Azul hardly needed a second ask. The pleading in Yuu’s voice echoed the same voice in his head.


    ‘Wait,’ it begged. ‘More time. Another moment. More.’ Because if there was always more, then this might never end.


    The world seemed to pause as he looked down at her, wanting to say so many things—things he didn’t have the courage for—that felt like they should be written on a letter instead of spoken out loud. His thumb traced the edge of her jaw, a silent apology and an invitation all at once. He leaned in again, slowly, giving her the chance to pull away if she wanted, but she didn’t. Instead, she pressed herself into him, urging him to continue.


    Are you sure, he nearly asked. Her response, however, left him in no doubt. For now, at least, she wasn’t trying to bid him farewell—or, so some hopeful part of him thought.


    Azul’s hands found her waist again, this time with a firmer grip. The act of touching her was grounding him. His fingers pressed into the delicate fabric of her swimdress, feeling the pulse of her heartbeat beneath the soft material. He pulled her just a little closer, the heat from her body seeping into him. His chest brushed hers as he tilted his head, his lips capturing hers in a kiss that was both tentative and desperate all at once. It was a kiss of quiet want, a secret promise written in the press of his mouth against hers.


    Yuu''s response was immediate, her fingers slipping into the mess of his hair, tugging him just that bit closer. He could feel her warmth, her breath mingling with his as she drew him in. The kiss deepened, slowly, and Azul allowed himself to fall, to drown in it. He moved his hands, one curling gently around the small of her back, the other finding its way to her face, fingers lightly grazing her cheek, memorizing the feel of her skin for every dream he would ever have without her beside him. She fit perfectly against him, like a ship under stars, like promises in the dark, the other half the infernal dust the infernal dust had promised him she was when it had touched his skin.


    His heart thundered in his chest as his hands slid down her back. Feeling the subtle curve of her spine, he wondered if she would let him be closer. If she would let him try—he pulled. Subtly. Gently at first.


    She sighed, arcing her body flush against his.


    He couldn’t help himself. His tentacles moved of their own accord, knotting her tightly against him. He wrapped her in himself, almost expecting her to push him away. Instead, she made a satisfied sound into his mouth, extraordinarily giving voice to the same feeling coursing through his limbs—only closer. Only now. More.


    His lips moved against hers with more urgency now, the pace quickening, though still laced with that same overwhelming need to savor her, to make it last.


    Sensing the hesitance, she let out a small sound of complaint. Her fingers slid into his hair, tugging him down, pulling him deeper into the kiss, and Azul’s breath hitched in response. The pace of the kiss quickened, but still, he was careful, savoring each brush of her lips, each shift of her body. He moved his lips over hers with purpose, his hand now resting on her back, pressing her gently into him. He could feel the slight tremble of her hands, the subtle hitch of her breath against his lips, and it sent a shiver down his spine.


    Azul’s breath caught as he held her closer, his hands steady on her waist, she, responding to him with an intensity he hadn’t expected. His hand moved to the back of her neck, his fingers tangling in her hair, and he could feel the heat of her body pressing against his, her every breath mingling with his own. Yuu’s hands raked through his hair, the sensation making any thoughts of delicacy flee beyond reach.


    So focused on how she felt in his hands, and the hot feeling of her mouth, and tongue moving with his, he’d nearly forgotten that he had her arms and legs both tangled around him. As the pace intensified, her legs shifted in the grip of tentacles, sending warm, curling signals up through his limbs, and dancing up his spine.


    Her limbs pulling on his, she angled her hips against the base of his torso and ground into him.


    Just once.


    The feeling that coursed through him wrenched a sound from him that would have scared small fish. He couldn’t find it in himself to be mortified, at the brief, involuntary gasp.


    “Yuu,” he growled into her mouth. “I am going…” he gasped between kisses, “… to go mad…If I lose you.”


    It was said out loud, and could never be taken back.


    “I’ll never forgive you if you do,” she hissed back.


    It was his turn to respond with absolute confidence, determined to show her a taste of what she would miss if she ever left him. He ran his tentacles down her legs, careful to brush in places that he remembered had sent her over the edge the night of the Banejaw wedding. The high, keening mewling that she rewarded him with was a song in his blood.


    Just kissing was pushing him to the brink, and he was suddenly, excruciatingly jealous of his frivolous, tepid, coddled, happily married cousin.


    It was perhaps for the best, and to his desperate frustration, when Yuu pulled back.


    “I thought you’d never say anything.” She was breathing as hard as he was.


    “I won’t ask you to stay,” he said, hating himself with every word. And he wouldn’t. It would be selfish. It would be irrevocable. It would bring them both unnecessary regrets that he would never foist on her.


    But it didn’t mean that he didn’t want to.


    “But if you did stay,” he heard himself saying, immediately diverting any remaining self-control to his words, and praying it would be enough. “If you wanted to stay…”


    He swallowed hard. How could he say this, without ruining himself? Without going back on his own deal with his better sense of reason?


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    “If I stayed?” she prompted. She angled her face up so that her forehead rested on his, waiting.


    He let the starlight above filter into his retina, let the cool evening breeze blow across the tendons of his back, bringing him back into himself enough for this chance to say what he’d been wanting to for so long.


    "Yuu," he began, his voice emptier than he intended, a careful calm hiding the restlessness underneath. "You’ve been here long enough to see the... complexities of this world. It’s easy to believe that the future is a safe, neatly packaged thing... but I don’t think you’d be the same if you did. I think, perhaps, something would be missing—because the things that make life matter, are the things that often demand the most from us."


    He paused, searching her expression for some sign of what she might be thinking. He wasn’t sure if he was searching for permission to say more or if he was simply waiting for a sign that they were both standing at the edge of something far deeper than just another fleeting connection.


