Seeing Through the Trauma

Family is Complicated (33)

MK didn't remember falling asleep. He remembered the sound of the TV in the background fading out as he listened to the rhythmic beating of the boy under him's heartbeat. He remembered the smell of spice and campfire as he rested on his boyfriend's chest and he remembered the feeling of arms wrapped around him loosely, fingers trailing circles into his skin absentmindedly and lulling him to sleep. 

When he woke, he woke to the same smell, the scent soothing. He woke to the sound of a heartbeat and soft breathing and arms wrapped around him, one hand using fingers to dance across the skin by his stomach where his shirt had ridden up in the night and one hand resting nearby. 

He could feel his tail curled around something but didn't bother to look, the chest under his head more comfortable than any pillow he'd laid on and part of him considered going back to sleep. 

"Hey, morning Starlight. You awake?" Red, voice soft like flutters asked and MK made a noise, a confused 'I just woke up and am confused noise' that Red laughed at gently, the movement rattling his chest and distrubing MK who was resting on it. He grumbled in annoyance and cracked his eyes open to pout at him, tilting his head up only to immediately see the softest look directed at him. Red was watching him with the most tender look on his face, lips quirked into a loving smile that had MK's heart thumping in his chest, cheeks warming under such a gaze.

It felt like too much, the urge to duck his head and hide hitting him but he ignored it, smiling up at his lover instead and ignoring the little butterflies swarming in his stomach when the hand on his hip tightened at the action. 

"I am now." He said, voice still rough from sleep and he could hear Red swallow, thumb pressing into his hip softly while MK placed his hands on Red's chest. 

"How'd you sleep?" Red asked, tone quietly mindful of his sensitive hearing and MK smiled, tail curling around Red's like a coil, eyes opened lazily in the morning golden glow. 

"Really good actually, I should sleep with you more often." He joked and Red's eyes glinted, hands holding him with a soft squeeze. 

"You should." There was a purr in his tone, a deep rumble that made MK feel fuzzy on the inside, lighting up with a pleased grin. 

"Have you been awake long?" MK asked curiously, wondering mindlessly what the time was but not moving to check as Red shook his head. 

"Nah. Not that long." He told him, started up the soft circles with his thumb on MK's hips again and MK leaned into the feeling, eyes fluttering shut for a moment lazily. 

"Oh. Good. I'd feel bad if you'd been awake, bored for ages."   

"I wasn't bored." Red retorted quickly, and MK snorted, playing absentmindedly with the boy's shirt at the sweet implication when all he'd been doing before MK had woken up was watch him. 

Despite the warm welcome to the day, MK's mind still lingered annoyingly on the previous day and the conflict, flickering back to his Baba's face and the way they'd argued. He frowned at the memory, glancing back to Red's neck to see the ring of faint bruises there and souring even further at the sight. 

"I don't want to talk to him today," MK complained with a low whisper and Red moved one hand to cup MK's cheek, tilting his head upward so he was staring his boyfriend in the eyes rather than at the ring of smattered bruises.

"Relax, love. They don't require our attention immediately. We have all morning to spend however we like." He said, understanding and sweet, and MK smiled, resting his face into the warm hand on his cheek and leaning on it with a little sigh. 

"Then I'd like to spend it here with you." He muttered softly, mind once again going soppy and foggy as he focused on the feeling of the boy's warm body under his, little movement from his thumb on his hips sending flutters down his stomach and their entwined tails making his heart sing. He could easily stay like this forever, cuddled close and listening to the peaceful sound of his lover breathing.