Chapter Text
Past midnight, Reigen sighed into the doorway of his apartment. Slouching out of his unbuttoned gray coat, he let it drop to the floor with some other neglected clothing and dragged his feet out of his shoes and to a worn but familiarly comforting couch. As he tried to get settled, he was met with an ache in his chest. Shit, how long have I been wearing this? Groaning, he unbuttoned his white dress shirt and fumbled to get his very past due binder off of his screaming lungs. Taking a few deep, ragged breaths, he lay there, open chested and vulnerable. A sudden paranoia washed over him, and he slipped into one of his old sweatshirts and sweatpants off the ground to complete his night attire. Not bothering to brush his teeth or wash his face, he decided to lug himself over to his bed and sink his head into the flat pillow. His eyes still burned from the blue light his laptop illuminated earlier that night, and his head ached from exhaustion.
Wanting it all to end and be future him’s problem in the morning, he tried falling asleep. When that didn’t work at first, he tossed and turned. Then tried shifting himself into a different position. Then again, and again, and again. This frustrating pattern repeated to no end, much to the dog-tired man’s dismay. He hated nights like this, because if he wasn’t asleep, his mind would.. wander. His façade of the day would finally collapse in on itself and leave him a heap of scattered thoughts. All alone.
There you go again, pitying yourself, even though you’ve only got yourself to blame for being alone. And what makes you deserve companionship? You only give shallow promises and lies to the people around you, forming connections based on fallacies of your own design. If anything, you deserve worse than what you’ve gotten. And somehow you’re carefree in using the people around you, blatantly ignoring the consequences of your actions. Every person you come into contact with gets selfishly taken advantage of by you, even the people you claim to care about. Even…
“Heya, you still up shitface?”
Speak of the fucking devil.
His body betrayed him, allowing wet streams of tears to freeze in place at the sudden intrusion. Fearful of Ekubo snooping any closer, he swiftly gestured his tears away, thankful that his face was already turned from Ekubos and hidden in his sheets. Reigen adjusted his composure and turned around to face the specter.
He huffed “Now, what business is so important for my least favorite employee to disturb me when it’s so late?” Ekubo replied apathetically to his haughty tone “There’s only so many nights at the Kageyamas before things get mundane for a powerful evil spirit like myself. I’ve got to shake things up now and then, so I figured I’d stop by here and see what you were up to. Looks like…” he surveyed the small apartment, staring uncomfortably long at all the piled up dirty laundry, trash scattered on the floor, and the days old instant ramen cups and dishes on his coffee table. He continued, snarky “… you’re living in a trash pile. Yeesh, would it kill ya to bring any of your office incense or candles in here to get rid of this musk too? I bet this melancholic atmosphere would attract lesser spirits from miles aw-“
“Fuck off, Ekubo.” Reigen interrupted with none of the playful tone Ekubo was bringing and a venomous glare.
A little stunned, Ekubo floated a bit more uneasy and distant from Reigen’s bed. “U-uh.. sure, pal, just take it easy, okay? I wasn’t trying to deeply offend you just now. I was joking, promise on my afterlife.” Reigen broke his intense eye contact and relaxed his stiff posture a little at the comment. His eyes started to swell again, and his intimidating posture vanished. He desperately tried to keep himself from crying again, turning away from ekubo and talking at the wall with exaggerated gestures as he spoke “Well, if you want entertainment, you should try anywhere else that’s busy and active this time in Seasoning city. Sneak into a movie theatre so you can spoil the latest movies to everyone at the office, possess bar patrons and make them become even bigger fools of themselves, spectate a late night restaurant to see how the chefs make their secret recipes, just anything else. I have to admit, it’s almost funny how you ended up here when- well..” he trailed off, thinking there are so many better places and people to see.
Ekubo looked at him, expectant for him to finish his sentence. “.. never-mind. Additionally, I don’t need to be haunted right before I sleep. I’ll get nightmares of your face, which I already see plenty of in the daytime.” Reigen let out an exaggerated yawn and stretched his arms out, hoping that Ekubo would believe his fake display of tiredness and take his teasing as an apology for him snapping. Instead, Ekubo looked at him with confusion at the sudden tonal shift and furrowed his brows. Oh shit, he’s not buying it. Ekubo then, shockingly to Reigen, genuinely appeared doleful and regretful.
