Every time they ran into each other, Rom grew a little less hostile. By the time they had to cooperate to write a song together to save the world, the hostility had almost dropped entirely, if only out of necessity. It had been a bit up and down since then, but mostly positive.

This is why, when Rom was the first one to spot Shuzo, instead of the usual other way around, he didn’t hesitate to approach him on his own.

It was winter, closing in on the latter half of December, the new year approaching like a whirlwind. The moon hung high in the sky, and very few people were out, which was another reason why Rom felt so at ease approaching. When he stepped up to walk next to his former bandmate, Shuzo had already noticed him, a smile on his face as he met his eyes. “Oh, Rom. Working hard, I see?”

Rom huffed, a small smile on his face. His hair was still combed down and his suit was still on underneath the winter coat. “Yeah, a lot of things to do before Christmas. I’m surprised to see you though, isn’t this time of the year really busy for you guys?”

Despite the way things had ended, he’d still been unable to keep from worrying a little bit back when he realised just how much work Shuzo seemed to have going on. It was easy to see how packed a schedule Trichronika had, thanks to how famous they were. He’d seen countless ads for things they had coming up in the next few weeks.

“It is, but we managed to get a few days off before we start everything off again. The twins are spending an early Christmas with their family tonight, their enthusiasm was very sweet.”

“And you're out here, just walking around? Hardly seems like a fulfilling Christmas.”

Shuzo placed a dramatic hand on his chest, Rom unable to keep from noticing how slender they still looked even in the slight bulk of winter gloves. “Oh Rom, how you wound me, and here I thought you were starting to warm up to me again.”

A small, amused snort escaped Rom, and before he was able to stop himself, he opened his mouth and- “You can come to my place for the night, if you want to.”

Rom felt his cheeks grow hot at the utterly surprised look on Shuzo’s face, and he tried to look anywhere but at the blond as he tried to feel less embarrassed. “Neverm-”

“I’d love to.”

This time, when Rom looked back down at him again, Shuzo’s own cheeks had a slight tinge of pink to them, and Rom scratched the back of his neck, smiling again. “Uh. Great. I don’t really have any of the Christmas usuals, but we can probably come up with something. It’s, uh, at the same place as before, by the way.”

“You know I’m not a stickler for the traditional,” Shuzo replied, a smile on his lips as they started to walk in the direction of Rom’s home.

“Yeah, I know.”

The whole atmosphere was nostalgic, as Shuzo followed Rom inside the apartment. It smelled similarly of Rom’s whole existence, in a way Shuzo had taken comfort in back when they had been roommates, so many years ago.

It looked a lot different than it used to, some new pieces of furniture, a few new decorations, and several pictures of Rom’s current band members and the other bands at BRR. There was a big group picture of Shingancrimsonz, Plasmagica, and Criticrista together with the owner and lady at the bar. It felt strange, like revisiting a dream that should feel more familiar than it ends up being.

He sat down at the kotatsu set out in the living room at the behest of Rom, smoothing out the frilly sleeves that had gotten rumpled underneath his coat. It was a delicate white shirt, that he had gotten to keep from a photoshoot a few weeks back. The satin woven cotton was breathable against his skin, but suddenly he felt a bit hot either way, when Rom stepped back into the room, the sleeves of his button-down rolled up to expose arms that looked stronger than ever. Rom’s muscles had always been a weak spot for Shuzo, something that had his heart fluttering in his chest on a good day, and wanting to just open his mouth, lean in and- no, no time for thoughts like that. Tempting, but wholly improper.

The sound of Rom putting down the two bottles of beer he was carrying clicked lightly against the wooden tabletop, and Shuzo couldn’t help but watch Rom as he sat down, muscles moving underneath his shirt. He turned his eyes down to the bottle in front of him just in time for Rom to miss him looking.

He could feel Rom watching him from the corner of his eye where he sat diagonally from him at the next side of the kotatsu, clearly feeling awkward. He had invited him without a thought, but hadn’t thought far enough ahead as to what would happen next. It made the corner of Shuzo’s mouth tick upwards, making Rom give him a look.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Rom frowned a little, eyebrows drawing together. “Come on, tell me.”

