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Xingqiu's relationship with sleep is about as stable as a house of cards. Insomnia, that cruel and fickle mistress, has plagued him since childhood. And his bedtime aversion certainly isn't helping matters.
A 'good night's sleep'? Ha! That's a concept so foreign it might as well be in a different language. Most nights end with him sprawled across his bed, reading whatever novel has captured his fancy until the words begin to melt off the page.
Xingqiu flops onto his back, his eyes tracing nonsensical patterns into the ceiling. His body aches with the kind of bone-deep exhaustion that makes even blinking feel like a herculean task.
He's tried everything short of knocking himself unconscious to get some sleep (though the thought has crossed his mind once or twice, usually around the third hour of tossing and turning). Boiling hot showers that leave his skin lobster red? Check. Herbal teas? Double check. Medications? Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
Well... Not everything, evidently.
As if summoned by Xingqiu's thoughts, the bed dips with a familiar weight. A scent washes over Xingqiu, a heady mix of coconut soap and something so uniquely Gaming it makes his heart skip a beat. It's comforting in a way no other fragrance could hope to be.
"Xingqiu?"
A hand, far larger and warmer than his own, lands on his hip, sending a shiver down his spine. But it's not there to trace tantalizing patterns into his skin, or to pull him closer until he's flush against that broad chest he definitely hasn't been dreaming about.
No. Gaming, ever the gentleman, is merely nudging him gently onto his side.
"You're so tense," Gaming says, finally climbing into bed beside Xingqiu. His voice is a low rumble that Xingqiu feels more than hears. "I don't think you can sleep if you're this wound up."
"You're the one who suggested this in the first place..." Xingqiu whispers under his breath. All the while his heart is beating like a war drum, loud enough he fears Gaming might hear it.
"The idea was for you to get a good night's sleep, not for you to spend all night up and nervous."
Xingqiu huffs out a weak laugh at that. "Well, I've never willingly gone to bed with someone else. Unless you count sharing a tent during an expedition."
"So... I'm special?"
"Of course you would take it that way..."
Finally, Xingqiu musters the courage to turn and face him. Him, the man who barged into Xingqiu's life and made himself quite cozy there. With freshly washed hair falling haphazardly over his eyes, all of Gaming's usual sharp edges have softened. His hair is down for once, the vibrant red mostly hidden beneath his more natural looking brown. It's a rare sight, considering he usually keeps it tied up, and Xingqiu drinks in every detail like a man dying of thirst.
Beautiful. Truly, every time they meet, Gaming grows more and more breathtaking. It's hardly fair.
Xingqiu must be a fool, or maybe even a masochist. Because no sane man would ever let their crush into their bed under the flimsy guise of 'helping with insomnia.' But here he is, heart racing, palms sweating, and trying not to hyperventilate.
"Why haven't you dried your hair yet?" Xingqiu chides, hoping against hope that the heat in his cheeks isn't visible in the dimly lit room. He snatches the towel still draped around Gaming's shoulders and unceremoniously wraps it around the other boy's head, covering his eyes. Just in case, of course. Purely for practical reasons.
Gaming tips his head back and allows Xingqiu to do as he pleases without any objections, blissfully unaware of Xingqiu's inner turmoil. So Xingqiu decides to indulge a little, running his fingers through the boy's thick locks. He's just checking for wet spots. There's nothing wrong with that. Really.
"I wanted to check in on you first." Gaming's sheepish smile peeks out from under the towel, and it's more than enough to melt what's left of Xingqiu's carefully constructed walls.
"I am not allowing you to sleep in my bed with wet hair." The words come out sharper than intended, laced with a kind of venom only sleep deprivation can produce. Xingqiu winces at his own tone, but Gaming — the insufferable brute — merely grins wider.
"So picky..." Gaming grumbles, but there's a twinkle in his eye that belies his words. He looks downright elated, as if Xingqiu's annoyed pout is the most entertaining thing he's seen all day. Xingqiu hates how his traitorous heart skips a beat at the sight.
Absolutely insufferable. He's lucky he's cute, or else Xingqiu wouldn't be putting up with all this nonsense.
Before Xingqiu can muster up a suitably scathing retort, Gaming reaches out and plucks the towel from Xingqiu's hands, taking over the task of drying his hair. Then, without warning or reason, he tosses the towel onto the floor.
The sight of it lying there, crumpled and haphazard, makes Xingqiu's eye twitch. A lecture about how he has a basket not two steps away from them bubbles up in his throat, but it dies a quick death as Gaming's arm snakes around his waist.
In a heartbeat, Xingqiu finds himself pulled flush against Gaming's chest, his head pillowed on those broad shoulders. He's close, closer than they've ever been before. Too close, some distant, rational part of Xingqiu's mind helpfully supplies, though that's far from what the rest of his brain thinks.
"Now go to sleep already," Gaming mumbles, burying his face into Xingqiu's hair. And though his words are muffled, his exhaustion is clear as day.
Something in Xingqiu's chest unwinds like a tightly coiled spring. His mind, usually a cacophony of white noise and half-formed ideas for his next novel, goes silent. In its place is a single word: warm.
Gaming is so, so warm.
How long has it been since he's had this kind of physical contact with another person? Certainly not since childhood, at least, when his brother still had time to play with him outside. His friends, as dear as they are to him, aren't exactly the touchy feely type. And physical affection within his family is...
It's strange, he muses, how his body seems to recognize the other's warmth and touch as if they've been doing this for years, not mere minutes. It's... nice. Soothing in a way Xingqiu hadn't realized he desperately needed.
Before he can overthink it, Xingqiu allows himself to relax. He sinks into Gaming's embrace, their bodies slotting together like perfectly matched puzzle pieces.
For the first time in a long, long time, Xingqiu feels himself start to drift. His breathing slows, eyes growing heavy and limbs tingly. A strange sort of heaviness settles over him. Not an unpleasant feeling, no, it's rather...
The last thing Xingqiu remembers before he finally drifts off is the feel of calloused fingers gently running through his hair.
It feels... nice.