Work Text:
Buzz. Buzz.
Sanemi’s phone vibrated on the countertop. He paused in the midst of chopping some vegetables to peer over and see who was calling him.
Giyuu Tomioka, the caller ID read. Sanemi scoffed and gave the onion he was cutting another rough cut. He hadn’t heard from his boyfriend at all today–which didn’t worry Sanemi one bit, not at all–and now he finally calls right when he is preparing the dinner that they were supposed to share together? “Asshole,” Sanemi muttered under his breath.
Still holding the knife, Sanemi used his pinky finger to press the green ‘answer’ button, and then put Giyuu on speakerphone.
“Well, good morning to you too,” Sanemi fired off, annoyed, as he finished chopping the onion and moved on to the next vegetable.
“ Hey,” a hoarse voice groaned from the other end of the line, followed by a cough. Sanemi quickly turned his head toward his phone, dropping the knife on the cutting board and wiping off his hands. He took the phone off speaker and brought it up to his ear.
“Giyuu? Are you okay?” Sanemi asked in hushed tones, suddenly concerned.
Another cough from Giyu’s end. “ I’m so sorry, Sanemi, I’ve been sleeping all day, I feel like shit. I’m sorry. I should have texted you. We were supposed to have dinner. I’m so sorry.” Giyuu’s voice broke. He was apologizing so profusely and so quickly, he sounded almost delirious and like he was about to cry.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, we can still have dinner. I’ll come to you,” Sanemi said quickly, beginning to pack up all of the ingredients that he had gotten out. He was planning on making some soup for dinner anyway, so it kind of worked out.
“ Sanemi, no, I don’t want you getting sick.”
“You think I give a shit about that? I’m coming over and I’m making dinner and that’s the end of it.”
Giyuu sighed. He sounded so exhausted. “ If you’re sure, then okay. I’ll leave the door unlocked for you. Can’t promise I’ll be awake when you get here.”
“Just rest for now. I’ll be there soon, okay?” Sanemi didn’t give Giyuu a chance to respond before he ended the call. Shoving his phone into his pocket, he gathered up the ingredients for the soup, grabbed his car keys, and made his way out of his apartment and to his car. He had never driven faster to Giyuu’s apartment in his life, pushing the speed limit the entire time. He didn’t care–he needed to see Giyuu.
Sanemi parked his car outside of Giyuu’s apartment complex and gathered his things, walking briskly to Giyuu’s door. He knew it was unlocked, but he softly rapped his knuckles on the door to make his presence known. He quietly opened the door, peering in to see that all of the lights were off, then entered the apartment, quietly closing the door behind him. The TV was on, softly playing some cooking show and giving the room just the slightest illumination. Sanemi turned his attention to the couch, where Giyuu lay sleeping, curled up under a quilt, the hood of his sweatshirt drawn over his head. His lips were slightly parted and he was snoring softly, cheeks tinted red. Sanemi walked into the kitchen to set the bags of ingredients down, then crept back into the living room towards Giyuu. Stopping near his boyfriend’s head, he bent down and placed a gentle kiss on the top of his head, then retreated back into the kitchen to resume the cooking that he started at his own home.
Sanemi rummaged through Giyuu’s cabinets for a pot, finally finding one and placing it on the stove. Cranking the heat up, Sanemi unpacked the vegetables that he had already cut up, dropping them into the pot; he then poured some broth in as well, letting all of that simmer.
A few minutes later, the soup was beginning to steadily simmer. It wouldn’t be long now before it was ready to eat. As Sanemi stirred it slowly, he felt something warm slide around his waist. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the side of Giyuu’s face pressed to the top of his shoulder, and he had coiled his arms around Sanemi. He had pulled down his hood after waking up, revealing that his long hair was tied up in a loose bun, and his cheeks were still flushed red.
Sanemi set down the spoon and turned around, being careful to not break Giyuu’s grip on him. He draped his arms over Giyuu’s shoulders and pulled him closer, reciprocating his embrace and kissing his warm forehead.
“Hi,” Giyuu nearly whispered.
“Hi,” Sanemi mumbled.
They stood there holding each other like that for a moment, with Sanemi rubbing slow circles on Giyuu’s back, just long enough for their breathing to synchronize, before the silence was broken again.
“Sorry for being an asshole when you called. I hadn’t heard from you, so I was worried. I should have handled it better,” Sanemi explained. Gone were the days of Sanemi being abrasive and mean towards Giyuu–at least, most of the time. He slipped back into his old habits on occasion, but he was trying. For Giyuu, he wanted to try.
Giyuu raised his head off of Sanemi’s shoulder to look at him. And oh, did he look like shit. His face was flushed red, his eyelids drooped low over his deep blue eyes, and the normally faint dark circles under his eyes were much more prominent now. Dark bangs were disheveled and tangled across his forehead, a sure sign that Giyuu hadn’t had the energy to even brush his hair today. Sanemi pulled one of his arms back toward him so that he could gently rub Giyuu’s cheek with his thumb. In turn, Giyuu leaned in to the touch, closing his eyes and sighing.
“It’s okay, I’m not mad. I should have let you know I was sick,” Giyuu muttered. Sanemi pressed a kiss to Giyuu’s cheek, then rested his forehead against the other man’s.
“I’m here now, so it doesn’t really matter, does it?” Sanemi asked with a small smirk. Giyuu met his eyes and softly smiled as Sanemi turned back around to stir the soup once more. He turned down the heat and placed a lid on the pot, then set a timer on his phone for one hour.
“Come on, you need to lay down,” Sanemi said, taking Giyuu’s hand and leading him back into the living room. Giyuu groggily followed behind him, nearly collapsing onto the couch once he reached it. He pulled his hood back over his head and reached out for Sanemi, who was pulling the blanket back over Giyuu’s body.
“‘Nemiiii,” Giyuu whined. “I want you to lay here with meeee.”
“Not right now, ‘Yuu, I’ve got to finish making dinner. You need to rest. I’ll be right here if you need me, ‘kay?” He smiled and brushed his thumb across Giyuu’s cheek, watching as his boyfriend’s eyes struggled to stay open. Giyuu muttered unintelligibly as he fought to stay awake, which was a losing battle, but Sanemi was only able to make out a portion of it.
“ Mmm I love you, ‘nemi…you take such good care of me.” Giyuu fell back asleep after that.
Sanemi was stunned.
No fucking way. Did he just–?
He couldn’t stop the smile that was threatening to spread across his face, so he just let it happen. Surely there was no way Giyuu was going to remember what he said once he woke up again, but Sanemi didn’t care. He leaned down and kissed Giyuu’s cheek, letting it linger for just a little longer than normal, before sitting in front of the couch and draping Giyuu’s arm over his shoulder. It wouldn’t hurt, sitting here for a bit, enjoying this quiet moment.
No, it wouldn’t hurt at all.