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"Oh, look who's gracing me with their presence tonight." Zero looked up, watching with shadowed eyes as X made his way to the bed, not even bothering to catch himself before flopping clumsily onto the man, "Hey, princess." A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he ran his fingers through X's thick, dusky hair.
"Not a princess." X grumbled into Zero's neck.
"Little prince, then." He chuffed, and took a deep breath, stretching. "How I love my little prince." The mere touch of X's tiny hands on his bare chest were enough to make his skin shiver. After all these years, who would have imagined it would still feel as it did the day they met?
X kept a smile to himself, letting Zero's weather worn hands run over the thick armor padding that he'd been too tired to take off.
"Unacceptable, little prince. You can't fuckin' sleep in that shit."
The bedroom was already warm and cozy, a tiny glass nightlight providing all the atmosphere needed for the boys. But it soon grew brighter at the sound of X's giggles, and Zero's sweet nothings as he went to work undressing his boyfriend.
"How dare you, enter my home," He teased between kissing all over X, "Wearing clothing, like a heathen."
"Excuse you!" X squeaked back, squirming under the sheer force of Zero's affection, "Back when we first met, for three months you wouldn't take off YOUR padding!"
"I was a FOOL back then," He laughed, nuzzling aggressively into X's cheeks with his own, "a FOOLISH FOOL, to have not even kissed you once ."
X scrambled to fight back against the face rubs, kicking his legs and flailing his arms, before they all settled, wrapping securely around Zero's waist and shoulders.
"Foolish fool!" He echoed, giggling wildly, "Now you'll have to kiss me three months worth." He held himself giddily to the boy, noses pressed together.
"All in one night?" Zero wiggled his eyebrows.
"All in one night." X repeated, his body relaxing under a tender, but passionate kiss.
"That's a lot of kissin', dude. You think you can handle that?" Zero cradled X's delicate cheeks in his hands, his fingers brushing the soft hair at the nape of his neck. The boy really was so small in comparison to him.
"Mhm." A childish noise, face in a pudgy pout, "Lotta kissin'." He bit at his lip, and Zero groaned loudly.
"It's been YEARS, YEARS , and you STILL make me wanna just grab Alia's loudspeaker and yell about how much I love you to the whole damn HQ."
"You did that already, Zero." X giggled again, tangling his slender little fingers in the boy's golden mane of hair, "Like, last week, too."
"Okay, but," Zero half heartedly attempted to argue, but at the soft look of X's gray eyes in the lamplight, he stopped, "Sometimes a guy's just gotta yell about how much he loves his boyfriend."
"Yell a LOT." X sniggered even more as Zero began to kiss at him again with a loud huff.
"Well, I'll be quiet now, if it makes you happy." Zero murmured, his kisses becoming more languid, "Just for you."
"I'd like that." X purred, letting himself go limp in anticipation. He eased his head to the side so Zero could continue kissing his neck.
"Why is it,"
A kiss to the jaw, peck on the cheek,
"That everyone falls in love with you, wherever you go," Zero swept over him in one powerful motion, every inch of his skin brushing X's.
It felt as if though, no matter how many times his fingers threaded through the fluffy hair, no matter how many times he held him passionately, tightly, no matter how many times his tongue tasted the boy's lips--no matter what Zero did, it was never enough to show the true magnitude of love he had for X.
The boy only smiled up at him, eyes fluttering closed as Zero let his passion soften, adoringly kissing the glowing gem on his forehead. It was pink now, but the light emanating was strong, bathing both of them in a rosy warmth.
"I love you. More than the sky loves the ocean, more than the sun loves the moon." Zero murmured, his notions of a fiery night of passion fading with each tiny, tiny kiss that X peppered his neck and jaw with. They had plenty of those nights back when they were young.
Despite both of their protests, they had grown up. Sometimes it was still hard to feel, sometimes they clung to each other like the children they once were--but as long as they were together--it was their own world, and nothing existed outside each other's embrace.
"You're being silly." X mumbled sleepily, lips lingering on Zero's copper-gold skin, "You always say those things when you're tired."
Zero simply smiled into X's slender neck.
"Silly, silly boy..." X mumbled, already beginning to drift off, his earlier burst of energy having drained him entirely. His head fell to the side, and he pulled his arms up to his chest, small fists loosely curled. Zero chuffed at the sight. He knew it well, though it made him sad.
It had been long lost instinct of sleeping in that damned capsule the council had crammed him in every night.
"We're both silly." Zero whispered, rolling off of X and onto his side, taking him with him, and cuddling him up into his strong, strong arms, "But I'd rather be silly in love, than anything else."
With his blue gem pressed gently to X's red one, he closed his eyes and continued to run his fingers through the boy's thick hair. If he kept it up long enough, he may be lucky enough to get the smallest sleepy squeak from him.
Zero's rough hands dwarfed the boy's cheeks and shoulders as he gave them attention as well, rubbing a callused brown thumb into the creamy skin. The contrast of their skin was incredible, and he wondered why they had been built differently.
He hid a smile to himself. He liked it. He liked how different they were, how big, burly, and sun-skinned he was, whereas X was lithe and wiry, his skin a soft buttermilk to the touch. Zero was also commanding and confident, while his partner kept to himself, timid and anxious.
But it all melted away when they were together. X would become bold and playful whenever Zero shared his warmth, and Zero would be gentle and lax, full of nothing but laughter and bear hugs.
X twitched in his sleep, jarring Zero from his thoughts.
As carefully as he could, he cradled the boy to him, wrapping himself around him securely. As much as he needed sleep, Zero fought the instinct, wishing to be in a state of exhausted bliss such as this.
Little X twitched again, a tiny hum escaping his lips as he went to bury his nose in the crook of Zero's neck.
"You're...such a good boy, such a good kid..." Zero mumbled weakly, consciousness fleeting, "Tomorrow...we'll..."
But he never finished.
The powerful notion of rest, at the touch of X's gem to his, flooding his entire body with a sense of utter content was all it took to close his eyes, and give in to the dream already asleep in his arms.