Work Text:
Bright, flashing lights. Thousands of voices, united. Singing back at him, with him, clapping, yelling in pure enjoyment. Invigorating. Thrilling. Pushing him further and further into a mentally ecstatic high. Blood pumping through his veins, body vibrating like the guitar strings under his fingers. His throat feels a tad bit sore, but his chest wide and open as he sings the final note with all his might and love and passion. The crowd goes wild, louder and louder, sharing the high with them. It’s a blurred beautiful mess of noises and voices and lights flickering and music being created in the most stunning symphony, vibrating and flashing and echoing through the room, filling the room - and everybody’s hearts.
When their song finally ends, the applause crescendos like their last notes did. This is what he lives for. What his companions live for. Not the applause, not the recognition, not something so superficial as fame. It’s the sea of smiling and happy people right in front of them, the connection they build with strangers. Through their music.
Behind the stage he can still hear the crowds’ yells and applauses, even behind the thick walls of their backstage room. Blood continues to ring in his ears, pumps through his veins. Heartbeat fast, as if on a race, adrenaline tingling under his skin. He gets rid of the sweaty shirt and throws it aside, rubbing his arms. What felt like a thrilling beehive buzzing under his skin, like a gentle electricity shock sending him into that ecstatic high, morphs into something more of an… itch now. Not uncomfortable (not yet), but… at the beginning of ‘slightly irritating’.
The noises still echo in his brain, mixed in with loud laughter and excited exclaims of his band mates. Goken throws an arm around him, pulling him to the couch. Kyuma squeezes his eyes shut, when Uta turns on the lights. It feels too bright, dancing and twinkling like multi-colored dots behind his closed eyelids. Thousand little stars, like exploding fireworks.
Kyuma feels a headache coming. And another one of these ‘episodes’: The crash after a mentally and physically stimulating high. The repercussions of high sensory stimulation morphing into over-stimulation over the course of the night and resulting in irritation and stress.
He excuses himself early and declines Uta’s offer to drive him to their hotel. Instead he pulls the hood of Maki’s sweater deep in his face and orders a taxi, attempting to focus on the monotonous pitter-patter of raindrops meeting glass while streets pass them by. Attempting to calm himself down with the knowledge of soon being home. Because home has never been a ‘place’ for Kyuma, but always people. His friends, not just bandmates, but companions. For life. And most of all, since that one fortunate day he’d stumbled into him at the airport, his significant other. His partner. His one and only.
When he enters their shared hotel room, Kyuma’s gaze immediately darts to the right end of the large couch: A place where his partner spent the last evenings cuddled up with a blanket and herbal tea, a collected volume of short stories in his lap. The one he read last night has the funny title ‘Cheese’, but when his partner told him it is a rather adorable story about a musician and a game developer communicating through hilarious cheese metaphors, Kyuma had chuckled amused and countered “Time for you to get your lawyer brain into game developing. And cheese metaphors, my Black Diamond Cheese”.
He catches sight of him in his adorable pajama and glasses and feels his own heart beat slowing down immediately. Without caring for making a mess, he slips out of his shoes and walks straight to him.
“Oh?” Kuzuryu takes a look over his shoulder, a soft smile forming on his lips. “Hello, Love. How was the con.. cert…?” A slightly concerned frown appears on his face as Kyuma just lets himself fall onto the couch, immediately scooting closer in search of that calm and safe aura he radiates. He wants to throw it over his overwhelmed body and mind like a blanket, wants the sensation of calm and rest seeping into his tired and still overstimulated bones and skin and veins. Wants to melt into his boyfriend and block out the outerworld.
Kuzuryu takes another brief look at him and understands without words. Lifts his arm in a silent offer and Kyuma follows thankfully, snuggling into his side. The scent of soft vanilla and tea surrounds him. Kyuma takes a deep, albeit slightly shaky inhale.
“You… can c-continue…” He nods to the book in Kuzuryu’s right hand, grimacing at how his voice struggles to stay even. “Don’t… let me s..stop you fro-“ His words come to an abrupt end when gentle fingers cradle his chin, tilting it up to meet Kuzuryu’s warm and soft gaze. The brush of fingertips against his cheek, gentle and unhurried and so appreciative, loosens up that heavy knot in his stomach he’d felt ever since stepping off the stage. When Kuzuryu leans in a bit and tilts his head, questioning, Kyuma meets him halfway.
The kiss is soft, just a warm, soft pressure against his own lips. Comforting. Appreciating. Kyuma takes an inhale through his nose and allows his tense shoulders to sink further against the warm body of his partner.
Their lips part, yet Kuzuryu’s hand stays in his neck a little longer, slowly massaging a certain point that usually helps to relax him in such situations.
After a few minutes of sitting together like this, Kuzuryu adjusts his position, laying back on the couch and creating space between his legs for Kyuma to settle in. Happily he follows suit, before lightly tugging at his sweater, his skin feeling too… sensitive for any kind of fabric, the fabric beginning to feel way too constricting. Kuzuryu - God, I love this man so much, four full albums of love songs dedicated to his beautiful heart, soul, mind and body still wouldn’t be nearly enough appreciation - notices and helps him to take the sweater off.
With a content sigh, he lays his head on his chest, cuddling into him further while arms wrap softly around him, delicate fingers holding the book over his back. There’s something so… peaceful and calming about just listening to the even heart beat of Kuzuryu, just “interrupted” by quiet breathing and the soft rustling of pages being turned every now and then. Something so hypnotizing about the monotony of it which, gently and slowly, ‘forces’ his mind and body to let go of the stress and thrill and intense sensations of the evening and to find rest and peace and serenity in his arms.
To the calm beating of Kuzuryu’s heart and soft fingers brushing through his hair gently, Kyuma falls asleep.
*
Where my heart can rest, is the work title Kyuma scribbles down in an enthusiastic haste the next morning, right after bringing tea and pancakes to the couch and giving Kuzuryu a ‘good morning, Little Diamond’ kiss.
After all, four full albums of love songs dedicated to his soulmate doesn't write itself.