Luca loved his boyfriend way more than his boyfriend loved him. After dating for almost a year and being close friends for many years before that, Luca had a lot of time to come to peace with this realization.
It wasn’t that he thought Shu didn’t love him at all—Luca knew that he did. It was just an unfortunate fact of all relationships that one person always loved a little more than the other. Sure, it wasn’t like Luca had many other relationships to compare, but it seemed like pretty sound logic to him.
In his relationship with Shu in particular, it was pretty obvious that Luca was the one who was a little in over his head. After all, Shu was always so casual about everything in life, and their relationship was no exception. Even when Luca had finally gathered the nerve to ask Shu to be his boyfriend, while Luca felt his heart was going to burst, Shu just smiled at him and said, “sure,” as if Luca had simply asked him if he wanted a fry from his lunch.
Meanwhile, Luca wore his heart on his sleeve, and was well aware of his very obvious physical and vocal reactions whenever he felt particularly flustered or enamored by Shu. Luca’s love for Shu sometimes felt a bit overwhelming. He would do anything for Shu—would drop everything just to be by his side.
…And when he gets the message from Meloco that Shu was hit by a curse during a sorcery job, Luca does exactly that. He didn’t hesitate, firmly telling his Lucubs to cancel all of his meetings for the day as he threw on his jacket and rushed out. He drove as quickly as he could back home, and if he broke a few traffic laws here and there, that was between him and the pedestrian he almost ran over. It’s fine, it was in the name of seeing Shu.
Luca parked his car quickly as he pulled into the lot of their building before going up to their penthouse apartment. Shu had moved in with Luca just a mere few months ago after Luca had worked up the courage to ask. Despite the prompting of such a huge step in their relationship, Shu didn’t exactly have a big reaction to that—not even a remotely negative one. He had just rested his chin on his hand, humming in thought for a long moment as Luca sweat in the seat across from him. Then, Shu just smiled at him, eyes in happy crescents before he responded, “Yeah! That sounds fun,” before pulling up his bookmarks of random Ikea furniture he had saved to show Luca. Now as Luca approached their home, there were just little bits that reminded him of Shu scattered all over his apartment—from the frog welcome mat that sat outside their entrance, to the banana-shaped key tray that was placed next to their entry way.
Luca quickly threw his keys into the tray as he closed the door behind him. As he walked into the living room, he saw Meloco, who seemed to have stood up from the couch when she heard Luca walking in.
“Ah! Luca!” Meloco said, eyes wide. “You’re home so fast! Didn’t I message you that you didn’t have to rush?”
Luca’s eyes quickly scanned the room. “Is Shu okay?”
“I think so,” Meloco said, although she frowned, as if she wasn’t too sure of her answer. “He’s resting right now and I have been trying to monitor him, but it’s a little too early to tell. His health is okay other than being tired, but his magic... It seems a little unstable?”
“What does that mean?” Luca asked.
“Well—”
Before Meloco could elaborate, a familiar voice rang from the direction of their bedroom, catching Luca’s attention immediately. “Meloco? Is someone out there?”
“Shu!”
Quickly, Luca made his way over to their bedroom where the door was slightly ajar. He pushed it open to see Shu pushing himself up to a sitting position in their bed, still halfway under the blankets. With one hand, he rubbed his eyes sleepily, looking a little worn out, but seemingly unharmed.
“Shu!” Luca said again, his heart finally settling with relief.
Shu lifted his head and his gaze met Luca’s. He smiled gently at him. “Luca? What are you doing here?” he asked calmly.
Luca started to cross the short distance between their door and their bed, but just as he took a step, suddenly a fuschia flame erupted from either side of Shu. Luca froze, watching with wide-eyed shock as he watched the flames burst, practically exploding. It was rare for Luca to see Shu’s sorcerer flames—Shu usually tucked them away unless he was actually performing sorcery or something. Even though magic wasn’t uncommon in this world, most normal people would be a little alarmed by fire just casually surrounding a person, even if it was safe.
“Luca? What’s wrong?” Shu asked, brows furrowing at the way Luca was frozen in place.
Luca found himself unable to respond, mesmerized by Shu’s flames as they shifted from their fuschia shade to a cooler lavender color. Gradually, they grew smaller until they started to settle into a frame around Shu’s head—a heart-shaped halo of fire.
“Shu... Your flames—!” Luca began, although he wasn’t sure exactly how to explain what was happening. Shu looked up and around his head, confused.
From behind him there was a loud gasp. Meloco was peeking around the doorway, with her hand over her mouth.
“Aww!!” she cooed. “Shu-senpai, it’s a heart!”
Suddenly, Shu’s entire face turned bright red. “Wha—! Wait, hold on—”
Luca stepped towards him as Shu started to try to swat helplessly at his flames. His hands were able to pass through them, breaking the outline of the heart for a moment before the shape stubbornly reformed itself. Luca sat on the edge of the bed, taking Shu’s hands to stop him from frantically flailing.
“What’s going on? Can you not control your flames anymore?” he asked.
Shu’s lips pulled into a frown—and with his cheeks flushed in embarrassment, Luca would almost be daring enough to call it a pout.
“I guess not,” Shu said. “I was having a little bit of trouble with my magic earlier when I was attacked, but I didn’t think it was to this extent...”
Luca’s grip on Shu’s hands tightened. “‘Attacked’?” he repeated, looking between Shu and Meloco. “I thought you said everything was fine! Wasn’t your job today supposed to be safe?”
“It was,” Meloco answered, leaning with her hand against the doorway. “But we were interrupted. It looks like the same day we were supposed to be inspecting that rune, someone was trying to steal it.”
