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There’s nothing better than mornings spent in bed with the love of your life. Some would argue that, citing several other things that are subjectively better than waking up to find someone you care for deeply sleeping beside you. The euphoria of success, for example. Or, the gratification of finally finishing a project you’ve been putting off for months. Maybe even the joy that accompanies evenings out with cherished friends.
These people haven’t been through what Adam and Shiro have.
If you had approached them two years and asked the two of them what they desired most in the world, the answer you would have received would have unknowingly been the exact same: “to spend time in his arms again.” Something so simple that many take for granted was nothing more than a long gone memory of devotion between two men torn apart by the cruel hands of fate.
One ran forward in pursuance of a final moment of glory, the other fell back and glued himself to the spot in the name of self-preservation. After Shiro fell victim to fate’s trickery, Adam swore he’d mourn and move on. Shiro swore he’d find his way back to Adam and never leave his side again.
Only one of them followed through.
It was a long and tumultuous battle years in the making. When Sam Holt returned with news of a genocidal alien race hell-bent on destroying the Earth, Adam thought he was dreaming. Then Sam delivered the ultimate blow, the force of which shook Adam to his very core: Takashi was alive, fighting to save Earth along the four missing cadets that had vanished one morning. Adam was part of a team of skilled technicians who worked tirelessly to strengthen Earth’s defenses piece by piece before advancing on to train the MFE pilots that would go on to fight alongside the Paladins to liberate Earth from Sendak’s reign of terror. Then came his time to fly directly into danger, taking part in a devastating loss to Earth’s defenses.
Adam doesn’t remember dying, but he does remember the sterilized smell of the hospital where he woke up with half of his body horrifically burned. His reunion with Shiro was bittersweet; Takashi looked so different, with hair the color of starlight and his right arm replaced with a floating glowy meatloaf of a thing. Recovery was a difficult and painful process filled with skin grafts and morphine drips, Shiro staying by his side until Adam was well enough to be discharged. When that time came, Adam kissed Shiro senseless and made him promise to never leave again.
The war wasn’t over and there was more trouble to come, but after finally being reunited they cherished their time together, grateful that they were lucky enough to be given a second chance.
After the chaos wound down and the universe was finally at peace for the first time in over ten thousand years, Adam got on one knee and declared that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Shiro by his side. Such a glorious feat, Adam liked to boast, I finally got the restless Takashi Shirogane to settle down. And settle down they did. Shiro returned to the Garrison to take the position as a professor after declining the opportunity to become a galactic ambassador, saying that now that he was given a second chance, he wanted to finally take the break he knew he deserved. Adam couldn’t have been more elated.
Now, years after the final victory that cemented the promise of liberty, Adam and Shiro like to spend their mornings together, just like they did before the Kerberos mission. Shiro always wakes up before Adam, but rather than slip out of bed to start his day he waits for his husband to rise. A strong arm wraps around Adam’s waist, fingers caressing the soft skin of his hip. He stirs beneath the touch, alert but not ready to open his eyes. “Takashi...” he murmurs, cursing his love’s status as an early riser.
Shiro smiles softly and brushes his lips against the back of Adam’s neck, humming, “good morning.” Adam groans in response, and Shiro chuckles airily against his neck, watching a wave of goosebumps pimple Adam’s skin. Another kiss is placed in the inviting divot where Adam’s neck meets his shoulder, a feather-light touch to the uneven scarring. “Sleep well?”
“I would sleep even better if you stopped waking up with the sunrise,” Adam sasses, turning around in defeat. Shiro simply grins at him, as if ignorant to Adam’s annoyance with his waking up early. Adam sighs wistfully and leans in to kiss Shiro, holding his hand to the warm expanse of his cheek. They share another kiss almost as soon as they part, both men smiling blissfully. “I slept great Takashi, how about you?”
