[ Slowly, Maruki unwraps his arms from around Eren to take his face in both hands.
It's quiet in the windmill. That's the best thing about it, really. Even when the rest of the world is in chaos, they have this one retreat, a microcosm of the perfect silence that will fall over their empty world.
There's so much he could say now. The day of his favorite person's birth, his heart still beating a year past its expiration date – Maruki could tell him at length just how much he's loved him, for how long, for how far into the future of so many other lives that that love will carry on. He could talk to Eren for hours. Talk about Eren for hours. One day, he'd love nothing more than to seize the opportunity to lay out every single thing he admires about him, even if it overwhelms Eren to hear.
But there's something else Eren deserves to know, and it transcends anything he could hope to put into words in any reality.
His thumbs stroke over Eren's cheekbones, wiping away residual dampness. His fingers against Eren's jaw flex and release, again and again. His eyes rove slowly over every inch of that open, wondering face, a smile spreading slowly across his own like a droplet of blood dissipating in warm water.
And then, he does what he's only done once before–
Maruki draws him in to capture his lips in a kiss. It's not unsure or hesitant at all; it's as solid as it is tender, absolutely unwavering in its conviction.
Eren has been nothing less than perfectly patient with him, and every time Maruki has wanted to kiss him and held himself back comes through now. He tips his Other's head to press in closer, the barest edge of teeth set against his lower lip, a soft inhale as he doesn't let go. It won't be the last kiss he gives Eren now, and it isn't the first, but hopefully– hopefully, it's the best. ]
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It's quiet in the windmill. That's the best thing about it, really. Even when the rest of the world is in chaos, they have this one retreat, a microcosm of the perfect silence that will fall over their empty world.
There's so much he could say now. The day of his favorite person's birth, his heart still beating a year past its expiration date – Maruki could tell him at length just how much he's loved him, for how long, for how far into the future of so many other lives that that love will carry on. He could talk to Eren for hours. Talk about Eren for hours. One day, he'd love nothing more than to seize the opportunity to lay out every single thing he admires about him, even if it overwhelms Eren to hear.
But there's something else Eren deserves to know, and it transcends anything he could hope to put into words in any reality.
His thumbs stroke over Eren's cheekbones, wiping away residual dampness. His fingers against Eren's jaw flex and release, again and again. His eyes rove slowly over every inch of that open, wondering face, a smile spreading slowly across his own like a droplet of blood dissipating in warm water.
And then, he does what he's only done once before–
Maruki draws him in to capture his lips in a kiss. It's not unsure or hesitant at all; it's as solid as it is tender, absolutely unwavering in its conviction.
Eren has been nothing less than perfectly patient with him, and every time Maruki has wanted to kiss him and held himself back comes through now. He tips his Other's head to press in closer, the barest edge of teeth set against his lower lip, a soft inhale as he doesn't let go. It won't be the last kiss he gives Eren now, and it isn't the first, but hopefully– hopefully, it's the best. ]