Work Text:
The sound of the lock clicking jolted Atsushi out of his half-awake state on the living room couch.
Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, the white haired man sat up, turning to the figure draped in a long black coat in his doorway.
Yawning, Atsushi spoke. “Oh..hey Ryuu.”
Without responding, Ryuunosuke strode past him and into their bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Fully awake now, Atsushi froze in confusion and slight panic.
Had he done something wrong? Did Ryuu not like the lunch he had made? The other man seemed apprehensive about the small smiley faces Atsushi insisted on drawing on his homemade omelets, but he had assumed he didn’t mind..
Or was it something else, something bigger than lunch? Did he say the wrong thing, make the wrong move? They had worked so hard to build a good relationship after their rough introduction but if his foolishness brought it all down-
Unknowingly, he had worked himself back into the self deprecating mindset he had been instructed to avoid.
Focusing back on the situation, (when had he zoned out?), he realized he had been gripping the side of the couch with a bit more force than intended;small puncture marks lined up directly with his fingers.
Tentatively, Atsushi walked over to the door of their shared room, and knocked.
He waited a few moments for a response, only to get none.
With a soft click , the door opened. Stepping in, Atsushi took in the dark room, completely devoid of light, save for the bathroom, where light spilled out from under the door.
Maneuvering around small stacks of books and the occasional wad of fur, he made his way to the bathroom door, where a drawing of a cartoonish white tiger and rashoumon embracing each other hung above the door handle.
It was cute, something drawn by Kyouka to celebrate the two moving in together.
Grasping the handle, he turned it to reveal the other leaning against the counter.
Stifling a gasp, he took in the state of his lover, something he failed to do in his sleep-addled state.
A scrape ran directly across the top of Ryuu’s cheekbone, disappearing into his hair, which was a complete mess, ruffled and unkempt. However the most concerning part was the pallid complexion of the sickly man, suggesting blood loss or something related to his illness.
The question clicked when his sensitive ears picked up on a soft dripping sound. Red dripped into the sink from between the others fingers.
Without a word, Atsushi closed the door behind him, stepping forward to open the cabinet beside the sink.
Pulling out hydrogen peroxide and a few bandaids, he set them down on the counter, turning to Ryuunosuke with a question in his eyes.
Shifting to pull aside his long coat to reveal the small spot of red soaking through the white undershirt, Ryuu turned away, staring at their incredibly interesting arrangement of shampoo bottles.
Unbuttoning the shirt and parting it revealed a long but fairly shallow cut running along Ryuunosuke’s ribs.
After slowly cleaning and patching up the wound, Atsushi stood back up and turned the other’s face towards him.
Cleaning the scrape was the last part of patching up his lover, physically at least. With a gentle kiss to the corner of Ryuunosuke’s mouth, he turned and put away the supplies.
He laced his fingers through the others thinner set, and made to open the door to their room, but a slight tug made him hesitate.
Finally, he spoke the question he had been meaning to ask.
“Bad day at work?”
A nod, followed by a resigned sigh.
“..A few of my subordinates made the mistake of combat training near Nakahara’s office, not only that but they somehow managed to knock an entire box of weaponry onto the Black Lizard during a strategy meeting. Afterwards, I was instructed to discipline them, which involved infiltrating a warehouse owned by another organization that had been conspiring against us.”
Wordlessly, Atsushi gestured to the scrape on his cheekbone.
“Briefly, I was distracted, which allowed another to get close enough to scrape me with his knife and with the use of his ability, knock me backwards into a stack of boxes, resulting in the scrape.”
“What distracted you?”
Ryuunosuke hesitated.
After a small squeeze to his hand, he responded.
“You called me.”
Oh. Right. He had in fact done that, to ask what the other wanted for dinner. But seeing as it resulted in him getting hurt..
“Atsushi.”
His boyfriend's voice interrupted the panic rushing through his veins.
“It’s fine. It was not your fault. My own carelessness was to blame.” A moment passed where they simply looked at eachother, grey meeting a fascinating combination of purple and yellow. “Please.”
“Right. Right, do you want to sleep now? It’s.. around 10 I believe.”
Ryuunosuke smiled at his partner's absentmindedness. “Dear, by the time I had arrived home, it was nearing 1 am.”