“Honestly, we should have expected it,” Shu said, shrugging at Luca. “It was a recently uncovered rune—apparently it’s supposed to have the ritual instructions to imbue a normal mortal with magical blood. Even if the thief got away, at least we have it safe with us.”
Luca’s brows knit together. “They got away?”
Meloco hung her head slightly, eyes cast to the floor. “I’m sorry. Shu-senpai pushed me out of the way when the thief tried to attack us with magic. I was so worried about him that I let them escape.”
“Meloco, I already told you I was fine,” Shu quickly reassured her. “Like I said, I don’t think that person was an actual magic user or anything—their spells were pretty weak. We won’t have to worry about them, especially once we get the rune over to Millie for safekeeping.”
“So then what’s going on with your flames?” Luca asked.
Shu sighed, letting go of one of Luca’s hands to look down at his open palm. “Well, even though I wasn’t hurt physically or anything, the spell that hit me threw my mana into flux, so I don’t have complete control over my sorcery,” he explained. “For a jujutsu sorcerer like me, our flames are kind of like a manifestation of our soul and emotions. I don’t think I’ve completely lost control, but the fact that I’m not really in control of how my flames manifest is a little concerning.”
“Shu-senpai is a prodigy,” Meloco chimed in. “Sorcerers who have magic like Shu-senpai’s could spend their whole life training and still not get their flames under control the way he can. He’s really amazing!”
Shu smiled at Meloco. “You’re exaggerating—I’m only good at control and not much else.”
Suddenly, Shu’s flames started to change form. The heart halo around him split, changing back into the fuschia flames to either side that Luca was more used to seeing. However, instead of moving like a normal fire, his flames seemed to dance, almost as if...
“Shu?” Luca began. As the puzzle pieces of information that Shu had told him earlier started to connect, a grin slowly started to curl on his lips. “Are you... happy?”
“H-huh?” Shu stammered. He turned his head from side to side, his cheeks dusting pink. “I-I mean, I’m just happy normally!” He glared at his flames as they started to sparkle like happy little fireworks. “Stop that!”
“Eh?” Meloco joined her hands together. “I didn’t expect Shu-senpai to like being complimented so much!! He always seems so modest.”
“I-I mean, I’m just flattered! Anyone would be if they got complimented,” Shu protested.
Luca couldn’t help but feel a little mischievous as he ran his thumb over the back of Shu’s hand. “Yeah, and you like being complimented a lot, huh, Shu?” Luca asked.
Shu narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Luca. “What are you on about?”
“Nothing,” Luca said. “I’m not surprised that you’re really powerful, on top of being drop dead gorgeous.”
Shu was silent, his face bright red as his flames suddenly burst, changing from their hot pink color to a bright and sunny yellow. They were dancing again, but this time more energetically as they lit the entire room.
“Stop!!” Shu protested, yanking his hand out of Luca’s to cover his face. “You’re doing this on purpose!”
Luca let out a loud laugh as he quickly reached for Shu’s face, pulling away his hands so he could cup his face. Shu pouted, but he didn’t pull away as Luca gave him an apology peck on the lips. Out of the corner of his eyes, Luca could see Shu’s flames turn pink again, although he could see little hearts flickering at the top of the fire.
“Sorry, Shu, Sorry!” he said, although he didn’t really feel sorry at all. “You were just so cute! You almost never get embarrassed!”
“Ugh, you—!” Shu huffed, pulling Luca’s hands away from his face. He looked past Luca at their enthusiastic onlooker. “Meloco—!”
“Ah, sorry!” Meloco said quickly, although she wore a gigantic smile on her face. “I should go, right? Leave you two alone? I suppose now I should see if I can get in contact with Millie and track down that thief before he causes any more trouble. The rune, though...”
“You can leave that here with us,” Shu said.
Meloco frowned. “Are you sure, Shu-senpai? What if the thief comes back?”
“I mean, with all of the Lucubs guarding and this building technically being mafia territory, I would be surprised if the thief tries to break in here of all places,” Shu said. “It’s only a few days anyway, so if it’s alright with Luca...”
Luca nodded. His house was probably the most high security place in the area, and with Luca around, there was no way he would let any harm come to Shu.
“Yeah, that’s fine with me,” Luca said.
“Alright,” Meloco finally agreed. “In that case, I’ll be leaving you two... Ah, you know, I’ve read once in a BL that there’s a really interesting way to replenish mana! I don’t think this actually works, but maybe...?”
Shu blushed brightly right as his flames burst in a huge blaze for a brief second. “Meloco—!”
Giggling, Meloco quickly made her departure, leaving Luca with his very flustered boyfriend. Luca gave Shu another once over, to really make sure he was okay. Now that he was closer, he could confirm that Shu was mostly alright, except for some uneven singing at the ends of his long hair.
“Ah, that’s right,” Shu said as Luca gently observed the strands between his fingers. “My hair got a little burnt when I got attacked earlier.”
“‘Burnt’? What the hell, Shu, that spell or curse or whatever was dangerous then!” Luca pointed out.
“It’s fine! I put it out really fast,” Shu said. He sighed, twirling a strand of his burnt locks between his fingers. “I guess It’s finally time to get a haircut, though... Maybe I’ll ask Uki if he’s free—I definitely won’t be able to go to a normal hairdresser with my flames the way they are.”
Luca frowned. “That’s not the point—don’t make me worry so much, Shu!”
Shu just laughed. “It’ll be fine, Luca! With some time, this curse should be lifted no problem. You worry about me too much,” Shu said.
