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Power snores in her sleep.
He really should have expected that. Of course the same girl that didn't even bother to flush the toilet would be inconsiderate enough to not care about disturbing other people’s sleep.
Just a few days ago he would have kicked her out of his room for that. But a few days ago they wouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place. A few days ago Power would not have been so scared to the point that he and Aki had to take turns letting her sleep with them because she was too afraid to sleep alone.
But that was before their short but intense encounter with the Darkness Devil.
The battle (if one could even call what had happened then a battle) against the Darkness Devil had affected them all in some way or another. But Denji hadn’t expected it to leave Power (arrogant, egotistical Power) a trembling, crying mess, scared even of her own shadow. Now she couldn’t eat, couldn’t go to the bathroom, couldn’t sleep without someone else there to keep her company, to reassure her that the Darkness Devil wasn’t hiding in the apartment, that it wouldn’t come out of the shadows to attack her. But no matter how many times they tried to convince her of that, she would still need someone to check even the inside of her mouth to make sure the Darkness Devil wasn’t hiding there.
Seeing her act so panicky and fearful is so weird. He’s even starting to miss her loud, bratty normal self.
Looking after her when she was like this was exhausting too. Every night he or Aki had to find ways to help her calm down enough to fall asleep. It was such a chore.
This time he even had to agree to drink some of her blood to get her to calm down after she started weeping and asking him not to hate her for ruining his trip with Makima.
(What an idiot. If he hated her at all he wouldn’t have chosen to stay with her, would he?)
It had been… weird. He’d expected that biting a girl's naked shoulder while her legs were wrapped around him would feel hotter than it actually did. Even if the girl in question was Power. The fact that she had continued to cry while he did so definitely didn’t help, it just made things awkward.
But at least it helped Power relax. She stopped crying after he finished drinking her blood, and soon after she peacefully drifted off to sleep with her head on his chest. And no matter how annoying her snores were, he much prefers her to be snoring instead of screaming because of a nightmare.
He can still taste Power’s blood on his tongue. It’s weird, but it isn’t a bad taste. At least he can say that it tastes better than the Infinity Devil’s blood or that blood Kishibe made them drink during their training and that he had gotten who knows where.
Power mumbles a little and shifts around in her sleep, throwing her arm around Denji’s torso and hugging him like a plushie. Or, Denji thinks, like she would hug Meowy if she hadn’t conveniently chosen to go to sleep in Aki's room tonight.
Denji sighs quietly as Power’s horns start to poke his cheek. This wasn’t what he had had in mind when he dreamed of falling asleep with a girl. He’d thought it would be more exciting than this; that his heart would be beating like crazy and he wouldn’t be able to keep his trembling and probably sweaty hands still, among… well, other things. And it’s not like Power isn't a cute girl. Sure, she could be annoying and a selfish narcissist and borderline racist against humans, and sure, she had tried to kill him at least once— but she isn't ugly at all. So sharing a bed with her should still be hot, right?
But it's nothing like that. Just like bathing with Power and biting her shoulder don’t feel naughty at all, neither does sleeping with her. It’s not hot at all.
It is warm, though. And comfortable. Even with Power snoring so loudly and her horns threatening to gouge his eye out.
It’s nice.
He sneaks an arm around Power’s waist to pull her closer to him. She hugs him a little tighter in return, nuzzling her cheek against his chest.
Yeah, this feels nice.
How unexpected.
It's good though. Even if it isn't exactly what he had imagined.
…He wonders if sleeping with Makima-san would feel like this.
Probably not. Mainly because he doesn’t think Makima would snore. She always seems so… proper. Even when he saw her in casual clothes she didn’t have any hair out of place. He can’t imagine her snoring like Power is now.
Just like, even if he tries, he can’t picture her as someone who would like to cuddle in bed. But that’s okay, he supposes. Even if he’s right and she isn’t the type to fall asleep in someone’s arms, there are still a lot of things that they could do together. Especially once they finally find and defeat the Gun Devil. She had promised him.
Come to think of it, what kind of things does Makima-san like? …He remembers her liking the udon noodles they ate after they met, so maybe they could eat something together!
Though, Makima-san probably has a finer palate than he does. He doesn’t think the bread with jam that he had for so long dreamed of sharing with Pochita and that he had finally gotten to taste after starting to live with Aki would be good enough for her. Would he have to take her to a fancy restaurant instead?
What else…? He knows she likes watching movies, and that’s fine and all— he had enjoyed their little date, even if he hadn’t understood it at first. But there has to be something else that she likes. Something else that they could do to have fun together.
But try as he might, he can't come up with anything. He has known Makima for quite a while now, so he should be able to think of something, right?
And yet, when he remembers all the things he had dreamed of doing with a girl, back when it was only him and Pochita, he just can’t imagine doing those same things with Makima.
He can’t imagine going with her to the arcade to play videogames like he does with Power when they get their paychecks. He doesn’t think that Makima-san would like videogames very much anyway. He can’t imagine playing gross pranks on Aki with her like he does with Power either. Or raiding the refrigerator in the middle of the night just to make a quick snack, leaving the kitchen a mess that Aki would have to clean up in the morning, like he does sometimes with Power (or used to do before she got too scared of the dark to leave the bedroom at night).
He can’t imagine doing any of those things with Makima, just like he can’t imagine sleeping with her in his arms, her head on his chest just like Power’s is now. He can’t, no matter how much he tries to. No matter how much he wants to.
He doesn’t think he could do all those things with Makima.
But he has done them with Power. And the thing is that it is fun to do those things with her.
It feels nice to be this close with someone too. Even if they aren’t doing naughty things— or maybe because they aren’t. He hadn’t thought that something could feel intimate without also feeling naughty, but if this wasn’t intimacy —or something close to it— then what could it be?
What does that mean for him then, though? If naughty things don’t feel as such despite him knowing Power pretty well, to the point where he could hold her naked body in the bathtub and think of nothing but how much he wanted her to stop crying, to stop being scared— to go back to the boisterous Power that she used to be. If he could bite her neck and drink her blood and have her sobbing and writhing underneath him and not find it hot, but instead just hope that this would help her sleep peacefully for the rest of the night. If in spite of all that he can still feel close to Power, if being with her makes him feel happy, at ease in this strange, newfound kind of intimacy then—
Then what does that mean for him? And for his relationship with Power? And…
…Well, no use thinking so hard about confusing stuff. If he does, he’ll only end up losing sleep. And the warmth radiating from Power’s body clinging to him sure is starting to make him feel sleepy.
Denji lets out a yawn. He turns on one side, facing away from the wall and keeping Power close to him, his arms wrapped around her and his chin resting on the top of her head, careful not to poke himself with her horns. As he closes his eyes and lets sleep overtake him he thinks
(of Makima-san standing high and mighty like a goddess. Makima-san, looking down at him with those beautiful, impenetrable eyes of hers, and that quiet smile that leaves him with a knot in his throat, in the pit of his stomach.
He thinks of Power standing by his side, all sharp grins and bravado, her eyes glittering in the dark like those of a cat. Power bumping her shoulder against his, her laughter ringing in his ears. Power snuggled up on top of him, her hair tickling his nose. Power’s blood in his tongue. Power’s warm, wet skin pressed against his. Power's legs tangled with his underneath the sheets. Power’s snores and her soft breathing the only sounds that disturb the cold, dark silence of the night.)
that maybe, just maybe, it hadn’t been so bad to miss his trip with Makima-san after all.
X
Right outside his window, a dog starts to howl.