Upon entering their underground house, Shion collected his and Nezumi's jackets and hung them by the door. They moved into the room but remained standing.
"So I take it you liked the play, huh?" Nezumi joked as he lightly brushed his thumb across Shion's face.
"Yes, I did very much. Thank you for taking me," Shion responded, closing his eyes and pressing his face into Nezumi's palm. "Can we open presents now?"
Nezumi chuckled and moved to get their gifts.
"I'm going first. The play was part of your gift so it's my turn now," Nezumi told Shion as he handed him the box he'd taken back the night before.
Shion pouted but agreed and watched with wide eyes as Nezumi removed his present from it's wrapper. There were two slips of paper in the bag and Nezumi pulled them closer to his face to read what they said.
"Two tickets to Hamlet! April 20, 8 pm. But hold on.. these are for a performance in No.4.. what about your work and school?" Nezumi questioned.
"I'm going on a business trip to No.4 for that week, the school understands about my work and allows me to miss class. I want you to go with me! It'll be fun, the two of us spending a week in No.4! And when I learned they would be putting on the performance, I knew we'd have to see it," Shion answered with a smile.
Nezumi leaned over and gave Shion a small kiss on the lips.
"Thank you, I'd love to accompany you on your trip, Shion," Nezumi told him, returning his smile. "Now, time for you to open that present of yours."
Nezumi watched as Shion ripped off the wrapping paper covering the small box. He had a funny feeling in his gut but tried to act as nonchalant as possible as Shion unwrapped the present. Shion opened the box and pulled out a small mouse. He looked at it closely before turning to Nezumi with a confused look.
"This is a robot, right? Can it make holograms too?" Shion asked.
"Yeah, it's a robot," Nezumi said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out an identical mouse. "I have one just like it. They're not hologram mice but they're kind of like walkie-talkies. If I talk to mine, you can hear what I'm saying and vice-versa. They have solar-powered batteries on them."
"Wow, Nezumi! These are so cool!" Shion said with a smile. "But, what will we use them for? Just for fun or something?"
Nezumi couldn't keep eye contact with Shion at this question. He shuffled his feet and looked to the ground.
"Nezumi..?"
"I was offered a position in an upcoming show with the theatre," Nezumi quietly said.
"That's great! What play is it? What part will you have? How long will it-"
"Shion, it's a traveling play," Nezumi said cutting off the questions flowing from Shion's mouth.
"Oh.." Shion began, understanding coming over him.
"I'm sorry.. I should have told you before now. I just.. we've been so happy and I didn't want to upset you. It's for five weeks, beginning in February. I wanted to be sure I had the part and the time off before telling you."
"So.. so you're leaving me again?" Shion's voice cracked with the question.
Nezumi felt a tug at his heart at those words. He quickly stepped up and pulled Shion to him.
"It's not like that. I'll come back. You know I'll come back," he whispered into the white hair.
Nezumi held him tightly but was surprised when he realized Shion hadn't started crying. He knew how emotional the other man was and had expected him to break down at this information.
"It'll be okay," Shion muttered into his chest. "It'll just be hard. I just got you back, I don't want to lose you again."
"You never lost me. I just had to go away and sort out some things. I've always been yours though," Nezumi told him and pulled away to look into his eyes. "Shion, you're the only person who has ever made me feel anything. You scare the shit out of me on a daily basis and I never know what to expect next. You can be perfectly fine and then just out of nowhere, you can be overcome with emotions and cry for other people. It's something I have never understood and I don't think I ever will. But the time I spend with you makes me realize that it's okay. I don't have to know everything about you, I don't have to understand everything about you, it's okay for me to feel these emotions that I know you're the only person who can bring out. If we had never met, if you hadn't thrown your window open and screamed out into that storm all those years ago, I wouldn't even be alive right now. Shion, I owe you my life and I will always be yours."
At this confession, Shion began to cry. He reached his arms up and brought Nezumi's face down to meet his own. They shared a passionate kiss as Shion tried with all his might to express his feelings for Nezumi without saying a word.
They broke apart, breathing heavily. Nezumi's thumb wiped off Shion's tears and caressed his cheek. Nezumi could hardly stand to look into the red eyes in front of him, they were so filled with love and adoration. He smiled down at the shorter man and his smile was returned. Nezumi felt an awakening in his gut that he had never felt until he met Shion. The longer he remained in eye contact with the other man, the stronger the butterflies in his stomach became. Shion was still trying to regain his breath and his hands moved down to rest on Nezumi's chest.