In spite of his last words, Shu’s flames changed again, flickering gleefully behind him and forming little hearts. Unable to help himself, Luca smirked, leaning in close.
“So... hearts again? All for me, Shu?” he asked.
Shu groaned, his flames erupting in a lavender spark as Luca laughed, burying his face into the pillow.
~~
In the end, Luca and Shu didn’t end up trying Meloco’s plan after all, despite Luca’s eagerness to try anything in the name of helping Shu stabilize his mana. Shu protested, looking askance as his flames ignited around him in a rosy pink shade, that he didn’t want to risk it while his mana was out of control, in the event that he got a little too excited.
Luca really wanted to insist that if he ended up getting incinerated from being intimate with Shu, then that was a risk he would gladly take. However, he held his tongue, and instead the night passed with Shu dozing away, tucked in Luca’s arms. He didn’t fall asleep until Shu’s breathing had slowed and his flames slowly went out. Luca fell asleep after that, pretty satisfied with just having Shu safely by his side.
...That said, if Shu was going to be abstaining, Luca really hoped they could lift whatever curse was placed on him soon. A man can only be so strong.
Luca had gotten up earlier than Shu, as he always did, and although he was a little worried about leaving Shu by himself, his boyfriend seemed to be doing alright and would scold him if he started fretting over him. As he left to tend to his mafia boss duties for the day, he warned his Lucubs to increase the security level and keep an eye on Shu just in case.
After that, Luca was occupied for most of the day. He barely had time to message Shu a quick text checking up on him before he was rushed from appointment to appointment, making up for all of the things he had cancelled yesterday. Luca did his best to get home as soon as he could, already exhausted as he walked through the door.
However, as Luca entered their living room, he froze at the sight of Shu sitting on the couch. His hair was slightly shorter now, to the point where Luca could see the pale length of Shu’s neck. Shu looked over at Luca, his hair bouncing slightly at the movement. At the same time, there was a quick burst as his flame ignited into a lavender heart before settling back down.
“Luca!” Shu greeted him. “Welcome back!”
Luca resisted the urge to clutch his chest and keel over right then and there. Now that Shu’s emotions were so apparent, it was getting dangerous for Luca’s feeble heart. How could a single person be so cute?! How did Luca get so lucky?!
Instead, Luca quickly walked over, pecking Shu’s cheek before joining him on the couch.
“You got a haircut?” Luca asked.
“Yeah, Uki did it for me,” Shu said, flicking his bangs out of his eyes with a manicured fingernail. Then, as Shu looked at Luca with big amethyst eyes, his flames shrank, becoming more muted but flickering quickly over his shoulders. Luca watched them for a moment, noticing that Shu had suddenly gone silent as he stared at Luca almost expectantly.
Luca smiled. “It looks really good,” he said.
The flames grew a little bigger, sparking yellow for just a moment.
“Yeah, Uki did a really good job, didn’t he?” Shu said.
“Yeah, but you also look really good,” Luca said. Feeling bolder than usual, he reached up to run his hand through Shu’s soft hair, smiling as Shu leaned into the touch, before resting his hand in the locks at the nape of his neck. “You look so sexy like this.”
Shu’s eyes went wide. “Oh!” he responded.
Shu’s flames immediately ignited once again in a big, pink burst. In his shock, Luca quickly pulled his hand back, although he wasn’t hurt at all. On the other hand, Shu somehow looked even more surprised than Luca, his face turning bright red.
Luca couldn’t stop himself from grinning from ear to ear, looking way too pleased with himself as he watched Shu’s fire fly around him, casting him in a pleased, radiant glow that didn’t match his mortified expression.
“Hey, are you teasing me?” Shu asked, shooting Luca a cross glare.
“Me? N-no, I’m just complimenting you?” Luca lied. Before Shu could get any more suspicious, Luca quickly changed the subject. “How’s your magic? Are you feeling any better?”
Shu seemed unsatisfied with Luca’s answer, but didn’t seem to press any further. He settled back into the couch. “Yeah, I mean, the flames are a bit of a lost cause right now, but that’s about what I expected. I’m feeling a little better though—I can summon my magic like usual and everything.” Shu held out his palm in front of himself, and Luca watched as his long digits curled into a fist. There was a spark of pink fire that enveloped his hand before he opened his palm and two little shikigami appeared. “See?”
The shikigami twirled happily in the air, floating in the space above Shu’s palm before they abruptly halted. Before Luca could even react, suddenly the shikigami flew over to him, dancing around Luca’s head excitedly.
“Woah!” Luca exclaimed, laughing. “Shu, what are you doing?”
Shu’s eyebrows shot upward. “I’m not doing anything!”
“Then what—?” Luca was interrupted as one of the shikigami sealed itself over his mouth. Although, it wasn’t so much of a seal as it was a firm press of its little paper head against Luca’s lips. The other shikigami did a happy little spin before diving into the opening at the top of Luca’s shirt, before settling against his chest right over Luca’s heart. Shu’s flames rose in a hot pink inferno, and Luca wondered if he was imagining the smoke coming from Shu’s ears as his boyfriend blushed furiously.
Shu snapped his fingers impatiently. “Hey! Knock it off, you two!”
The shikigami detached themselves from Luca immediately, but instead of returning to their master, they immediately flocked back to Luca. Luca was surprised at their strength as one of the shikigami buried itself under Luca’s palm and lifted his hand up, guiding it until it was draped over the back of the couch behind Shu. The other pressed itself against Luca’s back in the space between his shoulder blades and pushed Luca forward until Luca was practically leaning over Shu. Shu yelped as Luca let himself be maneuvered closer, quickly placing a hand against Luca’s chest for balance so he didn’t completely collide against him.
