A/N: Just... be warned, yeah? This gets stupid and fluffy reeaaal quick.

Stepping off the gangplank and onto Nikko's worn and battered docks felt like a breath of fresh air to Timor. He wondered, absently, if that had more to do with the island's natural assets, or if it was purely the strange sense of peace it gave him upon each visit. Perhaps it really was the latter, seeing as Raya seemed unchanged as she jumped down beside him, stretching her arms high above her head, her jaw hanging open in a loud, unabashed yawn.

She grinned at him, then, nudging his hip with her own.

"Ready to see the squirt?" she asked teasingly.

He merely nodded, sliding his hands into his pockets as he turned to lead the way away from the docks and into the silent, shadowed forest. Raya kept pace with him, offering up comments on everything from the sneaking wildlife to what she'd been up to with the rest of the crew lately. He paid particular attention to what she said about her training session with Lux, as she made it sound as though he'd gone all out on her - and yet she seemed unscathed. He had to guess that Lux had played into her desire to face him head on and had led to her to believe he hadn't held anything back.

He'd have to sort that out, once they made shore at the island their crew was currently camping out at.

They made it to Aoi's house in due time, and Raya enthusiastically flung open the door, announcing their arrival with her usual cheer.

As strange as the situation was, Kiyomi couldn't say she disliked it. After all, given the number of fights Aoi ended up in on a weekly basis, there'd been a handful of times over the years she'd seen him in such a state. Still, it didn't make it any more normal. For the past hour-- since his grandmother had asked her to stay with him while she went to the market to buy what she'd need for Aoi's favorite dinner given she always spoiled him when he was in such a state-- Kiyomi had dealt with a rather calm, and strangely affectionate Aoi. She'd never been quite able to understand how he could change so much with just little shot, but neither she nor his grandmother felt the need to tell him how he acted when in such a state given that they doubted he'd be willing to take the painkillers had he known.

So, she'd simply watched as Aoi'd switched between dozing and talking for the time she'd sat in the chair at his bedside. He was sitting up, his back cushioned by rather nice sized pillows, but given the amount of drugs in him this time around, he'd only stayed in a state of consciousness. It made sense, given that the local doctor had, had to open him up to deal with the bleeding his broken rib had caused. If it hadn't been for that, Aoi would have been perfectly fine. Well, minus the bruises he had.

The fight had been her fault, she believed. Her fingers brushed the gauze around her upper arm. Beyond that and the colorful bruise that'd flared to life on her jawline, she'd escaped mainly unscathed. It'd all happened when she offered to help the owner of a local bar cover the evening shift, one of Kiyomi's village friends having taken sick. She'd reflexively hit a guy who was a little too liberal with his hands-- Kiyomi's reflexes were that of a pirate after all-- and things had gone downhill from there. The man in question had been a bit too drunk and got violent easy. Aoi, hanging around despite his adamant insistence that he wasn't going to help her, had jumped in when a broken bottle started getting waved around. Unfortunately, many of the drunken patrons that night had been of the same crew, which lead to an all out brawl that Aoi had just barely handled with some assistance.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost missed the sound of Raya's greeting. Aoi, having gotten distracted some time ago by a book Kiyomi had fetched for him upon request, simply looked up with a knitted brow that told her he probably hadn't recognized the voice instantly. Kiyomi, however, darted from her seat the second it registered and down the hall.

"Raya-chan!"

Raya grinned, enveloping her sister in a fierce hug. They hadn't seen one another for weeks, what with Raya tending to her own crew and trying to keep them all from dying (with liberal amounts of help from Timor and Lux, obviously). She hated being away from Kiyomi for that long, but, well, it was always nice to have these little reunions.

Pulling back, she motioned to Timor with her chin, and he stepped up to her side, nodding a quiet greeting to Kiyomi.

"Aoi around?" Raya asked, lifting her brows in blatant mischief. "Timor's been itching to see him pretty much since we set sail a month ago. I mean, damn, I miss Zoro and all, but Timor's been pining, for Kami's sake--" She cut off in a rush of air as Timor's elbow made contact with her stomach, and she stepped back from Kiyomi to double over, arms wrapped around her middle, unsavory curses flying from her lips roughly.

Timor, ignoring her antics, tipped his head to the side as he looked at Kiyomi, silently asking the question Raya had already posed.

Kiyomi bobbed her head, gesturing back towards the room.

"Yup! He's reading," she announced happily, her thoughts connecting to the recent matter as soon as she'd dropped her hand. "Oh! I dunno if you wanna talk with him, though! He's on drugs."

As if her words made perfect sense, she beamed at Raya.

"He's missed Timor, too! Although, he won't admit it. He gets made when I ask," she added with a giggle.

"Drugs?" Raya questioned in a wheeze, straightening up even as Timor hurried past her, taking the now familiar route to Aoi's room without even a backwards glance. She stared after him for a moment, curiosity warring with concern across her features, before shrugging and uncoiling herself completely. "Er, mind if I ask what happened?"

"He got in a bar fight," Kiyomi explained, watching Timor go before focusing on her sister with a smile. "He's okay, but the doctor gave him something strong for the pain!"

