Chapter Text
“Whatever happened to your talk with Patricia?” Naib asked as he continued playing with Brooke who somehow managed to get in his apartment through the opened windows. The owl hooted. (Eli knows since Naib sent a message to him when Brooke was perched on one of the chairs beside the dining table.)
“Huh? The one where here mother asked where she was going?”
“Yeah.”
“She is going with her mother as usual and we also talked to her mother, she is fine with Patricia staying with me here when she reaches college.”
“That’s good then. I’m surprised that she allowed Patricia to study here. This city is small and not that well known.”
“She doesn’t care about that. All she wants is for Patricia to be happy.”
Naib started playing with Brooke’s wings as he thought of what to say after that. He couldn’t really think of a reply so out of nowhere, he suggested, “Let’s go to the beach Norton. I’ll take a few days off. You don’t have classes this Saturday and Sunday, right?”
The suggestion was sudden but Norton couldn’t really say no to Naib. He wanted to spend more time with the man so almost immediately he answered, “What? Okay.”
“Well, that’s still four days away. Also, go play with Patricia and the others. You’ve been stuck with me for days now. You didn’t even sleep in your dorm for the past few days.”
“Are you kicking me out?”
“Where the hell did you get that idea from. You’re always welcome here. I’m-” He stopped playing with Brooke’s wings and started pinching Norton’s cheeks, “-Just saying that you need to go spend more time with Patricia, Will, and Kevin.”
“But I don’t know where they are right now.”
“Your phone is a handy thing. Better use it.”
When Naib let go, Norton made some sort of whining noise as he took his phone out and briefly sent a message to Patricia.
“She is in Luca’s house.”
“Oh? Well, go there then. What are they doing?”
“Baking bread. Luca’s grandfather is also there. He makes really good stew.”
“Hmm… Well, go enjoy your day there.”
Norton looked at Naib and nodded. He stayed seated beside Naib for a few seconds before giving the older man a kiss on the cheeks. Naib froze, face turning tomato red as Norton smirked at the sight. “Alright. See you later, Detective Subedar.”
Naib sharply inhaled and buried his face on Brooke’s feathers. “Brooooookkeee. I’m about to die here.”
Brooke could only hoot back.
When the kids found out about Norton and Naib’s trip to the beach they immediately piped up to tag along. Naib didn’t really mind. It was more exciting with them around.
“Andrew, sorry, can you go to the precinct first? Jack wants me to hand something to his boyfriend.”
“Okay.”
“Mister Jack has a boyfriend?” That sounded like she wanted to know some sort of gossip so she scooted near Naib much to the detective’s amusement.
“A bit of a gossipmonger, are we?” He laughed when Fiona froze.
“Don’t worry about it. As long as you don’t spread anything that can defame a person it should be fine. Yes, Jack has a boyfriend.”
“What’s his boyfriend’s name?” Mike asked from the seat behind Naib.
“Hastur.”
“.… Hastur? As in- the guy from Lovecraft mythology?”
“Yes.”
“That’s… a very strong name.”
“Fitting for him, I guess. He might be an eldritch himself with how he acts and talks.”
“We are here detective.”
“Oh, Thanks, Andrew. I’ll be back in five minutes.” Naib opened the door on the van to see Jack with a bag of what looks like clothing and books in front of him. Naib just took the bag and bid the man goodbye before going back to the van.
“He looked sad,” Fiona commented.
“He wanted to see Hastur that’s why but he has to do work.”
“Must be tough.”
“Yeah, his job is tough. He barely gets day-offs… but then to be fair he gets more money and he can actually ask for a vacation if he wanted to.” Naib then looked at Norton who was sleeping on one seat, leaning on Kevin’s shoulder as Kevin played an MMORPG game with Patricia and Will.
The van that they were in started driving again and lively chatters could be heard inside. One moment the kids were making jokes, the next they were singing. It was a surprise for Naib that Norton and Luca, who were asleep from spending several sleepless nights of finishing their schoolwork.
When Norton woke up he sluggishly sat beside Naib and clung on his arms immediately falling asleep. Almost everyone saw what just happened and most of them have a huge grin on their face.
“Do you think we can tease Norton with this?” Patricia whispered and Kevin, who was also grinning, nodded. William just sighed at the sight as he smiles at Norton and Naib.
Naib unconsciously moved Norton to a much more comfortable position for him to sleep. By comfortable, Naib adjusted Norton’s body and made the bigger man use his lap as a pillow.
“What a big baby.” Naib absentmindedly commented much to the amusement of the rest of the people in the van.
“Baby- Pftt…” Patricia covered her mouth.
When the group reached the villa that they were supposed to stay in, they saw a tall man wearing a yellow coat, red cat-like eyes, along with earrings that looked like red eyeballs. Naib grabbed the bag that Jack gave to him and walked down the van that he was in, leaving a dazed Norton on his seat.