“Th-they were fine just this morning—!” Shu stammered, eyes quickly darting away, avoiding Luca’s gaze. “Are my emotions just overpowering my magical control or something...?”
Luca clicked his tongue to get Shu’s attention, pressing his forehead against Shu of his own accord just as the sorcerer looked back at him again. The shikigami finally stopped pushing Luca, with one flying to the side of Luca’s face to nuzzle his cheek and the other immediately diving into his hair.
“‘Your emotions’, huh?” Luca echoed, his voice dropping to a soft, but playful tone. Warmth radiated through Luca’s body, separate from the flames that framed Shu as he regarded his boyfriend. “So everything that they’re doing is just what you’ve secretly wanted all along? You know you can just tell me, right?”
Luca thought it wasn’t possible for Shu to look even more flustered, but the sorcerer seemed to practically combust, his face growing impossibly redder and a hot pink blaze bursting from his head.
“That’s enough!” Shu protested. He snapped his fingers one more time and the shikigami quickly backed away from Luca, before igniting in a curtain of flames that quickly fizzled out, leaving only wisps of smoke. Then, Shu groaned, burying his face into his hands as Luca burst into laughter. “This is terrible! I can’t do anything like this!”
“Nooo, Shu, it’s okay!!” Luca insisted. He laughed as he pulled Shu properly into his arms. “It’s cute! You’re never this expressive!”
Shu huffed, and in unison his fire plumed with his aggressive exhale before shrinking down into smaller flames, flickering around his neck in thinly concealed annoyance. Nonetheless, he begrudgingly let himself settle his head in the crook of Luca’s neck.
“And for good reason,” he mumbled, looking away. “It’s dangerous for sorcerers to not have control over their emotions like this. It makes us vulnerable for people to read us so easily.”
“Hey,” Luca sat back, cupping Shu’s face with his hand and turning his face to look at him. “It’s just me though, Shu. I mean—I don’t think it’s a big deal or anything when it’s just us.”
Shu looked up at Luca through his eyelashes, amethyst eyes searching his face as his flames glowed lavender.
“That’s what makes it worse,” Shu muttered.
Luca grinned. “No way! If anything this is great!! Maybe I can learn more about you now!”
Shu frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Hmm, maybe I can ask you questions?” Luca asked. He pulled his hand back and sat back against the couch. “Like… Were you the one who ate the last of my cheddar cheese Pringles last week?”
Shu shifted slightly where he was sitting. “Of course not,” he answered. However, just as he said that, his flames burst defiantly next to him, before shrinking guilty over his shoulders. Shu’s eyes grew wide. “Wait—”
“I knew it!” Luca said, feeling triumphant. “I told you I didn’t eat them all on my own!!”
“Okay, look, I’m sorry!!” Shu apologized quickly. “I wasn’t even paying attention, I was just eating them and then next thing I knew I was hitting the bottom of the can! Besides, I bought you like a huge stock!”
“I’m not mad!” Luca laughed. “It’s just Pringles, but it is really funny!”
“Luca...!” Shu protested, cheeks puffing out slightly.
“Okay, okay, what about this,” Luca said, leaning forward eagerly. “What do you like about me, Shu?”
Shu’s cheeks turned pink and his flames followed suit, changing into a rosy blaze. “I like everything about you—you know that,” Shu said quietly.
“Yeah, but there has to be something you like about me the most, right?” Luca persisted. “Is it my body? What do you like the most about my body, Shu?”
“L-Luca! You’re being silly!” Shu protested. The sorcerer’s flames, more honest than the sorcerer himself, glowed lavender. Luca watched as they flickered into a new, familiar shape that looked oddly similar to Luca’s tattoos.
“Oooh, okay,” Luca said in affected thoughtfulness as Shu squawked bashfully. Luca smirked as Shu tried to helplessly disperse his flames. Luca grabbed one of Shu’s flailing hands and put it over his chest, amused when his boyfriend yelped and his flames grew in a purple burst. “You like my chest, huh, Shu? I mean, I guess I kind of knew because you’re always touching it, but it’s your favorite part about me?”
Shu’s fingers curled against Luca’s chest, gripping his shirt in their grasp. With his free hand, Shu covered the bottom of his face, his eyes darting from Luca’s chest to the side as his flames moved again, framing him in a big fiery heart.
“Listen,” Shu said.
“I’m listening,” Luca said, puffing out his chest slightly.
“I-it’s big, alright!” Shu stammered. “Can you really blame me?”
“Who said I’m blaming you?” Luca said just as a laugh bubbled past his lips.
“You—! You’re literally teasing me right now!” Shu argued, shovinging half-heartedly at Luca’s chest. He narrowed his eyes. “Aren’t you being a little too brave now? Just because you can see my emotions a little bit?”
“Aww, Shu!” Luca whined. “Come on, you don’t usually emote this much, so this is great for me!”
Shu hesitated for a moment before responding. “I mean, it’s not like I’m expressionless... Right?”
Luca folded his hand over Shu’s reassuringly. “You’re not,” he said, honestly. It was true—Shu showed his enthusiasm pretty physically, laughing and dancing as he went along with Luca’s whims. “But sometimes it’s kind of hard to tell what you’re thinking, y’know? I didn’t even know you liked me this much.”
Shu frowned, and for a moment his flames seemed to dim slightly. Then, he sighed and shoved at Luca a little harder.
“That doesn’t mean you can just take advantage of me,” Shu said. His flames grew slightly again as his tone grew playful, bright pink happily lapping at the air around Shu as he smiled again. “I’ll remember this, Luca Kaneshiro.”
