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Gaara likes to watch Lee sleep. Lee dreams, and very obviously. He moves around and mumbles in his sleep and Gaara finds it comforting that Lee is as animated at rest as he is during the day. It provides constant entertainment for Gaara's bored mind. Especially during these late nights on missions, waiting in these liminal pockets in between the times when everyone else is active.
Something about it is comforting for him; that Lee whom he once damaged so irreparably trusts him enough to be unconscious beside him. Lee is an odd character and clearly his dreams reflect that his subconscious self is just as excitable. His round eyes dart around below his eyelids, long lashes making spidery shadows flicker across his tan cheekbones. He tosses and turns and occasionally bumps his limbs into Gaara but he doesn't mind because this close he can almost make out what Lee is mumbling as he sleeps. It keeps Gaara occupied.
Gaara is simply happy that being this close does not cause Lee to lash out and attack him, although he supposes he is the ideal candidate to sleep closest to a sleeping Lee on the offensive, given that he has an automatic defense. Gaara allows himself a small smile in the secrecy of the night.
Lee is a heavy sleeper so Gaara may have gotten sloppy in his nightly approach. He does not try to hide his stalking at all anymore. Neji and Tenten have never said anything to him about it, so he presumes he's never been caught.
Suffice to say, it's extremely startling when big round eyes scrunch up and then peek open at him in the moonlight. All Gaara does is blink back, frozen, hoping that he will just go back to sleep.
“Gaara-kun..?” it comes out garbled clearly still mostly asleep and slurring his words.
“Yes.” Gaara affirms because he doesn't see the sense in lying if he's been caught.
His next sentence comes out only half legible, a series of indiscernible mumbles, “ -S’ the moon- it makes t-the… yer purple is… You look so prettyyy-”
Gaara feels his cheeks warm and pointedly does not think about it.
He must still be mostly unconscious then. Hopefully he won't remember Gaara leaning over him in his sleep.
Right now at least, he just blinks slowly and continues muttering, something about “-s'like.. Glittery? An’ soft~”
“Go back to sleep.” Gaara says softly. Temari says his whispers sound straight from a horror film but Lee just giggles quietly at the sound.
“So I'm dreamin’??.. That makes m’ sensss-”
Gaara supposes that explanation works, as long as Lee doesn't remember this interaction.
“Yes, Lee. You're dreaming.”
Gaara is expecting that to be the end of it, but startlingly, Lee flips over towards him, flattening Gaara onto his own sleeping bag. He vaguely wonders why sand hadn't swooped in to intercept the contact, he supposes it didn't hurt. There's little time to chase the thought because Lee's right arm and leg curl around Gaara and yank him close. He hugs Gaara right up against his warm front and his limbs are a soothing sort of heavy on Gaara's frozen form. Lee's breath tickles the hairs at Gaara's ear when he speaks again, “... Awake Gaara would ne… never lemme this close..”
Gaara wonders if Lee actually believes that, and considers resistance, tells himself it's time to pull away, Lee's asleep and not in his right mind. But selfishly, Gaara wants to stay wrapped up like this. He is not thrilled to be staring at the wall now, but Lee's chest expanding in a sleepy sigh against his back is a bit hypnotizing. Meditative in its steady rhythm.
“..S'a nice dream…” Lee's chin bumps the crown of Gaara's head, he remains still, “-even smell like real G'ra-”
Lee cuts himself off with a snore, loud enough that it would probably wake anyone else if Lee had been given any other room mate. But Gaara didn't find it loud enough to be uncomfortable. It was actually kind of… pleasant. Gaara is used to complete silence at night, service crew almost nonexistent in the manor, and the sand absorbing a lot of the ambient noise. But here, the noise sort of fills the room. Gaara is not supposed to allow himself to fall asleep but he allows himself a moment to rest his eyes.
Lee only seems to melt more of his weight onto the smaller shinobi as he settles back into unconsciousness. And so, comfortably trapped, all Gaara can do is try to reason with his puttering heart, jumping in confused delight every time he tries to think about Lee's nonsense sleep talk. It's a difficult thought not to circle back to, especially with the nose buried in his hair, that Lee is apparently able to identify Gaara's smell .
It makes his face heat in a fluttering sort of embarrassment. Gaara also recognizes Lee's smell, given his jinchuriki nose, but he had learned from experience that saying so would often make people uncomfortable. He won't bring it up to Lee. But it will be impossible to forget, he'll never be able to choose a different soap. How childish. Lee hadn't exactly said he'd liked it, but Lee thinking of Gaara in any capacity as a ‘good dream’ makes his head hurt.
A sudden snort! and Lee jolts. He crushes Gaara tighter in his arms almost painfully so, a petulant lilt to his voice as he sneers, “Noo Neji… get yer own- i don'hafta-”
This time the sand does rush out of the gourd for a second as Gaara flails. Lee hauls him over himself, so that they've flipped completely onto the other half of Lee's unzipped sleeping bag. He's able to will it back in quietly enough. He senses Shukaku stirring in the edges of his mind. Tells himself not to rest his eyes for the rest of the night. This spot is hot from Lee's body heat, and Lee's loose blanket is soft where it's managed to twist around the two bodies.
It's impossible to escape now unless he risks trying to wake Lee and Gaara deems it unnecessary. After all, he's already lost in something new, some world where he's refusing to share something with Neji. Instead he counts the scars on Lee's rarely exposed left hand and listens to his sleepy mutterings. He makes a bit of a game of it, trying to guess what Lee might be dreaming about based on what he can make out. His hand twitches and Gaara moves slowly, gently places his own hand on top of Lee’s; traces his fingertips over twitching tendons. The long knobby fingers curl over Gaara’s like the mouth of a Venus flytrap. Even in his sleep, Lee’s movements are sure. Confident and well practiced. Gaara muses to himself that being trapped in Lee's hold is preferable to being at the receiving end of his sleepy fists. It is overall, rather amusing, and the night passes much faster than he anticipates.
Lee seems so unmistakably alive at all times. His blood rushes loudly beside Gaara's ear and beneath pale fingertips, breathes loud and steady, makes his presence obvious and takes up space. It's as if Gaara could disappear somewhere in the feeling. Hide against Lee's chest and behind his hands and maybe for a second not feel like prey, watched under an all seeing eye. Gaara feels hunted, and Lee's arms feel like a protective haven.
When the sun rises, Gaara almost laments how short the night had felt, maybe the shortest of his life.
Gaara thinks he ought to wake Lee soon, beams of sunlight invading the dusty inn. Surely, his teammates would be in to make sure they were ready to go soon, and Lee will most definitely be embarrassed at being found cuddled up to Gaara as he is now.
Luckily, Gaara need not worry for long.
A heavy inhale ruffles at Gaara's hair, an errant image of a dragon plays at Gaara's mind, and then he feels Lee go tense. Frozen completely once his eyes open, Gaara imagines that he can feel the butterfly kisses from the long lashes.
“If you're awake, we should begin preparing to leave soon.” Gaara mutters, eyes still on the hand gripping tightly at his own. He watches it rear back as if burned. He tries not to let the familiar sting of rejection dig its ugly claws into Gaara's heart.
“I- I am so sorry Gaara-kun! I was having a very vivid dream and I must have-” Lee's hands come up to cover his burning face and rub at his forehead.
“It's fine. I didn't really notice.” Gaara fibs.
“Well! Did you at least get any sleep?”
Gaara only shakes his head, Lee knows he doesn't sleep.
Lee's blushing face as he apologizes profusely all morning is rather endearing, though.