Aoi, meanwhile, was mid-battle with his covers. His coordination was a bit off, so his attempt to follow Kiyomi had resulted in him failing to untangle the blankets that had gotten well tucked around him one of the times he'd dozed off. He managed to fix it soon enough, swinging his legs over the side of the bed with a wince at the faint pain that stirred in his torso, but his mind was more focused on the voices he'd heard. Which was how he ended up attempting to stand when he caught sight of Timor.

His face instantly lit up, his usual handle on his emotions quite... missing.

"Timor!"

Timor froze, only one foot over the threshold into Aoi's room. He'd meant to knock, really, but with the open door he'd assumed that Aoi would have seen him long before he'd reached this point. But the sight that greeted him stole his reason for a moment, and he simply stared at Aoi, bafflement pinching his features.

"...Aoi? What did you get yourself into?"

In the main room, Raya couldn't stop laughing.

After listening to Kiyomi's explanation of how Aoi had been acting while heavily medicated, she couldn't contain her amusement. At all. And she was damn glad that she'd convinced Timor to come along for her trip, because it would have been a shame if he'd missed out on this.

Aoi seemed confused for a moment, still-half up, before his features smoothed over as his mind managed to work out what Timor was asking.

"I got hit with a chair," he said. "It hurts. When did you get here?"

To him, the last part was most important, as reflected by the honestly happy expression he wore.

Kiyomi, meanwhile, was watching Raya's amusement with a grin.

"It's weird," she said as a conclusion to her explanation. "But it's fun! He's always really nice when he's like this! His grandmother says it's proof that underneath the brat there's a decent person."

As she spoke, she nodded for emphasis, missing the fact that her words were far from complimentary when really considered.

"A chair."

He said it monotonously, taking a few steps into Aoi's room and shutting the door behind him. He paused a moment, weighing his options, before slowly lowering himself onto the bed beside Aoi.

"That's..." Timor shook his head, deciding they could discuss that later. He was still blown away by the cheer on Aoi's face. "A half hour ago. Raya and I came to visit. We didn't know about your... condition, though."

Drawing in a breath of much-needed air, Raya grinned at her sister. She swatted tears from her eyes as she shook her head.

"That brat... you know what, though? This'll be great for Timor. He'll finally have his little boyfriend acting like a goddamn proper boyfriend."

Aoi, his actions not quite having actual thoughts behind them, just shook his head as he managed to somewhat stand.

"That's fine! I hadn't planned on being like this," he announced.

And that was where his not-thought-out-at-all-plan failed, his ribs not at all up to him standing, nor his legs, as he pitched forward and ended up grabbing onto Timor for support.

"Ooops!"

Kiyomi giggled.

"He will," she agreed. "You should say hi, too! He's like he was when we were really little! You might not get mad at him right now."

Raya snickered. "Maybe later, sis. Let him and Timor have some alone time for once."

Timor reacted instantly, sitting halfway up to cup his hands under Aoi's arms, holding him up. He frowned slightly down at the snowy-haired pirate as he gently eased him back onto the bed.

"You should rest," he said, mostly as a throwaway comment, as he figured that Aoi had been hearing that nonstop since he'd been injured. Timor gathered up the fallen blankets and spread them out evenly over Aoi's legs, smoothing them out as he considered how to best approach this unprecedented situation. "...are you in any pain?"

Aoi blinked up at Timor, as for him it'd seemed like he'd been standing, then was suddenly covered up again.

"Yup," he chimed, uncharacteristically honest. "But it's okay. It'll go away. The doctor gave me... he gave me..." Aoi's mind drew a blank. "... it always makes it go away when I get in fights."

Kiyomi nodded her acceptance of the matter, then without anything else to do, simply beamed at her sister.

"Want some tea?"

Timor took this in, running through a list of painkillers that caused such a volatile change in their recipient. He could name a few particularly strong ones that would do the trick, and decided that there wasn't any cause for concern, especially given that Kiyomi didn't seem surprised by any of this.

So he nodded.

"That's good," he said, moving to brush a stray strand of hair from Aoi's eyes. "You shouldn't get into fights if you're unprepared, though. Were you outnumbered?"

He wasn't expecting much of an answer, but he thought talking with Aoi in this state might be preferable to sitting in their usual companionable silence.

Aoi, a faint pink coloring his cheeks when Timor brushed away the hair, furrowed his brow thoughtfully. How many had there been again...?

"It was a whole crew," he announced unhelpfully. "I wasn't drunk though."

The words came to mind simply because when he'd been pressed for details some time ago, something about how alcohol and medicine sometimes mixed poorly, he'd been made to protest that he'd only had a few drinks at the time. Although, it was admittedly obvious to most who knew him that those "few" drinks had probably been what got him caught off guard enough that he managed to take a chair to the ribs. Even Aoi with his high tolerance for alcohol would have a bit of trouble fighting so many people in that situation. It might not have been so bad, but the bar owner always requested that if Aoi was going to drink, he give Kiyomi his guns simply because of how bad his temper could go off when tipsy instead of actually drunk.

