Snuggles

[buckynats]

snuggle with someonespecial

What better time than these cool, crisp mornings or rapidly lengthening nights to jump right under a warm blanket with that irreplaceable person in your life? Even if you're not sleeping together - heck, even if you've not been straight with your feelings and you're not officially an "item" - there's nothing wrong with cuddling up. Grab a book, get some hot cocoa, turn on the TV (if you're in an era where the tube's available), or just enjoy each other's presence on the couch or in the bed.

• Comment with your character, preference, etc.
• This is a gen or shipping meme, not a smut meme, but if you want interactions to turn to something more, I can't stop you.
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[udderchaos]

[ Haru was just casually looking around Reki's room. It's not like he hadn't been there many times before, but he just liked how fun and totally reki his room looked. When Reki came back in, he tilted his head, only for his eyes to widen a little. ]

Reki... You're seriously going to make me feel spoiled. You didn't... have to get all this for me.

[rekd]

Chill out. It's leftovers and instant tea.

[ as if he's not glowing at the thought of haru feeling spoiled, that he can make haru feel that way at all. once they've got everything balanced in its place, reki flounders across the bed and lays his head on haru's knee, reaching up to hold the ice pack to his face. ]

[udderchaos]

[ Haru leans down a bit to make it easier for Reki to reach up, that soft smile never leaving his face. It was... cute. Touching even. Reki didn't even ask what happened, but he's fretting over him this much... ]

Your mom's cooking is great though, so any leftovers of hers is like treasure.

[rekd]

[ haru's smile is so infectious that it makes reki want to smile too. but he knows what's coming, what he has to say, and he knows what haru is going to say in return and how badly it's going to sting so he doesn't. ]

What if you ate it every day, would you still think it's a treasure?

[udderchaos]

Probably. Your mom seems like the "I made this with love in every bite" types.

[rekd]

Then don't leave. Just stay here.

[udderchaos]

[ haru’s face softens a little more when he hears that. reki might not have exactly said what was bothering him, but he was pretty sure he could tell with just that. reki hated to see the stress the main house had on him, and after looking at his face, it probably made Reki panic further. he couldn’t just leave though. he might not be one of Akito’s top favorites in the family, but Akito would notice him being gone...

he doesn’t say anything at first, choosing to reach down to gently push Reki’s bangs back, just to get a look into those soft amber eyes of his.]

Your kindness for me... it seriously makes me want to cry, in a good way I assure you.

[ god... reki didn’t even know about the curse on haru and still he wanted to defend and protect him... would it be the same if he did let it spill? it’s not like reki would be too affected by it... unless he let his guard down and his sisters embraced him... but still he wonders.]

[rekd]

[ here he goes. reki doesn't want to hear this, so much so that he claps his hands over his ears tightly, drowning out the voice he loves so much.

he gets it. there's his family and those adorable little cousins of his and haru's probably the only thing holding them all together. but they're also tearing him apart like this, and even if reki doesn't know specifics, he doesn't need to. he's seen haru's lifeless room and his bloody face and that's enough of the story to convince him. ]

I can't let you go back there. I won't let you go back there. We can figure it all out together if you just stay.

[udderchaos]

[ haru’s fingers go back to Reki‘s hair, gently combing through and gently tugging on a few strands. instead of answering him—]

Once upon a time... god wanted to have a banquet. So he invited all of his animal friends to this banquet. The rat told the cat, but he told him the wrong day so the cat would show up late.... the day of the banquet all the animals raced up the hill to reach god. The rat hitching a ride on the ox’s back and making it first to see god, the ox next... the tiger, then the rabbit, the dragon so on and so forth...

It wasn’t just an ordinary banquet though. God was lonely and this banquet made him realize that. Wouldn’t it be better if we could all be together forever?

[rekd]

[ this is a... strange interlude. the zodiac? it feels like it comes out of nowhere.

but then, does it really? reki hears that word—the ox—and the crumpled expression on his face eases. right, this. he gazes up at haru, trusting that the fingers in his hair and the story he's reciting will take him where he needs to go. and on a selfish level, it's nice, to have his hair petted while someone tells him a story.

reki doesn't even need to know about the curse, honestly. he already knows haru has magical powers—he sees them every time he calms like this under haru's hand. ]

[udderchaos]

[ haru really didn’t need to tell him. reki could go his whole like not knowing, but... maybe haru was a little selfish. maybe he wanted to know reki would accept him curse and all... maybe he just wanted to make reki understand the little things he does, like when playing with his sisters he was affectionate, but never once let them hold onto him or made us silly excuses like “i’m shy” whenever his mom wanted to give them hugs.

he just... wanted reki to know, even if reki hated him afterwards.]

So god made a promise with the animals. We’ll have a banquet over and over. We’ll meet in the next life and have one again and again.

[ haru changes his voice a little, to sound like an eager child] Wow..! Being reborn just to meet each other again and again..! That’s so romantic..!

