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Yanfei laid back upon the towel that was spread out upon the dock. She lazily shook the fishing pole in her hands, wiggling the bait at the end of the line with the intention of luring some unlucky fish into biting the hook.
Thirty-fifth time’s the charm. I hope. The young Adeptus laid back, resting her head on her free hand, staring into the sky. This was her favorite fishing spot. No one ever came here, the waters were calm, and the sea was usually plentiful. So why was it that it had been an hour and a half with three bites and two getaways? She didn’t know why she loved fishing so much sometimes. There would be many days where she would catch enough fish to feed a small army, and then there would be some days where she would have more antlers than fish. Today seemed like one of those days. Yanfei sighed. Why did she love fishing so much? Yanfei heard shuffling next to her, and she turned her head to see a blonde boy shifting his sitting position. Ah, that’s why.
Aether. The mysterious, otherworldly traveler that she had unceremoniously fallen head over heels for. The only person to ever render her speechless and the only person to embrace when she wasn’t speechless. The blonde traveler sat in a partial criss-cross, with his right knee vertical to allow Aether to prop his hand upon it. He leaned back on his elbow, a serene and languid expression settling upon his face. She smiled, knowing that the ever-active traveler was at peace for once. Yanfei looked down at the rest of him, admiring his lean, battle-hardened muscles, his toned midriff, his-
Damn, his midriff. Yanfei sat up, looking at Aether’s exposed stomach. He had opted for the undershirt that he always wore, save for the extra bits of armor and his scarf. Since they were fishing by a lake, Aether also wore simple, dark brown shorts that day. Looking down at herself, she was dressed in a frilly, red, two-piece bikini. Her top had one big wavy frill extending downward, and the bottoms having a matching sheer skirt train to go along with it. She patted her stomach, pouting as she looked back at Aether’s flaunted midriff.
“Aether, you really rock that midriff better than I do,” she lamented, poking his exposed skin. Aether laughed on reflex, his gaze focusing on her.
“I’m pretty sure I said the same exact thing to you when we first started going out, ‘Fei.”
“Did you now? I don’t really remember… wait, yes I do,” the pink-haired Adeptus said as the haze of memory settled over her.
“That whole situation was honestly so embarrassing,” Yanfei moaned in near shame.
“Why? I thought it was adorable.”
“Stop that, you’re making me blush,” Yanfei said as she playfully swatted Aether’s arm.
“What else am I supposed to do in my spare time?”
“I hate you.”
“Uh, objection? Considering that we’re sitting here together now, nearly nine months later, you evidently don’t,” Aether chuckled.
“Hmph,” Yanfei pouted as she was thrown back into her memories.
“Aether!” the girl called peppily from across the room as Aether entered his teapot home.
“Nice to see you, Yanfei.”
“Nice to see you too, heh heh,” the lawyer giggled awkwardly as if trying to save face for something. Aether observed Yanfei as she stood across the room, words attempting to burst out of her tiny body. She obviously had something to say, but something was stopping her, as was evident from the incessant fidgeting with her clothes. Yanfei typically was a very tightly wound person, but not this much. Not only that, she consistently glanced over at Aether as he put his things away for the day, making it even more obvious that she had something to say. Aether sighed, having had enough. She needed to say whatever she needed to; otherwise, she was going to erupt. Aether knew it.
“Yanfei, what’s up? You look like a pyro slime about to explode.”
“Oh, it’s nothing, absolutely nothing! Don’t worry about it, it’s fine,” Yanfei babbled, the words tumbling out of her mouth like rocks down a hill. Aether eyed her suspiciously, completely unconvinced by her response.
“I think you’re lying to me.”
“What? Me, lie? No, I couldn’t possibly.”
“Yanfei.” Aether stared her down, applying pressure upon the flustered Adeptus with his gaze. She squirmed where she stood, turning redder and redder to match her vision. She couldn’t take it; it was too much. The soul-piercing stare was just too sharp.
“Ngh… fine.”
“I’m here to listen,” Aether said, smiling gently.
“It’s just…” Yanfei began, completely unsure of how to string together the right words. “Can we go fishing? Like, just the two of us? Not even with your little floating friend there. I… I just… uh, want to… show you what I’m capable of… not just professionally! But more as just… as just a person!”
The fiery lawyer groaned at her own ineptitude with words at the moment. Aether’s eyebrows knitted together in exasperation. He smiled at her, finding great amusement in her contradictory lack of words. He chuckled warmly and put a hand on her head, ruffling Yanfei’s hair. The antlered Adeptus shrank as he pet her head, too embarrassed to look at Aether in the eyes.
“I would love to,” the traveler chuckled.
“Gods, that was actually so awful. I didn’t know what to say, I was awkward, I stumbled over everything, I don’t know why you actually said yes to that.”
“Honestly, ‘Fei, you had me charmed from the very beginning.”
“That’s news to me,” Yanfei snorted. “All I do is talk about everything in the stars and dumb legal stuff. Mostly dumb legal stuff.”
