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One of the many things that Nagisa loves about Rei is his dedication. If he truly loves something, Rei will put his whole heart and soul into it, whether it be a sport, or another hobby, or even his relationships. Oftentimes it results in surprises, like when he learnt how to swim all four strokes without telling them, or that one time when he knitted a scarf for Nagisa.
(Nagisa still has the scarf, too. Blue and yellow stripes. A little bit lumpy, but the moment the temperatures dip slightly, he uses it as an excuse to start wearing the scarf wherever he goes again until it’s too hot to bear anymore.)
Needless to say, Rei’s dedication extends to his studies. In fact, sometimes Nagisa worries that he overdoes it in that department - he starts studying for exams before the semester has even begun.
(“It’s called preparation,” Rei tells him in their first year at university. “Getting a head start will only be beneficial.”
Nagisa never points out how it also leads to burning out mid-semester. Especially not that one time he found Rei sitting in the living room, eyes glazed over as he held his physics textbook upside-down.)
With that in mind, he really shouldn’t be surprised when he goes into their shared apartment’s kitchen/living area at 3am, only to find Rei still buried in books at the dinner table, pen moving at a hundred miles an hour. He doesn’t even look up when the obnoxiously loud door squeaks open, and Nagisa sighs deeply.
“Rei-chaaaaaaaaaaaan,” he whines, moving over to stand in front of Rei, hands on his hips. “You’re still studying?”
“I’m almost finished this chapter,” Rei murmurs, tapping his pen against his lips before scribbling something down. “Besides, it’s not that late.”
“It’s 3 in the morning.”
“Wait, is it really?!” Rei’s head shoots up and he looks over his shoulder at the time on the oven, even though he’s wearing a digital watch on his wrist. His face contorts into comic horror, which Nagisa usually finds funny, but he’s too tired to laugh right now. “I thought it was only 11pm.”
Nagisa moves closer to Rei and closes his textbook for him. “It’s way past your bedtime, Rei-chan.”
Rei looks over at the soft sound of the book closing, then squints in suspicion. “Why are you still awake then, Nagisa-kun?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” he says with a shrug.
He’s not lying. His bedtime is usually rather late, often veering towards the early hours of the morning, but when he tried to settle down at 1am, he found he couldn’t relax at all. Even though he was warm and comfortable in the cocoon he’d made from his duvet, his body was too restless to stay there. He spent a couple of hours tossing and turning before now deciding to get himself a drink.
Only for the present situation to arise.
“Nagisa-kun,” Rei says in a scolding tone. “If you didn’t look at your phone and computer for so long before bed, you might find it easier to sleep.”
“Says the one trying to do particle physics before bed! Wouldn’t that just wake you up?”
“Not at all! I’m actually relatively tired, given the time.”
“Then why didn’t you go to bed already?!”
“Because I was busy.”
Nagisa groans. Arguing at this time of night will get them nowhere. “Well anyway, it’s time to go to bed now.”
A little reluctantly, Rei agrees to put his books away for the night. They chat sparingly as the kettle boils, each making themselves a night-time drink (tea for Rei, hot chocolate for Nagisa) before retiring to their separate rooms. Nagisa leaves his bedside lamp lit as he snuggles under the covers of his bed, sipping at his hot chocolate. At least now he can try to fall asleep, knowing that Rei should be doing the same thing in his own room.
Except half an hour passes, and he hears a knock at the door.
Dragging himself out of the warm covers of his bed is a chore, but seeing Rei on the other side of his door is too concerning to say it wasn’t worth doing. He’s standing in a pair of purple pyjamas, patterned with lilac butterflies. His hair his more ruffled than usual, but his eyes look wide awake behind the rims of his glasses.
“Sorry to disturb you, Nagisa-kun,” Rei says. “I just saw that your light is still on and thought it might be prudent to come to you with this issue.”
“What is it?” Nagisa says. It’s certainly not normal for Rei to come to his door at 3am, especially with a problem. “Is everything alright?”
“I am having difficulty sleeping, and I wondered if you might have any solutions.”
For a moment, neither of them speaks, then Nagisa lets out a giggle. Then another one.
“Why are you laughing?” Rei shrieks when Nagisa falls into a full-on laughing fit. “This is a serious issue!”
