Saphflora Commission

Being the bodyguard for a lawyer was supposed to be an easy job that Kotaru could do and then come home to relax. It was not like that at all! Jing seemed to get himself into issues with clients left and right, and there was an instance where there was a gun pulled on him right in the middle of a meeting with a potential client of some of the shadier work Kotaru had found out his employer was involved in. Jing didn't even seem bothered by the whole thing and even laughed at the make and model of the gun that was pressed against his forehead until the man before him put it away as if he was more afraid and embarrassed by his action against Jing than of anything else.

Another time Jing has just been out to dinner before just getting up and vanishing for a good half an hour, coming back to the table with bruises on his face and cuts on his lip while blood-splattered and stained the white undershirt and almost vanished into the deep Navy three-piece suit. When Kotaru rushed to his side to wipe off the blood and make sure he was okay Jing just gave him a small kiss and told him that he was fine, but the men outside were going to need an ambulance... He was right. He always wondered what he got himself into when he took that job after that day.

What was worse was just how often his employer found his way into Kotaru's apartment without there being a sign of forced entry. There was one point when Kotaru had just started out for the lawyer and he came into his apartment to find the very man eating leftovers on his couch and looking back at him with a smile on his face as if they were roommates. The argument that ended up happening that night made him believe he was going to lose his job the very next day… No, instead Jing just began to warn the other when he was going to be stopping by his house. Never a time, just a quick ‘I’ll be by tonight’ as if that was enough to prepare him for whatever could possibly happen that night. This was yet another one of those very instances.

~~

"Jing?"

"Ah! Kotaru! Come, come. I'm making a cocktail." Kotaru didn't even have alcohol in his home so he wondered how the other even managed to sneak that in whenever he had come to visit in the maybe ten minutes it took for Kotaru to get back from a restaurant that was closest to his house for a quick thing of takeout. "I hope you enjoy this, it's something a client made for me when I did a home visit!" 

"I don't really..." Kotaru watched the small glass slide his way on the countertop as he sat his bag of food down, marveling at how a lawyer was able to layer what he assumed was multiple liquors as if they were jello. "Maybe just a few sips." The small grin that formed on Jing's lips made Kotaru's cheeks dust red and with a slight swirl of the glass to mix the ingredients he took a sip from the glass.

"Well?" Jing just leaned against the counter with the glass held close enough to his lips as he watched Kotaru's face. He knew all that was put into the drink but wasn't going to tell Kotaru a single ingredient.

"It's... Very good." He sounded surprised to admit that to him, letting out a low hum as he took another drink as if he didn't say he would have a few small sips just thirty seconds prior. The sweet juices and what he assumed was some sort of stronger alcohol mixed so beautifully for how many layers Jing had presented in the glass. There were hints of cherry juice and something that made it slightly tangy... lime juice? 

Then it hit him... Jing was testing him. He was making sure that he could identify every flavor in the drink he gave so that in case they were eating with a client he didn't trust he could taste if something was off! That had to be it! So very carefully he would take small sips and try to determine each flavor; Cherry and lime juices like he had figured out before from the tartness. There was something sweet too so he assumed maybe a simple syrup was added in there as well to cut back on how tart the first two ingredients were, or maybe even a few crushed up sugar cubes since there was a mild graininess to the drink like Jing didn't have much time to muddle it with whatever juice was added first. Up next to the alcohol used; it had to be some sort of vodka or tequila so that it didn't mix with the flavor too much. Maybe even a flavored vodka could even work-

"What are you thinking about, Kotaru?" He could hear the smirk in Jing's voice and hadn't even noticed in the whole time he had been trying to determine all the flavors in the cocktail that he had finished more than half of the drink. Quickly setting then glass down he looked up at the taller male before him and wondered why it was like Jing was moving like a gentle wave in the ocean.

"Jing you were testing me weren't you?" He asked softly, reaching out to the counter to balance himself. "That's why you made me the drink, correct?" Were his words slurring? Had he taken too many sips too fast of the cocktail and became slightly intoxicated? 

"Testing you?" Jing's laughter filled the small kitchen space as he doubled over trying to catch his breath, and even though he was definitely laughing at Kotaru's idiocy Kotaru couldn't help but just think how amazing and wonderful it was to finally see his boss laugh like he actually meant it and just how handsome he looked right now. That thought alone made his cheeks heat up and burn more than the alcohol had made it earlier to the point Jing got a bit worried and went over to help stabilize him. "You're very wrong on that, songbird. I just thought you'd enjoy something to help you relax and forget about this hectic week we recently had." A soft kiss to his forehead and a swift hand moved the glass just out of Kotaru's reach before he could even notice it. 

