Work Text:
It’s well into the afternoon when Kokichi finally emerges from their bedroom, dwarfed by one of Rantaro’s sweatshirts, his hair mussed and falling into his eyes. He announces his presence by yawning, and Rantaro looks up at him, tilts his head to the side as he watches his boyfriend shuffle into the living room.
Rantaro shifts to make room next to him. He’s sitting under the kotatsu and reading a book, but he marks his page as Kokichi stops at his side, dropping down to sit with his legs folded and all but melting into Rantaro’s side. Neither of them have anywhere to be today—Rantaro has been to so many countries in the past month that he’d seen fit to take a break for once—but even by their usual standards, Kokichi’s been in bed for a while. He pushes his book aside and adjusts to put a hand on Kokichi’s back, rubbing gently.
“Morning,” Rantaro murmurs. It’s nearing 3PM, but it’s the thought that counts. “Are you hungry?”
Kokichi hums indistinctly, which isn’t really an answer. Rantaro watches him lie there for a while, as if he’ll suddenly muster the energy to give a verbal response, but none comes. Eventually Rantaro adjusts to tug Kokichi further into his embrace, head against his chest, and reaches past him with his free hand.
It’s winter, orange season, so they’ve been keeping a little basket of tangerines on the corner of the kotatsu by their remote. Kokichi likes the things a lot so he keeps a careful eye on it, always refilling it when the amount dips kind of low. Rantaro picks a tangerine off the top and leans forward slightly so he can wind his arm all the way around Kokichi, cradling the fruit in both hands.
“How’d you sleep?” Rantaro asks as he starts to peel it. Kokichi mumbles into his shirt, another incoherent response. He’s tired today. Not that Rantaro can blame him. Kokichi likes to have fun, which means a lot of antics, but his antics can often get him into trouble and even when they don’t, Rantaro can just tell that the full act takes a whole lot of energy to put on. That doesn’t make it any less worthwhile to do, Rantaro doesn’t think, but these sleepy days in between are inevitable. Rantaro is just glad Kokichi doesn’t feel the need to force anything when they’re together.
He finishes peeling the tangerine and removes a few of the white strands before sectioning it off and holding up one of the slices to Kokichi’s face. After a moment, Kokichi rights himself and parts his lips, taking the fruit between his teeth.
They continue on this way, more or less in silence. Rantaro feeds him the whole tangerine and then reaches for another, dutifully starting to peel it again.
“You’re gonna give me a stomachache,” Kokichi mumbles, his first proper sentence of the day. Rantaro grins at him.
“You think so?”
“Not supposed to eat acids on an empty stomach… Of course, that rule is only for people with normal human stomachs. For an evil overlord like me, there’s no such issue.” Kokichi lets his cheek rest against Rantaro’s shoulder, his eyes starting to regain some of their usual clarity. “So you’re very lucky, Rantaro-chan. If your offering of a tangerine burned a hole in my stomach and killed me, I’d have to sacrifice you to the gods. You understand, don’t you?”
Rantaro hums. “Yeah, I guess. It wouldn’t be so bad a way to die, if you were the one doing the sacrificing.”
Kokichi closes his mouth at that, face flushing. Rantaro hadn’t even been trying to embarrass him, so he smiles sheepishly and offers another tangerine slice in apology. Kokichi’s eyes narrow, but he eventually accepts it, even though he continues to squint as he chews through it.
“This was a good batch,” Kokichi eventually decides, pulling his weight from Rantaro’s arm and stretching out a little with a yawn. Rantaro waits patiently for him to be ready for his next slice. “Nice and sweet, not too sour at all.”
Rantaro nods. “Yeah, you have a good eye for them. I can never tell which ones are going to be sour just from looking.”
“All your fruit assessment powers went to knowing how to pick a good watermelon,” Kokichi says sagely.
“Well—they sound different when you pound on them. I have no idea what you’re supposed to look for with tangerines. You never tell me either.” Rantaro pouts. This isn’t exactly something he’s upset about—he actually kind of likes it, eating tangerines and knowing they taste better because his boyfriend has an eye for picking them—but it’s so easy to get caught up in bantering with Kokichi.
Kokichi seems pleased for it, letting out a giggle. “I have to keep some of my secrets, Taro-chan. You’ve already defanged me enough as it is.”
“Didn’t think it was possible,” Rantaro admits. He slides another orange slice into Kokichi’s mouth. Kokichi always plays up being childish, but he can be startlingly polite when they’re alone like this. He chews and swallows before he speaks again.
“I didn’t either! But you’ve completely tamed me… I’m basically like a dog now, showing you my soft and fluffy underbelly.” Kokichi nudges Rantaro back, then flops into his lap and stretches out. Rantaro hesitates to offer him another slice, worried Kokichi will choke if he tries to swallow in this position, but acquiesces fairly quickly when Kokichi nudges his wrist and opens his mouth.
Rantaro comments, “That’s a little boring… I’ll do my best not to betray your newfound trust in me, though.”
That response earns him a broad grin from Kokichi, as if it’d been the right thing to say. Truth be told, he’s not all that hard to read. Rantaro passes off the last orange slice and cards his fingers through Kokichi’s hair, debating peeling another tangerine for him or just sitting here and enjoying the closeness. Kokichi seems to have shaken off most of that groggy feeling from before, so they can probably just focus on relaxing for now. Sooner or later Rantaro will want to get up and make them a real meal, but the tangerines have been a convenient substitute for the moment.
Kokichi seizes Rantaro’s hand and drags it down to his lips, kissing the inside of his wrist. Rantaro feels his hand twitch at the proximity to his ticklish palm, but relaxes quickly at the soft feeling. The slow days like this are always his favourites.
“Thanks,” Kokichi finally says, pulling back from Rantaro’s skin.
“For the oranges? My pleasure,” Rantaro responds, eyebrows raised. Kokichi beams at him, then kisses him again once more before opening his mouth and biting down. He doesn’t bite particularly hard, but it’s enough to make Rantaro wriggle a little, grabbing for another tangerine with a huff of complaint. He could have just said he was still hungry, but whatever.
…From the way Kokichi giggles again in his lap, Rantaro is getting the sense that that wasn’t quite what he was trying to communicate with the bite, but well, they’re already here. Rantaro begins peeling the tangerine with a hassled smile, shaking his head. For this little rascal, he will peel as many tangerines as it takes to hear him laughing like that.