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He can’t say summer is his favorite season when during these long hot months he has to put aside his favorite hoodie in favor of wearing more revealing clothes to avoid an early death caused by a heatstroke. He knows the thought is stupid, exaggerated even, but it’s not a lie when he says his usual outfit feels like an oven the second the temperature goes up with the progression of the days. It’s a relief to know summer lasts only 3 months, otherwise Tobi feels he would die.
Despite today being one of the hottest days of the month, the afternoon became somehow chillier; the sky changing from reddish hues to bluish ones while a gentle yet somewhat cold breeze blew just as the sun began to set.
He sighs. Although the breeze brushes his cheeks and blows through his hair softly, it doesn’t make him feel better at all. He’s still feeling hot, his tank top and shorts uncomfortably clinging to his body thanks to sweat and the fact that he’s wearing a wool sweater makes him feel weird in an awful way.
He isn’t the type of person to wear scant clothing and, now that he has to, knowing that it's not making him feel more refreshed has him in a bad mood. Summer is definitely the season he hates the most.
He turns his head to see how the world is moving and running its course, down beyond the balcony where he is seated. From his position he can’t see much, only hear the sound of cars passing by, a dog barking in the distance and the unbearable laughter of kids playing. As much as the noise annoys him at least he’s glad to know this street is quiet for most of the year; it makes sense considering it’s summer vacation and people are outside enjoying the longer days accompanied with good weather. That’s another relief he thinks, if it was this noisy throughout the year he would have to leave this place asap, there’s only so much his nonexistent patience can handle.
Rei lives in a nice place…if possible, he doesn’t ever want to leave. The only thing wrong with it is the fact that there’s no air conditioner.
And that’s actually the reason why Tobi is in the balcony watching the sunset. He couldn’t handle how hot it was inside and, considering how Rei revoked any rights he had with the fan, he considered that maybe some fresh air would help him feel less fried. Turns out it didn’t since his body is still sweaty and feeling gross, though it still felt kind of nice to be outside.
He hears the balcony’s door open yet he doesn’t pay any mind to it, he knows who is it was after all.
“Hey” -Rei says to him, a guilty tone invading his voice- “I brought you something”
Tobi sees him carrying a tray with two cups (one blue, the other orange) and two small bowls filled with ice cream; he then brings a coffee-like table closer using his foot and places the tray and its content on it. He sits on the left side while Tobi is on the right, making the table sit between them.
He can see how Rei looks at him a little nervously, waiting for an answer or any kind of reaction. He isn’t sure if this pisses him off or not; there’s guilt in that stupid face, it was noticeable, but he still felt betrayed by the actions the other boy committed against him earlier in the day.
“You’ll need more than this to buy my forgiveness” -Tobi says while taking one of the bowls- “You hurt my feelings, you know?”
He sees the boy sigh and roll his eyes with a playful expression, as if Tobi was only exaggerating the whole situation. Rei reaches for the other bowl and starts eating, ignoring his childish complaints.
“So?” -he grumbles when seeing he’s still getting disregarded- “Nothing to say?”
Rei looks at him, cheeks kind of puffed showing his mouth is filled with ice cream. He can’t help but let his lips go a little upwards, as if trying to contain his laughter. “In my defense, you were smelly and I was gonna die because of it. It was you or me” -he says, voice shaky while he tries not to laugh- “This is my apartment and you don’t even contribute to anything around here, so it was you”
He turns around and continues devouring his ice cream as if he just didn’t break his heart in a million of pieces. For being the kind of person who like to avoid any type of conflict, Rei could be cruel sometimes.
Tobi thinks that playing the offended victim in this situation doesn't actually suit him so he decides to let it go and starts eating from his bowl. It feels cold and refreshing, the sour taste of lemon makes him purse his lips a little yet he doesn’t find it unpleasant. He’s relieved Rei didn’t bring something sweet, if that were the case he would die knowing this is the second time Rei has given him a bad treatment in the same day.
Both of them finish their snack and continue with whatever the cups have to offer. Nothing fancy, just iced tea that so happens to taste like lemons too.
“Any reason why there’s so much lemon in that magic tray of yours?” Tobi asked with curiosity, the lack of variety in flavors felt strange.
