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"Go to bed, Ren," Goro sighs when the bubbly music coming from the TV makes his drowsy boyfriend jolt.
It's always the same whenever Ren stays for the night. Goro's insomnia keeps him awake until his body can't function anymore, while Ren's Morgana-induced sleeping schedule has the boy out cold as soon as the clock strikes midnight. Still, that sentimental fool he calls boyfriend refuses to go to bed until Goro himself is sleepy too.
"You've invited me. It's not fair I go to bed when you can't sleep," he explained once, foolish reason if there ever was one. Did it make Goro's chest all fuzzy and had him bitting back an embarrassingly wide smile? Yes, but that didn't make it any less foolish.
"I'm not tired," Ren lies now, as usual.
"That'd be more convincing if you could keep your eyes open for more than two minutes." He doesn't know why he keeps trying, they've been playing the same game for over a year and Ren hasn't given up even once yet.
As if it somehow proved Goro wrong, Ren hauls himself up to meet Goro's lips in a quick kiss and then makes himself comfortable on his lap again.
"Play the next episode. I want to know what happened to Pink Argus before you or Futaba spoil it."
Goro rolls his eyes but accepts the temporary defeat. Time for a different approach then.
As he hums along the opening theme, Goro slides an arm around his boyfriend's chest that Ren immediately hugs like a kid with a plushy, while his other hand goes to the boy's head, playing with his curls.
"I know what you're doing," Ren slurs, already half-asleep again. "It won't work."
But even though he protests, Ren doesn't move or tell him to stop, so Goro only hums in acknowledgment and keeps on pampering him.
As expected, he's sound asleep a few minutes later.
Goro waits until the episode finishes for good measure and when the upbeat ending theme fills the room again and Ren doesn't so much as flinch, he knows it's safe to move. Still, he lingers for a moment to take in the soft movement of Ren's chest, his half-opened mouth and easy brow. He should be used to that sight already, but it never fails to mess with his heartstrings.
A dumb, smitten smile takes over his lips while he leans closer to leave a kiss on Ren's temple, but he supposes it's fine this time since Ren isn't awake to tease him for it.
Little by little, Goro frees himself from Ren's prison and leaves to turndown the bed. It doesn't even take him a whole minute, but when he comes back to the living room, Ren's peaceful expression has morphed into an upset frown.
"You're so clingy," he whispers, smile getting wider.
God, he's so pathetic. If Goro had known he'd turn into this soft, ridiculous mess, he would have stayed hidden forever. Alas, it's too late to go back now, so all he can do is to heave the object of his unbecoming affection up. It's not the easiest feat considering Ren's just a death weight right now, but after a failed attempt, he manages to lift his very own sleeping beauty.
"And you said going to the gym on top of bouldering was a waste of time."
The only response he gets is a soft snore followed by some unintelligible mumbling.
Compared to his previous task, carrying Ren to the bedroom and tucking him in bed is a breeze. For a moment, he fears he's woken him up while setting him on bed, but the boy just rolls to his side and keeps sleeping as if nothing happened.
Of course. Ren could sleep through an earthquake and wouldn't even know it. Goro hates it, just another thing his rival has that he can only dream of himself, but at least it allows him to get in bed next to him and read until sleep decides to take him too given that the light doesn't bother Ren at all.
Even when unconscious, the company is comforting, the bed is warm and the book interesting enough for Goro to be happy with spending the next hours there; however, it looks like Ren has a different plan. In a quick twist that makes Goro check twice if he's actually asleep and not pretending, they boy fits his head under his boyfriend's chin, wraps an arm over his chest and tosses a leg over his, rendering him completely trapped.
"What, jealous the book has my full attention? I'm bound to get tired if you keep this up every day, you know." Except not even Goro himself believes that. Not when he's already closed the book and his arms are looking for the most comfortable way to hold Ren's body again.
How could he get tired of feeling Ren next to him, of the way the warmth that radiates from his body makes all his muscles relax or how the rhythm of his heartbeat seems to slow down to accommodate to Ren's as if they were one?
"I want laser beams too," Ren mumbles out of the blue and Goro can't help but chuckle. What is that goofy head of his dreaming about this time?
Trying to guess the boy's dreams based on his sleep-talking has become one of Goro's favourite pastimes on the nights they spend together. It's not easy considering most of what he sputters are incoherent nonsenses and half-sentences, but if he listens closely and pays attention to Ren's expression, he usually can piece a few ideas together. By the way his brow twitches now, Goro presumes he's fighting something.
He closes his eyes, hoping to hear another hint among the babble, instead, it paints scene after scene behind his eyelids and soon, before he can even notice it, Goro's lost in his own dreams too.
Lazy Sunday mornings have always been Ren's favourite part of the week. Being able to stay in bed, warm and away from responsibilities while everyone thinks he's asleep feels like a miracle; now that most of those mornings have the added bonus of waking up next to his boyfriend he's sure they must be some kind of blessing.
Yet, as much as he's enjoying the moment, there's one tiny thought that keeps trying to ruin his personal heaven: he doesn't remember how he got there.
All he can remember is Goro nagging him to go to bed and his dirty tricks to put him to sleep when he refused, but after that his memory is completely blank. Ren really wants to think he managed to stay awake at least until the episode ended and went to bed on his own then (he could have been too tired to remember it, it happens sometimes), but he knows the most plausible explanation is that he fell asleep and Goro carried him to bed.
