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It starts during a thunderstorm.
Thunderstorms are never pleasant for Jouno. Heavy rain is already a pain to deal with; listening to it drumming against the roof is only calming to a certain degree. He’s filled with a sense of dread as soon as he hears a rumble of thunder in the distance, knowing already that the next few hours will be pure torture. It’s worse when he’s outside, with the sharp burning scent of lightning striking nearby and the rain dulling his senses too much for it to be comfortable on the job. At least he’s inside this time.
Jouno is burying his face in a pillow when hears a knock at his door. He doesn't answer it—he doesn’t know what time it is, but he knows it’s too late to be dealing with people. The steady heartbeat he hears is certainly Tecchou's, and he's one of the last people Jouno would like to see right now. Besides, whether or not he answers doesn't really matter with Tecchou.
Go away, he would say if he had the voice to, but even so he does nothing to actually stop Tecchou from entering. Which he does, after a second knock.
"Have you—" Tecchou begins. "Oh."
Jouno steels himself, lifting his head from the pillow and sitting up straight. "What could you possibly want at this time?" he asks, trying to sound as if nothing is wrong. Which is true. Nothing is wrong.
Tecchou doesn't say anything. Jouno grumbles under his breath.
"Are you just going to stand there, Tecchou-san, or do you have something useful to do?" he spits.
“Is something wrong?” asks Tecchou.
Jouno forms his hands into fists, gripping onto the sheets. “No. Not at all.”
There’s a beat of near-silence.
"You don't need to be embarrassed for being scared," Tecchou says, which makes Jouno flush, his cheeks growing uncomfortably warm. With anger or humiliation, he's not sure, but he hates it either way.
"I'm not," Jouno hisses, "fucking scared."
Another clap of thunder sounds outside. Jouno fails miserably at hiding his flinch.
"I'm not scared," he insists, even as he senses Tecchou’s disbelieving stare. "It's just loud. It surprised me."
Tecchou is beside him, suddenly, sitting on the edge of Jouno's bed.
"What are you—"
A cold pair of hands cup around his ears. Jouno's heart stutters.
He makes a soft tch sound. "You know this doesn't help much."
"I know," Tecchou responds, enough to be heard clearly but quiet enough not to be overwhelming. "But it's the least I can do."
If Jouno were in a righter state of might, he'd be appalled at the idea of being comforted by Tecchou Suehiro. He's not scared. He's not. It's just so loud outside, and his body is already enough of a sensory nightmare without sudden cracks of thunder every few moments. He hears gunfire nearly every day. He should be used to it.
God, he's pathetic.
Slowly, Jouno raises his hands to cover Tecchou's, pressing them closer and blocking out more noise. He focuses on the sound of Tecchou's slightly off-kilter heartbeat, his steady breathing, the blood rushing through his veins.
They both jump at the next roll of thunder. It's not as bad as before.
Jouno isn't sure how long the two of them sit there, breathing nearly in sync. The thunder outside dies down eventually, and after a few minutes without anything but the steady falling of rain, Jouno pulls his hands away, taking Tecchou's too.
"Tecchou-san," Jouno says, nearly a whisper. "What do you look like?"
Tecchou doesn't answer for a bit, making Jouno question if he's mistaken, if Tecchou is actually asleep.
Then, he feels his wrist being grabbed, lifted into the air until his fingers are touching skin.
"Find out for yourself," Tecchou says.
So Jouno does. He brushes over Tecchou's cheeks, his eyelids, his forehead, taking note of every bump and scar. His hand finds its way to Tecchou's mouth. He starts to run his thumb over the swordsman's lips before he jerks away like he's been burnt, because he is not going there.
"You aren't smiling."
"I'm not."
"I want to feel your smile," Jouno says, face warming up again, though this time in a much less mortifying kind of embarrassment.
"I don't smile often."
"Hm," is all Jouno says before his hand returns to Tecchou's face, fingers curled under his jaw. He feels around until he finds a soft spot near the back of Tecchou's neck, gently pressing into it and making Tecchou huff out a small laugh.
"You're ticklish," Jouno accuses, going back to trace the corners of Tecchou's smile.
"Perhaps."
Jouno hums. “Stop that,” he says, noticing that Tecchou’s mouth has curled back down. “Or I’ll have to tickle you again.”
Tecchou smiles again. Jouno wishes he could properly see it.
Satisfied, Jouno pulls his hand back, and maybe it’s the fuzziness in his brain or maybe it’s the tiredness enveloping his body, but something causes him to lean forward until his head is resting on Tecchou’s shoulder.
Something must be really wrong with him.
Tecchou’s heart races, and maybe if it was some other time Jouno would be annoyed, or even question why, but tonight he supposes he’ll just accept it. It’s not like his own heartbeat is very calm, anyway.
“Why…” Jouno starts, waiting for Tecchou to make some kind of acknowledgement before continuing. “Why did you come in here in the first place?” He’s still not sure what time it is, but surely it’s too late for anyone to need his assistance.
Tecchou hesitates. “I wanted to know if you knew where my spare uniform had gone.”
Jouno lets out a tiny snort of laughter, giggles bubbling up in his chest and making him bury his face near the crook of Tecchou’s neck. “Ha! Is—is that it, Tecchou-san?” he asks through his mirth. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected much else.”
Tecchou doesn’t answer him. Jouno clears his throat, suddenly self-conscious. “Tecchou-san?”
“I haven’t heard you laugh before.”
“...And?”
“It’s nice.”
Oh. Heat floods Jouno’s cheeks, and he’s suddenly extremely glad his face is hidden. “Y-you—”
“I…?” Tecchou is teasing him. This is horrible.
Jouno straightens up, shoves Tecchou away with hardly any force. “Leave,” he says weakly. The only reason he’s not pushing his partner out the door is because he can tell that Tecchou is just as flustered as he is. He’s…not sure what to make of that.
“Do you really want me to?”
Jouno pauses. “Do I want what?”
“Me to leave.”
No, Jouno thinks. I don’t.
“Why would I want you to stay?” he says instead, and he hopes it comes across how he means it.
Somehow, it does. Tecchou stays.