Disclaimer:
Saint Seiya © Masami Kurumada
Saint Seiya : The Lost Canvas © Shiori Teshirogi
Warning: Possibly OOC, possibly crack, shonen-ai (Kardia x Dégel and Defteros x Asmita)
I don't take material benefit upon writing this fanfiction.
Inspired by
Pleiades Star Cluster's tweet
Special for Valentine's Day 2019
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"Chocolava with Love"
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"Are these enough?" A man with blue mane of hair seen to be carrying a dozen of cocoa fruits while stepping out of the wilderness.
"For our first experiment, that would be enough." Another man, with greyish blue mane of hair and tanned skin answered without shifting his gaze from an open book. "Collect the beans, Kardia."
"No way! That's your job, Defteros! I've collected the fruits," protested Kardia while placing the cocoa fruits on the ground near Defteros's feet.
Defteros finally averted his gaze to the other male as he sighed. "Alright. You continue reading the tutorial."
Kardia opened his mouth to protest but he couldn't. Reading once in months wouldn't hurt, would it? Without any word escaped his lips, Kardia took the book from Defteros as the latter proceeded to collect cocoa beans from the fruits.
The scorpion's eyes quickly scanned the page where the tutorial was written.
"After this we should roast the beans. Let me prepare the fire!" said him rather hurriedly, and without waiting for Defteros' agreement, Kardia placed the book on a boulder to lit a fire with charcoal they had prepared. It was better to lit a fire rather than reading the procedures written in the tutorial, he thought.
Once the fire was lit up and Defteros was done collecting the cocoa beans, they proceeded to roast the beans on a clay cooking stove for about twenty minutes until the beans started to crack. During the waiting, Defteros read the book to know what steps they had to do next. Apparently, the next step was cracking the bean to remove the shell covering. It was written that they need hammer to crack the roasted beans, but since they had no hammer, they chose to do it with a lumber and a bit of…cosmos. Cosmos could always saved the day, after all.
During their work, a random question broke the silence. "Can we make it apple flavored?"
"No."
"Why not?!"
"The chocolates are not for us, save your idea for later."
Kardia displayed a sulking face but didn't insist. Knowing that the older male wouldn't agree with his idea, he returned his focus to the work.
"I think we are in trouble." The Scorpio said a moment after they were done removing the shell covering.
"What is it?" asked Defteros as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the bandage on his arm.
Kardia pointed at the open book. "How are we going to do the next step? The book said we need equipment strong enough to liquefy the nibs."
Defteros frowned before taking the book from Kardia's hand to make sure about it himself. They hadn't thought about this. They needed something to turn the nibs into cocoa liquor. Obviously they didn't have equipment required for that.
The demon of Kanon Island snapped his fingers when an idea crossed his mind. Without further ado, he placed the nibs on a clay cookware and walked over to Kanon Volcano direction.
"What are you going to do?!" Kardia somehow could feel that Defteros was going to do something… inappropriate—or crazy, even.
"Heat could melt everything." Defteros stopped walking and—rather dramatically—turned his head to face Kardia with eyes gleamed with confidence and determination.
Kardia froze and stared at the older man in disbelief.
Seconds after, Defteros continued his steps to the desired place.
After overcoming his shock, Kardia screamed.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
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On Athena's sacred land, Aquarius Dégel seemed to be troubled by the sudden disappearance of his partner. Kardia usually waited in his own temple or in Aquarius for Dégel to finish reading. But today, when Dégel exited his library after daily dose of reading, the scorpion was nowhere to be found. He couldn't even feel the Scorpio's cosmos.
Dégel climbed down the countless stairs, visiting every Zodiac House to find Kardia or asked some of his fellows if they knew anything regarding Kardia's absence.
"What's troubling you, Aquarius?"
The Aquarius abruptly stopped walking when the guardian of Virgo gave him a question. He planned to just burn his cosmos as permission and pass the Virgo House quietly trying not to disturb the guardian's meditation. But who would have thought that Virgo Asmita decided to talk to him?
