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William Shakespeare once compared the feelings of jealousy to a green-eyed monster. The saying was coined in the stories of The Merchant of Venice and Othello—hundreds of years later, it still rang true; this feeling stirring in his chest was nothing if not ugly and gnarled around the edges. Shakespeare likely borrowed from the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche; overcome by his jealousy, Cupid turned into a monster, born with eyes as green as emeralds. Aphrodite, an ancient goddess of great beauty, was often depicted with eyes as green as the seas she was born from, associating them further with the idea of envy. Green-eyed. Envious. Jealous. None of those words quite described what Megumi felt now.
Perhaps it was his curse. His own green eyes had fallen for a clueless idiot.
Yuuji was laughing; a full-bellied sound that Megumi knew if he didn’t stop soon, someone else was going to get to hear the cute way Yuuji snorted when he started to struggle to bring air into his lungs—wheezing. Honey eyes tearing up, glistening at the edges, and crinkling at the corners. Yuuji was at his most beautiful when he was laughing messily without a care in the world.
The matcha that the barista insisted they order sat untouched in front of Megumi. He had no intention of putting his lips to something prepared by her hands. Maybe he was being petty, but she was touching what was his, and it was beginning to make something dangerous rear its head deep in his gut. Warm in an unpleasant way that made him shift and drag his collar away from his neck.
She wasn’t bad at her job. She was kind to them. Yuuji was excited that she had recognized whatever the design on his graphic tee was. Megumi thought she far overstepped her welcome in their morning. Yuuji was supposed to be sitting next to him, giggling as Megumi turned his nose up at his matcha until he went back to get him a plain black coffee because Megumi would not be allowed to leave until he enjoyed something too. Instead, he was standing at the counter, talking excitedly with her about something on his phone, leaning across to make sure she was comfortable. Megumi noticed how she leaned in a little closer every time he did so. He noticed a lot of things about her.
Well-kept black hair, perfectly falling into place even as she had rushed around through the short, busy period. Perfect skin and a smile that was nearly as bright as Yuuji’s own. Deep green eyes that looked somehow sickeningly like some attempt to replicate a doe or a pouting dog. The wrong color, unsettling. She was everything that Megumi wasn’t and then some.
Yuuji could play his game. He didn’t care. At the end of the day, he was the one that Yuuji was coming home with. He would make damn sure to remind him of why.
He never considered himself a jealous person. As a child, he was more than willing to share his toys, and he never really cared if someone had a newer, shinier version. Megumi didn’t find himself wishing ill on his peers who surpassed him, but rather a drive to keep up and not fall behind. The drive to not become a burden. Megumi didn’t care when splitting snacks that someone else got the bigger half. He never thought of himself as the kind of person who would be angry when a partner or friend split their time between him and someone else, even if he was there.
Even as he told himself he didn’t care—that he wasn’t the jealous type—he couldn’t bring himself to try the matcha, nor could he bring himself to do anything but stare at them like a creep. The other barista on the clock kept shooting him dirty looks, but he didn’t pay him any mind. He was keeping an eye on what was his; there was nothing wrong with that.
Megumi shoved a stir stick into the middle of the cute design floating in his cup, disrupting all her hard work so aggressively that green liquid spilled over the rim and down the sides of the cup, pooling in a repulsive puddle on the table. She could never hope to make someone like Yuuji happy. She didn’t understand what he’d been through, what they’d both been through. She wasn’t there for the sleepless nights they shared or the moments of silence that weighed them down.
She probably wouldn’t have given Yuuji nearly as hard a time pushing back what was clearly happening between the two of them because she felt she didn’t deserve a love so pure.
If he didn’t at least try some of the matcha by the time Yuuji joined him, he would frown, and that was about the last thing Megumi’s crumbling mental state needed. He raised the cup to his lips slowly, gut curdling in protest.
The cup shattered when it dropped back to the table. Megumi was out of his seat before the mess of green could splatter on him, across the cafe even faster.
“He won’t call,” Megumi growled, grabbing Yuuji by the wrist. The same wrist that her hand was sliding toward in some stupid attempt to pass off as a weak grip, steadying her through laughter. His wrist. Megumi’s. Yuuji’s left wrist. Scarily close to where Megumi pressed most of his kisses to the connection point of the fingers that Yuuji gave up for him. “We’re going home.”
Yuuji turned over his shoulder, waving and apologizing for the mess on Megumi’s behalf. All that did was make him tense all over.
“What’s the—”
“Don’t,” Megumi warned.
Yuuji knew better than to press when Megumi wasn’t ready, so he adjusted his grip until he could wrap his hand around Megumi’s own, letting himself be dragged away. The steady warmth of his palm in Megumi’s own did enough to quell the sick feeling in his gut that he allowed his white-knuckled grip on Yuuji to relax into something more familiar—firm, but soft around the edges.
They took the walk home in silence. He could feel Yuuji’s gaze on him for most of it, but Megumi refused to look at him. Not yet. There would be plenty of looking to be done soon. For the rest of the day and far into the night, if he got his wish.
Megumi knew he was possessive. That was not something he’d associated with jealousy. Inside jokes, quiet nights spent mostly in silence, but by his side nonetheless, movie dates, and the small things. He liked being able to order for Yuuji when they went places without having to confer with him. He liked knowing his sizes and bringing things back for him from trips to stores with Kugisaki. Megumi liked showing off that he knew Yuuji more than most, knew him in the way you would know a lover and someone you existed with as one for years. He was possessive in the way that his teeth and hands, his nails, marked freely and unapologetically. He colored Yuuji with blooming bruises where people would see and know that he had been there. That Yuuji was his and he was Yuuji’s.
Possessiveness came with his need to consume Yuuji whole, to keep him tucked away behind his mangled ribs, wrapped around his heart and soul. It was a hunger that was shared. Yuuji was just as eager to touch and mark and know him. Megumi never had to wonder whether his obsession with Yuuji being his was reciprocated.
Which he thought meant jealousy wouldn’t have been a problem.
It never was before. They were coming off almost three days apart. Three days of Megumi coming home after a long day of classes and grading to an empty house and an even emptier bed. Shinjuku, where Yuuji was working, was a wasteland now. Cell service wasn’t an option within the barrier placed around the once grand ward's border. That meant three nights of complete radio silence on Yuuji’s part. Three nights of wondering if this would be the time that Yuuji wouldn’t come back to him. Or worse, he’d come back in a body bag.
