Lost and Found

The school needed a student file, the hard copy that was in the counselor's office. Ordinarily this would not be a problem.

Cheshire, however, was in the States visiting her family on a small holiday. And not only that, she had forgotten where she the keys were. Present Mic had been pressed into the task of texting her and searching her apartment while she was away. He really hadn't argued that much, seeing as he was happy to have a legitimate excuse to contact her. Getting to see her place again was a bonus. He'd been there a couple times, but it always thrilled him.

After searching her office to no avail, he took the skeleton key Nezu gave him and entered her apartment.

The kitchen and living room search came up empty - for the key, that is. He had searched her pantry for what she liked to eat, making notes on his phone and blushing. Her entertainment center had undergone the same treatment, though a little more intense. Hizashi loved music and television, and he was ecstatic to see her taste in both was wildly eclectic just like his.

In his haste to check everywhere he entered her bedroom as well, and happened to open her nightstand drawer. He immediately froze, his green eyes bulging, as he took in the contents that he could see. Laying on top was the most recent photo shoot he had done for a celebrity hero magazine. It had been a little racy, he remembered, but nothing he had felt uncomfortable about. The magazine was very well rifled through, the pages bent from wear. He took it out and wasn't surprised to see it fell automatically open to his page.

Hizashi choked in embarrassment when he saw what lay underneath. There were a few copies of magazines, an extra of the one he held, brand new in shrink wrap and many others. He was dying to see if they were all ones him in them but couldn't touch the surprise sitting out in the open now: a modest but lifelike dildo. A container of what he assumed was lubricant sat beside it, but he wasn't sure because after seeing the sex toy he guiltily replaced the magazine, his face burning bright red all the way from his ears down into his neck speaker.

The connection was obvious.

But how had he not seen this before? If she was attracted to him wouldn't he have noticed? Wouldn't she have flirted?

Hizashi's mind was not focused on finding the keys anymore. His heart felt like it was going to burst through the thin white tank top he wore under his jacket. He sat down at the edge of her bed, breathing slowly and struggling to calm down.

"She didn't say not to search that drawer," he said out loud.

Had she wanted him to see?

His phone buzzed and he scrambled to tear it out of his pocket.

Cheshire: Hey, did you find it? If it's not in the main house you can go in the bedroom and check my wardrobe in the closet, they might be in a pocket someplace. Just don't open any drawers, lol.

"Oh my god," he groaned, slapping himself in the face. "Of course I shoulda known better than to run into her bedroom! She shouldn't have had to tell me that. I'm - I'm a pervert!" His voice climbed effortlessly into higher octaves as he whined, his brows tightly drawn up on his forehead.

Mic: k, will look there then!

Elly breathed a sigh of relief from the couch where she was texting him in her parent's living room, so many miles away. She was lucky he hadn't gone in there without thinking, then. The impetuous Mic would be the type to open every drawer, not thinking about things like bras, panties or ... her hidden stash. Her face burned though his text had been innocent. That last magazine interview and photo shoot had been distressingly hot. Nithing that most of them hadn't already done, sometimes more than once. He was fully clothed in his hero costume in every photo, except the few where they had him remove his neck gear. The expanse of milky white skin on that long neck flanked by the huge collar of his jacket caused her heart to race. Her eyes grew dreamy as she recalled the interview, which she knew by heart.

They had asked if he was still single, and he had answered yes. He'd mentioned having "his eye" on someone, but he thought they weren't interested in him. Still, the interviewer had pressed and he laughed and said if she ever found out how he felt he would probably die of embarrassment.

She knew how he felt.

Reading that part - or thinking about it -- always caused a bitter surge of jealousy to well up in her throat like bile. She forced it down, frowning, and thought of the more pleasant answers he'd given.

He was a cuddler, and she thought that suited his personality well. Elly longed more than anything to feel those strong arms around her, to smell the soft, well-cared for leather of his jacket.

He mentioned he liked American television, but she knew that. In fact, she was buying a few blu-ray sets while she was here for his birthday in July.

She jumped, startled out of her reverie when her phone chimed with another text.

Mic: found it, babe! Was in one of your jackets

"Oh, no," she choked, realizing her mistake. "Not that jacket!"

Mic: ...

Mic: I didn't know you had one of my replicas!

Her hands ice cold and her ears laid all the way back in panic, she texted as fast as she could to try and minimize the damage.

Cheshire: sorry about that, I ...

"I, what?" She gasped in horror, staring at her phone.

Cheshire: like your jacket

That was lame, but the best she could do. Now she waited, chewing on her cuticles as she worried he might think it was weird, or worse yet, proof. It took her brain a few minutes to go back and replay the messages in her mind, and she almost dropped the phone when he realized.

"Did he call me 'babe'?!"

Her phone displayed a new text almost as if he had heard her.

Mic: if you like it that much, baby, I've got the real thing right here for when you get back

Her heart nearly stopped... and then she yelped out loud in utter shock. He had sent one more text.

Mic: ♡