Work Text:
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and everyday
i am learning about you
the things that no one else sees
and the end comes too soon
like dreaming of angels
angels, the xx
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Tadashi liked having sleepovers with Tsukki. He especially liked having them at Tsukki’s house, because the thermostat was always set to just above absolute zero—Tsukki’s parents must’ve been like, vampires or something.
And, well, Tadashi didn’t used to like sleeping over at Tsukki’s house for that exact reason. Despite this, Tsukki almost always convinced him to come over rather than have Tsukki stay at Tadashi’s own. It was just Tadashi always got too cold sleeping on the floor next to Tsukki’s bed and his feet stuck out of the end of the blanket no matter how hard he tried to cover them up. He always forgot about this particular problem before going to sleep, and when he remembered it was already too late, Tsukki was asleep and there was no way Tadashi would take his chances waking the blond back up to get him a bigger blanket. Tsukki always looked so warm and soft under his big quilt, so Tadashi put up with the cold, letting Tsukki get his sleep.
Until the one time.
Tadashi had curled up under his little blanket, trying to cover his entire body with the exception of his head. He kept shifting around, though, and the blanket never stayed when he managed to cover both his shoulders and his feet. Without thinking, Tadashi let out a groan and flung the blanket away from him. He immediately regretted this, sitting up and crawling across the floor to retrieve the god forsaken tiny blanket that was just barely better than no blanket at all. He swore he’d talk about it with Tsukki the following morning—
“Yamaguchi?” Tadashi heard Tsukki say his name into the moonlit room. “I can hear you moving around.”
“Sorry, Tsukki. I didn’t mean to wake you,” Tadashi spoke, pulling the blanket back over his legs and trying to get comfortable on the futon again.
“Is there a problem?” Tsukki’s voice was groggy and Tadashi could just faintly see him rubbing at his left eye.
Yes, Tsukishima. You seemed to have given me a something akin to a towel instead of a blanket. But that’s okay! Go back to sleep, Tadashi thought, but even saying “Tsukishima” in his head felt weird. Instead, he said: “Oh, no. I’m fine.” Tadashi winced as he pulled the blanket up too far and his feet poked out the other side. “Actually—”
“Are you cold?” Tsukki sat up on his bed, looking down at Tadashi, though Tadashi knew Tsukki couldn’t see him because of Tsukki’s lack of glasses.
“Um, yeah…” Tadashi trailed, looking shamefully down at his previously established towel-blanket. It’s not like it was Tadashi’s fault he got such a terrible blanket, but it was his fault that he woke Tsukki because of it.
Tadashi heard Tsukki rustling the blankets in response, so he turned his head to look up at the taller boy. Tsukki was lifting the blanket up next to him and it looked so warm, so so warm and inviting… Tadashi didn’t even think of how small Tsukki’s bed was (only twin-sized); Tsukki had barely gotten “Do you wanna share?” past his lips before Tadashi hauled himself onto the bed and pulled Tsukki’s covers up to his shoulders.
“Thanks, Tsukki!” Tadashi chirped, snuggling himself into the blankets. They were already pleasantly warm because of Tsukki’s body heat—Oh, right.
Suddenly hyperaware of every place that he and Tsukki were touching—thighs, hips, biceps, shoulders, he noted—Tadashi found himself holding his breath. He then remembered that, right, Tsukki’s bed was very small. (Not as small as the blanket he’d haphazardly discarded on the ground, though, so Tadashi wasn’t complaining.)
Tadashi let out his held breath slowly as to not startle Tsukki, but Tsukki turned on his side so that he was facing Tadashi then, anyway. Not sure if he should follow suit, Tadashi stayed on his back, his hands holding the edge of the blanket under his chin. He pondered if he were to go on his side, would he turn towards Tsukki or away from him? Towards him seemed almost too intimate, their faces mere inches apart. (Tadashi wasn’t sure he could handle that.) On the other hand, away from him seemed intimate for different reasons. If Tadashi made one wrong movement in his sleep, they’d be spooning.
“Took you long enough, idiot,” Tsukki grumbled, sounding half-asleep already. Tadashi almost wrote it off as sleep talking, but when he glanced over, Tsukki’s eyes were open.
“What?” Tadashi turned on his side—towards Tsukki, so they could talk more easily.
Tsukki let out a little groan of annoyance. “You didn’t figure it out?”
Tadashi quirked an eyebrow and swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the fact he could feel the hot air coming out of Tsukki’s mouth hit his face. “Figure what out?”
“Why I gave you that tiny-ass blanket.” Tsukki wiggled so that he moved slightly further down under the covers.
“Wait,” Tadashi furrowed his eyebrows. “You knew it was too small?”
“Mhmm,” Tsukki hummed sleepily, closing his eyes.
“I’m not sure I—” Tadashi’s eyes suddenly widened as he put the pieces together. “You gave me a blanket you knew was too small just so I’d share the bed with you? Tsukki, you’re conniving. You could have just asked.”
