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Two exhausted, sweaty and blood-soaked teenagers stumbled into their apartment, the door slamming shut behind them with an obnoxious clank that rattled the walls. "This heat is fuckin' murder." Chuuya said in a voice raspy from dehydration, shucking off his sticky dress shirt that was wet with multiple fluids and likely could never be salvaged. "Actual murder.". The brunet threw himself onto the couch with a loud groan, his voice also thick with dehydration. "That was child abuse, that was literally child abuse.".
Chuuya snorted despite himself but still shot Osamu a glare as he cranked the AC on high. "Don't get blood on my couch.".
"OUR couch~." Osamu corrected, sprawling out farther. "Fuckin' communist." Chuuya said though it didn't have much bite. "Puppy-dog~." Osamu cooed right back, though he stood up and followed Chuuya to the bathroom when beckoned to. "Shut up." Chuuya hissed, stripping off his ripped pants, rolling them up and whacking Osamu with them after starting up a cooler than usual shower. Other than a sharp yelp intended only to annoy, Osamu showed no sign that he had been struck, likely due to his insanely high pain tolerance. Instead, the brunet continued on his spiel about child abuse. "I mean, twenty guys in this heat AND in the dead of night. Insanity!". Osamu ruffled Chuuya's hair playfully and tilted up the ginger's chin. "Isn't it, Chuuya?".
Chuuya just shrugged as he helped Osamu out of his sticky, crimson-stained clothes before unwinding the coils of disgustingly damp bandages. "You need to stop wearing all these in summer, Osamu. You're going to get heatstroke and probably, like, thirty skin problems.".
Osamu ignored his partner and followed him into the shower, flinching slightly when the cold water hit him. "Child abuse is a crime; I could report him if I wanted. Imagine the look on Mori's face if out of all his crimes, a measly child abuse report was what did him in!". Osamu dissolved into mischievous giggles; his soaking wet hair coupled with his foggy red left eye making him look like a sopping wet cat planning revenge as his snaggletooth peeked out and dimples bloomed in his pallid cheeks.
The brunet's glee was infectious and Chuuya couldn't help but grin as he held back his own snickers at the mental image of such a baffled look on his boss's face. "Don't talk about the boss like that, Osamu." Chuuya scolded, nudging his foot against his partner's calf. "I'll never understand how you get away with that.". The brunet stuck out his tongue, forcing his eyes from following the shine of pretty piercings down into dangerous territory. "It's 'cause I'm special, it's a shame Chibi will never know what that's like.". "But don't be sad!" Osamu continued brightly, at the exact moment Chuuya began to massage shampoo into his long ginger locks. "I think Chuuya is a very special dog! One of a kind!".
Unable to open his eyes, Chuuya lobbed the conditioner bottle in his hand in the direction of Osamu's voice, smirking with satisfaction at the dull sound of it meeting its mark on the brunet's face. "Don't call me a dog, Dipshit!". Unseen by Chuuya, Osamu clutched his nose, crocodile tears welling in his big eyes as he began loudly and dramatically whining. "Owww!! Chuuya's such a meanie! A mean bad dog!". "Oh hush," Chuuya said, washing the product out of his hair, his soaking locks giving him the look of a fox aggravated by the rain. "That's not even going to bruise.".
"Now get on your knees." Chuuya told his partner, retrieving the shampoo and squirting some into his palm. Osamu raised his eyebrows suggestively even as he obeyed. "Oh?". "Shut up, I'm just washing your hair." the ginger scolded, massaging the product into chocolate brown curls, detangling knots when he came across them -though there were significantly less now that they'd been partners for a good two years, a two years that felt more like two decades if Chuuya was being honest. "Aw~" Osamu complained, rolling his shoulders forward instead of slumping like he usually would, knowing that Chuuya didn't like when he hunched while the ginger was doing his hair.
