Work Text:
Between the dorm’s tiny window and his electronics on his nightstand there wasn’t much light in the room, but Tamaki’s hand sifted through blond curls with ease. “Your hair is getting long again,” he murmured, and warmth spread as Mirio’s free arm slid up his own with deliberation.
“Mmm. Guess so,” Mirio concluded. Tamaki watched the shadows jerk just above his eyelashes, before Mirio’s fingers returned to eye level and drummed against his temple, thoughtful and steady. There was a glint of teeth before he continued. “Maybe I’ll keep it long and look cool for graduation. Good idea, or great idea?”
“Honestly, I would pay you to do that,” Tamaki admitted, “only because I never could. I bet you’d find a way to make it entertaining. I think U.A. would let you pull it off, but probably not without startling a couple people.”
Mirio tapped Tamaki’s cheek, playful, the pad of his thumb pushing gently into his jaw. Tamaki was about to settle into the silence when Mirio interrupted and said, “Admit it, my long hair was amazing.”
Tamaki snorted into the pillow as quietly as he could. The dorm walls did little to block noise from the hallways, let alone adjacent rooms and while he didn’t think anyone else was awake, he wasn’t up for getting caught with a classmate after curfew. “It’d be a public service if you grew your hair out again,” he confirmed without opening his eyes, voice careful and deadpan. When Mirio exhaled warm and humid on his face, he caught himself before he could squawk.
“Dude, gross,” Tamaki hissed, eyes flying open; Mirio, of course, started snickering. He flipped half the pillow onto Mirio, whose head popped through it in an instant, and Tamaki rolled away in enough time before Mirio could swat him. His foot knocked into the wall, and they forced themselves to stop laughing louder and discern external noise instead. “You’re too much,” Tamaki muttered when there was silence, sitting up, and Mirio didn’t try to permeate through anything this time, when his hands covered his face completely with quiet but shaking laughter. Mirio’s voice bordered on a falsetto when he spoke again.
“Tamaki, your face,” he began, straining, but couldn’t continue without succumbing to more restrained giggling.
Tamaki thumped a half-hearted hand on Mirio’s shoulder, and he used his other one to muffle his mouth. “That’s not funny,” he mumbled behind his fingers, but the note of amusement slipped through anyway and he watched as Mirio lifted one of his arms to pry the hand off Tamaki’s face. He didn’t say anything as he rolled Tamaki’s wrist back and forth between his forefinger and thumb instead, and Tamaki tried not to miss the sensation too much when he stopped, abrupt.
“What time is it?” Mirio suddenly asked.
Tamaki squinted at his clock. “Quarter after one,” he said, looking down at Mirio.
Mirio’s expression didn’t budge, even after Tamaki answered him: the serious yet contemplative look on his face was nothing new, but Tamaki never knew what Mirio was thinking about, the handful times he got to see Mirio make that particular face. “Sure is nice we’re in dorms now, isn’t it? Time goes by faster than you realize.” Glancing behind him and without missing a beat, he added, “I should probably get going, though.”
“Yeah. Probably,” Tamaki heard himself say.
Mirio hesitated for a moment, pushing himself up with reluctance then leaning into Tamaki’s shoulder. Tamaki’s hands wound themselves through his hair again, ruffling the back; the relaxed sigh that came out of Mirio was one of sublime bliss, and he planted a soft, slow kiss on Tamaki’s temple before he crossed the room in two easy strides. Tamaki didn’t bother to follow, and leaned into the corner of the wall directly against his mattress. He watched Mirio stick a couple toes through the wall, back facing him.
“Hey, Tamaki.”
“Mmm.”
Mirio wiggled his foot before retracting it from the wall. “We won’t have to keep doing this forever, ya know. One of these days we’ll actually get to stay a night through together.”
There was a beat of silence, but Tamaki didn’t let it last long. The prospect of life outside prying eyes and school boundaries was nice, but the eventual trade off would be nicer. “I know. I’m looking forward to it,” he said, voice soft.
“Yeah. Me too,” Mirio replied, also quiet. But he stopped stalling for time when he straightened his spine, and gave Tamaki one of his million-watt smiles and a quick wave of his hand. “Sleep well, ‘kay?” he said, and he slid into the wall, disappearing with a grin.
“Sleep well,” Tamaki whispered to the dark, and finally let himself be lulled to sleep.