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It’s just past midnight when Tsukasa clicks the bathroom door closed behind him and tiptoes as quietly as he can back to his room.
Rui had gone ahead and washed up first—Tsukasa’s insistence; he’d been practically falling asleep on his feet the whole way home—and, as he opens the door to his bedroom a crack, Tsukasa finds with a fond sigh that his boyfriend hadn’t even had the energy to switch the lamp off before collapsing onto his bed.
If there’s one little known fact Tsukasa’s found about Rui, it’s that, despite his notorious tendency to pull all-nighters to work on shows, he almost always crashes immediately after the excitement of a performance is over. Tsukasa’s usually the one who’s around when it happens, which is why he often finds himself offering to let him stay over afterwards instead of having him walk the extra distance to his own house.
It’s started to happen more often as of late, especially since the two of them began dating, Tsukasa realises as he silently shuts the door behind him, but he can’t really say he minds. Any extra time he gets to spend in Rui’s company is a plus for him.
Rui stirs slightly at the sound of Tsukasa padding into the bedroom, and a head of purple emerges from underneath the covers to look drowsily around at the source of the noise.
“Tsukasa-kun…?”
Tsukasa tries and fails to fight the fond smile from his face.
“I’m here.”
He crosses the room and climbs into bed beside Rui, not bothering to get the guest futon out because they both know it’ll just go unused at this stage, and turns out the light.
There’s a dim thread of moonlight filtering in through the blinds, and it traces the gentle lines of Rui’s relaxed face, the soft curve of his nose, catching on the stray strands of his hair as Tsukasa lies across from him. His makeup has been hastily removed, faded lines of red still visible around his eyes, and Tsukasa’s about ninety percent sure he’s still wearing the same shirt as yesterday, but even now Tsukasa can’t help but think he looks picturesque in all his half asleep glory.
It’s funny, really, how beautiful he suddenly became when Tsukasa realised he’d fallen for him.
Rui shifts a little where he lies, turning in place, and Tsukasa notices the light catch on the surface of the earring he’d forgotten to take out.
“Ah.” he says abruptly, then reaches over and gently nudges Rui’s shoulder to get his attention. “Rui, would you mind rolling over a bit? You’ve left your earring in.”
There’s a pause, and then Rui’s eyelashes flutter as he obliges, too tired to protest. He lies still as Tsukasa’s fingers brush soft strands of purple behind his ear, then carefully unfasten his earring from his earlobe and place it on the nightstand.
His eyes have opened a little by the time Tsukasa lies back down beside him, and Tsukasa flashes him a smile when he notices he’s been watching his movements.
“Sorry, sleeping beauty, did I disturb your slumber?”
Rui’s lips quirk up a little in response. “Not at all, my dear prince.”
Tsukasa laughs, feeling something very warm and very, very soft begin to pool in his chest.
He loves Rui even when he’s getting the two of them lectured about damaging school property or discussing which type of cannon to fire Tsukasa out of with that stupidly endearing grin on his face, but it’s really in these moments of quietness that Tsukasa’s the most happy to be the one beside him.
There’s something so domestic and so gentle about lying here and exchanging sleepy words with Rui, especially with the knowledge that he’s the only person Rui trusts enough to see him in this vulnerable state. He’s the only one Rui allows to come so close or to touch him so freely, and it makes Tsukasa’s head spin, sometimes, that he’s somehow lucky enough to be it for Rui. That he belongs to the person he loves so unendingly.
There are a billion trains of thought whirling around in his head, but all of them somehow seem to lead back to the boy beside him. He’s really not sure just when he started feeling love so viscerally.
“…Tsukasa-kun?”
Tsukasa blinks. Rui’s eyes are open fully now, and he’s confusedly scanning Tsukasa’s face with an awkward half smile.
Ah. Tsukasa’s been staring.
There’s a beat of silence, and then Rui prompts, “Is there something on my face?”
Tsukasa shakes his head into the pillow. “No,” he answers, still smiling at him, and says, honestly, “I just like looking at you.”
Rui’s silent at that for a second.
And then, “Oh.”
It comes out as a more of a choked whisper than a word, and Tsukasa watches with all of the fondness in the world as Rui stares at him, at a loss, and then hurriedly looks away, covering his mouth with the back of his hand as his cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink.
“…That’s unfair, Tsukasa-kun.” he mumbles.
