Work Text:
They’re in a group the first time it happens. Hiromi invites Kojiro, Kaoru, Reki, Langa, and Miya over for dinner, intent on showing them that he has just as much skills in the kitchen as Kojiro does. Of course, nobody agrees with him, but they still all get a free dinner out of it, and who’s going to complain about that?
It’s a rare moment for everyone to relax, cracking jokes at Hiromi’s and Kojiro’s expense. Kaoru’s the first to announce that he thinks Hiromi could run Sia la Luce better, stating that Hiromi’s business sense is better than Kojiro’s. It makes… well, at least Kaoru laugh, a loud laugh that bubbles from deep in his core and wracks through his whole body. Kojiro tries to argue his annoyance, while the rest roll their eyes.
Reki turns to thank Hiromi for the food, when there’s a soft thump sound behind him. He and the others turn back, to see Kaoru on the couch, half-sitting and half-laying down, eyes closed.
“Is he okay?” Hiromi asks, quickly standing up before Kojiro just puts a hand on his shoulder to sit him back down.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kojiro shrugs. “He’s just got narcolepsy.”
The others stare, and Kojiro realizes that he has to explain Kaoru’s condition to them- that sometimes he’ll just pass out asleep, especially if he laughs like that. The others are uneasy until Kaoru wakes up, embarrassed and insisting on not being fretted over. It’s easy for them to forget, but not Hiromi.
Because it’s the first time Kaoru fell asleep on his couch.
~*~
When it happens next, it’s just Kaoru and Hiromi in his apartment. Kaoru sits on the couch, watching a movie with Hiromi after Kojiro had to cancel on the trio’s hang out night. It’s fine, Hiromi was (secretly) more excited to see Kaoru, anyway.
It doesn’t help that Hiromi picked probably the most boring movie in history. It was supposed to be some action flick, but so far there’s been not even one explosion. He’s not sure if it’s so boring that it bores Kaoru to sleep, if Kaoru had that much work today, or if it’s the narcolepsy, but about halfway through the movie, Kaoru is falling asleep on Hiromi’s shoulder. Hiromi is stiff and still, trying not to unsettle the man and disturb his sleep. It’s… beautiful, watching the normally disapproving face soften into something gentle and open.
Kaoru’s surprisingly cute, Hiromi realizes.
Gingerly, Hiromi reaches out and runs a hand through Kaoru’s hair, just to feel how soft his tresses are. It’s… so soft. Hiromi is mesmerized, staring at Kaoru with his mouth open as he tries to even form real thoughts in his head.
He loses track of time like this, and soon the movie is over, and Kaoru’s nap ends. Kaoru blinks, rubbing his eyes slowly as he comes to terms with the situation around him.
“That was an interesting movie,” Kaoru lies, acting as if he wasn’t just sleeping, and to keep Kaoru from knowing the truth, Hiromi plays along.
“My favorite,” Hiromi whispers, standing up and pretending like he hadn’t spent most of the movie holding Kaoru close to him.
It’s the moment that Hiromi can’t deny his crush on Kaoru anymore.
~*~
After the movie Kojiro bailed on, Hiromi can’t help but try to find reasons for Kaoru to come over without his best friend. It’s not that Hiromi hates Kojiro, not by any means, but he just wants to spend more time with Kaoru, to see if he’ll fall asleep and give Hiromi a chance to touch his hair again.
His prayers are answered when Kojiro gets another emergency at work and has to ditch their plans for dinner. Hiromi offers to cook, instead, in hopes that Kaoru will still come over, and it works. The two are settled on the couch with tacos that Kaoru eyes disdainfully.
“What the hell is this?” Kaoru snorts as he looks at the messy dish.
“It’s tacos,” Hiromi explains, laughing when Kaoru picks up a pair of chopsticks. “That’s not going to work.”
“Obviously it’s not going to work,” he rolls his eyes. “How do you even eat this? It’s such a… such a mess.”
“With your hands,” Hiromi explains. “I don’t know, they’re popular… somewhere. I don’t remember. But Joe was showing me how to make them and-”
“Of course, Kojiro would teach you this monstrosity,” Kaoru sighs. “It’s not like I don’t know what a taco is, you know. I just refuse to eat something so dreadfully messy.”
