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Shuriken blearily opens his eyes, feeling weight on him that he’s not quite used to. The lighting is different, this is way comfier than his bed…
Oh. He fell asleep in Valk’s room. Where he’s not supposed to be, technically. Sure, he comes by in the night, so no paparazzi see him or whatever, but he’s also supposed to leave in the night, so no paparazzi see him. Because… PR? Or something? He’s no expert, but apparently it’d be bad for Valk’s career. Mostly the way the paparazzi would spin it, and the fact his siblings are Phighters. Technically him, too, but that’s not public knowledge! He Phights as Silver Shadow, you know! Why? Don’t ask questions!
Still, he’ll find a way out. He’s resourceful. So he instead focuses on the body slumped against him. Or, rather, curled around him like his life depends on it.
Valk’s a cuddler, who would’ve known? He would’ve. He does know. The two have cuddled before. Valk is… well, he’s a lot. All over Shuriken, sometimes literally draped over him, constantly trying to get even more attention. But, like this? He’s peaceful. Not… all over the place. They’re both like that, and now they’re both… oh, groggy. Valk is awake, and pretending like he isn’t.
Fine, he can play that game, too! Shuriken shifts, bringing a hand up to Valk’s horns, gently and lovingly scratching at the base of one of them. It’s taking a lot out of Valk to not react. For someone so affectionate, he sure does struggle to contain himself when receiving it. Gets him all hyped up. “I really shouldn’t be here,” he sighs, as if talking to himself. “Valk’ll kill me. I should probably leave before he wakes up…”
“No!” Valk suddenly squeaks out, clutching at his shoulders like he’ll die if he leaves. “Please! Don’t go!”
He freezes for a few seconds, a bit too tired for that scare. But then he laughs, going back to the light scratching. Not that he has an idea of anatomy or anything like that, but he does know that it’s a spot that feels real good to get scratched, even if you aren’t itchy there! Like… an itch that’s been bothering you for hours, sort of feeling. “Ooh, you wanna keep me here forever,” he teases, not even minding the intense clawing of his shoulders. He has them covered anyway, so any potential marks made through his clothes will be hidden. “I do gotta go eventually, Valk! My siblings are gonna freak when they know I’m not home… ooh, Sling might kill me. Or Vine definitely will if he doesn’t…” He’s more scared of Vine, he’ll be honest. She can and will rip into him for an hour straight. For stupider stuff. Being out all night and not being there when the two wake up… that’s not gonna go good at all.
Completely unconcerned with his partner’s impending doom, Valk wraps his arms around Shuriken again, burying his face into his shoulder. “Mm… if you stay here forever, they’ll never get you.” Almost tempting, but he’ll miss his siblings too much for that. He’d rather get killed by them than not see them again. “Just… one more hour? Please?”
“An HOUR? Valk? HOUR? You want to cuddle for another hour?” Every time he says the word cuddle, Valk perks up a little, like a dog hearing treat. It’s been like that ever since the idea was first casually (very, very excitedly and nervous) thrown out there. “If we cuddle for another hour, my siblings will get me. And, besides, we’ve cuddled all night, haven’t we?”
A small squeal escapes his absolute ant of a partner (there’s enough of a height difference for him to say that, okay!). “We did! We did cuddle all night! But!” Dramatic pause, typical of Valk. “I’m not satisfied! I need another day of cuddling to consider letting you go. Dom can totally manage the tournament by himself today, I have more important things to do!”
The thought is a bit absurd, and Shuriken snickers. “Dom? No way! He’d freak out.” Just like he did when Valk first loudly announced his relationship. Since, uh, Dom sort of caught him sneaking in. Which is… well, he gets it. Why Dom was very displeased at first. But! Dom likes him now. Surely from his wonderful, amazing charm and super cool ninja skills. “You’re a busy inphernal, Valk! I got a shift at Thieves’ Rest, anyway.”
That mischievous look proclaims nothing but trouble. “I should come by one of these days. Scoping out a business run by one of our Phighters seems fun, especially when you’d be there. You told me a little about the uniform… and I have been thinking about how cute you have to look in it! Please! Picture! Please!”
“Hm… no.” He innocently looks away as soon as Valk starts trying to pull puppy-dog eyes on him. It works on him, just not perfectly, so he has to stay cautious. Being a younger sibling makes him pull the same trick pretty often. He also pulls it on Sling, despite him being even younger… it occasionally works. But Vine falls for it the most from both of them. “I’m not very happy while working, Valk. Like… at all. And I fall asleep a lot. The most you’d see of me is Sling getting mad at me.”
Not the answer he wanted, so Valk huffs. “Fine, fine…I think you look cute when sleeping, but sure. Whatever. I don’t have to come see you at work.” Sulking now, over something so small. It is a bit cute, though, he’ll give him that.
