Work Text:
Rui was getting frustrated.
Well, not that he wasn’t already frustrated. He had been working on this very specific invention for quite some time, and it wasn’t like he could hold it off any longer since he and his troupe needed it for their next show. The deadline was approaching way too quickly for his liking, which caused him to stress out over it even more. But, for some God forsaken reason, it just wasn’t coming out like it was supposed to.
Every little thing he had tried to do to try and improve it, or even get it to work for that matter, hadn’t done anything else but make it worse.
He grumbled to himself, deciding that maybe, just maybe, tightening this specific part of this contraption would help it. He was, unsurprisingly, proven wrong once the piece of metal broke off of it, clambering down onto the top of his desk.
He let out a stream of curses, pursing his lips as if to not let out a scream of frustration, and instead kicked the wall behind his desk in retaliation. Bad idea, he wasn’t wearing shoes.
Hissing in pain, his face scrunched up in discomfort as he recoiled, using his other foot to slide his desk chair away from the area and furrowed his eyebrows, discontent.
“.. Rui?” A soft voice called out for him, small and quiet, a little bit of concern seeping through. He turned his head towards it, surprised. It was Nene.
She had been there the entire time, curled up in the corner of his jouch, playing on her Nintendo Switch. He had nearly forgotten that she had been there with how quiet it had been.
“Yes, Nene?” He hummed, leaning back in his desk chair. He watched as she set her console to the side, having already paused her game, and sat up, letting her legs fall over the edge of the couch.
She stayed silent for a moment as if she were thinking over her question, eyes trained on the teen in front of her. She then stood up, walking towards him, reaching for his hands and pulling him up out of his chair. He must have looked confused because she only smiled at him. “Get your jacket. We’re going for a walk.”
Rui returned the smile, nodding, mind already starting to feel at ease at Nene’s gentleness. She always knew how to handle him when he got like this.
After getting their jackets on, and Rui mischievously grinning as he stole the beanie off of her head to put it on his, they made their way outside.
It was dark outside as it was quite late, probably nearing the 12 am mark.
This was normal for them, to take walks at such ungodly hours of the night. It had originally stemmed from one singular night when they had both struggled to fall asleep, prompting the two of them to go out and take a walk at two in the morning on a random summer night. Now, it was a comfort, done whenever one of them would be frustrated or angry, or when they couldn’t for the life of them get to sleep. Other times they did it when one really just needed company or needed a distraction.
On most nights that they had walked together, they would go places. Not too far, but something simple like the park or a nearby store.
“Any idea where our late night expedition may lead us tonight, Nene?” Rui grinned, nudging the girl's shoulder a bit as they walked side by side.
Nene only nudged him back, nearly scowling at him as she sighed. Even at midnight, he was still somehow insufferable. She shook her head, thinking for a moment, a small smile growing on her face as she looked up at him. “How does ice cream sound?”
The question tore a genuine laugh out of Rui, voice echoing down the empty streets of their quiet neighborhood. “Ice cream? At this hour? And it’s winter?” Rui looked down at her, a teasing grin forming on his face. “That sounds absolutely wonderful!”
Nene had to stop herself from getting embarrassed, only giving a fond huff in response as she shook her head for the nth time, quickening her pace. “You’re loud and it’s late. At least keep your voice down… You’re no different than Tsukasa at this point..”
Rui only chuckled a bit more, matching his speed with hers with little to no issue, his longer legs giving him quite the advantage. He took a hand out of his pocket, reaching over for Nene’s hand as they walked. “You know, you don’t sound that annoyed by the fact that I sound like him.”
Nene could hear the tease in his voice, which caused her to roll her eyes. However, two can play that game. “You know, we could always not get the ice cream.” She mocked back with a knowing smile, and it grew ever so slightly when she heard him gasp.
“You are too mean, Nene.” Rui shook his head, though the smile on his face showed just how amused he was by their conversation.
Nene giggled a bit in response, leaning against Rui’s arm as they walked, holding onto it as she rested her temple against his shoulder blade.
The rest of the walk had been filled with quiet chatter and teasing remarks. Rui had even decided to ruffle Nene’s hair along the way, causing her to scowl and lightly push him away as she tried to fix her now frizzy strands.
Rui only gave a fond laugh at her attempt to fix her frizz before pulling her hands away from her hair while he leaned down a bit, fixing it for her. She stilled at his touch, face heating up due to their closeness in proximity. As soon as he finished, he gave a tap to her nose and smiled, before promptly taking her hand in his once more.
“I hope you know that you’re the most insufferable person to roam this planet.” Nene said after a few moments, a deepened scowl present on her flustered face. Rui thought it was cute. Too cute.
“So I’ve been told.” Rui grinned, lightly swinging their intertwined hands in between them. “Would you say I’m even more insufferable than Tsukasa?”
“Yes.” There had been no hesitation on her end, but the annoyed front that Nene had tried to keep up had melted away, a small, amused smile taking its place instead. Before Rui could counter with a response consisting of feigned offense, she cut him off. “We’re here, Rui.”
Nene pulled him to the front of the convenience store, the one open for 24 hours. This was the store that they had always gone to during their late night walks. Coincidentally, it had also been the one they had always gone to as children, so it had many fond memories attached to it.
Rui let himself get dragged inside, over to the frozen food section. He grinned, sliding open the freezer where the ice cream had been kept. As soon as he reached inside to grab a tub of ice cream, he thought of another way that he could be “insufferable” towards Nene, picking up the mint ice cream.
He hummed, a knowing smile on his face as he handed it to her. “Here, Nene. Your favorite.”
The look of genuine distaste and disgust as she stared at him was enough to make him giggle, placing his free hand over his mouth to stifle it, as he placed the ice cream back into the freezer. “I’m only joking, don’t you fret.”
