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City lights smeared across the rain-streaked windows. The car sat parked on a quiet overlook, engine silent, radio on a low volume, playing some song no one in the car really cared for. Harper released a loud exhale, shoulders finally loosening after the mission’s chaos. A faint throb lingered at their temple.
Mizuki’s fingers drummed the steering wheel. His gaze kept drifting to them, soft but worried. He couldn’t really help but worry; he was terrified that his bad luck would touch them and ruin whatever they had just as quickly as they’d built it. He very rarely cared for others, it was a learned behavior, but he cared for them.
Harper’s voice broke through the silence and pulled Mizuki from his thoughts, but he was so startled he didn’t hear them. “Hm?” He hummed, turning to look at them with wide eyes. “What’d you say?”
“I said you’re staring.” Harper repeated, laughing as they poked at Mizuki’s arm.
Mizuki laughed back and playfully swatted their arm away before replying, “Can’t help it.” he turned fully, draping one arm behind their seat. “You scared me tonight.”
They frowned but slipped their hand into his other hand anyway. “Well, I’m right here. No need to worry.” they murmured, trying their best to reassure him. It wasn’t easy since Mizuki’s lived like this his whole life, but…
“If I was worried about your bad luck, I’d have left by now, don’t you think?” They offered. Their thumb brushed over Mizuki’s gloved knuckles in a familiar motion, but it did very little to soothe the man’s fears.
For a second, Mizuki almost believed them and let the worries die down, but familiar hesitation crept back in before he could. He sighed, “That’s why I’m worried, Harp,” He murmured, “If you stay, it only increases your chances of getting hurt because of me. I can’t let that happen, I care about you too much-”
He nearly launched into another ramble about his curse, but Harper quickly pulled him out of the spiral. They pulled their hand away from his and pressed it to his cheek, making him pause mid-sentence.
Mizuki froze.
His eyes widened in raw panic, breath catching sharply like their touch burned. For one terrible heartbeat, tension coiled tight in his frame as if he might pull away, like the fear might finally win. Harper’s stomach twisted with regret, pulse suddenly racing in the heavy silence. They went to pull their hand away and apologize profusely-
Then, slowly, he leaned into their palm. The tension cracked, replaced by aching longing as he closed his eyes. Neither of them said anything for what felt like a few minutes but was actually only a few moments, with Mizuki leaning into Harper’s familiar and gentle touch, and Harper wanting to throw up with anxiety as they felt something they hadn’t felt in a long time.
Harper was the one who broke the silence, voice low and soft. “I’m right here. We’re okay.” they told him, then repeated it a few times like a mantra meant to maybe convince him that he didn’t hurt everyone he touched.
Rain tapped steadily on the roof the whole time. At some point Mizuki lifted his hand and brushed his thumb over their knuckles, slow and careful, and Harper, though usually repulsed by touch, let him, and actually enjoyed it.
“You know I’m bad luck, Harper,” Mizuki said suddenly, voice rough with longing. “I don’t want any of it touching you.”
They leaned closer, forehead nearly touching his. “Then stop fighting it. Just be here with me.” Their words came soft, almost pleading. “I don’t need perfection or safety, just you. Please?”
Mizuki didn’t say anything for a moment, only staring into Harper’s round a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶a̶u̶t̶i̶f̶u̶l̶ brown eyes with his green ones, his gaze uncharacteristically soft.
Then again, he’d been acting ‘out of character’ this whole time, so he threw caution to the wind, exhaled a soft breath, and cupped their cheek, thumb tracing their cheekbone like they might vanish any second now.
Then he closed the distance.
The kiss tasted sweet and it was unhurried, full of all the yearning they’d both been holding back. It was a gentle thing, the way they kissed; there was no hunger in it, only love and a profound sort of joy as they realized, likely at the same time, that they’d both finally found a soft place to land after a hard day.
Mizuki didn’t wanna pull away, but they both needed to breathe, and the sudden distance felt like drowning. Rain drummed louder as he lingered, and neither of them said anything for a good few seconds, staring at each other as they processed what they’d just done.
Did they regret it? Did he misread this entire thing and ruin everything? His stomach twisted and chest ached as he started to realize that there was a good chance he’d just ruined the only good thing he had in his life-
Harper wasn’t doing much better. The feeling of wanting to throw up was hitting them like a truck. Mizuki was definitely going to regret this in the morning, they should have pushed him away to preserve their friendship even though they’d wanted it more than anything, and-
“I’m sorry.” They said in unison, stared at each other for a second, and then laughed loudly.
The sound filled the small car, bright and disbelieving, washing away the sharp edge of panic that was there just a few moments before. Mizuki’s shoulders shook with it, forehead dropping gently against Harper’s.
“God, we’re idiots,” he breathed between laughs, his tone warm, fond, and loving. His hand stayed cupped against their cheek, thumb still tracing lazy circles.
Harper grinned, dizzy with relief. “Yeah. But… I’m not actually sorry.”
“Neither am I.” Mizuki’s green eyes softened, the tension finally melting from his frame. He leaned in again, pressing a slower, surer kiss to their lips. “Stay with me anyway?”
“Always.” Harper nodded.
Outside, the rain kept falling. Inside, everything felt right for once.