“Hmm?” -Rei turns to him again, placing the cup on the table- “I read it helps you stay hydrated and its been hot lately so…”
Tobi nods and doesn’t say anything else, there’s no need. Both stay in silence and he can't help but close his eyes; the breeze blows again in his face and the sounds of the once bustling street becomes quieter until it almost disappears. It was definitely a moment of peace he wants to last forever.
“What can I do to apologize?” Rei asks breaking the silence.
He thinks about it for a bit (or at least pretends he does) and after a long minute he simply answers “Kiss me”
Rei just looks at him, raising his eyebrow to show how unimpressed he is at the request. “I would if you weren’t stinky but you are so…no kiss for you”
“What does that have to do with it? My lips aren’t stinky”
Rei think about it briefly. “Maybe not, but you are and if I kiss you I would have to come closer to you and if I come closer to you I will smell you and if I smell you…you know what I mean”
“Go fuck yourself”
The other laughs at the answer and then they go silent, Tobi closing his eyes yet again. After a while, he hears the table that was between them being pushed around and the sound of what it seems to be Rei moving closer to him, the latter proven right after feeling cold fingers touching his hand gently. He opens his eyes to see the boy in front of him stroking and pinching his fingers tenderly.
Tobi can't help but sigh, letting himself being touched like this. He doesn’t consider himself a person who likes physical contact, much less someone being this close to him touching him freely as if it was the most normal thing in the world, however when it came to Rei…he simply couldn’t refuse. He knew very well that if he told him he didn’t like it or that he felt uncomfortable the other would stop, in that sense he would respect his boundaries with no question but for some reason he doesn’t have the will to tell him.
He will never admit it out loud though, he likes to think he still has some pride despite…well, some pretty shameful things that he prefers not to think about…and telling Rei that he actually likes all the little touches he provides would make him die instantly. Feelings are embarrassing, too embarrassing to think about.
He feels how Rei pulls his sleeve and inspects it as if he has never seen one before. “I was gonna ask earlier, before kicking you out of my room but…why a sweater? Don’t you feel hot in it?” he asks curiously.
“Very” -Tobi answers- “But I like it so I won’t take it off”
For some reason Rei doesn’t seem convinced with that answer. He frowns and looks at him with an angry expression that Tobi can only describe as the most adorable thing he has seen today and decides to look away. That face was a dangerous weapon, one wrong step and he could fall victim to that boy's charms.
“Bare legs, bare hands, bare shoulders, bare face” -he recites out loud- “Everything but your arms, I wonder why?”
Tobi still doesn't look at him. He knows ignoring him won’t accomplish anything but he prefers not to answer questions. If there’s something he refuses to show, it has to be his arms; nothing in particular in his opinion, it’s just…they hide the outcome of very questionable choices he regrets and doesn’t want Rei to see.
However, it seems that Rei’s curiosity is stronger, causing him to start pulling on the sweater with the intention of taking it off. It’s a battle Tobi doesn’t intend to lose; if Rei wants to be this stubborn, so can he.
“Stop it!” -he demands while he tries to hang on the sweater, something that doesn’t work considering his back is against the wall making it difficult for him to escape the current situation- “What are you trying to do!? Seriously, just stop it!”
Nevertheless, Rei doesn’t stop and continues pulling, his intentions clear. “It’s hot today, you can’t be wearing this!” -he answers a little bit desperate- “Your brain will melt and you’ll die!”
“My brain won’t melt you dumbass! Let me go!”
Both of them continue with the weird interaction. It was such a weird shift of tone that came out of nowhere, it went from peaceful and serene to a chaotic battle of wills neither side was willing to lose. Though there wasn’t much Tobi could do even if he was hanging on to his sweater as if his life depended on it, eventually it was taken off.
“Aha!” -cheers Rei at his small victory- “Confiscated! Now tell me why-” but his sentence gets cut off abruptly when he gets a clear view of his partner’s arms: covered in scars, both deep and shallow, bruises everywhere and slight burn marks here and there.
Tobi doesn’t do anything but lower his head to hide the shame that invades him. Of all the things he doesn’t want Rei to know about him, this is one of them and it is not a surprise, these are horrible marks with despicable stories that will never leave his body and knowing that the other has seen them…is seeing them…
He doesn’t even want to think about what the other will say about them.
Despite everything, Rei remains silent. It’s a long awkward moment that Tobi can only describe as agonizing, waiting for some comment, some mockery, just anything that makes him know his opinion. All he got was the very familiar sensation of Rei’s fingers running through each and every mark and scar on his arm.