"So you... Made that for me?" Kotaru hated how dumb he sounded about the entire situation but he never could exactly put his finger on why a very wealthy, handsome, and talented lawyer like Jing would want to be in the presence of, let alone in a relationship with, the likes of him. He kept secrets from him, often didn't accept any of the gifts he wanted to give, had to be tricked into going out to dinner otherwise he would never accept it. Everything about him was a turn-off for so many people, yet Jing accepted it all and worked around his difficulties so that they could actually be happy.

"Of course I did. You left the office looking like you had everything but how to solve world hunger on your mind. I thought I'd drop by, make us something to drink, and order us food. Though it looks like you had bought something on the way back from wherever you were before." Jing gave him that winning smile he only gave clients who were wary of him and cupped his cheek. Kotaru catching the very faintest hint of a blush when he relaxed into the other's touch with a smile. 

"Jing."

"Y-Yes?" It was the first time he had ever heard the other stumble over his words and to be honest... Kotaru wanted to hear those moments more.

"Even if I were to one day do something that may hurt you a lot, like... A lot, a lot, would you still be there for me and love me no matter what?" Be it the alcohol taking over and letting him be more open about things he had wanted to keep a secret for a long time, or that he just was so tired of keeping so much from someone willing to give him the world but he was trying to just speak the truth at least once.

"We're both keeping things from each other, my songbird... I guess it will be a sort of competition to see which secret is worse." Kotaru would always wonder just how Jing could take every insecurity he had and make them vanish in a matter of just a sentence or two; how his voice put him at ease even if at times Kotaru knew that he was being teased by the other man about little things he had no control over. Nothing would ever explain just how nice it was to believe someone understood him so much that bringing him back from his mind coming up with every possible bad thing that could happen when Jing did find out who he truly was.

"I love you." 

Jing stared at him before giving what he hoped was a pleased smile... If he had to be honest all of Jing's smiles looked the same to him, and while he could tell them apart when sober it was hard for him to even think which of the thousands of possible ones it could be. He didn't say anything to Kotaru, just took the glass he had been working on and gulped the rest of the contents down before setting it on the counter and carefully sweeping Kotaru off his feet in the most embarrassing carrying position ever and started to walk towards his bedroom. Had he ever told Jing which door was his bedroom before? There were only three possible doors to choose from, but usually, they stayed in Jing's large house and there were so many rooms even Kotaru wasn't allowed in that he wondered if they held one of the many secrets that Jing had said he kept. 

It seemed though that Jing had no problem finding the correct room and carefully laid Kotaru down on the very ordinary and boring looking bed, laying beside him and holding his arm out so that Kotaru could hesitantly wiggle and squirm until he was comfortable in the cool air that always followed his partner. It seemed to help the slow heat that was creeping down his body in tiny waves as the alcohol settled into his system. Jing was like that fan kept on in one's bedroom during summer days that brought them so much comfort as soon as they stepped foot into the space and made it so they didn't want to leave. That was Jing to him; his cool air to take away all the heat in his body.

"I love you," Kotaru repeated, waiting for the other to say it back, and when he didn't he just pressed his face more into the other's chest in hopes to feel his beating heart against his cheek... And he did. Gentle thumps from before were now so loud in his ear and told him all he needed to know in response to his confession. It was so comforting to him that he wondered if he could fall asleep to just the beating of Jing's heart and not the white noise he often played in the background so that he could no longer hear the thoughts and voices that screamed at him in the night.

"I know," Jing muttered softly, so soft in fact that Kotaru had to look up at him and to try and process if he had heard the man he was pressed against say something or if his mind was playing tricks on him as he became drunker and drunker as time went on. 

"Say it back." The whine he let out surprised himself more than it seemed to surprise Jing, even if his eyes did widen the slightest at how desperate Kotaru sounded to hear those three words back.

"Kotaru..." Jing started, and Kotaru happily looked up, even more, to hear him better. "You know that I love you so much, do my actions not prove it enough?" 

"They do, but I just wanted to hear you say you love me." Kotaru smiled at him and ducked his head back down to listen to Jing's heart as it began to race. "I love you, Jing."

Jing couldn't help but smile as he pressed a small kiss to the top of Kotaru's head. "I love you too, Kotaru."