Nezumi crashed their lips together once more. Nezumi was amazed at how he constantly longed to taste Shion and when he did, he felt like he could never get enough. The taller man pushed closer to Shion and ground their hips together in a quick movement. Shion groaned into their kiss and Nezumi pulled his lips away just enough to see Shion's reaction as he thrust again. He watched as the red eyes fluttered shut and a pink hue tinted the white haired man's cheeks.
Nezumi couldn't hold himself back any longer and pushed Shion towards the bed. Shion landed on his back and Nezumi crawled on top of him, refusing to break their contact. His lips attacked the red snake as he removed Shion's shirt and he felt hands traveling his own body, reaching underneath his shirt to feel the scars on his back.
They pulled apart long enough to remove each others shirts. Nezumi returned his attention to the red scar and began trailing his tongue across it as the boy underneath him shuddered and gasped.
"Ne-eh-zumi..." Shion whimpered as Nezumi's tongue reached his lower abdomen.
"Hmm? What is it, your majesty?" Nezumi responded against his stomach.
"Nezumi.. I.. I want you.. I want to feel you.." Shion said in nearly a whisper.
Nezumi sat up and looked at Shion closely. Shion's face was red with blush but his eyes were steady as they made contact with Nezumi's gray ones.
"Please? Nezumi.. I need you.."
Nezumi closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly toward the man underneath him.
"As you wish, your majesty."
Nezumi was careful and slow to begin, not wanting to hurt Shion. As their breathing and movements became more rapid, the pleasure of their actions became stronger. In a frenzied rush of squeaking bed springs, Nezumi lost himself and brought Shion over the edge with him. Once their bodies were spent they laid next to each other on the small bed.
"Merry.. Christmas.. Shion.." Nezumi panted as he reached for the other man's hand.
"Mmm.. Merry Christmas.. indeed.." Shion responded before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Nezumi awoke suddenly in the middle of the night, confused and disoriented in a tangle of blankets. He wasn't sure what had caused him to wake up but he felt a shivering body beside him. Looking over, he realized Shion was curled up in a ball and was whimpering quietly as tears flowed from his eyes. He was still asleep and Nezumi realized he must be having a nightmare. He quickly reached over and began to shake Shion's shoulders, trying to wake the smaller boy.
"Shion! Shion, wake up!" Nezumi called.
With a start, Shion's eyes opened and he took in his surroundings. The moment he looked at Nezumi, he threw himself toward the other man, tightly gripping him around the middle and sobbing into his chest.
"Oh, Nezumi, oh thank God, I was so scared! You were dead and I couldn't get to you and you were bleeding and just laying on the floor and I didn't know what to do!" Shion shouted as he hugged Nezumi even closer.
Nezumi brought his arms around and held Shion to him.
"Shh, Shion, it's okay, I'm right here. I'm not dead or bleeding or anything, I'm right here," Nezumi said in a low, comforting voice.
Eventually, Shion calmed and his grip slackened. Nezumi pulled away to look into his face and saw that Shion's eyes were still closed tightly. He bent down and captured Shion's lips with his own.
"Shion, it's okay. It was just a dream. Look, open your eyes, I'm right here," Nezumi told him, cupping his chin and bringing their faces to the same level.
The red eyes opened slowly and took in the face in front of them. They were bloodshot and puffy as Nezumi's gray eyes bored into them.
"It was like it was real though.." Shion whispered. "It felt like you were actually dead. And that wasn't the first time I've had that dream either. I was so scared.."
"It's okay now, I promise. You're okay and I'm alive and we're together," Nezumi gripped Shion's hand and brought it to rest on his chest, right over his heart. "Feel that? It means I'm alive. It means you shouldn't have to have those dreams anymore. We survived and thrived for a reason."
Shion moved his hand away and placed his ear instead over Nezumi's heart. His eyes fell shut and he once more wrapped his arms around the other man. Nezumi leaned back and brought Shion with him to lay on the bed, arms around each other and Shion's head on his chest. It was a long time before Nezumi was able to fall back to sleep but Shion seemed to only need the closeness and the soundtrack of Nezumi's beating heart to quickly drift off into a restless sleep.
Nezumi lightly caressed the white hair as the other man slept and fought himself mentally about his decision to take on a touring acting position. He wasn't sure if he could leave Shion for even just a few weeks after seeing him so shaken up by a dream. It was with these uncertain thoughts that Nezumi finally fell asleep, his hand resting on Shion's soft hair.