Timor's frown only deepened as he listened to Aoi. There was a reason he'd come to hate being apart from Aoi for such long intervals, and it went far beyond his simple desire to be around the man. He trusted Aoi to take care of himself, of course, but with things like this, there was no preparation, and, well, Timor had been trained extensively to be able to tackle any situation - even weaponless, against multiple opponents, and with no expectations of a fight even taking place.

He could be useful only with things like this. So obviously he hadn't been around to help when Aoi needed it.

But Aoi, whether in this state or his normal one, wouldn't want to hear Timor lamenting his absence.

"You did well, despite the odds stacked against you," he said instead, ruffling up the man's hair affectionately.

Aoi beamed where he would have usually grown embarrassed and huffy.

"I thought so!" he announced. "I broke the kneecap of the guy who broke my ribs!"

Apparently, to him this was something worth more praise, because the expression he wore was rather expectant. After all, he'd gotten his hair ruffled, so that meant he could get more praise if he did more things right, or at least, that was something of the thought behind his rather happy statement.

Timor's lips pulled into a small smile.

"Impressive," he said sincerely. Taking in Aoi's eagerness, he experimentally pulled the man closer to press a soft kiss to the top of his head, then eased back to study his reaction.

Aoi's face flushed red, but unlike the indignant embarrassment that usually appeared, the action was met with a pleased smile on Aoi's end. He was definitely embarrassed, but he was also happy to have gotten the affection he was seeking. That said, he suddenly shifted over on his bed and patted next to him.

"That's Kiyomi's chair you were in," he announced, his mind shifting gears. "You should sit here."

"Should I?"

Timor, faintly amused, raised a brow in question before easily settling down in the indicated seat. This Aoi wasn't the one he was used to - but it was still Aoi. He was just as pleased to be with him as he was at any other time. Raya would call him bat-shit crazy for thinking like that, but he didn't care; he thought he might even prefer Aoi's prickly tendencies at times.

Now, though - he was content to enjoy the current Aoi's demeanor.

"Better?" he asked.

Aoi nodded, snuggling close despite how his ribs protested the movement.

"Much," he replied.

Confused, but content despite that, Timor settled an arm around around Aoi, running the flat of his hand down the man's back in large, soothing circles. He'd dealt with injuries like Aoi's before, and they were nothing to laugh at. The man must have been in considerable pain before the drugs took effect.

Timor fell silent, unsure of what to say. He wasn't used to lengthy conversations with Aoi unless something was wrong between them. This was uncharted territory for him, and he hadn't the faintest clue how to navigate it.

Aoi relaxed now that he was still, his ribs still aching, but much better than when he'd moved about trying to get comfortable. A happy smile laid on his lips, rather pleased with their current position.

"How long are you staying?" he mumbled, having settled his head against Timor's side when getting comfy. "You should stay a long time. I'm comfortable. You're a good pillow."

"Two days," Timor answered, without thinking too much on it. They'd planned to stop by today, then go off and stay in the rented out house that was usually vacant this time of year for the night. Raya didn't want to impose on either her sister or Aoi's grandmother, and Timor had no objections, so they'd thought it was the best course of action.

He paused, then added, "I'm glad I'm comfortable. I've been told before that I'm a bit too... jagged to be comfortable, though."

Raya had said that, then had it confirmed by Lux, who'd laughed while he spoke. Adriel had found it strangely hilarious as well, for reasons Timor didn't care enough to dissect.

Aoi shook his head, but didn't move from where he had it settled.

"They're wrong," he mumbled. "You're comfortable because you're Timor."

A fact that made sense in his head, although perhaps not as much to anyone who wasn't privy to his current method of thinking.

A smile flickered across Timor's lips.

"Thank you," he said, threading a hand through Aoi's silken hair. "That's nice of you to say."

Aoi just smiled happily in response, never moving from his comfortable state. The feling of Timor's hand in his hair was rather nice after all.

"You're welcome."

"Are you always this way after a fight?" Timor asked, continuing to smooth his hand through Aoi's hair. The man didn't seem to mind it; rather, he leaned into the touch, so Timor thought it wasn't a bad to keep doing it. If it made Aoi happy, then that was fine by him.

"They only give me this stuff when I get really hurt," Aoi admitted, his own way of acknowledging that his current feeling wasn't something he normally held. "It doesn't happen often. I got distracted, but you can't tell anyone that."

As he spoke, he put his finger to his lips in a shushing motion.

Timor shook his head.

"I wouldn't dare," he promised.

To say he was surprised by the depth of Aoi's change while on medication was an understatement. Timor had seen Aoi drunk before, and back then he'd thought that that was the farthest Aoi could get from his usual personality. But apparently there'd been a whole other level that hadn't yet been explored.

Evidentially pleased, Aoi dropped his hand back down, his head still tucked comfortably against Timor.

"Good," he mumbled. "'Cause it wasn't my fault."

"Why were you distracted?"

He wasn't sure what else to ask. Perhaps he didn't need to say anything. Aoi seemed content to lay with him. Still, he thought he might as well make the effort to make conversation if Aoi was this chatty. That, and he really was morbidly curious about the fight.

"Kiyomi got all bloody," he continued, hiding his face in Timor's shirt at the thought. "It wasn't a big deal, but reminded me of before. So I got distracted and got knocked down. Stupid alcohol bottle."

