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Okay, which one ...Teruki looked anxiously back and forth between the two different DVD covers that lay on his bed. He had been standing hunched over them like this for quite some time, flitting his eyes to and fro between the two cases with increasing anxiety. It was one of he and Shigeo's sleepover nights, and Shigeo (likely tired of the responsibility himself) had appointed Teru to pick the movie that they would watch. Teru didn’t know it was going to be this hard, however.
This one is funny and has an action-filled plot, he thought, taking the brightly colored case that sat on his left into his hands. But this one is a classic. I'm not sure about all the romance in it though, he does favor action more, he set the colorful case down in favor of a darker cover on his right-hand side; a strong-jawed masked hero was plastered on the cover next to some pictures of the main love interest and villain. Am I thinking about this too hard? He set the case down again and sighed deeply, he’s probably gonna be here soon.
As if on cue he heard Reigen’s voice from outside his open door say “He should be here soon! Do I need to put snacks out or...something?” he had been giving similar time warnings for a while now and Teru could tell he had been becoming increasingly impatient with each subsequent question. He hadn’t been paying him much mind for the last half hour or so though because he had been trying to decide which movie to watch, or overthinking it, rather.
Should I just tell Shige to pick it? He thought, biting his lip and raising his fingers to his chin. Usually, Shigeo would pick one of the movies at random. He had been getting quite good at choosing quickly and It was a little easier for Shigeo to choose considering that out of Teruki’s vast collection of movies he had only seen a small chunk. For Teruki, however, who had seen all of them more than once and knew what each had to offer, it was very much more on the difficult side.
“Do you really need to spend so much time on this ?” Teru jumped a little when he heard Reigen’s voice this time, he had been so lost in thought that he had not noticed the man knock and then proceed to enter his room, a large bowl of popcorn in his hands. Teru looked away from Reigen sheepishly, twiddling his fingers together in a similar manner.
“I suppose not.” he began, taking the two DVD’s into each one of his hands and sitting down on the bed. He was still looking away from Reigen. “He wanted me to choose the movie this time though, I just want to make sure it’s one that he’ll you know...enjoy.” he finally looked back up at Reigen who had come to sit next to him on the bed.
“I know he’ll enjoy whatever you pick, kiddo. He loves it when you choose the board game or video game, movies aren’t so different.” he placed the bowl behind them a good distance away so that it wouldn’t overturn when he got up, “try not to get so worked up over the little things, okay?” he smiled warmly at Teru, who in turn relaxed a little.
Teruki had been living with Reigen ever since his apartment blew up in the fall of last year, and they had grown quite close as housemates. Since Teru had come into the man’s life, he had moved apartments so that Teru could have his own room, set aside time to help him with homework and stress, he had even encouraged Teru to finally confess to Shigeo. At first Teru had been extremely reluctant of the situation because of how much he had previously relished in his independence (he still refused to let Reigen pay for his half of the rent), but after a while Teru really came to appreciate all that Reigen did for him, even now with little things like this conversation. It was nice being able to rely on others for things like this, even if they were a bit silly.
“Thanks...” Teru said softly, studying the back of one of the DVD covers. There was a knock at the front door and he perked up, watching as Reigen rose from his seat on the bed,
“I’m guessing that’s him,” said Reigen, walking out of Teru’s room and toward the direction of the front door. Teru followed suit and stood, finally setting the movie cases down. He came to stand excitedly at the side of the door as Reigen opened it, barely able to contain himself when he saw Shigeo.
“Hey, sorry I’m a little late i-” Shigeo didn’t even have time to finish his sentence before being bombarded with a very enthusiastic hug from Teru. “Woah!” he had to shift his weight quickly in order to stand the force of the hug and staggered back a little, letting his duffel bag slip out of his hand. When he was balanced he finally let himself fall back into the hug, warmly nuzzling the side of Teru’s head, “you just saw me a few days ago, what’s with all the excitement.” the sound of his voice was putting Teru at ease. He pulled away a little so that he could see Shigeo's face,
“You know I'm always excited to see my boyfriend.” he tightened his grip around Shigeo's shoulders a bit and Shigeo let out a soft laugh.
“I’ll be in my room if the two of you need anything, you kids have fun,” Reigen said, and spun around, walking back into the house with a contented sigh.