Shuzo picked up his bottle, noting the familiar brand on the label. Well, if he was going to be around Rom again, he knew what that would entail for him emotionally, and he was far too old to lie to himself about it these days. Rom had given him an olive branch when he extended his invitation to spend an early Christmas with him, who was he to deny him the return of the favour by being truthful in return.

“I just thought you look cute when you’re fidgety.”

He wasn’t surprised when he was met by the sputtering of a very flustered man. He gave Rom the curtsy to not look at him while the taller man struggled to compose himself, and for a few minutes he left it alone, feeling Rom shift around, trying to find the best response.

“That has got to be the weirdest thing I’ve heard you say in a long time,” Rom finally settled on, clearly not sure what to make of the comment. “I’m not cute.”

Shuzo gave Rom a cheeky smile, sipping on his beer before responding. “That’s a lie, you’ve always had cuteness hidden underneath all those muscles. Pity not everyone seems to notice.”

Rom huffed next to him, grabbing his own bottle with a firm hand, looking anywhere but at Shuzo. “You’re the cute one,” he muttered, clearly not intending for him to hear, but Shuzo’s ears had always been sensitive, especially to things not meant for him.

Shuzo was tempted to tease, to let him know he’d heard him, but he didn’t. He didn’t exactly want to burn the bridge they were slowly repairing after the fire he had set it on, reminiscent of when you were a kid trying to build a structure out of spaghetti without knowing what you were doing. It could break so easily.

Instead, he closed his eyes, inhaling the familiar smell of the drink. Rom still bought the same brand of cheap beer they used to drink together on sleepless nights. These days he didn’t drink alcohol too often, so it was another pang of nostalgia to join the others while he sat in the apartment he used to call home.

He could feel Rom’s eyes on him, familiar in a way few other gazes were, and he opened his eyes again to look straight into Rom’s. This time, Rom met his own eyes head on, unyielding. Clearly, he had come to some sort of decision during the last few minutes, as he put down his bottle with a firm hand.

“Shuu, stop me if I’m reading you wrong,” he said, before leaning forward, closing the distance between them. He stopped just short of their lips touching, looking to Shuzo for a sign to either go ahead or pull back.

With only a moment of hesitation, Shuzo leaned in the rest of the way, pressing his lips against Rom’s. He could feel the tension ease from Rom’s shoulders as he ran his hands down Rom’s body, a series of short but firm kisses easing them into confidence to touch one another.

The position was awkward, with the corner of the kotatsu in the way, leading Shuzo to move around until they were both at the same side of the low table, Shuzo’s hand in Rom’s hair, running through it until it stood on end from where it had been combed flat. One of Rom’s hands cupped Shuzo’s cheek, the other holding on to his hip, thumb rubbing circles into his side, making Shuzo melt against him.

They stayed like that for a long time, arms around each other as they kissed, slow and gentle. Shuzo could feel his heart beat loudly in his chest, and he took a hold of Rom’s hand to lead it there, breaking away the kissing just so he could look at him from where they now lay side to side, legs under the warm covers of the kotatsu. Rom felt the quick beat through the shirt, and he ran his fingers across the soft fabric.

“Your heart is beating like crazy…” he whispered, forehead pressed against Shuzo’s. He leaned forward to run his nose alongside Shuzo’s cheek, down to his neck. There, he paused, closing his eyes as he pressed his nose against the side of it, inhaling the scent. There, almost hidden by the scent of perfume, were the notes that were so quintessentially Shuu, that no amount of expensive perfume or fancy soap could hide. Something that was purely Shuu, that he had only been privy to on late nights where they fell asleep from exhaustion after a concert or work, too tired to even get to their separate rooms.

He kept his nose buried there as he felt fingers gently run through his hair, low vibrations rumbling through his body at the comfort of the touch. He would have been flustered had he not been so comfortable, and had Shuzo’s tail not been wagging steadily with quiet thumps against the floor.

As it was, they were both completely at peace, something neither had been in quite some time.

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