The bone tired sleep of post astral projection was not the restful kind. Drifting up into wakefulness was like trying to drag your body out of a rapidly moving river. The mud of exhaustion sucked at the heels of your consciousness, trying to coax you down down down until you drowned. Fortunately, Itsuki was well versed in fending off exhaustion; fatigue was the Master the of Mononokean's constant companion.

Still, he hadn't much practice with this specific brand of fatigue—this being his first foray into astral projection—so Itsuki woke slowly. He became aware of the soft warmth of the bed first. It was oversoft and overwarm and so he knew it was not his own bed. At first he wasn't even sure it was a bed. Maybe he was still trapped in some inbetween place, and his brain was doing its best approximation of a bed to try to introduce some sense of normalcy. Itsuki creaked his eyes open and…

Ah… A dream. Ashiya was asleep facing him, and he couldn't remember how he'd arrived at this moment, so it had to be a dream. One of the more tranquil ones, thankfully. He was too tired to face another horrible echo of Ashiya's encounter with the Executive. If he was peacefully dreaming of Ashiya, then that must mean he successfully pulled them both from the astral plane. He was in no hurry, then, to wake. The early morning sunlight peeked through the curtains, casting a gentle spotlight over Ashiya's face. Itsuki sighed softly against the pillow.

When Itsuki was very young, Aoi had taken him to a youkai festival. It had been a magnificent night of feasting, dancing, and revelry, but Itsuki couldn't remember much of what happened in the beginning and middle. He only remembered the end, when he saw a pair of fairies waltz. They were actually small youkai, of course, but they were willow limbed and dainty and so very beautiful that Itsuki was certain that fairy lore sprung from these very youkai. Small orbs of light swirled around the couple as they turned through the air, light as dandelion fuzz. They spiraled up through the sky, never parting, eyes fixed lovingly on each other's faces.

The moment was so exquisite Itsuki could hardly breathe. It wasn't just beautiful, it was redolent of something more, something language couldn't capture. Sometimes looking at Ashiya brought him back to that moment. He'd catch the edge of Ashiya's smile, and suddenly his chest would flood with that something more and he had to turn away to catch his breath. It was happening more and more as of late.

Ashiya was close enough now to see the soft rays catching in the fan of his lashes. His dark hair was sleep mussed on one side, and on the other it crushed up against the pillow and stuck to his cheek like ink over pale parchment. Itsuki felt the stirrings of breathless wonder in his chest. He usually checked these feelings when they seized upon him, but he gave himself some leeway in his dreams. There was no one to judge if he stared too long, no one to answer to if he reached out and combed his hand through Ashiya's hair. This morning, Itsuki allowed himself the small indulgence of running the edge of his finger along Ashiya's jawline.

Ashiya's skin was warm and soft and Itsuki's heart clattered as he realized this was Ashiya's overwarm, oversoft bed and it was most definitely not a dream. Itsuki snatched his hand back so fast he banged his elbow into the wall behind him. He smothered a hiss of pain against the pillow, but his restraint was wasted. Ashiya woke.

"Mm… Abeno-san?" Ashiya peeked open one cerulean eye. "You're awake. Thank goodness." He smiled, but it quickly morphed into a yawn. "I'm tired. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Itsuki muttered. He tried not to react too guiltily when Ashiya reached to scratch the spot on his jaw Itsuki's finger had grazed not a moment before. But again, Ashiya's eyes were closed so it was a wasted concealment. He was constantly wasting his energy doing and saying unnecessary things around this clueless boy.

"Actually," Itsuki amended, "I'm deathly tired. Someone got kidnapped and forced me to astral project and drag his astral ass back into his body."

Ashiya opened his eyes, fully awake and guilt-ridden. Itsuki meant for this precise reaction, but having successfully achieved it, he found it only made him feel petty.

"I'm sorry, Abeno-san." Ashiya picked at the blanket between them. "I don't mean to be so useless, but… I guess I can't help it; I'm just human, after all. And not even a powerful one like the Master of the Mononokean." He half laughed, a mocking, self-deprecating sound that made Itsuki's chest burn.

"You're not useless," he said gruffly, because grumpy came more comfortably to him than sadness or shame. "You did well. You used your Influence to defend yourself against the youkai. You did so well, the youkai practically begged me to send it away."

"It did?" Ashiya shifted so he could prop himself up on one arm. His brows furrowed. "I used my Influence on the youkai… I...guess I did do that, huh?"

"Right. So you weren't useless or powerless, okay? You're not. So quit acting like you are."

The corner of Ashiya's mouth quirked up. The hint of the smile read gratitude and everything in his bearing radiated pride. Ashiya was a creature of polarizing emotions, easily discouraged and just as easily heartened.

Itsuki's stomach went all squirmy, so he squirmed deeper into the bed, pulling the covers over his head. He tried not to think about how this was Ashiya's bed, about how he could actually smell Ashiya on the sheets like the scent of early spring and evening rain. And then he caught the scent of something animal. Itsuki's mouth turned down. He pulled his head out from the covers and lifted the edge of the pillow to find Fuzzy curled up there. Ashiya's face softened with affection when he looked upon the sleeping youkai.

"He was worried about you," Ashiya told him. "We all were. I even took care of your fever! And changed your shirt."

