Warnings: Shounen ai, possible spoilers, TWT
By Rapunzel
Story 1: Insomnia
Ken was a restless sleeper.
Aya, of course, had become aware of this fairly early on in their relationship. One of the immediate perks of being in the relationship, he discovered, was that he no longer slept alone. Ken seemed to like the idea of sharing a bed with him, even if all they did there was sleep, and Aya had to admit that it was nice, especially on cold nights, to have someone beside him. And so Ken's sleeping habits were no secret to him, and hadn't been for some time.
He'd found Ken's shifting annoying at first. It had not been pleasant when, on their first night sharing a bed, Ken had rolled towards him and flung an arm over his face. Aya had sputtered and shoved the offending appendage off of him rather more roughly than was necessary, but even that hadn't succeeded in waking the young man. Ken had simply rolled back over with a grunt and kept right on sleeping. The next morning at breakfast, when Aya had complained to him, he'd asked rather sarcastically what he was supposed to do about it, since he'd been asleep at the time and therefore not conscious of his actions. A brief argument had ensued, but had ended rather abruptly when Omi came down into the kitchen to see what all the fuss was. Aya's philosophy was that personal arguments should not be conducted in front of one's teammates.
Ken was right, of course. He had very little control over his sleep habits, and so Aya had decided that the only thing for it was to suck it up and endure. After a while he discovered that it really wasn't so bad. He grew accustomed to the constant shifting next to him, to the point where he found it difficult to sleep without it, and if Ken's movements ever invaded his space too much, all he had to do was gently prod the young man and he would roll over into a more comfortable position.
And so it came to be that what bothered him was not so much Ken's movement as the lack of it.
Aya wasn't exactly sure what had woken him. Perhaps there had been some soft noise that his assassin's instincts had been unable to ignore. Perhaps it had been a dream of some kind. Perhaps he simply had too much adrenaline left in his system after the mission to sleep. Whatever it was, he found himself wide awake in bed at four in the morning. This was not at all a good thing. He'd been up late, as had they all, dealing with the mission, and he had to get up early to take the morning shift in the flower shop. Granted, Aya was of an age where he could forgo sleep if he needed to, but he preferred not to. It tended to make him grouchy and even more irritable than usual.
Sighing, Aya rolled over and found himself staring at the clock while he tried to think of things that might help him get back to sleep. Counting sheep seemed rather silly to him. Getting up to get something to eat or drink probably wouldn't help, he decided. His best option was reading, but reading required light, and he didn't want to turn one on for fear of waking Ken, who was sleeping silently beside him. While he lay watching and contemplating his options, the clock slowly changed to read quarter after, and then half past four. It kept on changing, and a quarter to five found him still awake and in the same predicament.
Gradually, as he tried and failed to get back to sleep, he began to get the feeling that something was wrong. He couldn't put his finger on exactly what was off, but something was not as it should be. Pushing back the covers slightly, he sat up in bed and looked around, trying to figure out what was bothering him. Everything looked fine. They were in his room, since Ken's was in desperate need of a good cleaning, and everything seemed to be in its place. The door was shut, the curtains were drawn, and Ken was next to him, utterly still...
It finally hit him. Ken was still. He wasn't moving. Aya had been awake for almost an hour by this time, and in that time Ken had not shifted even once. That was highly unusual. His past experience told him that Ken should have been rolling over, kicking the covers and mumbling in his sleep, not stretched out on his back as still as death.
That thought, inadvertent though it was, made his blood run cold. As still as death... as still as Aya-chan. Ever sleeping, never moving, pale and motionless. Dark lashes lying against pale cheeks, never lifting...
Aya sucked in his breath. No! It wasn't the same stillness. It couldn't be. The rational part of his mind called him a fool for even thinking it. There was no rule that said that Ken had to move around in his sleep. He could just be sleeping very soundly. And why not? Anyone would have been tired after the mission they had had that night. Hours of hiding in the shadows, constantly alert and on guard. It was enough to tire anyone out. Ken was exhausted, that was all.
So logic told him, but still he was unable to push aside the images of his sister, cold and still in her sterile hospital room, the voices of the doctors, apologetically telling him that there was little hope. In his mind, the picture of Aya-chan superimposed itself over Ken. No, no, no, no. Not him too. Bad enough that Aya-chan was in that state.
