Hakuba watched as he pulled away, and was thankful he kept his arm from touching the ground. His mind was returning, but not completely; he was tired. He was past the point of exhaustion, all the emotions he’d been dealing with, and then this? He just wanted to sleep, rest for a few hours maybe finally get a good nights sleep. He hadn’t had one of those in a long time, not since he started developing feelings for Kuroba.
Right, his feelings.
He reached up an gripped the collar of his suit jacket and tried to pull him down so he could speak, but the world was already starting to go black with sleep. He swallowed, trying to find his voice; this was important. This was something he had to say, if he didn’t say it now, he knew he would never say it again. He needed Kuroba to know this, no matter how much he would deny it later.
His hand was slipping from the shirt but he finally spoke. “I-” He swallowed again, breath starting to even out. “I…lo…….” The sentence never finished, sleep had taken him and his hand slipped to the floor as he sunk into the darkness.
Kaito was more than a little surprised when Hakuba took hold of his clothes. He did comply with the weak pull, ringing softly as he leaned in, but had been fully expecting to be pushed away, if anything… And if how the detective looked right now and the fact his hand was already starting to lose its grip was anything to go by, he likely was going to…
The other’s voice interrupted his thoughts and he focused back on the face in front of him. Then his eyes started to widen, though Hakuba suddenly passing out kept him from reacting too much beyond that. Surely he hadn’t been about to say… No… more likely not…
…But he could hope.
A gentle smile came up as he reached out with his unsullied hand to cup the side of the other’s face, rubbing a bit at his cheek with the thumb. After a moment he sighed and pulled away again. It was nice that Hakuba hadn’t just left him again, or done something similar… But a passed out mysophobic detective probably shouldn’t be left as he was after that…
The magician slowly stood up, already thinking about what he’d need to do.
First and foremost, a washcloth and new clothes for the other. He was the one who would freak out if left dirty, so he was the priority. The latter would be easy to get, since he already knew where Hakuba’s room was… Hopefully the other wouldn’t mind too much if he briefly went in to get the clothes… The former would be easy as well…. though afterward, he’d have to…
Aaaand now his face was bright red. Great. After what he’d just done, one would think he wouldn’t get so embarrassed by the idea, but nope. The more composed side of him had already drawn back, and he wasn’t distracted by a needy detective, so… the self-consciousness was hitting him quite hard.
He shook his head and tried focusing on what he had to do right now instead, finally moving to collect what he needed. The only time he stopped was to wash his hands and consider his own clothes. The jacket was easy to deal with, just taking it off and folding it in so that the soiled side wouldn’t be seen. The shirt underneath was fine and so were his pants, for the most part. But really, he didn’t particularly care himself so much as he knew Hakuba would probably not be happy to see it tomorrow.
Right. Focus. Get the tantei clean, then worry about later.
~~(Awkward Kai washing and changing Hakuba’s clothes goes here, because he’s too embarrassed to write it out and it would be too long)~~
Kaito stretched after finally having gotten the detective settled on the couch. He’d put the other clothes folded off to the side for now, though he had a sneaking suspicion Hakuba was going to burn them anyway later… Ah, well.
He glanced over at the discarded blanket he’d placed over the detective earlier, debating for a moment before leaving it where it was, instead leaving the room again and returning with his cape. It wasn’t as good for heat, but it did cover, and the fire was warm enough to make up for any lack of insulation.
Looking at the blanket again, he finally went over and picked it up, holding it in his hands a moment before starting to fold it. The only real reason he hadn’t used it was because… well… he would rather it be associated with the peaceful moment before the slight mess happened than being used right afterward, even if he’d personally made sure everything was fine.
He put it on the floor to the side of the couch and hesitated before going over to Hakuba one more time, brushing back some hair to put one more kiss on his forehead. Then he sat down in front of the couch, crossing his arms lightly and stretching his legs out in front of him as he leaned his head back on the cushion. Aaaand it was then that he felt something beneath him and he was reminded that he still had the tail. And the ears.
Huh…
Half a thought went to wondering if he should take them off, but he really didn’t care enough to. He just pulled the tail out from under him and laid it off to the side, looking at his hand for a moment afterward before smiling and returning it to where it was, getting comfortable and letting the warmth of the fire and the sound of the other’s breathing carry him off to sleep as well.
Moonlight Archive 