Work Text:
At a time where most people would be asleep, Kota was wide awake, sitting on a small couch in a room with his phone in hands.
It was early in the morning. 4:25 AM to be exact.
This wouldn't have been a very unusual scenario for most people nowadays.. if it weren't for the things that he was typing out not-so gingerly.
His phone cast a soft light on his face, making his eyes glisten. Everything was quiet around him aside from the light sounds of his fingers tapping the keyboard on the screen. He read the short text once more and kept looking at it after. The words seemed to come off as more serious and scary than he intended them to sound so he thought an exclamation point would be appropriate to lighten things up. Not really, but in his mind it made sense in a way.
For a moment he thought about what those words even meant to himself. Or if they actually meant anything at all. He chose strong words to describe the feelings he couldn't quite pin-point himself but hey, he also put an exclamation point in there to make it sound less like he was just mere seconds away from committing a crime.
It sounded almost silly at some point. Would any of his followers even take any of it seriously?
A part of him hoped they wouldn't and the other wished they would.
Things were turning out to be a lot more stressful for him now. 'Conflicted' would be the best fitting word for his feelings at that particular moment.
He couldn't help but ask himself why he was in the middle of all of this in the first place. He didn't want any of it. Who was he even directing this at? He wasn't sure and he told himself that that's okay.
Now having stared at the tweet for long enough, he decided he should just let it go and post it. Suddenly, he became very aware of the fact that he actually wasn't alone. Something clicked and let him know that there was in fact someone else very nearby.
Leaving the draft for the tweet still unpublished, he looked up across the room to see Kenny open the door to the bathroom, coming out with a towel around his neck.
"What are you doing? You didn't go to sleep yet?", he asked when he spotted Kota still not having moved from where he was before Kenny entered the bathroom. After getting a light headshake as an answer, Kenny made his way over to the bed, sat down and started stretching his arms out, yawning and towel falling off his shoulders as he did.
In the meantime, Kota finally clicked 'Tweet' so he could shut his phone off for awhile and try to get at least a little nap. Kenny was about to lay down when his phone buzzed, eliciting a small huff of laughter from Kota.
"You have my notifications on?" Kenny simply shrugged with a smile before picking up his phone to see Kota's new tweet. He started reading it, thinking it would be something harmless and funny as usual but he found himself almost shocked at what he read.
"What's that all about?" Kenny now asked, his voice carrying the slightest bit of concern as he walked over to Kota who still hadn't moved a bit.
"Nothing, really. Just.. you know how I can be sometimes."
As Kenny sat down and put his arm around him, he was trying to look for any clue on Kota's face but was mostly met with a tired and restless expression.
"Are you okay? Is it about tomorrow?" Kota shifted and leaned against Kenny as he sighed.
"Yeah yeah, it's fine though really.."
"I mean I understand but should you really be sending death threats through Twitter? Why don't you calm down a little?" Kenny laughed a little as he nudged Kota with his free hand. He got the smallest smile back and shook his head.
Kenny decided he wouldn't push it as if there really was something urgent or important to discuss, Kota would definitely tell him. But Kenny still felt bad leaving it at that and wanted Kota to look more calm so he could go to sleep as well without having to worry. So he quickly got up again, telling Kota to wait for him there.
"You still don't seem very relaxed to me. I'll go make you some tea, alright?"
Kota was thinking about protesting and telling him to just go to bed but Kenny was already gone and he wouldn't be able to stop him anyway. So he closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the couch.
"You're the best", he called after him in a quiet voice, not expecting him to hear it.
"I know!"
Kota heard the faint sount of the electric kettle boiling the water and some rattling noises made by Kenny probably getting a cup for the tea. It'd take a couple of minutes but he enjoyed leaning back in silence.
He couldn't help but smile to himself as Kenny came back with a cup of steaming tea and the goofiest expression on his face. He sat down next to Kota and handed him the tea before propping his elbow up on the backrest, knuckles pressed into his own cheek to watch him take his first sip.
"It's chamomile. It'll help you calm down a bit so we can go to sleep."
Glancing at Kenny before bringing the rim of the cup up to his lips, Kota blew softly over the surface of the liquid in an attempt to cool it down a tad.
While he started to drink it, Kenny was watching him intently and slowly brought up his hand to smooth down the hair at the back of Kota's neck and continued stroking his head as the elder chuckled, bringing his hands down to his lap with the cup in hand. Kota turned to look at him and they shared a brief moment of eye contact before Kenny moved closer, leaning in to kiss him but..
"Sorry, tea's getting cold." Kota said hurriedly, brought the tea up to his mouth and went back to finishing his drink, a mischievous grin planted on his face as he eyed the other from the side. Kenny huffed in disbelief and let himself slump back but still with a smile.
"You're awful", he said but his loving expression towards Kota couldn't fool anyone. Now Kota decided to play nice and initiated the kiss himself but Kenny almost pulled the same trick on him, slightly leaning back but ultimately still going for the kiss. It was quick but sweet and definitely more than enough to make the two of them smile and happy.
As they parted, Kenny rested his head on Kota's shoulder while he waited for him to finish his tea. After he fully emptied the cup, he put it on the side table and turned back around to face Kenny.
"Feel any better? Should we go to sleep now? We're probably not going to get more than an hour or two anyway but anything to keep you from strangling someone."
"Okay, you need to stop. I won't kill anyone."
Kenny got up and pulled Kota up by the hands with him before dramatically flipping his hair and going : "NOW you won't. Because of the tea I made you."
"You know, I might change my mind and really do it and you'll be my victim if you keep talking." Kota shoved him back lightly in a mockingly intimidating way, Kenny raising his eyebrows in a challenging manner but dropping the act soon.
"We should really go to bed now."
"Agreed."
...
...
"You're welcome, by the way, for being able to sleep now, thanks to my chamomile tea."
"That's it, you're sleeping alone."
"Hey no, I love you!"
"Goodnight, Kenny."
"Don't do this to me, Kota!"
•
But Kenny was relieved to find Kota beside him after all.