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tofsla_fic) wrote2014-02-21 11:20 am
tofsla_fic) wrote2014-02-21 11:20 am
Distraction (Shuuei/Kouyuu)
Saiunkoku Monogatari, Shuuei/Kouyuu, T
800 words
Insomnia.
Kouyuu has spent the last few hours tossing and turning, unable to sleep; it’s too hot, too humid, and the hum of insects sounds far too loud; the air in the room is totally still, and his hair clings uncomfortably to his skin. It’s all of that keeping him awake, of course. Nothing deeper.
Nothing at all.
He shakes his head slightly, doesn’t quite sigh - kills it before it can make it past his lips. It might be a good night to just give up and go for a walk. He’d only get lost, though. And then he’d really never get any sleep, and Shuuei would laugh at him whenever someone finally found him.
He can feel a scowl creeping onto his face just at the idea.
At least he can open the window, though. It probably won’t help much, but it’s worth a try. Anything is worth a try.
There really isn’t any air movement outside the room, either; at least not here. Maybe beyond the walls...
“Not thinking of taking a walk, are you?” an entirely too familiar voice drawls, right next to him, sending him leaping back into the room, almost tripping over the corner of his bed. Bastard.
“Of course not,” he growls, glaring at Shuuei’s amused face peering around the edge of the window-frame. “What the hell are you doing here?” Asking how Shuuei is there would be pointless, but the reasoning is another matter. “Not out with some woman?”
Shuuei smirks. There’s no other word for the way his lips curl, the glint of mischief in his expression. “Maybe I was. Maybe they couldn’t hold my attention...” a thoughtful pause. Shuuei leans in through the window, eyes sliding up and down the length of Kouyuu’s body in an absolutely indecent way. Kouyuu bristles, fighting down a blush at the attention. “I did mention that you’re very attractive when you’re jealous, right?”
“Shut up,” he snaps. Shuuei knows just how to make him angry, provoke a response, and it’s the last damn thing he wants right now. “Just shut up and-- hey!”
Shuuei pauses, in the process of climbing in through the window and looking unreasonably dignified about the whole thing. The world is an unfair place. “Hmm?”
“You’re as bad as the idiot Emperor,” Kouyuu grumbles, grabs Shuuei by the front of his shirt and drags him inside as he’s obviously coming in anyway, damn near dropping him on the floor just for the pleasure of seeing him momentarily ruffled.
“You wound me,” Shuuei says lightly. He’s rubbing at his elbow, so he might actually mean it literally. Or that might just be a bid for sympathy. Tough luck if so.
Kouyuu’s scowl doesn’t ease up.
“Why’re you here?” he says, a bit more tiredly and less angrily, as soon as he’s sure Shuuei isn’t going to do anything else obnoxious right away. “Really?”
Shuuei’s eyes go serious, just like that, and Kouyuu is taken aback - but only for a moment. It’s how things are, really; the easy transition between business and play, important and trivial.
“You haven’t been sleeping well, have you?”
“It’s the heat,” Kouyuu grumbles, defensive, and looks away, folding his arms in front of him. Not Shuuei and his women, not tension in the court, not tension at home. Definitely not a hideous mix of all the above tangling together in his brain.
But if you really wanted to fool him, you could, his mind points out. But sometimes... Shuuei can be perceptive, understanding, gentle - when he isn’t being a total ass. Sometimes he wants that. Sometimes. Now, for example.
“It’s getting to everyone,” Shuuei says. “At least you haven’t gone as mad as some people.” He gets to his feet, and Kouyuu follows his movements warily out of the corner of his eye, trying not to seem as though he’s watching. “ But that’s not what’s getting to you. The summer doesn’t bother you this much.”
Kouyuu knows it’s coming, but Shuuei’s arm sliding around him still feels surprising, and it takes him a moment to accept it, relax back against Shuuei’s body. At other times he might complain about being treated like a woman, but he knows that’s not what Shuuei means by it. He only offers seriously when he knows Kouyuu needs it, anyway, and he hasn’t been wrong so far.
“It’s a lot of things,” Kouyuu admits. Shuuei nods, pulling him closer, hands firm on his skin, head dipping for a moment to press a kiss to his shoulder.
Even through a layer of cloth it feels very, very intimate.
“Let’s see if you can’t be distracted,” Shuuei murmurs, and Kouyuu can only nod agreement, wondering vaguely if this is exactly what Shuuei planned all along - probably - and whether he should be mad about that. Maybe later.
