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“If I ever attempted to end my life, would you stop me?”
Perhaps looking back on this in the coming days, Goro will be able to pinpoint which exact little portion of his fucked up brain compelled him to voice a passing thought out loud. For the moment though, he is unable to snatch the words from the air and stuff them back down his throat. No, instead he must lie in his – quite literal – bed of consequence and watch Minato slowly open his one visible eye from where he is curled up beside him.
“Is this your version of pillow talk?”
He sounds so very annoyed. Goro smiles sardonically. “Does that surprise you?”
With a small huff through his nose, Minato pulls the covers a little higher over his chest and tucks his arm between his cheek and the mattress. “Hm…” He is staring at Goro intently; the moon spilling over him through their skylight makes his eye seem unnaturally blue. “Would I stop you…” After brief contemplation, he closes it and says, “No. It sounds like a lot of work.”
“Haha!” The laugh is short but still mildly hysterical – he couldn’t help himself. Such a response was so in character for Minato and yet somehow still managed to catch Goro completely off guard. His hand falls over his eyes and a too wide smile, then passes back through his hair and falls above his head - defeated. “So not because you respect my wishes, or that you would miss me, but because it is too much effort?”
“Does that surprise you?”
Now it’s his turn to look annoyed. “Don’t be a child.”
Okay, kettle. The pot chuckles, just a little, before mumbling back, “Then don’t put words in my mouth. I never said I wouldn’t miss you, only that I wouldn’t stop you.”
In a movement far too quick for 4 a.m., Goro turns on his side so fast that a small gust of wind blows the curtain of Minato’s bangs. “You would miss me, then.”
“No.”
Goro deflates. His entire expression crinkles, caught somewhere between offended and genuinely hurt. “You know, this was only a hypothetical, but every word out of your mouth is making it feel--”
“I wouldn’t be here to miss you.”
Oh.
There is silence as Goro processes those words, picking apart their meaning as they lie like stones piled between them. Clarity lifts them one by one and his eyes gradually widen from the narrowed state they were in only seconds before. He opens his mouth, but is silenced this time by the rise of Minato’s free hand. Goro watches from the corner of his eye as two of Minato’s fingers fold in, the remaining three shaped into the figure of a gun that he pokes gently against the side of Goro’s head. “Where you go, I go. At this point, I’m offended you think I’d be in front of you, trying to stop you at such a moment,” he draws his mock gun back, now pressing the tips of his fingers to his own temple, “and not by your side.”
“Minato…”
Slowly, Goro reaches for that hand and unfolds Minato’s fingers with his own, lacing them together. “There.” Minato smiles smugly, comforted by the quiet clink of their rings sliding together. “Don’t you feel stupid now for asking such a – ah!”
Goro yanks him by the tangle of their hands, pressing them to close to his chest as he chuckles quietly at the startled look on Minato’s face. “No. Not at all.” He bows his head and noses his way past Minato’s bangs, nuzzling his cheek before pressing a soft kiss to the little bump that starts his ear. “If I were to bring anyone with me, I would want it to be you.”
Minato is still too stunned to come up with any remarks, scathing or otherwise. Goro rarely allows him to share in his vulnerability like this, so he takes a moment to absorb Goro warmth around him; his strong heartbeat beneath their hands and the tickle of his breath by his ear, the fall of his long hair that curtains them both from the world. It all envelops him in a comfort that no blanket could replicate, one he allows himself to sink into and press his smile against his husband’s chest. “I’m glad to hear it. We did promise after all – or have you forgotten?” Minato uses the anchor of their hands to lean up a little higher, tilting his head back with a hooded, pleading gaze. “Until death…”
Goro smiles fondly, all dark thoughts swept away by Minato’s silent request to close the distance between them. “Do us part,” he finishes, and then seals his oath once more with a kiss.
