p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""And then… it came alive!" Tetsurou's voice was ridiculously overdramatic, but Shouyou still jumped. Koutarou dissolved into fits of laughter at the unnecessary arm-waving Tetsurou was doing./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou wasn't trying to be scared; he really wasn't. It wasn't emhis /emfault that all Tetsurou seemed to tell were horror stories about China dolls, and it wasn't emhis /emfault that his grandmother had had the creepiest collection of China dolls in the world and he had been forced to sleep in the room where they had all been kept every time his family went to visit her./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Still, Shouyou didn't want to admit to being afraid. He didn't want to admit that he was scared of dumb stories that weren't even remotely realistic, because he didn't want to ruin the fun for his two dorky boyfriends. Besides, it was fun to watch Koutarou giggle so freely, even if Shouyou's heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest with as hard and fast as it was beating./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Another one! Another one!" Koutarou cheered. Shouyou couldn't repress his shudder or his slightly terrified whimper at the idea./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Tetsurou caught the noise and looked over to Shouyou worriedly. "You alright, Shou?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou smiled, hoping it was as bright and unafraid as he was trying to act. "Yep! Just a bit cold."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Tetsurou clearly bought it because he grinned. "We can fix that!"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"He reached over and lifted Shouyou into his lap without a second thought, then curled around Shouyou's body to the best of his ability. Shouyou squealed in surprised, then giggled and shifted so that he was pressed closer to his boyfriend. The way he was sitting, Shouyou could feel Tetsurou's heartbeat thudding against his shoulder./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Alright, so how about a ghost story this time?" Shouyou nodded along with Koutarou, even though he didn't really want to hear any more horror stories. He was already sure to have nightmares about that hellish China doll room; he didn't want them to be any worse./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Tetsurou started talking and Shouyou closed his eyes, trying to focus on the cadence and then patterns in Tetsurou's voice rather than the words coming from his mouth. The words were scary, but Tetsurou's voice wasn't; at least, not all by itself. By itself, Tetsurou's voice was warm and deep and soft and lovely to listen to./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"However, Shouyou couldn't make himself ignore the words. He listened and resisted the urge to hide his face in the curve of Tetsurou's neck; if he did that then they would know he was scared and he'd ruin it for the both of them. He didn't want that./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou hadn't realized he was trembling until Tetsurou stopped talking and tightened his grip on Shouyou. Shouyou looked up to meet Tetsurou's soft, worried gaze./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Shou, you're shaking. Are you alright?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"For a moment, Shouyou considered lying again and say he was fine, telling Tetsurou to just keep telling the story. But the expression in Tetsurou's eyes, so sweet and concerned and kind, stopped him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou sighed and leaned his head against Tetsurou's shoulder, closing his eyes. If he was going to embarrass himself and ruin the fun for his boyfriends, he didn't want to see their disappointed faces. "Your stories are just a little scary. That's all."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Tetsurou sighed, though it was more of a breathy chuckle than anything. A hand ran through Shouyou's hair – probably Koutarou's, since Koutarou loved to play with Shouyou's hair any chance he got./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Hey. Come on, look at us, Shou." Koutarou's voice, unusually gentle, convinced Shouyou to acquiesce. He opened his eyes to find both of his boyfriends smiling./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""You should've said something. I would've stopped if I had known you were that scared." Tetsurou's remark was serious, though he delivered in an almost teasing tone./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou shook his head. He sat up and scooted away from Tetsurou a little so that he could look both his boyfriends firmly in the eye. "That's exactly why I didn't say anything!"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Koutarou cocked his head to the side, looking confused. "What do you mean? If you're scared, then you should tell us so we can make sure that you aren't scared."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou ducked his head and mumbled his answer, embarrassed of his reasoning. "I didn't want to ruin the fun. You seemed happy and I didn't want to take that away from you."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Koutarou and Tetsurou both launched themselves at Shouyou, wrapping their arms tightly around him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Oh, Shouyou, you're so silly." Tetsurou laughed softly and Shouyou felt Koutarou nod against his shoulder./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Honestly. If you're happy, we're happy, Shou. We don't want you to be scared, no matter what. You're supposed to feel safe with us." Koutarou's words were so soft and uncharacteristically calm that Shouyou felt like crying. His boyfriends were so sweet and supportive of him, even when he got worked up about silly things like their horror stories./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou smiled and wrapped his arms around his boyfriends as best he could. They tightened their grips on him in response. Shouyou loved being wrapped up in his boyfriends like that; he always felt so warm and safe and happy. Of course, being close to the people he loved was exciting, but their body heat and the steady rhythms of their hearts calmed him down. More often than not, he slept sandwiched between them because it calmed him down fast enough to get him to sleep within minutes./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""I do feel safe with you. I just don't want to ruin all your fun by being afraid or anxious or whatever." Koutarou's arms squeezed him tighter and Tetsurou kissed his temple lovingly./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Shouyou, sweetheart, if you're not comfortable with something, then tell us. If you're not having fun, neither are we." Tetsurou practically cooed the words./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou's smile widened and he nodded, closing his eyes and leaning happily into his boyfriends' arms. "Alright. Sorry for being so nervous all the time."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Both Tetsurou and Koutarou instantly shook their heads. "No, no. You're not nervous all the time, and even if you were, it wouldn't be an issue. We would love you anyway."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou nodded happily, kissing his boyfriends on the cheek. "I love you both."