"Cockslut." Chuuya teased, ruffling Osamu's hair hard enough to shake his head. "I could say the same to you, Chuuya~" Osamu crooned, causing Chuuya to cuff him over the head with the conditioner bottle. "Oh shut up." Chuuya said, rolling his eyes. "You're not denying it~" Osamu chirped, swaying his head as though to music. "Neither are you, Minou." Chuuya shot back in a tone that made his partner as pliant as a scruff-grabbed cat. Chuuya couldn't help but snicker at Osamu's reaction, the infamous Black Wraith reduced to a pliant cat with just one well-placed pet-name.
Chuuya turned off the shower and stepped out, wrapping a towel around his waist as he tossed one to his partner.
Osamu wrapped towel around himself like a superhero cape and sat down on the toilet lid with his face tilted up towards his partner. "I'll do it in a moment." Chuuya told Osamu, as he pulled out an array of skincare and hair products. "I'm gonna do mine first.". "Selfish chibi." Osamu grumbled, his mesmerized eyes following the swirling scars along Chuuya's freckled back, his words didn't have much bite due to his awe-filled distraction. "I'm not the one who stayed on a rooftop sniping most of the night, because they were 'too sleepy' to fight properly." Chuuya retorted, scrunching his damp hair into a wet version of their usual curly waves.
"At least I CAN snipe, unlike a certain chibi who can only use his stupid Ability." Osamu replied with a mock-pretentious sniff. "Shut up, Osa." Chuuya said, the use of the nickname actually causing Osamu to fall into a blushy silence. Chuuya turned around holding a small container of skin cream, his heterochromatic eyes widening in slight surprise when he saw Osamu's lobster-red face. A slow smirk spread across the ginger's wine-red lips. "You like that?". Osamu gave a begrudging nod, allowing Chuuya to tilt his face up and apply the cream to his flushed pallid skin.
"Cute." Chuuya said, pressing a little kiss the bridge of his partner's nose. "Chuuya needs to get his eyes checked." Osamu grumbled, crossing his bony arms though the flush now encompassed his ears.
Chuuya flicked his partner's nose, making him let out a high-pitched whine. "Shut up. You're the one who needs their eyes checked, you haven't checked your prescription in the two years I've known you.". Osamu stuck out his tongue again but quickly sucked it back in before Chuuya could tug it -he wasn't being paranoid, that stupid dog had done it before. "Maybe I have and Chuuya just didn't notice.". Chuuya shot Osamu a glare from over his shoulder as he put all the products back where they belonged. "Don't even TRY to gaslight me, Osamu. I'll throw you across the apartment.". Osamu huffed. "Chuuya's no funnn~".
"I am plenty fun, you insufferable mackerel." Chuuya tossed the hand towel he used for his hair at his partner's face and relished in his yelp of betrayal.
"It's gonna be colddddd out thereeee." Osamu whined, dragging out his words for maximum affect, his head dropping back like he had been shot. Chuuya rolled his eyes to the sky, grabbing Osamu's bony wrist and hoisting him to his feet. "That's the point of air conditioning, dumbass.". "And weren't you JUST complaining about the heat?" the ginger added as he swung open the door, causing Osamu to whimper and tug his towel-cape tighter around his shoulders. "I am a man of many talents." Osamu said haughtily, draping himself over Chuuya's shoulders and affectively making his partner half-carry him all the way to their room. "Not that Chuuya would know what that looks like.".
Chuuya shrugged Osamu off of him and onto the bed, before rifling through their mostly shared closet for comfortable clothes. "Oh shut up, you wouldn't know talent if it kicked you in the face.". Osamu rolled over onto his side and gazed at Chuuya's back with contently lidded eyes. "Nah, I think I would.". Chuuya didn't respond to that, simply tossing a bundle of clothes at the brunet's face and leaving it at that. Osamu pulled his tank top on and smiled, rubbing his fingers against the soft black fabric. "You got the nice ones this time.".
Chuuya shrugged as he pulled on his own top -a white t-shirt with a smiling crab on it, stolen from Osamu out of spite. " 'Course I did. Can't have you whining all summer.".
