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When Ren wakes up from his mid morning nap, Coco is soundly asleep on his chest, purring gently with the rise and fall of Ren’s chest. He smiles gently, sleep cracking away as his face awakens and scratches behind his cat’s ears. His little white and brown ears twitch at the touch but he doesn’t move otherwise. Ren looks around himself and blushes slightly as he realises that he fell asleep in the living room. The house is so peaceful and quiet at this time of day and Ren has spent most of the previous night awake, safe in Sin’s arms as they watched the stars together.
He inhales a deep sigh and swears he can still smell Sin’s tart scent.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Ego smiles, head appearing just above Ren’s. There’s something so incredibly comforting about Ego’s smile and Ren has yet to get used to their bright presence. His heart flutters in his chest as his cheeks warm further.
“Sorry,” he says as he gingerly straightens up and deposits Coco aside. “Didn’t mean to fall asleep here. I hope it wasn’t an inconvenience.”
Ego waves his apology aside and grabs both of Ren’s hands to pull him to his feet. Their smile is lovely and the aura around them seems to shimmer. Ren’s embarrassment dissolves in the air between them and he smiles back. “This is your home now, Ren. You could fall asleep on the roof and no one would care,” they say and Ren grins, warmth filling his chest. He is home here. These people are his family. Ego’s expression shifts from reassurance to worry. “Although, please, don’t fall asleep on the roof, that could be dangerous.”
Ren laughs heartily. “I promise I won’t,” he says and pulls Ego into a hesitant hug. Ego embraces him tightly and rubs his back.
“Sin would never forgive us if anything happened to you,” Ego continues, a teasing lilt to their voice.
Thankfully, Ren can hide his blushing cheeks in their shoulders. When they pull back, they smile at each other and Ego says, “your hugs always feel like the warmth of a spring - oh wait, you have something in your hair,” they card their fingers through Ren’s pink mane and pull out a rose petal. They give him a shrewd look. “So, this is why you’re sleeping in the middle of the day, you’ve been up too late with Sin again.”
Ren takes the petal from Ego’s fingers and tries not to look too embarrassed. “He was telling me about the stars.” He hears the dreamlike quality of his own voice and feels himself shiver with the memories of the previous night.
“You’re good for each other,” Ego says.
“He’s been very… attentive,” Ren answers. He doesn’t often get to talk about Sin and their blooming relationship with the rest of their friends. He’s not embarrassed but this… thing between them is still so new and it feels so delicate. It’s private and all the more beautiful for it but there are moments where Ren feels like he could take flight just by thinking about Sin for long enough. It’s so nice to be able to share that, even if it’s still hard sometimes to talk about the most secret part of himself with his new friends. He hasn’t been living here for long and sometimes he still feels like his room will get sucked into another dimension any day because he doesn’t fit in with the rest of them.
Persona, Shadow, Hani, Ego, Sin and Ori have made sure to reassure him and make him feel welcome every day, though, and it does help. So, even if it’s hard sometimes, he opens up and lets himself shine for them. It’s always rewarding and he feels like their magics are all connected, as if they’ve always been fated.
Soulbound. They’re his family and they love him as much as he loves them. He wants to stay, he wants to keep them all. He wants to be the guardian of Sin’s heart and be the reason behind his smiles and the arms he finds refuge in.
“He’s been in the garden all morning,” Ego says, pulling Ren out of his thoughts, as if reading them. There’s a tender, understanding smile on their face.
Worry nips at Ren’s insides despite the implicit reassurances. “Has he not slept?”
Ego shrugs, the leather of their jacket catching the light of the sun. “He said he didn’t feel tired.”
“Okay, I’m gonna go…,” he doesn’t finish his sentence and instead gestures with his thumb towards the garden.
“Go, he’s been waiting for you to wake up,” Ego smiles. A grin spreads across Ren’s face and he runs outside.
On his way, he almost collides with Shadow but amazingly enough, Shadow moves out of the way at the very last second. “No need to run, he’s not going anywhere,” he teases in a grumbling tone.
