It was a late night in the Butterfly estate, almost everyone was already in their respective room asleep, even Inosuke was passed out on one of the three side-by-side beds, an ear-spliting snore let out with each rise and fall of his chest.

Meanwhile, two people couldn't fall asleep for an odd unknown reason. Instead they opted for cuddling, the smaller of the two crawling into his bed, shifting around awkwardly until he finally found a comfortable spot nezzled close to his body. They could feel each other's body give off a comfortable warmth kept only to them by the blanket covering both.

"Mmmn..Tanjiro..." A sleepy Zenitsu mumbled meaningly, arms lazily thrown over Tanjiro's shoulders as his head laid in his chest, honey eyes staring lovingly into the dark reds looking back at him. Moonlight seeped though the thin curtains and lit up the person infront of him in an almost ethereal radiance, just bright enough to make out any features of his.

While it was hard for the two to have an actual intimate moment with the obnoxious snoring of Inosuke less than 10 feet away, they made do. Ceritanly sneaking outside would be the ideal scenario; laying in the fresh grass and observing the twinkling dots peppering the night sky. However, Tanjiro knew better. He knew one, if not both of them, were going to pass out outside and the other had to sneak them back in, risking an ear-full from Aoi the next morning.

"Your heartbeat's fast again." The blonde pointed out softly.

"Ah- Is it?" Tanjiro asked in almost a whisper, chuckling the quietest he could manage. Thanks to Zenitsu's inhuman hearing, he barely had to say anything to get him to hear. A soft red dusted his cheeks once Zenitsu gave a small hum of affirmation, lips curling into a smile without effort. "Well sorry if it's loud to you, you can move-"

"Shsh. Stop that." He deadpanned suddenly, the sudden switch in mood caught the other a bit off guard. He almost swore he experienced whiplash. "That's nothing out of the ordinary, it always increases when I or Inosuke's around...it's kind of endearing..."

With now closed eyes, Zenitsu focused on listening to the faster than usual beating. It was never anything crazy nor concerning or even worth mentioning half of the time, yet that little aspect to Tanjiro was something he always looked forward to picking up on. He couldn't stop his heart from racing over something as mundane as them being around him.

Part of him bet even a quick look at him caused it to skip a beat.

The soft repetition was the only sound his ears caught onto at that moment, and it felt like all his pent up emotions and nerves melted away in that exact second. He felt soothed, comfortable, secure even while inveloped in his own world with Tanjiro, a sappy smile creeping onto his lips.

His thoughts were brought back by a hand running it's way through the fluffy yellow mess he called hair. The way Tanjiro was so gentle with it made him only want to hold his hand hostage there, to not let him leave and keep giving it attention forever.

"You always have a hint of peaches to your scent, are they your favourite-?" The burgundy-haired boy's question once again brought him back with a few blinks, question processing in his mind.

"Well where I lived with Gramps had alot of peach trees growing there." Zenitsu mumbled out an answer, reminiscing about his time spent in the middle of nowhere. "I guess from that I started loving them alot, so yeah."

"I think it fits you-! They've always had a honey-like sweetness to them, sort of like you, Zenitsu."

"...Are you calling me sticky?"

"Huh-Where'd you get that??" Tanjiro's puzzled voice quivered slightly.

"Honey gets all stuck to your mouth and it's so thick you can't get rid of it—"

To be completely honest he has no idea how to even begin to respond to that. It came so out of the blue nothing he had mentally prepared fit as a response to the absurd comment.

But that was just Zenitsu being Zenitsu, always throwing him for a loop when he least expected it. And he loved him for it.

"You must be really sleepy, I mean neither of us have slept that well recently. Plus, Inosuke stopped snoring so I hope it'll be easier on your ears."

Tanjiro's benevolent comment was enough to snap Zenitsu's head up and scan around. It was exactly as he said, Inosuke was now sleeping uncharacteristically silently, his iconic boar mask hugged protectively close to his bare chest.

"That's impossible. Inosuke?!" The blonde whisper shouted in disbelief. No way he of all people was hearing him - well lack there of correctly.

"It seems now's a good time to try to sleep again while the silence lasts." A yawn left his lips after his final words, the sounds of blankets shifting stopping once he found a comfortable position for the night with a calloused hand resting ontop Zenitsu's head.

One last mumbled sentence filled his ears, feeling the familiar fuzzy feeling in his heart return in a mere instant.

"Goodnight, Zenitsu,,,I love you."

If he hadn't felt like he ascended to whatever place was above, he definitely felt it now. His cheeks were quick to flush a bright red as he clung onto the other's chest, cluching the excess fabric of his outfit in his grasp.

Those words were something that he heard quite rarely, if even at all. So when it was said so genuinely, it struck him harder than it would for anybody else. Afterall all he ever wanted was a wife he could share fond memories with for the rest of his life...

And sure Tanjiro wasn't his first pick, considering he would fall under the "husband" category, but it was a simple difference that made no difference to him. It was the same feeling he longed to experience for so long, nothing seemed better to him.

Placing one last goodnights kiss to his lips, Zenitsu allowed the sound of his breathing to finally coax him asleep, murmuring his last thoughts from his sleep.

"Love you too, Tanji.."

Oh my god I– I finish writing something for once??? Yes it was Demon Slayer and yes it was Tanzen.

Was it kinda unoriginal? Extremely. Very much so, BUT I had fun writing these two so I don't really care about that!