A smirk curled on Luca’s lips. “Oh, yeah?” he said with a faux tough-guy voice. “And what’re you gonna do about it?”
As if rising to the challenge, Shu leaned forward, placing one hand back on Luca’s chest. He pushed Luca down until he was lying back against the couch cushions with Shu hovering over him. As Shu tilted his head, Luca’s eyelids fluttered closed instinctively and his lips parted. He could feel their breaths intermingling and, although he couldn’t see it, he could feel the telltale heat of Shu’s flames fluttering around them, enveloping Luca in a warmth that melted him from the inside out.
Luca barely felt the gentle press of Shu’s soft lips on his before it’s gone, like a match flickering out. Luca was left chasing after Shu’s lips uselessly as his boyfriend pushed him away. Dazed, Luca blinked as he looked up at Shu to see the sorcerer smirking, his flames dancing mischievously behind him.
“I’m going to eat the rest of your Pringles,” Shu declared, before immediately hopping over the back of their couch and darting for the pantry.
“Wha—!” Luca protested as he registered exactly what was happening. He clumsily rolled off the couch to chase after Shu. “Wait, I haven’t even opened them yet!!”
~~
By the time the third day rolled around, Shu sorcery seemed to be mostly back to normal. He was able to cast his sorcery at will, and even had his shikigami under control again. Luca complained a little bit that he liked it when the shikigami were so affectionate towards him, to which Shu sent a shikigami over to smack Luca’s forehead.
In the morning, Luca accompanied Shu out to visit Meloco to see if she had any leads on the almost-thief or the runes. As they waited outside of Meloco’s apartment building, with Shu texting Meloco to ask her to let them in, Luca noticed someone staring at them from afar.
Although, maybe it was more accurate to say that the stranger was looking at Shu specifically. When Luca was staring at the unassuming man, he didn’t seem to notice Luca at all—-almost as if he was wholly entranced by Shu. For a moment, Luca wondered if it was the fuschia flames that floated around Shu, flickering jovially with every laugh that passed Shu’s lips. But it wasn’t really uncommon to see magic around and no other passerbys were really kicking a fuss about it, so that left Luca with one other possible theory.
It wasn’t exactly something that Luca was unfamiliar with. Shu was so beautiful, it was distracting—hell, Luca found himself distracted by Shu every day. It wasn’t uncommon to catch people sneaking a peek at Shu whenever Luca was with him, and sometimes if Luca wasn’t paying enough attention, someone would be bold enough to walk right up to Shu and flirt with him. Despite how many times it has happened, Luca could never get used to it, a shameful feeling curling in his gut every time.
While staring at the man, Luca looped an arm around Shu’s waist. He felt Shu stiffen in surprise as Luca pulled his boyfriend closer to him, slipping a finger possessively into one of the belt loops of Shu’s pants.
That seemed to get the stranger to finally realize he had been caught staring. The man jolted slightly, meeting Luca’s eyes with a look of fear replacing his intense gaze before turning away unsubtly. Luca couldn’t help but click his tongue in annoyance.
“Luca?” Shu asked. As Shu looked up at him, his fire shifted to a lavender color. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” Luca lied. He gently squeezed Shu’s hips. “Any word from Meloco?”
Shu raised an eyebrow at him before looking around. Although no one was overtly staring at Shu now, he seemed to read Luca like a book. He looked back at him, eyes dancing with amusem*nt. “You know, Luca, you don’t have to be jealous.”
Luca felt his face grow hot at being read so easily. “I-I’m not! That guy was just looking at you weird!”
Shu laughed. “Okay? I mean, just because some guy is looking at me it doesn’t mean he’s into me—I literally have fire all around my head. Or maybe he’s looking at you.”
Luca frowned. “No, it was definitely you,” he grumbled.
“Suuure,” Shu said. When Luca opened his mouth to protest, Shu stepped a little closer to him, practically pressed against his side “It’s alright, Luca. Just know, whatever it is—I’m all yours.”
Luca's heart skipped happily almost immediately at the way Shu indulged him. Embarrassed at how easily he folded, Luca just scoffed at the way Shu tried to play it off, watching as heart-shaped embers formed from his lilac flames, lips pressed together as if trying to stop a laugh from escaping. “Wha—Then why are you laughing?”
“Nooo, I’m not,” Shu lied as he grinned at Luca, his flames shifting in shape slightly. “You’re cute, though.”
And although Luca was mostly appeased, he couldn’t help but frown slightly, feeling a little discontent as Shu looked back down at his phone. It was always like this—between the two of them, Luca was always the one who was more likely to give into his emotions, and was admittedly a little bit possessive and prone to tiny feelings of jealousy. Shu, on the other hand, never seemed to get jealous or anything. Luca wasn’t even sure if Shu really knew what it meant to get jealous when it came to love. On one hand, Luca was glad Shu never really got jealous over him—it wasn’t exactly a fun feeling after all—but while Luca felt a little reassured that Shu probably trusted him enough to feel secure in their relationship, a tiny part of Luca always wondered if Shu was just kind of indifferent.
Luca was spared the rest of this emotional spiral when Meloco mercifully arrived to greet them. When they finally settled in, she gave them the update that she so far had no leads on the thief, but Millie and Vanta would be coming by tomorrow to pick up the rune for safe-keeping.
“After that, we should be all good,” Meloco confirmed. “Just be safe, okay? I’m not sure if that guy who attacked you will be coming after the rune.”
Shu’s flames flickered calmly around him. “It’ll be fine,” Shu said with a shrug. “All he could do was throw my sorcery into flux for a few days. I’m not worried about him.”
