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Rui was scheduled for a surgery.
Well, surgery was a strong word, perhaps procedure would be better at reasoning why he was currently strapped down in a hospital bed being wheeled to the assumed operating room, needle in hand.
Everything was bright. He made an effort to clench his eyelids shut and even attempted to bring his hand up to shield himself from it, given he was not currently in restraints. ‘Seriously, he is 20-freaking-4, he can handle being wheeled off somewhere.’ The universe seemed to hear his complaints though, as not shortly after the light dims to that of a warmer tint, the odd scent of metallic wafting his nose as a ding signifies the elevator door closing.
Finally feeling lucid enough to wonder what he was even doing being wheeled in a hospital bed, Rui opens an eye, glancing around.
From his perch above the quite tall bed Rui took notice of his fiancé standing not too far from him, idly chatting with other nurses as they exited the elevator. Rui was slightly taken aback by the absence of a loud, thunderous voice echoing throughout the hall, followed by the panicked shushing from attendees all around. Though, a closer look at his surroundings would tell him it was fairly late in the evening, explaining why the other’s volume was only a fraction of what his normal speaking tone was (which, with all that being said, wasn’t that high of a bar to beat anyway.)
“—so I can see him after 3 hours?”
“Yes Tenma-san, though he may be slightly out of it due to the anesthesia..” the other voice prefaced automatically, like they’d had to deal with this far too many times for one to count.
Rui made the safer choice of just staying quiet, even though his arms twitched at being able to grasp at Tsukasa in the way a child did when getting a shot. The heaviness in his eyes seemed to agree with his decision.
Shortly thereafter he’s being wheeled into another, increasingly bright room, illuminated by the almost blurry white light situated on the ceiling, making him look almost ethereal to an outside observer.
This time he has to open his eyes, just in case, to make sure they weren’t doing anything unprecedented like opening his guts and studying his intestines. He can already hear the exasperated sighs from Tsukasa at his..colorful assumptions.
‘You have to be prepared for anything,” he chuckles endearingly.
He’s only brought back to reality when a nurse holds up a tube, prefacing something that goes in through one ear and out the other. Rui nods, absentmindedly, as they secure it underneath his nose.
“Can you count down from ten?” They instruct.
Rui barely makes it to seven before his eyelids suddenly turn heavy and the world dims before him.
———
Tsukasa is scrolling through his chat messages as he hears Rui groggily wake up. He moves to grab the bottle situated only a few feet away, knowing after having a tube down his throat his voice would likely be affected. His older brother instincts kick in as he gently maneuvers his hand underneath Rui hair to lift him up, allowing him an easier time drinking. As Rui finishes up, eyes lost as they wander everywhere from the window to Tsukasa’s singular earring, Tsukasa wipes a droplet of water that had stubbornly remained on his cheek, cradling it.
Rui seems to focus on him more after that, to Tsukasa’s delight and simultaneous detriment. His calculating eyes don’t falter as Tsukasa awkwardly tries to get him back in a resting position.
“Are you my nurse?” Rui asks quizzically.
Tsukasa chuckles. ‘ Seems like the drugs really did a number on him ,” he muses. “Not quite.”
“You’re so pretty..”
Tsukasa smiles at the familiarity. Rui was never one to skimp out on verbal compliments, meaning these ones, specifically the ones praising his appearance, weren’t uncommon. Yet, something about the way he said it so earnestly —perhaps he only has the drugs to blame— the sheer amount of honesty in thế statement made Tsuaksa’s heart flutter, even if the other party was unaware of their soon-to-be matrimony.
With a flustered look and bashful expertise, Tsukasa takes a hand situated idly near his partner to link their fingers together, bring them to his lips for a gentle kiss. Tsukasa’s two seconds from reciting his (very corny) declarations of love, before he’s caught off guard by the expression marring Rui’s face.
He looks at his hand like it had personally offended him, killed his mother, and kidnapped their cat— a mixture of intense disgust lingered as he stared daggers into their interlocked hands.
“..Who married you?” Rui asked in low indignation.
What.