Before? He'd heard bits and pieces of the incident that had transpired when Kiyomi and Aoi were younger, the reason she wore her scarf all the time, but he'd never thought to press for details from either of them. Raya knew the whole story, and she'd offered to tell him; he just hadn't thought it prudent to know at the time.

He didn't think it was necessary, now, either.

"That's not awful," he said contemplatively. "It's happened to me before. With you."

Aoi's eyes widened and he cocked his head back to peer up at Timor.

"You get distracted?" he asked. "But you're amazing."

"I'm really not," Timor said automatically. He thought people like Raya were amazing - people who fought with all their heart, defying the odds, defying differences in ability to still emerge victorious. With Timor, everything was calculated from the get-go, and until quite recently, he hadn't taken on any opponent he thought he wouldn't be able to overcome through skill alone. "But thank you anyway. And yes, I get distracted. I care about you, Aoi; if we're in a fight together, half my attention is always on you."

"It shouldn't be," Aoi scolded. "If you get hurt because of that, I'll be upset."

Still, even to his drifting mind, that thought was an interesting one. The fact that even Timor could get distracted like that was something worth pondering over when his mind was actually able to put two thoughts together for more than a second.

Timor shrugged.

"I can't help it, Aoi. You're everything to me."

He furrowed his brow.

"Though I am sorry if you're ever upset with me because of that."

Aoi shook his head, a frown playing on his lips.

"Never! Only if you get hurt. Then I'd be upset. All other times it's okay since you're my everything, too."

Timor paused.

That... wasn't something he ever expected to hear from Aoi's lips, drugged or no.

Something warm bloomed in Timor's chest, and he smiled brightly, more so than his usual, blink-and-they're-gone smiles that Raya sometimes caught glimpses of.

"Glad we're on the same page, then."

Aoi stared up at Timor's expression with something resembling awe.

"You have an amazing smile," he said. "You should smile more. It's perfect."

"Perfect?" Timor chuckled. "You sound like Raya."

"Then you should listen to her, too," Aoi announced. "As long as you smile more. I could look at it forever."

His smile widened a fraction.

"If that's what you want, I'd be glad to."

Admittedly, he hadn't smile this much in... God, when was the last time he did this? With his siblings? It actually hurt a little, using muscles that weren't used to this kind of strain.

Aoi, apparently pleased, offered what had to be a much brighter smile than he would typically ever show.

"Good," he announced. "I'm glad."

And with that, he laid his head back down again, only this time ensuring that he kept it cocked back as to better keep an eye on Timor's expression.

Timor might have said something grossly endearing, but he was interrupted by a knock at the door. When he turned to look, there was Raya, grinning like she'd just won her own bounty, a hand cocked at her hip and her brows raised in a suspiciously teasing manner.

"Awww," she drawled, "the happy couple is snuggling. Damn, you guys make me wanna take a picture. I might just go ask Kiyomi if she's got one lying around!"

Timor rolled his eyes.

"You're not going to blackmail Aoi once he's sober."

"You're no fun, Timmy," Raya pouted.

Aoi looked between the two of them, his eyes settling on Raya after a second. Rather than ponder the matter, as his mind was having difficulty handling more than one thing at a time, he beamed at her.

"Timor's going to smile more," he announced, his tone rather matter-of-fact. "He promised."

Raya seemed to take in Timor's docile expression for the first time, and she nearly pitched backward from shock. Sure, she'd seen him smile on occasion - when Lux managed to coax a soft grin out of him, or made him laugh, or whatever - but this? Whoa, she was not ready for this.

She made a show of shielding her eyes, squinting as if Timor's teeth were really blinding her.

"Damn, Timmy, that's some smile you've got there... better not do it too often, ya know? Else you're gonna have tons of guys and gals falling at your feet."

Timor didn't think that was a likely outcome, and he said as much, to which Raya just laughed and demanded if he'd ever looked into a mirror.

"She's right, you'd be super popular, but it'd be fine," Aoi announced, furrowing his brow. Then he cocked his head back, a frown playing across his lips. "Maybe. I don't like it when other people like you." He paused, then smiled. "But as long as you're just mine, I still think i

Raya gaped.

Was this even really Aoi? Had he been replaced with some changeling, a sweet-talking child who was actually honest for once?

She flicked a glance at Timor, but the pink-haired assassin looked as lost as she felt.

"Aoi, you really like Timor lots, don't ya?" she ventured, ignoring the death-glare Timor sent her way in favor of studying Aoi's reaction.

Aoi nodded.

"I do," he announced. Then frowned, snuggling closer to Timor despite the way his body protested the movement. "You can't have him. He's mine."

On reflex alone Raya stuck out her tongue.

"Gross, man. He's like a brother to me. Plus I have Zoro! Why does everyone forget about Zoro?!"

"Because you don't act like a couple even when together, I assume."

"Shut it, Timmy. You and Aoi act like assholes to each other most of the time."

"True. But people seem to know that we care for each other regardless."

"...che. Stupid drugged-up Aoi..."

Aoi, of course, missed out on the majority of this. So, he simply stuck his tongue out at her in a childish manner.

"I'm not stupid."