"What?" Itsuki sat up and looked down at his clothes. Indeed, his shirt was not his. It was some kind of pajama tee. His own shirt he could see hanging on a rack at the opposite end of the room.

Did he wash it? Itsuki noted a half emptied water bottle, compresses, and a box of upended ibuprofen pills on the coffee table. Ashiya wasn't kidding when he said he took care of the fever. From the looks of it, he annihilated it. The fever didn't stand a chance.

"You sweated through yours," Ashiya said, still on the shirt, apparently. "It was for your health. There was nothing weird about it."

Itsuki arched an eyebrow and turned to Ashiya. He didn't think there was anything weird about him changing his shirt, but clearly Ashiya had found it awkward, and just like that it was weird. But Itsuki tried not to let his head fill with imaginings of Ashiya tugging his shirt off. He sort of succeeded.

Ashiya had sat up and turned his face away, but Itsuki could see the hint of a blush reddening the tips of his ears. From the strain on the other boy's face, it was apparent he expected to be chewed out in some way, but Itsuki wasn't sure why. It looked like he had slaved away to cure Itsuki's fever and exhaustion during the night. It was no wonder he passed out in the bed with him.

Itsuki crossed his arms to try to tighten his hold on the growing affection blooming in his chest. He cleared his throat. "Thanks."

Ashiya's eyes shifted to his. His shoulders dropped in relief when he realized there wasn't going to be a lecture. "Abeno-san," he said after a moment. "There's something I'm curious about… The youkai mentioned that I could share energy with it. Like, it didn't try to take it from me at first, it said I could give it energy, voluntarily. Have you ever heard of that kind of thing?"

"No. I mean, theoretically, I assume it's possible, but I've never heard of such a thing being done."

Ashiya pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I was just thinking… If I could learn how to transfer energy to you, it could be really handy. Then what happened yesterday would never happen again. And if you ever needed to open more than one door to the Underworld, I could lend you some of my energy so you're not so tired." Ashiya's excitement towards the idea grew as he worked out the uses aloud. By the time he finished, his eyes were sparkling like a sunkissed ocean. Ashiya grasped Itsuki's shoulders and squeezed. "What do you think?"

Itsuki tried to look like he was mulling over the question, but really he couldn't stop thinking about how blinding Ashiya was when excited and how unabashed it made him in his acts of skinship.

"Doesn't that sound really useful? I could be like…the Mononokean battery!"

Itsuki came back to himself and frowned. Ah. I see. Ashiya said "useful" again. He was still hung up on feeling like he was powerless and incapable. I literally just explained that you're a great exorcist and yet…. Quickly, the tide of affection in his heart receded and annoyance crashed into his chest.

But Itsuki stopped himself from giving a lecture. He would not rehash what he already told Ashiya, because 1) if it didn't get through the first time, it wouldn't stick the second, 2) judging by Ashiya's trepidation earlier, he thought Itsuki was always angry at him and ready to yell at the smallest thing and that was a perception Itsuki wanted to discourage, and 3) he was beginning to think this being useful and powerful business ran a lot deeper than he thought. After what happened to him with the Executive, Ashiya's sense of safety took a hard hit. This was about Ashiya feeling confident again, and Itsuki would not stand in the way of his progress.

So Itsuki put on his considering face and said, "Yeah, maybe. I'd have to look into it."

"Great!" Ashiya looked so pleased, Itsuki couldn't help but smile back. "The youkai said that in order to exchange energy, I had to want to do it. I had to lower my defenses and let it in."

"That's not creepy at all."

"That's what I said!" Ashiya laughed. "It was even weirder because it was wearing your face at the time." He paused once the words left his mouth. The smile on his face retreated and his hands withdrew from Itsuki's shoulders. Whatever he was remembering just then clearly made him nervous.

"The youkai used your likeness too," Itsuki said. "Some of the older ones can do that. It's freaking terrifying." Ashiya wrapped his arms around himself and nodded. "I'm not the youkai, in case you're wondering," Itsuki said after a moment, hoping it would make Ashiya laugh. He didn't laugh, but it teased a smile from him, which was just as well. The heavy atmosphere dispersed.

"Hanae?" They both turned toward the voice: Ashiya's mom's.

Ashiya jumped up. "Uh… Yeah, Mom?"

Itsuki really hoped she wouldn't try to come up to the room. He didn't know how they would begin to explain his presence in the house so early in the morning. Plus, he could see the tatami of the Mononokean through the crack in Ashiya's bedroom door. If his mom tried to come up, it would result in some weirdness. Ashiya darted a look at Itsuki that indicated his thoughts were along the same lines.

"I thought I heard you! Breakfast is ready."

"'Kay, thanks, Mom. Be down in a minute."

Itsuki rose from the bed. "It's about time I left, anyway," he said, voice low now that he was aware they were within Ashiya's mother's earshot. "Thanks. For yesterday."

"No problem. Though, I hope we're never in that situation again."

"Yeah. Me too."

Even though, Itsuki thought, he wouldn't mind coming down with a fever once in a while if it meant Ashiya might tend to him in bed. But that was something he would have to be content to only dream of in the foreseeable future. "I'll talk to the Legislator about the energy sharing. I'll let you know what he says." Itsuki plucked his shirt from the drying rack and headed toward the door.