“So is there anything in particular you wanted to do tonight?” said Teru once they were back in his room. For a good twenty minutes he had been cuddling with Shigeo on his bed, his head firmly set into the crook between his neck and shoulder.
“Hmm, I don't think I'm in the mood for video games tonight.” Their hands were intertwined and Teru was playing with Shigeo's fingers, while with his free hand Shigeo was munching on the popcorn. He tried throwing a piece into Teruki’s mouth every once in a while, he was bad at it though, so there was popcorn littered all over the comforter. Teru had silently been hoping that Shigeo would have forgotten about the movie thing since he seemed to be more focused on just being there with him. Unfortunately for Teruki, he was wrong.
“What about the movie? Didn’t you pick one?” Shigeo asked, Teru shifted uncomfortably at the question and was going to open his mouth to speak, but he had apparently waited a little too long and Shigeo's instinct picked up on it, “you know it’s not that big of a deal, I can pick one if you really don’t want t-”
“It’s not that I didn't want to, it’s that i...well I was thinking about it too hard.” he felt his face filling with heat, it was so embarrassing to him, he didn’t understand why. He heard Shigeo chuckle softly beside him and his face got even warmer.
“Something told me you were.”
Teru swiveled his head in Shigeo's direction and furrowed his brow, “what’s that supposed to mean?” he said indignantly.
“I mean that you didn’t seem exactly jazzed about it when I brought it up is all. That and I can see the mess of DVDs over on your desk.”
Teru swiveled his head again, this time in the direction of his desk and groaned, there indeed were several large stacks of DVD cases that towered dangerously to one side or the other. Oh god, I can't believe I forgot about that , thought Teruki, whose face was now a very intense shade of pink.
“I think it’s cute...how much you care about it.” Shigeo hooked a finger lightly around Teruki’s chin and pulled so that he was facing him again. Teruki wore a wide-eyed expression of surprise, but he could feel the feeling of anxiety knotted up in his stomach beginning to loosen. Shigeo placed a soft kiss on his forehead, then moved down to his cheek, and then brushed his lips loosely, “you shouldn’t worry about it so much, I’ll be happy with whatever you choose and you know that.” his voice was steady and quiet, Teru knew that he could lean on it and even more the person that it came from. He buried his face in Shigeo's hoodie and inhaled his welcoming scent, humming contentedly before moving away again.
“How is it that you always know exactly what’s eating at me?” he asked, unhooking his hand from Shigeo's and rolling lazily off the side of the bed. He walked over to the tv and moved his finger in a circular motion, which called the brighter of the two DVD cases that he had been debating on over to float in the air next to him. He switched on the tv and grabbed the case out of the air absentmindedly, looking back to Shigeo whom he had left to ponder on his question.
He was fishing his hand around in the bowl of popcorn and staring thoughtfully at the ceiling, mouth slightly ajar. He’s so cute when he does this... thought Teru, opening the case to take the disk out, placing it gently into the receiving end of the DVD player and tossing the cover back onto his desk when he was done. Teru winced when It narrowly avoided one of the towers of DVDs which looked like it could have toppled over onto the floor at any moment. He took the opportunity of the pause in their interactions to halve each of the stacks and carry them over to where they belonged in his open closet, and then flopped back onto the bed, immediately attaching himself to Shigeo once again. Shigeo was startled at the movement, snapping out of his thoughtful daze to make sure the popcorn bowl didn’t fly out of its place on the edge of the bed. He realized at this moment too that he hadn’t yet responded to Teruki, who was looking up at his face expectantly.
“Well...” he began, tilting his head back and forth rhythmically, “I just...pay attention because...I care...That and I don’t think you’re very good at hiding your emotions.” he giggled, holding his hand up to his mouth out of habit. Teru placed his own hand lightly over the one covering Shigeo's mouth and lowered it, scooting up to where their shoulders were level. He leaned in closer so that Shigeo's face was the only thing in his field of vision.
