Work Text:
It was hard living a double life, you decided as you wiped down the ninth table of the hour. The bakery you worked at was receiving its usual steady coming and going of customers, but for some reason today it seemed to hit you harder than most. You were five hours into your normal shift in the evening, but it felt like you’d been running back and forth in the tiny building since three in the morning.
Your back cracked loudly as you straightened up from the table and put the tray of condiments back on the surface. Nothing had really happened that made you so tired and achy, but your body seemed to be catching up with the lack of sleep you’ve been getting, and it seemed to take a bigger toll on your physical health than you would have hoped. Even your boyfriends, who usually were oblivious to your health unless you said something, had noticed and began to bug you about resting more. It was weird.
As you paused in your wandering behind the counter and briefly watched the customers chatter, you smiled. Right. Boyfriends.
It had kind of happened accidentally. All three of you had grown up in the same neighbourhood and graduated together. You were known as the inseparable trio even into university, moving into an apartment together and sharing similar classes. It was thanks to your friend Mina who forced your feelings out of you during a drunken round of truth or dare that you realized your true intentions. Your bashful confession to the boys the next night led to a triangle of embarrassing admissions and unspoken emotions - and now here you were.
Even though you and your two boyfriends had been a thing for the past few months, you still had to get used to the extra letter to the word. Having more than one boyfriend at a time was not unheard of, but it was certainly something different than what you had experienced prior to dating them. It was fresh and new, and every moment with them really made you feel like you belong with both boys.
It was especially exciting when none of your friends knew about the relationship, and the same went for their friends as well. The three of you had decided that, because it was such a controversial topic among your friend groups, it would be best to hide your relationship from them for a while, and instead ease them into the idea of a poly trio. Since the three of you had been living in the same apartment as “friends” beforehand, you didn’t have to worry about hiding your residency, it was just everything else that became a problem.
“What are you thinkin’ about?” a voice breaks through your thoughts, and you startle at the sight of your coworker right in front of you, on the other side of the counter. “You kinda looked dead for a few seconds there.”
You grimace, “Sorry, Ochako. I was just daydreaming, I guess.”
“Daydreaming? It’s 8 PM. You were just outright dreaming,” she giggled, draping her towel across her wrist. “You’re lucky I’m the one that caught you, Inko-san wouldn’t have liked seeing you drift off again.”
You tense up at the comment and laugh nervously, your aching bones and pounding head not up for jokes at the moment. “Yeah, you’re right. I think my body is just ready to be done for the day.” you wince as your back creaks again when you move.
Your friend looked you up and down, sudden worry etching into her delicate features. “I can cover for you if you want, you know.” she says suddenly, “You only have half an hour left on your shift anyways.”
Standing up straight, you put your hands up and shake your head. “No it’s fine, I don’t want to worsen your workload-”
“It’s fine, [Y/N]. I don't want you to pass out from exhaustion or anything,” she says reassuringly, reaching over to put a hand on your shoulder, “Besides, I’ve only been here for an hour and it’s gotten pretty quiet here.” she swatted you away with her hands, “Go and rest and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As that processes in your brain, your body begins to feel like it’s dragging down more, but you find a chuckle rises to your lips. “You sound like Inko-san.”
Ochako laughed. “I've been dating her son for over a year now; I guess I've spent too much time with both of them and picked up their mannerisms. Now,” she came around the counter and lightly began to push you into the back room, “Go home and sleep.” And with that, she left, probably out to go wait on more tables.
You grabbed your bags and let out a loud sigh. You needed a hot shower and a long nap - badly.
-------
Once you had gotten off the bus and trudged all the way to your apartment, you felt thoroughly spent. Your brain felt like a pile of mush in your head, and while you couldn’t form proper cohesive thoughts, you tried to work out why you were so goddamn tired.
By the time you approached your door and fumbled with your bag to pull out your keys, you had come to a sudden realization: you had only slept 4 hours every night the past few days. Your workload from your university had started to overlap your workload from your job, which meant you had to put in twice the amount of effort to stay on track.
Wow, I guess I really am a dumbass. No wonder I’m exhausted.
Silence greeted you when you entered your home. You frowned. Your two boyfriends were home, and with one of them being the absolute definition of temperamental, there was no way such a dead silence would last for long. You closed the door behind you and waited for a few seconds, taking off your shoes and hanging your jacket up.
“Oh, for FUCKS sake!”
There it was.
As you slung your bag off your shoulder, you heard one of them slam something and begin to ramble from what seemed to be the kitchen. “Listen, fucker, I know you like to play pranks on me when [Y/N]’s gone, but replacing all the eggs in the fucking carton with rocks when I SPECIFICALLY said I wanted to cook something for her when she got home is a DICK MOV-”
Katsuki had stormed out from the kitchen and into the tiny hallway that led into the living room and happened to latch his eyes onto your figure standing in the entrance. His mouth remained open, and you watched with mild amusement as you could see the gears turning in his brain. Even as Shouto replied with something sassy from a different room, his bright red eyes stayed on your figure as you sheepishly smiled.