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"They chuckled and pressed together so they were all cheek-to-cheek. "We love you, too. No matter what."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou wasn't trying to be scared; he really wasn't. It wasn't emhis /emfault that all Tetsurou seemed to tell were horror stories about China dolls, and it wasn't emhis /emfault that his grandmother had had the creepiest collection of China dolls in the world and he had been forced to sleep in the room where they had all been kept every time his family went to visit her./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Still, Shouyou didn't want to admit to being afraid. He didn't want to admit that he was scared of dumb stories that weren't even remotely realistic, because he didn't want to ruin the fun for his two dorky boyfriends. Besides, it was fun to watch Koutarou giggle so freely, even if Shouyou's heart felt like it was going to explode out of his chest with as hard and fast as it was beating./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Another one! Another one!" Koutarou cheered. Shouyou couldn't repress his shudder or his slightly terrified whimper at the idea./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Tetsurou caught the noise and looked over to Shouyou worriedly. "You alright, Shou?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou smiled, hoping it was as bright and unafraid as he was trying to act. "Yep! Just a bit cold."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Tetsurou clearly bought it because he grinned. "We can fix that!"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"He reached over and lifted Shouyou into his lap without a second thought, then curled around Shouyou's body to the best of his ability. Shouyou squealed in surprised, then giggled and shifted so that he was pressed closer to his boyfriend. The way he was sitting, Shouyou could feel Tetsurou's heartbeat thudding against his shoulder./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Alright, so how about a ghost story this time?" Shouyou nodded along with Koutarou, even though he didn't really want to hear any more horror stories. He was already sure to have nightmares about that hellish China doll room; he didn't want them to be any worse./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Tetsurou started talking and Shouyou closed his eyes, trying to focus on the cadence and then patterns in Tetsurou's voice rather than the words coming from his mouth. The words were scary, but Tetsurou's voice wasn't; at least, not all by itself. By itself, Tetsurou's voice was warm and deep and soft and lovely to listen to./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"However, Shouyou couldn't make himself ignore the words. He listened and resisted the urge to hide his face in the curve of Tetsurou's neck; if he did that then they would know he was scared and he'd ruin it for the both of them. He didn't want that./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou hadn't realized he was trembling until Tetsurou stopped talking and tightened his grip on Shouyou. Shouyou looked up to meet Tetsurou's soft, worried gaze./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Shou, you're shaking. Are you alright?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"For a moment, Shouyou considered lying again and say he was fine, telling Tetsurou to just keep telling the story. But the expression in Tetsurou's eyes, so sweet and concerned and kind, stopped him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou sighed and leaned his head against Tetsurou's shoulder, closing his eyes. If he was going to embarrass himself and ruin the fun for his boyfriends, he didn't want to see their disappointed faces. "Your stories are just a little scary. That's all."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Tetsurou sighed, though it was more of a breathy chuckle than anything. A hand ran through Shouyou's hair – probably Koutarou's, since Koutarou loved to play with Shouyou's hair any chance he got./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Hey. Come on, look at us, Shou." Koutarou's voice, unusually gentle, convinced Shouyou to acquiesce. He opened his eyes to find both of his boyfriends smiling./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""You should've said something. I would've stopped if I had known you were that scared." Tetsurou's remark was serious, though he delivered in an almost teasing tone./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou shook his head. He sat up and scooted away from Tetsurou a little so that he could look both his boyfriends firmly in the eye. "That's exactly why I didn't say anything!"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Koutarou cocked his head to the side, looking confused. "What do you mean? If you're scared, then you should tell us so we can make sure that you aren't scared."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou ducked his head and mumbled his answer, embarrassed of his reasoning. "I didn't want to ruin the fun. You seemed happy and I didn't want to take that away from you."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Koutarou and Tetsurou both launched themselves at Shouyou, wrapping their arms tightly around him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Oh, Shouyou, you're so silly." Tetsurou laughed softly and Shouyou felt Koutarou nod against his shoulder./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Honestly. If you're happy, we're happy, Shou. We don't want you to be scared, no matter what. You're supposed to feel safe with us." Koutarou's words were so soft and uncharacteristically calm that Shouyou felt like crying. His boyfriends were so sweet and supportive of him, even when he got worked up about silly things like their horror stories./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou smiled and wrapped his arms around his boyfriends as best he could. They tightened their grips on him in response. Shouyou loved being wrapped up in his boyfriends like that; he always felt so warm and safe and happy. Of course, being close to the people he loved was exciting, but their body heat and the steady rhythms of their hearts calmed him down. More often than not, he slept sandwiched between them because it calmed him down fast enough to get him to sleep within minutes./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""I do feel safe with you. I just don't want to ruin all your fun by being afraid or anxious or whatever." Koutarou's arms squeezed him tighter and Tetsurou kissed his temple lovingly./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;""Shouyou, sweetheart, if you're not comfortable with something, then tell us. If you're not having fun, neither are we." Tetsurou practically cooed the words./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou's smile widened and he nodded, closing his eyes and leaning happily into his boyfriends' arms. "Alright. Sorry for being so nervous all the time."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Both Tetsurou and Koutarou instantly shook their heads. "No, no. You're not nervous all the time, and even if you were, it wouldn't be an issue. We would love you anyway."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"Shouyou nodded happily, kissing his boyfriends on the cheek. "I love you both."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8004px;"They chuckled and pressed together so they were all cheek-to-cheek. "We love you, too. No matter what."/p