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"You know, you're cute when you get all flustered," Riku says out of nowhere, accepting the cup of tea Iori brought him.
It's the middle of the night, and Riku's voice is hoarse as it tends to be at this hour, but he still sounds tender and sweet.
"Drink your tea," Iori says, standing beside the bed and covering the lower half of his face with his sleeve. He can feel himself burning.
Riku smiles, takes a sip, and then, "That's exactly what I mean."
"You did that on purpose. How can you expect me not to get flushed when you call me cute?"
Riku giggles, and then shifts a little in his bed, patting the spot beside him.
"I just came to bring you tea," Iori says, crossing his arms.
"I want company..." Riku whines, looking up at Riku with big, pleading eyes.
Iori sighs, feigning annoyance and sitting beside Riku on the bed.
Riku snuggles up against Iori, resting his head on his shoulder.
"Your tea is going to get cold if you don't drink it, Nanase-san," Iori says, staring straight ahead.
"Relax, Iori, I'm drinking it," Riku says, and even without looking, Iori can hear the smile in his voice.
God, it's intoxicating. The smiles, the giggles, the teasing, the gazes, all of it. Nanase Riku is just... magnetic.
Iori hears the sound of Riku putting the teacup down beside the bed, and he turns, and they lock eyes.
"You look like you're deep in thought," Riku says, inching closer and wrapping his arms around one of Iori's.
"You're so clingy today," Iori says.
"Yeah, well, I get lonely sometimes when I can't sleep. And you haven't stopped blushing since I called you cute. I wanna see how red I can make you."
"And how are you gonna do that?" Iori asks, staring at those bright, piercing red eyes.
"Hmm..." Riku grabs one of Iori's hands and interlocks their fingers. "Like this?"
"I..."
"See? You're even tongue-tied," Riku giggles, and Iori buries his face in his one free hand.
"You should go to sleep," Iori mumbles into his hand.
"No, I'm still playing this game I made up!"
Iori groans, and then Riku pulls his hand away. "Mm, what if I do this?" he says, and then he cups Iori's cheeks, and when Iori pulls his hand away from his face to see what the hell Riku is doing, Riku brings their faces only a few centimetres apart.
Iori sucks in a breath. Riku has definitely won this game.
...That he's playing against himself.
...
He isn't saying anything.
They're just staring at each other, with barely a gap between them.
Iori looks into Riku's eyes, seeing them shine like they always do, captivating each and every witness. Iori starts to trace every feature of Riku's face with his gaze, travelling down from his eyes, to his nose, to his mouth.
He only flicks his gaze back up to Riku's eyes for a mere second, and when he does, he sees Riku's looking at his lips as well.
"I think you've won the game now," Iori says in a whisper. He isn't sure why.
"Can I try one more thing?" Riku asks, matching his volume.
"Ah... yeah..." Iori whispers back.
And Riku closes the gap.
And it's electric.
Much like the effects of a drug, the feeling of Riku's lips on his own causes Iori to relax immediately, letting out the tension in his back, his shoulders, everywhere, as he brings his own hands to the back of Riku's neck, pulling him closer.
Iori subconsciously leans back a little, letting Riku follow and take control, with his hands still cupping Iori's face.
And after what felt like a simultaneous split second and thousand years, Riku parts for air, with shut eyes and staggered breaths.
"Are you okay?" Iori asks.
Riku waves him off, steadying his breathing and opening his eyes. "I'm okay. And hey," he smirks, "That made you blush a lot, you know."
"I—wha—you're as red as me! Your face is practically the same colour as your hair! I—wha—you—we—"
Riku leans forward and kisses Iori on the cheek, and he shuts up immediately.
"Wow, it's like my own Iori pause button."
Iori huffs, pressing a hand against the cheek Riku just kissed.
"You're even cuter now," Riku says, poking him in the arm.
Iori curls in on himself at that, not looking Riku in the eyes.
This has got to be some sort of dream. None of this can possibly be real.
"What's on your mind now, hm?" Riku asks, continuing to poke him.
"I've never kissed anybody before," Iori says, somehow still out of breath.
"Me neither," Riku says, and then he gets closer again, talking softly right by Iori's ear. "But you liked it, didn't you?"
Iori shivers, and pinches the skin on the back of his hand.
Riku laughs at that, pulling away. "Sorry, I just like seeing you get flustered. It's so easy."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Iori asks, turning back to face Riku—a bad decision, of course, because the smirk on his face is enough to make Iori forget himself.
"Tsundere."
"I am not."
"Sure, sure. Can I kiss you again?"
Iori nods.
And Riku pulls him in by the back of his neck, kissing him deeply, and just as Iori's burying his hands in Riku's hair, the door suddenly opens.
"Hey, Riku, are you o—"
And just as the two pull apart, it slams shut, and they hear Mitsuki's footsteps out in the hall.
"Now that I think of it, I did hear a knock," Riku says.
"Then why didn't you say anything!?"
"Because we were kissing."
"I—I—I'm never gonna hear the end of that! Ugh, I—"
Riku kisses him on the cheek again, and Iori stops talking, causing Riku to laugh.
"Maybe I should kiss you more, it really gets you out of your own head," he says.
"And messes up my awareness of people knocking on the door, evidently" Iori grumbles, and Riku kisses his cheek again. "You're just doing that because you want me to shut up."
Riku presses his forehead against Iori's, and cups his face in his hands again. "It's 'cause I like you. You're cute, and I've wanted to kiss you for a while."
"You—you can't just say things like that, Nanase-san."
"Who's gonna stop me?"
"I..."
"Are you gonna stop me from calling you cute?" Riku asks, almost daring him with a challenging, fiery gaze.
"No..." Iori whispers.
"Are you gonna stop me from kissing cute Iori on the lips again?" Riku asks, leaning in again. And just before their lips touch a third time, when they're so close, and Iori can feel Riku's breath against him, his eagerness to close the gap, he whispers one last thing.
"...I guess not."