Privately Chuuya smiled, he was glad that his partner was comfortable, even if he'd never admit it. Osamu got to his feet once he finished pulling on his shorts and threw himself over Chuuya's shoulders, lips pressed to the curve of the ginger's heavily pierced ear as he spoke, his voice an annoying singsong. "What's for dinner, Chuuya?~". Chuuya let Osamu wrap his long, scarred legs around his waist and hoisted him up in a piggyback without much thought. "What'd you want? I think we still have some leftover shrimp from the skagenröra last week, I can make tempura.". Osamu nuzzled his cheek against Chuuya's like a cat as the older boy carried him into the kitchen on his back. "Can you make anything sweet?".
"Real dinner food first." Chuuya said firmly, depositing Osamu onto the kitchen counter and drifting over to the refrigerator. Osamu stuck out his tongue, kicking his legs happily. "Tu n'es pas drôle.". Chuuya rolled his eyes. "Just tell me what you want already, Osamu.". The brunet let out a long humming noise, tapping his chin with a finger as he pretended to think. "Crab?". "Tempura it is." Chuuya said, fully ignoring the complaints of his other half as he pulled out the ingredients. "What'd you want for dessert? We can have the leftovers as tomorrow's breakfast.".
"Bosche Bollen?" Osamu asked, tilting his head in a way that most people would find cute, but Chuuya could only see as a demon mimicking a human and hiding in their skin -Chuuya found Osamu much cuter when he wasn't acting or trying, though he'd rather play dolls with Q than say that out loud.
Chuuya let out a small laugh, but upon turning around he found that his partner was looking at him dead serious. "You're serious?". "As a heart attack." Osamu confirmed his tone grave. "That's not happening." Chuuya said, holding up his hand to silence the whines he knew were building in his partner's throat. "I'll make them tomorrow; we don't have the ingredients right now and it's too late. I'm tired and I want to sleep.". Osamu let out a long sigh but didn't push it, instead a smirk twitched his pale pink lips as he teased. "Chuuya's getting oldddd~". Chuuya cuffed Osamu over the head as he passed him on the way to the stove. "Shut up.".
Had it been daytime the two likely would have continued trading taunts and barbs even as Chuuya cooked, but being as late as it was, they fell into a sort of domestic quiet. The only sounds Chuuya's cooking, and the soft sounds of Osamu's humming and his feet bouncing against the side of the counter.
~*~
Later that night, the two laid side by side in their bed, foreheads touching like conspirators, their mingling breaths minty and thick with the scent of toothpaste. They laid with their eyes closed but they both knew the other was awake. "Hey Chuu?" Osamu asked his voice slow with sleep. "Mhm?" Chuuya replied, cracking his brown eye open to find that Osamu's eyes were still both closed. "Can you sleep?" Osamu snuggled closer, tucking his head under Chuuya's chin even though he was the taller of the two. Chuuya puffed out a small laugh, too tired for much else. "What do you think?".
"I'm thinking you can't." Osamu replied, breath warm against Chuuya's neck. "I don't know how you have the energy to act like this." the ginger tugged his partner a little closer and sought out the long vertical scars on his back, tracing them with gentle but tired fingers.
"Like wha...?" Osamu slurred his voice dropping into the warm sleepiness it hardly ever genuinely carried. Chuuya shifted the brunet's soft chocolate curls away from his temple and pressed a kiss there. "Go to sleep, Osa. We have to get up again in like four hours. And if you can't fall asleep, be quiet so I can.". Osamu huffed but leaned into his partner's touch, letting out a soft yawn that was more befitting of a newborn kitten than the feared Demon Prodigy, smacking his lips softly once he finished. "If Chuuya insistssss.".
"I do." Chuuya said curtly, he was on the verge of being too tired for Osamu's bullshit and was vaguely considering getting up to sleep on the couch instead.
Osamu seemed to hear Chuuya's thoughts about moving to the couch and hugged him tighter around the ginger's waist, falling obediently silent. "Hey," Chuuya murmured just as he was drifting off. "Mm?" Osamu asked, keeping his voice quiet. "You're a hell of a lot prettier when you're actually clean." Chuuya whispered, leaving his other half sputtering as he peacefully drifted to sleep with a self-satisfied smirk curling his lips.