Dégel turned to Asmita who was sitting in meditating position. "Pardon my disturbance," responded him politely. "The sun has set and I couldn't find Kardia. Could he be sent for a mission?"
"I didn't hear anything about mission. He didn't pass through this temple."
Dégel frowned. Well, that was strange. How could Kardia leave Sanctuary if he didn't pass through Virgo House?
"Asmita, do you know—" Dégel stopped in mid-sentence upon sensing a strong cosmos approaching. Dégel immediately turned around and be on guard, while Asmita remained calm in his position. Following the cosmos, a portal appeared in front of them and two familiar men appeared from it.
"Kardia!"
One of those two men, who was indeed Kardia, startled upon seeing Dégel in Virgo House. It was totally unexpected.
"Dégel?! Why are you here?"
Instead of answering, Dégel looked at Kardia and Defteros, demanding an explanation through his gaze.
"I made something for you." Smiling nervously under such a cold gaze, Kardia slowly approached his partner and revealed something he hid behind his back. "Ta-da! Happy Valentine's Day, Dégel!"
Actually he planned to give his present in Aquarius House, but since Dégel was here, he had no other choice.
Dégel blinked, surprised to see a bowl full of chocolate in Kardia's hand.
"You… made them?"
"Yeah!" Kardia answered vigorously, accompanied with his typical wide grin.
"Oh, Kardia…" Dégel melted by Kardia's sweetness. The Scorpio always managed to surprise him in a sweet way. "Is that why you seem to get a sugar high? You even have chocolate on your cheek," said him as he wiped the chocolate from Kardia's cheek.
Without answering, Kardia took Dégel's wrist and licked the latter's finger.
"Love birds." Defteros murmured. Done watching the love birds, he approached Asmita who apparently had stood up. He took one chocolate from the bowl he was holding, intended to feed his beloved. "Happy Valentine's Day. Asmita. Here, take a bite."
Knowing that the other couple was too busy to watch them, Asmita took a bite of the chocolate held between Defteros's fingers. "Heart-shaped, really?" An amused smile made its way to his lips.
Defteros snorted. "Don't mock me now."
The Virgo chuckled as he relished the bittersweet taste that melted in his mouth. He didn't really like sweet, but this chocolate was different because it was made effortfully by the one he loved. Defteros's gaze softened and fixated on that beautiful face of the Virgo. He leaned closer to land a soft, gentle kiss on Asmita's forehead, totally forgot that they weren't the only ones in the room.
"Who are the love birds now?!"
Defteros jolted in surprise and reflexively backed away from Asmita.
"Shush, Kardia." Dégel elbowed Kardia gently in the stomach. But then, all of them chuckled.
"How about we sit outside and enjoy the night breeze?" Kardia's suggestion made the others fell into silence, especially Dégel. As far as he knew, Defteros and Asmita didn't really enjoy others' company, they only enjoyed each other's. Kardia's suggestion might be rejected.
"Very well. You may wait at the porch. I'll make you some tea."
Or not.
It was an ordinary humble offer of a host, but it turned to be something surprising and extraordinary when it came from Virgo Asmita—who on daily basis didn't even let anyone stay in his temple for more than a minute, except for Defteros.
Apparently today could be an exception.
"I'll help you." Defteros volunteered, smiling.
As the Gemini-Virgo couple made their way to the kitchen, Dégel and Kardia walked to the aforementioned place, the porch of sixth temple.
"They're gonna kiss!" Kardia exclaimed, already had the mental image of the other couple kissing in the kitchen while preparing tea.
"Shush."
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It was a night of countless stars. The pinprick of light shone brilliantly on the dark sky. No cloud was seen blocking the moon's silver light. The sky was really clear and breathtakingly beautiful. Kardia and Dégel were seen sitting beside each other, enjoying the picturesque scenery displayed upon them as well as the gentle breeze. The Greek's hand rested atop Dégel's which was resting on the stone floor, slightly holding it. This time, Dégel didn't mind even if his two fellows witnessed this.