“Don’t they hurt?” He asks, not stopping his fingers for a second. Tobi thinks the question is a bit strange. He didn't expect it but at least it was better than anything else he could ask.
“Not really, most of them are old” -he answers simply- “There are some new ones in there from when we…uh…”
He stops. He can’t continue that train of thought without triggering very unpleasant memories. Rei looks at him and then goes back to his arms, noticing the most recent bruises are burn marks. Tobi swears he could see the second the gears in Rei’s tiny brain started moving, realizing what all of this truly meant.
“Nagi-san…” is all he says, and he really doesn’t need to say more; It’s not a lie they were taken by surprise by those attacks that day, his only option being an incomplete transformation. It wasn’t his best idea since the flames that surrounded him at the time were unstable and ended up hurting him but it was necessary if he wanted to survive that situation.
Rei's face, at that moment full of curiosity, turns into one of sadness as he remembers the unfortunate events of that day. Tobi is aware the boy feels guilty of the outcome and now him knowing he also got hurt from that altercation…he truly wants for Rei to just not care about him, he doesn’t deserve such compassion.
“Can I have my sweater back? I’ve had enough of whatever we are doing” he says a little bit upset.
“No, I want to stay like this for a little while longer”
“Why? They are just some ugly injuries” -he answers irritated- “There’s no reason for you to look at them”
“They aren’t ugly” -Rei says with honesty- “At least for me they aren’t”
He would like to say he’s surprised by those words but that would be nothing but a lie. It’s not the first time he’s heard him say something as stupid as that before. Apparently, this guy is quite honest with everyone and the number of times he’s said something similar has been too many to count. Still, he can't help but blush a bit at the comment.
“You know, to you they might be ugly but to me they aren’t” -Rei repeats- “To me every part of you is beautiful even if you think it’s not…say they’re ugly all you want you can’t make me think otherwise” -he smiles tenderly- “I’ll be here to remind you how pretty and special you are to me”
“Oh God, shut the fuck up” Tobi responds embarrassed. If it wasn’t for Rei holding both of his arms, he would definitely use them to hide his already flushed face.
Embarrassing, everything about this is just so embarrassing.
Rei laughs a little and begins to plant gentle kisses on his arms, as if letting them know they deserve to be loved too. Such an action not only makes Tobi’s face redder than before (if that is possible) but also makes his heart beat faster to the point of making his chest hurt.
This kid is going to be the death of him, he’s sure of that.
“You refuse to kiss me on the lips but not on my arms? Make up your damn mind” He mutters trying to make the other stop. He doesn't think he can take more of his affection without dying in the process.
“Your arms need reassurance, your lips don’t” he says, stopping and moving away from him. Tobi is a little disappointed to see him move away, although it doesn’t last long as he sees him grabbing the sweater to give it back to him and gets closer again.
“I’m sorry” -Rei says with guilty- “I don’t know why I did…all that”
Tobi answers back with a dismissive wave, trying to overshadow the fact that his cuteness almost gives him a heart attack. He puts the sweater back on, leaving it at chest level so that his shoulders remain uncovered.
Once ready and settled, he sighs heavily. For some reason all that exchange left him exhausted. He realizes Rei is looking at him, this time with a somewhat malicious smile…he knows this means trouble.
“Now what?” he asks unsure of wanting to know the answer.
Rei only smiles back. “Cross your legs”
That response gives him an idea of what the other wants to do. Usually he doesn’t refuse such requests but at a time like this when it’s hot and his heart had not yet fully recovered from those loving impulses from his partner, he doesn’t think it is a good idea. However refusing is out of the question, the expectant look Rei had is just too much and he can’t say no to him.
He sighs as he crosses his legs, which Rei sees as an invitation to sit on his lap. He rested his back on Tobi’s chest and placed his head on his shoulder, closing his eyes making a satisfied sound.
From the position they were in, Tobi can tell how bad Rei actually smells; he was sweaty too and couldn't help but feel offended by this, after all, being “stinky” is the whole reason why he was banished to the balcony in the first place.
He shrugs and decides not to pay mind to it, after all, if it hadn't been for that, he doesn't think they would have had this intimate moment so he can't get mad. He wraps his arms around Rei and he accepts them happily, going back to the fun task of gently pinching Tobi’s knuckles.
The colors of the sky change, welcoming the night, and neither of them make an effort to move from the balcony.