But what if that promise became twisted... something beautiful turned to shackles, you can’t break free from... because of that promise you can’t defy fate or defy god...

[rekd]

[ whatever it is that haru needs to tell him, reki's listening. he's got his gaze fixed on haru's eyes so that he can read into that dark calm within them, and his arms are wrapping around his waist, squeezing tightly. they won't come undone, either. wherever he's going with this, they're going together.

the language he's using—shackles, speaking of something twisted—reki's never heard him talk like this before. but it's okay. reki just holds on a little more, like the meager strength of his embrace could ever be enough to break any chains haru might find himself in. ]

[udderchaos]

[ haru melts a little from his gentle hold that slowly grew and grew. this feeling could never feel like a shackle to him, reki’s warm embrace felt so... loving and free. his fingers gently continued, thoufh they slowed until he was pushing reki’s bangs back, holding them there. ]

What would you say if I told you that story was real?... That the Sohma family holds the spirits of those animals who started everything?

[rekd]

[ he sighs. ]

C'mon, Haru...

[ and then looks a little deeper. haru doesn't have that soft smile he wears anytime he's teasing reki. he doesn't even have that wistful look in his eyes that's always there when he's telling reki things he doesn't want to believe. and he's always wondered about this weird, wild, secret world he can never be a part of, especially after he sneaked into the grounds, and... ]

I'd, uh. [ he's still not going anywhere, just mushing his cheek against haru's belly. ] I'd ask you what that actually means.

[udderchaos]

[ he frowned thoughtfully, letting both fingers run through his hair now. it was honestly comforting for reki and him as well. ]

Our family... bares the promise those animals made hundreds and hundreds of years ago... its unpredictable when it will happen, but one member of the family will give birth to one of the animal spirits... and when that person dies a new child will be born with it, not right away but eventually... if we’re ever embraced by the opposite sex or under a lot of stress we’ll actually transform into the spirit we hold. Those of us cursed that is... and above all else... we can’t go against god.

[rekd]

[ reki spends a long time just looking at haru. he wants to say this makes no sense, that magic isn't real and neither is some stupid zodiac legend, but he finds he doesn't feel like that's the truth. the only truth he's willing to actually believe is the one haru is telling to him now, no matter how bizarre it sounds.

it doesn't matter anyway; this has been a real thing to both of them ever since the beginning. reki can't even count the number of bovine beasts he's mocked up on his tablet and sketchpad. he remembers the last time they were messing around and reki noticed that the bizarre color of haru's hair extended to every part of him and thought that's weirdly thorough. and— and now eating burgers makes him feel queasy, even though haru eats them just fine, and... ]

You're my ox. [ he says, like a revelation, his fingers clutching in haru's shirt. ] Like, for real.

[udderchaos]

[ out of all the reactions he could have pictured reki having, somehow this wasn’t one of them. he just stared for a good long moment before a soft bit of laughter slipped out.]

Yeah that’s right... I’m your ox.

[ he bent down as much as he could to nuzzle Reki since he was right there being his warm loving self...]

Honestly... that’s what made your idea for my deck so perfect... I was so surprised.

[rekd]

[ reki is smiling again, lost in the affection and attention. he reaches for haru's face, runs his fingers through his hair. ]

I guess I've always thought of you that way.

[ which means there's nothing really different, right? he always knew there was something up with haru's family, always knew that haru was special—

oh. ]

Can I see it? No, wait, does it hurt? The transforming, I mean.

[udderchaos]

It doesn’t really hurt... I just don’t have control over when I turn back.

[ it could be minutes after he transformed or even hours after...]

Although... since my form is bigger than the others, my clothes shred to pieces.

[rekd]

Oh.

[ so maybe not then. reki really didn't think through the logistics of having a freaking ox in his room anyway, and also he really doesn't want to move from his spot against haru. ]

Do you have, like, special bovine powers? Not that being a were-ox isn't dope as hell on its own.

[udderchaos]

Nope... and honestly I look more cow than I do ox. My features are softer... oh, but I can still talk. So I guess it’s be more like having one of those animal companions in anime...?

[rekd]

[ why is this a bad thing again? because right now it sounds like a dream come true. reki can just imagine haru stampeding around while he clutches on to his tail and skates behind him and it's a total dream, not a nightmare.

and then, oh yeah. the shackles part. his smile fades, his eyes focusing on haru's face and the bandages he's carefully applied to it. ]

So you can't leave. No matter what I say or do.

[udderchaos]

Akito... he’ll find out sooner or later and instead of punishing me... he’ll take it out on you. And order hatorinii to make you forget I ever existed...

[rekd]

[ that is... honestly the most terrifying thing he's ever heard in his entire life. the idea of forgetting haru... it's awful and mortifying and yet it is absolutely worth losing the only person he's ever cared about to give haru the smallest glimpse of peace. he deserves so much more than that.

reki's eyes narrow. ]

I don't care.

[udderchaos]

You might not, but I do... [ he reached out to cup his face with both hands now. ]

I'm selfish... and I don't want you to forget about me.