Red light

15. Desired partnership (Tobirama)

Sleeping next to Izuna was a dream.

I didn't know sleeping next to someone could be a dream. It had always been so mechanical to me. This wasn't.

We didn't have sex. We didn't even have a makeout session. We crept into bed after Izuna had borrowed my toothbrush, both of us dressed. I kissed him on the cheek, bidding him goodnight, and he fell asleep almost immediately and slept through the night.

I, however, did not. I spent hour after hour just watching him. His softly furrowed eyebrows as he dreamed. The curve of his cheekbones as he turned to lay his back. The glossiness of his hair as it stuck on his face. His softly parted lips as he breathed. I wanted to kiss him badly, but didn't dare to touch him; Izuna sleeping felt sacred, untouchable. I thought about how Betty had accepted him. Not only accepted him but trusted him, desired closeness from him. There was something about my girl choosing him over me on the couch that did things to me. It made my liking of the man even stronger.

I tried to sleep myself, afraid I wouldn't be able to keep myself away from him, but couldn't. Or, I must have because suddenly, two hours had passed, but as I woke up I was wide awake once more. I decided to get up. Betty was asleep in her corner, and I tried to be quiet so as not to wake her, made myself some green tea and sat down on my couch to read. All the while, I couldn't get the fact that Izuna was asleep in my bedroom out of my mind. I read the same sentence in my book over and over to no avail; I couldn't understand a thing. I finally must have dozed off again, because when I woke up on the couch, it was light outside.

But something else had changed as well. Izuna's light, soft body was pressed against mine. He must have woken, realised I wasn't with him, come to find me and gone back to sleep next to me. He had taken my arm and put it around him, or maybe I had put my arm around him in my sleep. I smiled, planted a kiss on top of his head. He smiled in his sleep, made a satisfied sound as he pressed himself even closer.

I hugged him close and went back to sleep in my couch next to my co-star.

"Izu... Hey, Izu."

Izuna, it seemed, liked sleeping. A lot. We hadn't gone to bed too late and it was almost noon now. I figured it was time to wake him.

He frowned a little as I called his name, hugged one of my cushions close.

"Mmm?" he said.

"Wake up. I want to show you something."

Izuna opened his eyes, and as he saw me, his entire face softened. I couldn't help but smile.

"You're real..." he murmured.

"Of course I am", I said. "Question is, are you?" 

I took his hand, and he looked down on our hands in awe as I braided our fingers, mine so much longer and thicker than his.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, looking up at me expectantly.

"Very", I said, which was true; the little sleep I had gotten had been of very high quality indeed. "Come."

He got out of the couch and followed me. I didn't take him far, just to my ceramics wheel where I had put a wet piece of clay. I jumped up on the chair, patted my lap.

"Sit", I said.

He smiled shyly, did as I said. 

From there in out, there was no talking between us. I put my hands on his shoulders, stroke down along his arms. I felt him shiver by my touch, which made me endlessly happy. Finally, my hands reached his hands, the palm of my hand to the backside of his, grabbed them, put them on the clay. I turned the wheel on so it started spinning softly. And gently, I guided his hands on the clay, shaping it with him, creating a smooth surface. I didn't guide him too excessively; I wanted the small imperfections created by his hands on the final piece. He was surprisingly relaxed in front of me, which made me smile. I leaned my chin on his shoulder, blew a strand of his hair away so I could see the what we were creating together.