"Oh, contraire, my tsundere friend," Raya grinned, her argument with Timor instantly forgotten. "You're quite the ever-loving idiot when it comes to feelings. And friends. Oh, and of course when it comes to Timor."

Timor had come to the conclusion that it wasn't the worth the effort it would take to fling a pillow at Raya's face, so he simply leaned back into the bed and adjusted the grip he held on Aoi. Aoi probably wouldn't remember any of this later anyway, so there wasn't much harm in letting them engage in a bit of verbal warfare. Besides, he doubted Aoi was capable of matching up with Raya's wits in this state.

"I'm not," Aoi complained. "Because I've got all of them!"

Apparently, his mind had made the connection that since he had feelings, friends, and had claimed Timor as his own, then obviously he wasn't an idiot on any of these matters.

Raya couldn't help but snort. This Aoi was muuuuuch more fun to play with than the usual one, if only because he was so inexplicably open with his responses.

"Doesn't make you any less of an idiot, idiot. You may have all that stuff, but that doesn't make you an expert with any of 'em." She paused, considering. "'Cept maybe with Timor. Kami knows you understand him more than any of us."

She flashed Timor a winning smile, which he returned, though with noticeably less vigor.

"We love ya anyway, big guy, just saying."

Aoi narrowed his eyes, a pout on his lips. At the same time, he switched from having his arms pressed up to Timor to wiggling one behind the man so he could hug him, very effectively clinging to him like a small animal.

"I said you can't have him," he complained. "He's only mine."

That settled, as apparently it needed to be said again following Raya's words, Aoi furrowed his brow, the pout still in place.

"I'm still not an idiot. I'm smart. I just don't like doing things people want me to do," he announced honestly.

Mock offended, Raya made quite the disgruntled face as she reared back.

"Timor? Me, like Timor?" She bit back a wicked smile, enjoying herself far, far too much at this point. "Actually, you know what? He's hot as hell, Aoi. Real smart, too. Great build... You ever seen him without a shirt on? It's a sight," she added, whistling high and loud for dramatic effect.

Timor, meanwhile, was considering all the intricate ways in which he could kill her without immediately alerting the crew to their captain's absence.

He had at least three working plans already.

Aoi bristled, which was about as threatening as a kitten in his current position. As was the small scowl that played across his lips.

"He's promised never to leave me, so I don't care if you like him, he's mine," Aoi announced, his tone rather proud. "So even if he is hot, you can't have him."

Somehow satisfied despite how his circular thinking continued to offer him that one line of dialogue, Aoi offered a smug smile at the finish.

Oh, Raya took that as a challenge.

Drugged up or not, if Aoi was going to so blatantly stake his claim, then she was going to be as irritating as possible.

She was great like that sometimes.

"Oh?" she purred, hooding her eyes as she drew up beside Timor's side of the bed. She may have loathed tactics like this in the past (Nami had used them way too often for her liking), but she'd since learned what a valuable asset they could be when trying to acquire information. So she'd added to her skillset. It may never have crossed her mind that she'd be using them for this, but well, fate was fickle like that. "Timor's not exclusively into guys, you know. We've talked about it before - alone. Who's to say I couldn't steal him from you?"

Six. Timor now had six working plans in which Raya ended up murdered by his hand without the slightest bit of evidence to indicate that was the case.

She had him there.

For a split second, his emotions wavered between dropping into a water-y eyed, "you'd take him from me?" and returning to his threatening-as-a-kitten anger. The anger, of course, won out. He wouldn't have been himself if it hadn't.

So, in a very un-him move, he mulled the idea over before pouting and sticking his tongue out.

"Cause you won't kiss him," he announced, that apparently being the final result of whatever strange thoughts had rolled through his drugged brain.

Raya bit her lip, hard, desperately trying not to smile and ruin her lecherous facade.

What an idiot.

Timor saw the intention on her face too late, and he couldn't risk moving to avoid her without jostling Aoi off the bed, so Raya let out a silent whoop of triumph when she suddenly ducked down and pressed her lips to Timor's.

This wasn't cheating, she reasoned. Zoro would probably find it as hilarious as she did. Besides, it was Timor.

For her, that was reason enough to condone this kind of behavior.

Aoi simply stared at her, mouth slack-jawed for a moment. An expression that quickly turned into something akin to a what a kicked puppy might look like.

"You... you... you can't do that," he whined, suddenly becoming water-y eyed. "I love him so you can't have him! It's not fair!"

Raya reeled back suddenly. It wasn't the tears - really, she'd been expecting the waterworks for a while now. But the hurt in his voice, and the sincere affection that colored it when he spoke about Timor...

Her heart ached. Damn did she miss Zoro right then.

"Damnit, you brat, making me get all sappy over this...." She made a show of wiping off her mouth and brushing the residue off on her jeans; Timor rubbed his mouth into his shoulder for much the same reason. Raya sighed. "This is very much not fun anymore. I'm going to go bother Kiyomi. You kids have fun without me."

No, she wasn't going to apologize. Let Aoi stew for a while. And anyway, didn't he and Timor have stuff to talk about?

She left the room without another word and without so much as a wave over her shoulder.

Timor almost groaned once she'd gone. But then his thoughts snagged on what Aoi had said, and his mood brightened considerably.