“I’ve already informed my guards,” Luca reassured Meloco. “I’ll make sure Shu is safe.”
After Meloco was appeased, Luca and Shu ended up going out to grab something to eat. The two of them were seated at a restaurant with a nice spot right by the window so they could people-watch and look at all of the cute dogs walking by and enjoying the sunny weekend afternoon. While they were eating the dessert and after they had taken pictures to send to their friends, they were doing just that—watching a corgi play by a fountain when Luca felt something wet splash against the side of his leg.
Shocked, Luca quickly jumped up, the legs of his chair skidding loudly just as a plastic cup rattled against the floor. In the next table over, a woman gasped and quickly stood up, looking mortified.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!!” the woman apologized frantically. “I knocked my cup over by accident!”
“It’s alright!” Luca said, awkwardly reassuring the flustered woman even though he was the one who had a drink spilled on him. He knelt down to pick up the cup, before handing it to her. “I mean, it looks like it’s just water right? It’ll dry.”
When the woman took the cup, their fingers overlapped for a moment before Luca took his hand away. The woman looked down at his pants, where the fabric was stained and wet, before looking back up to meet his gaze. As some of the wait staff approached with a mop and took her cup from her, she tucked a hair behind her ear.
“I-I guess so,” she said, seeming a little calmer. “I’m so sorry, I’m just so clumsy.”
“Hey, it’s okay! It happens,” Luca tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Is there anything I could do to make it up to you?” she offered, shuffling her foot against the ground. “Like... If you need to get them replaced or anything, I can give you my—”
“Luca, did you want some napkins to dry off your pants?”
Luca perked up at the sound of Shu’s voice next to him. He turned to see Shu offering him a stack of napkins, and was just about to thank him when he noticed that his flames had shifted into a dark, flickering green. Luca’s eyes darted from the flames to Shu’s face. His boyfriend’s expression seemed otherwise calm and collected, although the gentle smile on his face didn’t quite reach his eyes. Meanwhile, the verdant flames continued to loom over his shoulder, crackling erratically—almost as if annoyed.
“Th-thanks, Shu,” Luca stammered when he had paused for a second too long and Shu flicked his wrist with the napkins impatiently.
As Luca patted down his pants with the napkins gently, the woman took another step forward and held out a napkin towards Luca.
“Here’s my number,” the woman said. “Just in case you need me to pay for the dry cleaning or anything... else.”
Before Luca could say anything else, the napkin was shoved into Luca’s hands before the woman took a seat with her group at the table. Confused as to why this woman was so insistent on repaying Luca for spilling water on him, he looked down at the napkin to see a phone number hastily scrawled on it. When he looked back at the woman, he caught her casting him a furtive glance before quickly looking away.
...Oh... Luca had been wondering why she had been so insistent. Quietly, he folded the napkin to set aside, not really interested in taking it with him later. Then he looked up to see that Shu was looking out the window again, watching the passerbys with his dessert fork balancing distractedly between his lips. Behind him, his flames continued to flicker green.
“Shu?” Luca asked tentatively.
“Hm?” Shu responded. He looked back at Luca, his movements slightly stiff.
“Are you... Jealous?” Luca asked, not quite sure if he believed it even as he asked.
“No,” Shu said a little too quickly. Almost instantly, his flames burst in a pop that turned the heads of a few of the people sitting nearby them. Shu clicked his tongue in annoyance, looking away as he menacingly stabbed his dessert with his fork.
“Wait, really?” Luca asked, eyes wide. “Shu, are you really?”
Shu sent Luca a withering look as he grumpily munched on his cake. “Don’t tease me—you already know.”
“No, I really don’t,” Luca said. He smiled as he leaned his face on his cheek. “Are you really jealous, Shu? Really?”
“Maybe? Why are you so insistent about it?” Shu asked, practically pouting. Without looking, he tried to fan away one of his flames.
“I dunno!!” Luca continued, smiling. “I just... I guess I never thought you’d be the type of person to get jealous.”
Shu huffed. “Hey! I’m still human, you know? I don’t like it when people flirt with my boyfriend right in front of me just as much as you don’t like it when people flirt with me.”
“You’ve never said anything about it before, though,” Luca pointed out.
“I mean...” Shu mumbled, face turning a little pink. “It feels silly coming from me, y’know? You’re you. If I got mad every time someone thought you were hot, I’d never stop being mad.”
“Wh-what?!” Luca asked. Suddenly, he was the one feeling embarrassed. “Wait, you think I’m hot?”
“Wha—” Shu’s eyes grew wide, looking at Luca with a mix of amusem*nt and exasperation. “Luca, we’ve been dating for months? Of course I think you’re attractive.”
Luca couldn’t help the way his lips split into a grin. “No, you said I was hot,” he emphasized.
Shu blushed even brighter. “So? What if I did? It’s not weird to think my boyfriend is hot,” Shu said. “And even if I do think that, that doesn’t mean I like it when other people think that, too—I mean, they’re right, but—!”
Luca laughed as Shu got more and more flustered, green flames flickering haphazardly behind him. Leaning on his hand, Luca smiled at Shu.
“It’s okay, Shu,” Luca interrupted him. “You don’t have to be jealous—I love you the most!”
Shu’s eyes widened and suddenly the green flames turned bright pink.
“This guy...” Shu mumbled, although the happily flickering flames betrayed Shu’s faux annoyance. “You seem a little too happy about this.”