Early that morning, before the sun was up, when Yuuji slipped in the door—hushing his own movements like that wasn’t causing more racket—Megumi was already awake. When he flipped on the lamp in their living room, Yuuji nearly jumped out of his skin, cursing. Cursing. Something he didn’t do often. Megumi thought he would grow out of it as they got older, but even now, the sound of a curse from Yuuji’s lips was rare. Saved mostly for moments like that or the moments he was falling apart at the seams under his own raw need. Megumi pushed the thrill back down his spine and held Yuuji in silence for long enough that the sun rose to caress them through barely open curtains.
Petting, gentle kisses, bone-crushing grips. All proof that Yuuji came back to him. He would always come back to him. Megumi really hoped that, when the time came, he would be the first to go. Selfish, maybe, but he would follow close after Yuuji if not.
He was jolted out of his reminiscing and into the present predicament when Yuuji pressed his lips to his ear, voice a low whisper. “Gumi, come on, you’re scaring me. Is everything okay?”
Megumi shifted away from him, with as much effort as it took to do so. He could see their shared home in the distance. Just a little longer. A little bit more, and he could soothe his aching, wounded pride with Yuuji’s tongue and scorching touch. The idea of letting it fester and seeing where it took him was a rather tempting thought gnawing at the back of his mind. Hungry after being locked away for so long.
“It’s nothing,” he answered.
“It’s not nothing,” Yuuji insisted, voice sounding delightfully desperate at the edges. “I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me, baby.”
“Yuuji, I said drop it,” he huffed, dodging yet another attempt to close the distance between them. Perhaps he was a bad boyfriend for taking a little joy in the way it made Yuuji’s bottom lip wobble.
He did.
For the rest of the way up to their front door, Yuuji didn’t try to close the gap between them and he didn’t try to pry answers out of Megumi either. He was quiet and generally well-behaved, which was good news for him. Megumi didn’t feel like teasing as much when he listened. It was hard to deny someone so sweet every single thing that their heart desired. Certainly when, most often, what he wanted was to make Megumi feel so good he forgot why he was upset in the first place.
The door shut behind them, Yuuji locking it as he toed his shoes off.
As much as he normally got on the man for leaving his shoes off the shoe rack in their entryway, today, he was feeling rather lenient. Maybe impatient was a better description.
When deep amber eyes met his own again, Megumi swallowed whatever Yuuji was prepared to say, shoving him up against the door with enough force he was pretty sure one of their pictures down the hall might have fallen from its nail. The air that rushed out of Yuuji’s lungs at the impact fell heavy and hot across Megumi’s tongue.
Yuuji was trying to form words around their liplock, but he wasn’t very interested in what he had to say for once.
The oversized graphic tee that Yuuji wore was pulled over his head with such force it mussed his hair and sounded suspiciously like it might have ripped. Yuuji tried to chastise him, but their teeth were clanking together with the kind of dysfunctional eagerness they’d rarely found in these moments since younger years. Megumi dragged him forward by the belt loops.
They tripped through the threshold to their room, stumbling until Megumi was able to shove the man back into the mattress, following as Yuuji scooted further up the bed to make himself comfortable. Their lips met again, Megumi stealing the breath from his lungs and delighting at the gentle gasp he swallowed down when his teeth closed around a plush bottom lip.
When Megumi moved to kiss down his neck, to feel the vibration of his gentle noises against his Adam’s apple, Yuuji attempted to sit up. Steady, smooth hands shoved his shoulders back down, green eyes rising to peer down his nose at him.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Um,” Yuuji supplied helpfully, “I was going to switch so I could open you up easie—”
“Who said you get to do that?” Megumi sneered.
Yuuji’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “No one.”
“So keep your hands to yourself and shut up.”
“You gonna make me?” Yuuji challenged, boyish smirk on his lips.
Megumi just hummed, delighting in the way his cocky gaze grew wary as the sound settled between them. Yuuji gulped again.
—
Honey eyes were molten, melting at the edges and full of a fuzzy kind of haze. Sticky and delightful to the senses. His mouth hung open around the tendril of shadows wrapped gently around his head, starting heavily at the nape of his neck and climbing its way across tan skin. It parted his lips just enough that a little trail of drool was already leaking down his chin. A curious tongue ran along the expanse of the chilled structure, making Megumi shiver. It wasn’t nearly as intense as feeling Yuuji skin to skin, but there was a sort of fuzzy recognition of his shadows being touched in his mind. Far off limbs reaching through the fog of some sort of high.
“Be good,” Megumi warned.
Yuuji’s tongue stopped its curious exploration, cloying gaze focusing in on Megumi. Chapped lips spread awkwardly around some attempt at a smile. It was cute, the way it only served to make more of a mess down his chin, pooling at his neck and eventually on their sheets. Soft and breathable, just like Megumi preferred them. No risk of overheating while lying next to a human space heater and certainly no risk of fabric burn against his knees on nights like tonight. They smelled of Yuuji and the warmth of the sun. Soon, even Megumi’s pillow that rested under Yuuji’s head of bright pink hair would smell like him. Warm and spiced, a little citrusy. Healing. Home.
“See,” he hummed, painting a thumb across one of the marks under Yuuji’s eye. “You don’t need anyone but me to keep you satisfied. I’ve barely touched you, and you look like you’re going to start crying. Feel that good, pretty boy?”
The whine that broke, muffled, through his gag was nearly enough to make Megumi throw his whole plan to the wind. Yuuji was always so vulnerable and open under him, spread thin and see-through and pliant. He was the prettiest like this; he liked to hear it too. Megumi could have opened his aching maw and ripped him apart—make him ugly with the weight of his desire and devotion—and Yuuji would have let him with a smile. His trust for Megumi bloomed across scarred skin, spiraling tendrils of shadow that moved his limbs at their owner’s behest. They tickled across the warmth of him, making Yuuji jerk and whimper but never fight. He wouldn’t dare.
Curious fingers poked at a ribbon of shadow that hung taut in the air over Yuuji’s hand. It melted under his touch like he was nothing more than the sun. Two strong fingers curled into the pliant darkness, exploring much the same way Yuuji did when he was allowed to take his time opening Megumi up under him. He hummed, fucking his fingers into the chill until Megumi was shaking with the effort to hold himself up. A fuzzy sensation spreading all across his nerves like his entire being was being loved tenderly by calloused fingers.
One of the hands pressed to Yuuji’s chest slipped, lazy smirk pulling his lips wider around the gag. He let his teeth clamp down on the solid mass, and Megumi mewled; it was as if he himself was held between blunt teeth, whole body alight with the sting.
The cool of the shadow wrapped around his own arm pulled tighter. The makeshift lead between them went taut, and so did Yuuji’s spine, arched off the bed as a near howl ripped through his chest and out his throat. The air around them shifted, sticky and hot with the promise of what was to come.
