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Ukyo lies back in the grass, the sounds of people slowly quieting, the sounds of nature’s nightlife slowly overtaking it with the setting sun.
The stars always seem to burst into view earlier than they ever had in the world nearly four thousand years ago. The sky never looks nearly as dark or cloudy, the atmosphere clear and free. Humanity’s long, long history of pollution wiped clean in a fraction of the time they’d existed.
He hears a shuffle, a curtained doorway drawing back. Hears footsteps. Closer, closer, but he doesn’t need to look to know who it is.
He looks anyway, up into tired crimson eyes, tired eyes that soften as they meet his.
“Senkuu,” he calls out, honestly a bit surprised, “done for today?”
“For now,” Senkuu shrugs, and he stops beside Ukyo, crouching and sitting down beside him. “Chrome kicked me out of the lab. That kid.”
Ukyo breathes a laugh through his nose and reaches out a hand, rubbing up and down Senkuu’s back, until the tension under Ukyo’s touch starts to ease.
“You work too hard,” he says, like he says a lot of the time. Seeing Senkuu tired and stressed always made him worry.
“It’s work that’s gotta be done,” Senkuu shrugs, glancing back and down at him.
The moment he meets Senkuu’s eyes, blood rushes to his cheeks. Senkuu’s eyes were always beautiful, as was everything else about the man, from the dark lines on his face that seemed to deepen the color of his irises, to the little scars that litter his arms and the palms of his hands— but with the backdrop of the night sky, he practically seemed to glow.
Ukyo can’t help but stare. Senkuu stares back, a slight smile on his lips. He seems calmer than before.
Ukyo focuses his ears. He focuses and he starts to hear the beating of his own heart, but more than that, he hears Senkuu .
Senkuu’s steady heartbeat, his easy breathing, the slight rustle of his clothing as a breeze blows over them, rustling Senkuu’s hair.
Senkuu leans over, supporting himself with one elbow and not looking away, and Ukyo’s face just grows warmer the closer he gets. Until their noses practically touch.
Ukyo leans in. His lips brush Senkuu’s and Senkuu presses back, and the kiss isn’t long, but it makes Ukyo’s chest flutter and Senkuu hum in content and it means everything to Ukyo.
Senkuu pulls away and drops to Ukyo’s side. He rests his head on Ukyo’s chest, eyes closed, relaxed and calm and Senkuu’s hand comes up and plays with strands of Ukyo’s hair.
Ukyo winds his arm around Senkuu, pulling him closer, running his hand along Senkuu’s shoulder and letting his other come to rest on the hand on his neck.
He kisses Senkuu’s forehead, “Just don’t forget I’m here, too.”
“What? Miss me that much?” Senkuu whispers, letting his fingers tangle with Ukyo’s.
“Just a bit,” Ukyo smiles. Senkuu nuzzles closer with a yawn.
“Well you’ve… got me now,” he mutters.
He drifts off in Ukyo’s arms, with Ukyo rubbing circles on the back of his hand, and Ukyo closes his eyes and smiles.