"You know she was joking, don't you?" he asked, albeit gently, running his hand through Aoi's hair again in a placating gesture.

Aoi, as one might expect, remained teary-eyed despite Raya's exit. This lead to him pulling the arm he had wrapped around Timor's front to rub at his eyes in a slightly aggravated manner, a bit of his normal nature surfacing with the action. After all, normal him would have never settled for anything close to those tears showing.

"Uh-huh," he lied. At the moment, he was having a bit trouble telling such matters apart, which was reflected in how easily seen through this lie was to his usual ones. "'Course I do."

It would seem he was pouting again.

Timor smiled softly.

"I love you, too. Only you, Aoi,," was all he said. Though he couldn't resist tacking on a nostalgic, "Brat."

"'M not a brat," he mumbled, pulling his hand away from his eyes to look up at Timor. "... but good."

That said, he narrowed his now slightly red-ringed eyes (he'd never be a pretty crier) as he studied Timor. Then, in an action that could be said to be half-impulse driven by his current state of mind, and half his usual, possessive and irritable nature, he shifted the hand that he'd been using to rub his eyes upward so it could catch the side of Timor's face and in a swift action, despite the pain it sent through his ribs, lifted himself up for a swift, "disinfecting" kiss.

Timor simply blinked, caught off guard.

Aoi wasn't known for initiating anything between them, and with Timor only feeling the need to when the occasion seemed to call for it, kissing wasn't a common practice for them.

But he smiled instinctively, because this was normal, wasn't it? This was how couples behaved.

Oddly glad for Aoi's off-kilter state, Timor laid a hand over the one Aoi still had pressed to his cheek and leaning into it, his eyes closed.

"Brat," he said again affectionately.

"Jeez," Aoi complained, but made no move to pull his hand away as he settled his head back into place at Timor's side. "I'm not a brat."

His usual protest said, he then looked up yet again, a frown on his lips.

"That was disinfectant," he added matter-of-factly. "Now you only kissed me."

"Is that so?" Timor asked, nuzzling a bit into Aoi's hand. "If that puts your mind at ease, then that's fine."

"Good," Aoi replied. "Because it does."

As he spoke, his cheeks flushed red. Despite everything, the boy blushed as easily as ever. Still, rather than his usual scowl, the pout had turned into an almost smile that played across his face as despite being embarrassed, he was rather pleased by the sight and feeling of Timor's affectionate actions.

Timor hummed contentedly, finally releasing Aoi's hand to lay an arm across his middle, stretching out his legs atop the bed. He doubted he'd be moving any time soon, what with Aoi having basically demanded that he stay, so he may as well make himself comfortable.

"Rest," he said to Aoi. "You need it. I'll still be here when you wake up, so there's no need to worry."

"Okay," he agreed easily, much easier than he usually would've. "As long as you stay right here."

That said, he pulled his hand back down so that he could tuck the arm around Timor once again. Then, he curled his face into the man's chest and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, muttering something under his breath about Timor smelling like the sea. Mentally, even as he was having trouble grasping at solid thoughts, his mind focused on the fact that he was really quite comfortable like this and quite content to never move.

He smelled like the sea? That was news to him, though it wasn't unreasonable given how often he was out on the open ocean. The irony wasn't lost on him, though - a man forbidden from going beneath the waves coming away with its salty tang clinging to him.

It didn't bother him, not if it made Aoi happy, but it was interesting all the same.

He tucked Aoi tighter against him, more content than he'd been since that first day he'd slept in Aoi's room - really slept, for the first time in what felt like lifetimes.

It was nice.

__________________________________

When Aoi woke up, his groggy mind having difficulty placing where he was let alone when it was or really anything else for that matter, two things were strikingly clear.

One, his entire body ached. It was as if he'd let someone take to it with a bat. His torso was the worst of it, a dull ache echoing from what he imagined to be his ribs. This, of course, started him off in a wonderful mood.

Secondly, he wasn't alone. A swear on the tip of his tongue, he dragged open his annoyingly heavy eyelids to peer at the person next to him. It was at that same moment that he realized more than simply sleeping next to the person, it was as strange a position as him having his arms wrapped around them.

"What the actual hell...?" he mumbled.

Of course, whether the words actually came out as coherent to anyone beyond himself was highly questionable.

Timor, only half-asleep, stirred instantly at the sound of Aoi's voice.

The man had woken up several times in the last few hours, but he'd drifted off again within minutes. Judging by the aggravation seeping into Aoi's words, though, Timor suspected that that wasn't going to be the case this time.

"Awake now?" he asked placidly, subtly removing his arms from where they'd settled around the snowy-haired pirate. The last thing he wanted was for Aoi to demand what the hell he thought he was doing. He didn't want to spoil the memories he had any more than strictly necessary.

His mind finally settling into some level of awareness regarding this matter, despite how slow moving it seemed to be at the moment, Aoi scrambled back on his bed, a hiss of pain escaping his clenched teeth. Still, the stabbing sensation that throbbed from his chest was worth it, in his opinion, to get him out of whatever the hell sort of sleeping position he'd been in.

"No," he snapped reflexively, biting sarcasm dripping from his still sleep-infested tone. "I'm still sleeping."