“You heard me, who?” Rui pressed, tone cold and completely betraying any sense of hilarity.
“Uhm..” Tsukasa murmured offhandedly. ‘ Oh god this was the scenario the nurse was just warning him about hours prior—what does he even do?! ’ His mind screamed.
Apparently, Rui took his silence as an answer to his accusation. Apparently, apparently, Rui, under the influence, is extremely prone to emotional outbursts, as evident by the hot tears angrily running down his reddened face.
Tsukasa starts to panic tenfold.
He forgoes his now iron-grip on Rui to try and find tissues, napkins—anything to stop the defeated frustration marking his face. Tsukasa wished to never see that expression again, his chest already aching at the thought.
“..I wanted to marry you.”
“…”
“…”
Is Rui going to say something or is he going to continue that pouty look on his face? Honestly, Tsukasa was already two seconds ahead of him, moving to try and peck him in an attempt to bring him back to his senses. The pout doesn’t falter.
“I was with you first, that means I get to marry you.”
Eh?
“Can you divorce them for me?” he smiles innocently.
Tsukasa laughs, low and loud, entirely amused by his fiancé’s sudden outburst. “I’m not sure you want that,” he chuckles between wheezes.
Rui opens his mouth of scoff, muttering something indecent underneath his breath.
Tsukasa smiles at him lovingly, just like he did when they first went out together no less then 7 years ago. Now, 7 years later, sharing an apartment, proceeding onto their respective careers and even adopting a small orange tabby, Tsukasa still looks at Rui like he held all the answers to the universe in the palm of his hand.
So it’s no surprise to anyone—or at least to Rui— when Tsukasa briskly reaches over his fiancé to grab his left hand instead. Tsukasa’s able to catch the rare sight of Rui getting flustered at the significant lack of distance (though with his periodic amnesia he probably doesn’t remember doing anything beyond that.)
The cradles the other palm in his, effortlessly tracing ridges and scars just as he’d done on low evenings in the privacy of their shared bedroom, before stopping pointedly at the gold band encrusting his fourth finger. Rui seems to follow his gaze, staring blankly at the ring like he was staring at a test he didn’t study for; confused and panicked.
“Did I marry someone?!” Rui all but yells.
This little prick.
“Oh..oh no. Am I..cheating.?” He asks tentatively, now with a couple delicate tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Again, Tsukasa has the urge to kiss them away.
“I can’t divorce them can I? No..that’ll make my partner sad—oh dear..what do I—“
Scratch that Tsukasa’s just gonna kiss him.
Rui seems to shut up after that, momentarily lost as he adjusts back into normalcy. He sighs into the kiss with the experience of someone whose done this every morning and every evening, hands tightening by a fraction as they part, breathless.
“You married me,” Tsukasa reveals in one breath, moving to interlock their lips once more.
Rui doesn’t back away, instead, he gleefully reaches forward to meet the blonde halfway, graciously allowing him access.
“Geh.”
Tsukasa’s eyes widen, before he has to delicately pry himself from Rui’s death grip on the length of his sleeve. “Nene! You made it!”
“Of course I would, just didn’t know I’d be interrupting, sorry.” Her face does not match her apology, fighting back a gag at the sight of her troupe mates making out not even 5 minutes after Rui awoke from surgery.
“Heyo, Tsukasa-kun! Is Rui awa— AH! Rui-kun, how did it go?!” The loud booming voice signals the arrival of a petite pink-haired individual.
“Emu, quiet! Rui just woke up,” Tsukasa chastises.
“That’s rich comin’ from you,” Nene points.
“Oi!”
Their periodic banter is momentarily thwarted by chuckled at the end of the room.
“Fufu, you both are in high spirits, and even after my surgery, how grateful I am,” Rui says, now seeming to have regained his normal self.
“Mhm, glad it went well at least,” Nene remarks.
“It could’ve gone a lot worse y’know!”
“Yeah!! The doctors could’ve cut you open and stolen your intestines and replaced them with robot parts— or, oh! Oh! They could’ve taken out your heart and given you a pig’s one instead— that’s a thing y’know!” Emu excitedly buzzes, hands behind her back innocently as if she hadn’t just dropped so many hypotheticals onto the group.
