This took me so long to think of an ending for. And when I finally got bored and randomly chose one from the ideas I already had... It sucked. BUT I'M LAME, SO THERE. :Not an argument:
Anyway.
Rei x Kyouju needs more love. Actually... Crack pairings need more love, in general. I try to write them for this fandom. IT IS MY MISSION.
April 10, 2005
1:50: AM
Waking Up
There's something nice about waking up at the same time as someone else. Slowly opening your eyes to a well-lit room - because in this situation, it is usually mid-afternoon - and another pair of eyes, forcing themselves to open despite the mental resistance. And it's nice, Kyouju supposes, to have someone mulling about the room in the same sort of daze as you are in. Not better than having someone wake you up, and brightly lead you from the half-asleep stage to the chipper-and-ready-for-the-day stage. But not worse. Definately not worse.
Kyouju was used to the latter. But this time, as he stared, confused, into equally blurry golden eyes, he wondered which was better, and debated back and forth between each's perks and draw-backs.
Well, okay, that's not true. He actually wondered where he was, who he was, who he was with, why he was there, how he'd gotten there, how long he'd slept, and various other first-thought questions you ask yourself every morning, all at once, before really opening your eyes. Later, though, he would ask the first question, but in his first waking moments, all he could manage was to blink curiously.
Rei sat up slowly, dragging the white satin sheets and throw-covers up with him. He yawned, arching his back and stretching his arms into the air. The heater was on too high, so they had slept in the big, shared bed without thick blankets. Thin sheets and throw covers, but in lots of layers - simply because they were way too big for the bed-size itself and had to be folded over many times. They needed the heater on though - Rei had caught a slight cold, so being warm would help.
Kyouju pushed himself up and stared past Rei's bare chest - not before inconspicuously mentally gawking at it - out the window. Lacy curtains, spread to the side, and letting light into the room. It had to be past noon to be that light. Fresh snow. And they were sitting in an over-heated room, half-naked. Smart. He turned back to Rei, who was staring blankly ahead and rubbing his eyes. The light behind him gave him a very thin, but bright and prominent, outline of gold.
Slowly, Rei turned to face Kyouju with the same blank stare, which Kyouju dutifully avoided, dragging himself out of bed and to the dresser. Though it wasn't cold by a longshot, the change between under-covers and feet-touching-floor was still drastic enough to make him shiver.
As he finished pulling his shirt over his head, he blinked, and turned to give Rei a look. Still half asleep, the boy had fallen off the bed, still tangled in white sheets. He sighed.
"Rei, it's morning. You have to wake up." Kyouju said. "I know you're sick, but you've slept long enough." He walked over to the window and stared outside. He jumped, half-startled by a bright color and quick motion from outside. He could barely see, but... Tilting his head a little, he saw Max and Takao, all bundled up in warm clothes, playing in the snow. There was a snowman, though it was slightly deformed, and Kai was standing next to it, watching the other two play, like a mother making sure they didn't get hurt. He chuckled to himself, watching Max fall and Takao hurry to help him up after being the one to shove him.
Rei mumbled something and dragged himself from the bed to the dresser, choosing light clothing. Still half asleep. Kyouju gave Rei an amused look.
Kyouju has always been able to wake up early, and Rei used to be able to. Infact, it's still weird to see him in that morning daze that he never used to experience. When Rei was young there was training at home. When he joined the team, there was training for the tournaments. He used to take naps in the day, but now he slept soundly at night, and he'd lost the ability to get up quickly in the mornings. He never slept in the day time anymore.
"Rei, you can't wear clothes like that, it's freezing." He said. He handed Rei a sweater and scarf. "I know it's warm in here, but outside this room it's cold."
Rei's response was a noise that was almost "thanks" but more of a "nnnm" instead, as he slowly pulled the sweater over his head. Kyouju heard the front door open, and Takao and Max's laughter. They bickered back and forth about the deformed snowman, and another pair of footsteps without an accompanying voice followed them.
A cool breeze swept through the room from the hallway, under the door, and finally to Rei, who blinked as though he was actually waking up. Kyouju shivered again, and moved sluggishly but at the same time quickly to the counter, grabbing Rei's har brush and handing it to him.
"You get more like a cat every day, seriously. You just laze about and eat, and you're never really awake, are you? And -- here, I'll do it." Giving in, Kyouju snatched Rei's brush and began to comb the long black hair himself. Rei leaned back a little and yawned loudly, blinking a few more times. He was waking up.
When Kyouju finished, Rei went through the mechanical motions of braiding his hair and tossing it over his shoulder. He handed Kyouju his glasses, and Kyouju slipped them on with an intelligable "Thanks." Rei's speech was still not understandable by any language standards, but Kyouju accepted it. "Come on, we need breakfast."
"Mm, 'f you don't eat you'll stop being squishy." Rei said, slowly, rubbing his eyes. Kyouju blinked at the older boy.
"Squishy?" He repeated, dubiously.
"Uh-huh." Rei nodded sagely, walking out the bedroom door. "You're good for hugging." He added as he sat at the table in the dining room.
"... Because I'm chubby?" Kyouju frowned. "I'm not quite sure whether that was a compliment or an insult." He sat down next to Rei, and gave a thanks as Max - chuckling over the conversation - set hot chocolate and pancakes infront of them both.
"By..." Rei yawned and paused to give Max a nod. "By anyone else's standards it was both, but I only meant the good part."
Kyouju took a bite into the pancakes - Max had always been good at making pancakes - and smiled. "Well, I guess I'll take it as a compliment then."
Takao blinks, leaning against the counter. As Max hops up to sit on it, Takao turns to him.
"Why is it that when he gets called chubby it's cute and nice, but they call me chubby as if it's bad?"
And then they play in the snow AND STUFF.
