Work Text:
Mornings.
The time of day where you open your eyes up to the sun, stretch, and prepare to begin your day with an unpredictable attitude.
There’s the internal alarm clock ringing inside of a being’s mind, gently yelling at them to get up. It chimes in the form of a drink, telling one to begin the day with a strong start from just one sip.
This is the phenomenon known as coffee.
Bitter, but warm morning coffee with a fair portion of creamer.
That’s one of the things in Army’s morning routine.
For the drill sergeant, mornings are often full of dread and drowsiness, but with one or two sips of coffee, he’s raring to go.
It fixes everything. Well, mostly everything, as there are other assets to his routine than simply sipping the caffeinated drink.
There’s also the nice, uplifting breakfast that he cooks on his own; mainly consisting of one fairly sized golden-brown pancake with frothy butter and a small omelet.
The dawning breeze on his balcony is another necessity to his routine. It blows away all his worries and fiery grudges from his previous day, refreshing him.
The orange inkling never holds back a grin whenever he feels each gust of wind billow through untied tentacles when first opening his sliding glass door from his living room.
Of course, these are just simple assets to a simple routine, to wake Army up for each day.
It truly feels as if his routine is missing something–and that thing—or, rather, inkling—is his lover, Aloha.
Once done with his personal routine, usually by 8 or 9 o’ clock, Army enjoys acting like a personal alarm for the squid, dialing Aloha’s number each and every day.
The pink inkling is never one to wake up early, as he stays up late partying for a majority of his days.
Aloha’s croaky morning voice from the other side of the line is the only trait that needs a simple task to be retrieved—calling his phone number. Otherwise, though, Army doesn’t need to dial Aloha’s number in order to hear his voice.
The reason why is that otherwise, Aloha never leaves the scarlet inkling to be lonely—constantly following him wherever he goes. His true voice is a melody, serenading Army’s brain like a catchy song on the radio with an obnoxious, yet sweet tone.
Army will never get adjusted to being flirted with, or flirting as an action itself.
Most days end up with Aloha doubling over in giggles while being sternly scolded by Army, who in the end is left as a fumbling, flustered, and flushed mess.
However, Army also couldn’t help but be fond of the partier.
The fond side of the attention is that Aloha never leaves the drill sergeant’s side throughout their days together.
He always manages to be with Army somehow, wherever either squid may be. Happy to be with him no matter the occasion, whether it’s spectating a turf war or going out on a formal dinner.
The rosy squid consistently reaches out to Army to make plans with him, whether it’s going to Barnacle & Dime together, taking an affectionate stroll in the park, or even a simple date at the local café.
Aloha never ceases to entertain the orange inkling by doing most of the talking, while the latter listens contently.
He’ll never pass up any chance to listen to Aloha’s rambles, whether it's about the latest trends going on in the mainstreams, or about a niche video he found on the web.
He’ll even listen to Aloha gossip about people he’d met. While Army doesn’t engage in it, it’s always entertaining to hear from his lover’s perspective of the world.
And although his boyfriend enjoys talking, he also enjoys being the listener. Aloha will always let Army ramble about whatever his heart sang toward at the moment–whether it’s the latest battle tactic he’d thought up, or anything recent the drill sergeant has going on in his life.
Even after Army’s worst, longest days of scrutiny, Aloha can always make him feel like everything will be alright in the end.
He could spend the rest of his life with this inkling, and maybe, just maybe…everything could be at peace. And he wouldn’t need any routine. He could follow the pace of life.
~~~
Army opens his eyes and rubs them into focus, briskly shaking his head.
He currently lies upon a bed inside of a bedroom in all shades of pink.
Multicolored rays of sun cast their beams through a stained-glass window of a star, each plate a different shade of a rainbow.
It’s clearly not his own room, as his room is far less… distinguished.
But however, he is indeed wearing his own nightwear- a white and peach striped button up, and pants with the same pattern. His pair of tentacles is mussed and untied, each one resting on each of his shoulders.
Army isn’t alone either. A second warm body is pressed against him, along with arms draped around and behind his waist. Just about audible snores emerge from beside him.
He turns his head subtly, meeting damp fuchsia tentacles pressing into his cheek.
It’s none other than Aloha, blissfully asleep.
The rosy squid tosses slightly. Subconsciously, he snorts loudly with a contrasting soft sniffle shortly afterward.
The tangerine inkling lets out a silent chuckle.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
He presses a smile to the top of the fuchsia inkling’s forehead and takes a couple of refreshing, deep breaths.
Soaking in the silence of all except his boyfriend’s snores, his eyes flutter closed in reflection.
He morphs the smile to a kiss before pulling away.
When he does withdraw, it’s slow and sweet, the fond grin on his face remaining as he runs a hand down his lover’s tentacles.
They’re further frizzed and fluffed than his own, which are spiked, yet smooth.
Army carefully slips away, leaving the pink inkling alone to rest. In luck, Aloha’s a deep sleeper.
After tucking in his tentacles, he places his beret on his head and slides into his slippers.
As he softly pads out the door to whip up some breakfast for the both him and his lover, the sounds of the snores fade away behind him.
Maybe he could live a life like this, just him and Aloha together for as long as they could last.
Aloha could become Army’s morning routine.
At the rare occurrences that he wakes up before Army does, he could awaken the orange inkling at dawn with kisses all over his face that make the latter uncharacteristically giggle.
The drill sergeant could use some assistance with cooking breakfast each morning.
Aloha would probably burn the eggs by mistake, but it gives the former a hearty laugh to start the day on a good note.
Aloha could simply hold the scarlet inkling and rest his chin on his shoulder as they stand together on the balcony of their future apartment, once they settle in together.
The crisp breeze would brush across their faces as they would greet the sunrise, together—utter, pure bliss.
Whenever Aloha’s with him, it doesn’t take a great amount for Army to be happy.
His lover’s simple presence inspires him to start every moment with a big heart and to hope for the best.
No other tasks are required.