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Restless Hands and Receptive Hearts
Yuuji flung the blanket off of himself, sighing in frustration.
The night was cold, but the blankets were many and in theory, he should’ve been able to drift into sleep much easier than this. But just like most nights, the second he answered to the feeling tugging his eyelids down and slowing his breathing, the second he laid down, he was immediately awake again. His eyes were open and aware, his mind ready for whatever adventure he could find to have. He didn’t want to though, he wanted to sleep at last. No adventures now, brain , he thought, but his brain began its nightly ritual of playing through the entire day, thinking about what had been, what hadn’t, what could’ve. He shook his head and sat up, feeling the slight, late autumn chill make the hairs on his arms and legs stand up. Yuuji tugged at the sleeves of his black t-shirt and pulled a pair of sweatpants on over his boxers before opening the squeaky bedroom door into the warm golden light of the living room.
Kenjirou was sitting at the kitchen table, one hand scooping spoonfuls of cereal into his mouth and wiping milk off his chin and the other quickly moving across the touch pad of his laptop.
Yuuji felt a grin split across his face that he couldn’t have stopped if he tried. “Really, Kenjirou? Cereal at 10:30?”
Kenjirou looked up from his computer and shrugged. “Hungry.”
“Better watch out, you’ll get chubby.” Terushima smiled and hopped to stand behind Kenjirou’s chair, leaning down to rub his hands over Kenjirou’s stomach, feeling the raised ridges of his ribcage that no amount of midnight snacks proved to soften.
Kenjirou glared and jammed another spoonful into his mouth.
Yuuji kept smiling and caressing Kenjirou’s firm but hidden ab muscles. “There are leftovers from dinner in the fridge, you know.”
“Cold pizza isn’t good at 10:30,” Kenjirou argued. “You have to wait longer before it’s good again.”
“What do you mean?” Variations of this disagreement had occurred many times but Yuuji was always eager to hear Kenjirou’s opinionated statements on matters that didn’t even particularly matter to either of them.
“Pizza has to be eaten either right away when it’s hot or after the next occurring midnight,” Kenjirou reasoned.
“Why’s that?”
Kenjirou put his hands up in an “I don’t know” gesture and looked back to his computer screen.
Yuuji glanced at the article Kenjirou had pulled up about some setting technique. “So for breakfast the next morning,”
“Fine.”
Yuuji looked down and played with the hem of Kenjirou’s hoodie, lifting it and the shirt beneath it as far as he could before Kenjirou would lightly smack his hand away. “Or at 1 a.m.?”
“Fine.”
“But 10:30 the same night,”
“Not fine.”
Yuuji laughed softly and kissed the top of Kenjirou’s head, breathing in the sweet smell of his shampoo that was always just as refreshing at the end of the day as the beginning, when the shower was fresh, when Yuuji kneaded the foamy lather into Kenjirou’s scalp with the hot water cascading down their bodies and the steam swirling around them.
“What are you even doing awake, Yuuji? You went to bed an hour ago.”
Yuuji had almost forgotten about the problem of his overactive imagination. “Couldn’t fall asleep.” He shrugged. “How late were you planning on staying up?”
The night-owl of the two of them blew air upwards, ruffling his own straight, light brown bangs out of his eyes. “Dunno.”
“Kenjirooou,” Yuuji whined. “Come help me sleep?”
Kenjirou finally took his eyes off his computer screen to look over his shoulder at Yuuji. “You ask me this every night.”
“And you say the same thing every night.”
The smallest of smiles hinted across Kenjirou’s face. “Alright then, but I’ll probably get up again after you fall asleep to get more stuff done.”
Yuuji smiled wide. Every night.
Kenjirou got up to pour the last of his cereal milk down his throat and set the bowl in the sink while Yuuji changed the wallpaper of Kenjirou’s laptop to a photo of a kitten Yuuji had taken a few weeks ago then shut the lid, hoping his face wasn’t giving away any surprises.
Kenjirou took one glance at him and narrowed his eyes. “What did you change my background to this time?”