“..Right, so we’re not gonna list out the many ways this procedure could’ve backfired,” Nene sighs endearingly, hands moving to shush the other now in the middle of yelling the many gruesome scenarios that could’ve occurred.
Tsukasa laughs, exasperated, hands still clenching Rui’s who effortlessly latches back.
———
Hours after the two girls bid their goodbye and walk home, Tsukasa is once again left alone with his fiancé, now, with noticeablely less drugs in his system.
“..Tsukasa-kun.”
“Mm? Yes Rui?” Tsukasa replies without turning his head.
“Did I do anything..indecent, when I first awoke? I noticed I can’t seem to remember anything prior to Nene and Emu arriving..” Rui asks apprehensively.
“Well,” Tsukasa is stuck trying to appeal to his fiancé, and confirm him that, ‘yes, Rui didn’t do anything to make him uncomfortable, just be really really funny,’ or to remind him of how far he’s fallen.
Tsukasa chooses the latter, by the way.
“—you did forget we were married.” On and the subsequent fear on his face. “..was pretty adamant on having me divorce whoever it was caught my heart too.” Tsukasa sent him a shit eating grin. Rui hides his face in his hands. “Even thought you were already married to someone else, so there was the whole, ‘am I cheating’ bit—“ Tsukasa starts chuckling. An exasperated groan is heard from across the room, and Tsukasa’s giggles increase tenfold.
A moment later, he moving to the bed to sit on the side, leaning against his now flushed partner to try and pry the hands that have glued themselves to his face in protection.
What he sees when he finally gets them off is immaculate.
The hand in his shines with the luminosity of a singular gold ring, marking their marriage, as the other tries to move to mask his face from the amber eyes now staring lovingly at him. Rui’s face is flushed, a gentle brush of pink adorning either cheek that has Tsukasa wanting to drown in kisses. His eyebrows are scrunched up indignantly, and the small duvet in his bottom lip signifies he was probably biting the inside of it as well. Tsukasa never thought he’d be one to enjoy receiving or giving kisses, but here he is shaking with anticipation, moving upwards to fulfill his impulsive desires.
Rui’s embarrassment is partially forgotten as Tsukasa presses a gentle kiss to the corner of his lip, not quite the full thing, yet Rui can’t help to suppress the chuckle at how, ‘it tickles.’ Tsukasa decides to muse him, as shortly thereafter he’s pressing a kiss to the side of his nose, his nose itself, his eyelids, and even the side of his face, shielded from any more prying eyes potentially watching them. Rui can’t do much with one arm essentially incapacitated, what with the tube currently stuck in the underside of his elbow, but with what little movement he does have he moves to cup the blonde’s face with the goal to reciprocate. He pressed a slow, gentle kiss to the other, directly on the lips this time, masking in their moment of escatsy before pulling away to rest his forehead against the other.
“You missed a spot,” he murmurs absentmindedly.
Tsukasa gives a low chuckle before lifting his chin gently to shower him in kisses one more.
‘Maybe I should try getting surgeries more, if this is what I’ll get afterwards.’
“Don’t even think about it.” Ah, of course Tsukasa would be able to sense the underlying mischief from the director. “No,” he empathizes.
“Aw~ but I haven’t even said anything,” Rui sheepishly drawls.
“I don’t trust that look in your eye.”
“That ‘look in my eye’ is directed at you, my star,” he smirks as he lowers his eyelids to wiggle his eyebrows simultaneously.
“Geh-“ and of course Tsukasa decides to blush now.
“Hehe, you love me,” Rui chuckles, falling limp against his partner’s chest mockingly.
“Perhaps.” Tsukasa brings his arm around to embrace the other, fingers moving to play with the little strands of purple. ‘ It’s been getting long recently.’
“Not even a full ‘yes?’ How cruel!” Rui cries.
“Oh shush!”
(They fall asleep slumped against each other. The next day, Rui would wake up complaining about scoliosis, before Tsuaksa’s there wacking him upside the head while giving him an impromptu back massage.)