It seemed like a good idea at the time...
X woke up suddenly, and shifted his eyes to the alarm clock.
05:30
Perfect and precise, 30 minutes before they both were usually awake. ’30 minutes should be sufficient time.’ X thought to himself before he started to get up.
He had been planning this for a long time, and he was going to make sure that nothing would stand between him and total completion.
“Mmmmhhhh…”
Regrettably, that also meant the arm gingerly wrapped around his waist in his way.
X carefully glanced back at the person that arm belonged to, being absolutely careful not to arouse her in any way. He breathed a sigh of relief that his movement didn’t wake her up.
Before he moved further, X took a moment to gaze at the slumbering figure that lay next to him. Aria’s violet hair strewn about all over their pillow, her smooth lips parting just gently as she took in slow, but sleepy breaths, and the warmth that she radiated as she held onto him.
For the briefest of moments, X felt as if he could stare at this sleeping beauty for all eternity, and he would not mind in the slightest…
But no, he had a mission to accomplish, and sacrifices had to be made for the greater good.
Shifting only slightly, X moved his arm over to where Aria had her arm wrapped around his waist and delicately tried to remove it. X unfortunately then found out that Aria had an almost iron-like grip, despite being in what appeared to be a peaceful slumber.
He tried tugging on her arm again, but she apparently wasn’t letting go of him. In his entire life, he’d been on numerous missions requiring stealth and espionage, but this was probably the only incident where he was starting to get worried, especially as he was on a tight timetable, and it was imperative that he succeeded.
Since taking off her arm directly wasn’t going to work, he instead tried a more indirect approach, and began to gentle remove her fingers from his waist. This was a lot easier to accomplish than removing her entire arm directly, for once he placed his hand underneath her fingers, they all gave way and her grip on X was released.
As he slowly removed her arm, Aria began to stir a bit, causing X to freeze.
He couldn’t wake her up, not NOW. It would ruin everything!
Keeping absolutely still, X watched cautiously as Aria mumbled something inaudible in her sleepy daze, before taking her arm from X’s grip and curling herself up in the blankets, seemingly asleep.
X let out a quiet, but tensed up sigh. ‘That was probably the most intense moment of my life, and I’ve fought beings akin to GODs,’ he mused to himself.
But reminiscing would have to be saved for later. Time was of the essence, and he was already running out of it! Almost totally silent, X stealthily slid out of bed and headed out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Finally, he was in the clear and everything could proceed as planned.
With silent steps and quick precision, X zipped down the stairs of the apartment into the downstairs hallway until he had reached his destination:
The Kitchen.
“This task should be fairly simple,” X contemplated to himself. Today was a very important day, and it was absolutely imperative for his efforts to succeed, no matter how mundane they appeared to be.
It was per Rarity’s suggestion from yesterday that X was up this early in the kitchen, as she seemed the most likely source to ask about these gestures. She was very keen to tell him that this was considered a “Romantic Tradition” of sorts, especially on today of all days.
Taking a step towards the fridge, X opened its door and took note of what they had in store. “I’ve driven entire armies to their knees with just my bare hands, I’ve battled horrors in space that would drive most insane upon looking at them, I’ve even fought the so-called “King of Monsters” and lived to tell the tale.
“So, how hard should making breakfast in bed be?”
Aria stirred irritably in bed. She knew that it was almost time to get up, but with the bed so warm and comfy, she would make sure that anyone who tried to get her up would swiftly regret it, and to hell with that whole “early to bed, early to rise” crap she’s heard.
It didn’t help that that noxious smoky odor was making her nose twitch and her eyes moisten. She didn’t need to begin her morning having her nose and eyes all gunked up, especially before she had her morning cof-
‘Wait… smoke? SMOKE?!’
Aria bolted up from the bed in a panic. Even if she was aquatic in nature, all species had encoded in their genes an innate fear of fire, and Aria was no exception.
