Work Text:
Kaoru sat on the edge of Joe’s bed staring at the brush in his hand. It was almost a week after his beef with Adam and four days since he had been discharged from the hospital with pain meds, his left arm in a sling courtesy of a shoulder sprain, and instructions to rest. Rest apparently meant that Kojiro was to baby him until he decided Kaoru was in good enough health again.
His pride and stubbornness allowed him to retain some agency in his own life. He could still shower with only minimal difficulty, he could dress and feed himself, even if Joe insisted on doing all the cooking, and he was still perfectly capable of keeping up with basic hygiene. Well most of it. He had begrudgingly admitted defeat when it came to his hair. The ends were well within the range of his mobility, but anything past his shoulders he couldn’t reach without an intense throbbing pain from trying to hold his arm that high and at the odd angle required.
Joe had decided that this meant it was his noble duty to brush and braid Cherry’s hair every night now which led them to their current state, Kaoru on the bed waiting for Kojiro to finish his shower so he could finally go to sleep.
“Aww, you waited for me” came Joe’s voice as he stood in the doorway surrounded by steam, his hair still damp and adorned in nothing but a pair of dark gray sweatpants slung low on his hips.
“Of course I waited, if I didn’t you would pout like a child for the rest of the night and besides it still hurts for me to reach the knots higher up.” Cherry said with a huff, holding out the brush to Joe’s now awaiting hand.
“Whatever you have to tell yourself”, Kojiro said, sinking into the bed behind Kaoru with his chest inches away from his back, “but I think you just don’t want to admit that you like it. That you like having someone here to take care of you, and don’t try to deny it. You and I both know damn well that if you wanted to, you would find a way for you to do it yourself; you may call me a stubborn gorilla but you’re just as bad as I am.”
“Could you just get on with it already, I’ve had a long day and just want to go to bed soon.” Kaoru said, slumping in on himself. At that Kojiro figured he must truly be tired so he held the sarcastic comments about the other’s bossiness and demanding attitude at bay, instead gathering the ends of Kaoru’s hair in his hands and began to work on getting out any of the day's tangles.
To be honest Joe didn’t know if Cherry really liked this or not, but for him it was quickly becoming one of his favorite parts of the night. He had always liked Kaoru’s hair, had always found it beautiful like cherry blossoms trailing behind him in the wind as he skated. He has and forever will relish the feeling of those locks slipping through his fingers as he holds his friend and partner close. He ran the bristles of the bush through Cherry’s hair being careful of snags and if one was found he would lean in close to Kaoru’s ear and alert him before he began to work on it so there would be no sudden and unexpected pulling.
Kaoru was starting to drift off the longer Kojiro’s fingers worked over his scalp. With a final run through to make sure nothing was missed, Joe announced that he was done. He slid all the hair over Kaoru’s shoulder and placed a gentle kiss at the base of his neck and left his lips there. After not moving for a minute or two Cherry spoke up.
“Is everything okay Kioji?”
“I love you,” Kojiro whispered into Kaoru’s neck. “I love you so much”.
“I know seeing as you think I manage to forget and need constant reminding. What is it about this time?” Cherry said, turning around to face his bed mate.
“I just thought I might lose you when Adam hit you.” They hadn’t talked about that night since it happened, both deciding to distract the other with lighter topics but they knew the conversation needed to occur. “We play a dangerous game and we risk injury everytime we step on a board and I accept that, but this was different. This wasn’t a skinned knee or a broken wrist, he could have killed you Kaoru. I could have lost you.” He isn’t meeting Cherry’s eyes but instead keeps his eyes locked on the space where their knees touch, until a hand at his jaw is forcing his head up.
“None of that now. There’s no point in dwelling on “what if’s” or “maybe’s”. I’m still here, I’m okay.” Kaoru said, dragging Kojiro’s hand to the bruise still adorning his cheek. It was an ugly purple thing, just starting to fade at the edges. “It wasn't a brake and it will heal in time.” He reminded, rubbing circles in the back of Kojiro’s hand. “He could have killed me but he didn’t and if you keep focusing on what might have been you’ll only work yourself up. Here,” he said pulling Joe’s hand to his neck, right above the pulse point letting fingers feel the rush of blood beneath his skin, “you feel that, I’m still beating,” he slid the hand to his chest and took a deep breath, “still breathing,” finally he slid the hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to his palm, “I’m still living and I’m not going anywhere. Do you understand that? That asshole isn’t going to take me away from you.”
“Okay, okay I got it” Kojiro said quietly, pulling Kaoru impossibly closer so he was now sitting in his lap, hands running up and down Cherry’s back. After a minute or two of sitting in comfortable silence, Kojiro finally spoke. “Do you want to go to bed now? I know you’re tired and I'm sorry for making this take longer than it should have.”
“Eventually, but can we stay like this for just a bit longer, I like it here.” Kaoru had at this point melted in to his partner, conforming his body to the contours of the other, face nestled into the side of Kojiro’s neck, breathing gentle puffs of air onto skin partially to remind Joe that he was indeed still alive and well, and partially to feel Joe’s arms get ever so slightly tighter around him, anchoring them to each other.
After some time though the position became uncomfortable and limbs began to feel the pricks of pins and needles as circulation faded so Kojiro lifted Kaoru to sit with his back facing him once more and set about braiding the pink locks he so loved, fingers weaving effortlessly between the strands and making sure to not pull to hard less he pull Kaoru from his blissful haze he seemed to have found in his partner’s hold. Soon he was finished and he yet again placed his lips on Kaoru’s nape. As he guided them down into a position conducive to sleep he heard Kaoru make a sound barely audible in the night. “What was that?”
“I love you, I didn’t say it back and I don’t want to forget. I love you Koji, I always will.” He laced his fingers with the ones resting one his side and gave a gentle squeeze. “Good night.”
“I love you too, Good night Kaoru.”