“How do you know? Every single time?” Yuuji threw his hands in the air in mock frustration.
Kenjirou allowed the corner of his lips to turn up slightly. “Because you can’t lie for shit. You have no poker face. Now let’s get you to bed.”
“Woah hold on!” Yuuji paused outside the bedroom door. “You were eating cereal, you’re going to have sugar breath. I don’t want to kiss that!”
Kenjirou exhaled tiredly. “I’ll brush my teeth later after you get to sleep.”
“Now, Kenjirou.”
Kenjirou glowered though Yuuji could see in his eyes that it was just an act.
Kenjirou stood in front of the bathroom mirror, toothbrush in mouth while Yuuji floated around him, leaving kisses on his neck, forehead, under his eyes, anywhere he could get to.
When Kenjirou finally rinsed out his mouth and led them to the bedroom, Yuuji followed blissfully, bouncing ahead to dive under the blankets.
Kenjirou got into bed a little slower, smoothing the covers over the top of both of them neatly. He had started to lay down on his side of the mattress when Yuuji pulled him closer before planting a long, hard kiss to Kenjirou’s temple.
Kenjirou nudged him off gently, shifting to press his lips against Yuuji’s.
Yuuji invited the affection wholeheartedly and pulled his boyfriend even closer, putting one hand on Kenjirou’s back and the other through his hair. Yuuji could feel the soft smile on Kenjirou’s face.
“I love you, Kenjirou,” Yuuji breathed when they broke away.
The words didn’t always come easily for Kenjirou but he explained himself well enough with another hard kiss.
“Now are you going to be able to fall asleep?” Kenjirou whispered.
“I think so, yeah,” Yuuji answered quietly.
“Good.” Kenjirou let Yuuji’s arms wrap around him as he rolled over, molding his form to fit into Yuuji’s comfortably.
While Kenjirou’s movements stilled after a few seconds, Yuuji’s couldn’t be that easily contained. He continued running his hands over the soft fabric of Kenjirou’s sweatshirt and pressing his face into Kenjirou’s neck to pepper the exposed skin with small, soft kisses.
Kenjirou’s breathing evened out quickly despite his earlier intentions to stay awake into the small hours of the morning. Yuuji let his hand slip between Kenjirou’s hoodie and his t-shirt and his palm smoothed over the planes of his boyfriend’s chest.
Within minutes, Yuuji was pulling the hoodie off over Kenjirou’s head, the smaller awakening slightly to help wriggle himself out of the extra layer. Now with less keeping the cold night away, Kenjirou shifted yet closer to Yuuji. The spiker welcomed the contact and slid his hands down Kenjirou’s arms, leaving behind trails of warmth.
Kenjirou’s thin, white t-shirt was the next to be gently tugged away and Yuuji pressed Kenjirou’s back against his own chest, feeling the warmth seeping through the one layer left between them.
Yuuji left one arm wrapped around Kenjirou’s torso, moving him upward so Yuuji could move his mouth down to Kenjirou’s shoulders comfortably. Yuuji’s other thumb hooked into the waistband of Kenjirou’s track pants and underwear, pushing the layers down gently. He’d hoped not to awaken his boyfriend, but Kenjirou stirred anyway, kicking the clothing off of his legs.
“You going to be warm enough?” Yuuji murmured, feeling tiredness finally returning to him.
“That’s up to you,” Kenjirou said sleepily.
As the setter drifted back into unconsciousness, Yuuji repositioned his arms again, reaching across Kenjirou’s body to cup Kenjirou’s hipbone, a placement not difficult for his hand to find, considering the way Kenjirou’s narrow pelvis jutted out against his skin, leaving Yuuji with the perfect handhold. He forever wondered how Kenjirou always seemed to find imperfection in his small form when he looked in the mirror while Yuuji could see nothing but lithe, slender beauty. Yuuji looped his other arm around Kenjirou’s chest, his hand coming to rest over Kenjirou’s heart, the steady, even beating quieting Yuuji’s mind yet more, focusing it in on the smaller form enveloped in his arms, his to care for, to keep warm, to love.