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The room was a dim gray as your eyes opened. You took in a deep breath, brain foggy as the warmth pressed against your back gave a hum. With your exhale came a soft hum of your own, your throat thick with exhaustion. You weren’t sure you could move if you tried. Sleep hadn’t visited you like this in months. Your eyelids slid shut again, attention barely catching on the soft feathers that trapped heat against your torso.
Soft lips pressed against the nape of your neck, shooting soft tingles down your spine. Your hum was slightly louder this time, still interrupted by drowsiness. They pressed again to your neck, down toward your shoulders. The wing curled against you more firmly. Usually you were more awake by now, whether by the constant buzz of vigilance drilled into your brain or by the jolting of the body next to you. Not this time.
Keigo’s gentle pine and nutmeg lulled your body into soft compliance. The hand tracing up and down the front of your body in slow, soothing strokes made you shiver. His teeth nipped gently at your shoulder. Your mouth gave a whine. “Sleep well, baby?” Keigo’s voice was thick and soft with sleep. You could imagine his face now from where his forehead pressed against your shoulder—a drowsy smile pulling at his lips, gold eyes half lidded. Soft puffs of air marked his lethargic exhales.
The slow affirmative hum you gave earned you breathy laughter. “So warm,” you mumbled. “Heavy.” It took your brain a few moments to pull together your next sentence. “How did you sleep, lovely?”
“Better,” came a soft rasp. Another kiss against your shoulders. “It’s always easier when you’re here.” You rolled over slowly, Keigo’s feathers brushing against your skin as you faced him. Gold eyes were still slightly glazed from sleep. Keigo’s sleepy smile helped you keep your eyes open.
You could faintly hear the softened city noises through the windows, barely audible over the more pressing patter of rain. If you looked outside you were sure to find dark clouds rolling through the sky, eager to relieve their burden. On another day the two of you would be out and about already, shouldering the daily responsibilities that came with being pro heroes. On another day, you’d probably already be writing up reports for criminals you’d apprehended. On another day, the two of you would bring wide smiles and determined attitudes to reassure the public with.
Today, somehow, miraculously, the two of you could finally just contentedly be . For the next week there wouldn’t be anyone demanding anything of you. You’d finally— finally —found some time for the two of you to spend together where you didn’t have to be responsible for others. You could already breathe a little easier.
Somehow the soft drumming of the rain only made it easier to focus on the sleepy man in front of you. Usually you woke with Keigo, face pressed into his back, but today you’d apparently been too tired for that. “How long have you been awake?” Keigo gave another hum, tucking your head under his chin. His throat rumbled slightly against your skin as he spoke.
“Not long.” A hand traced up and down your spine, occasionally deviating to trace the remnants of old wounds across your skin. “I wanted to watch you for a while.” Your lips curved into a smile.
“Got it that bad for me, huh?” You giggled at the exaggeratedly exasperated groan Keigo gave. “I always knew I was a catch—I’m so glad you took the time to enjoy the view—”
“Keep that up and you’re gonna start losing blanket, kid.”
“Then I guess you really aren’t interested in what I was gonna do to show you just how much I love you this morning.” Your hands gave a playful tug at some of the soft feathers near his shoulder blades.
“If you really wanna give me a view—” You pressed your lips to Keigo’s pulse point, teeth nipping gently.
“The view is going to go shower.” You pulled away despite the big, sad eyes Keigo threw your way. “And then maybe make you breakfast, if you’re really nice.”
Keigo’s grin was wolfish. “Oh, I’ll show you nice.”
Your shower left your fingers pruned and your neck slightly more bruised than before, but Keigo has certainly been nice. The residual warmth of the water left your muscles relaxed and your feet cold, so you’d pulled on some thick socks, a comfortable pair of sweats, and one of Keigo’s well worn hoodies. You’d nearly finished pulling your ingredients together, half-pleased with yourself for finally putting some effort into your first meal of the day.
Warmth pressed against your back as two arms wound around your waist. “Whatcha smiling to yourself for? Care to share with the class?” You huffed, turning to press a kiss to Keigo’s cheek.
“Wanna cook with me?” He gave a hum, cheek pressed against yours.
“You sure you trust me with the chicken?” You laughed.
“Unless you’re planning to eat it raw, Keigo—” The immediate gag that left his mouth had you cackling. “I’ll cook it, if you wanna help me with the rest?” He gave an affirmative hum, stepping beside you to look at whatever you’d planned.
“Chicken and… waffles?” You nodded.
“Chicken and waffles.”
Keigo’s eyes looked more like sunshine than metal. “Let’s get started.”
The scent of fried chicken was making your mouth water. You’d done your best to properly season the batter, and now you were left with the task of finding that perfect crunch as you kept the chicken from flirting with overdoneness. Keigo’s eyes kept watching you with amusement. You’d given him the so-called “easy” task—filling the waffle iron with batter and flipping it—but half the time you found yourself lunging to prevent batter from spilling onto the counter.