“What the fuck?” was the first thing out of his mouth following his pause, seeming to forget about his previous dilemma, and stood there with bewilderment. “Why are you home so early?”
“What?” came a voice from the living room, and a few seconds later a red and white head poked out from the door frame. Shouto’s eyes landed on you as well, and his eyes widened. “[Y/N].”
“Hey guys,” you chuckled, “I was sent home.”
Both boys made their way over to you. “Why?” Katsuki narrowed his eyes, “Did they fuck up the schedules again?”
You shook your head before he could jump to conclusions. “No, Ochako wanted me to come home and rest,” you admitted, chuckling nervously as you watched both of their expressions. Shouto tilted his head and reached out to grab your hand and stroke the back with his thumb, while Katsuki crossed his arms. They both looked as confused and worried as their naturally stoic faces could provide them. “Sorry if I interrupted anything.” you smiled up at them.
While Katsuki huffed and turned his head away, Shouto gave you a crooked smile. “You didn’t, don’t worry babe.” he hesitated with a side glance to the boy beside him, and then added, “We fucked earlier so Katsuki would be more collected when you came back, but I guess that didn't really help him at all-”
“Oi, why the fuck would you say that?" Katsuki glared at Shouto and clenched his fists. Anyone that wasn’t familiar with his antics would’ve thought he was genuinely angry, but you saw the way the corners of his lips turned upwards and the way his cheeks were dusted with pink as he yelled. You bit down on your lip to hold back another smile as he continued, “You call yourself collected? If I’m not fucking mistaken, I’m not the one that threw out all the eggs in this goddamn household just for shits and giggles-”
“You still didn't figure that out?” Shouto quirked an eyebrow at him, a smirk making its way onto his features. “I didn’t throw them out, dork. The actual carton of eggs is on the shelf below the rock eggs.”
“What-” Katsuki promptly left the gathering in the hall and stomped to the kitchen. There was a split second of silence that allowed Shouto to wrap you in a comforting hug, and then “What the FUCK!” was heard again.
Shouto nestled his head into your neck and joined in with your giggles, his voice right by your ear and resonating in your head. And just like that, you remembered why you came home so early, and you groaned exhaustedly. You relaxed in your boyfriend’s arms a little, and your eyes threatened to start closing. Being around your boyfriends certainly made you forget about the stresses of work and life in general, and it was so wonderful that sometimes you wish you could never leave them alone. It certainly didn’t help your tired state as one of them was rubbing circles into your sides, it was so soothing even as your other boyfriend raged about eggs in the next room over----
Ugh. “Okay,” you snapped out of your daze and straightened up, seeming to startle the boy that was holding you. You stepped back quickly with a certain amount of regained energy that would soon deplete. “I need to shower and then I’m going to sleep.”
“Sounds good,” Shouto mumbled, letting go of you. “I can make tea for when you get out.” he offered, earning a grateful smile from you.
“That would be great, Shouto.” you stretched your arms behind your back and felt your shoulders pop. From the corner of your eyes, you saw Katsuki poke his head out from the kitchen and watch silently. “I’ll be back in a few.”
You kissed Shouto on the cheek briefly as a farewell and walked down the hall to the main bedroom. As you passed by Katsuki, he tugged you into him and gave you a quick side hug, pressing a kiss to the side of your head.
"I can cook some eggs for your dumb ass if you want," he said gruffly, reaching up to stroke your hair as he spoke. "You haven't eaten all day, right?"
"U-uh," your face started to flush, and although your stomach was indeed pretty empty, you couldn't pass up the concept of having a cup of tea and then sleeping for twelve hours straight. "I had a croissant at the bakery earlier so I should be okay. Thank you, though..." you trailed off as the blond boy tucked a lock of hair behind your ear, watching you with attentive eyes.
"Hm. Okay." was all he said, craning his head down and pressing a brief kiss to your lips. As soon as he withdrew, he pushed you slightly and patted your butt. "Go shower then, idiot."
Mildly surprised by his actions, you felt a blush creeping to your cheeks, and as soon as he let go of you, you bolted into your bedroom. Grabbing a change of clothes and a towel, you shuffled over into the connected bathroom and looked at your face in the mirror.
Yeah, you still had a lot to get used to. Both boys were a lot more affectionate than you had expected, which was good in a sense as you were as well. But the initial shock of having someone who used to call himself “Lord Explosion Murder” kiss you so gently, and for one of your coldest friends to give you such a comforting and warm embrace.... it really made you feel like you were on Cloud 9.