“My poor puppy,” Megumi hummed against his ear. Yuuji shivered something fierce when he paused to let his tongue dip gently into it. “You must be so hard. Should I help you with that?”
Yuuji nodded so fast he was forced to pull back a bit in fear of ruining the moment with a broken nose. Megumi chuckled, low and warm, dragging his lips down to kiss gently around the chill of the collar Yuuji was gifted. Made by Megumi just for him. A declaration of who exactly he belonged to.
He sat back up, slipping off his perch on Yuuji’s waist to help him out of his pants. The boxers that met him almost ruined the moment, regardless of his effort to do anything but that only a moment ago. Megumi begged him to get rid of them; he was almost sure Yuuji had them since before they graduated. Far too tight, which might have been the only reason the moment wasn’t completely destroyed, and printed with little soot sprites. When he peeked at Yuuji, he wasn’t too far gone to look at least a little ashamed. Megumi bit back a laugh and a smile, stripping him the rest of the way. Throwing them toward the head of the bed to land across Yuuji’s face.
He made a noise of displeasure, shaking his head until his vision was clear again. His gaze wasn’t nearly as clouded as it was moments ago. Good. Yuuji deserved a little break before what the rest of the day would hold for him.
Yuuji’s cock sat heavy and aching against his abs, smearing precum through the neat trail of pink hair starting just below his navel, running down to where the base of his cock was nestled in trimmed curls of the same shade. It jumped under his gaze, no shock when it was attached to someone so eager to please. Yuuji could deny showing off all he wanted, but Megumi learned to spot all the subtle ways he would move to present himself as just a little bit more enticing. Always just a little more tempting. Mouthwatering and hunger-inducing.
Megumi leaned down, close enough his open-mouthed pants of air landed teasingly across his glistening tip. With little effort, Yuuji could have gotten exactly what he wanted. Like a good boy, he stayed still, even as every other part of him jerked and squirmed. A hand splayed flat against that trail of hair, tickling down, featherlight and titillating. Up close, he watched the way sculpted muscle flexed into the touch, rippling and incredibly inviting to the blunt pressure of his teeth. He resisted, taking his fingers down one strong thigh instead of where Yuuji wanted him most. A whine met his ears, but Megumi didn’t look up at him, watching the way he trembled with the effort to stay still. The hand passed back up his thigh and up his hip instead. Yuuji did jerk then.
He clicked his tongue, watching every muscle tense again under his silent disapproval. How good his Yuuji was to him.
“What, baby?” His cheek rested against the deep v at his hips, peeking up at Yuuji under long lashes. He was a mess, drooling and flushed almost the same shade as his mussed hair, a little spacey and so, so pretty. A slender tendril of shadow wrapped around his cock, teasing along the underside lazily. “Did you want to actually make use of this thing and fuck something?”
Honey eyes rolled back, thick lashes casting shadow over Yuuji’s cheeks that Megumi wanted nothing more than to kiss. Yuuji gulped, Adam’s apple bobbing violently with the action. Slowly, he nodded, as if it ached to do anything but just sit and take what he was given. Megumi thought it might have at this point.
A gentle kiss was pressed to where his cheek rested, warm skin enticing on his lips. With his shadow caring for Yuuji’s cock, Megumi gave into a selfish desire of his own. He pressed his tongue flat near the base and dragged it in a long line up the pretty trail of pink hair, dipping gently into his navel to seal it into his skin. The shudder that Yuuji experienced under him was so violent, the bed creaked with it.
Megumi did laugh then; a low chuckle that ghosted across protesting muscle and damp, salty skin. Yuuji’s face was screwed up with the effort it took to sit still, sweat and tears leaking down to mix with the mess of drool he was already making. They’d have to change the sheets after Megumi had his fill.
When the shadow wrapped around Yuuji was about as thick as his palm, it squeezed; no longer interested in teasing. Pink hair mussed further as Yuuji shook his head wildly, hips jerking up into the friction regardless of his defiance. “I don’t think you’re in any place to be making demands, pretty boy. If you’re so worried, then I’ll help.”
Another tendril of shadow, about as thick as two of Megumi's fingers, wrapped snug around the base of his cock. Yuuji did not want the help, evidently, whining and jerking like he might be able to break free of the makeshift cock ring.
“Too much?” Megumi hovered over him again, jaw cupped gently in his hand. Glassy eyes took a long time to meet his own, blown wide and full of unshed tears. Yuuji shook his head, and Megumi smiled at him. “Good boy.”
He picked one of Yuuji’s arms up with his shadows, moving so he could slot in next to him, head resting on his jackrabbitting heart and hand pressed low against his belly. Yuuji’s skin was savory—never sweet—under his lips, a sheen of sweat long since built over it. The heat near his pulse points was throwing wafts of his intoxicating cologne toward Megumi’s eager nose. He gasped in great mouthfuls of him, trying to fill his lungs and taste Yuuji’s scent heavy across his tongue. Behind his ear, Megumi could smell his shampoo and some remnant of whatever gel he used to slick his hair back away from his forehead. Not that it was holding up very well under their love now.
Megumi reached up to push pink strands back into their place, away from where they were beginning to stick to his skin. Yuuji leaned into the touch with a gentle moan, hips stuttering up into the grip of cool shadow around his cock. If he had a more merciful lover, Megumi might have taken pity on the angry red and let Yuuji fuck what he really wanted to. Any other day, merciful might have been a word that described Fushiguro Megumi—where Yuuji was involved—just fine. That was not today.
The shadow mimicked Megumi’s chosen pace, speeding up and clenching down around Yuuji every time he would kick his hips up to meet it. Megumi felt warm all over, too warm in his clothes. The sensation of being fucked and being so empty was strange, a sort of out of body experience. Similar almost to the feeling of Yuuji’s cock between his thighs, just stimulating enough to heat him through, but not nearly enough to satisfy that deep ache that tugged low in his belly. His own cock jumped when Yuuji bucked up so hard he shook with the effort.
How sweet. He settled back over strong thighs to make sure he'd have to work for the next one.
Megumi whistled, calling for attention like he might call for a dog. Yuuji’s eyes snapped to him before the noise even fully settled in the air. A gentle grin pulled at his lips.
“Watch, baby,” he purred. “Don’t take your eyes off me.”
The first button of his shirt slipped open and Yuuji’s hands twitched. Megumi chuckled low and full of enticing amusement, making quick work of the next few. Warm honey eyes drank in every sliver of skin that peeked through the newly added v of his shirt. Megumi took his time letting the silky fabric fall off his shoulders, pool around his hips. He let it tickle across Yuuji’s legs as he collected it, delighting in the slurred giggle it pulled from the man beneath him. When he caught Yuuji’s eyes again they were settled lower, locked on the visible bulge through his pants.
