anakiddwrites

Solomon tapped softly across the bookshelf, feeling the texture of the book spines on his fingertips. Some of those were older than him, and that means something when you are a hundred years old chiroptera. But Karl always had been particular and careful about his belongings and private library, and he was happy to see it didn’t change.

“That’s our headmaster... ~ ♪” He thought out loud with admiration while carefully pulling out some books without any aim besides getting some good feelings of nostalgia. The multilingual collection also reflected plenty about Karl’s life, tastes and experiences, so naturally it was appreciated and loved by Solomon.

“Hm...?” Solomon blinked, opening a very old book in french. A pale dried flower was bookmarking the page he landed on, which would be a mundane detail if it weren’t Solomon’s eyes on it.

“... could it be...?”

He leaned closer to the page, carefully contemplating the flower and having his mind taken back more than a hundred years to the past of an ordinary french morning in the spring.

A morning of rare good memories, for the best.

“There’s a shortcut around here!”

A chirping smiling Solomon pulled a nervous human Karl by the hand, leading them to a small garden in the corners of Paris.

“A-are you sure...? W-we should just take the subway, Solomon...”

Karl mumbled timidly and clutched the books in his hand, but not really tried to fight the blond’s sudden detour. Solomon would often have whims like that, almost childish but fundamentally harmless.

And very sweet, if Karl was to be honest with his own heart.

“On such a beautiful sunny morning like this? What a waste! Let’s take this chance, Karl ~ please?”

Solomon didn’t even need to ask twice, since Karl was already holding his hand tight with no plans of letting it go. And that candid smile just made him smile back naturally, feeling all hesitations leaving his heart like only Solomon could do to him.

“It’s impossible to say no to you...”

Karl sighed softly, hopping into the bushes together with his dear friend.

Around five minutes later, they were able to reach the other side of the short path among the trees and bushes, laughing and still holding hands.

“Ahaha... ah, y-your white suit is dirty... your shoes too...!” Karl mentioned, quickly patting Solomon’s shoulder to take off the dry leaves and small branches all over it.

“Fufu ~ you too, but it was fun, right? Clothes can be washed...!” Solomon was smiling bright, endeared with Karl’s soft touch and his zealous expression. “... your hair, too...”

Without thinking, Solomon reached a hand to take off the leaves from Karl’s hair, feeling the softness under his fingertips. For a moment, Karl seemed to freeze in place, gazing at him with eyes shining like a pair of gemstones.

“... your ponytail is also loose... ah, may I?” Solomon asked a little unsure if he had unintentionally crossed a line, but Karl only nodded fast, more surprised than anything and looking down embarrassed.

“... excuse me, then...”

Smiling, Solomon moved behind Karl, letting go of his hand to touch his hair instead and gently undo the light blue ribbon hanging loose. He couldn’t stop himself from taking a moment watching the open hair fluttering graciously to the breeze, casually touching his cheeks.

“... your hair is very silky... so pretty.” Solomon commented while taking out the leaves stuck on it, smiling wide as finding a hidden flower caught in the strands and holding it between two fingers.

“... n-not really...” Karl clutched hands together, too focused on Solomon’s slender fingers cleaning and brushing his hair to form any cohesive sentence. In a minute that felt like forever, his ponytail was properly up again even better than before.

“Done ~ ♪” Solomon hummed, grinning the tiniest bit. “And for the final touch...”

He tucked the stranded flower behind Karl’s ear, making his already warm face completely on fire.

“S-SOLOMON?!” As expected, he gasped loud in front of his carefree friend. “W-what the... is this a p-prank...?!”

“Absolutely not.” He gazed at Karl with that smile impossible to confront. “It suits you very well... is it bad?”

“.... I d-didn’t say that...” Karl looked away, scratching his nape. “... isn’t it weird? Is that a french custom?”

“... it can be... fufu ~ it’s not weird at all. And you know...” He wrapped an arm over Karl’s shoulder as they started walking again. “If anyone tries to mess with you, I have your back.”

“... i-if you say so... hm, but... I know you do...” Karl clutched his books against his chest, as if trying to hide his pounding heart. He still couldn’t bring himself to look Solomon in the eye, but smiled a little bit. “.... s-so much for a shortcut...”

“And in the end, we didn’t save any time that day.”

Karl’s voice raised behind Solomon in the library, bringing him back from the distant memories.

“... that’s true.” Solomon smiled, sighing satisfied feeling Karl’s protective arms around his waist and his chin resting on his shoulder. “Are you watching me for a while?”

“Hmhm, not too long... just enough to enjoy your nostalgic face.” His eyes also gazed on the dried flower, knowing they were sharing the same memory. “... you sure took your time fixing my ponytail that day...”

“I couldn’t help it ~ it was my first time touching your hair... and... I didn’t expect you to keep this flower for so long.”

Karl looked away for a moment, burying himself more in Solomon’s shoulder with a flustered face not so different from the old days.

“... well... it was the first time you touched my hair... and called it pretty...” He huffed a bit, puffing his cheeks. “And flirted so hard with me that I thought my heart was gonna jump from my chest at any moment.”

“Flirt...?!” Solomon tilted his head, genuinely surprised. “I wasn’t really flirting... I just thought the flower suited you ~ ♪”

“T-that’s what I’m talking about...!” He sighed, looking at him again with a pout but giving up on the silly banter. “.... anyway... I was young and impressionable. And...”

“... and?”

“... I knew that if anyone messed with me you really would come, so... I didn’t mind.”

It was Solomon’s turn to feel his cheeks warming up, blinking at Karl and ultimately offering him a soft smile. Closing the book in his hands carefully, his full attention turned to the Karl close to him a century later, the gemstones of his eyes shining even brighter.

And he couldn’t resist poking at his nose with his own, happy to feel his embrace tighter and his smiling lips leaning closer for a sweet kiss.

After all, a century later, they can hold hands and kiss any time they feel like it.

“...maybe I could... try to wear flowers on my hair more often now...” Karl aired the thought in a whim, nuzzling their cheeks. “Or do you think I’m too old for that..?”

“No such thing. You would look lovely.” Solomon casually twirled a strand of dark long hair between his fingers, taking it to his lips and making Karl blush slightly again.

“Hmhm... if that’s the case... for the first one, we could look for a shortcut tomorrow morning. For good luck, you know ~” Karl smiled with fangs out, more than happy to see Solomon’s expression brightening up in surprise and tenderness.

“I absolutely love the idea ~” Whispering close, he placed a hand over Karl’s embracing his waist, caressing it with his thumb. “I’ll gladly get lost with you again and again.”

“Hmhm ~ I don’t mind dirtying shoes and fallen leaves... if we are together, it’ll be alright.”