Ivar was light on his feet, bouncy and giddy with happiness. Never in his life had a date gone so perfectly for him. After being pulled down from the barricade that he was playing along, he had been held in Keijo’s warm and comforting arms. Unless he was with Eji, Ivar never found comfort like that.

When Keijo had finally let him go, the poor man seemed much too flustered to continue their date. He had blurted out that he wanted to go on more dates, then let him go and said his goodbyes. Ivar understood, he was quite red in the face too. He couldn’t get Keijo’s face out of his brain. They were so close. He already wanted to spam text him again but decided to wait until tomorrow. For now, he was returning home.

To his confusion, the first thing that Ivar saw when he entered the lounge room was a strange man with a short head of spiky dirty blonde hair, sitting on a couch, guarded by two of Eji’s bodyguards.

“Huh? Who are you?”

The man looked up at Ivar. “I’m Sakari… I’m waiting for the other man to wake up.”

“Ahh. I’ll go see.”

Ivar looked over Sakari for a quick second before making his way upstairs to the kitchen. In the kitchen, he saw a very tired Eji in his sleepwear, a cup of what smelled like very strong coffee in his hand. Eji only noticed him after half a minute, and looked over at him slowly. Ivar watched his brother furrow his eyebrows and look him up and down with his tired eyes. He had clearly only just woken up.

“Mgh… Why are you wearing that?”

Ivar’s excitement came bubbling back to the forefront of his mind, and he bounced towards Eji, wrapping him involuntarily in a hug.

“Ejiiiii! I just went on the best date ever!!”

Eji hugged him back for a second, then pushed him slightly away so he could give him a judgemental look. “A date?”

“Yes! He’s so pretty~ I met him at the bar a few days ago~ His name means Fairy and he swooned me and swept me off my feet, he held me in his arms, Ejiiii~”

Eji raised an eyebrow. He seemed more awake now. “A few days ago? And you’ve already agreed to dating him?”

“… Yeah?” Oh no… Ivar knew that Eji was extra careful about new people… Which was probably why the man in the lounge room was currently being guarded by two of his strongest bodyguards.

“Trust me Eji… He’s really just a sweet man. He’s a soft, warm marshmallow.”

Eji took a large gulp of his coffee and sighed. “Did you do a background check? Did you look him up and see what his occupation is? Did you search him for weapons? Are you sure he’s not a rival or worse, an undercover police officer??”

Ivar could tell that his voice was getting more and more worried, so he stopped him in his tracks. “Eji calm down. Yes, I did a background check. He seems to be unemployed, maybe a freelancer. There were no weapons on him, and with the amount he worried for my safety I don’t think he could be a rival or an officer. If he was a rival, he would’ve pushed me off the carpark ledge.”

Eji looked like he was about to have a breakdown, but he took a deep breath. “Fine. Just don’t… lose yourself.”

“I won’t~!” Ivar’s voice turned to a happy tone, and he hugged Eji tight again. It was always so much nicer to cuddle him when he didn’t have his corsets on. He was much warmer and more welcoming. Eji finished his cup of coffee and put it down on the counter before hugging Ivar back properly.

“Oh Ivar… What do I do…? A man showed up last night and asked for a job… if I deny him, he could be an enemy, if I don’t and he’s a rival or a police officer I’m done for…”

Ivar looked up at Eji. His stubble was growing back all scruffy… He hadn’t partaken in much self-care recently… he could tell.

“What you do, is you take a shower, you do your skincare routine, you get dressed, and you come downstairs. Assign him guards so he’s watched twenty-four seven, make him do a mundane task that you can watch over and make sure that he doesn’t misbehave.”

Eji gave him a smile, held his cheeks and kissed his forehead. He loved when he did that. “You’re the best brother ever, Ivar. What would I do without you?”

Ivar couldn’t help smiling and melting into Eji’s attention. “I dunno~ You’re not too bad yourself I guess.”

Eji giggled and ruffled Ivar’s hair, then separated himself. “Alright. I’ll do those things. I’m glad you enjoyed your new suitor, my prince.”

“Stop that!”