“What are you talking about,” Tsukki mumbled against his pillow, though Tadashi knew he was right because of the way Tsukki’s lips slightly turned up at the corners.
“You know,” Tadashi said, knowing Tsukki was on the verge of falling asleep at any moment. “this kind of reminds me of when we were kids.”
“Mm,” Tsukki agreed, nuzzling his face into the pillow. Tadashi gulped; Tsukki looked so precious. He wasn’t sure that was a word he could’ve used to describe Tsukki before then.
“And we only stopped sharing the bed because your brother told you it was weird.” Tadashi let out a soft chuckle, though his laugh caught in his throat when Tsukki intertwined their legs.
“You know what?” Tsukki asked as he just barely opened one eye to look at Tadashi. “Fuck Akiteru.”
“Hey!” Tadashi clapped a hand over his mouth when he realized how loud Tsukki had made him laugh just then. “Akiteru-kun has good intentions, you know,” he stated, much more softly.
“Whatever.” Tsukki closed his eyes again, slowly moving one of his legs against Tadashi’s.
Tadashi couldn’t think of anything else to say, so he cherished the warmth of Tsukki’s bed and blankets and of Tsukki himself before he comfortably fell asleep for the first time in a long time at the Tsukishima household.
After that, Tadashi was thankful that Tsukki’s vampire parents—did that mean Tsukki was a vampire too? But he was so warm—left the thermostat at such a low temperature. It gave him an excuse to get under Tsukki’s covers and in his close proximity without it being suspicious. (Like, if Tsukki’s vampire mom walked in, Tadashi could just say he got cold. It wasn’t like they were practically cuddling for no reason, right? Right?)
Tadashi had taken time in the past to assess his feelings towards Tsukki, so he wasn’t exactly surprised when his heart started beating out of his chest the next time he and Tsukki were having a sleepover. (Miraculously, that last time they’d shared the bed, Tadashi had managed to keep his pulse under control. He was probably in a severe state of shock because of the fact Tsukki had even invited him onto the bed. He needed a shock blanket; instead, he had Tsukki’s blanket. Tadashi supposed it worked just as well.)
When the clock neared two a.m. and Tadashi let out a yawn, Tsukki suggested that they go to sleep. Now, they hadn’t talked about the whole sharing-the-bed incident since it’d happened, so Tadashi wasn’t quite sure he had a secure spot on Tsukki’s bed. Though now that Tadashi had been informed on Tsukki’s evil plan of getting Tadashi in his bed, Tadashi was pretty sure he wouldn’t be stuck with the tiny blanket anymore.
Any of his doubts were washed away when Tadashi walked back from where he’d been brushing his teeth in the bathroom and Tsukki lifted the blanket for him. He couldn’t help the warm smile that lit up his face as he got under the covers, but he let out a groan soon thereafter. “No one turned off the light.”
Tsukki grunted before responding: “You’re closer to the light, so you do it.”
“You’re lazy, Tsukki.”
“So are you.”
“I just got here!”
“I’ll keep it warm while you turn the light off.”
“Tsukki!”
“What? I said you’re closer.”
“And you’re a loser!”
“Turn off the light, Yamaguchi.”
“Ugh, fine.”
Tadashi pulled himself slowly and regretfully off of the bed, missing the heat as soon as he pressed his foot onto the floor. He padded over to the light switch, flicking it off but not without sticking out his tongue at Tsukki while he could still see.
“Such a child,” Tsukki mumbled, to which Tadashi was offended.
“I turned off the light; you should be saying ‘thank you’!” he grumbled as he clambered back under the blanket.
Tadashi got settled under the blanket, lying on his back. After a little while, he figured Tsukki had decided not to respond to his prior statement since a few minutes of quiet breathing had passed. He’d figured wrong and realized so not a moment later.
“Thank you,” Tsukki said, wrapping one of his arms around Tadashi’s waist. Tadashi’s breathing hitched at the sudden contact, his heart seemingly remembered where he was and began to pick up the pace.
Tadashi was simultaneously grateful that Tsukki’s bed was so small—Tsukki’s chin was resting on Tadashi’s shoulder and he could feel Tsukki’s warm breaths on his neck—but he also wanted to curse the small expanse because how in hell was he supposed to deal with his heart palpitations and how was he supposed to not let Tsukki hear them?
He figured his best bet was to get Tsukki off of him. Even if he liked the feeling of the weight of Tsukki’s arm on his waist, he couldn’t let Tsukki get an inkling of what Tadashi was really thinking about—that being how nice Tsukki’s lips would feel against Tadashi’s neck and how nice Tsukki’s hands would feel against Tadashi’s skin. (Surely, Tsukki was just trying to keep Tadashi warm in his vampire cave of a house, and here Tadashi was having very many indecent thoughts. Tadashi doubted Tsukki had any ulterior motive besides being hospitable, mostly because he didn’t want to project his own feelings onto the taller boy.)
“Hey Tsukki, can I trace on your back?” Tadashi’s plan to get his heartbeat out of Tsukki’s range had commenced.
