Work Text:
When Draken came home, the apartment was dark.
A soft light bled out of the room at the end of the hallway, where Mitsuya used it as his home office. He could also hear the faint music being played, which meant Mitsuya was still working at this ungodly hour—Draken glanced at the phone in his hand—one in the morning.
Draken sighed.
He thought, their fight that afternoon would result in Mitsuya realizing that what he did was not healthy, and borderline dangerous. But it seemed, nothing had changed if Mitsuya was still working even after Draken had expressed how much he hated to see him overwork like there's no tomorrow.
Draken understood, how much Mitsuya's work meant to him, but sacrificing himself by overworking did nothing good. Draken had repeatedly chastised him, upon noticing the dark circle under Mitsuya's eyes, the way he looked like he could fall asleep while he was standing at anytime. And Mitsuya had always waved off his words by saying, that he was fine.
Excuse-freaking-me, that looked nowhere near fine for Draken.
"Don't you think, it's better to cut back some hours?" Draken finally asked after he spent a good fifteen minutes voicing his concern.
Not only that Mitsuya appeared as tired as a college student trying to get his exams done, his weight also decreased quite significantly. It wasn't just Draken's imagination. His habit of hugging Mitsuya helped him recognize it. Even without touching him, Draken could see that Mitsuya's own T-shirt seemed like an oversized one on his slim body.
"We are trying to get into this show in two months. Everybody is working as hard as they can. It's fine, I'm happy to do this." Mitsuya gave him what he thought was a reassuring smile, even though for Draken it didn't look anywhere near convincing.
Mitsuya started shutting down any concern and worry that Draken exhibited, either he ignored them or he dodged any incoming talks that could possibly lead to an argument.
Draken did his best to be understanding, but he hated to see Mitsuya like that.
Mitsuya always came home late and didn't have any energy left, but to stumble into bed.
Mitsuya who barely focused on anything, because he was too tired.
Mitsuya who spent his entire weekend, holed up in his home office, even missing the meals if Draken wasn't around.
Draken did his best to be understanding, but it was getting harder when Mitsuya clearly did nothing to help him understand why he was being self-destructive because of his work.
And one afternoon, this particular afternoon, Draken just couldn't contain it.
"You ain't helping anybody, if you don't take care of yourself, Takashi!"
Maybe it was the combination of fatigue and repressed emotional baggage, or maybe Mitsuya didn't have anything to encounter Draken's valid point.
He resorted to yell back, as angry.
"This is an important work for me, Ken! Why can't you just be supportive of what I'm doing?"
"Your work is nothing good if you're torturing yourself like this!"
Draken knew he had said the wrong thing when Mitsuya's face paled. His expression melted into an unreadable one, before he went back to his working table, turning his back on Draken.
He didn't even spare him a glance when he pointed at the door.
"Please, leave. I've got tons of work to do and I couldn't afford to lose time."
Mitsuya was a rational guy, it was one of many aspects that Draken adored of him. And yet. So he stormed out of the room, not without giving him a firm, "See if you need my help when you pass out later, Takashi."
Draken rubbed his forehead, the fighting really brought out the worst of him.
He and Mitsuya had almost never fight. Arguing perhaps, exchanging some different opinions often, but never to the point of yelling and prompting the other to leave.
Draken hated it.
After leaving the house, he opted to visit the nearest bar to clear his head. He didn't even drink much, only enough to calm himself and rationalize his thinking. He might have some correct points, but it didn't mean he wasn't in the wrong.
He could be better, he could be much gentler with Mitsuya.
He regretted the fighting, but he regretted it more that he couldn't communicate the problem in much calmer way.
Draken should sit down with Mitsuya and talk it out like the mature people that they were. It wasn't about who was more wrong and who was more right. There was no point in playing the blame game when he was also at the fault for yelling and invalidating Mitsuya's feeling on this matter.
They both had the right to defend their argument while also listening to each other's perspective.
Draken stood outside the slightly opened door.
The music seemed to drown any sign of activity in the room. Mitsuya could be very quiet while he was working, pouring down all of his concentration on his sketch and design.
Draken knocked softly, hoping that he didn't startle him.
"Taka?" He called. "May I come in?"
Drake waited, but there was no answer. He knocked again, this time a bit louder, but still to no avail.
He pushed the door ajar, only to find Mitsuya had fallen asleep over a stack of paper on his desk. He got a hair clip on his bang, to keep the hair from befalling his forehead. On the other side of the table, Draken caught an empty plate and bowl, along with the chopstick on them.
At least, Mitsuya remembered to get some meals.
Draken entered the room, immediately went to the sleeping figure on the desk.
It breaks my heart that you always tire yourself like this.
He carded his fingers among the black lilac, almost like he was methodically massaging his head. Even in his slumber, Mitsuya recognized the touch that he leaned to Draken's hand movement.
"Takashi," Draken combed his hair. "Hey, let's get you to bed."
Mitsuya stirred in his sleep before he was slowly awoken.
"Sorry, I fell asleep," he murmured, rubbing his eyes.
Draken smiled at that. "C'mon, let's have a proper rest on the bed."
Mitsuya nodded, letting himself be hauled when Draken sneaked his arm around his waist, helping him to stand up. Mitsuya let Draken support half of his body weight, while they took a short trip to their bedroom.
In no time, Draken laid him gently on their bed before he sat next to him as he took off the hair clip and smoothened the hair on Mitsuya's front.
Mitsuya didn't open his eyes, but Draken knew he was quite awake to feel Draken's touch.
"Sleep well, okay?" Draken said, caressing his cheek.
He was about to leave when Mitsuya caught his hand.
"I'm sorry, Ken." He whispered, taking Draken's hand. "I've should listened to you. You are right, I am overworking myself."
Draken softened at that. "I'm sorry too, I shouldn't yell at you. Your work is very important and—"
Mitsuya shook his head. "And I'm way too paranoid that something will go wrong. I should take care of myself before something bad happens. You're right, I'm not gonna help anyone if I get sick." He kissed Draken's knuckle. "I'm sorry."
Draken scooched closer. "I'm just worried about you, but it didn't justify all the yelling I did. We can have this talk in a better way. We can compromise instead of arguing."
"Yeah, I guess we're both at fault," Mitsuya sighed, ducking his head embarrassedly. "I'll talk with Yasuda too, to discuss the work arrangements."
"Taka, I get that your work is your world," Draken placed his other hand over Mitsuya's. "But you are my world, and I hate to see you like this."
The words seemed to trigger something in Mitsuya, and he looked up to stare at Draken silently, before he pulled Draken even closer, whispering I'm sorry, Ken, I'm sorry over and over again.
Draken's heart ached at the sight.
"Hey, hey, it's alright," he slipped out of Mitsuya's grip, only to cradle his face, keeping him in position as he leaned forward and let their foreheads touched.
"We can continue this talk tomorrow morning, For now, let's have some rest, it has been a very long day."
Mitsuya didn't let him go that easily. He angled his face to capture Draken's lips before Draken had any chance to pull back.
It took Draken a while to notice that the kiss tasted salty, that Mitsuya's lips were trembling against his.
Draken positioned himself to take over the kiss, breathing out reassurance through the touch. When they eventually parted, he gave Mitsuya a playful peck on the tip of his nose.
"Thank you, Ken," Mitsuya croaked.
Draken flicked his nose, grinning. "Taka, you don't need to thank me."