the mission was over, and the adrenaline was finally cooling down. you were walking side-by-side with ikari, who was currently decompressing by loudly complaining about how "weak" the opponents were today.

usually, you just let him rant, but today you felt a bit bold. without thinking much of it, you reached out and slid your hand into his.

ikari stopped mid-sentence. he didn't just stop walking; he froze like a statue. his entire arm went rigid like a steel beam, and his face turned a shade of crimson so deep it matched his blood scythe.

"what... what are you doing?" he managed to choke out, his voice octaved higher than usual.. "are you trying to skip the whole damn process?! we aren't even engaged yet!"

when you laughed and asked him what the big deal is, he looked genuinely horrified, his usual arrogance replaced by pure, unadulterated panic.

"don't you know... hand-holding is for married people! it’s—it’s how you get... you know! the consequences!" he was waving his hands around wildly now, refusing to look you in the eye. "you can’t just go around grabbing people’s hands in public! do you have no shame? my reputation is on the line here!"