“First of all, shut up, I absolutely adore you,” Aether chastised, pinching her cheek. The lawyer squeaked in response. “Second of all, I see all that talking as your enthusiasm for life, your work, and, well, me. Never mind that it’s a lot that comes out of your mouth. I could sit there and listen to you forever, Yanfei. Like when you dragged me to this fishing spot here!”
Yanfei groaned again. “Oh no, please don’t bring that up, that was even more embarrassing than asking you to go fishing in the first place.”
“False,” Aether rebutted, forcing memories to come flooding back to Yanfei.
“This way, Aether!” the young lawyer chirped. With a bounce in each step, she bounded forward excitedly, stars in her eyes. Suddenly, Yanfei stopped and pointed toward the beach. “Oh! I remember over here I caught the biggest sea bass that I have ever seen in my life! It was like, six feet long, and I could barely take it back to go cook it!”
Once again, Yanfei dashed forward, leaving Aether jogging behind her to catch up. He smiled, relishing in her eagerness.
“And over there, I’m pretty sure I found a whole family of hermit crabs just burrowed in the sand! I almost stepped on one, which scared it out of its hiding place, and like ten more followed after it into the water! I tried to catch one, but I ended up falling into the water before I could,” Yanfei laughed sheepishly, turning around to Aether. She jogged forward just a little more before stopping once again.
“Ooh, I remember that spot! I once caught two fish on one hook! Two! Can you believe that?!”
Aether smiled wanly. “Knowing you, that doesn’t really surprise me.”
Yanfei beamed at Aether. “Yeah, fair enough. I’ve done a lot of fishing in my lifetime!”
She continued forward, stopping once again to say something before the Adeptus visibly deflated.
“Hey, listen. I know I talk a lot, but if you ever want me to… I dunno, slow down or shut up, please just let me know,” Yanfei mumbled.
Aether simply put a hand on top of her head and smiled back at her. “Don’t even start with that. I’m here and willing to listen to any stories you have, so keep ‘em coming.”
Yanfei tenderly looked up at Aether, eyes shining brighter than any imaginable star. She grinned back at him, cheeks blushing pink.
“Alright, if you insist!”
Yanfei looked down bashfully. “I suppose you did say the same thing then, but…”
Aether cocked his head to the side. “But what?”
“But all I really did was just talk your ear off. I don’t really remember you saying much when we got to actual fishing.”
“I will say that I didn’t really say much when we were actually fishing,” Aether agreed. “But that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy myself. Fishing’s a lot more fun when you’re with good company! In my opinion, it’s kind of boring alone. I don’t know how you did it all by yourself for so many years. Not to mention, it was entertaining seeing you all flustered like that.”
The sun was high above the water, and the two sat on the dock, exchanging stories of their adventures and travels. Well, it was mostly Yanfei recanting stories of dumb things that have happened in her career, with Aether interjecting with a relevant story here and there from another world, but at the end of the day, it was mostly Yanfei chatting things up. Aether didn’t mind one bit as he fed off Yanfei’s neverending energy and passion for life. He smiled as she wrapped up one of her stories.
“...and then she asked me to help sue him because she tripped over a toddler! A toddler! That was her own dang fault! Isn’t it just common sense to look out for small human beings wandering around aimlessly before you run into them? That was the dumbest thing! And you know the worst part? SHE WON THE LAWSUIT! She got like fifty thousand Mora out of it! Almost quintuple what I charged her! I seriously had to stop taking clients for a week straight after that one.”
Aether laughed sardonically, feeling sympathy for the poor lawyer.
“I really can’t imagine people are this dumb. The fact that she asked you to help her also completely just blows my mind.”
“Right?! It was so stupid! It was like this one other time where-” Yanfei began before coming to a screeching halt. “Hold up!”
“Grk… it’s a big one,” she grunted. Yanfei stood up, tugging against her fishing pole. The lawyer took a step back, lowering her stance for more stability as she fought against what seemed to be an absolute monster of a fish.
“Do- do you want some help?” Aether asked, concerned that Yanfei would be pulled in and whisked away by an oversized bass. The girl simply winked at him and grinned confidently.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve done bigger than this,” she laughed, steeling herself for one final pull. With a practiced and swift motion, Yanfei yanked the pole, her fishing line going slack as a huge sea bass flew out of the water, landing on the dock with a thud. She cried out triumphantly. “Woo! Got it!”
“Oh my gods, that thing is absolutely huge! I can’t believe you reeled it in like that!”
“All in a day’s work,” Yanfei said, flashing him a smug grin. Aether was colored impressed. That fish was nearly three-quarters her size, yet she managed to reel it in like it was no big deal. For such a petite girl, that truly was a sight to behold. However, his thoughts drifted elsewhere as Aether flushed pink as he watched her stow away the fish in her storage basket that she had brought with her. He glanced at her exposed stomach and then looked at his own midriff, suddenly feeling extremely inadequate. Aether pinched his stomach and squished it, lamenting at the difference in presentation. Aether sighed.