“X!? Adagio?! Sonata?! What the hell is going-”
Stopping before she nearly jumped out of bed to look for X and her sisters, Aria looked to see a rather stunned looking X standing at the doorway to their bedroom. Letting the adrenaline wear off, Aria could see that X didn’t look panicked, but rather very bewildered at her while holding a large tray.
Both of them blinked at each other in silence for a moment.
“…Good morning. I’m… sorry if I woke you.” X answered first.
“…Then, there’s no fire?” Aria asked with a raised eyebrow.
“...No, there isn’t.”
“Then… what’s with the smell?”
X paused, looking somewhat ashamed, but trying to keep his cool. “There was an... incident in the kitchen. Nothing permanently damaged.”
Aria eyed him for a moment. “Then I take it, the smell has to do with that?” She pointed at the tray.
X nodded and walked over to Aria’s side of the bed. “I… made you breakfast this morning. I hope you will enjoy it.”
For a split second, Aria felt a very touched by X’s gesture. For the longest time in this world, they had to fend for themselves when it came for their meals. Stealing emotions from people didn’t lead for many opportunities of people being generous towards Aria and her sisters.
That being said, that feeling of generosity would’ve lasted longer had X not set down the breakfast tray right in front of her.
Aria could only stare in disbelief at what was laid out before her. On one hand, the presentation of the tray was exquisite. Each of the plates and utensils were placed perfectly in the tray as though she was looking at a something from a restaurant in Paris. Fork and knife evenly spaced between the main plate, and a pristine crystal glass placed on the right above the plate, with a smaller plate on the left. There was even a small vase at the top end of the tray, holding a single rose.
She was certain that she didn’t own any of these fancy dishes and silverware; X must’ve either bought them for this occasion or borrowed them from someone. Probably Rarity. Everything about this breakfast display looked perfect…
That is, aside from the breakfast itself.
Aria’s nose scrunched up at the sight of this “meal”. The eggs, she wasn’t even sure WERE eggs anymore. They looked more like… flakes, yellow flakes with green and red spots piled on top of each other, looking drier than she’s seen anyone cook an omelette. They probably would’ve crackled to dust if she even touched them.
The bacon was a blacked crisp, but not in a good way. Instead of bacon strips, the looked more like “bacon clumps”, curled up into a blackened, crispy wad. They even rolled around in their plate as she adjusted herself in bed.
On the smaller plate on the upper left, was a lumpy and sticky looking mound that she prayed was an attempt at making a muffin, and not some mutated science experiment waiting to jump out at her. It looked… somewhat cooked, but not enough. Some parts of this “muffin” were still oozing batter with blueberry remains seeping out.
The only thing that looked normal by ANY standards (which Aria thanked McCarthy eternally for) was the glass of orange juice in the crystal glass. X was apparently a terrible chef, but at least he wasn’t inept enough to ruin orange juice.
Aria stared at her “breakfast” and then shifted her gaze back to X, who had a rather expectant look on his face.
“Did you make all this?” Aria asked.
X nodded. “For you,” he answered.
Aria felt both touched and dreadful. On the one hand, X obviously put a lot of effort in this meal for some reason.
On the other hand, she wasn’t especially looking forward to a trip to the emergency room today.
She prayed that the breakfast tasted MUCH better than it looked as she eyed the bacon lump. Steeling herself with a sharp inhale, she reached for her fork as she tried to poke the bacon.
Easier said than done, as the blackened mound kept rolling and slipping from the fork, clinking as it rolled around.
Aria then gave up any chance at poking the dang thing, and just opted to pick it up, where she eyed it before giving it a smell.
It was... Burnt. Beyond burnt. The epitome of “burntception”, and she probably would’ve gone with her instinct to drop the clump then and there. Fortunately, her desire to please X was stronger than her supposed “survival instinct”, especially with X eyeing her with those gleaming eyes of his.
Taking a deep breath, Aria closed her eyes preparing for the inevitable, and took a bite.
Immediate regret.