“Can you what?” Tsukki’s voice was groggy, as if he’d just fallen asleep and Tadashi had woken him up.
“Can I draw on your back?” Tadashi rephrased, ignoring the impulse to apologize to Tsukki for waking him (again).
“Sure,“ Tsukki breathed, though not sure what had brought this on.
Tadashi took this as a sign to click on the little dinosaur night light that sat beside Tsukki’s bed. ("It’s endearing,” Tadashi had said when Tsukki told him he’d wanted to throw it away.)
“Lie on your stomach,” Tadashi commanded, and Tsukki did as told without complaint. After he’d done so, Tadashi sat up and turned himself, lifting a leg over Tsukki and straddling his lower back. He scooted back a touch and sat himself on Tsukki’s butt, the blond letting out what seemed like a small noise of discontent.
“Am I too heavy?” Tadashi shifted his weight to his knees which pressed into the bed on either side of Tsukki’s back.
“No,” Tsukki spoke, his voice muffled since his face was pressed into a pillow. “I just wasn’t expecting you to sit there.”
“Oh. Sorry, Tsukki.” Tadashi transferred his weight back slowly until he was sitting again.
Tadashi outstretched one of his hands and dragged his fingertips over the light fabric of Tsukki’s shirt, drawing spirals and squiggly lines. He decided to write “Tsukki” across Tsukki’s shoulder blades, but he figured the blond boy was too sleepy to figure that out.
Tsukki wasn’t too sleepy, however, to reach back and grip the hem of his shirt, lifting the fabric up in the back to expose his bare back.
“Tsukki?” Tadashi questioned the action, gulping as he looked down at Tsukki’s back. Tadashi’s cheeks and the tips of his ears felt hot and he was happy that Tsukki couldn’t see the blush that probably painted his features. Tsukki’s delirious, Tadashi figured, Tsukki’s delirious from lack of sleep.
“It feels better,” Tsukki mumbled against the pillow.
“Oh,” Tadashi breathed, willing his hands to stop shaking. He reached his hands forward again, pressing his palms against Tsukki’s lower back to steady himself. He then lifted one hand up and began dragging his pointer finger along Tsukki’s spine, tracing along the subtle bumps. He wrote “Kei” in big letters across the middle of Tsukki’s back, and then he wrote “Tadashi” much smaller. He drew a crescent moon and a few stars around it before dragging his palm across Tsukki’s smooth, soft skin, pretending to erase his work as if Tsukki’s back were a whiteboard.
Tadashi doodled for a bit longer until he was fairly certain that Tsukki had fallen asleep, but he still had to figure how to lie back down without waking Tsukki once again. He pondered momentarily just lying on top of Tsukki, pressing his chest against Tsukki’s back, but he pushed the thought away. (Imagine Tsukki’s vampire mom walking in on that!)
He decided to go with his better judgement and crawl off of Tsukki, careful not to press on him or anything of the sorts. After somewhat successfully dismounting Tsukki—the sleeping boy let out one disgruntled sound, but it didn’t seem like he’d awoken—and turning off the dinosaur lamp, Tadashi slipped under the covers, turning his body to face away from Tsukki. (Spooning was not one of his concerns at the time, since Tsukki was lying on his stomach.) Tadashi let out a little sigh as he settled into the mattress, pleasantly aware of the heat radiating off of Tsukki’s body behind him. If he just moved a couple inches over… he’d be flush against Tsukki. Tadashi scolded himself for being so selfish about Tsukki’s hospitality before he pulled the quilt closer to his body and shut his eyes, on the verge of sleep when one of Tsukki’s legs slotted itself between Tadashi’s both.
Tadashi didn’t mind that Tsukki was clingy when he was asleep. Actually, he figured that Tsukki’s unconscious body probably was just making up for the distance Tsukki put between himself and everyone else while conscious. Reasonable, unconscious Tsukki, Tadashi sighed as he thought, I appreciate you.
The next sleepover was at Tadashi’s house, and since his parents were definitely not vampires like the Tsukishimas, their thermostat was at a good temperature. (Tsukki even complained once about it being too warm, but Tadashi made some comment about the Tsukishima house being Antarctica and Tsukki never mentioned it again.)
The problem here was that there was no excuse to sleep with Tsukki. And Tadashi’s bed was a little bigger than Tsukki’s, so even if they did share, they wouldn’t be as smushed together. Tadashi tried to smother the disappointment he felt rising in his chest.
Over dinner, Tadashi’s mother said that she’d bring a futon into Tadashi’s room for Tsukki to sleep on. Neither of the boys argued her, so she did as she said after they’d finished eating and laid the futon next to Tadashi’s bed with Tadashi’s help.
Tadashi threw a skimpy blanket onto the futon and looked to Tsukki with a certain expectancy dripping from his gaze. Tsukki looked at the futon and then back to Tadashi with a raised eyebrow.
“Payback,”—for making me sleep with a towel for a blanket for months, you dumbass—“for, you know.”