“Aish, not like you weren’t hurrying to see Ego,” Ren throws over his shoulders without stopping. He runs towards the edge of their property, right where Sin’s private garden is located. Hidden behind a curtain of ivy and constantly blooming flowers, there’s Sin’s safe haven. Ori once told Ren that before Sin found him, Sin would spend most of his days in solitude here, tending to his plants, healing old trees and helping new sprouts to grow strong. He also said that before Ren, Sin didn’t like others to intrude in his garden.
“He used to say that our aura interfered with his magic,” Ori said with a knowing and amused glint in his eyes.
Now, pulling aside the ivy and stepping into the garden, Ren feels that familiar flutter in his chest. Something more tangible than hope and as everlasting as love. He feels it like a shiver, the way this place is cared for. It seeps into his skin like oxygen and lights him up from the inside out. There’s a second where his toes leave the ground as the immense magic of this place floods his senses but the moment passes quickly and Ren’s bare feet meet soil and grass again.
He walks down the small alleys, fingers trailing over sunflowers, lilies and orchids. He rests his palm against an oak tree and tickles the leaves of the cherry tree next to it. He breathes in and out and lingering in the air, even stronger than the rest of the earthy scents, is tart scent of -
“Ren?” Sin voice comes from a bit further down the trails. “Is that you?”
Ren doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to. Just like he sensed Sin’s presence the moment he stepped into his sanctuary, he knows Sin could sense him as well. He lets his floating feet carry him closer, giddiness coursing through him at the thought of seeing him again (even though it’s barely been hours) but he stops dead in his tracks when he arrives at the centre of the garden. Under the shade of Sequoia, leaning against its sturdy trunk, sits Sin. The first sighting of the day always takes Ren’s breath away. His feet find the ground again and he takes a moment to just look at Sin.
His long, black coat serves as a blanket, he’s got the sleeves of his grey shirt rolled up and as usual, his feet are bare. Over the velvet fabric of his coat, lay several flower crowns. Sin is looking up at him, fingers moving on their own to laces leaves and stems together.
“Hey,” he says, his strange dark eyes lighting up. There’s a smile at the corner of his mouth that Ren wants to kiss so badly, he can almost feel the smile against his own mouth.
“Hi,” he waves, a tad shyly and steps closer. It’s not shyness he feels per se, but rather an overwhelming onslaught of feelings that shortens his own emotional range to the point where he can barely move sometimes. Sin watches him, eyes avid and nose scrunched. Ren’s heart melts as he studieds his face in return and he can’t resist any longer; he floats to him and bends down to kiss the corner of his mouth, his cheeks and the lines of his nose. Sin must put aside his work because the next moment he pulls Ren close until Ren is sitting on his lap. He giggles as he settles more comfortably on top of him but his laughter dissipates as he realises how close they are. They’ve often been three layers of clothing and two heartbeats away from each other, just like they are now, but today, Ren’s heart feels so much closer to the surface so every touch feels more poignant.
Sin’s eyes travel over his face, tracing each feature hungrily as if he too has missed the sight of him. Ren wraps his arms around his neck and nudges their noses together. They stay like this for a quiet eternity, just breathing each other in, heartbeats chasing each other, breath falling on yearning mouths. He doesn’t know long they stay like this but he knows it’s long enough for Sin to momentarily lose control of his magic and make chamomile flowers bloom alongside Ren’s arms and neck.
A few weeks ago, he wouldn’t have been able to name the flower but he’s spent days after days in this garden, watching Sin conjure up plants and flowers, patiently teaching Ren about each of them and how to tend to them. He once told him that the chamomile made him think of Ren because it’s a soothing plant. It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever told Ren and it, too, feels like a secret he’ll keep locked away in his heart, just for the two of them.
He giggles as the flowers tickle his skin. Sin closes his eyes as if relishing the sound. Ren watches his long lashes flutter across his cheeks and feels love coil inside of him like a new galaxy. He leans over and leaves a couple of kisses on his forehead.
“Aren’t you tired?” he asks when he pulls back.
Sin shakes his head. “I have a theory,” he says, surprising Ren.
“About?”
“About you.”
Ren tilts his head and smiles unconsciously. “About me? What kind of theory?”
