#I’m still so normal | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

formerlyz · 1 year

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So I came across this post by @lera-draws and it is genuinely one of my favorite Buddy Daddies fanarts so I wrote a little fic based on it:

Sleepyheads

Word count: 2211

Fandom: Buddy Daddies/Kazurei

Warnings: None, this is pure fluff

For those who prefer to read on ao3

It was Miri’s idea to get the artificial fireplace. Her daycare had recently gotten one and for some reason she thought it was the coolest thing ever. She began writing letters to Santa asking for a ‘pretend fireplace’ for Christmas as early as October. In her letters she mentioned that she wanted one so that she and her papas could cuddle in front of it “like in the movies” together.

Kazuki and Rei thought it was so sweet that she always asked for things that involved the three of them spending time together. They decided to surprise her with it for her birthday, about a month earlier than ‘Santa’ would have brought it. The two of them could only afford a tiny one, but Miri’s eyes still lit up when she saw it. Even though it was small, it was actually a pretty good investment, as it gave off a decent amount of heat and didn’t use a lot of power.

After dinner Kazuki and Miri were a bit cold, so they changed into pajamas and snuggled up in front of the fireplace together. Once Rei had finished the dishes and changed, he turned off the kitchen and living room lights and went to join them. Kazuki picked up Miri and plopped her in his lap to make room for Rei on the couch. He sat cross legged next to them and listened to their conversation.

They were coming up with menu ideas for the restaurant that they were working on starting. Miri was making suggestions that a typical 6 year old would make (most of which included candy) but she was so excited that instead of turning her ideas down, Kazuki decided it would be fun to bounce equally crazy ideas off her. Rei chimed in every once in a while too. He had the most random ideas of all without even trying, all of which made Kazuki and Miri giggle.

After a while, Miri’s suggestions slowed down. She let out a big yawn as Rei and Kazuki continued to chat about the diner. She slumped forward and fell quickly into a deep sleep.

“I guess someone was tired” Kazuki chuckled. He shifted her so that she was leaning back against his chest. She mumbled something incoherent in her sleep, which made both of them give a little laugh.

“What do you think she’s dreaming about?” Rei asked.

“Who knows?” Kazuki hugged her close and rested his chin on the top of her head. “Hopefully it’s a good dream”

Rei nodded in agreement. He gently brushed her bangs out of her eyes “She needs a haircut” he said matter of factly.

“Yeah. So do you” Kazuki sat back up and ran his fingers through Rei’s undercut, which was growing out. Rei leaned into Kazuki’s touch ever so slightly. Kazuki noticed and smiled at his reaction, taking an extra moment to stroke his hair. He found himself thinking back to several years ago, the first time he had given Rei a haircut.

When they first met, all Rei knew was the grim profession he was born into. When he wasn’t working, he just sat in the middle of his living room and chain-smoked, surrounded by trash. However, Kazuki could see in his eyes from the moment they met that he wasn’t the cold, unfeeling machine he appeared to be, but a broken and lost man who needed help. Maybe it was because he needed a distraction from his own grief, or because he knew all too well what it was like to be so hopeless, but Kazuki wanted to help him in any way he could.

The intention was for Kazuki to just crash at Rei’s for a couple days so that he could deep clean the apartment, but once he was there he sort of just…never left. Making Rei’s place liveable was rewarding, even if Rei did just stand in the corner watching like a creep while he cleaned around him.

The first time Kazuki cut Rei’s hair was the first time Rei showed any sort of vulnerability with him. He had just finished chopping the matted ends of Rei’s hair off and had begun to section the rest when Rei made a noise.

“You okay? We can stop if you want”

“Don’t stop.” Rei mumbled, his shoulders relaxing slightly. Kazuki couldn’t help but chuckle. It was the first time since Yuzuko passed away that his smile wasn’t forced. He took his time sectioning the rest of Rei’s hair.

“Hey! You gotta hold yourself up dude.” Kazuki said with a laugh. Rei was beginning to slump forward in his chair. Kazuki put his hands on Rei’s forehead to try and ease his head back up, but he just continued to let gravity take him. “Come on, wake up sleepyhead” He grabbed the spray bottle and playfully squirted Rei in the face with it. Rei jolted upright and tilted his head back to look at Kazuki. He had an expression that Kazuki had never seen on him before: he was pouting. This man was one of the most deadly assassins to ever exist and was staring daggers at him, but Kazuki couldn’t help but snicker at the fact that he looked like an annoyed wet cat.

“I could kill you, you know.” Rei said quietly. Kazuki knew this, but he also knew that Rei wasn’t going to actually do anything to him.

“I know. But then you’d have to find a new barber.” Kazuki ruffled Rei’s hair. He grumbled but turned around and sat up straighter so that Kazuki could finish. He flinched slightly when Kazuki brought the clippers out, but his body language was still more relaxed than normal.

“What do you think?” Kazuki asked, handing Rei a small mirror.

“Looks like yours.” He grunted. It didn’t look exactly like Kazuki’s but the overall shape was similar.

“Yeah, but check it out.” Kazuki smoothed Rei’s hair back, exposing his undercut. “Now when you put your hair up this part won’t get in your face, it should keep you cooler too.” With Rei’s hair out of his face, Kazuki couldn’t help but notice how handsome he actually was.

“Huh…” Rei stared at himself, as if not recognizing his own reflection. After a moment, he gave a nod, which Kazuki correctly took to mean that he liked it.