Tsukasa barks out a laugh. “It’s true! I was thinking about how much I love you.”
Rui’s gaze finds his again, his eyes wide, uncertain, and then it’s Tsukasa’s turn to go quiet as realises what he’s just said.
All of a sudden, he’s very conscious of their proximity, and that the person he’s just professed his love to is lying right beside him under the same covers, their faces barely inches away from each other. He wants to speak, to say something to hide his embarrassment, but nothing comes out.
Tsukasa does love Rui—desperately, even—but, despite all these nights they’ve shared, neither of them are particularly used to this sort of thing just yet. Tsukasa’s never really sure how much to say and how much to keep to himself, not that he’s particularly good at keeping anything to himself when it comes to Rui.
The two of them stare at each other for an extended moment, both of their faces burning red from something other than their shared body heat, before Rui finally breaks the stalemate by reaching over and pulling Tsukasa’s face to his chest. Tsukasa feels him let out a chuckle into his hair as he wraps his arms around him.
“Thank you.” Rui whispers, his voice low. And then, even quieter, “I love you, too.”
And, oh, Tsukasa forgets about his embarrassment entirely because Rui’s hugging him, he can feel Rui’s heart flutter as he tells Tsukasa the words he loves hearing the most, and he figures in that instance that it’s fine if he lets these feelings out in these moments of trust.
Rui’s embrace is so warm, his arms holding Tsukasa with so much care as if he’s afraid he might break, and Tsukasa can smell the comforting scent of him as he rests his cheek against Rui’s shirt.
Tsukasa smiles again, softly, to himself, then pulls back very slightly until his nose is brushing against Rui’s.
“Can I kiss you?” he asks, and Rui’s eyes go wide.
Tsukasa knows it’s a selfish request, and that, honestly, he really needs to let Rui sleep, but he finds he can’t help but ask it of him. Words aren’t enough to convey the overflowing fondness blooming in his chest.
Rui smiles at him as he nods in response, and then closes the remaining distance between them.
If Rui’s embrace is warm, kissing Rui is comparable to the sun.
Tsukasa’s eyes fall shut as his lips meet Rui’s and he pulls him closer, closer, until they’re such a tangle of limbs that they’ve practically become one being. Rui’s lips are soft against his own, so warm and so exceptionally gentle that Tsukasa can’t help but lose himself as he kisses him, his hands gliding up into Rui’s hair to deepen the kiss.
Rui reciprocates, his own hands tightening around Tsukasa’s waist as if he’s grounding himself, and Tsukasa feels his hands ball into fists as he clutches Tsukasa’s shirt for dear life.
They’ve done this before, but something feels different this time, kissing deep into the night after the words they’ve just spoken and the feelings that came with them. There’s so much Tsukasa wants to say, so many words of adoration ready to pour out of his mouth, but he knows neither he nor Rui know how to navigate feelings like that just yet.
So they simply lie there in each other’s arms, lips pressed together, and Tsukasa only hopes that everything he feels gets across somehow.
He’s not entirely sure how much time has passed by the time they finally pull away for air, both red-faced and breathless. Rui immediately ducks his head, pressing his face into Tsukasa’s shoulder to hide his expression, and Tsukasa feels himself smile as he notices how pink his ears have gone. It’s not often that Rui gets this flustered.
The silence draws out comfortably as Tsukasa rearranges his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, leaning down to press a light kiss to his forehead. He’s glad Rui’s too preoccupied with himself to tease him, honestly, because the hammering in his chest makes his heart sound like a caged bird and it’s taking everything he has right now to not move his fingertips up to his mouth to feel the ghost of Rui’s lips against his own.
It takes a while for both of their pulses to slow back down, but they’re content there in each other’s arms. There’s really no place Tsukasa would rather be than beside Rui, and, if Rui’s comfortable stillness as he lies pressed against him is anything to go by, it’s safe to assume he shares the sentiment.
Their relationship is still in its infancy, and they’re rather stumbling around a bit, but Tsukasa thinks they’ll get there in the end. He wouldn’t trade their bond of trust for anything in the universe, after all.
A few moments pass before Tsukasa feels Rui’s breaths deepen further against his collarbone, the other boy finally drifting off to sleep, and he smiles into his hair as he hugs him a little closer, his world quite literally in his arms.
“Sleep well, Rui.”