    "There’s... there''s a certain unpredictability in staying here, Yuu. The unpredictability, the messiness of it all... but there’s also something that comes with it. Something you won’t find anywhere else."


    The words hung in the air, an invitation, but not a demand. Azul stood there, his posture as composed as ever, but his eyes betrayed a certain longing, a hope that this might be the moment she would understand.


    "Yuu," he began, the air between them thick with an unspoken tension. "If I may, you’re not exactly the type to settle for what is ordinary, or what is easy, are you?"


    His eyes never wavered from hers, and once more, she let him near, just listening to him. He paused, however, still wondering if he overstepped.


    "I promise you—if you stay, even just for a little longer—you’ll realize that there’s more here than you could ever imagine. More than I could offer in a lifetime, although I would try, if you’d let me," Azul straightened a little, not breaking the contact they had, but no longer pinning her so tightly, either. His voice had a vulnerable edge to it that he hadn’t planned.


    He allowed his words to hang in the air, offering her space to decide what to make of them. When the silence lingered painfully long, however, he realized how his words could have been taken—not that he didn’t mean them, but perhaps was not the time—


    No, he told himself, steeling his heart for whatever came next. This was the time. This might be the only time.


    “If you stayed, I would even promise I won’t be as infuriating as usual. Maybe."


    She smiled, and then inhaled like she was still trying to catch her breath.


    “I got a letter today, through the mirror,” she said breathlessly.


    Immediate confusion set in. He was pouring his heart out to her, and she…was telling him about her day? Not that he wouldn’t listen. Was it too much? Was this her way of telling him he’d gone too far?


    “It was from home. I have a way to communicate. I have a way to rebuild the connections I lost…”


    The idea shot through his head.


    What was she—


    “I’ve already promised Grim I’m not leaving. At least until graduation.”


    For Azul, it was as though time itself had briefly decided to pause. His breath catching in his chest, and not for the first time in his time with Yuu, or even this evening, his practiced composure cracked. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. His fingers, so accustomed to the precision of control, curled slightly as though they were searching for something solid to grasp. He settled on her, pulling her up the inch to meet his eyes fully.


    “You… what?” he managed, his voice barely above a whisper.


    Her fingers traced distracting circles in the hair at the nape of his neck, and he became aware that he’d forgotten to close his mouth.


    “I’m staying. For now. Does that…does that change anything?”


    He pushed the boundaries of permission once more to press one kiss—just one, achingly tender and soft against her lips. Then, he pulled away. There was more he needed to hear.


    “So… So, I have until then to convince you to stay longer?”


    “It’s not a lifetime,” she said softly. He had pulled back, but she had not.


    “No,” he breathed a surprised laugh. “No, it isn’t. But I wouldn’t be fit to do business with pond algae if I didn’t recognize an opportunity.”


    She smiled, reaching up to tap his ear.


    “Business does follow you everywhere. Especially when you’re…dodging. What is it you actually wanted to say, Azul?”


    He gave a nervous laugh, but the elation of the moment seemed to be taking over his senses, because he found himself confessing something to Yuu that he never would have permitted himself to voice before this night.


    “I’ve found myself…somewhat envious of Varrun of late—which, believe me, is a surprise. Growing up, I never thought I’d want to do any more than stand in the same room as that squeamish guppy—ah—”


    “Ah, sibling love,” she teased.


    He scoffed. “Hardly.”


    Laughing, she tucked her head under his chin. It was for the better. That movement spared him the embarrassment of her watching him lose his thread of thought—again—and at the same time reassured him that she wasn’t put off by his poor expression of what he had meant to say, which was that—


    “You’re jealous that a bigger fish than you caught a human? If you want Mallory, you might have to wait a few years before she’s even a little distractible….and even then, I don’t think you’ll tear her away from him. They’re… they do have something real.”


    Azul snorted, partially in indignation, and partially in distaste.


    “Varrun can keep his explosive human, thanks,” he retorted impishly. “I meant to say that his catch was so timely. And that he managed it at all.”


    “You have such faith in him,” she murmured into his neck, warming him enough that he curled his arms around her again, the embrace both contenting and pleasant.


    “I have exactly the faith that he deserves,” he scoffed gently, pressing his face into her hair, now nearly dry. “But he did manage something great, and for that….I’d say he has my respect, but really he has my envy.”


    “Hm,” she murmured.


    Then, turning her face into his neck, she bit him—not hard enough to break skin, but hard enough to make him stiffen in surprise. She kissed the stinging mark her teeth had likely left in the skin, and he moaned, tilting his head to give her better access.


    She obliged him, marking the rest of the way up to his jaw, where she stopped just below his ear.


    She gave him enough time to bring his eyes back into focus before she murmured in his ear.


    “What exactly are you asking, Azul?”


    He scrambled to sweep together the thoughts that he had only just gotten recollected.


    “I… erm, I hadn’t exactly had time to put it into words yet—” he gasped.


    “You’re… asking to date me? Quite seriously, if I’m interpreting the reference to your cousin correctly…”


    He swallowed, heart doubtlessly hammering through her fingertips in his nervousness.


    “I believe I am. Your answer?”


    The weight of the moment bore down on his breath like the pressure shift before a storm. For a brief, gut-wrenching second, he marveled at just how much of his life had been gambled on this moment. Her silence was maddening, the anticipation almost unbearable. Every part of him told him to brace for the worst, to guard his heart against disappointment, but for once he was grateful—to even have the chance to take this risk.


    Just as his nerves were threatening to fray, she smiled—just a little, but enough to melt the cold tension.


    “It’s a deal.”