Shuriken gets his unfeeling hand out from where it’s been crushed between their bodies, wincing as the bloodflow starts up very painfully. “So… am I hearing that you planned this? Since you saw me sleeping, and didn’t wake me up.”
“Maaaybe~” Valk sings out, clearly not ashamed of himself. “You’re thinking too hard, Shuri! You’ll live, I swear! If you need to, you can totally pull me as a card! I was seeing my super cool partner who I love very much and never treats me bad! Valk, the idol! I’ll call him right now, and you can get proof!” He clears his throat. “Yes, it is me, Valk the idol! I love Shuriken so much and he is so awesome, please don’t kill him or I will be so sad. Thank you.” So… why did Valk’s impression of Shuriken sound like himself, and his own dialog… sound more… lower? Dork.
It is very silly, and he does appreciate it. “Well, I’m still going to try to keep it a secret. You don’t want me talking about it, and I can handle a few more chores.”
Taking a few seconds to particularly enjoy a scratch, Valk counterargues. “You said they’d kill you. Respawning doesn’t work outside of Phights, so I wanna keep you safe! ‘Sides, your siblings won’t tell, right?”
“Well, no, but…” He hesitates even with that, then sighs. “I’ll stay another hour, okay? But this… wouldn’t be good timing to tell my siblings.” That is something he wants to be careful with doing. It’s not like Sling and Vine would be mad about his secret relationship, though they would get mad about it being kept from them for so long, but introducing them to it during a time of stress wouldn’t be good. Not even just strategically, but the fact it would stress them out more! Shuriken loves them far, far too much to just… carelessly drop his relationship on them while they’re stressed out about him. Crappy excuse, bad behavior, you know? He’s better than that, for the most part.
Well aware that Shuriken is having some form of mental conflict, since it’s probably pretty obvious on his face, Valk drops it. “Alright. At some point, though, right?” So damn eager to have any sort of public knowledge of their relationship. He can only guess that Valk’s affection extends to PDA, which makes sense. It’s possible he would be showing him off if it wasn’t for the Phighting tournament, PR be damned.
So it’s only fair he returns some of that. “Duh! What, you think I want to keep you a secret forever?” He shifts some more, to be able to comfortably lean down and kiss Valk on the forehead. “My siblings would be really happy to meet you, I swear. Just not right now.”
Valk squeals, shooting upright and beaming at him. He’s blushing, but that’s nowhere near being an accomplishment, since he blushes so easily. Putting it lightly. Shuriken also blushes easily, he’ll admit it, but Valk is a million times worse. “I can’t wait!” Valk cheers, slumping against Shuriken again. It’s a new angle that lets him get even closer, like he wants. “I mean, you’ve already met Dom, and he likes you, and he’s just about the main form of judgement for my relationships… uh, maybe Granddad, too, but he, uh… yeah. Not right now.” Barely a second of pause before he continues. “Eeeee, I’m so excited to meet your siblings!”
Man, how does Valk have this much energy in the morning? Sure, Shuriken is… forcibly a night owl, but, like, how?! Does Valk never run out of energy? “I’m just that great, of course Dom likes me! But, uh… isn’t your Granddad…? A Sword? He’d atomize me before I get a chance to prove how awesome I am.” Ooh, that’s a really unimpressed look from Valk. “...I’m sure my siblings will be excited to meet you, too!”
Before Valk gets the chance to do any sort of criticism on Shuriken’s careless remark about Firebrand, his bedroom door opens. “Mic, do you…” Dom, in wildly different clothes than he usually wears. Hello kitty pajamas… oh, that’s probably matching the set that Valk has! Uh, not the time. This is a very awkward situation. “...Oh, he’s still over.” Dom might be the one most panicked by this, actually. He’s not a people person at all, and here’s a person that he struggles to people.
“Um… yep! He, uh, sort of accidentally slept over?” Valk oh so very helpfully chimes in, sounding only slightly ashamed of himself. “He’ll leave in an hour.”
Dom shakes his head, and crosses his arms. A bit more at ease now that the shock has worn off. “You’re a light sleeper. You certainly noticed, and most definitely chose to keep him over.” Yeowch, called out, just like that! Shuriken has to smother a small laugh as Valk’s blush comes back, more aggressive than before. “You say an hour, but that really means ‘as long as I can lie about the time’.”
Huh. Shuriken didn’t even consider that. That… that makes a lot of sense. And he’d definitely fall for it. He DID fall for it, actually…
With a genuine pout and air of total mortification, Valk throws one of his stuffed animals at Dom, who easily catches it and throws it back, nailing him in the face. Valk yelps, but doesn’t retaliate. Just glares. “Do you have to expose all my tricks! I was gonna get away with this one…” His glare gets a bit sharper. “I’m gonna start exposing your tricks if you don’t leave…” playful energy returns, “...Megaphone.”