The longer Kazuki was around, the more Rei relaxed around him: he willingly began speaking in full sentences, and would sometimes even tease Kazuki. After a while, he even began to try taking care of himself without Kazuki having to force him. Kazuki cut Rei’s hair about once a month. Through this little routine, he quickly figured out that Rei was very touch starved. Luckily, Kazuki was a pretty affectionate person, and was perfectly comfortable showing it.

He had made sure to start slow, not wanting to overwhelm Rei: A hand on Rei’s arm as he dragged him out to Yadorigis, tracing his fingers along Rei’s scalp when he cut his hair, or playfully bumping him with his hips or shoulders when they ran errands together. Of course, if he ever got the inkling that Rei was uncomfortable with Kazuki touching him, he would back off, no questions asked. Rei never did get uncomfortable though, he liked it, he just never knew how to ask for it. In the rare times where Rei tried to show affection he was very awkward about it, as if he was worried he would scare Kazuki and Miri away or do something wrong. Kazuki thought his shyness was incredibly endearing, and would always make sure to show his appreciation

Looking back to those days, it was kind of crazy to think how far they both had come, both individually and in their friendship.

“I’m glad Miri convinced us to get this” Rei’s voice pulled Kazuki out of his reminiscing. He looked down to see that Rei was mesmerized by the little fake flames.

“Yeah…me too” Kazuki just now noticed that Rei was wearing one of his t-shirts.

It must have gotten mixed up in his laundry. Kazuki didn’t mind, it looked good on him.

They continued to watch the fire in comfortable silence, the falling snow outside dampening the noises of the city. After a while, Kazuki felt the warmth and pressure of Rei’s side pressing against his. He looked back down at Rei; a bit surprised that he was initiating contact. Kazuki felt warmth in his heart when he saw Rei’s expression.

It wasn’t unusual for Rei to smile nowadays, but even when Rei was genuinely happy, the expression did still seem to take a conscious effort from him. It was as if he had to remind his muscles to pull his lips upward. Kazuki supposed that made sense, Rei never smiled until the past couple years. He wondered if Rei’s face ever hurt after he smiled or laughed for a long time.

Right now though, Rei’s smile was different. It looked completely effortless, almost like he was doing it unconsciously. He watched the fire through half closed eyes, each blink getting gradually slower.

One of Kazuki’s favorite parts of the past year had been watching Rei come out of his shell and get more comfortable around him and Miri. He was still a quiet person, but talked more now than he ever had. Rei now had the freedom to start actually exploring his hobbies, and whenever Kazuki or Miri asked a question about one of his interests he would start infodumping about it. Kazuki would intentionally ask questions sometimes just to hear the sound of his voice. Rei had also opened up to Kazuki about his past. Kazuki knew he had a bad childhood, but he had no idea just how much Rei had been through.

Despite the fact that Rei had opened up to them so much, there was still a small, constant tension that lingered in him: A part of himself that he was guarding closely even still.

As they sat in front of the fire though, it was like the last remnants of the walls Rei kept around his heart finally disappeared. He was, for perhaps the first time in his life, completely unguarded. It was…beautiful. Kazuki was mesmerized.

Rei either didn’t notice Kazuki staring or didn’t care, slowly, his head came to rest on Kazuki’s shoulder. Kazuki leaned his head against Rei’s, his hair was soft and felt good against Kazuki’s cheek. He continued to look down at Rei out of the corner of his eye.

‘God, I love him so much’.

Kazuki blinked for a moment at the thought. He was a little surprised, not because his feelings for Rei were new, but because he never thought he could let himself feel this way about someone again. He smiled. Without even trying, Rei had broken through the last of Kazuki’s walls too.

He wanted to make Rei feel this safe all the time. He wanted to give Rei the world, make up for all of the love he had missed out on as a kid a hundred fold. He wanted to make Rei smile. He wanted to make Rei laugh. He wanted to hold Rei as he cried and help him heal. He wanted to fall asleep with Rei at night and he wanted to wake up with him every morning. He wanted to kiss Rei all the time, all over, hold him tight and never let go. And he wanted to keep doing that for the rest of their lives.

Kazuki couldn’t stop himself from turning his head to the side and giving Rei a small kiss on the crown of his head. He lingered for a moment, breathing in the sweet vanilla smell of Rei’s shampoo. Rei made a noise, much like the one he had made when Kazuki gave him that first haircut all those years ago, and scooted closer.

‘He loves me too.’ Kazuki thought to himself. He felt giddy at the realization.

Not even a minute later, Rei’s body went limp leaning against Kazuki’s shoulder. He had drifted off to sleep with that smile still on his face. Rei, like Miri, had slumped forward slightly when he fell asleep. Kazuki chuckled to himself, he sometimes forgot that Miri wasn’t biologically related to them because she had so many of the same mannerisms as Kazuki and Rei.

Kazuki carefully maneuvered the arm Rei was leaning against out from under him and wrapped it around his waist to prevent him from falling further forward. He placed a hand on Rei’s hip and guided him back into leaning against him. Still fast asleep, Rei turned slightly, resting his leg on top of Kazuki’s knee and nestling his forehead into the crook of his neck. Miri felt the movement and shifted too so that her legs were on top of Rei’s and she was leaning against Kazuki’s left arm.

Kazuki hugged them both a little tighter. He was sitting in a weird position and was basically holding both of them up, so he doubted he’d be able to actually sleep, but he didn’t care. After a while his leg fell asleep and his back started to hurt, but he still didn’t dare to disturb his two sleepyheads.

#buddy daddies #kazurei #buddy daddies fanfic #kazurei fanfic #I’m still so normal #my stuff #z tries to write #my writing

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