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Sitting in his husband’s lap, Shinji yawned. Saturdays were always lazy for them, but this one was particularly boring. Sure, at any time of day he was happy to simply enjoy Kaworu’s presence, but now… right now he felt like doing something. As he gently pried his lover’s arms from his belly, he heard a soft, questioning noise. In response, he voiced his wishes.
“I want to do something with you, Kaworu-kun.” The silver-haired man let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Oh, good… I was fearing you’d grown tired of my cuddles,” he laughed. Shinji smiled, wriggling back into his chest, letting his arms encircle him again.
“I’d never! I just… as good as it is being so close to you, suddenly I don’t feel like lazing around for much longer…” Kaworu hummed in agreement.
“So, Shinji-kun… what kind of something do you want to do, hm?” Heat flourished across his face as his lover nuzzled soft lips into his neck, murmuring, “if you want to move around, we could always go upstairs…” The brunette’s breath caught at the feel of more warm kisses, tingly sensations spreading over his body as he realized what his husband meant.
“N- no! Not… not that, not right now.” Kaworu relented, and Shinji stood from his lap, turning to take his hand as he too rose from the couch.
“Alright, alright… if not that, then what do you have in mind?” He glanced awkwardly at the floor, embarrassed.
“I… I dunno… just- just something.”
“Well, I suppose if you’re unsure, then… we could watch the stars together?” Blue eyes met red, wide open at the reminder of their shared past. Kaworu’s sparkled with… hope? Has he wanted to do this with me for a while?
“Yeah, that sounds nice…!” Graced with a wide smile from his husband, he let Kaworu guide them upstairs and to the roof -they stopped by for a blanket first, though. Settling next to him, feeling their fingers lace together between them, Shinji looked up to the sky. In the new world, there weren’t as many stars as last time. Plenty of them, sure, but nowhere near the number that’d twinkled over the ruined NERV base all those years ago.
As if he could read his thoughts, the other man started, “you know, I read something a month or so ago about this thing called light pollution.” Shinji turned his head, seeing Kaworu still gazing up at the stars. “It’s why you don’t see any stars in the cities, the artificial light we create drowns them out.”
“So, when we looked at the stars the first time, there were only so many because… well, because I ended the world?” The taller man laughed apologetically.
“Yes, I suppose that was the case. Think of it as a silver lining, I guess.” Several long minutes of silence passed, equal parts awkward and comforting, before Kaworu spoke again. “You know, Shinji-kun… I think your love of the stars bled over to me, at some point.” Gasping softly, the brunette rolled onto his side to get a better look at the man beside him.
“Oh? How so?”
“Before we met again, here, in the new world, I often found myself looking up at the stars, and wondering if you were doing the same. I don’t love them in the same way you do, but I don’t think it’s just because you loved them either. I came to love them simply because they were beautiful, even diminished by the lights of the city as they were.” Shinji smiled, recognizing what Kaworu really meant. Finding his own definition, creating his own reason to live, one that was separate from making Shinji happy. “Not to say that you didn’t have a hand in making me feel this way, since if you’d never offered to spend time beneath the night sky I likely wouldn’t have looked up so often… but you know what I mean, right?” Kaworu looked over to him, and soft pink spread across his pale cheeks. He wasn’t sure why , but he wasn’t about to question it. That lovely face was even more beautiful when he was blushing.
“Your feelings came through.” He watched as his husband’s face flushed further at his own words being used in reverse. Just then, Shinji realized he was lying in the same position he had been in, head propped on bent arm. “Finding beauty in nature wherever you can, it’s just like you, Kaworu-kun.” Two faces heated at that. He’d done it again , accidentally quoting him from that time years past.
“Sh- Shinji-kun…” he murmured, looking down between them. Grinning at the rare sight of a flustered Kaworu, Shinji knew exactly what his next words would be.
“Lying down here together is nice, isn’t it? I didn’t know it would feel so good.” Shinji took great pleasure in the way his lover’s face went bright red, and how he swiftly raised his eyes back to his again.
“Hey…! That one was on purpose!” Laughing softly, he nodded, and they maintained eye contact for several seconds, both taking each other in, both smiling and blushing at each other. “I don’t suppose you’re going to say you were born to meet me next…”
“Ah, no, I don’t think so. Though maybe… what with the Book of Life and all…” Rolling over onto Kaworu’s chest, he pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. “But fuck what fate has to say about it. I’ll love you no matter what.” His husband’s hands settled on his back as he raised his head to kiss him again, again, again, giggling between them. The two of them stayed on the roof, eventually falling asleep underneath the night sky they both shared wonder for.