“I always sleep well when I’m by your side,” Shiro reminds him pointedly, resting his hand securely on Adam’s hip. Before arriving home, Shiro was a chronic insomniac. Despite his plentiful energy and innate ability to appear more awake than everyone around him, he hardly slept more than five hours each night, occupying his free time with strategizing and worry. The same was true during their battle on Earth, but it was a topic he refused to bring up to the others for fear that they would insist he rest some more in their impossibly infrequent free time. Things changed when Adam was allowed to leave the hospital; Shiro had invested in the most comfortable bed the Garrison could provide him, and the first night spent in bed with Adam yielded the best night’s sleep Shiro had in years.
“You’re always so cheesy in the morning,” Adam admonishes playfully, brushing Shiro’s fringe from his eyes. He wears the look of a smitten man, tired eyes shining with captivation. “God, Takashi, you’re stunning.”
Mirroring Adam’s enchanted expression, Shiro takes Adam’s hand and kisses his palm before holding his hand to his chest. “Not as stunning as you.” Thumpthumpthump. Shiro’s heart flutters away beneath Adam’s fingertips, tangible proof that this is very much real and isn’t some sort of trick, a hopeful daydream from the mind of grieving man. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I ask myself that every day.” Adam believes in a lot of things. Tea being an effective cure for morning grogginess, the existence of forces far beyond anyone’s comprehension, the presence of luck brought by a ladybug. However, there is nothing he believes in more than the power of fate and how it works in tricky ways. Fate brought his Takashi back to him, another chance given as a reward for his resilience. That’s what he likes to believe, anyway.
Shiro drops Adam’s hand and pulls him in by his hip, wanting nothing more than to be chest to chest with the man he fought so hard for. His arm finds its way around Adam’s waist once more. Neither of them plans to move and begin their day yet, instead content with keeping each other close. Adam’s warm breath fans out against Shiro’s neck, and his own arm reaches out. Resting his chin on top of Adam’s head, Shiro feels a hand rest on the small of his back. He hums, “we should probably get up, we promised the others breakfast.”
“I promised them breakfast, you promised to stay out of my kitchen,” Adam corrects, lips brushing against the pale skin of Shiro’s throat with each word and sending pleasant little shivers up Shiro’s spine. “It’s still too early, Takashi. We can rest a little while longer.”
“It’s not as early as you think, Adam. I woke up a little later this time.”
“Too early.”
“Adam.”
“Takashi.”
They lie together for a while longer, too engrossed in each other’s warmth to care about the passage of time around them. They entangle their legs together and just breathe, quietly thanking the universe once again for the opportunity to spend their mornings like this. An aura of peace emanates from their bodies, two forms lying as one, quiet. Eventually, Shiro sighs and kisses the top of Adam’s head, “come on, we need to get up.”
“One more kiss?” Adam asks hopefully, tilting his head back to kiss the underside of Shiro’s jaw. They meet halfway for a tender kiss, one that quickly turns deep and passionate. Shiro’s hold on Adam is firm, but not firm enough to stop Adam from rolling on top of him and pressing him flat against the mattress. They’re breathless when they finally part, Adam gazing down at his husband with reddened lips.
Shiro holds Adam’s hip again, meeting Adam’s eyes with the most delighted of smiles, “I’ll never get used to this view.”
“Neither will I,” Adam answers honestly, cupping Shiro’s cheek and smiling softly. “Beautiful...”
“Not nearly as beautiful as you,” he retorts, his thumb moving back and forth against Adam’s hipbone. With a turn of his head, his lips find Adam’s palm again. Above him, Adam shudders. “Do you want to shower first?”
“We could... save time and shower together,” Adam suggests with a sultry smirk.
Shiro swallows, tempted but aware of the time, “as good as that sounds, we both know what will happen if we do that.”
Adam’s expression slips from suggestive to feigning innocence. He knows. “Some other time, then. Will you put the kettle on for me?”
Adam never has to ask, for Shiro, despite his frequently expressed dislike of tea, always puts the kettle on for Adam when he starts the coffee maker in the morning. It’s a simple enough gesture, but the action is just another one of the little things Shiro does to express his love. “Of course, I will.” They share another kiss, chaste and quick, showing enough self-restraint to not let it go further. “Oh, and Adam?”
"Yes?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Takashi.”