“Are you ser—”
“You’re lucky it’s not even cold in here,” Tadashi said, trying to keep a straight face but failing. “You’ve traumatized me, Tsukki. I still dream of my feet sticking out of that damn blanket and into the Arctic Tundra.”
Well, that was one reason that Tadashi wanted Tsukki to sleep on the floor. The other reason was that he’d definitely have no trouble projecting his feelings onto Tsukki if he knew Tsukki wasn’t sleeping in the same bed as him just to be nice. Plus, it didn’t really seem like Tsukki minded sleeping on the futon, and Tadashi wasn’t actually mean enough to leave him with the skimpy blanket, so he’d toss him another one after they’d both lied down.
But, Tadashi pondered, say Tsukki did want to sleep in his bed with him. Say Tsukki scooted close to Tadashi, despite having more room to spread out. Say Tsukki still made some sort of effort to cuddle with Tadashi. What would that even mean? The hypotheticals made Tadashi’s head hurt.
“You know, I should’ve told my mom not to bring a futon in here. ‘Tsukki will just sleep on the floor, Mom! He likes it there,’” Tadashi teased, averting his gaze as Tsukki started to change into his sleep clothing.
“Shut up, Yamaguchi,” Tsukki sighed as he pulled a shirt over his head.
“Sorry, Tsukki.” Tadashi snickered, changing his own clothes as well.
The pair didn’t actually go to bed for a few hours after that; Tsukki told Tadashi about a documentary he’d heard was on about otters so Tadashi flipped the channel to it. While Tadashi didn’t really care about otters (sure, they were cute), Tsukki looked more or less enthralled, so Tadashi didn’t make any move to change the channel.
After the documentary ended, Tadashi launched into a story about some embarrassing thing Sugawara had told him about Daichi. Tsukki barely nodded along to the story, though Tadashi was used to getting little to no responses out of the taller boy. He talked anyway.
Tsukki eventually asked Tadashi if he was tired after the latter had started wiping at his eyes, to which Tadashi gave a little nod. With no grumbling, Tsukki got onto the futon, pulling the skimpy blanket over himself. Tadashi shrugged at him while turning off the light and proceeded to crawl into his bed, watching as Tsukki pulled off his glasses and reached up to put them on the stand next to Tadashi’s bed. Tadashi threw him another blanket with a light smile that he was almost positive Tsukki couldn’t see.
After a few minutes of quiet darkness, a sleepy Tadashi heard rustling coming from the floor next to him. Before he could even ask Tsukki what was wrong, he felt his bed shift to the weight of another person laying on it.
“Ts… Tsukki?” Tadashi opened his eyes, though he barely had the energy to do so.
“Hey,” Tsukki said nonchalantly, pulling Tadashi’s blanket over himself and lying on his side, facing Tadashi once again.
“Did you get lonely?” Tadashi whispered teasingly, though he really did want to know why Tsukki had joined him on the bed. His mind was spinning as he felt one of Tsukki’s feet ghost against one of his own. Cold feet, Tsukki.
“No,” Tsukki breathed, “Just wanted to join you.”
Tadashi swallowed hard. He wondered for a second if he really was projecting his own feelings or if Tsukki could have possibly felt the same way… but Tadashi had never seen Tsukki feel that way about anyone. Tsukki had gotten plenty of confessions from cute girls at school, but he always turned them down (and he usually shared whatever sweets the girls gave him with Tadashi).
“Why?” Tadashi said all he could muster.
“What do you mean, ‘why’?” Tsukki huffed, shifting his hands so they pressed against his cheek and the pillow. “Yamaguchi, you’re being thick. Like, Hinata and Kageyama thick. Think for one second and then get back to me, okay?”
Tadashi blinked, looking over to a Tsukki who had closed his eyes.
“What…” Tadashi breathed out, but before he could even think for the one second Tsukki had told him to, the latter was speaking again.
“Why would I give you such a small blanket just to get you into my bed, Yamaguchi? If I wanted you to be warm, I would’ve just given you another blanket.” Tsukki opened his eyes and looked at Tadashi expectantly.
“I—”
“And don’t think that I get close like this,” Tsukki moved one of his hands to Tadashi’s cheek (oh god, oh god, it’s probably so hot) and let it sit there, “with my brother when we have to share a bed.”
Tadashi let out a nervous laugh, finally putting all the pieces together. Of course Tsukki would turn down all those girls and of course he’d want to be close to Tadashi if…
“Tsukki,” Tadashi muttered, trying to build confidence before his next statement. “Do you have a crush on me?”
“You really are dense,” Tsukki replied, “Did you even have to ask?”
“I—I like you too, Tsukki!” Tadashi ignored Tsukki’s prior remark and let a smile light up his face. Tadashi could barely make it out in the darkness, but he thought that Tsukki might have been blushing.
“This would be really embarrassing if you didn’t,” Tsukki deadpanned, though Tadashi could see him turn his face into the pillow (presumably to hide a blush).
“Don’t worry about that,” Tadashi said, the smile not leaving his face. “because I do.”
“Good,” Tsukki spoke just before yawning, retracting his hand from Tadashi’s cheek to cover his mouth.