"Kardia."
"Mmm?" Kardia averted his gaze from the starry sky to the one sitting next to him, only to find Dégel offered him one of the heart-shaped chocolates.
Grinning, Kardia opened his mouth and let Dégel feed him.
It was far from perfect—since it was their first try and none of them really knew how to cook properly—but the satisfaction made the chocolate taste incredible.
"Are the chocolates too sweet?"
"No. They suit my liking," answered the Aquarius as he took another one for himself. "Thank you, Kardia."
"Anything for you, my dear." Kardia said sweetly before landing a gentle kiss on Dégel's temple.
A few minutes later, Defteros and Asmita joined them. The pleasant scent of tea washed away their weariness, especially for the Greeks who spent all day and put their best effort to make chocolate for their lovers.
"So, you are going to spend the night here?" asked Kardia to Defteros after the couple seated themselves.
"Probably," answered the Gemini nonchalantly.
"I mean, HERE?"
Dégel sighed while sipping the hot tea, already gave up at trying to stop Kardia from teasing the other couple. To think about it, before this, Dégel himself couln't totally believe those two were engaged in romantic relationship. But after witnessing with his own eyes the way Defteros looked at Asmita and the way Asmita smiled at Defteros, all the doubt vanished in an instant.
"So what if I spend the night here? Asmita will be meditating all night, like usual." The older Greek took his tea and sipped it.
"And if I'm not?"
Defteros almost choked at the tea.
"On whose side are you, Asmita?"
Kardia burst out laughing at the amusing scene before him. Even Dégel failed to hide a smile. The Aquarius then quietly took another chocolate, taking a bite of it while wondering how those two managed to make them. They probably bough some chocolate bars in the market, melted them, and put the melted chocolate in heart-shaped container, Dégel thought.
"But man… Making chocolate was really exhausting." Kardia stretched his arms, letting out a long tired sigh. "But I still can't believe you melted the nibs in the lava."
Dégel choked.
Literally.
"Dégel?! Are you okay?" Kardia patted Dégel's back and offered a cup of tea with his free hand, not quite certain whose cup it was. "I-I mean, he only used the heat to melt the nibs. There is no way I would let him to add lava as ingredient!"
With a shaking hand, Dégel accepted the cup and slowly drank from it. At least his question about how those two made the chocolate was answered.
"Better?" asked Kardia with voice full of concern, his hand still stroked Dégel's back to comfort him. When Dégel nodded, he sighed in relief.
The silence was broken by a laughter.
It wasn't Defteros's, Kardia's, let alone Dégel who was still trying to manage his breath.
It was Asmita's.
Which made the three stare in awe.
It wasn't a mere chuckle Defteros sometimes heard from Asmita. It was an actual laugh. A laughter of joy, free of sorrow. Melodious and very pleasant to hear. Defteros definitely would memorize it and take it to his grave.
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"I heard that Asmita rarely sleep." Dégel whispered. It was almost midnight and they hadn't moved from the porch of Virgo House.
"Yes." Defteros smiled while glancing at Asmita who had his head rested on the Greek's shoulder. He was in a deep slumber with Defteros's arm wrapped around him protectively. "He must be feeling comfortable that he ended up falling asleep."
Dégel smiled before averting his gaze to his lover. Kardia slept soundly with his head rested on Dégel's lap as the Aquarius caressed the rather messy mane of hair.
"He must be tired." Defteros said.
"Most likely."
When Dégel was sure Defteros wasn't looking at them—probaby returning his attention to Asmita, Dégel leaned down to kiss Kardia's forehead gently.
It really was a night of love.
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END
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Happy Valentine for my dear OTPs and everyone~!
I'm truly sorry for the lack of details and description in this fic (also grammatical error, as always), I wrote this in hurry because I didn't want to be late at celebrating Valentine's Day. Regardless of it, I hope you enjoyed the story!
February 14, 2019,
Cerulean Canary.