He clicked his tongue. “What a pervert.”
Yuuji whined, back arching away from the mattress—searching.
Oh. He liked that.
Yuuji liked being called a pervert. It would have surprised Megumi more if he hadn’t already had a bit of a working theory.
In recent years, Yuuji had become jujutsu society’s new golden boy. Everyone relied on him—his strength and experience—hardly anyone questioned his judgement. Anything they had to say against him was whispered far away from where he could have possibly heard them, all rumors and speculation and ugly, seething tongues. To his face, they sang his praises. There was so much pressure on his shoulders to be perfect all the time. Here, between the two of them, Yuuji could be messy and nasty and disgusting and Megumi would love him regardless.
He let his features soften for a moment when Yuuji’s gaze met his own. A silent reassurance between the; Megumi would accept Yuuji at his best and at his worst. There wasn’t a single thing that could drive him away from someone who saw the deepest part of his soul and chose to save him. Not even a bit of petty jealousy over pretty girls with stupid green eyes and stupid song-bird-like laughs that tried to touch what was his without asking.
Megumi dragged slender fingers across the scar in the middle of his chest. It was deep enough it was void of feeling, but Yuuji liked to pet across it when he had the hands to do so. Across his chest, his shoulders, the ugly scar across his belly and the smaller ones that scattered across the rest of his body. Though he couldn’t feel the warmth of him over any of them, the fact that Yuuji took his time to show special attention to all of them made it easy to forget, just for a moment, how he’d gotten them. Even now, as he watched Megumi’s palms run gently where his own would have, Yuuji melted. He whined and thrashed and begged with his tear-filled eyes.
“Be patient,” Megumi scolded.
His words met deaf ears as his hands slipped down to unbuckle his belt. Yuuji’s chest rose and fell at a speed that would have been a little concerning if he was anything less than extraordinary.
Megumi laughed, a little cruel around the edges. “Look at you, panting like a dog. Should I give you your treat now, puppy?”
Yuuji’s head nodded so fast his features were a little blurry. When they came back into view, Yuuji’s eyes fluttered closed for only a second too long.
Something wicked sang through his veins, watching the hope color Yuuji’s features. The first time he felt it, it terrified him. He refused to touch Yuuji for weeks after that night, scared of the ways in which his soul might have been forever tainted by Sukuna’s hand. When he finally admitted his worries to Yuuji, he’d only laughed and told him to be a little more selfish. The way they were now seemed so far removed from what they were then, and yet, Yuuji still gripped at his shadows like he might his hand, a steady reminder.
Be selfish, Megumi.
The shadow around Yuuji’s cock kicked into a bruising pace, clenching down much the same way Megumi found himself doing around nothing. Edging Yuuji sounded like all fun and games until he realized everything his shadows felt coursed through his veins like his whole being was wrapped around Yuuji, giving him the mind-numbing pleasure he deserved before snatching it away again.
When Megumi stopped, Yuuji howled like a wounded animal. Try as he might, the shadow was gone and his building orgasm was snatched away with it. He watched as Yuuji hiccuped and twitched, chest heaving. He watched until amber eyes pried themselves open again.
“I told you to keep your eyes on me,” Megumi hummed. “Am I boring you, Yuuji? Would you rather close your eyes and imagine humping every pretty, green-eyed thing you come across?”
Yuuji shook his head, a pathetic noise warbling out of his lips. It vibrated right across Megumi’s spine, made every nerve in his body grow hot and the hair on his neck stand up.
“No? But you let her touch you.” Megumi tickled a hand down his arm to squeeze around tainted skin. “Are you really so desperate that you’d let someone feel you up in front of me? You never learned how to keep it in your pants, is that it? Maybe I should teach you,” he purred, shadow finding its way back around Yuuji’s cock with gentle, easy strokes. The reaction was anything but small, Yuuji’s whole body lit up, teeth biting down around the shadow in this mouth. Megumi’s knees grew weak, stuttering for a moment. “Should I remind you where home is, baby?”
The deep honey of his gaze fluttered out of his view for only a second too long, the shadow around Yuuji’s cock began to pull away at the same time the lead around Megumi’s arm pulled taut, dragging a choked moan from the man below him. Yuuji wrenched his eyes back open, wet with tears and blown wide. If Megumi was a weaker man, he would have folded.
“Eyes on me, remember?”
Yuuji nodded, muscles relaxing into the mattress when the gentle touch around his cock returned.
There really wasn’t a graceful way to slip himself out of his pants or boxers without standing from their bed and he wasn’t keen on doing that with Yuuji in such a tender headspace. Not that it looked like he minded Megumi’s slightly awkward shuffling. His eyes tracked along each new inch of skin that was exposed, tongue poking at the shadow in his mouth like he was imagining it was Megumi. In a way, it was. All around him, holding him even when Megumi himself refused to. A gentle reminder they were no longer alone. They never would be.
Megumi was certain that even in death, he would find his way back to Itadori Yuuji.
He made a show of stretching lean muscle out enticingly over Yuuji as he rummaged around for their lube. The whimper he got in return was more than worth the gentle ache when it took longer than anticipated to produce the bottle.
Settling back over Yuuji’s thighs, Megumi popped the cap, warming the gel between three of his fingers. A completely purposeful accident later, cold lube globbed gently on Yuuji’s leaking cock. The chill made him jerk. The slick sound that began to fill the space between them only served to make Megumi feel less human and more need. Leaning forward to make the angle a better stretch for his arms, he made a show of the, only mild, relief one finger was. Panting a pretty moan into Yuuji’s side, teeth catching on skin and making him shiver.
The second finger joined soon after; Megumi let out a pleased hum. It was nothing quite like letting Yuuji do this task for him, but it would get the job done. It came with the perk of making Yuuji whine in protest, trying to free his arms from the steady weight of his restraints. It was no secret to Megumi that Yuuji must have been kicking himself. The same way it was no secret that no matter the scene, Yuuji took his time with him like this. Warm, thick fingers dragging him open and pressing into every tender space within him with the kind of care only a man so sickeningly enamored with Megumi could. Yuuji treated him like he was precious, something to be cared for and cherished.
Even at his most broken, Yuuji never so much as batted an eye.
Three fingers curled, sending a dangerous shiver up Megumi’s spine. The shadows against tan skin shivered with him. There was only so long he could keep this up when his energy was draining and his mind was fogging.
Yuuji seemed far too occupied rutting into the quickening shadow and trying desperately to see where Megumi’s fingers disappeared to notice the slip.
The sound of Yuuji fucking up into the makeshift hand and Megumi’s own fingers making lewd noises grew too much in the silence. The first shadow to vanish was the gag between pink, swollen lips. Yuuji gasped like he was breaking the surface for air.