“Alright,” Tadashi said in response to Tsukki’s yawn. With a sudden surge of confidence, Tadashi leaned a few inches forward and pressed a kiss to Tsukki’s cheek. “Night, Tsukki.”
“Good night, Yamaguchi,” Tsukki spoke softly, strategically rubbing at one of his eyes with his hand. Stop trying to hide that blush, Tadashi thought, I know it’s there.
“Cold hands, Tsukki…” Tadashi mumbled, sleepy but not asleep. He was over at the Tsukishimas’ again, and Tsukki had just pressed his palms against the small of Tadashi’s back, where his shirt had been riding up. (They were in spooning position, but still a few inches apart.)
“Mm,” Tsukki responded idly, “Warm them up for me?”
“Warm them up yourself,” Tadashi whined, “They’re cold.”
Tsukki reached around under Tadashi’s shirt and pressed his hands to Tadashi’s bare stomach, the younger boy letting out a whimper. “Cold…” It seemed to be the only word that came to Tadashi’s sleep-hazy mind.
Without thinking, Tadashi brought his own hands down to where Tsukki’s rested on his stomach and intertwined his and Tsukki’s fingers.
“Better,” Tsukki said, softly pulling Tadashi towards him until Tadashi’s back pressed against his (unfortunately clothed) stomach. Tsukki nuzzled his head a bit into Tadashi’s hair before muttering something incoherent about strawberries against it. Tadashi smiled lightly, he’d been using strawberry scented shampoo for awhile now and he thought it was about time Tsukki noticed.
Tsukki’s hands slowly became warmer, but Tadashi was too tired to even think about that being a reason to let them go. As Tsukki moved to set his head on Tadashi’s shoulder, Tadashi realized that maybe he didn’t even want to go to sleep. He wanted to lie here in Tsukki’s arms and bask in the steady heat radiating off of him for as long as possible. He also wanted to turn around and kiss Tsukki all over, but the thought itself made him flustered. (Stop being weird, Tadashi told himself, then. Tsukki is an innocent sleeping boy and you are being indecent.)
“Tadashi.” Tadashi gulped at Tsukki’s mention of his given name. “You’re really cute, you know.”
“You’re just sleepy,” Tadashi spoke after a nervous chuckle.
“You’re right.” Tadashi tried to convince himself that his stomach didn’t fall when Tsukki said that, but he was relieved moments later when Tsukki spoke again. “But I’m still telling the truth. You’re cute.”
“Shut up, Tsukki.” The tables have turned, Tadashi thought.
“No,” Tsukki’s breath was hot against Tadashi’s neck and his sleepy mind was in the gutter. “I won’t shut up. You’re cute.”
“Okay,” Tadashi sighed, squirming a little at the breath on his neck. “I get it.”
“I don’t think you get it,” Tsukki continued, “You’re extremely cute.”
Tadashi was beginning to come out of his hazed state because how embarrassed Tsukki was making him. “I think you’ve said ‘cute’ more times right now than you have your entire life.”
“I just want you to know,” Tsukki explained, though Tadashi wondered if he’d remember this when he woke up the next morning. “that lots of things about you are really cute.”
“Oh?” Maybe Tadashi was fishing for compliments, but he really wanted to know what Tsukki thought about him.
“Well, the first one’s obvious.” Tsukki pulled himself slightly away from Tadashi, who tilted his head at the lack of contact. “Look at me,” Tsukki explained his actions, and Tadashi did as told and turned to his other side. Tsukki lifted one of his hands and dragged his pointer finger across the smattering of freckles on Tadashi’s cheeks. Tadashi suddenly pondered how sleepy Tsukki really was; the further this went, the less sleepy he seemed. Maybe he would remember this.
“My freckles aren’t cute,” Tadashi mumbled. His mother had always told him that they were cute when he was little, but memories of childhood bullies chanting things like‘You’ve got a lumpy face, Tadashi!’ never seemed to go away.
“They are,” Tsukki insisted, poking at the dots littering Tadashi’s face. “but they’re not the only cute thing about you.”
“Tsukki, this is embarrassing.” Tadashi’s face and chest felt hot.
“Mm, okay.” Tsukki pulled away from Tadashi, turning to lie on his back and placing his hands on his own stomach. Tadashi swallowed hard and willed his heart to slow down.
“You’re cute too,” Tadashi spoke, eyeing Tsukki’s side profile.
“I’m not cute,” Tsukki retorted, turning again to face away from Tadashi. “You’re the cute one.”
“What does that make you?” Tadashi questioned, scooting over and setting his head on Tsukki’s arm. “The hot one?”
Tsukki didn’t respond, but Tadashi could faintly see the tip of his ear darken.
“Tsukki’s the hot one,” Tadashi decided aloud, placing a little kiss on Tsukki’s arm before lying back down. “Tsukki’s the hot one,” he singsonged.
“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”
“Tsukki’s the hot one.”
Tadashi dreamt of Tsukki turning so red that he himself turned into a strawberry.
