Work Text:
When Ryouga came into Kaito's room at 6 pm, he promptly plopped down on the bed and rolled over towards the window. He couldn't look outside it, however; the cold air had fogged it up completely. Ryouga didn't mind, though. He liked the cold weather. Kaito seemed to enjoy it, too. As he tapped away on his laptop at some code, he was seemingly in his natural habitat.
"Are you still working?" Ryouga asked as he rolled to look at Kaito. "What kind of a nerd are you?"
"I'd rather be a nerd than a middle school dropout," Kaito responded without looking up, tongue as sharp as silver.
"I'm back in school now," Ryouga replied as he got up. "Come on, take a break for once in your life."
Kaito stopped his tapping to look up at Ryouga. "Don't you have homework you should be doing?"
Kaito's comment was met with a scoff of, "you're hopeless," as he heard his door shut.
7 O'clock rolled around, and Ryouga was right back in the dark doorway to Kaito's room. "I didn't come all the way here just to do homework, you know."
A pause in the air before Kaito responded.
"...You're still here?" There was no animosity in his voice, just genuine curiosity.
Ryouga found himself too heated at Kaito’s lack of awareness to continue the conversation.
By 8, Ryouga decided he wouldn't take "no" for an answer when he came into Kaito's room. The sound of a mug being gently placed on Kaito's desk startled him into looking up.
"...Haruto and I made this for you," Ryouga said distantly. His hand came over Kaito's -- he didn't know how Kaito could be this cold and still function. It seemed Kaito wasn't expecting a hand as warm as Ryouga's either -- and Ryouga spoke up again.
"Come on, take a break for once."
Kaito looked at Ryouga for a few moments, considering his offer, before closing his laptop and getting up.
***
"Is there any particular reason why you stayed at my house two hours after I shooed you away?" Kaito asked as he looked out the large window of the Heartland Tower living room. Amidst the flashing lights in array of colors in the night sky from the city below, there were the faint silhouettes of snowflakes falling.
"You live far... if I was gonna come all the way out here, I wasn't gonna just go home right away." Ryouga's voice was stubborn as he averted his eyes and sat on the couch, taking up enough space for at least two people with how he spread his limbs.
Kaito smirked as he pulled the blanket he'd found himself in up, taking a sip of the hot chocolate. He wasn't even going to try to humor the obvious lie. Ryouga responded with a sharp glare.
“I just wanted to get away for a while, is that so much to ask?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Kaito responded while blowing on his mug. “No need to lie and get upset over it.”
Neither spoke for a while, taking in the sight of the Heartland from outside the window in the still slightly chilly air of the room. Rubbing his arms, Ryouga was too stubborn to admit he wanted some of Kaito’s blanket.
"So, how are you doing?" There was a sincerity in Kaito's voice as it overcame the silent pause.
Ryouga perked up as he looked at Kaito. "In what way?"
"You've had it pretty hard since everything happened," Kaito replied frankly as he took another sip.
Ryouga condensed his body as he pondered Kaito's question. Suddenly, he was a different person than the punk at the couch a moment before. "Better, I suppose." He leaned his head back on the couch as he closed his eyes. "I can get out of bed and walk down the street without having an identity crisis, anyways."
Kaito nodded as he offered some of his blanket to Ryouga. "Don't push yourself too much."
"....Thanks." Ryouga slowly took the blanket from Kaito's hand and scooted himself under it. "The same goes for you, you know. After all, you did die."
"I'm alive now, aren't I?" Kaito replied. A determined smile came to his face. "And that just gave me more things to want to research and learn about. I can't stop now."
A scoff escaped Ryouga's mouth. "You really are a nerd."
"I suppose so." There was a small clank as the empty mug went from Kaito's hand to the table in front of them. The slightest hint of a stifled yawn came out of Kaito as he turned to Ryouga. "But my life is a gift from Astral. I intend to pay him back in person."
Ryouga smiled as he shifted a hand to his cheek. "I can't disagree with you there." He glanced over to Kaito. "If you ever need any help, let me know."
Kaito responded with a smirk. “Don't hold me back.”
“Please,” Ryouga leaned closer to Kaito on the couch, making direct eye contact. “I’m surprised you’ve even made it this far without me. I can guarantee you work will go a lot better if you distract yourself from it sometimes.”
A pleased smile crept onto Kaito’s lips at that comment as he too moved forward. “If you’re so sure of yourself, then prove it.”
Ryouga left the residence later that night than he’d expected to ever stay, but he found the endeavor worth it. While he had his duties to look after the other Barians, he found spending time with someone who wasn’t several centuries old was comforting, too. Perhaps waiting did have its benefits.