He decided to stop annoying Nene for the time being, picking out her favorite flavor instead and handing it to her. He wasn’t surprised when he got a light hit to his arm in response. He chuckled.
Picking out his own favorite flavor, Rui closed the freezer.
“Just for that, you’re paying.” Nene says, tugging on his sleeve to pull him over to the register.
“Oh, but Nene. I don’t think I grabbed my wallet on our way out..” Rui says, a mocking frown on his face.
“Don’t you always keep it in your jacket pocket so that you don’t forget it?” Nene deadpanned, looking unimpressed at the way Rui was trying to slither his way out of this situation.
“Ah, you’ve caught me it seems!” Rui exclaimed lowly, a sheepish grin forming on his face as he pulled the wallet out of his jacket pocket. “You know me all too well, my dear.”
Nene shook her head, letting out a little huff and rolled her eyes. Seriously, how shameless and embarrassing can one guy be? “Yeah, yeah.. Just pay, Rui.”
Rui only chuckled, paying for their ice cream and then tugging Nene out of the convenience store, pulling her to sit down on a nearby bench.
He took the ice cream that he bought for Nene out of the bag, handing it to her, and pulled out his own. Suddenly a gust of wind came their way, causing him to shiver.
Rui nudged her shoulder with his, lightly. “If we get sick, and Tsukasa questions us, I’ll tell him that it was your idea for us to eat ice cream outside during winter time, and at nearly one in the morning at that.”
His tone was playful as he opened his ice cream. He eyed Nene’s reaction— to which he found her rolling her eyes with a smile on her face. She nudged him back before resting her head on his shoulder, waving him off. “Yeah, yeah.. Whatever. We’re not going to get sick.”
“Now, Nene, we don’t want to jinx ourselves.” He chided, voice teasing as he leaned into her, relishing in her small warmth.
Nene scoffed, eating a spoonful of her ice cream before speaking once more. “You saying I’m going to jinx us getting sick is only going to jinx that fact and cause us to actually get sick.”
Rui just turned to look at her, blinking. Maybe it was the way his brain was muddled from staying up too long. He huffed out a laugh even though it wasn’t even that funny. “What? Nene, that made absolutely no sense…”
“I’m pretty sure it did.. At least, it did to me…” Nene said, though she found herself laughing a bit as well. “Rui, exactly when was the last time you slept?”
At first, Nene had meant the question as a joke, until Rui hadn’t answered right away, only giving her a sheepish smile in response. She peeled herself away from him, her full attention now on him as she practically analyzed him. Thankfully, the both of them were sitting directly under a street light.
She suddenly noticed everything; Rui was struggling to keep his eyes open and the bags under his eyes were darker than normal. She sighed, ice cream long forgotten as she cupped her hands over his cheeks, staring directly into his eyes. “Rui, how long have you been awake?”
“Mm, perhaps… I have been awake for about three days..” He replies rather calmly for someone whose face is heating up, trying to avert his gaze literally anywhere else except for Nene. Her stare is way too intense for him to process in the current moment, his brain melting even more under her fond and worried gaze.
She stares at him for a few more moments, sighing before pursing her lips, Leaning forward, she plants a gentle kiss to his nose and then scoots away, picking up their trash. “Let’s go. We’re going home, okay?”
Nene is looking up at him, that soft look in her eyes never leaving as she basically pleads. Rui can do nothing else but nod as he melts even more, starting to stand up so that he can help her clean.
They discard their trash, their hands subconsciously finding their way together again as they walk.
After some time of walking, Rui starts to notice how Nene is continuously blinking and rubbing her eyes, as if she were trying to keep herself awake. He smiles, humming as he gets an idea.
“Nene, would you like me to carry you home?” He asks, watching for her reaction carefully. He’s obviously very much more awake than she is, so he thought it was a decent idea. Nene also seems to agree; either that or she’s way too tired to disagree.
Rui hums, slowing their pace. But, before he crouches down, he takes the beanie from earlier off of his head and very gently puts it on Nene’s. His fingers are nimble with it, tucking her hair behind her ears as he makes sure that the hat covers her ears in the most snug way possible. He wants to make sure that she’s warm.
Once finished, he smiles, crouching down and letting Nene climb onto his back. He takes time to adjust her, making sure that she’s comfortable before he starts walking.
He then sets off towards their neighborhood, turning his head to look over his shoulder every so often, wanting to make sure that she had been okay.
As it turns out, Nene had actually fallen asleep just a few minutes after he had started walking, face nuzzled in the nape of his neck as the mixed, but familiar scents of lilac and vanilla filled her senses. Everything about Rui is familiar, from his warmth to his presence, and it was those three things that lulled her into such a comfortable slumber.
Nene feels as if she’s floating, and she only half registers the sound of keys jingling as Rui struggles to open the door single handed.
She only half registers when she’s placed onto her bed, her jacket, shoes and beanie being removed. But she’s pulled out from that state of familiarity and comfort when Rui fully pulls away.
She cracks an eye open, huffing and mumbling incoherent things under her breath as she tugs him closer to the bed. “You idiot… You need to sleep too..”
She hears the sound of him humming in response which almost instantly pushes her back into dreamland, but she pushes it away. “I mean here, Rui. Just get in the damn bed.”
She’s unsure if he heard that or not, her mumbles and grumbles becoming slightly slurred speech. However, she feels accomplished when she feels the mattress dip around her, Rui crawling onto the bed.
She immediately searches for him in her half asleep state, a contented hum bubbling out of her throat when she nuzzles closer to him, relishing in his warmth once more. She feels safe when she feels his arms wrap around her, that sense of familiarity coming back in waves.
Nene realizes as she drifts off to sleep that this is the one type of familiarity that she never wants to let go of.