Meanwhile, his mind was spinning.

He'd been clinging to Timor? Sure, he was probably the best option out of the people Aoi knew... but still. Timor?

Timor sat up slowly, taking the opportunity to stretch out his arms high above his head. The resounding crack of his spine sent pleasant shivers down the length of him, and he rolled his neck as he considered what to say to Aoi. The truth seemed the least appealing option, but he always made it a point to not lie to Aoi - not about the important things.

This was filed under that heading in Timor's mind.

"Before you jump to any conclusions, no this wasn't a prank by the girls," he said, sweeping the hair off his forehead as he leveled another docile look at Aoi. He was going to have to do something about his hair, actually, now that he thought about it; he'd grown it out in some misguided, too-late form of rebellion, so perhaps it was time to let go of that childish dream and settle for something more practical. "You willingly slept next to me. I did nothing in the way of... seducing you, or anything as ludicrous as that."

Aoi took this in, still ignoring his body's protests, as he sat up, back pressed to the back corner of his bed. Despite his initial, rude reaction, he was more surprised, shocked, and embarrassed than anything else. Had it been anyone else, he most likely have been scrambling for a weapon. But, it wasn't. So, there was at least that calming factor added to the mix. Plus, Timor's initial words had removed several, unappealing possibilities from the mix.

Of course, these thoughts and emotions were all locked behind a well schooled, sour expression. He'd willingly slept in the same bed as Timor. It wouldn't be the first time, although the last time it'd happened, he hadn't been lying down and clinging to him.

"I wouldn't have imagined you had," he muttered, raising his hands in an attempt to do something about how his long strands frizzly hung every-which-way. He must have lost his hair tie at some point while sleeping, if he'd even had it to begin with. "I'll take it from your tone, you know what did happen, then?"

Timor shrugged, swinging his legs to the floor, planting his feet firmly on the ground before pushing himself off the bed.

"You were - how would Raya put it? - drugged out of your mind?" That sounded about right. "You weren't thinking clearly, obviously."

Great. That lead to some wonderful possibilities of what exactly his actions had been. Not about to budge from where he'd backed himself to, Aoi simply narrowed his eyes.

"How obviously, exactly?"

After all, until he knew the extent of what exactly he'd done, there was no way for him to know exactly people he needed to avoid, or just make sure weren't going to share the word with anyone else. Then there was the small detail of exactly how much he'd embarrassed himself in front of Timor to be described as "not thinking clearly."

"From what I understand, your brief bout of insanity didn't extend beyond this house. And most of what happened was with me."

The bit with Raya wasn't an important enough detail for him to mention. He'd make sure he dealt with her before she could begin her onslaught of teasing.

"You were more affectionate than usual. That's all. Nothing horrible happened."

Aoi scowled, mulling this over for a moment. It was then the fact that Timor had stood up also finally clicked for him. He debated, his foggy thoughts throwing back and forth what the most important matter was, before he finally settled on what to say.

"That's good, at least," he said then, like a child choosing to ignore something that isn't convenient to him, he switched gears. "What're you doing?"

There was a stark difference to the position he'd woken up in to the ones they now held. While he wasn't about to return to the previous one, there was a rather large matter of concern to be dealt with. Given that Timor hadn't seemed upset when he woke, he couldn't imagine that whatever he'd done to the man had been anything more than simply embarrassing, but the fact that he'd instantly moved away made Aoi wonder. He hadn't done anything that would upset Timor, had he? Hopefully not. Perhaps it was just Timor moving out before Aoi's temper woke up. Honestly, it was probably only the fact that his groggy mind was only now starting to clear that had him so calm, so it wasn't that unreasonable of an idea.

Still...

"Hm?"

Timor turned so that he was facing Aoi, head cocked in question.

"You're up," he said, simply, as though this was explanation enough. Realizing that Aoi wouldn't approve of his vagueness, he went on, "I assumed I was no longer needed. You're hardly scrambling to cling to me anymore."

He couldn't see Aoi asking for him to stay - not the way he had before. Maybe he'd want Timor in the room, or to keep Kiyomi and Raya from entering, but his job as a makeshift pillow didn't seem quite as applicable to the current Aoi.

Scrambling to cling to him. Aoi's face turned tomato red at the thought alone.

"Of course not," he scoffed, completely forgetting his initial agenda of preventing Timor from leaving the room. Kami, how was he going to live this down? "I don't cling."

"Of course not," Timor said, echoing Aoi without the slightest hint of mockery in his voice. He tilted his heads back towards the door. "Hence why I thought I should be going. Raya and I have to find where we'll be staying at tonight, in any case."

Aoi's scowl deepened.

"Why? You don't need a place to stay."

And that was about as close as Aoi would get to stating that Timor had no need to search for a place given that this was Aoi's home. Somehow, of course, it escaped him that most people would have extended the welcome to both members of Timor's party.

Despite the clear invitation Aoi was offering (well, clear to him, anyway), Timor narrowed his eyes.

"Aoi. A first mate doesn't leave his captain, on or off the ship."

Aoi pursed his lips.

"... ... Kiyomi has a room down the hall," was his only response.

