Work Text:
There's a sparkle in your eyes
I feel the warmth of your skin
Just the touch of your hand
Makes me tremble within
Love the smell of your hair
Lying here in our bed
Never gonna be alone
'Cause with you I'm finally coming home
I want to be with you always
'Cause that is what my heart says
I want to be with you always
You are my world in every place
It's the things that you do
And it's the smile on your face
And as time goes by
I know I'm in a better place
I'm in a better place
It was a warm summer night. The cicadas were all lost in their songs and the heat-scented breeze blew through the open screen door of a small apartment, making the sheer curtains dance.
On the beige couch of their shared small one-bedroom apartment, Mikey laid lazily on top of his lanky boyfriend. His eyes were droopy, feeling the promise of sleep not so far away. The tv volume is set to just above a whisper, pulling him in deeper. He had no idea what was playing on the screen, probably some reality tv. Under him, Draken was focused on a volume of manga, his arms threading under Mikey’s, using his upper back for reading support.
Maybe it was the warm summer breeze or the intimate position they are in, the small apartment was filled with an air of familiarity that seemed so peaceful yet so fragile.
Like clockwork, the peace was suddenly disturbed when the tv program ended and a commercial came on, almost twice as loud as the original program.
Disturbed by the noise, Mikey grumbled softly and winced to reach for the remote on the coffee table. As his eyes moved from the “volume down” button on the remote to the tv to make sure it’s doing its job, he suddenly paused at the colorful images on their 40-inch plasma.
On the screen, two silver rings are dancing slowly around each other. Their smooth bands bright and shimmering reflected in Mikey’s dark eyes. On the bottom of the screen, flashing in big pink words:
Do they make you the happiest person alive?
Do they make you the best version of yourself?
Do they make you feel loved even when you are at your worst?
If the answer is yes then consider coming down to Spence’s Diamonds and picking out a pair of rings and pop the question! What are you waiting for?
Mikey stared at the rhetorical questions on the bottom of the screen for a long time, until they finally disappeared and the tv went back to a soft whisper.
Do they make you feel loved even when you are at your worst?
Mikey felt something soft and delicate shift inside him but he couldn’t give it a name. He slowly laid back down onto Draken’s chest, suddenly noticing how loud and crisp his heart is. He stared at a soft stain on Draken’s tank top, trying to remember how it got there. Wasn’t it from that time Kenchin attempted to make Omurice, Mikey’s favorite dish, after Emma’s death and Mikey had locked himself in his room for a week. Mikey still remembered how Draken had to break his lock to get in, how he gently put the Omurice on the side of the bed, how he held Mikey so tight even though he also couldn't stop shaking.
Mikey touched the stain softly, deep in thought, the sleepiness had all left him.
Draken was completely oblivious to everything that was happening, on tv or otherwise. He was still deeply absorbed in the book in his left hand. He shifted the weight of his body slightly and rested his free hand on Mikey’s soft hair, absent-minded, like a habit he has done so many times before.
“Neh Kenchin”
“Hmm”
“Would you marry me?”
There was silence.
“What?”
Mikey felt Draken stiffen under him and felt his gaze finally on him. He swore he could feel the temperature of it.
Mikey didn’t respond
“What did you say? I actually didn’t hear you”
Draken tried again, finally putting down his manga into the gap of the couch.
Mikey still didn’t respond
“Mikey-“
“I said, would you carry me?”
“To bed, I mean” he added.
Mikey finally turned to look at Draken. From this angle, the edge of his jaw softened and the strand of black hair framed his face so perfectly. Mikey couldn’t help but look at the dragon curled at Draken’s temple, even though he had seen it a million times already. Maybe it was because it reminded him of the matching one that rested on his own neck, making his skin hot.
“Hm… sure” Draken was trying to decide if he’d fallen for one of Mikey’s little tricks again. But it’s not like he would ever refuse him, not in the past, not ever.
Draken pushed himself up, one hand still holding Mikey to his body. He grabbed under Mikey’s knees with one hand and his back the other, a bridal-style carry, Miley’s favorite. He relocated them to the bedroom not too far away and gently put his smol boyfriend on the bed.
