Work Text:
with rui’s steady breathing being drowned out by the clanking of metal parts, it was a regular winter day for the pair. where rui would be fast asleep somewhere questionable, while tsukasa did what he liked to call ‘investigate the way rui lived’. in truth, he was just cleaning his room for him, but it slowly expanded to the whole house. today, he was cleaning up in rui’s room.
“finally!” tsukasa whispers to himself, looking at the neat pile of scraps, with all of rui’s screwdrivers lined up in a row, not too far away. “rui really needs to clean his room after he’s done working.” he had turned the mess rui lived in into a proper workshop, and he was proud of it. however, he could not do anything about the sad excuse of a couch that sat in his room, much to his dismay. the sheer amount of times he’s had to sew random openings were too many to count, yet rui was so insistent on defending the same couch covered in denim squares held together by sewn thread.
speaking of rui, tsukasa turns and heads towards the door, wondering where he had fell asleep this time. last time, he found rui sleeping under the sofa, even though the sofa was clearly safe and inviting, with pillows soft to the touch to hug. he even reckons it would be less safe underneath the sofa, with all the dust gathered under there.
however, this time, he fortunately finds rui on the sofa, hugging a bolster to sleep. he looked very focused, face scrunched up in concentration in whatever task he might be performing in his dream. tsukasa found it adorable, admiring from the doorstep of rui’s room. he couldn’t help but find himself walking towards him, eventually crouching down beside him to watch him sleep. it was rare for rui to be getting sleep, at least willingly.
yet the longer tsukasa watched, the faster he realised that the bolster was slowly falling out of his grip, most likely due to rui falling into a deeper sleep and his muscles had started to relax. it was nearly slipping onto the cold floor! as a star, he obviously had to save the day, so he uses his hands to push the bolster back into his arms.
but as he did, the bolster falls anyway, and he’s met with rui fumbling around the ground for it, hand moving around aimlessly to feel for his bolster. his eyes were even still closed, mumbling something about tsukasa to come over. he’s successful in his searches though, his hand finally bumping into something soft. reaching out his other hand, he pulls it confidently to himself without even opening his eyes to check. except, the soft thing he came into contact with wasn’t the bolster.
before they knew it, tsukasa’s in rui’s arms, instead of the bolster!
tsukasa blinked slowly, confused from the sudden movement. rui was behind him, he could hear his steady heartbeat on his back, which wasn’t normal. he swore he had been crouching on the floor seconds prior. he eventually registers he’s being hugged like a bolster, rui’s legs tangled between his as if he was actually said bolster. he had hugged tsukasa in a way that both his arms were locked in by his own, so thrashing around was not an option. he had snatched him instead of his bolster, and tsukasa hadn't even known that was possible. feeling warmth creep up his face, thoughts he’d rather ignore start to flood his mind too! he had to get out of there as soon as possible.
“..rui, wake up! wrong bolster!”
he doesn’t even budge, shamelessly nuzzling his nose into tsukasa like it was the most logical thing to do during the situation. a low vibration started to sound too, and the star was quite sure it wasn’t singing. shaking his head and recalling the kettle he’d left on rui’s stove, tsukasa starts to panic, continuing to squirm in his embrace in a futile attempt to escape. it obviously doesn’t work. he looks at rui’s abandoned cuddle buddy longingly, wondering if he’d really rather be a bolster at that very moment.
“rui! i know you can hear me!” tsukasa makes another attempt. he had a kettle, sitting on a stove he had to get back to! his parents wouldn’t be happy to find the house on fire, just because their son held his boyfriend hostage. rui definitely knew he was cuddling the wrong pillow, and was being a smug loser about it!
“better bolster,” rui trails off happily, snuggling deeper into tsukasa. had he seriously not registered anything he just said?
“..are you serious?” tsukasa turns around angrily to see rui staring at him sleepily, pupils dilated with the same cat-like expression on his face he always seemed to see him wear. wearing enlarged pupils every time tsukasa smiled his bright smile at him, added on with a happy, dazed look.
“you’re doing that thing again,” tsukasa whispers, attention fixed on his half-lidded eyes. “what thing?” rui parrots, eyes closing once more.
“the thing! where your pupils go all wide when you see me!” tsukasa makes a huge circle with his hands, now that they were free. rui doesn’t even bother opening an eye to see. or does he bother to open his eyes for the next bold question he asks.
“tsukasa-kun, will you marry me?”
the question hangs in the air, spoken with little to no hesitation.
“what?” red is back to erupt all over his face, and he’s left dumbfounded. “we aren’t even adults!” rui frowns at the answer, though really it held no sad intentions from him.
“aw.. do you not want to marry me?”
“what— of course i do!” tsukasa yells defensively, holding rui closer to him. rui’s returned to nuzzling happily in the crook of his neck. “good, i’ve been saving for our grand wedding,” he purrs casually, back to his dazed self.
“—you’ve what? where are you even getting the money? don’t tell me you’ve been robbing banks! you can’t get arrested before we get married!”
“you wouldn’t marry me if i were a criminal?” rui mumbles sadly with his head raised, added with the saddest expression he could pull off in the sleepy daze he was in. tsukasa is even more horrified. “why are you even asking me that?!” however, he gives in. “..well, of course i still would, but you’re not allowed to become one!” rui giggles contentedly. of course, he knew he still would marry him, he had just wanted to hear tsukasa to say it out loud. him and tsukasa-kun, getting married, becoming husband and husband! blindsided to how he felt, tsukasa shakes his head. why was he so happy about his answer, anyway?
“you’re like a cat,” tsukasa grumbles. “an oversized, stinky, purple cat.”
“stinky? you wound me,” his partner sighs, but his actions betray him when he’s back to nuzzling while subconsciously purring in the warmth that is tsukasa, and not a bolster. tsukasa sighs too, resting his head on rui’s chest.