“Is Jack doing alright?” The man asked as he pulled his yellow hood down and took the bag that was handed to him.
“Don’t worry. He might have developed some sort of hand fetish though.”
“What.”
“Might want to ask Joseph or Jose about that.”
“Will do. Anyway. Are those the kids that you are babysitting today?” The man asked as he looked at the people in the van leave the vehicle with their bags.
Naib looked at the group, “Yeah.”
Naib beckoned the others to come near him and they did.
“This is Hastur.” Naib introduced and Hastur just nodded.
“Mister Jack’s boyfriend!” Mike pointed.
“Hey, Mike! Stop that!”
"Yes. Mister Jack's boyfriend." Hastur just patted Mike at the exclamation and then looked at the others. “Welcome to Lakeside Village. Since you will be staying in my villa, don’t break anything and clean up if you make a mess. If there are any problems just tell Naib here to contact me. Capisce?”
The kids nodded and Hastur hummed in delight when he saw that they understood. “Feel free to cook all the food in the fridge. Most of them are about to expire already anyway.”
And with that, the man left but not without leaving the keys to Naib.
Soon after the kids picked who is going to be with who in the limited amount of rooms they immediately ran to the beach leaving Naib and Norton alone in the massive villa that Hastur owned.
“The sight looks nice here,” Norton states as he moves towards the balcony.
Naib just hummed in return while walking behind Norton.
“Are you going to swim?”
“Later in the evening. The scars in my body can unnerve some people.”
“Huh. I’ll join you then.”
“Don’t you want to be with them?”
“Not really. I did tell them that I was going to stick to you and all of them didn’t care that much.”
“I see. Then should we cook for them when they come back?”
“Sounds good.”
The two went to work and just as they finished cooking everyone went back to the villa. The group started happily eating.
“There are stains on your clothes. They look like oil stains so I think you should wash that soon.”
Naib looked at his clothes and blinked, “Oh. You’re right.” And without hesitation, Naib took off his clothes in front of everyone.
Fiona and Norton choked. While Patricia narrowed his eyes at the scars on Naib’s body. Kevin whistled at the abs and continued eating.
Naib seemed to not notice any of the reactions as he went back to his room.
“Norton’s face is red,” Patricia commented.
“Shut up.” Was Norton’s retort as he covered his face with his hand.
Patricia snickered.
When the sun started setting, Norton and Naib walked on the deserted beachside. There were still people here and there but no one seemed to care Naib and Norton making some sort of sandcastle.
Once the two were finished they proceeded to go swim only for Norton, who found a dead sea cucumber, to chase Naib around.
“CAMPBELL, YOU FUCKER, THROW THAT DISGUSTING THING AWAY ALREADY!” Naib screamed. It was loud enough that the nearby beachgoers who were about to leave had to look at what was going on.
Norton laughed loudly as he continued to chase Naib. “But detective, look! White stuff is coming out of it!”
“I don’t care! Stop chasing me you little shit!”
“Alright. I’ll throw it.” This made Naib halt. He regretted stopping because as soon as he stopped he saw Norton chucking the dead thing at Naib much to the brunet’s horror.
“NORTON, YOU PIECE OF SHIT-” More incoherent yelling came out of Naib as he dodged the thing. Naib soon grabbed a handful of wet sand and chucked it at Norton much to the taller man’s shock.
“What the-”
“Ha!”
“Is this war, detective Subedar?”
“Who knows.”
“I see.” An evil grin came on Norton’s face as he took the dead sea cucumber that he threw towards Naib from before (much to Naib’s dismay.)
“FUCK OFF WITH YOUR DEAD SEA CUCUMBER!” Naib started running again.
In the balcony of the villa sits an amused Patricia and Fiona looking at the two running around screaming at each other. Well, it was mostly Naib screaming but that was still amusing to watch.
“That was Mister Naib’s voice?” William spoke up after he brought the two some lemonade.
“Yeah. Norton is chasing him with a sea cucumber.” Patricia snickered.
William shuddered. “Sea cucumbers… They look like giant worms…”
“You don’t like them, Will?” Fiona gratefully accepted the lemonade that was offered.
“Yeah. I don’t like how it tastes. Where did Norton even get a sea cucumber? This is the beachside.”
“Oh, I think he got it when he was in a cave.”
“Cave?”
Patricia pointed at the cave not that far away from the shore. It was a bit strange to see such a thing but William just narrowed his eyes trying to see how far it was. It was getting darker after all.
When the two got tired from running around the beach, the sun has already completely set. The dead sea cucumber, gone after Naib kicked it away. The two, tired, sat down near the waters.
“What time is it?”
“I don’t know but we were running around the place like kids that the actual kids actually tried joining us.”
“You were yelling profanities though.”