Luca leaned his chin on his palm. “I-I mean... I wouldn’t mind if you got a little more possess—”
Suddenly, there a shikigami slapped itself over his mouth to prevent him from speaking, as if his lips were sealed tightly shut. Just as Luca reared back in shock, Shu reached over to take the last of Luca’s dessert from his place.
“Mmph!!” came Luca’s muffled protest.
“This is karma!” Shu said as he took a big bite of Luca’s dessert. And although Luca made a big show of whining, he couldn’t help but feel like it was worth the sacrifice of his dessert to see Shu so flustered.
~~
In the middle of the night, Luca was woken up by the sound of a loud thud coming from somewhere within their apartment. He jolted awake in bed, all of his senses on high alert as he stared into the darkness of their bedroom.
From next to him, Shu, who had always been the heavier sleeper between them, gave a small groan as he turned over to loop his arm around Luca’s waist. Shu’s flames continued to glow around him in a gentle halo, moving in time with the sounds of his light snoring. Instinctively, Luca’s heart relaxed at the sight of Shu.
Then, the thud came again, followed by frantic rustling. It was slightly muffled by their bedroom door and walls, but it was just loud enough for Luca to confirm that it definitely wasn’t a dream. It was probably nothing, but Luca wanted to make sure. Gently, Luca unwrapped Shu’s arm from around him, feeling a little guilty as his boyfriend let out a whine in his sleep. He grabbed the pistol he had safely hidden in his bedside table before leaving their bedroom.
Luca crept around his own apartment gently, not wanting to alert anyone as he followed where he thought he heard the source of the noise. When he entered their office, he found himself shocked still by the sight of the furniture upturned and the room almost completely trashed.
“Wha—” Luca said, but just as he raised his gun, he suddenly felt the impact of a small explosion just behind him, not big enough to hurt, but just enough to catch him off guard. He stumbled forward, thrown onto the ground, as his gun slid just out of reach. When Luca regained his balance, there was suddenly a feeling of a knife digging threateningly against his neck.
He blinked up to see a strange man looking down at him in the dark, holding the dagger up to his skin.
“You—!” Luca began. Suddenly, his brain recalled when he had gone to Meloco’s apartment with Shu earlier, and he had caught someone staring at Shu with the same intense stare that was being directed at Luca just now. “You’re from this morning—!”
““Wait, you’re not that sorcerer from yesterday,” the man finally observed. “Well, whatever—where’re the runes?”
Luca grabbed the man’s hand to try to force him away, but the knife only dug a little closer to his skin. He swore under his breath. “How the hell did you get past my guards?” he snapped.
“I’m asking the questions here!” the man snapped. “Tell me where the runes are or—”
“What’s going on?”
Before Luca could react the man quickly shifted their positions, moving behind Luca at the sound of Shu’s voice in the doorway. The knife was still held over Luca’s neck, and the man’s hand shook slightly as they both regarded Shu in the doorway of the office, flames illuminating his face in the dark.
“Shu—!” Luca called out. He tried to get a better grip on the man’s arm. “Get out of here! I’ll—”
“Sorcerer!” the intruder called out. “You—!”
Shu’s eyes widened. “You’re that thief from the other day!”
Shu took a step forward and the thief let out a shout in warning as he dragged himself and Luca back.
“Don’t move, or the pretty boy gets it!” the thief barked. There was a shaky laugh from behind him as Shu froze in his steps. “That’s right, not so scary now, are you? Now, tell me where the runes are or—”
The rest of the thief’s words were drowned out when Shu’s flames suddenly burst in an explosion larger than anything that Luca had ever seen. Furious crimson framed Shu’s entire body before starting to travel through the room, lighting up the room in red.
The thief suddenly yelped in pain, dropping the knife as he tried to jump away from the flames. Luca leapt away, turning around to see the thief’s skin starting to turn red and sweat starting to drop down his face.
“St-stop, are you crazy?! You’re going to burn us alive!” the man yelled.
Luca’s eyes widened, eyes darting between thief, the flames, and his own hands. Luca had felt fine as he always had around Shu’s flames, and aside from looking absolutely terrifying, they seemed to lick at the air as harmlessly as ever. He looked up at Shu who was walking through the rooms with a graceful calmness. His amethyst eyes, usually filled with warmth, had darkened, taking on an ice cold look contrasting the blaze reflected in his gaze. To any onlooker, Shu would strike fear into the heart of anyone who crossed him.
Meanwhile, as Luca rubbed absently at his bruised neck, his whole body felt like it was being engulfed in a passionate flame completely separate from the actual magical flames all around him.
As Shu stepped closer and closer to the thief, the thief backed himself up against the wall, yelping and whimpering pathetically.
“You know, it’s one thing to throw some low-level curse at me—that was just plain annoying,” Shu said, looking down his nose at the thief. “But to have the nerve to try to hurt someone I love, too? What are you even playing at?”
The thief began to stutter frantic apologies, which all fell to deaf ears.
“You’re lucky I’m not the type of sorcerer to kill,” Shu said, as he gathered a ball of fuschia flame in his hands. Even Luca, who had his own share of violent run-ins, couldn’t help but balk at Shu’s fury alongside the thief. “But I’m going to make sure you know you’ve made a terrible mistake.”
~~
When the VSF arrived moments after their encounter with the thief, Sonny took one look at Luca, then Shu and didn’t ask any questions before taking the thief in. Meloco came shortly after just as the sun was starting to rise with Vanta and Millie in tow to take the rune away. Luca was grateful not to have it in their posession—especially after the thief had apparently done a number knocking out some of the Lucubs he had staffed guarding the penthouse.
