Chapter Text
Deuce woke up with a groan as the sun pierced through his closed eyes, making his forming headache much worse. It took him a moment to convince himself to pry open his eyes, but he wound up just closing them again to ease the pain he was in. It took him a moment, but he soon realized the arm that was over his chest and the leg tangled with his. There was a smaller body pressed against him, the weight barely enough to be felt. It was strangely comforting rather than alarming. Deuce yawned, hoping that he could go back to sleep. It was bound to help with the awful hangover that he could feel coming on.
Then Deuces’ eyes snapped wide open. He did not remember going to bed with anyone last night, so who was beside him?! The young man tried to get a look at who it was without disturbing them too much. His eyes widened when he got a good look at the familiar brunette hair and the peaceful face of the Twelfth Division Commander. He had gone to bed with Haruta and he did not remember a single thing. Panic flooded him as he tried to separate from the other man without waking him up.
Deuce could see that the Commander was naked, covered in bite and marks from the night before. He wished he had remembered what had happened last night, but it was all a blur. But he did not have to wonder what they had done when the evidence was so plainly obvious on Harutas’ body. While he did not quite mind the thought of going to bed with the Commander, Deuce wished he had been sober for it. Something told him that Haruta was just as drunk as he was when they came here. Guilt crept into his soul, despite knowing they both had a little too much to drink.
Deuce felt like he had somehow taken advantage of the Commander. As he looked at the still peacefully sleeping man, unaware of the plight that was now plaguing the young doctor, he swallowed the nerves. He has had feelings for Haruta for a while now that he had been trying to repress. He had been trying to repress his feelings for Haruta out of fear that she would not return them. Deuce did not want to use the events of the previous night as proof that Haruta reciprocated his feelings. They were drunk, after all. At the moment, leaving seemed like the best option just so he would not have to deal with the rejection of it being a one-night stand.
Deuce slipped out of bed now that he had separated from Haruta without waking him up. He was in the commanders’ room. The young man could not help but look around. He took in the knick-knacks in their resting places and the stray clothing that was not from last night. As Deuce was picking up the clothing that belonged to him, he found a stuffed frog laying on the floor. The guilt did not ease as he turned to look at Haruta. He wondered if just leaving was really a good idea.
There was some part of him that wondered if it would become more than a one-night stand. He wondered if, once all the awkwardness was sorted out, it would evolve into a proper relationship.
But Deuce shook his head to clear that thought. Leaving was the best decision he could make at the moment. Maybe Haruta wouldn’t even remember the night they had spent together or who exactly he had spent the night with. He gently set the stuffed frog beside Haruta. It was cute how he immediately grabbed it to cuddle with now that Deuce was gone. He was sure that Haruta would not remember that he was there rather than the frog. The young man just needed to pretend this never happened and everything would be fine.
“Sorry...” Deuce mumbled as he finished pulling on his coat. He walked as carefully as possible to the door, trying to make as little sound as possible. The young doctor paused with his hand on the door handle, that doubt crawling up his throat again. He glanced to where Haruta was still asleep, then looked back towards the door. If he lingered any longer, then he would do something he would regret later. So he closed his eyes, took a breath, then opened the door. He stepped out into the hallway, closing the door as quietly as possible behind him.
Deuce opened his eyes, looked up and down the hallway, then made his way back to his bunk. It must have been one hell of a party last night, considering there wasn’t even a mouse stirring. He was grateful for that since it meant that there was no one around to see him leaving the Twelfth Commanders’ bedroom.
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It was shortly after Deuce left that Haruta started to wake up. “Deuce..?” He asked the too quiet bedroom, soon realizing that he was alone. The only company he had was the stuffed frog that Pops had bought for him when he had started as an apprentice with his crew. As much as he tried to push the feelings away, it hurt that Deuce had just left him. His memory of last night was a sloppy blur, but he at least knew what had happened if the soreness was anything to go by.
That was it then. It was just a one-night stand, nothing more. Haruta tried to ignore the way his heart ached as he rolled over to hide from the sun under the cover of his blankets. He had hoped for more, hoped to wake up next to the blue-haired man so they could talk. But it was easy to tell how that conversation would have ended considering Deuces’ actions.
That was fine. Everything would be fine. His heartbreak would heal itself with time.