The Colors Universe
Saturday Morning by Mara
Characters: Mentions of everyone, but mainly Aoi-sama and Akai-san there's also Aoi/Akai if you squint hardWord Count: 673 words
Theme: Java. And Juvenile to a point (paintball counts, right?)
Author Notes: It's an early Saturday morning, and Aoi-sama is heading out before all hell lets loose once again-- but not before someone offers him coffee. Based off of a picture by Eri!
It was rare that Aoi-sama ever had a look on his face that was other than serious or disappointed. But as he looked into the mirror, adjusting his scarf one last time, he had the most self-satisfied look on his face. He never needed an excuse to dress nicely, but he did this time, and it also allowed him to be out of the house for the first time in a long while. While Aoi didn’t hate living in Colors House, there were days that he needed to get out. And this was one of them.
As usual, Midorin was mucking about in the garden, planting the most ridiculous foliage in the area of his delphiniums. She acted as if she owned the whole plot. Aoi made a note to take a weed-whacker to her plants later in the evening. While he thought he would have an ally in Murasaki-dono, she herself was too occupied with her television dramas to mediate their perpetual debacles. And he had thought she was the only other person in the house with class. Asking Gin-sensei would be out of the question; he would use it as an opportunity to reveal a new monster-plant he had been developing in his lab.
The younger ones usually did not pose any threat of annoyance or trouble, but all of them decided it would be a good idea to use the house as a paintball arena the night before. As a result, the walls were splattered with neon spots all around, and Kurocchi and Shirocchi were rendered unrecognizable. No one was harmed, really, but Aoi would have to take a detour to the cleaners on the way to his friend’s party. But even with that in mind, he was all smiles as he toted the soiled clothes on his back on his way out of the house.
“Yo, Aoi-chan! What’s with the get-up?”
Or he was.
“…I thought I asked you to not refer to me as such, Akai,” Aoi answered, his usual displeased look returning. “You could stand to wear better clothing yourself. I won’t tell you again, it’s Aoi-sa—”
“I know, I know, you and your superiority complex don’t like it when I call you that. But lighten up, will you? It’s a beautiful Saturday morning with the sun shining! You don’t need to always be so stuffy.” Akai slapped his hand down hard on Aoi’s shoulder, causing the blue-haired man to jolt. “At least have some coffee before you head out?”
“All right,” he ceded. “But keep it black.”
“Yessir,” Akai replied, eyes rolling ever so slightly. “You still didn’t answer my question, though. Why the sharp dressing today?”
“A friend is having a get-together and I’d rather not be caught wearing something unseemly.” He looked at Akai, with his tank-top a mess, and then to the bag with his clothing from last night.
“Understandable. But forgive the kids? It’s not like they meant to ruin your favorite outfit.” He presented the disgruntled zipper fan with his mug of coffee. “Here you go.”
“Thank you. And I’m sure they didn’t mean to, but I’m making them pay half of the cleaning bill.” Aoi was succinct in his demand.
Akai couldn’t help but whistle. “Aren’t we being a little Spartan in our attitudes today… Well, I hope you have a good time away from the chaos.”
“I hope so as well.” He ungracefully downed the rest of his coffee. Getting up to leave, Aoi kicked his shoes on, put his mug in the sink and almost grabbed the knob.
The rustle of a day-old newspaper came to his ear. “One last thing, Aoi-chan.”
“…What?”
“Have as much fun as you want while you’re gone, but don’t go breaking any hearts, you hear? And that includes any of those residing here.” Aoi had turned back to a smirk shielded only an inch behind newsprint.
Outwardly, he refused to react. “I don’t plan to. Hopefully no one here will be too heartbroken.”
Akai simply laughed. “I’ll try not to be.”