Outside of their sleepy haven, Tsukki and Tadashi didn’t act that much differently. They definitely didn’t want to get teased by their teammates, and after all, they hadn’t even declared anything as official. It was just a matter of bringing it up, but neither boy seemed too keen to do so. They were happy how it was, but Tadashi always had a little echo in the back of his mind that wondered what it’d be like to call Tsukki his boyfriend.
The only exception of their behavior was that they linked pinkies when walking home after practice, when they were sure none of their teammates had followed them. (And sometimes Tsukki bought Tadashi french fries to bring home and eat later, when they’d reached Maximum Floppiness.)
One night, after watching a documentary on shrimp (Suga-san would like this, Tadashi decided) Tsukki promptly slipped under the covers of his bed and took off his glasses, telling Tadashi to turn off the light. Not without a bit of grumbling about how “I always have to do this, Lazyshima,” Tadashi flipped the switch on the light and made his way back to the bed.
“Yamaguchi, lie on your stomach,” Tsukki commanded while he leaned over to turn on his dinosaur lamp, and for once in this situation his voice didn’t sound groggy.
“Hm?” Tadashi hummed, but he still complied.
“I’m returning the favor,” Tsukki explained as he straddled Tadashi and the latter suddenly remembered the night he drew on Tsukki’s back (to distract Tsukki from his own racing heart—to be fair, Tadashi had more selfish reasoning for doing what he did than Tsukki seemed to have at that moment). As Tsukki sat himself on Tadashi’s butt, he felt a bit of tension in a place he hadn’t expected. Oh. That’s why Tsukki made that noise. Tadashi felt a deep red blush crawling up his neck and tinting his ears.
“Do you want to take off your shirt?” Tsukki inquired, playing with the bottom hem of Tadashi’s shirt. “It feels better that way.”
“Um,” Tadashi gulped, “Sure. I guess.” He reached backwards and pulled the collar of his shirt over his head, Tsukki helping him get the sleeves successfully off of his arms. (The task was a lot more difficult with the pressure of Tsukki sitting on his butt.)
The shirt was tossed onto the futon that sat unused on the floor, though Tadashi didn’t have time to think about what would happen if Tsukki’s vampire mom walked in on this before Tsukki’s cold hands came in contact with Tadashi’s bare back.
“I’ve always noticed you have freckles on your back,” Tsukki spoke, drawing lines between freckles like he was playing connect the dots. “in the club room and stuff.”
“Perving on me, Tsukki?” Tadashi chuckled against the pillow, turning his head when his face got too hot. “And let me guess, you think they’re cute.”
“I didn’t think I was that easy to read.” Tsukki traced a circle around a group of freckles.
“Contrary to popular belief,” Tadashi noted, “you are.”
“To you.”
“To me.”
“Except when I have a giant crush on you and want you to sleep in my bed with me. Then I’m not easy to read, huh?” Tsukki turned the tables, teasing Tadashi for teasing him.
“Shut up,” Tadashi hid his face again in the pillow.
Suddenly, Tadashi let out a gasp of surprise and tensed up as he felt Tsukki’s lips come in contact with his bare skin. “Tsukki!”
Tsukki’s lips moved strategically across Tadashi’s back, the taller boy pecking at Tadashi’s freckles.
“Y-You really like my freckles, don’t you, Tsukki?” Tadashi managed to choke out, holding his hands up to his face as he felt a mass amount of blood flowing to it.
“Mhmm,” Tsukki hummed against Tadashi’s back, readjusting himself so that he was on his hands and knees over Tadashi. He kissed along Tadashi’s spine, lowering himself so he didn’t have to crane his neck.
“Ts-Tsukki.” Tadashi bit down on his bottom lip to keep from whimpering as Tsukki placed kisses on both of Tadashi’s dimples on his lower back.
Tadashi couldn’t help himself from gasping again when Tsukki just barely moved the waistband of Tadashi’s pants and pressed a kiss to a freckle previously hidden there.
“How far down do your freckles go, Tadashi?” Tadashi thought Tsukki’s voice was deeper than normal and he swallowed hard.
“Pretty far down,” he managed to stammer out, cupping his face in his hands. He was forever grateful that he was facing away from Tsukki and the older boy couldn’t see the deep red shade he was sure his entire face and neck had turned.
“Hm,” Tsukki sounded as he let go of Tadashi’s waistband. The latter let out a slight sigh of relief before the former spoke again. “Do you like your freckles yet, Yamaguchi?”
I mean if they get you to kiss me that’s pretty good and if you really like them then I guess I do too by association—“You like them,” was what came out.
“But do you,” Tsukki stressed as he clambered off of Tadashi and lied back down on the bed next to him.
“I guess so,” Tadashi shrugged, glad he felt his blush beginning to fade as the intensity of the previous situation ebbed away. “I don’t love them.”
“I do.”
“Oh.” The blush was back.
“Good night,” Tsukki said as he turned off the dinosaur night light and shut his eyes, swinging one of his arms over Tadashi’s back.