“Well.. alright. I was just thinking of you, and.. I wanted to stop by and see how you were doing. But if you don’t want me here, I’ll go.”
Reigen wanted to say something, but his surprisingly simple but thoughtful comment left him speechless. They both stared at each other for what felt like an hour. Reigen figured his eyes revealed his true desires, because Ekubo slowly inched closer to him, now hovering over his bed.
Ekubo gave him another wordless expression, one with caution and care. One that offered a hug, or as much as he could give him with his current form.
This broke the tired man. Seeing someone offer him sympathy when he’d been acting like a fool, it was too much. Tears began to stream down his face, crumbling apart his collectedness. He felt like a tall child by breaking down in front of someone else so openly. Shaking, he sobbed heavily and ugly, snot running out of his nose and letting out bursts of hiccups.
Ekubo seemed sad and oddly relieved at the display. He kept his distance, waiting for Reigen to give him a sign it was okay to comfort him. This made Reigen cry even more, acknowledging the respect and patience he was giving him.
“Ekubo, please.. I- I don’t.. I don’t want to be a-alone. Please stay-” he croaked.
“I will, I’m not going anywhere. I’m here, Reigen. I’m here..”
He reached out a hand, and Reigen quickly leaned into his touch. Ekubo rubbed his back in soothing motions, allowing Reigen to slow his breathing and feel a little lighter than a few moments ago.
“That’s it, deeeeep breaths.” He paused, debating something in his head. “I want to try something, but you need to trust me, okay? Just.. relax yourself.”
Reigen wasn’t sure if he was wise for doing so, but he did trust Ekubo, especially after tonight.
He sniffled. “Okay… I w-will.”
Reigen let himself go, unraveling his tensed arms and legs to lie on his back in a star position. He closed his eyes and focused solely on his breathing.
Breath in.
One.. two.. three.. four..
Hold.
One.. two..
Breath out.
One.. two.. three.. four.
He continued the pattern, and after a few cycles, he felt a cool wave rush over his body like ripples of water. He felt a new presence occupying his body, but it was mostly dormant, only keeping a soothing feeling thrumming through him. He felt his consciousness merging with Ekubos, him now sharing a fraction of Reigen’s feelings and thoughts. I know me possessing you might be alarming, but I promise I won’t abuse it. I can stop at any time you want, though I thought relaxing your nerves from the inside, regulating your body temperature, and giving you some endorphins would help- in my own weird way.
Reigen was a little startled to hear Ekubo’s voice in his own head, but he didn’t mind his new subconscious companion. He hummed, then responded “Uh.. it’s fine. Actually… it’s really fine. It feels really fucking good. A little strange though, I mean, I’ve never felt anything like this before.. I don’t know how to thank you enough.”
Reigen felt himself flush, but it wasn’t him doing it. It’s not much, just a simple hypnosis to help out.
“Well.. didn’t think I’d ever be saying this, but you’ve got quite the soft spot, don’t you?”
His face flushed hotter. Tch- I— shut up. This is just.. a common decency. A friend helping a friend when they’re upset.
“Remind me what part of a hypnosis possession is typical?” Reigen chuckled.
Ekubo wanted to give a witty rejoinder, but he was too flustered at being caught. Although, he liked feeling Reigen’s laughter, even if it was at his expense.
“Hey, uh.. I know we’ve broken down a lot of boundaries already by being like this, but can I ask something strange?”
Shoot.
“Can you.. stay with me? I mean, inside me? I.. I’d like to sleep with someone tonight, and I’d feel so much better with you here.”
Ekubo flashed an odd emotion through Reigen, then reoriented himself to answer. Wasn’t expecting that but, uh.. sure. You’re not half bad yourself.. and it’s kinda nice having the chance to sleep in a body again.
Reigen sighed happily, relieved to hear what he hoped he would. They both fell into a deep sleep, and though they’d never admit it to each other, it was the best rest either of them had experienced in months.