"That's generous," Timor said, smiling a little, "but we've already decided that we're not going to impose on you or Kiyomi. Raya made it the one rule she was going to enforce once we docked."

Aoi frowned, rather put out. His behavior apparently pushed to the back of his mind for now, he shifted to the front of his bed to try and stand. Unlike before when he collapsed, this time he simply gritted his teeth.

"Where is she?"

Up until this point, it had yet to occur to him that demanding that she stay in the house would definitely earn him a great deal of teasing. It occurred to him at that second, however, and he knitted his brow.

"... nevermind."

Amusement flickered across Timor's features, having read the expressions on Aoi's face as they came.

"Yes, I doubt you'd want to deal with the implications of that."

He ran a hand through his hair and looked over his clothes. Wrinkled, as was to be expected, but he was due to wash them soon anyway.

"I'll be here, Aoi," he said after a moment. "On the island. For two days, at least."

He let Aoi make of that what he would.

"... oh. Okay."

Well, there was that at least. The matter of where Timor might be going settled, Aoi shifted where he stood, his hand rubbing where he now knew there to be a bandage under his shirt. He resisted the urge to pull it off then and there, given that he had a growing curiosity about what the skin beneath it looked like. Plus, he hated bandages, despite having them often enough.

The more important focus of his mind, however, was that it'd switched back to the position he'd woke in. To say that he was uncertain how to deal with that would be an understatement. If he'd been any less himself he might have apologized for his unknown actions. Apologies, however, weren't something Aoi handled easily. So, he simply stood there, awkwardly uncertain of what to do now that his only alternative option of discussion had been run through.

Timor noted the hesitation wafting off Aoi and frowned.

"Is something wrong?"

Hadn't they cleared up the more apparent misunderstandings?

"No," Aoi retorted reflexively. "Nothing."

Except a raging uncertainty about how affectionate he'd been and how exactly to apologize without apologizing for embarrassing actions that he had no idea how he could have committed in the first place.

Realization dawned on Timor, and his face went slack with surprise. Which, really, was a feat in and of itself.

"You did nothing wrong," he said bluntly, the filter he now relied on effectively shut off now that he'd surmised exactly what was bothering Aoi. "Didn't I say nothing horrible happened? And I haven't complained about how you acted while medicated."

Great. Now he was being reassured. Locking his jaw, Aoi dropped his gaze to his feet, stubbornly refusing to look at Timor as his cheeks flushed once again.

"But I don't know what 'nothing horrible' means," he grumbled, then pursed his lips. He hadn't meant to say that. Then, in yet another childish action his part, he dropped back into a sitting position on his bed, biting away any noise he might have made regarding the reaction of his body to the movement. "I'm going back to bed."

That's what injured people did, right? Especially ones who weren't sure what to do about... everything?

Timor drummed fingers against his cheek, his gaze flickering from Aoi's tense frame to the door. No sign of the girls, though he wouldn't put it past them to be camped out in the hallway.

"...the most embarrassing thing you did?"

He might as well tell him. Aoi was going to brood over it either way; the least Timor could do, he supposed, was alleviate part of the burden by informing him of why he was going to be embarrassed.

"You told Raya that you loved me, therefore she couldn't have me."

Those words worked like magic. Aoi's face instantly turned a brighter red than it had been throughout the entire discussion, his mouth opening and shutting a couple times, no words escaping.

He'd said... that?

"That's..."

He wanted to reflexively deny it as impossible, and he would have had it been anyone else, but even he knew that would be mean. Honestly, it also seemed a bit impossible to get the words out, but still. He wasn't that much of an ass. Still, left with no viable options of what to say, as apologizing no longer even seemed to be a remote option, he just stared at Timor.

He'd... said that? Had he even said something like that about the man in Aoi's own thoughts? He wasn't certain. The... sentiment, was there, certainly. Obviously it had to be given how he'd behaved the last few times they'd met. But... for it to actually be thought, or even be true...

"Oh."

That was about as much as he could get out about the matter, the heat in his cheeks not dying down in the slightest.

"If it means anything to you, I was rather pleased with what you had to say," Timor remarked, shrugging one shoulder carelessly as he turned towards the door again. He'd leave Aoi to sort out his feelings on his own; he felt he'd only be a distraction at this point, and Kami knew Aoi didn't need more of those when it came to sifting through his emotions.

"Oh. I suppose you don't need to know this, but..." Timor shrugged once more, glancing at Aoi over his shoulder. "You asked me to smile more, as well." More like demanded that he do so, but the meaning behind it was the same.

And so Timor offered a bright, soft smile, determined he'd live up to the promise whether or not Aoi remembered him making it.

Aoi's heart very well might have skipped a beat at the sight, his mouth settling into yet another, "oh," without the word actually escaping. Within a second he'd recovered, quickly schooling his expression as he coughed into his hand. If it'd been physically possible, his face might have grown even redder. He was rather certain it wasn't, however.

"I.. I see," he got out, peeking up at the expression again. Any other time, he would have stubbornly refused to meet Timor's gaze... but that smile. "Th-then... it's not like I'll take it back or anything."

"That's good," Timor said, still smiling, "because I had no intentions of going back on my own promise, regardless of your wishes."

With that said, he slipped out the door.