“Night, Tsukki.”
It took Tadashi a while before he was calmed down enough to sleep.
“Tsukki, what are we?” Tadashi fingers fumbled together in the dark as he stared up at the ceiling. He had been listening to Tsukki’s breathing, but he felt the sudden urge to ask.
One of Tsukki’s legs stuck out of the blanket—they were at the Yamaguchi household—and at the question he pulled it back in, rolling onto his stomach and propping himself up onto his elbows.
“Huh?”
“Like… me and you.” Tadashi took a deep breath and held it as he awaited a response. He knew he liked Tsukki, and he knew Tsukki liked him, but he needed some clarity.
“We’re humans,” Tsukki deadpanned, moving his arms from where they held him up flopping back on the bed.
“You know what I meant.” Tadashi held his ground, not letting Tsukki’s remark phase him.
“I don’t know,” Tsukki scratched at his temple. “Do you want to be something in particular?”
“You’re going to make me say it.” Tadashi sighed before sitting up and looking back down at Tsukki.
“I’m going to make you say it,” Tsukki confirmed, shifting so he was lying on his back and looking up at Tadashi.
“Well, okay.” Tadashi took a deep breath. It’s just Tsukki, he told himself. Just Tsukki, who’s a big idiot that made you sleep with a tiny blanket because he had a crush on you. “Tsukishima Kei, will you be my boyfriend?”
The sentence itself seemed unneeded, like some sort of custom that was completely unnecessary for them. And while he felt kind of stupid saying it, Tadashi was glad he had.
“God, Yamaguchi.” Tsukki didn’t try to hide his blush this time. “That was entirely textbook.”
“Fine, fine.” Tadashi rolled his eyes. “Let me try again.” He took a moment before he leaned over Tsukki. When their faces were a mere few inches apart, he was slightly awed at how Tsukki’s mouth just barely hung open, his cheeks tinted and hair fussed. “Tsukishima Kei,” Tadashi started, watching as Tsukki’s eyes flickered back and forth between Tadashi’s eyes and his mouth. “since you’re already the decided ‘hot one’, do you—”
Tsukki let out a quiet laugh that was enough to make Tadashi’s words catch in his throat.
“You don’t make this easy, you know,” Tadashi smiled, looking down at Tsukki with his eyes slightly crinkled at the outer edges.
“You’re a good boyfriend for trying,” Tsukki complimented, making Tadashi’s eyes go wide before he recomposed himself, pulling away from Tsukki and lying back down.
“Well, you’re a terrible boyfriend that never ever turns off the light,” he huffed, but not without a smile painting his face.
“Shut up, Yamaguchi. I’ll stop buying you fries.”
“Terrible!”
One thing Tsukki didn’t know about Tadashi was the extent of just how ticklish he was. Tadashi had been careful to keep this a secret, especially since they started sharing the bed, because god knows what Tsukki would do with that information.
And yet, the anti-tickling wall he’d built crumbled in one sentence.
“Are you ticklish, Yamaguchi?” Tsukki’s hands were straying dangerously close to Tadashi’s sides.
“Maybe,” the freckled boy hummed, trying his hardest to stay nonchalant. “Why do you ask?”
“I vaguely remember you being ticklish when we were little,” Tsukki answered with a shrug, sitting up and looking down at his boyfriend. “I was wondering if you still were.”
“Maybe a little,” Tadashi admitted, but scowled at Tsukki as he spoke. “But don’t you dare try anything.”
“You can’t just say that and then expect me not to,” Tsukki grinned mischievously, his hands ghosting Tadashi’s sides and causing Tadashi’s body to freeze up.
“Don’t,” Tadashi repeated, narrowing his eyes at the taller boy. “Don’t do it if you cherish your life, Tsukishima Kei.”
“Hmm,” Tsukki paused, looking down at where his hands rested on Tadashi’s sides. He shrugged and smiled at Tadashi before slightly moving the fingers on one of his hands, the movement rustling Tadashi’s shirt and causing Tadashi to let out a ragged breath.
“Tsukki…” he warned, but Tsukki just cocked his head innocently and slipped his hands under Tadashi’s shirt, prompting a gasp from the shorter boy.
Before very long at all, Tadashi was giggling relentlessly at Tsukki’s fingers dancing across his skin. “S-Stop, Tsukki, I—I—”
“You what?” Tsukki paused momentarily, quirking an eyebrow and letting Tadashi catch his breath.
“I… don’t know. But stop,” Tadashi’s words contradicted his tone which was still bubbly from the giggling.
“But you’re so cute,” Tsukki pouted ever-so-slightly, slowly letting his fingers glide down Tadashi’s sides. Tadashi cursed the way he felt his face heating up, but Tsukki seemed to like it. Tadashi didn’t have long to think about this, however, before he was being brutally and mercilessly tickled yet again.