Hiromi frowns, and something about his face breaks Kaoru’s will. With a shake of his head, Kaoru picks up the taco and takes a bite. It’s… not as awful as he expected. Delicious, if he’s being honest, despite the mess. The conversation flows as easily as the tacos do, but the exhaustion of Kaoru’s work makes his eyelids heavy.
No matter how much effort he put into staying clean and awake, Kaoru ended up asleep, with a smear of salsa across his cheek. Hiromi smiles to himself, staring at the salsa and wondering if it’s too far, too much.
With a deep breath, telling himself it’s okay, Hiromi leans in and licks the salsa off Kaoru’s cheek, reveling in the way his skin tastes. It’s soft and smells slightly of flowers, and despite the salsa it tastes almost floral, as well.
He doesn’t run his hands through Kaoru’s hair this time, being too focused on cleaning up, but he’ll never forget that taste.
~*~
“I don’t get how he can just sleep through this,” Miya comments off-handedly as he watches Kaoru sleeping on the couch. Hiromi was holding a large party at his place, and inevitably, Kaoru ended up passing out on his couch once more.
“I wish I could sleep like that,” Reki sighs. “Like a hibernating bear.”
“I don’t think Cherry would like being called a bear,” Langa points out.
“Or Cherry,” Kojiro reminded them, only because Kaoru wasn’t awake to defend himself. “He’s getting his meds adjusted, there’s not much to be done about the sleeping.”
They give up after a while, going back to the party and letting Kaoru rest- but Hiromi doesn’t give up. He mingles, talks to people, acts like a good host- everything that’s expected of him. But he doesn’t take an eye off Kaoru, watching him and wondering what he could get away with.
Could he kiss the man? Certainly not with people around, but what if Kaoru slept through the whole party?
Unfortunately, Kaoru wakes up, and Hiromi has to pretend he wasn’t watching his sleeping beauty. But Kaoru’s acting like he’s acutely aware of Hiromi’s thoughts, watching Hiromi as much as Hiromi watches him.
When everyone leaves, Hiromi waits to see if Kaoru stays behind. He does, but only long enough to tell Hiromi that he’ll be over the next day- alone.
~*~
Kaoru’s stare is intense. It makes Hiromi feel much smaller than he is, and he’s sure Kaoru’s going to say something about all the staring, about the inappropriate touching, about everything. Kaoru even has that frown on his face that’s both stern and serious.
“I’d like to ask you out,” Kaoru says, after a long amount of silence hovers uncomfortably between them. “You are, of course, allowed to reject me; in fact, I’m prepared for this option. Still, I’d like to express my intentions to you, anyway.”
“I- what?” Hiromi blinks, not expecting Kaoru’s words. “I… has anyone told you that you’re really scary, by the way?”
“I see,” Kaoru murmurs, like this is news to him, or like he’s trying to process what Hiromi says as a response to his question and- shit! Hiromi needs to correct himself before Kaoru leaves.
“I didn’t mean it- I mean I meant that, but I didn’t mean that as an answer. I just… I really like you, but you’re kind of scaring me right now. I thought you were going to kill me or something,” Hiromi waves his hands wildly and apologetically.
Kaoru’s face softens slightly, but it doesn’t seem like it’s on purpose, just a natural response to hearing that Hiromi likes him. “I like you, too,” he says. “I’m still interested in asking you out.”
“I- wait, yes, of course, I want that,” Hiromi stumbles nervously over his words, before grabbing Kaoru’s hands. “Let’s do that. You know, date, and stuff.”
He swears he sees Kaoru blushing, eyes darting away quickly. Hiromi can’t help but smile at the sight.
“There’s something you should know,” Kaoru tells him, just as nervous as he was earlier. “I have narcolepsy.”
“I’ve… noticed,” Hiromi answers with a laugh. “You’ve fallen asleep here a few times.”
“I’m sure it’ll happen again,” he frowns, curling into Hiromi when Hiromi opens his arms for it. “It’s been a long day.”
Hiromi allows himself to stroke Kaoru’s hair this time while the man is awake, and he’s shocked that Kaoru doesn’t bite his hands off. “Want to watch a movie?” he offers, and Kaoru nods, allowing the movie to ease them both of their nervous energy.
When it’s over, Hiromi nudges Kaoru gently to wake him up. “Hey, want to come to my bed?”
“I’d love to,” Kaoru agrees, following Hiromi to sleep in his bed for once.