“Megumi,” he breathed like a holy man might say a prayer, “baby, it's too much!”
“You’re strong.”
Yuuji choked, hips stuttering up into the shadow around his cock—once, twice, Megumi pulled it away.
The unfiltered noise that filled the air between them made his own cock twitch. There was something so sweet about hearing Yuuji shattering to pieces as yet another orgasm was ripped away from him. Something addictive in the way he twitched and spasmed, muscles flexing like he was showing off. The fact that it was because of Megumi—that Yuuji was all his, would let him do whatever he pleased with him—that kind of devotion was nearly frightening.
Petting gently across the expanse of one twitching thigh, Megumi wiped his sticky fingers on the bed sheets beside them. When Yuuji’s chest slowed its heaving, he leaned down to connect their lips. Something gentle and warm, a soothing taste for the both of them. Megumi hated being apart from him more than he could be afforded in moments like these.
“That was a lot,” he hummed, watching as Yuuji nodded numbly. His eyelids were heavy, but they never dared shut. “Is my puppy too tired to go on?”
Yuuji shook his head, words rushed and desperate. “No. Please. Gumi, come on. I need you.”
“I know, pretty boy,” he hushed, pushing a few stubborn strands of pink away from his forehead. “I’ve got you.”
A whimper got caught somewhere in Yuuji’s throat, watching with rapt attention as Megumi settled over him. He balanced, knees spread wide around strong hips, smirk crawling across his lips. The man under him did nothing but squirm. He’d learned his lesson long ago about trying to rush this part. He reached for the bottle of lube, though Yuuji was more than slick enough from his earlier teasing. An excuse to get his own hand around him for just a moment. Warm and heavy and perfect in his palm as it twitched.
Slowly, Megumi bumped the tip against his entrance, watching as pretty white teeth closed around a plush bottom lip the way they’d been closing around his shadow all night. Even with it gone, Megumi could feel the phantom sting of teeth, steady and sharp wrapped around him. Comforting and dangerous all in one. Rather perfect for Yuuji, he thought.
Sinking down, Megumi swallowed the gasp that threatened to punch out of his lips when the head slipped in. His own fingers weren’t nearly as thick as Yuuji’s, but there wasn’t any time to regret not going for four of his own now. Yuuji deserved to have to squirm a bit more. Patience was never his best virtue when it came to this part of things. He could spend hours stretching Megumi open, but fucking into him was most always one straight shot. Eager to scratch their mutual itch and hold Megumi in the ways only he got to.
Yuuji’s hips twitched up, but Megumi was faster, pulling back as he shoved in. No ground was gained.
They danced around like that for a few minutes before Megumi took pity on them both and let himself sink down, one aching inch at a time.
The chill of his own shadow still wrapped snug around the base of Yuuji’s cock was a shock, but not entirely unwelcome. The contrast in temperature made him shiver, and roll his hips in a way that made his knees go a little fuzzy. The shadows against Yuuji’s skin flickered, shaking like they were protesting to being kept around. There was something akin to understanding growing in Yuuji’s honey gaze. That couldn’t happen. The lead that sat around his wrist and forearm like an obedient snake wrapped higher, making Yuuji strain to follow the tug of the collar around his neck.
“You’re distracted,” Megumi admonished, hips rolling in a way that had Yuuji’s eyelashes struggling not to flutter closed. “Thinking about her again?”
“No,” he rushed. “Only you. Always you, baby.”
The restraints around his ankles faded into the morning light. Megumi leaned forward to breathe in his air, warm and smelling faintly of mint. A reminder Yuuji never got to try his own drink.
“Prove it.”
Yuuji planted his feet on the mattress and damn near broke both their noses when he jostled Megumi with his first desperate thrust. Sometimes, he took orders too well. With nothing more than a little chuckle, lips pressing to a flushed cheek, Megumi lifted himself up, hands braced on firm shoulders. Yuuji smiled lazy like a cat, and fucked up.
Nails dug into warm flesh, brows furrowing at the noise that was punched out of him. Yuuji didn’t seem to care much about his inward battle to keep face. He chased that reaction, the room around them filling with the lewd squelching and slapping of skin where they were connected. As enthusiastic as Yuuji was, everything was sloppy. The force of his thrusts jostled Megumi and Yuuji had no leverage to help hold him in place. It was good, but nothing Megumi would write home about compared to more coordinated moments together. The thought that he was nothing more than a hole for Yuuji to fuck into sent a dangerous thrill down his spine.
It was pleasant enough to keep his cock interested. That was all that really mattered.
As expected, it didn’t take Yuuji long to grow sloppier, hips quick and stuttering the way they did when he was teetering on the edge of just too much and not enough. Megumi moved then, meeting his thrusts with gentle rolls of his hips. Yuuji’s noises climbed as his pleasure did. Panting and whining under Megumi like he was more lust than man.
“Just like that— fuck, baby—” Yuuji’s head was thrown back, eyes screwed shut, and throat bobbing erotically. Megumi leaned down to wrap his teeth around the jumping knot and Yuuji sobbed. It took one more delicious thrust before Megumi decided he would remind him that his eyes were closed. When he lifted up off of Yuuji, his hips bucked and fought to stay buried in soft heat. Yuuji’s cries grew near heart-wrenching as he slurred and begged. “No, please. Please, Gumi. I’ve been so good, don’t—”
Megumi’s teeth clamped down and Yuuji shattered apart into nothing but indistinguishable words and the same sobbing moans he gifted him every denial before this.
As he came back to himself, Megumi pressed a gentle kiss where his teeth had been. Hands ran tenderly along his sides, across his twitching stomach, and up though sweat dampened hair. The man below him took longer to come back to him, pretty eyes peeling themselves open only when Megumi bumped their noses together. The smile that painted swollen lips was worth every denial of his own needs. Yuuji was boneless, barely more than the aching need that was denied time and time again. His smelled like sex and citrus, warmed by the sun through their curtains and their joint heat. Megumi thought there was no better sight than his lover taken apart by his own hands—calculated and careful. The trust in Yuuji’s gaze never wavered, no matter how he toyed with him.
The shadows around Yuuji’s wrists fell away, tickling as they went so Megumi could hear him giggle. Slender fingers dragged each arm down to his side slowly, working over muscles that were pulled taut and undoubtedly sore. Yuuji would never admit to it, but he could see it in the gentle furrow of his brows. When stiff joints were pliant again, Megumi moved to run his fingers over the collar around his neck instead. He delighted in the shiver that wracked Yuuji’s body.