That works well enough, because Dom shrugs and starts to close the door. “You’re not gonna have time to do your usual stuff this morning.” A small warning, right before the door properly shuts.
Valk proves his lack of care by snuggling in close. “Okay, maybe not a whole hour, or more, but you can stay for ten more minutes, right?”
Well, the same trick can’t work twice. “If you set an alarm, and I watch you set it.”
The same trick was being tried twice, considering the pout. “You’re so mean. Fine.”
As soon as Valk starts to set the alarm, Shuriken recalls something. “Mic?”
He freezes, and gives him a sheepish, slightly guilty smile. “...Yeah.” Though Shuriken had a suspicion that there was zero way for Valk to actually be his name, he’s still befuddled by the fact he was just… calling Valk by the wrong name forever. Even though they’re dating! Er, Mic. Microphone…? And Megaphone. Man, those aren’t even bad. Convenient, odd fit, though. He’s a bit jealous, since Shuriken and Vine Staff are… not very similar at all. Slingshot is slightly similar to Shuriken, at least.
But he isn’t going to lash out at him over it or anything like that. “So why have me call you Valk?”
“I didn’t… see a need to correct you…?” Valk awkwardly stumbles out, then shows the alarm. “There. Ten minutes.” Starts it and sits there stiffly. “Um… can you… call me it again? Mic?” A quiet, hesitant question. Filled with some electric level of curiosity, like he might start buzzing and get magnetized to a fridge or something.
“Well, I think your name is nice, Mic.”
He squeals and lights up. “REALLY?!” Then he feigns a cough, trying to compose himself a little. “Yeah, my name is… nice.” His dorky smile makes it pretty clear he is nowhere near composed. “Um, say it again?”
Shuriken gives him a suspicious look, but obliges anyway. “Mic.”
With a few rapid nods, Valk is all up in his face. “I like it when you call me Mic, actually. It’s like… the same kind of butterflies I got when we first held hands.” Aw, that’s really cute… Hey, that alarm is going to go off in twenty minutes. Fine. Sure. Whatever.
Shuriken brings his hands to cup Mic’s cheeks, but doesn’t do anything with it. Just so he inevitably receives the look of disappointment. “I’ll try to remember to call you Mic. And…” he hesitates with it a little, uncertain, but does end up offering it. “You can call me Shuri, if you want?”
“YES!!” Mic cheers, squirming a little in his intense delight. “...Are you gonna kiss me, or are you just holding me still so I don’t kiss you?” Admittedly, he hadn’t even considered it. Holding him still so he doesn’t kiss him, that is. He did consider kissing him, he just changed his plan last second to make him impatient instead.
He lets silence linger for a few seconds, as if he’s thinking about it. “I’m gonna kiss you,” he announces, leaning down and pressing their lips together. Cupping Mic’s face becomes more of a restraint than a sweet gesture, entirely because his lovely partner is an affection monster and does need to be held back, or he quickly becomes way too much. Shuriken is… not used to affection like this, and he’s not a hopeless romantic like Mic. Or as clingy. Not by a long shot. Doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy the attention, but it can very quickly overwhelm him, and not in the good way. It makes him freak out if Mic gets him too fast. That part… might be because of Darkage Clan training, actually. Whatever.
Eventually, it does become too much, even though he’s the one who initiated it, and Shuriken pulls back, having to slide a hand over Mic’s mouth so he can’t go for it. “How much did you sleep?” Casual question, and it catches his attention enough to have him feel confident in taking his hand off of his mouth.
“Most of the night. I did wake up a few times…and, um, purposefully not wake you up… and I did get really excited about having you in bed with me all night… and I really do think you look cute while sleeping…um. Uh.” He forgot the question in his rambling. “Oh, right. I slept good.”
Shuriken shrugs and squirms. “Why not spend our last bit of time together napping, still? I, um, am still tired, I’m gonna be honest.”
There’s a brief look of evil on Mic’s face, like he’s planning something mischievous and devious. But it disappears even faster than it showed up, in return for his usual brand of excitement. “Sure!” Suspiciously short answer… oh well.
The conversation dies out there, and Shuriken does feel the weight of his exhaustion. Still, his mind wanders a little. Mostly worry about his siblings, since he’s delaying going home and confronting the potential chaos over his lack of being there. But he’s also thinking about this whole turn of events. His partner purposefully didn’t wake him up to go home on time, finally admitted to his actual name (because Dom sort of accidentally ratted him out, but whatever), and… he’s too tired to remember anything more. Wow, he’s way more exhausted than he thought. No reason for all that.
He vaguely registers the press of fabric against the side of his face, brief, like Mic was messing with something. But he doesn’t question it, just sinks into slumber, powerless to resist the siren call of sleep.