At first, Aoba watched Kuro slide his way closer and closer, until he found his gaze faltering and watching the ripples of the water. He wasn’t distracted though. The angel was well aware of Kuro’s slow movements, however he couldn’t help shake the feeling of someone being around watching them. It was probably the paranoia as usual, but it made Aoba look up at the stars. They were pretty, but they didn’t give him any answer he was looking for. 

Instead, now closer than before, Kuro spoke. The answer he gave wasn’t too specific and yet, the words were comforting. It made Aoba smile a little as he looked into Kuro’s eyes. “Yeah… Take each day one at a time… with you.” The idea of it sounded so simple and so easy that for a second Aoba even believed it wouldn’t be that difficult. For a second, even the notion of ‘having to stay alive’ was nothing more than an everyday task. Kuro’s answer and his own response was enough to brighten the smile on his face a little more. Following it was a happy sigh of sorts, as if for once Aoba was able to relax his mind and body. Aoba’s wing brushed against Kuro absentmindedly while he decided to find the right words to break the silence. “You’re so good at that,” He raised his voice a bit so he could be heard. “Knowing what to say… It’s comforting. Even if I’m as… high strung as I tend to be.” Aoba’s admittance made him scratch the back of his head and laugh sheepishly. He knew he wasn’t the calmest thing out there, and he tried hard to reach some sort of tranquility- however he found out quickly that a lot of things startled him, though to be fair, there were a lot of things that were worth being startled about.

His mind continued to roll, though at a much calmer pace rather than his jumbled and panicky thoughts. Aoba didn’t want to think about the bloody fight that happened earlier nor did he want to mention anything about when he left for the week. The water was warm, the sky was clear, Kuro was close by his side, and no one was around to bother the two. He could relax completely. He could worry about everything else later.

Something of course clicked in his head. Kuro happened to be pretty close. Aoba was sure he noticed it before. Of course he didn’t mind it, but he wondered what the demon was up to. He found himself staring into Kuro’s eyes, searching for an answer. Surprisingly, that answer came from Aoba’s own desire to shrink the remaining space between them. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, but his life was full of surprises lately and he decided maybe for once to trust his gut.

His gaze wasn’t on Kuro anymore though. Instead, he was looking up at the stars. “The sky looks a lot clearer here...home.” It was an absentminded comment, more so to break the silence. “Hey Kuro…” His voice trailed off for a moment as he tried to think of what to say. He couldn’t help but feel as if he was ignoring his...feelings? Ignoring something, but of course, he continued. “Sometime later… do you think we could fly- uh, together? Dani tried but, well, it wasn’t the greatest lesson. And I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.” Aoba pulled the wing not behind Kuro closer to him and began sifting through his wet feathers. “I just need the practice, I’m sure.” His hands were resting in his lap and he gazed at the water. Aoba had that little determined pout he had when wanted to get something accomplished, just like when he was helping Kuro rebuild the barn and just like when he was so determined to heal Kuro when he was captured. 

~~~~~~~~

Fenrir couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Every time it seemed like the inevitable would happen between the angel and demon, Aoba’s...obliviousness caused it to go right over his head. “The boy needs someone to spell it out for him…” Fenrir sighed once more. It wasn’t as if the two hadn’t had their fair share of advances, but for some reason some of the most obvious opportunities were missed. Then, Fenrir blinked and looked up from the mirror. Maybe it was a little too odd watching Aoba’s day to day life...