“I suppose that’s true,” he hummed, bringing the hand that sat on Shigeo's up to cup his face, the quiet muffled noise of the previews in the background drowned out by the ringing of his own heartbeat in his ears. “I don’t think I could hide how much I care about you if I tried.” he could see Shigeo smile and exhale a little laugh before closing the gap between their faces. He kissed him softly at first, moving his hand from Shigeo's face to the back of his head, gripping his hair like it was an anchor and repositioning himself so that he was hovering over him. Shigeo followed along, angling his body from it’s half position on its side to favor his back, sliding his hands onto Teruki’s waist and allowing him to sink back down once he was at a comfortable angle. Teru made a surprised noise as he felt Shigeo's tongue slide in between his teeth and let his movements become a little more purposeful, a warm feeling pooling in his stomach in place of any anxiety he’d had beforehand. After a while he parted from Shigeo's face and laid his head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic sound of his breathing and steady heartbeat.
He was surprised how confident Shigeo had become at kissing him, he remembered that the first time they’d kissed it had been awkward, messy, and most of all timid (especially on Shigeo's part). As their relationship had progressed they had become much more comfortable not only with each other’s presence in general but the physical aspects that came along. Shigeo had gone from a timid kisser and someone who hesitated at physical affection in general, to overwhelmingly affectionate; it was something that Teruki was surprised to learn about and happy to enjoy. Right now, more than anything, he was enjoying just being able to share Shigeo's warmth. He was already beginning to feel himself drift off, but he didn’t mind, he felt safe and secure, and no longer paranoid about the movie which had been sitting in the menu phase for a few minutes now.
One of Shigeo's hands came up from its place on his waist to run its fingers through Teru's hair, making him stir slightly.
“Don’t fall asleep already we haven’t even done anything yet,” said Shigeo playfully. Teru made a small groan in protest and buried himself further into Shigeo's chest. He felt Shigeo gasp lightly and moved his face to where he could see him, “that’s right I brought something! I can’t believe I forgot.”
At this, Teru’s head shot up, his interest piqued, “What did you bring!?” Shigeo snorted out a laugh and looked in the direction of his duffel bag which was slumped over next to the door unopened.
“Well I kind of have to get up to get it.” he teased, but Teru could see right through his tone.
“You just want me to get off you so I don’t fall asleep don’t you,” he smirked and wrapped his arms even more snugly against Shigeo's torso. Shigeo rolled his eyes.
“No. well. I mean-”
“You do realize that we have psychic powers right.” he was gazing at Shigeo rather mischievously, to which he responded with another eye roll. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly and he removed an arm from Teruki and gestured at the bag, which came floating gently over, landing in what little space was left on the small mattress. Teru finally slid aside to allow Shigeo to sit up, but not wanting to give up his warmth completely, came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his torso once again, placing his chin on Shigeo's shoulder so he could get a good view of the contents of the bag. “I hope that you don’t mind that I'm clingy tonight,” he said, eyeing the careful way that Shigeo's hands searched the bag.
“Not at all,” responded Shigeo, unzipping one of the small pockets hidden on the inside, “I'm enjoying it actually.” he paused and looked up at the tv, which still had the menu selection screen on, “are we eventually going to watch this or what.” Teruki laughed and squeezed Shigeo a little bit.
“Only if you really want to,”
“I do. You spent a lot of time thinking about it so I do.”
“Oh.” Teru didn’t know why he felt surprised, the thought of the movie had long slipped past; he was happy though, he was glad that he felt acknowledged, although Shigeo always made him feel that way. He let go of Shigeo briefly to grab the remote from his bedside table. When he had pressed play, he looked back over to Shigeo who was leaning over the bed to place his bag back on the floor. In one of his hands that was sticking up in the air were two small, brightly colored bottles.
“Ooh!! New nail polish!” exclaimed Teru. Shigeo, having sat back up, deposited the bottles into Teruki’s open hands. One of them was bright pink, the other a more mellow shade of blue.
“I saw them in the convenience store when I was picking up snacks for tonight. I didn’t remember you having these colors so-” he paused to take in Teruki’s expression, which was radiant, Teruki couldn’t remember the last time he smiled so wide, or so much.
“Can I kiss you again? Then we can paint our nails and watch this.” he hit the pause button on the remote and a gentle silence filled the room.
“Of course,” Shigeo couldn’t help but laugh again as Teruki leaned toward him, caressing his face once again before placing another tender kiss on his lips.