It wasn’t until everything had finally settled down hours later, when Luca collapsed onto the couch and Shu followed suit, nestling himself against Luca’s side with Luca’s arm around him, that Luca noticed that his flames were completely gone.
“When did that happen?” Luca asked.
“I noticed it after Sonny left,” Shu said. “Maybe it was because I defeated the person who cursed me? Or maybe I just burned it all out when I got mad.”
“Oh god, yeah,” Luca said. “That was—uh—”
“What?” Shu asked, looking at Luca with a smile that was all too knowing. “What? Did you like that?”
“I-I mean—!” Luca stammered, avoiding Shu’s gaze. “I-It was kind of crazy, y’know? I don’t usually see you go wild like that.”
Shu hummed thoughtfully. There was a mysterious look in his eye before he patted Luca’s chest. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Then he turned away, leaning his head against the crook in between Luca’s neck and shoulder and taking a deep sigh. Luca regarded his boyfriend for a moment, and found that he actually really wished the flames hadn’t gone so soon. He liked that they would flicker around Shu, telling Luca if his boyfriend were happy, or angry, or sad. Although Luca did feel bad that it seemed to annoy Shu so much, without that halo of emotion, it felt like Luca was the only one between them wearing his heart on his sleeve, while Shu continued to be somewhat inscrutable.
“I’m gonna miss them, honestly,” Luca admitted.
Shu smirked. “Yeah, I bet you will. Now you can’t tease me as easily.”
Luca shook his head as he gathered one of Shu’s hands in his, intertwining their fingers. “I guess that, too, but I mean...” Luca trailed off. “I guess it was kind of nice to be able to know how you were feeling, y’know? You’re not cold or anything, but you’re usually pretty collected, so this was cute.”
“I guess it was probably cute for you,” Shu said, although his lips were slightly pulled into a frown. “But it was pretty embarrassing for me. I’m not used to being so expressive.”
“Well, hey—now you know how I feel,” Luca countered, to which Shu gave a fond laugh.
“True,” Shu said, squeezing Luca’s hand. “You kinda wear your heart on your sleeve.”
“I can’t help it!” Luca protested. “But yeah, I don’t know? You were just really cute.” Luca gave a wry laugh. “Also, your flames were reacting to me so much, Shu! I didn’t know you liked me that much.”
“Wh-wha—?!” Shu spluttered, turning slightly pink. He turned to face Luca again. “What do you mean? Of course I like you. I literally almost burned a man alive for you.”
“I mean, I know that now,” Luca said quickly. “Before the curse, though, I wasn’t... really sure if you really liked me, I guess? You’ve always been kind of down for everything, so I just thought this was... more casual to you. And for me...”
Luca trailed off, unsure how he should continue. When he noticed the furrow in Shu’s brow paired with the concerned frown, he immediately felt bad for bringing this up. He opened his mouth again to try to change the subject when Shu held his hands firmly.
“You know,” Shu said, smoothing his thumbs over the back of Luca’s hands. “When you asked me out, I was really nervous. Uki and Elira had to talk me down from freaking out the entire week until we had our first date.”
“You were nervous?!” Luca asked incredulously.
“Yeah, I kept getting tongue-tied and just... chuckled! The whole night!” Shu said, turning a little pink as he laughed at the memory. Thinking back, Shu did seem extra giggly that weekend, but Luca had just thought he was being really funny.
Then, Shu continued, “And when you asked me if I wanted to move in... All of the furniture I showed you? I actually started looking at furniture listings a few weeks after we started dating. I knew I wanted to move out and I kept imagining what it would be like to live with you—what our home would look like.” Shu took a deep breath smiling gently. “Honestly, I’m still in disbelief sometimes that we can call it our home, and that I get to come home every day to you. I didn’t want to tell you though since... I guess I felt a little over-eager? I didn’t want to scare you away.”
Luca could feel his chest hitch as Shu turned his adoring gaze upon him. “You could never scare me away,” Luca said. “I mean, you almost killed a man in front of me and I’m still head over heels for you, Shu. This whole time, I thought I was the one who was too into you.”
Shu reached up to cup Luca’s face in his hands. “I’m sorry I made you feel that way,’ Shu said. “You know, I’m not really one to show my expressions openly but... I want you to know that there’s no way you could outmatch me when it comes to how I feel about you,” Shu said, shaking his head. “I’ve loved you for... actual years.”
“What?!” Luca asked, shocked. He wrapped his arms around Shu’s waist, pulling him practically onto his lap. “Me, too! I’ve been in love with you for years too, Shu!”
“What? Are you trying to compete with me on how much we love each other?” Shu laughed, hands moving to card his fingers into Luca’s hair.
Luca matched Shu’s smile with his own. “I bet I’d win.”
Shu’s expression turned sly. “There’s no way. I literally just spent an entire three days with raging magical flames that kept responding to you. I love you so much it’s actually supernatural.”
Luca hummed, his fingers pressed against Shu’s back and slowly snaking down his spine. “I dunno, Shu... That whole break-in last night was crazy... I don’t know if I even remember the last three days,” Luca grinned widely when Shu let out a squawk of protest. “Maybe you can prove it to me? Without the sorcerer flames?”
“You—! Luca, you’re always so...!” Shu huffed, as his cheeks turned pink.
And now, as Luca gazed up at the man in his lap, he clearly understood the fond look in his eyes and the way Shu could barely suppress the smile that curled on his lips when he was pretending to be mad at Luca. Shu placed an open palm on top of Luca’s chest over his rapidly-beating heart, pushing him back against the couch.
“Okay, fine then. I’ll show you an entirely different fire this time,” Shu said, before leaning down to capture Luca’s lips in a heated kiss.
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