“Yeah, but-” he tries to calm his laughter but fails- “I totally didn’t expect that, oh my god.”
Rei pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. “Well, do you know any solutions?”
Nagisa finally regains his breath and hums in thought. “When I can’t sleep, I usually find something to do until I feel sleepy. Apparently exercise helps, and reading, but you’d totally get way too invested, wouldn’t you?”
“I would not!” Rei squawks indignantly.
“Hey, maybe we should have a sleepover in the living room!” Nagisa suggests. “We could make a blanket fort and try to make each other tired!”
“I suppose that’s not a bad idea,” Rei says. “You couldn’t sleep either?”
“That’s why I’m still awake. Come on, let’s do it, Rei-chan!”
After a moment of thought, Rei concedes, and the two separate to gather as many blankets and pillows as they can. When they reconvene in the living room, Nagisa expertly constructs a blanket fort, with Rei making them each a drink while he’s at it. Once they’re both ready, Nagisa turns off the main light and the two huddle underneath their fort, illuminated only by the torch on Nagisa’s phone, facing the roof of the blanket fort so as to spread the light around.
“Why do you think you couldn’t sleep?” Nagisa asks, nestling into a few pillows.
Rei hums, and since their arms are pressed together, Nagisa feels the vibration in his own arm. “It’s likely because I stayed up so late studying, don’t you think?”
“That’s true!”
“What about you?”
“I dunno. I was just thinking a lot. It was like my brain wouldn’t shut off.”
“What were you thinking about.”
You, he thinks, but he doesn’t voice it. “Oh, you know, just class and stuff.”
“Is it too stressful?” Rei’s face is painted in concern. “The university has a good network for stress therapy-”
“I’m fine, Rei-chan! Thanks for worrying about me, though.” Nagisa smiles over at his friend. “I just have an upcoming assignment that I’m looking forward to working on, that’s all.”
“I see.”
They fall quiet, sipping their drinks without any words. Though Nagisa loves to talk, and loves even more to hear Rei speak, the quiet times between them are also nice. If every night could be like this, he doesn’t think he’d have trouble sleeping at all.
(Although perhaps he would. Rei is certainly very distracting. And if Nagisa still has that sleep-talking affliction which his sisters teased him for when he was younger, that could possibly end very badly.)
Once they finish their drinks, Rei takes their mugs to the sink. When he returns to the blanket fort, he pulls a stray blanket over his legs, then passes the other end to Nagisa, who gratefully accepts the warmth. Of course, sharing a blanket means that their sides are pressed together once more, though even Rei doesn’t seem to mind.
In fact, he doesn’t seem to mind anything, right now. Perhaps it’s because his eyelids are beginning to droop.
“Tired?” Nagisa says, not bothering to hide his fond grin. Seeing Rei tired is rare, but he loves it all the same. Sometimes it reminds him of the times when they would hang out after swim club, and the tired Rei would try his best not to fall asleep on him, often failing.
Rei only hums in response, leaning back into the pillows behind him. His eyes flutter closed, and it isn’t long before his breathing begins to even out.
Nagisa follows suit, lying back against the pillows on his side, facing Rei. Though he’s not all that tired yet, it’s nice to see that Rei is getting there. He reaches over and locks his phone, cutting off the light in the fort, leaving only the shape of their silhouettes to be seen. Then, gently, because it looks like Rei has forgotten, Nagisa takes the red frames off of Rei’s face, folding them before putting them on the sofa behind them.
(When they had first made the blanket fort up, Rei had asked why they were sleeping on the floor instead of either of them using the rather small sofa. Nagisa had said it was part of the fun, though he was heartened by the fact that Rei tried to insist that Nagisa take the sofa.)
“Sweet dreams, Rei-chan,” Nagisa whispers.
Rei does not respond, and taking that as the cue that Rei has already fallen asleep, Nagisa closes his eyes, nuzzling into his pillow.
He’s already asleep when Rei turns to face him, brushing some of Nagisa’s fringe out of his eyes with the gentlest touch.
“Sweet dreams, Nagisa-kun.”
By morning, Nagisa is sprawled across Rei’s chest, with Rei’s arms wrapped around Nagisa’s waist in a warm embrace. Even when they both wake up, neither wants to move.
It’s all they can do to savour moments like this whilst they have the chance.