Aria’s eyes snapped open in utter revulsion. Not only did the bacon crumble into her mouth like small dusty shards, but the TASTE! It was like she took a bite out of pure unfiltered smoke, if it was even possible! Trying to avoid gagging then and there, Aria forcefully grabbed the orange juice and downed the whole glass. A wave of relief washed over her as the smoking shards of death were drowned out by citrusy goodness.
After chugging down the whole glass, Aria let out a gasp for air, after almost suffocating on an ounce of OJ.
Letting her breath return to her, Aria felt an immediate wave of guilt as she saw a shocked, and most painful for her to witness, shamed look on X’s face.
“Uh… Sorry.” Aria said as she reached for the napkin to wipe her face.
X’s shoulders sagged slightly. “I take by your… ‘reaction’, that you don’t approve?”
“No offense X,” Aria said as she was finished with her napkin, “But what did you DO?”
“I… cooked your breakfast.” X said flatly.
Aria just raised her eyebrow. “X, have you ever cooked before?”
“I’ve prepared my own meals when it was required. My efforts were… sufficient for survival.” X added, although with some mild hesitance.
“ ‘Sufficient’?” Aria asked sarcastically.
“They were edible enough.”
Aria frowned, clearly skeptical, and grabbed one of bacon lumps. “You sure about that?” She asked holding it out in front of him. X blinked in confusion, before taking the darkened charred remains, and taking a bite out of his creation. While his reaction was not as apparent as Aria’s was, a definite wave of disgust washed over his face.
“…Apparently, I was a bit overzealous in my attempt.” He admitted.
“Ya think?” Aria quickly agreed, but then mentally kicked herself for her insensitivity as she noticed X having a disheartened look.
She let out a sigh. She knew that “brooding” look on X well, and didn’t want it to last. “Look X, it’s alright, you did your best, but we can just-”
“It’s not just “alright”,” X said with a deeply sullen tone, “I failed.”
Aria sighed with a bit of annoyance. “X, it’s just a meal, nothing to get worked up over, we can have something else downstairs.” She said as she began to rise out of bed.
“You don’t understand. This wasn’t ‘just a meal’.” X seethed a bit, getting insulted by Aria’s dismissiveness.
Aria frowned a bit at X’s tone. “X, I said it’s okay, we don’t need to dwell on this issue.”
X met her gaze with an equal frown. “It shouldn’t have been ‘just okay’, I should’ve done better than that, especially with you.” X fumed with a raising voice.
“Why are you beating yourself up about this? It’s just a freaking meal!” asked Aria irritably.
“BECAUSE THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IMPORTANT!!”
Both of them stared at each other in stunned silence. Aria shocked with X’s sudden outburst, and X frozen with regret that he lost his cool, especially to her of all people. They’ve had arguments and disagreements before, but nothing that resorted to them yelling at each other. To X, losing such control over something so trivial, even with his intentions, was inexcusable.
Shaking from the sudden outburst, X deflated as he was overcome with shame as he sat down on the bed, his head in his hands distraught. “I’m sorry Aria, so sorry. I never should have yelled at you, even over this.”
Aria was still in a bit of shock over this as she stared at his drooping form on the bed. She had known X for a while now, but she had never seen him so broken and riled up. Usually eating together seemed like a normal event for X, as just another routine to spend with each other, even when they went out together. X seemed to show more interest in the more exhilarating events on their days, like when they both danced together of the many concerts they went to this year. She definitely improved his taste in music for sure.
But apparently, this “meal” meant a lot more to him than Aria realized, and she cursed herself for not realizing it sooner. If there was anything that Aria regretted most about herself, it was her lack of sensitivity, especially in moments like this.
Luckily, she knew at least how to make up for this mess.
Aria then shifted to the edge of the bed next to X, and gripped his hand with her own. “Then why?” she asked firmly, “Why is this so important to you?”
X blinked in surprise at her, especially to how tight she was gripping his hand, and looked to find her staring at him with a look of determination. X felt a wave relief come over him, knowing that his outburst didn’t damage the bond that they shared, but still felt pangs of regret even as he explained.
“…It’s been a year now.” X said quietly, turning his gaze away.
