fix it.

Azul took a deep breath and pulled her closer, burying his face in her hair. "You look adorable, love," he whispered, and she paused for a moment before tackling him backwards and peppering him with kisses.

'Azul's finally coming back.'