Tadashi let out a snort because of the tickling and Tsukki paused for a moment afterwards, looking at him with wide eyes and a slight blush that had just rose to his cheeks. Tadashi almost spouted a ‘Sorry, Tsukki!’ but then he remembered the situation and glared as angrily as he could muster at the boy practically on top of him. Tsukki snapped out of his trance and began to tickle Tadashi again soon thereafter, but Tadashi was losing restraint quickly and his laughing was continuously progressing from giggling to more snorting and barking.
“Shh,” Tsukki laughed (much more softly) along with Tadashi, “It’s like two in the morning, Tadashi. You’re going to wake everyone up.”
“Thi-This is your f-fault, Tsukki!” Tadashi defended, trying to speak between bursts of laughter.
“Be quiet, will you?” Tsukki teased, and Tadashi knew that Tsukki was completely aware that this was all his doing.
“M-Make me!” Tadashi blurted forcefully without thinking, surprising both himself and Tsukki, who stopped immediately at Tadashi’s spoken words.
Tsukki’s eyes widened at the command, and Tadashi could see Tsukki’s Adam’s apple bob in his throat. “If you ask nicely.” Tsukki’s said, his voice just barely above a whisper. Tadashi imagined that if Tsukki had been wearing his glasses at that time, he would’ve pushed them up.
Fuck that, Tadashi thought. He figured the best way to get Tsukki to stop tickling him and the best way to get himself to stop this hopeless giggling was to grip Tsukki by the shirt collar and pull him down so that their lips connected. Immediately, Tsukki’s fingers stopped their dancing and pressed flat against Tadashi’s stomach. Any laughter that had failed to escape during the tickling session had promptly died as soon as their lips touched. Tadashi let out a sigh of relief into Tsukki’s mouth that the tickling was over with before he suddenly realized oh god, oh god, oh dear god, I’m kissing Tsukishima Kei, in his bed, while his parents are asleep in the other room and oh god, his mouth is so soft and warm and I think I’m going to die here right this very moment and Jesus, were Tsukki’s eyelashes always so pretty?
Tsukki’s eyes had fallen shut while Tadashi’s were wide open in shock, but he coaxed himself to shut them as Tsukki started to kiss the corner of Tadashi’s mouth, moving up to his cheeks and kissing the tip of his nose.
“Tsukki…” Tadashi breathed, gently holding Tsukki’s chin between his pointer finger and thumb. With this light grip, he guided Tsukki’s lips back down to his own, reconnected them while trying (and failing) to internally assess the situation. After realizing there was no way possible that he could think logically while kissing Tsukki, Tadashi gave up and melted into the absolute warmth of Tsukki’s lips, sliding, sliding, sliding.
Tsukki’s hands grazed softly over Tadashi’s bare stomach, their current motions vastly different from the ones Tsukki had been making just minutes prior. Tadashi sighed again at the light pressure of Tsukki’s hands, and Tsukki took the opportunity to slip his tongue into Tadashi’s mouth. Tsukki was inexperienced; Tadashi was fairly certain this was his first kiss. Such showed when a string of saliva dripped down from their mouths and landed on Tadashi’s neck. Tadashi flinched away at the sudden wet contact, wiping at his neck with his hands while Tsukki stared at him with wide eyes.
“Sorry,” Tsukki spoke softly, prompting Tadashi to smile shyly at him.
“Don’t apologize,” Tadashi’s voice was assuring as he took his hands away from where he’d been wiping on his neck and reached them up to Tsukki’s jaw. He tilted Tsukki’s head from side to side, as if examining him.
“What is it,” Tsukki sounded kind of nervous, which was strange. “is there something wrong?”
“No,” Tadashi smiled brightly, taking one of his hands away from Tsukki’s jaw and wiping his thumb over Tsukki’s bottom lip. “You’re just really cute.”
“I thought I was the ‘hot one’.” Tsukki casted his gaze downwards and wow, his eyelashes must’ve always been this pretty.
“Mm, I take that back,” Tadashi spoke, his tone cheerful. “You’re the pretty one.”
Tsukki made some sort of grunt of disapproval, but Tadashi stuck with his statement. He proceeded to bring his hands to the back of Tsukki’s head and maneuver so that Tsukki’s cheek rested on Tadashi’s chest, Tsukki’s own chest pressed against Tadashi’s stomach and Tadashi’s chin resting comfortably on the top of Tsukki’s head. They fell asleep like so, Tsukki lulled by the soft rise and fall of Tadashi’s chest.
The following morning, Tadashi was awoken by Tsukki’s bedroom door cracking open. In their sleep, they’d both moved quite a bit, Tsukki’s arm had become thrown over Tadashi’s shoulders haphazardly and their legs tangled together. Tadashi closed his eyes quickly, pretending to be asleep as Tsukki’s vampire mom peeked into the room, because there was no way he could deal with the confrontation from a vampire, let alone Tsukki’s vampire mom. He’d pretend to be blissfully unaware, he decided, allowing Tsukki to deal with the repercussions from his mother later. Maybe that made Tadashi a bad boyfriend, but when he watched as Tsukki unconsciously nuzzled his head into Tadashi’s shoulder, he figured Tsukki probably wouldn’t mind too much.