Again.
He really doesn't like leaving his boyfriend alone on long, sleepless nights when he knows weariness often gives free rein to old thoughts and fears, but no matter how much he tries, he just can't stay up past midnight anymore. Maybe he should give up and save Goro the trouble of carrying him at least… though he supposes there's no harm in being stubborn one last time and pretending to be asleep so Goro carries him while he's fully conscious and able to enjoy the ride for once. Who knows, maybe the experience is all he needs to finally manage to stay awake.
But that's not a thought for now. With the tiniest sigh, Ren tightens his hold on Goro in a silent apology for all the trouble and tries to lock the thought away for later. Sunday mornings aren't made for worrying, they're made for closing his eyes again and letting his boyfriend's heartbeat take him to that cozy realm between slumber and consciousness.
He dreams on and off, about being back in the metaverese and fighting a gigantic taiyaki, about Goro moving to Leblanc with him and cooking together. As the sun gets higher and lights up the world around them, he hears the softened tap tap of a neighbor's footsteps on the hallway outside, the siren of an ambulance, the occasional door closing, and lets the dreams slip away from him little by little. He fears Goro will wake up as the outside world becomes louder, but either he's used to the noise already or he's very tired.
There's also a third option Ren doesn't allow himself to entertain too much for what it does to his weak heart. There's no way for him to confirm it since Goro will never admit it even if it's true, but Ren has the theory that his boyfriend sleeps better when they're together. He never complains about cars racing by with loud music when Ren stays over, about the elevator's door or about neighbors flushing their toilets when he has just fallen asleep, and just thinking there's a real possibility that's the case makes his heart jump and fills him with an urge to squeeze Goro as tight as he can. Luckily for the sleeping boy, he looses his hold on him and enjoys his second favourite Sunday morning activity instead: to watch Goro sleep.
Though he moves as careful as he can, Goro must feel the shift because he tightens his grip on Ren to keep him close.
And you say I am clingy, Ren smiles to himself. He retreats just enough to set his head more comfortably on the pillow and after another moment Goro relaxes again.
It shouldn't be legal for someone to be this cute in the mornings. His messy hair looks like woven gold under the gentle kiss of sunlight that dares to filter through the curtains, his face is half buried in the pillow and decorated with sheet marks, his chest rises and falls slowly with peaceful breathing as the tiniest trickle of drool threatens to fall from the corner of his mouth with every breath… It's not fair Goro looks so kissable while sleeping but is so easy to wake up. Ren wants to pepper his face with kisses until the boy's laugh fills the whole apartment so bad, but he behaves and settles for whispering a soft "I love you" while the smile on his face keeps growing.
And then, as fast as his smile came, it disappears and all his affection shifts into hatred.
Out of the blue, a stampede unleashes upstairs. Ren knows there's a family with two kids living right on top, but it doesn't sound like kids at all, it's closer to an elephant herd stomping and running in a fit of frenzy.
Is that glass shattering? What are those kids doing? Don't they know there are people sleeping in the building? Why aren't their parents telling them to keep it down?
And now they're yelling. Great.
"Fucking kids," he hears Goro growl among the cacophony. Ren usually likes kids, but he shares the sentiment this time.
Then, as if their only objective had been to wake Goro up, the noise suddenly stops.
There's a moment of absolute silence in which Ren really believes Goro's somehow fallen asleep again. But then his beloved sighs and the peaceful expression that mesmerized Ren not a minute ago disappears. Even through bleary, half-lidded eyes Ren can feel the murderous intentions.
"Should I prepare breakfast?" He tests, not daring to say good morning.
In answer, Goro only grunts and turns around. Then he changes his mind and rolls over to trap Ren under him.
"No breakfast yet. Got it," Ren chuckles. It gets him another grunt.
Sleepy Goro is dangerous, but he's also very, very needy, and what kind of boyfriend would Ren be if he ignored him?
In an attempt to lull him back to sleep, Ren borrows Goro's own tactic and tangles his fingers on the boy's hair, running them through the soft strands. He knows it works better on himself, but Goro isn't complaining, so there's no harm in trying… probably.
After a while it's obvious his plan is not working as intended, but at least Goro seems peaceful enough when he looks up and lets out a raspy "morning".
Now that he's awake and the blood lust seems to have faded, Ren has no reason to hold back anymore. He kisses him on the forehead first, tentatively, then on the nose and across his cheeks, and finally on the lips when the boy starts to get impatient.
"Morning," he smiles before brushing away a messy lock of gold and kissing the corner of his boyfriend's eye again. "Ready to get up yet?"
Goro frowns, but the rumble of his stomach betrays him.
"I'll take that as a yes," Ren laughs, his own stomach echoing Goro's. "I need to make it first, but we can have breakfast in bed after?"
Goro gives it some thought and then nods and allows Ren to get up, pleased with the idea of just pausing the cuddling for a while instead of ending it.
"I'll be back before you have time to miss me," Ren smiles, kissing him once more before getting up.
Goro looks at him, knowing he's said something corny but too sleepy to actually process it as embarrassing yet, so instead of complaining he hugs a fistful of blanket to make up for Ren's absence and grunts, "you'd better."
God, he loves him so much. If their stomachs weren't still grumbling, Ren would have gone back to bed and squeeze Goro as tight as he could while he covered that painfully cute face in kisses. Luckily, they'll have all day for that once their stomachs are full.