Two fingers hooked under the shadow, dragging him close enough for their lips to touch. “You’re going to show me that you’re mine now. Do you understand?”
Yuuji nodded, swallowing hard.
“Good boy,” he purred.
Slipping off of his lover, Megumi stretched himself out enticingly next to him, long legs falling open. Yuuji was quick to slot between them, when Megumi gave the leash a tug. His heated gaze traced down his body, pearly white teeth jamming into a swollen bottom lip when that trail stopped at Megumi’s cock. Yuuji moved back; intending, no doubt, to get his mouth around him. A gentle tug to the leash made him pause, peeking back up at Megumi. He shook his head. Yuuji huffed but he didn’t argue.
Yuuji liked using his mouth too much, he wasn’t ready to reward him that much yet. He was rather good with it too. That would spell trouble for Megumi.
A calloused hand wrapped under one of his knees, dragging until it was placed around Yuuji’s waist. “Can I—”
“Just get to it,” Megumi huffed, sounding more like a plea.
Yuuji smiled, soft around the edges. The kind of smile that made him melt into the mattress and drag Yuuji after him. He swallowed down the gentle sound that Megumi made when he bottomed out in one practiced motion. Obediently, he muffled the first few shocked noises with his lips and tongue and teeth, kissing Megumi breathless as if trying to make up for lost time. His hips chased after warmth the same way his tongue chased after the sound of Megumi’s pleasure settling over his taste buds.
The other long leg lying uselessly on the bed crawled up to wrap around warm, tanned skin. Fingers dug gentle indents into his hips as he gripped at Yuuji’s nape and the strange feeling of chill in his otherwise burning palm. With Yuuji so close it was easy to turn his nose and breathe in what was left of his cologne and the warmth of something so uniquely Yuuji underneath it all. Soothing and all for him. There was no one else in the world Megumi would let put him on his back. How lucky he was that it was his Yuuji—sturdy, loving, and obedient Yuuji.
Yuuji lifted his hips gently. The change in angle as he slid back in hit every delicious spot Megumi was purposefully neglecting thus far. A whimper crawled up from his chest, yanking hard on the lead. Yuuji listened well, connecting their lips in some slick, sloppy version of a kiss.
Rhythm growing stuttered and uneven, Megumi didn’t stop him this time. Legs locked tighter around his waist, nails digging into the soft skin of his shoulders. Yuuji was more panting into his mouth than kissing him now, honey eyes heavy and unfocused. From under him, this close, Megumi never missed a whine or moan. He watched comfortably as Yuuji shook apart above him and placed all his trust in Megumi to keep him from breaking completely. Perhaps a more mean spirited lover would have thought he looked pathetic. Megumi thought he was perfect.
“Megumi,” he prayed. “Megumi. Megumi, baby…”
“I know, Yuuji,” a gentle answer. “Go on. I’m right here.”
That was all it took. Sweaty forehead dropped to press against his own, Yuuji trembling and digging bruises into his skin as he buried himself deep inside Megumi and came. He rolled his hips gently, shivering fiercely when it was all too much and then he kept going. Gentle motions, never pulling out more than his lover’s intense leg lock would allow. Megumi helped him through the worst of it, tightening around him in a gentle, soothing rhythm.
Through it all, his eyes never left Megumi’s.
When Yuuji whimpered his overstimulation into the air between them, the fire that was still burning gently in Megumi’s belly grew into a roaring, howling thing. Knees sore, he let his legs drop, watching the gentle relief cross through pretty eyes.
Pulling back, Yuuji only got a few inches before the collar around his neck pulled tight, Megumi’s hand around the leash. Confusion colored his flushed features, trying to pull out a little more, slower this time. The yank that he was gifted made him moan gently.
Slowly, Megumi raised a leg to hook over Yuuji’s shoulder, digging his heel into the muscle there. Yuuji barely caught himself, hands pressed into the mattress on either side of him.
“Did I say you were done?”
Yuuji was still hard. Megumi made sure the pretty, dark ring around the base of his cock stayed tight. After all, nothing was hotter than watching Yuuji push past his limits. Here, alone in their own world and in their line of work. Watching him grow and thrive was something Megumi had always enjoyed.
“Go on,” he purred. “You’re the one that wanted to fuck something so badly. Don’t tell me you’d rather be—”
Megumi didn’t get to finish his taunting. Yuuji threw his other leg over his shoulder and bent forward until the air was shoved from his lungs. Stiff knees nearly by his ears, Yuuji made sure he didn’t get enough air to attempt to continue either, punching it out of him with every sure thrust. What was left in his lungs came out around little huffs of vowels that had no words to hold them. Yuuji hissed when Megumi grappled at his hair, tugging harder than he meant to. His pace didn’t let up, even as he let his nails dig into the meat of Megumi’s thighs to pay him back.
The pain registered as something far closer to pleasure, sending a zip of need up his spine. Yuuji was far too observant for his own good, even after being broken and pieced together again, amber eyes picked up every minor shift in Megumi, watching closely. Always watching.
“Yeah?” Yuuji smirked, responding to a verbal reaction Megumi had refused to give him. Megumi hated that smug look on his face. Hated most of all the way it made his skin prickle and turn the kind of sticky, sweet warm it always was after hours of love. “I’ll be good, baby,” Yuuji whispered, voice husky. “Come here.”
Before he could protest to Yuuji pulling out, Megumi’s world spun. Cheek pressed into a pillow that smelled of Yuuji and hips raised in the air in a way that made his ears burn. The empty feeling he was left with wasn’t there for long. The man behind him bottomed out, draping himself over Megumi’s back like a weighted blanket; warm and safe. A warm hand settled over his nape, the other around his waist.
“Itadori,” he growled, words slurred slightly by the pillow. “I’m going to kill yo— Yuuji!”
The first snap of his hips spread deliciously across his spine, muscles going lax. Yuuji chuckled above him, ticking something cold across his shoulders, down his arm, just slightly. When his brain was working with enough gas to remember the leash, Megumi reached up to grasp at it weakly.
“There you go, baby,” Yuuji hummed, pressing a kiss behind his ear. “I’m all yours. Take me.”
Megumi tugged the lead taut and the noise of satisfaction it dragged from his lover rumbled gently across his back. When molten eyes found his own, Megumi smiled. The beam that was returned to him made his eyes ache the same way looking into the sun did; warmed him through like a nice nap. Yuuji didn’t need any further instruction. He pressed chapped lips to Megumi’s cheek and fucked into him again.
The smirk that crawled across his skin made him want to reach back and smack the smug look right off his face. Megumi would have been equally as smug if he’d managed to drag a keen like that out of Yuuji.
