Work Text:
Day 3 Favor/Home (2023)
Saga Masamune had a rather bleak outlook on what the word 'home' meant. Home was where he slept, ate, showered. and now home was where Sorata was too. Those were the most positive aspects he could come up with when trying to describe 'home'. As someone who read all sorts of stories there were bound to be books that came into his possession that had themes revolving around homes and families. Considering what he read he knew that not everyone had the same attitude as him.
Saga didn't like abandoning books, but he did find it difficult to finish ones that heavily focused on those topics. They just made him...uncomfortable. He couldn't help but to cringe when reading a description of warm and loving feelings between family members. He was always taken out of the experience if the main character expressed an urgency and desperation to go home. Saga just couldn't seem to relate to that kind of story, let alone enjoy it.
It was worse when it was a book he could relate to. It made him feel far too seen, like he was a specimen under observation being poked and pointed at. That made him want to crawl out of his own skin. Saga much preferred stories that focused on other topics. He tried to avoid any books that obviously revolved around these themes, but sometimes they were incorporated into books he didn't expect and he ended up an unwilling participant in the story.
For Saga, home was a place to be avoided. Home was a cold, quiet and lonely place. When it was filled with any kind of warmth, that warmth was unwelcomed hot rage. The usual silence was only ever broken by shouting, though now there was the occasional meow that could be a comfort. Still, there was no sense of belonging to be found. No feeling of safety. No love.
That was what the word 'home' meant to Saga Masamune.
At least, it had meant that for a long time.
Oda Ritsu had unintentionally altered Saga's whole way of operating. At first it was very small changes - ones that Saga had even actively resisted - but then seemingly all at once Saga's entire being was overtaken with Ritsu this and Ritsu that. It was downright infuriating to be so infatuated with his dorky underclassman, but it was like the more he tried to run away from it, the stronger these new feelings grew.
Home was no longer such a dreaded idea either - not if Ritsu was accompanying him. Home started to take on new meanings: privacy, quality time, even pleasure. Ritsu had his own warmth he brought with him, but it wasn't anything like the burning fury of his parents that would overtake the house until it felt inhospitable. Ritsu's warmth was a gentle glow, a source of solace that drew Saga in. The warmth of Ritsu's body pressed against his, the warmth of Ritsu's bright red cheeks, the warmth of Ritsu's kindness, it was almost overwhelming, but at the same time Saga selfishly wanted it all to himself.
Saga had always hated the sentiments behind sayings like 'home is where the heart is' or 'a house is not a home', but watching Ritsu drool a little in his sleep right next to him on a random Saturday night had Saga thinking that maybe he finally understood what those sayings meant.
Takano Masamune didn't feel any different some odd eleven years later, staring at Ritsu on yet another random Saturday night, though Ritsu was not quite asleep yet.
"Do you want something?" Ritsu scowled.
"No." Masamune answered.
"Then why are you staring at me?"
"You're nice to look at."
Ritsu made a strangled noise.
"And I love you." Masamune added.
Ritsu grabbed his pillow - Masamune having finally gotten a second one - and lightly hit him with it.
"Be quiet and go to sleep, will you? We have to be up early tomorrow and I can't sleep with you watching me like a creep."
"You sure didn't have that issue in high school."
Ritsu blinked. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'd stare at you all the time when you slept over." Masamune admitted, not ashamed or embarrassed whatsoever. "You were cute. You drooled a lot."
"N-No I did not!" Ritsu denied immediately. "And why were you watching me in my sleep?!"
"You're nice to look at and I love you." Masamune repeated. "Are you really going to pretend like you haven't watched me in my sleep?"
Ritsu elected not to make a comment on that, turning over so his back was to Masamune.
"Please just close your eyes." Ritsu quietly pleaded, pulling the blanket up to his chin. "...I love you too, but seriously, I can't sleep like this."
Masamune pressed close, wrapping an arm around Ritsu's middle to hold him tight. Still just as warm, he thought, granting his boyfriend just a little bit of mercy by finally drifting to sleep.