Mikey climbed under the light comforter into his side of the bed, by the wall. Draken turned to go into the bathroom to wash up. By the time he returned, the room was completely dark. He found his side of the bed by touch alone.
Slowly he slipped under the comforter, towards Mikey who is curled at the far end of the bed, already asleep, Draken assumed.
As soon as Draken’s finger felt Mikey’s warmth, he wrapped his arms around Mikey’s middle and pulled him towards himself, curling into the same shape as Mikey, maximizing the contact of their skin.
Draken rested his face into Mikey’s undercut right next to his dragon, breathing the scent of his shampoo and a hint of vanilla, a natural scent that seems to be a part of Mikey’s skin ever since he was young. It was a smell that Draken noticed the day Mikey leaned down and told him that he belonged to him. The smell of youth, of familiarity, the smell of home.
In the dark, Draken felt Mikey’s breaths soften and each inhale and exhale prolonged.
In the dark, Mikey was awake. He couldn’t stop thinking about that god damn commercial, about the two rings, about the stupid questions, about Draken.
Mikey knew Draken is not the marriage type. He grew up around pink towels on doorknobs, wedding rings removed and kept hidden, phones turned to do-not-disturb and locations off. Draken doesn’t believe in marriage. It’s a superficial promise made to be broken. So why would he want something like that for himself?
And it’s not like Mikey is the biggest fan of the idea of marriage either. He doesn’t know enough married people to know what it entails, other than what is portrayed on tv.
So why can’t he stop seeing the two silver rings dancing in the back of his eyes?
Mikey watched them and slowly the silver bands turned into metal ringers, the ones that hospitals use to hang saline bags. And suddenly Mikey remembered the feeling of Draken’s hand on the back of his neck, pushing him to bow, to apologize, to empathize, to protect.
Do they make you the best version of yourself?
Mikey realized that he doesn’t even know what would become of him if he had never met Draken. All he could see was a world ablaze and he stood in the middle of the flames.
What would Kenchin's life be like if they never met? Would he have been a part of a gang? Would he have been happy? Would he have fallen in love?
The thought of Draken being in love with someone else left Mikey breathless.
Then it hit him, the reason he couldn’t stop thinking about the commercial: He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Draken.
The realization punched him in the guts and Mikey felt like he had never wanted anything so bad in his life. He wanted to experience every high and low with Draken, because he knew everything will be ok as long as Kenchin is with him. He wanted to feel Draken’s arms around him every night, his face next to him every morning, his voice in his ears no matter when. He wants to be with him so bad, he didn’t even care if Draken doesn’t want to get married, it doesn’t even ma--
That’s when Mikey heard the sound, dragging him out of his flooding thoughts that had been so loud that he forgot how quiet the night was.
Draken’s voice was as soft as the sound of the breeze. For a second Mikey thought he imagined it, if it wasn’t for the hot breath on his neck.
“Of course I would marry you”
There was so much tenderness in his tone
Mikey’s eyes opened in shock. He waited in the dark, trying to decide whether if he hallucinated it.
Finally he turned around slowly, his hair tickling Draken’s nose.
“So you did hear what I said earlier?”
Mikey whispered softly, as if his voice could break something fragile in the dark
“Yeah I did”
“Why didn’t you say something then?”
“Because I wanted to hear you ask me again”
Mikey caught the smile in his voice.
His face flushed in the dark.
Mikey thought about coming up with a witty retort like he always did, something along the lines of Draken being a simp and a softie.
But alas he decided against it, realizing the comment would be used against him instead.
So Mikey turned around to make himself chest to chest and face to face with the taller boy. He took a deep breath.
“Ryuguji Ken, would you marry m—hmmphh” Before Mikey could finish the question, Draken’s lips were on his.
Mikey felt like his breath has been stolen just like his heart was long ago. For a moment, the world was so quiet and warm.
After a minute of soft and gentle passion, Draken pulled away slightly and whispered into Mikey's mouth
“When have I ever said no to you?”
Mikey's breaths shuddered against Draken's grin
Do they make you the happiest person alive?
He leaned into the kiss with a smile, closing the distance between them, eyes shut, face hot, heart fast.