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For as long as he could remember, Shinsou had always had trouble with sleep. He could toss and turn for hours and only fall into a light, dreamless trance and wake up no more rested than he had been earlier in the night. Shinsou resented the dark circles that never seemed to leave the spot under his eyes that served as proof of his insomnia.
No matter how hard he trained, or how exhausted he was, Shinsou couldn’t just lay down and sleep a full 8 hours. It annoyed him. It left his mind with nothing to do. He would stare at the ceiling of his dorm room and think for hours, his brain awake and reflecting on every negative thing it could pick up on. Really, all he wanted to do was sleep.
Shinsou was not one to complain, but Kaminari brought out the parts of him nobody else was allowed to see. They were on the UA grounds, the yellow haired boy’s head in Shinsou’s lap, talking about nothing in particular when it came out.
“It’s not just the fact that I can’t seem to sleep,” he sighed, “but then I overthink and make myself stressed out and worried.”
Kaminari didn’t seem unreasonably fazed by the news. His eyes were closed, likely enjoying the warmth of both his boyfriend’s lap and the sun. He took a few moments before responding, and whether that was to ponder his words or not was unclear.
“Let me sleep with you,” He said. Maybe three seconds of total silence passed. Shinsou felt something catch in his throat, and Kaminari’s yellow eyes shot open. Shinsou could feel the gears in his brain whirring at the five words that had just left his boyfriends mouth. He probably looked a lot like those “.exe has stopped working” memes Hanta always sent to whatever group chat he was in.
“Not like that!” Kaminari stated, the tips of his ears slowly turning a beautifully bright red. “I mean like…cuddling! Soft hours! I always sleep better when there’s like another person there or whatever that’s what I meant I swear!”
Kaminari pulled himself up, yellow eyes meeting purple. The blush had spread from his ears to his face, and he waited for a reaction. Glad Kaminari wasn’t referring to, well, anything other than simply sleeping in the same bed, Shinsou’s brain exited “panic mode” and started to actually process everything that was just said.
It wasn’t like Kaminari being there could make his insomnia even worse, right? And if it worked, it worked. Pretty much a win-win, where Shinsou stood, so he agreed.
Shinsou knew he and Kaminari were almost exact opposites when it came to personalities. Where Shinsou was reserved, Kaminari was loud. Where Kaminari was energetic, Shinsou was relaxed. So in the time after agreeing to invite Kaminari to his dorm in order to sleep, Shinsou worried that his energetic goofball of a boyfriend would somehow be as spontaneous and loud in his sleep, and he would maybe get less rest than usual.
That couldn’t have been actually farther from the truth. It was maybe eleven or so, only about half an hour after Kaminari had crawled under Shinsou’s duvet and insisted they go to bed.
Shinsou was on his back, and Kaminari was basically on top of him, head on his chest, using Shinsou as some sort of pillow. His arms were wrapped around Shinsou’s torso, legs tangled, and the electricity user was dead asleep. He didn’t snore or move, just lay still and breathe in and out, his eyes fluttering every once in a while.
Shinsou couldn’t sleep. But not for any of the usual reasons. He wasn’t overthinking any mistakes he had made earlier in training, or thinking about any of the horrible things people had said to him. He was just in pure awe.
The christmas lights on the wall were on but dimmed, providing a soft illumination to Kaminari’s sleeping figure. He looked so calm and serene, and Shinsou couldn’t help but stare at his boyfriend with nothing but pure love. Kaminari’s figure moved with the up and down of Shinsou’s chest as he inhaled and exhaled.
Shinsou had this warmth in his chest looking at Kaminari right now, and it was something he couldn’t describe. It was almost like the first sip of hot chocolate on a cold winter day, a cat’s soft fur, the feeling of joy he had being accepted into the hero course, and his first kiss with Kaminari all packed together into his heart and Shinsou was so in love with this boy he was about ready to burst.
He moved his hand to Kaminari’s hair, playing with the soft strands. The black spot on the side of his head was an enigma to him. It was as soft and natural as the rest of Kaminari’s hair, and the lightning bolt design never grew out. Shinsou ran his fingers through it, and to his delight, Kaminari released a contented sigh against his chest.
If Shinsou could have kissed him right now, he would. But he didn’t want to risk waking him up at all. Instead, he continued to play with his hair, admiring how pretty and soft Kaminari was.
It could have been hours or minutes later, Sinsou couldn’t tell. Kaminari’s eyes opened, and he moved his head up to face Shinsou. He had this sleepy smile on his face, and Shinsou felt the most powerful urge he ever had in his life to just kiss it off.
“I thought the whole point of this was so that you could sleep,” Kaminari said, the words a little slurred since he was sleeping not even a minute ago. He moved his arm to pull Shinsou’s hand off of his head and interlocked their fingers before dropping them back on the bed.
Shinsou pulled their linked hands to his mouth to press a kiss to the back of Denki’s hand. “I tried,” He murmured, voice soft for Kaminari’s sake. “I can’t help but admire the prettiest person in the world when he’s sleeping on top of me.”
Kaminari’s reaction was instant. He pushed his face back down into Shinsou’s chest and emitted a low whine. “Why do you have to be so amazing,” He complained. Shinsou chuckled, a low noise that he didn’t get to express often.
The perfectness of it all astounded him. His beautiful, sleepy boyfriend cuddling with him, the soft lights around his room making it seem more like one of his touch-starvation induced fantasies rather than reality. Their hands were still held together on the bed, and Shinsou never wanted to let go. He couldn’t be more in love and more happy at this moment even if he tried.
Kaminari scooted himself up, using their interlocked hands as leverage, so that his head rested in Shinsou’s collarbones. His hair tickled Shinsou’s neck and he hummed, the vibrations sending a new wave of warmth throughout the purple haired boy’s body.Shinsou used the hand that wasn’t currently holding Kaminari’s to trace patterns into his boyfriend's back through the thin t shirt he was wearing. He felt Kaminari shiver at his touch.
“I know I’m like, stupidly beautiful right now, but you still gotta sleep,” Denki said into his shoulder, and Shinsou could feel the smile that went along with those words.
“I take back everything I’ve ever said about my insomnia. It’s amazing and I never want to sleep again as long as I live,”
Kaminari blew air out of his nose, and they laid in silence for a few moments, Shinsou’s hand running up and down Kaminari’s back. And that’s when it started.
Kaminari began to hum softly into Shinsou’s collarbone. It was a tune that Shinsou couldn’t place but he knew he had heard before. The vibrations weren’t uncomfortable. Instead they were warm and soft and cozy, and after only a minute or so, Shinsou felt the lull of sleep pulling at him.
Kaminari was still humming that familiar tune, their hands interlocked under the blankets. The room was comfortably warm, and full of the love Shinsou had waited so long for. He couldn’t deny sleep for any longer, and the last thought he had before closing his eyes to finally get some rest was of how much he was in love with Denki Kaminari. He couldn’t imagine ever thinking of anything else.