"C'mon, lazy bones, time for school."
"Not goin'... too sleepy."
"You've slept all summer, kid."
"Don't care."
"Your parents trusted me with you while they're away. That means makin' you go to school and keepin' you alive. Get a move on."
"You going to make me?"
Asuma can feel the arch of the teenager's eyebrow without needing to see his face. Shikamaru's back was to him, facing the open window next to his bed but he could tell that his eyes were now open.
That was progress.
Shikamaru feels the bed dip under the older man's weight and he rolls his eyes, turning to face him as he settles back into the warm, sleep-tousled sheets. He'd been surprised that his parents had allowed him to stay with Asuma while they were away, even more so that they were okay with their relationship. He figured that his parents would fall into the over-protective category, freaked out by the ten year difference between them, scared that their son was being taken advantage of by an older man, maybe even a little hurt that he hadn't come out to them before they needed to ask. It would've been a drag if they hadn't approved, in fact, it still was even though they did. His mother invited him to dinner every Tuesday and his father and Asuma would often get into arguments in the Shogi room and ask him to settle them.
The truth of the matter was that Asuma had been the hesitant one.
They met in a dojo that they both trained at. Shikamaru had been moved up a class just after his seventeenth birthday and Asuma happened to become his sparring partner. Their conversations were often lengthy and in-depth, mature and educated, and somewhere along that particular path, both of them had developed emotions that neither of them had ever had for another man.
It was only when Asuma tried to kiss him that things got awkward. The older man was surprised that he'd been so young the entire time and Shikamaru felt guilty for not saying anything. He supposed that he was so tired of being treated like a kid that he enjoyed having a conversation with somebody who didn't know that he still was one by legality. Not to mention that the thought of Asuma liking him back rarely crossed his mind.
It broke him, he could tell. Asuma had switched to another gym, had stopped texting, and when they bumped into each other on the train, he had gotten off on a stop that the student knew wasn't his. The officer had muttered something that resembled a hello without being able to make contact with his eyes and he knew then that it was over.
His parents had taken notice of the changes in him too. He'd been short, irritable, and spent more time in his bedroom or outside than he did in the house. His grades had slipped and Shikaku had pulled an overprotective father move beginning to suspect drugs as the culprit. What neither of his parents expected that drug to be was love.
Being mature for his age was annoying.
Asuma would never forget waking up to that text message from Shikaku inviting him over for a drink in the middle of the night. Konoha wasn't a small town but those on the force knew each other by appearance and reputation. Shikaku was in security and he was in organized crime. If they'd been in the same department, he might've recognized Shikamaru sooner. He'd refused his offer at first but it was the second text message that got his attention.
'Shikamaru isn't doing that well.'
It still made him shudder. The fear that had overcome him, the sting that seemed to get worse with every pump of his heart, and the nausea that pitted itself in his stomach. Asuma thought that something had happened to him, that he'd been hurt or had gone and done something irresponsible. In reality, Shikaku had been talking about his son's mental health, not his physical health.
He could still feel the force of Shikamaru's panic attack on his skin. He never wanted to see the younger man in that state ever again.
"Can't do that, kid. Not for a couple of weeks." Shikamaru sighs dramatically. Asuma's laugh echoes in the room, his forehead resting against the other's. Shikamaru can't help the sleepy laugh that mirrors itself on his own tongue, his arms stretching over his head in attempts to remove sleep from his muscles.
"Your parents will kill me if I let you skip. Don't let them kill me, Maru, please? I don't want to die young."
"You might want to kick that habit of yours then."
"...You're not getting breakfast."
"So much for keeping me alive."
"So much for that." Asuma laughs into a grin, pressing a gentle kiss to Shikamaru's forehead.
"C'mon."
"Alright, alright."
"Speaking of your birthday, what do you want to do?" Asuma asks over his shoulder, plating breakfast for the both of them and setting it on the table between them. The officer was getting used to having Shikamaru around. They had spent the entire summer together, sleeping next to each other, eating breakfast across the same table. Whenever he wanted, he had been able to brush his hand against his cheek or through his hair just enough to soothe the innocent desire to feel his skin on his own. It was bittersweet knowing that in a couple of weeks, once his parents returned, his home would be empty once again.
He'd never been in a situation as sticky as this one before. At first, he hadn't wanted anything to do with it. Shikamaru was under-age, he was a K.O.P.O.L officer who was ten years his senior. Everything about his feelings for him had made him feel disgusting and perverted then, even now there were times where he felt troubled by his love for him. But he was learning.
The conversation that he'd had with Shikamaru's parents had been enlightening, so to speak. They made points that had never crossed the officer's mind and said certain things that made sense coming from somebody else. If his love was of good nature and he had no intention of taking advantage of Shikamaru, there was no harm in them spending time with each other. His heart had skipped a beat when his mother stated that her son's body was his own and he had every right to make decisions for it by himself at seventeen.
If he was honest with himself, no matter how many times they joked about making love on his birthday or being able to hold hands in public, the fact that Shikamaru was turning eighteen in a couple of weeks wasn't as big of a deal as he thought it might've been for them. More often than not, physical intimacy didn't cross his mind when it came to him, it wasn't that he didn't eventually want to be with him in that way, it was simply that he was taken back by how beautiful a relationship could be without it.
He was going to take advantage of just that one thing while they had it. However, he felt like they would never lose the gentle and emotional parts of their relationship, even when physical intimacy was added into the mixture.
Asuma had spent half of his life in and out of toxic and abusive relationships. A haphazard relationship with his disapproving and overly-critical father made him believe that certain things were acceptable when another person claimed to love him. It took nearly losing his life on duty to realize that nobody had the right to tear anybody down in the name of love, in the name of God, or in the name of self-righteousness. Constructive criticism was of good nature. Bullying and abuse was not.
Meeting the younger man had been a breath of fresh air.
His personality, opinions, intelligence, and maturity had taken him completely off-guard. And the brat had dug himself into the cracks that he, himself had created in his barriers. His energy was light, lazy, and although he wished that they had met at a different time in their lives, at a time where loving him was more acceptable, he was starting to believe that everything happened for a reason. Because Shikamaru had come into his life at a time where he had accepted that he'd spend the rest of his life alone and made him understand that it wasn't the case; his future partner had simply needed more time to mature, and he needed to be reminded of how light and innocent love could feel.
"A full day of sleep would be a great birthday plan." Shikamaru grins, hooking his ankles with the older man's.
"Yeah, yeah but what else?"
"Asuma, you can ask me what I want without beating around the bush." The older man flushes.
"You know the answer." The glint in Shikamaru's eyes makes him swallow thickly.
"Your parents would kill me if I got you a kitten for your birthday..."
"Mom might, Dad would fall in love with it."
Asuma chuckles, leaning back in his chair; that sounded like Yoshino and Shikaku.
Breakfast ends swiftly. Shikamaru clears their plates from the table while Asuma dresses for work. He's sat at the kitchen table, book open and eyes glued to the page when dark hands run through shower dampened hair. Blunt fingernails drag against Shikamaru's skull. He groans, the muscles of his neck going slack.
"That feels good." He whispers, pale skin flushing with color, chin resting on the palm of his hand. Allowing Asuma to tie his hair up wasn't something that he'd been keen on in the beginning but truth be told, he kind of always enjoyed having his hands in his hair, with or without a reason.
"Eyes open, kid. You're not skipping class." Asuma teases, securing the hair tie in place. Shikamaru whines.
"School is such a drag."