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Some mornings, Clef has to wake up earlier than Konny.
Only on mornings like this does Kondraki's nature shine through his hard exterior. His stern image crumbles away into dust when it’s combined with sleepiness.
Clef loves setting his alarm an hour early just so he can hang around and watch his Konny in his most emotionally vulnerable state. That is, if he can get out of bed in the first place.
Kondraki is a cuddler. Who would've known, am I right?
It takes about half an hour of wiggling to get out of the Polish man's grasp. By the time he gets out, Clef feels fully awake. He thanks the Gods for this, as being half asleep would mean he would miss all the groggy protests that leave Konny's lips as he pries his arms off his body.
When Clef finally steps off the bed, Kondraki reaches towards his side and grabs at his pillow, cold from not being used for its intended purpose, and tugs it close to himself to give it the attention he was giving Clef moments prior. Clef finds it extremely cute when his face scrunches up in irritation until he finds a better sleeping position and he relaxes back into unconsciousness. This time, though, he decides to be more of a jerk than usual.
He grabs the pillow and tugs, just strong enough to make Konny aware of the competition. Kondraki groans and shifts to hug the pillow closer, burying it to the point where the only visible part is the part Clef hasn't let go of.
"Come on, Konny, leave the poor pillow alone."
"nnnnnno."
Clef doesn't reply, instead he tugs harder. Kondraki's face changes into a poor imitation of a sneer as he verbally protests.
"noo! 'won' le'go."
"You replaced me that fast?"
"mmhmm. H's n'me's Treble 'n' he d'sn't leave me."
Clef lets go of the pillow, Treble, to lay a hand on his chest. He lets out an "Ouch." in joking hurt. Kondraki wastes no time burying his face into the part Clef let go of, and the pillow becomes fully encased.
"Is he a decent cuddle partner, at least?"
"mmyeah. N'w fuck off."
Clef chuckles a bit at that. Times like this make him forget to remind himself not to get too attached. Kondraki makes him forget not to get too attached. He leans in before speaking.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
That startles Clef. It isn't anything he hasn't heard before, but hearing those words somehow makes this moment more intimate than it was seconds prior.
Clef doesn't stop smiling as his heart drops to his stomach. He sighs lovingly as he feels familiar dread creeping up. He doesn’t grace the intrusive feelings with his attention, instead raising a hand to stroke through Kondraki's hair. He waits for it all to dissolve into the calm air of the early morning.
He can handle this.
And if he takes an extra hour at Kondraki's bedside, and if he's late to work for the first time in a long while, nobody says anything.
It's fine. It's calm.