I wasn't initially going to put this up since it's so short, but it's gotten a lot of feedback, so why not! It's just some short and sweet Nezushi fluff. Gosh, I love these two.


He wasn't sure how long Shion had been lying there beside him. He'd been doing that lately, sneaking beneath the thin blanket late at night to lay with him. Whether it was because the couch had grown cold, or because he was lonely, or for some other reason, Nezumi couldn't be sure. But he didn't mind; Shion tended to curl up in his sleep and take only a portion of the bed, leaving Nezumi plenty of room for himself. Carefully, so as to not wake him, Nezumi shifted to lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling. Though too dark to see, he knew the patterns of cracks in that worn stone and subconsciously traced them with his eyes.

Shion shifted in his sleep, muttered something under his breath. Nezumi felt the corner of his lips twitch upward and a brief, faint chuckle escaped. He let his gaze fall, eventually shifting completely over to his side to face Shion's sleeping form. His shock of white hair stuck out like a sore thumb, perpetually toussled, and yet he knew just how soft those strands were, how impossibly easily they slid through his fingers. At some point Shion awoke and made to roll onto his other side, but his eyes widened when he noticed Nezumi and smiled coyly.

"Sorry," he murmured. "It was a little lonely on that couch."

"As long as you're not plotting to kill me in my sleep, it's fine."

Shion's brow furrowed. "Nezumi—"

"Relax. You take everything too seriously."

A huff of breath came in place of a rebuttal. Shion moved onto his back instead and gazed up to the dark ceiling as Nezumi had done earlier. Something brushed across his hand, soon realizing it was Shion's as the boy laced their fingers together. That simple action threw him four years into the past to that night he'd found refuge in his house. He was still as warm as he had been back then, and slowly, Nezumi tightened the grip on his hand. With a smile Shion glanced over at him.

"I know I've said this before, but thank you," Shion spoke. "Who only knows where I'd be if we hadn't met?"

"Dead, probably."

"Huh?"

Nezumi slid his hand from Shion's and propped himself on his elbow, then swung a leg across his body so he leaned over him instead. Gently he placed his thumb to the mark at Shion's cheek and ran it along the skin once, twice. "This," Nezumi said. "You would've had a sorry, mundane life like everyone else, and died before it had even started."

For a moment Shion held his gaze, and in the end, simply nodded. Nezumi moved his hand away and began to lean down, smirking as Shion's expression shifted to one of surprise, and softly pressed his lips to the scar, lingering as he felt heat pulse from his skin. He moved off Shion and rolled onto his side again, gathering his portion of the blanket to himself. "Get back to sleep."

Even in the darkness, he could imagine the sheepish expression playing on Shion's face, see him touch fingertips to his cheek. Nezumi himself could still feel the sensation of that warm skin tingling on his lips—it wasn't so different from the first kiss they'd shared, but there were no lies this time around, no hidden implications beneath the surface of his gesture.

How curious that one personcould have such an impact on him.

Nezumi laughed quietly and shook his head. No use losing sleep over it; he was barely getting enough as it was. With a quiet sigh he settled down into the sheets and let himself be lulled to sleep by the warmth now spreading through him.