Realizing that his breathing had become far too rapid, Aya made a desperate attempt to control it. /You're being stupid/ he told himself firmly. /You're panicking over nothing./ Of course it was nothing. Nothing had happened that would put Ken in a coma. He'd been perfectly fine earlier when they'd returned. But the thought, once planted, held firm. Still the fear, irrational though it was, refused to go away. If only Ken would move...
Experimentally, Aya reached over and nudged Ken gently. Nothing happened. He nudged him again, harder this time. Still no response. By this time, his heart was climbing into his throat, despite his best efforts to calm himself. Abandoning reason, he grabbed Ken by the shoulders and shook him hard.
"Ahh! Leggo! Wha.." Ken jerked awake and pulled himself out of Aya's grasp, then blinked at him fuzzily. "Aya?"
Aya stared back at him, wide eyed. Ken was awake.
/Of course he's awake, you idiot/ his rational side sneered. /What did you expect/
"Aya?" Ken repeated a little more clearly. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" He looked around the room, blinking rapidly in an effort to wake himself up.
Aya finally found his voice. "No. Nothing's happened."
Ken turned confused and slightly indignant eyes on him. "Then why the hell did you wake me up?"
Aya opened his mouth and shut it again, feeling rather foolish. He couldn't explain the impulse that had made him do it. Even if he had tried, he doubted that Ken would have understood. And besides, there were parts of his life that he still didn't feel like sharing, at least not yet. But he had to give some answer, and he couldn't think what. He looked back at Ken, who was glaring at him rather half-heartedly, and resisted the urge to shake him for giving him such a scare. After all, it was hardly Ken's fault that he was a moron who let his fears run away with him. Now that those same fears had been proven groundless, he was feeling mildly ashamed of himself, and he didn't much like the sensation. Narrowing his eyes, he decided to carry the war into the enemy's camp.
"You were snoring," he accused.
Ken blinked at him in surprise. "I was snoring?" he repeated incredulously.
"Yes," Aya said firmly.
"But I never snore," Ken said, looking confused.
"But you were snoring," Aya repeated with less conviction, unsure of what else to say.
Ken studied him for a moment, then abruptly snorted and lay back down. "Aya, you lie like crap," Ken mumbled as he rolled over.
Aya would have gotten indignant at this statement if he hadn't been too busy trying to figure out how Ken knew he'd been lying.
"If that's all," Ken muttered, his back still to the other man, "I'm going back to sleep." He glanced over his shoulder briefly. "Unless you have any objections?"
"No," Aya answered quietly, the shame returning. He too lay back down and rolled onto his side so that he was facing Ken's back. Tentatively, he reached out and laid a hand on Ken's arm. "Goodnight," he said softly. It was as close to an apology as he could get.
There was a moment of silence, then Ken rolled back over and regarded him blearily. "One of these days," he mumbled sleepily, "you're going to tell me what this is all about."
"Of course," Aya said.
"Good," Ken said. "Now go to sleep." And dismissing the matter just like that, he closed his eyes and soon was fast asleep again.
Aya, on the other hand, remained awake, his original insomnia not quite gone. Also, he was still berating himself quietly. What had he been thinking, waking his lover up for no reason in the middle of the night? But, he supposed, he hadn't been thinking, not really. And Ken hadn't seemed to mind too much. And one day, he would explain things to him, tell him about his sister and the tragedy that had befallen her. One day...
Beside him, Ken shifted suddenly and kicked out one leg experimentally. Encountering an obstacle, which happened to be Aya's shin, he drew his foot back and curled into a ball, mumbling something that sounded vaguely like, "Don't trip over me..." before lapsing back into silence.
Aya smiled.
Owari
Author's Notes: I'm thinking of making this the first in a small series of short stories about Aya and Ken and how their neuroses crop up in their relationship, but I'll have to see. A lot of it will depend on what my muse decides she wants to do, but if worst comes to worst, I figure this little bit can stand alone. Gotta love short stories...
By the way, does anyone know of any good Ran/Ken fanfiction archives that are still operational? Most of the ones I find seem to be defunct.