“Oh.”
Sheepishly, Atsushi returned the smile of the other.
“Well, my offer still stands. Would you like to sleep now or..?” He trailed off, eyes sliding up to the mess of hair on the other's head.
With a cough, Ryuunosuke gestured towards the bathtub.
A silent agreement passed between the two of them.
As usual, Atsushi crouched down to begin filling up the tub, while behind him, Ryuunosuke shifted uncertainly.
Although they had been together for over a year, known each other for much longer, his fear of being without defense lingered.
Once the tub had filled, Atsushi began shrugging out of his loose t-shirt and shorts he often wore around the apartment. Even though the gift of them was originally a joke from Dazai, seeing as they had small white tigers all over them, he found them quite adorable and this was the result.
Turning back to his still-clothed boyfriend, he placed his hands on the others shoulders.
Slowly, he began to shrug the black coat off the elders shoulders, causing him to briefly freeze up before relaxing into his touch.
Atsushi helped the other undress, until they were both prepared for a warm bath. He stepped in first, the sweet scented bubble bath tickling his skin. Sitting down, he gestured for the other.
Once Ryuunosuke had settled in the water, he leaned back into the white haired man’s chest, feeling the tension drain out of his body.
Wrapping his arms around Ryuu’s chest, Atsushi pressed soft kisses into his hair and shoulder, leaning forward to press a final one just above the scrape.
Neither of them are sure how long they sit there, basking in each other's presence and the warmth of the water.
However, after a while, Atsushi leaned back to grab his partner's favorite fig scented shampoo, pumping it into his hands, then reaching up to work it into the others black and white locks.
With a soft sigh, Ryuunosuke tilted his head back into the gentle press of his lover's fingers.
Rinsing the shampoo out, Atsushi next picked up a washcloth, running it up and down the others back.
Tapping his fingers on his boyfriend's shoulder reminded Akutagawa that yes, he did have to turn around to face the others stupidly cute face.
Once they were facing each other, Atsushi began scrubbing the other's front, running over two identical scars on either side of his chest and being extra gentle around the recently acquired wound.
Finishing the process of washing Ryuunosuke, the younger placed the washcloth in the latters hand.
A soft sigh escaped his lips as the black haired man set down the cloth to pick up the shampoo.
Repeating the process, he rubbed the gel into the others white locks, watching his mesmerizing eyes flutter shut and eliciting a soft- what was that? Purr? Content sound?
They both froze, Atsushi’s eyes snapping open and a flush breaking out over his cheeks and down to his shoulders.
“Did you just..purr?”
The flush grew darker at Ryuunosuke’s words.
“I- I don’t-” He stammered out, much to the mafioso’s amusement.
“You did. Atsushi Nakajima, you purr .”
“..Whatever.”
A small chuckle was his only response before Atsushi felt hands working away at his hair again.
Ryuunosuke let himself smile while he busied himself with washing his lover.
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Later, he found himself sitting on the floor while Atsushi sat on the bed, toweling his hair dry and telling him about the antics at his agency that day.
The toweling came to an end around the same time his partner finished his story, coincidentally enough.
He got up to return the towels to the bathroom, recently he had been making more of an effort to clean up after himself, unlike a certain white haired menace ,who was the culprit of the piles of clothes somewhat resembling a nest and tufts of white hair scattered all around the bedroom.
Hesitating on his way out of the room, he made eye contact with his reflection. A thin, pasty man stared back at him. His cheeks had filled out more, it was becoming less taxing to do something as simple as run, which was vastly different to how he lived the majority of his life.
Flicking off the light and making his way to their double bed, he got under the covers, Atsushi turning over with half coherent words from sleep.
“Mmnnn... ‘Nosuke c’mere..” Hands grabbed at him as he settled down.
Atsushi pulled him closer, half asleep, mumbling as he pressed soft kisses all over Ryuunosuke’s face.
Settling on top of the latter, Atsushi mumbled a quiet “Love you Ryuu”, before the last of his energy faded, and he simply passed out.
Pressing a kiss to the top of his lover's head, Ryuunosuke drifted off into sleep, comforted by the others presence and care.