“Y’know, Yanfei,” he began, getting the lawyer’s attention.
“What’s up?”
“You rock that midriff way better than I do.”
Yanfei stared at Aether, blinking, mouth slightly agape for a few seconds, her brain going into a shutdown sequence as she attempted to process what he had just said. Upon rebooting a short time later, the Adeptus reeled back like she had just been shot with a four-foot-wide ballista bolt.
“I-I-I… huh? M-my midriff? You? Wha…?!” It was official: she was a goner. Yanfei’s brain was utterly fried, causing Aether to laugh warmly at the flustered attorney.
Yanfei pouted at the thought of herself breaking down like that. “Mmm, Aether, I don’t think you realize how weak I was to things like that, especially coming from you.”
The traveler chuckled. “Oh, I knew. That’s partially why I said it.”
“You’re mean,” Yanfei pouted.
“I know,” Aether cheekily smiled back. The couple went silent for a few seconds as Yanfei chewed on everything they had just reminisced about.
“Aether, all things considered, I don’t know why you’re with me, even still today. I was elated when you asked me to accompany you on your travels as an advisor and as a, well, partner, but I just don’t-”
“Yanfei,” Aether interrupted. “Do you remember what I said to you when you told me how you felt for the first time?”
“Aether, do you know why I asked you to come fishing with me today? Alone?”
Aether had an inkling as to why, considering that the ace attorney had, for the most part, made it painfully obvious. Still, he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“Tell me.”
“Well, it’s because…” Yanfei began, once again at a loss for words. “I like you. I like you a lot, Aether. When I first met you, you were the only one that’s ever sat there and listened to me so intently. You asked me questions, kept me going, and you didn’t even fall asleep! Not only that, you’re just… so kind, so strong, ambitious, and... “ Yanfei sighed. “Listen, I could go on forever as to why I like you, but all you need to know is that I like you a lot.”
Yanfei pulled her knees into her chest, conserving energy for suppressing the raw amounts of anxiety and fear that was oozing out of every pore.
“If you don’t like me back, that’s fine. I completely understand. All I ever do is study law and talk at you and just… I don’t know. I don’t see any reason for you to be attracted to m-”
“Yanfei.”
“Huh?” The girl turned toward Aether, who had interrupted her in the middle of her self-deprecating spiel. Suddenly, a gentle hand took her by the chin, and she was suddenly aware of how busy her lips were, and this time, it wasn’t from talking. Electricity arced between her and Aether as they kissed, and she gasped, completely taken by surprise. Soon enough, Yanfei found herself absorbed in their kiss, never wanting it to end. It was so soft, so delicate and pillowy, nothing like she had ever experienced before. Surprisingly enough, Aether was her first-ever kiss in her long life, and she was beyond ecstatic that he gave Yanfei her first. Soon enough, the two needed to come up for air, and they separated, staring longingly into each other’s eyes.
“Yanfei, I don’t think you realize how cute you are. Everything about you. You’re worth so much more than you think. Hundreds of millions of Mora can’t even compare to you. I love having you around. I enjoy talking with you, whether it’s about fishing, the law, or anything else under the stars. Listening to you is such a blessing, as what you say about me, other people, and other things hold a lot of weight when I make decisions. Yanfei, I like you too, and I fell in love with every single part of you. Don’t ever forget that, okay?”
Yanfei sniffled, touched by Aether’s kind words and his reciprocation of her feelings. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears, and a plethora of emotions cascaded through her consciousness. Happiness. Relief. Excitement. Every positive feeling that she could think of, Yanfei was probably feeling. She grabbed onto Aether’s shirt and pulled him toward her, burying her face in his chest. Aether simply smiled and wrapped his arms around the girl, who had begun to cry happy tears. Through her sobs, the Adeptus looked up at him and spoke in as much of a teasing manner as she could.
“I’m the lawyer here, but how are you so much better with words than I am?”
“You forget that I’m a couple of centuries old.”
“I am too, idiot!” Yanfei pouted.
Aether simply chuckled.
Yanfei thought back on her confession of her feelings. She looked at Aether, who was still waiting on a response.
“Do you still mean it?”
Aether smiled affectionately at her. “Of course I do. I still, and will always love, every part of you. ‘Till the end.”
The traveler leaned over and planted a kiss on the Adeptus’ temple, eliciting a giggle from her. She opened her mouth to retort back at him but was cut short by Aether blowing a fat raspberry on her stomach.
* PBTHBBT*
“Even your midriff!” Aether grinned. Yanfei was sent into a fit of uncontrollable giggles, toppling backward.
“Aether, stop! You know I’m ticklish there!” Yanfei choked out through titters.
“No, I don’t think I will,” Aether said before resuming his attack on Yanfei’s tummy.
* PBTHBBTBBHPTH*