He’s a little distracted right now.
800 words
Insomnia.
Kouyuu has spent the last few hours tossing and turning, unable to sleep; it’s too hot, too humid, and the hum of insects sounds far too loud; the air in the room is totally still, and his hair clings uncomfortably to his skin. It’s all of that keeping him awake, of course. Nothing deeper.
Nothing at all.
He shakes his head slightly, doesn’t quite sigh - kills it before it can make it past his lips. It might be a good night to just give up and go for a walk. He’d only get lost, though. And then he’d really never get any sleep, and Shuuei would laugh at him whenever someone finally found him.
He can feel a scowl creeping onto his face just at the idea.
At least he can open the window, though. It probably won’t help much, but it’s worth a try. Anything is worth a try.
There really isn’t any air movement outside the room, either; at least not here. Maybe beyond the walls...
“Not thinking of taking a walk, are you?” an entirely too familiar voice drawls, right next to him, sending him leaping back into the room, almost tripping over the corner of his bed. Bastard.
“Of course not,” he growls, glaring at Shuuei’s amused face peering around the edge of the window-frame. “What the hell are you doing here?” Asking how Shuuei is there would be pointless, but the reasoning is another matter. “Not out with some woman?”
Shuuei smirks. There’s no other word for the way his lips curl, the glint of mischief in his expression. “Maybe I was. Maybe they couldn’t hold my attention...” a thoughtful pause. Shuuei leans in through the window, eyes sliding up and down the length of Kouyuu’s body in an absolutely indecent way. Kouyuu bristles, fighting down a blush at the attention. “I did mention that you’re very attractive when you’re jealous, right?”
“Shut up,” he snaps. Shuuei knows just how to make him angry, provoke a response, and it’s the last damn thing he wants right now. “Just shut up and-- hey!”
Shuuei pauses, in the process of climbing in through the window and looking unreasonably dignified about the whole thing. The world is an unfair place. “Hmm?”
“You’re as bad as the idiot Emperor,” Kouyuu grumbles, grabs Shuuei by the front of his shirt and drags him inside as he’s obviously coming in anyway, damn near dropping him on the floor just for the pleasure of seeing him momentarily ruffled.
“You wound me,” Shuuei says lightly. He’s rubbing at his elbow, so he might actually mean it literally. Or that might just be a bid for sympathy. Tough luck if so.
Kouyuu’s scowl doesn’t ease up.
“Why’re you here?” he says, a bit more tiredly and less angrily, as soon as he’s sure Shuuei isn’t going to do anything else obnoxious right away. “Really?”
Shuuei’s eyes go serious, just like that, and Kouyuu is taken aback - but only for a moment. It’s how things are, really; the easy transition between business and play, important and trivial.
“You haven’t been sleeping well, have you?”
“It’s the heat,” Kouyuu grumbles, defensive, and looks away, folding his arms in front of him. Not Shuuei and his women, not tension in the court, not tension at home. Definitely not a hideous mix of all the above tangling together in his brain.
But if you really wanted to fool him, you could, his mind points out. But sometimes... Shuuei can be perceptive, understanding, gentle - when he isn’t being a total ass. Sometimes he wants that. Sometimes. Now, for example.
“It’s getting to everyone,” Shuuei says. “At least you haven’t gone as mad as some people.” He gets to his feet, and Kouyuu follows his movements warily out of the corner of his eye, trying not to seem as though he’s watching. “ But that’s not what’s getting to you. The summer doesn’t bother you this much.”
Kouyuu knows it’s coming, but Shuuei’s arm sliding around him still feels surprising, and it takes him a moment to accept it, relax back against Shuuei’s body. At other times he might complain about being treated like a woman, but he knows that’s not what Shuuei means by it. He only offers seriously when he knows Kouyuu needs it, anyway, and he hasn’t been wrong so far.
“It’s a lot of things,” Kouyuu admits. Shuuei nods, pulling him closer, hands firm on his skin, head dipping for a moment to press a kiss to his shoulder.
Even through a layer of cloth it feels very, very intimate.
“Let’s see if you can’t be distracted,” Shuuei murmurs, and Kouyuu can only nod agreement, wondering vaguely if this is exactly what Shuuei planned all along - probably - and whether he should be mad about that. Maybe later.
He’s a little distracted right now.