“Babe, we can just clean it up after. There’s a tray under it,” Keigo said, a smile curling at the corner of his lips.
“But that’s future waffles… disappearing…” you said, a pout pulling at your lips. “There’s like half a waffle in the tray alone.” You could see him fighting his smile from getting any bigger as you threw him the biggest, saddest eyes you could. “Think of the lil’ baby waffles that we won’t see…”
“Honey,” Keigo said, stepping toward you. “Sweetie. Songbird.” Your pout only grew bigger. “It’s not like you’ll see them that long considering we’re going to eat them.” Your pout grew bigger before a pop from the oil beside you startled you.
“The chicken!”
You’d indeed managed to save the chicken, although a drumstick had gotten a little darker than you’d intended. You’d taken that one for yourself, relishing the crisp crunch that gave between your teeth. The waffles had, for all intents and purposes, exceeded the amount you’d thought you could make with the batter you’d made. For now, you contented yourself with casually poking fun at Keigo’s abuse of the maple syrup.
“You’re going to kill the chicken twice at this rate,” you said, licking at your fingers. Keigo only raised an eyebrow as he continued to douse his drumsticks and waffles in what appeared to be a thick, even layer of maple syrup.
“This would actually be the third time, considering what you did with the oil—” You flicked some of your fried chicken crumbs in his general direction, earning yourself a laugh.
“Baby, how is the chicken or the waffle gonna be crispy if you give it a bath?” Keigo shot you a wink.
“Just gotta eat with as much gusto as I do everything else.” You gave your eyes a hard roll to pull another laugh from him. The two of you demolished the remaining waffles between you, your stomachs pleasantly full. Keigo had offered to wash the dishes and you were fully inclined to let him, content to play the role of “moral support” as he realized his syrup had made his plate a small challenge to clean.
You’d leaned against his back, peering over his shoulder now and then to watch his hands work under the warm water. You dragged him to the couch immediately afterward, pulling a heavy blanket over your bodies until you’d all but buried yourself in fabric. Keigo had taken his favorite spot—pushing you to the cushions so he could lay chest-to-chest with you, wings stretched over the sides of the couch. You’d let him fiddle with the remote for a little bit, barely paying attention to the movie he’d selected to play.
You focused your attention on Keigo instead, a hand steadily rubbing up and down his spine from under his wings. Your fingers stayed on tense muscle now and then, soothing some of the stiffness with gentle pressure until you could feel it relax a little more. His wings gave a slight ruffle from time to time as your other hand gently scratched at his scalp.
Keigo’s eyes were only half open, directed at the TV but not watching anything on it. He’d give a hum when you gave a particularly good scratch to his scalp, closing his eyes before redirecting his gaze to you. You gave a smile when he did, admiring how the dim light still highlighted the vibrancy of his eyes, how his gaze could still be soft when he finally felt relaxed.
“I love you,” you murmured, a smile pulling at your lips. “Even if you use too much syrup.” Keigo snorted slightly, moving up to tuck his face into your neck.
“I love you,” he said. “Even if you almost burned the chicken.” Your chest shook with silent laughter.
You gave a deep breath, slowing down as you felt Keigo’s warmth lulling you toward sleep. You could feel your eyes close, ears still listening to the softening rain and the steady rhythm of Keigo’s breathing. You could feel his fingers tracing shapes into your sides, the firm pressure grounding.
When you next opened your eyes, it was darker out. You inhaled sharply, brain struggling to understand how you were both too hot and too cold at the same time until you’d looked down. Most of Keigo’s weight remained on your chest, where his wings trapped in heat. Your legs, however, felt like they were freezing in comparison. It didn’t take too much longer for you to realize why—Keigo had kicked off the blanket sometime after you’d fallen asleep. He’d curled up tighter against you, leaving you little body heat to share past your torso. You hummed.
“Wa’ssa matter,” Keigo slurred, sleep heavy on his tongue. You pressed a kiss to his forehead before moving him in your arms, letting his legs wrap around your waist.
“‘M taking us to bed,” you mumbled, arms adjusting his weight. “Hold on.” You felt a tired squeeze around your neck as his arms wound around you. Your legs were slow to cooperate, but you eventually moved upright, trudging to your bedroom.
Your climb into bed was less than graceful, but the two of you got settled after you tugged the blanket back into place around the two of you. “Wha’ time issit?” You pulled Keigo to your chest again.
“Our time,” you mumbled. Keigo huffed against your skin. “At least another hour before we have to think about moving.” You could feel his lips quirking into a smile.
“Our time, huh?” Sleep felt heavy on your body.
“Yeah,” you said. “Just you and me. Until whenever we’re ready.”
Keigo was quiet for a moment. “What if we run out?” You frowned slightly. Keigo’s fingers dug into your back.
“Then I’ll make more.” Keigo’s breath shook. “We’ll make more. I’d cross universes for you.”
Your ears barely picked up Keigo’s sleepy “I’ll cross universes for you” before you’d fallen asleep again.
For once, you dreamed. Vibrant gold eyes smiled at you.