“Yeah. I had to make sure that they didn’t follow what I said.
“Their parents will be horrified if they hear their children swear. I remember when Patricia’s mother heard me swear for the first time she cried.”
“How horrible of you, you made a lady cry.”
“Excuse me. She cried from laughter.”
“Heh. Interesting reaction. How is your relationship with her though?”
“Patricia’s mother? Well, aside from the homophobic thing she is a pretty good mother. Unlike my father, she actually still cared enough to call me to ask how I am doing from time to time.”
“That’s a bit surprising since she was acting like a child when I met her.”
“Ah, yeah. She was in a bad mood prior to that I think. Patricia said that when I went there with you, she already thought that he was cheating on her.”
“Huh. Well, if that’s the case you don’t have to deal with her but if you want you can try to talk to her over dinner.”
“Talk about what?”
“Yourself. Know her more. But if you don’t want to then that’s still fine.”
“Hmm… I’ll think about it.”
When the two went back to the villa, everyone else was either asleep or just eating and chatting. The two were greeted along with jokes of Naib’s screaming profanities at Norton and the sea cucumber. Norton smugly looked at Naib.
The two soon went to their room.
Norton finally asked about the sudden trip to the beach. “So, can I ask why you suggested coming here?”
Naib stopped at what he was doing (looking for his shampoo) and directed his gaze at Norton. He then pondered at the question for a bit before answering with, “It’s kinda like a honeymoon of sorts?”
Norton’s brain shut down from hearing that and he could only gape.
“Oh, was that too much?” Naib chuckled, “Norton? Nortooon?” And before Naib knew it he was being pinned down on the bed.
He blinked in surprise but smiled. It was a knowing smile. He wrapped his arms around Norton and with a smirk, he asked, “Do you want to do it?”
Norton just nods and Naib placed a chaste kiss on Norton’s lips. “Go lock the door.”
The beach trip soon ended and a few days after that, Patricia, William, and Kevin had to go back. Of course, not with tearful goodbyes and hugs from Fiona and the others. The tearful part was mostly from Fiona.
(“Tell us if you come to Cali! Let’s go to touristy places.” William said as he waves at his newfound friends' goodbye.)
And with that, the kids got thrown into their usual college life. Everything was back to its place. Time passes by really quickly.
“How is your reviewing for your finals?” Naib asked.
“It’s fine.”
“Hmm… Work hard then.”
“Will do.”
“Anyway, Norton.”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to move in here?”
“...What?”
“Do you want to move in with me? Live with me? I have an extra room.”
Norton didn’t care if he was in public at this point, he cupped Naib’s cheeks and smooched the smaller man while Naib just smiled at the kiss.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
When finals ended for Norton, it soon came the cultural festival of sorts in Oletus university. Naib, of course, visited the maid cafe that Norton mentioned and he sure got a lot of photos from it.
Once the school year ended, Norton moved in with Naib. Naib was surprised by how little Norton had with him. Guess it’s to be expected with someone living in the dorms but this was a bit too little that it made Naib move the giant stuffed toy that Norton won for him in his room. Norton was amused. “What about the lion that I bought for you?”
“No. That one stays with me.”
Norton let out a small chortle.
As the two continued living in a shared place, both of their things slowly pile up. Sometimes Naib will come home to see a bunch of rocks on the dining table. Sometimes Norton has to take Naib’s clothes which were strewn on the floor up. Sometimes they would argue on what color looked better paired with beige but they still enjoyed each other's company.
“You’re graduating next year, yes?”
Norton nodded and this made Naib hum, “Then should we go visit Nepal?”
“What are we even going to do there?”
“Visit mum.”
Norton went to drink the can of energy drink that he bought in big quantities. (It was an impulse buy.) “I’ve met your mother already though.”
“You’ve met her as my friend. Now you will meet her as my boyfriend.”
“Oh? That’s bold of you, Detective Naib. Already introducing me as your boyfriend as if we are going to get married soon.”
“I’ll introduce you to her as my husband then.”
Norton didn’t swallow the drink that was in his mouth. Instead, he froze, now looking like pufferfish. Naib gently poked at the inflated cheeks in amusement. Norton was just frozen in place.
“Earth to Norton?”
“...”
“Norto-”
“Yes.”
“What.”
“Yes. I’ll be your husband.”
Naib blinked and then laughed. Well, this is some kind of proposal but Naib was fine with it. He can do a proper one at a later time not knowing that Norton would propose to him properly first in the future.
“Should we choose rings?” Naib asked.
“These rings you bought for us are already good.”
“Hmm… Well, Mister Norton Campbell.”
“Yes, Mister Naib Subedar?”
“Till death do us part?”
“Yeah, till death do us part. You are now stuck with me.” Norton let out an airy laugh.
Naib smiled, “I wouldn’t want anything else.”