His hips started up a punishing rhythm and when Megumi’s grip loosened on the leash, Yuuji sat up to pull him back into every thrust. He didn’t miss the sound of Yuuji’s gentle panting in his ears for long. The sound of skin on skin and their bed protesting the force Yuuji was using was deafening. Slick sounds and squeaking, the gentle thud of their headboard that made Megumi thankful their bedroom wall shared space with the outside and not a neighbor.
Yuuji running his mouth and the sound of Megumi’s mewling was already enough to make their downstairs neighbors pray they would shut up or die.
Nails bit into his nape and his side, Yuuji’s teeth found their way across his spine. Every pinch against pale skin promising to welt and bruise. Megumi would wake tomorrow with proof of exactly who Yuuji chose to give himself to. He would join him in the shower and Yuuji would trace over each one. The smell of his shampoo would remind Megumi of drooling all over his pillow, turning his nose into the fabric to breathe in that familiar, soft scent while its owner fucked so deep into him he felt it in his chest.
The hand on his nape traveled into inky hair, nails gently scratching his scalp and sending tiny shivers through his nerves. It was such a stark contrast from the way Yuuji was fucking him and yet equally as loving. The gentle massaging helped ground him, reminded him that this was Yuuji—his Yuuji—the man that would have willingly laid down his life to save Megumi and had once before. The way he scrambled to grip at the sheets in fear of being driven up the bed too far and coming away with a concussion was less than ideal, yes, but it reminded him, too, that he was loved. Yuuji was sturdy and strong and he learned quite well how to use that to bring Megumi such a mind-numbing pleasure it was nearly addictive.
Sex was always just that. Sex. Megumi placed far more importance on someone knowing him—the way he took his coffee, doing the chores they knew he couldn’t stand, reading him from just a microexpression alone. Those were the kind of actions that love was created off of. Not pretty words or lingering touches, action and a solid proof that Megumi was understood. Yuuji did all of that and more. Even now, in their most intimate of moments, Yuuji was putting action before words. He helped shift Megumi when he was knocked into awkward angles, kissed away a bead of sweat that was tickling down the side of his face, and watched every furrow of his brow to know when to keep pushing and when to stop.
They didn’t need words. Yuuji and Megumi spoke in knowing.
It made it feel much easier for Megumi when Yuuji demanded to both hear and see the way Megumi loved him back.
Yuuji whimpered, pausing for only a moment to tug Megumi up, head thrown lazily back against his shoulder and back pressed in a delightful arch against his chest. Yuuji swallowed down his moans, tongue tickling along his teeth as his hips stuttered and tried their best to keep up with their pleasure.
“Is it good?” he whined, pulling his attention away from his lips to gnaw at Megumi’s shoulder instead. “Please, baby, tell me I’m good.”
Megumi swallowed, tongue thick and dry like cotton. “You’re such…a good boy. Yuuji, ah— my good boy.”
One hand cupped under his chin, craning Megumi’s lips back to meet Yuuji’s own. The kiss, much like his hand in his hair, was surprisingly gentle. Strong palm pressed low on Megumi’s belly, searching like he might be able to feel himself fucking into Megumi there. There was far too much muscle and bulk in the way of being able to do so, but the pressure was enough to send Megumi pitching forward with a cry. A strong arm around his chest kept him from going too far and gave Yuuji an excuse to pluck a nipple between his fingers.
Teeth sunk into his skin just above the notch of his spine. It was hard to remember, for a moment, that he couldn’t toss his head back with the sting of it.
“You feel so good,” Yuuji kissed the words across his shoulders, “so warm and tight, baby. Perfect.”
“Shut…shut up.”
Yuuji chuckled, the sound vibrating through his bones. “You’ve done so well, Megumi. You can let go now. I’ll take over from here.”
One gentle kiss to his temple and Megumi melted completely. The chill of his shadows was gone, no lead to tug on, no collar sitting cold on Yuuji’s heated skin, no ring settled around the base of his cock, and no reason for Megumi to keep his wits about him any longer. Yuuji buried his smile in Megumi’s neck. He imagined it must be bright, charming; a little boyish like it always was.
“Let your good boy show you a good time,” he hummed.
Megumi never got to scold him for the line. Yuuji was keeping pace before, deep and just on the edge of rough. Now, he seemed dead-set on proving exactly why Megumi put that collar on him in the first place. He dragged them flush together, hand still a firm pressure on his stomach. With the other, he coaxed Megumi’s head further back, straining his neck with the greedy need for more of it to sink his teeth into, to taste and to worry between his lips until Megumi knew he would look like he’d been mauled. His rutting was bruising, fast and near deadly in its accuracy. Megumi was left scrambling, nothing to ground him besides a hand intertwined with Yuuji’s over his heart and a grip in pink hair that made Yuuji’s hips stutter in that delicious way they always did.
Too much too soon. Megumi’s voice sounded foreign to his own ears, high and needy. Each shuttered attempt at forming words or winded moan only served to encourage the man behind him.
Yuuji let out a frustrated noise against his racing pulse, shoving them forward until Megumi was forced to catch the weight of them both with his hands on the mattress.
Once more, he draped over him like a blanket, lips pressed to the shell of his ear and arms wrapped around his middle. Yuuji fucked him until one of his arms gave out and he was forced to support himself on his forearms instead. He followed after him obediently as if stuck by glue, panting little sounds of pleasure in his ear around words that made Megumi feel more whole than he had ever before in his life. He managed to slur a few words back to him through aching sobs, but there was a pleasant fuzz overtaking his senses and creeping into the edge of his mind that made it hard to focus on anything besides the way Yuuji was pounding into him like it might be the last time he ever would.
Each thrust met every jaw-dropping spot within him, rattling his whole body and his soul.
Weakly, a hand reached down to wrap around his own cock. Yuuji would have none of it. He never even got there, hand grabbed and placed back to the sheets, thick fingers interlaced with his own.
“You can do it,” Yuuji whispered. “You’re going to cum on my cock so you remember just how well I know you; inside and out.”
“Yuuji,” was all he could sob out.
Yuuji kissed down his spine as far as he could without pulling himself away from the contact of skin on skin. Every kiss was a tiny spark and a whispered praise that made his brow furrow and his soul sway.
It only took one more bump of Yuuji’s cock against his sensitive insides and a whispered “perfect” before he was shaking apart. An entirely undignified yelp dragged from his chest, panting Yuuji’s name like a prayer as his fingers curled so hard in their sheets Megumi heard a rip from somewhere.
