"Why are you staring at me?"
Kakashi's amused voice broke Madara out of the thoughts he had fallen in to. He smiled back at his lover and reached out, brushing at a lock of the silver hair he had been studying.
"I was looking at your hair," he admitted. Kakashi quirked an eyebrow, although it was with little surprise. Since their very first tryst Madara had been fascinated with Kakashi's hair. It was mostly a tactile fascination. He liked to run his fingers through it when they curled up together, tug on it in the heat of the moment, bury his nose it in when they had been apart for too long. He'd never admitted to the other man how often he stayed awake after Kakashi fell sleep, petting the silky strands and simply admiring their color.
"Oh good, I thought you were going to have a mushy moment and say something horridly romantic." Kakashi grinned cheekily at him. Madara huffed at him and scowled, ignoring the way it only seemed to make that grin wider. He also ignored how beautiful that grin was without a mask to hide it.
"I will have you know that I can be romantic if I want to!" Madara crossed his arms, feeling heat rise in his cheeks. His lover always seemed to bring out the strangest reactions in him. He felt as if he wanted to hide all the embarrassing parts of him away while at the same time he wanted to simply open the gates and lay himself bare for Kakashi to see. It was as strangely addictive as it was nerve wracking.
Kakashi's laugh was like a soothing balm as the younger man tossed his head back, amusement spilling from his lips in the carefree way that only happened when they were alone.
When he was able to speak, he teased, "I don't suppose you feel like it right now? We're under the moonlight and all alone. It's a perfect set up. Go on, say something romantic."
Madara spluttered, the heat in his cheeks immediately turning up in to a blaze of red that splashed out to darken the tips of his ears as well. Harrumphing and clearing his throat only earned him more teasing laughter. Frantically, he searched his mind for something – anything – to say. He really had meant it. He could be romantic if he wanted to. But that was usually through actions. He preferred to show he cared through gestures and gifts; weaving language in to poetry to communicate his emotions had never been Madara's forte.
Still, this was Kakashi. He wanted to be able to. He wanted Kakashi to know how he felt and how he could sometimes barely contain those feelings. Despite the fact that the request was made half in jest, he furrowed his brow in search of an answer. When he finally found one after a couple of minutes, a small cough returned Kakashi's drifting attention back to him.
"I was looking at your hair," he started in an uncertain voice, "because I like its color. It reminds me of stardust. Which is appropriate because to me you are…heaven sent. You are the light that touched me when I was nearly lost in the darkness. You were something to brighten my day, to look forward to. You were someone to cherish when I thought myself all alone. When I pass my fingers through your hair it feels as if I'm holding my very own star. One who is too bright for the likes of me." He paused awkwardly as his bravado sputtered out entirely. "That…is why I was looking at your hair," he finished lamely, looking away.
He was startled when a face pressed itself in to his neck, shuddering breaths warming the skin above his collar.
"That's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard," a shaken, watery voice told him. Still blushing, Madara smiled.
"I'll do better next time," he agreed quietly. Kakashi shook his head.
"No," the younger man disagreed. "That was perfect." He huddled closer, keeping his face tucked away. Madara pretended he didn't feel the teardrops sliding down his neck. He simply tilted his head, pressing his face in to that shining silver hair he loved so much and wrapping an arm around his lover's shoulders. Perhaps he was not the best with words, but for Kakashi he would always try. As awkward as his words had been, they were also true.
They would always be true.