“Huh?” Aria asked.
“Today is the day when I first came to this world.” X added.
Aria blinked as the pieces came together. “You mean… it’s the day when we first met?”
“Mhmm,” X answered with a nod.
“So, this breakfast was supposed to be like, an anniversary gift?” Aria asked.
“Yes. Rarity said that it’s supposed to be somewhat of a “romantic tradition” for anniversaries.” X said, with a mild smile.
Aria rolled her eyes in amusement. “Of course she did,” she said with a smile as she tenderly held his hand, “That’s why it was so important to you.”
X nodded and looked deep into Aria’s violet eyes. “I wanted this to show you how much you mean to me now, of how I care for you, and how I always be there for you, no matter what.” X said, meaning every word.
Aria smiled warmly at X. Those words cut deep into her, but in no way malicious or hurtful. These words helped break through the wall she put around her heart, never to let anyone in. He had proven every word he spoke, that he would not allow her to come to harm by any means, and she would do the same to him. For such a barrier she built around herself, he had proven long ago that he was worthy enough for her to give her heart to him when so many people hurt her before.
It was words like those that made her love him.
But not enough to not tease him though.
Aria chuckled with a smirk. “You sure you want to be reminded of the day that Sonata busted you in the balls?”
X was taken aback, caught completely off guard, but smiled warmly back at her, with an also equal smirk. “I’ll admit, that day wasn’t really the best first date, wouldn’t you agree?”
Aria blinked. “Did… did you just crack a joke?”
“I’ve learned from the best.” X grinned.
This then sent Aria bursting with laughter, which X quickly joined in as they held each other for support.
“Pffft HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“HehhehHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“Oh McCarthy, I needed that.” Aria said, wiping a tear.
“Glad I could do something right today.” X quipped.
Aria giggled slightly, as she raised her hand to cup his cheek. “You’re fine X. And look, I don’t need some fancy-shmancy breakfast to tell me how much you care for me.” She then leaned in to place a warm and tender kiss on his lips, which he moaned in yearning. Their lips then parted. “I know without a doubt that you’ll always be here with me, and nothing will change that,” Aria continued, still cupping his cheek, “And I hope you know that I’d do the same for you.”
X smiled as he gently grasped Aria’s hand, wanted to almost never let go. “…Thank you Aria.” He whispered, as both of them embraced each other in a warm hug.
“Besides,” Aria said, rubbing her hands against his back, “Your cooking stinks.”
X’s face flattened. “You know, there’s a thin line between being honest, and just being needlessly rude.”
Aria broke the hug to face him. “Then let me be really honest with you. You want prove that you love me?”
“More than anything.” Aria then grabbed X by the neck, and with a quick yelp dragged him back into bed with the covers over them, as she embraced him tenderly in her arms as she nestled her head against his chest.
“Just hold me.”
X was a bit stunned a first, but then embraced Aria in kind as they both shared in each other’s arms. This gesture, while simple in nature, was all they needed to show how much they both wanted, and most importantly, needed each other. Aria listened closely to the beat of X’s heart, while X was content with Aria’s rhythmic breathing.
Here in this bed, after a lifetime of pain, tragedy, and sorrow, they both felt at peace. No one would ever hurt them here. The outside world didn’t exist for all they could care. All that mattered, was what was here and now, and they wouldn’t care if this lasted forever.
In here, all they had was each other.
And that was all they needed.
“Happy Anniversary, X.” Aria whispered.
X was silent, but happiness swelled in his heart. “…Happy Anniversary, Aria.”
In this room, there was nothing, but pure love.
“…Your mouth tasted like smoke.” X quipped.
“Wow, way to ruin a moment.”
Author's Note
Isn't love grand peoples? Just...make sure you KNOW what you're doing, before you accidentally poison your significant other with one of your own "attempts". XD
Once again, shout-out to both The Bridge and Tarbtano, who made an epic and even touching crossover of the most bizarre of crossovers.
Thanks again Tarb, for being the best bud a guy could ask for.
Feliz Cumpleaños!