You pushed on your cheeks to will some of the red to leave your face, and instead focused on the eye bags that were slowly becoming more and more prominent. Shower first, thoughts about IcyHot and Lord Explosion Murder later.
--------
Upon leaving the bedroom, clad in sweatpants and a t-shirt, the familiar sound of two voices talking hits your ears and makes your heart do flips. You grappled at your damp hair and tangled it into a messy bun as you wandered into the kitchen, encountering the two guys sitting across from each other at the table having small talk. Well, more or less sitting across from each other - Katsuki was sitting on the counter, Shouto was sitting at the table.
“Well, isn’t this a sight for sore eyes,” you mumbled, smiling as both men gazed over at you. You sat down in the chair beside Shouto as he got up and got you a mug and the kettle.
“I know, sometimes I can’t believe it when we have actual conversations either,” he says, pouring boiling water in the mug. He hands you a bag of chamomile tea and presses a kiss into the side of your head. You watch with a smile as he glides over to Katsuki, pulling out a cup and mimicking his actions. When the blond doesn’t get a kiss to the head, he starts to open his mouth to protest, but soon gets a swift peck on the cheek instead. You find yourself holding back a grin as you put the tea bag in the mug, wanting to savour such a sweet moment.
“Thanks, Mommy,” you said sarcastically, ultimately ruining the moment as you grin at their distraught expressions.
“[Y/N], no. We’re not in that type of relationship.” Shouto instantly says, grimacing as he pours himself a cup. You laugh, and then cringe as doing so makes your back crack. You really should get that checked.
The next few minutes go by quicker than expected, as the three of you drink your tea and continue the small talk. You tell them about your shift at work, and about all the weird things you saw. Katsuki talks about his job as well, and how he has to work under a new boss starting tomorrow, and Shouto pipes in about the classes he attended at university today. You listen intently as both of your boyfriends tell you about their days and make small inside jokes now and then, and you start to realize with a sense of dread that you really were missing out on a lot recently - you started to block out your relationships in favour of getting work done.
You felt bad. The boys were still talking, but you yawned and put your empty cup in the sink, feeling sort of left out. You had spent way too much time away - it felt like your chest was getting tight and you were going to start sobbing then and there. Trying to hold back the urge to start tearing up, you headed to your room, mumbling a "Goodnight." to your boyfriends. You figured they would continue talking and ignore you, having been lost in their own world of funny and sarcastic remarks. What you didn’t expect, however, was for both of them to stop their chatter and instantly trail after you.
After turning your head to look at them, you quirked an eyebrow but said nothing. Taking a deep breath, you crawled under the covers in the darkened room and watched as Katsuki and Shouto's moonlit silhouettes undressed into nothing but their boxers. They got in one by one, with the blond on your right and the bicoloured one on your left.
Trying to push your sad thoughts away, you turned to face the latter, and the former tugged you closer to him. This was your old nightly ritual - you were the little spoon to Katsuki while Shouto offered you a hand to hold and a face to kiss. You were thoroughly cocooned in between the two men, and when the three of you were comfortable, you took the time to break the silence.
“I’m sorry for being so distant lately,” you whispered, feeling your eyes start to water. Katsuki reached over and grabbed ahold of one of your hands, tangling your fingers and squeezing.
Shouto reached up and stroked your cheek, wiping away the tears that had started to fall. “It’s okay, love,” he mumbled back, grazing his thumb lightly over your eyebrow. “It’s hard balancing life and work sometimes. Everyone has to learn how in their own way.”
“Yeah,” you breathed, looking into his different coloured eyes, “It is.” you exhaled shakily.
From behind you, Katsuki shifted and buried his face into your neck. “You don’t have to shut us out of your life when you’re stressed, you know,” he pulled you in tighter and feathered kisses along your exposed skin. “We’re here for you. Dumb ass.”
A blush crept itself back onto your cheeks and ears, and you blinked slowly, sniffling. “Yeah, I know. I'm really sorry. I feel like... like I missed a big chunk of our relationship.”
“If you know you're distancing yourself, then don’t do it, idiot,” he muttered, stopping in his kissing to simply bury his head in your skin. “I missed having you here,” he grumbled, his breath hot against your skin.
“I did too,” Shouto whispered, his hand having now gone to your own free hand and kissed it. “Katsuki is bearable to have around, but only when you’re here with us is it perfect.”
From behind you, the blond snorted. "Well, fuck you, IcyHot."
"You already did, Katsuki."
Your eyes were starting to get even heavier, but a smile still found its way onto your face again. “Being with you two is perfect all the time,” you slurred, your sleepy speech coming out. “I love you guys.”
A chuckle. Then, the covers were tucked up to your chin. “I love you, too, [Y/N]. And you, I guess, Katsuki.”
“Shut up idiot. I love you both. Goodnight.”