His whole world was muffled, fuzzy, a little shaky. Vaguely, he could feel the way Yuuji let him down gently. The way hands gripped low on his hips and held him like he was trying his hardest not to jostle Megumi. With a name that sounded delightfully like Megumi’s own on his lips, Yuuji chased his own release with erratic, aching thrusts that threatened to push Megumi out of pleasantly buzzed and toward the burning pain of overstimulation. Just shy of it, Yuuji’s grip on his skin grew bruising and his hips finally stuttered to a stop as he filled Megumi for the second time that night.
Yuuji had the foresight to turn them on their sides, carefully, while he stayed buried inside Megumi. Once more, his hips rolled and rocked in gentle movements as he brought them both down from pleasant aftershocks and toward breaking the surface back to reality. Even as he grew soft and began to whine softly into Megumi’s hair, he ignored his own overstimulation. He had half a mind to see if Yuuji would go long enough like that to work himself back up and fuck him again. Pity was a skill he was learning and the noises behind him were just that. Pitiful.
“That’s enough, pretty boy,” Megumi purred. Yuuji shivered, but he stilled, hips pressed flush to Megumi’s skin. A quick peek over his shoulder revealed Yuuji avoiding his gaze, cheeks nearly the same shade as his hair. Not from exertion, but embarrassment at being caught. “You have to pull out eventually, Yuuji.”
“Just one more minute,” he huffed, face burying itself between Megumi’s shoulder blades.
There was no protest to be had. Yuuji wasn’t doing any harm and Megumi was still pleasantly buzzy enough to not be bothered by the fact they were laying in soiled sheets and growing stickier by the minute. True to his word, just a little over a minute later, Yuuji pulled out. They both hissed a little, oversensitive and exhausted.
The small pain was worth being free to drag Yuuji in close, letting him kiss across his chest and press an eager ear to his slowing heart. They laid like that in silence until Megumi realized he was almost certainly lying in his own cum and his thighs were slimy, growing near tacky, with the mess that Yuuji made.
With great effort, he rolled a dozing Yuuji off his chest, soothing him with a kiss when he protested with nothing but a furrow of his brow. Rolling out of bed was a little harder when his knees still felt like they were made of jelly, but he managed to make it to their bathroom with only minimal issue. He ran a bath, ensuring the water was how Yuuji liked it before letting the tub fill. While the water ran, a damp towel was used to clean himself up quickly; tossed away in the hamper in favor of a fresh, warm rag to bring back to Yuuji. With the bath full, Megumi made his way back to the heap of man that was his lover. Cleaned up and feeling a renewed purpose tugging at his heart, his steps were far more sure on his way back to their bed.
Yuuji was snoring softly, face pressed into his pillow, drooling. It might have been appalling to anyone else. Megumi, much to his own horror, thought it was really rather cute.
“Yuuji,” he pressed a kiss to his cheek, lips lingering, “come on, pretty boy. Let’s get you cleaned up and to the bath.”
“Five more minutes,” came the slurred reply.
Megumi could work with that. Yuuji was pliant in the haze of snoozing. Megumi massaged out his arms and legs a bit more, wiped down sweat soaked skin with the soft rag, and scolded Yuuji gently when he would try to push him away when it tickled. By the time he was done, Yuuji’s eyes were open, watching him with a gaze that was hard to meet no matter how many times he’d been on the receiving end of it. It was full of a kind of love Megumi never thought he would experience and the kind of care he still struggled to feel deserving of.
He met it. Head-on.
Yuuji smiled at him, melting.
Megumi knew that look was mirrored on his own features. It was impossible not to love Yuuji.
“Enough, you sap,” he plopped the wet towel down on Yuuji’s middle, watching his nose turn up. “You ready for a bath?”
Yuuji nodded. “Only if you’ll join me.”
Not joining him was never an option.
Helping Yuuji stand to his feet, he kept an arm around his middle as strong legs came back to him slowly. He only stumbled once or twice, which was more than Megumi could say for himself. He was rather glad Yuuji hadn’t been awake to see that. It most certainly would have made him far more smug than he had any right to be, especially when he had been the one whining and whimpering most of the morning.
Megumi stepped in first, ensuring the water hadn’t cooled too much and then settling in to help Yuuji slot between his legs. Their bath was just barely big enough to hold the two of them, pressed together. They’d talked extensively about finding a home somewhere with a bathroom big enough to hire someone to put in a bath they could spread out in comfortably. Not that Megumi much minded being so close to Yuuji. Certainly not when he was soft and gooey like he was now; letting Megumi kiss and pet and tease.
Suddenly, Yuuji’s eyes shot open, sitting up so fast he almost knocked their heads together on the way up. The water sloshed and spilled over the side of their tub when he turned his torso to look behind him.
“You were jealous!”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Megumi rolled his eyes.
“You so were,” Yuuji cheered. “The whole dragging me away and giving me the cold shoulder and then all that talk about things with pretty green eyes and—”
“Yuuji.”
Yuuji settled back down, head tipped back against his chest to keep eye contact. “Did she really have green eyes?”
“Yuuji!”
“Okay, okay,” he chuckled, eyes falling shut again. He was silent for a glorious moment. That never lasted long. “For the record, I’ve never seen a green quite like your eyes before. And, you know, the whole being jealous thing is kind of hot.”
Megumi pinched his side hard enough that Yuuji jumped and sent more water sloshing onto their bathroom floor.
They sat, Megumi wrapped around him and Yuuji a pleasant, constant weight against him until he dozed off again. Slender fingers traced over his features—the sharpness of his cheekbones, the curve of his nose, the shape of his lips, and the pattern of his jaw—trying to commit them to memory. Megumi desperately wanted to remember every version of Yuuji. The one he’d fallen head over heels for at fifteen before he even realized it, the one that stumbled through a confession so horribly Megumi wound up being the one to confess properly between the two of them, but most of all this one. The version of Yuuji that he had grown with and learned every in and out of. The man he imagined the rest of his life with. Boring, mundane things like doing laundry and walking side-by-side.
Yuuji wouldn’t wrinkle—not in his lifetime at least—but Megumi mapped out where they might be if he did. Imagined what it would be like to watch that perpetually boyish smile spread across the face of an old man he loved more than anything else.
When the water grew cold, he shook Yuuji awake and helped him out of the tub. Following close after, he dried them off and wrapped Yuuji in a warmed towel to wait for him to change their sheets. It was quick work any more, done in record time when he knew Yuuji was more than likely falling asleep on his feet.
Tucked in and lazy with warmth, Yuuji only protested for a second when Megumi asked to leave to go get them something to drink and eat. Some fruit they had in the fridge and a few oranges he peeled were placed neatly on a plate. Two bottles of water were tucked into the crook of his arm.
When he returned, Yuuji sat up, reaching for the plate as Megumi joined him in bed.
“So,” he muttered around an orange slice, “do you wanna go again?”
“Yuuji!”