He cares about me the same way I care about him. Without a doubt, I know we’re both expecting the same things. We’re both in this for the long haul.
At the moment, Rin is sitting on my counter, scrolling through his phone while I prepare lunch for the two of us. I’m making chicken and veggie stir fry, something easy but filled with all the ingredients I need to reach my macro goals for the day.
Just having him in the kitchen while I work feels incredibly domestic. We talk about our day, filling each other in. I hear the latest gossip in the online world and I do my best to bring any exciting news about the team for Rin to hear. I never used to pay attention to these things but watching Rin’s eyes light up with excitement is causing me to develop a bit of a gossip spree. I wanna keep that excited light in his eyes.
“I think Nessy might have a partner or something,” I tell Rin as I stir the food.
“Remind me who Nessy is again.”
“Nessy the Ninja,” I say in explanation.
“The mascot?”
“Yes! I should probably learn his real name,” I say with a frown. “He was late to the airport last weekend and then he spent the majority of the time on his phone. I don’t think I have a good enough relationship with him to actually ask him but maybe I can get Oli to talk to him. Oli is good with people.”
Just like always, Rin’s eyes light up at this new bit of gossip. “You’re good with people too, babe, but yeah, maybe having Oli investigate is a good call. When you know his name, you should let me know! Did you know he’s a fan?”
I hum. “I did know that. He was very excited after meeting you for the first time. Now he always goes up to say hi when he sees you’re in the crowd.”
“That’s very cute,” Rin says, setting his phone down on the counter. He turns towards me. “Do you think Oli and Ivan are a thing? Rodney was kinda crushing on Oli but I really don’t think he stands a chance, not with the way Oli looks at Ivan.”
I think about it for a moment before nodding. “I don’t know the whole story but I know those two have known each other since they were children. They hold great fondness for each other. Is it more than platonic? I couldn’t say one way or another for certain. I’m not good at guessing these things but if I was forced to guess, I would say they’ll end up together someday.”
“Yeah, I think so too. I just get this vibe, you know? Like they’re desperately holding themselves back from crossing that line into something more. I might not have a pheromone-based nose but evenIcan smell the pining.”
“Does pining have a scent?”
Rin taps his bottom lip for a moment before sighing and picking his phone back up. He sends off a quick text. We don’t have to wait long before he gets a message back.
“Kei says there’s totally a signature to someone who’s in deep longing for someone else. Sometimes it’s so bad that it can make a person sick. Huh,” Rin says after reading the text. “The more you know, I guess.”
“I wonder if I would have an easier time with people if I could smell them like that. Surely, it’s easier to understand if you can simply sniff the air and know how they’re feeling.”
Rin nods his head. “That’s true. It’s also really overwhelming sometimes. Kei says his sense of smell is really sensitive so he gets migraines a lot when he’s out of the house or around a lot of people. Sometimes he has to take special medicine to dull his nose when he knows he’ll be with a lot of people, like when he comes along to your games.”
“I did not know that,” I say, adding stuff to the pan. “That must be very hard.”
“He pretends like it’s not a big deal, but yeah, it can be hard sometimes. Thankfully, Rodney and I apparently smell like pack to him, so our scents are chill.”
“That’s good. What does it mean to be part of Kei’s pack?”
Rin tilts his head to the side, thinking it over. “I’ve never really thought of that before,” he says honestly. “When we moved in together, it wasn’t apparent right from the start. Then one day, I noticed that anytime I left the house he wanted to scent mark me. He’s always double checking our house is safe. When someone is being a jackass in chat, he’s the one to bully them or tell them to back off. He’s an asshole. Probably the biggest one I know but despite that, he’sourasshole.”
My lips quirk up into a small smile at Rin’s words. It doesn’t answer the question he’s worried about so he asks, “and what exactly would your pack do if you wanted to mate with someone? Would they be okay with possibly adding one more to your pack?”
“Oh,” Rin breathes out. His pretty gray eyes snap up, meeting mine. There’s a softness to them that makes my heart throb within my chest. “Well, Maki,” he starts to say but his mouth snaps shut when my phone starts to ring.
“Can you keep an eye on this?” I ask, pointing at our lunch. Rin nods his head, hopping off the counter.
“Hello?” I answer the phone but only because I can see it’s my manager calling.
“Hi, Maki! How are you?”
“I’m fine, Cleo. Thank you. How’re you?”
“I’m great! I have a couple things to discuss with you. Is now an okay time?”
I look over at Rin who gives me a nod. I let out a long breath, sitting at my kitchen counter and pulling a notebook over to myself.