“About your… presence. Your energy. I think you have the ability to give energy and strength to people… without even meaning to. I don’t feel tired at all today and I never feel tired when we spend nights star gazing,” Sin explains.
“Oh. I don’t think that’s how my magic works,” Ren says with a sideway, pouty sort of smile.
Sin’s gaze grows in intensity as he cups Ren’s nape and pulls him down for a searingly sweet kiss. His mouth is warm and soft as it pulls sigh after sigh from Ren’s lips. Breathless and trembling, he tilts his head and chases the addictive tenderness of the moment, letting Sin fist his hand gently in his hair.
When Sin pulls away, Ren whines and tightens his grip on him. Sin’s smile resides more in his heated gaze than his lips. “See?” he says and points to the flowers on Ren’s arms. They’ve bloomed to magical leves, the petals shimmering even under the shadows of the tree. “I wouldn’t be able to do that without you.”
Sin plucks one of the chamomile flowers from the stems and settles it behind Ren’s ear.
“I think you could do anything you set your heart to,” Ren answers.
“What if it’s you I have my heart set on?”
“Would you want me to stay?”
Sin picks up one of the flower crowns from the ground, this one made from pink and red roses. He threads it between Ren’s locks, settling it gently over his head. He adjusts it until he’s satisfied with the result, eyes focused and mouth parted. Ren can’t resist stealing a soft kiss from his soft lips.
“You’re free to wander across worlds and galaxies and spread warmth across every realm but you should know my stubborn heart will follow you everywhere you go,” Sin says.
A ball of emotions forms in the back of Ren’s throat and he has to swallow several times before he can speak. He takes hold of one of Sin’s hands, laces their fingers together and kisses each of his knuckles. “What if I stay right here and take care of your heart while you take care of mine?”
“I don’t think there’s much you can do about my tattered heart,” Sin replies with a sad kind of smile.
Ren’s chest constricts at his words and he has to blink away tears but he holds on tight to his hand and kisses the back of it.
“You said my magic makes you stronger. Maybe it will help you see how valuable you are, in every way.”
“You like it here, then?” and there’s so much hope in Sin’s voice that Ren wants to wrap himself around him forever and never let go.
“I like it here, yes and I lo-like you,” he clears his throat. Sin’s eyelids flutter at Ren’s slip but he forges on. “I like you the most. I like the nights we spend together, looking at the vast expense of the universe because I don’t feel so small when I’m in your arms. I like your garden because it feels like you made it bloom from your heart. Tattered or not, your kind of love is magical. That more than anything feels like home to me,” his smile trembles on his lips but he hangs to it, eyes locked with Sin’s. “I like the way your hand feels in mine and I like waking up with thoughts of you at the forefront of my mind. I like the simple thought of you, even when we’re not together. Knowing you’re somewhere out there fills me with hope as vast as the universe itself. I like the days spent in your room, sitting side by side without speaking because you seem to understand even my quiet moments. I like feeling you close,” he says, bringing his free hand to Sin’s chest. His shirt is so thin that Ren swears he could feel the warmth of his skin directly on his palm. He can feel the steady thumpity-thump of his heart and affection surges through him like a flood. “There’s nothing brighter to me. It seems to me that we’re all broken in our own ways and that only made us - you - stronger and more beautiful.”
“I think the more you stay here, the easier it is to see things your way,” Sin says, pecking his cheek softly.
Ren grins, sighing with relief and blinking away tears. “What a good incentive to stay.”
A shadow crosses Sin’s gaze and he swallows. His eyes widen and there’s something fragile and crestfallen in their depth. “You don’t have to stay, just for me, you know? I would completely under-,” he starts to say but Ren puts a hand over his mouth and shakes his hand.
“This is a mutually beneficial situation, Sin,” he pulls his hand away and replaces it with his lips. He kisses him as gently as he can. “Sweetheart, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”
“Oh,” Sin says, eyes still wide but the expression in them shifts into something satisfied and thrilled. “Good. Stay, then. Yes, stay.”
“Okay,” Ren replies and picks another flower crown from the ground to put it on Sin’s head. This one is made of sunflowers and hyacinths. “Where else would I find you?” he asks before pulling him into another kiss.