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[flaredo]

"Heeey, you've reached Yang! Well, actually, you didn't reach far enough, 'cause I'm not here right now! But don't yang up! Just leave a message on this baby, and I'll get back to you soon enough, okay?"

[ Please specify VOICEMAIL, TEXT or CALL. ]

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[masakados]

[Snorting, Naoki slides that hand back around to her back.]

A charge, huh? That would make it more tricky to just ask you to be my pillow a lot...

[And he's rolling right along with it.]

[flaredo]

A pillow like me's gotta get something out of it, you know!

[ Okay, guys. Followed by an emphatic tap to the chest. ]

[masakados]

Guess there's no choice. I'll have to settle for right now until I save up.

[His hand tightens at her back and he leans in, tucking his chin over her shoulder, closer than before. He's not going to get any calmer, he reasons, this isn't because he likes her and wants to be closer or anything. But he can't act all weird or...

Realising he's trying to rationalise it to himself, he almost shakes his head, but just settles in instead.]

[flaredo]

[ Okay. Okay, she's got this. Naoki is just moving in closer because he's had a rough night, she's a good friend he trusts, and it's not like they haven't hugged or been this close before. This is just like any situation with any other friend who needed some good old-fashioned closeness.

Except any other friend wasn't this hot and tattooed and shirtless and emotionally vulnerable at times in a way that kicked her in the chest (well, maybe there were a few of those) and this isn't working.

She'll care later. For now, Yang's tired, Naoki's close, and she sighs under her breath, her hair brushing against his cheek as she nestles closer. ]

Tonight's a freebie. One hour.

[masakados]

[Naoki can feel his chest squeezing painfully (with affection, so much affection) when she nestles in after that sigh. He smiles softly somehow, though, turning his nose against her hair when it tickles his cheek.]

A freebie, huh... Lucky me.

[He closes his eyes.] I'll walk you home after that. [If he doesn't somehow doze off and sleep for more than an hour, at least.]

[flaredo]

I'll be okay, but I'll stick around until you're up again.

[ Yang's sleepy too, after all, but she'll keep an eye on him first. Just to make sure he can fall asleep. ]

... Can you sleep like this, though? Need me to move?

[masakados]

[Looking out for him again, Yang-- Naoki smiles into her hair, shaking his head slightly.]

You can stay just like this, though lemme know if you get uncomfortable.

[flaredo]

Nah, I'm fine-- Ruby and I used to sprawl all over each other. [ she can probably sleep in any position now. But she shifts a hand, just enough to lightly stroke the back of his head. ]

So for now... better dreams this time, Naoki.

[masakados]

[Naoki sighs as she strokes his head, settled by it even as he wonders if he'll be able to drop off just like that--]

Don't think you have to worry there.

[He says, in a soft voice. He's pretty sure there'll be no more nightmares tonight. Just a gut feeling, though.] ...You should sleep a little too.

[flaredo]

I will. [ SHE ADMITS IT. ] Just gimme a few.

[masakados]

[Naoki's shoulders shake with his quiet laugh. Well, so long as she will, that's fine. He thinks it might take him more than a few himself.]

Okay. [His eyes close and he tries to focus on his breathing, steady and slow...]

[flaredo]

[ She focuses then, almost reluctantly, on the feel of his hair beneath her palm as her hand moves, continuing to stroke. It really would just be easier if she could tell him, get it out of the way-- but people didn't always react favorably when you told them you liked them. And in Naoki's case...

No, it was probably better to wait and see. Tonight definitely wasn't the time, at least. ]

[masakados]

[At least the hand moving over his hair is relaxing him, though Yang might notice that after a few minutes... he hasn't gone that complete lax he did last time he fell asleep on her, even if his breathing's steady like he is sleeping.

His mental coaching isn't working as well as he'd like. Damn it.]

[flaredo]

You're thinking too hard again... [ and it's a soft murmur, because she can tell there's a lack of give in his body. Yang's honestly unsure what else it'll take to relax him, but she's definitely pondering it. ]

[masakados]

Who, me? [He tries for laughing it off even if her murmur makes the back of his neck prickle and he's sure his face warms.

He's trying not to think, honestly, but it's awfully difficult not to think of her like this!! Naoki's head turns a little so its his cheek's propped against her shoulder.]

[flaredo]

No, the other person using me as a pillow.

[ SO DRY. ]

Calm down, demon lord, I'm not going to bite.

[masakados]

[Don't be dry at him gosh--]

I'm calm? [He says that but haha don't touch his chest 'cause his heart's hammering. He adds, playful:] I'm just enjoying some biting-free relaxing.

[flaredo]

And totally not sleeping.

[ WITH A SIGH because gosh Naoki, you're being difficult-- ]

[masakados]

You can't rush these things.

[He's trying to sound worldly, but tightens his arms around her slightly, his hand rubbing absently against her back.]

[flaredo]

[ Friendship is sure making this hard-- but as his arms tighten, Yang actually relaxes against him. It's fine like this, she thinks. Aware of him or not, Naoki's the one who'd called her, and curling up like this is fine. ]

At this rate, I'm gonna crash before you do.

[masakados]

...So go ahead? [Naoki sounds like he's smiling saying that.

In a gesture reminiscent of when she was sick, he starts to stroke his hand over her hair. His fingers, combing through it leisurely, her hair bright against the dark tattoos of his fingers. Actually, if he does this, he finds it easy to let his focus drift.]

[flaredo]

[ There's a disgruntled mutter, because she was supposed to be helping him sleep, but apparently his fingers in her hair feel just as good as they had when she was sick and the muttering subsides fairly quickly.

Within a few minutes, he'll feel her slump completely against him.

Yeah, she was super sleepy anyway, don't judge. ]

[masakados]

[Naoki smiles wider at the disgruntled mutter (she's so cute when she's disgruntled) and shifts to accommodate her. When her emotions settle down and when her weight rests more on him, he exhales a sigh of relief, his fingers still combing gently through her hair.

He's tempted to do something stupid or cliche like kiss her hair or the crown of her head.

--but that's a bit too cliche. He bets people sleeping through that only happens in manga anyway, he knows he'd wake up. So he keeps stroking and leans his head lightly against her shoulder again, closing his eyes. He'll just open himself up to the sense and the indistinct emotions of her sleeping and let that lull him.]

[flaredo]

[ Hopefully that means he sleeps, since Yang will be conked out for around an hour-- or a little more, if he doesn't wake her up. ]

[masakados]

[Of course he sleeps-- in time, and undoubtedly a bit longer after Yang, but he sags against her, their bodies supporting each other. They might end up sleeping a little longer than an hour, though...]