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The first thing Naib felt when he woke up was something soft underneath him. It didn't feel like his mattress, and it didn't normally make any strange noises either. Still completely sleepy, it took Naib a moment to realise that the very soft mattress was his boyfriend's chest and the strange sound was Eli's rhythmic heartbeat.
Naib wanted to open his eyes and say good morning to him, but his eyelids felt too heavy. The warmth radiating from the other and the sense of security he felt made him feel as if he were wrapped in cotton.
Naib exhaled deeply and snuggled a little closer to his boyfriend, he could lie there forever.
After a while, he felt Eli gently stroking his hair. “I love you Naib...” Eli whispered softly. He didn't realise that his boyfriend had been awake for a long time, but simply didn't feel like moving. So Naib continued to lie there with his eyes closed and listened to his boyfriend talk. “You have such beautiful hair, it's so soft...” Naib had to suppress a grin, Eli himself still sounded a little sleepy, which is why there was a short pause after each sentence.
“Sometimes I think about letting my hair grow, but if I block the shower drain with my hair like you and Aesop do, Norton will probably kill me...” Inwardly, Naib agreed with him. Whenever it was Norton's turn to clean the bathroom, he could be heard swearing and gagging as he cleared the drain.
“Speaking of Norton, when we go grocery shopping later, we'll have to remember to buy his weird coffee.” Naib would do his best to remember, Norton only drank a certain kind of coffee and if it wasn't available, he was in a bad mood. Eli took a strand of hair and wrapped it around his finger, "Oh and I'll have to ask Aesop if he needs anything. I'm sure he'll say no again because he always does, but I'll just bring him his favourite chocolate. I don't want him to feel left out." Eli always took care of the others, that was one thing Naib loved so much about him.
The position Naib was lying in was slowly becoming uncomfortable, his neck felt stiff, but he was determined to keep listening to Eli. He also liked it when his boyfriend stroked his head, it was very soothing.
Eli sighed deeply and hugged Naib tighter, “I really love you so much...By the way, there was a very cute bird outside the window earlier, not Brooke though, she's cuter and probably keeping Aesop company...oh, that reminds me, I have to call Luchino back later.” Eli's sudden mental leap threw Naib off his game for a moment, almost drawing his eyebrows together in confusion. “I don't think I told you that, he asked me if we wanted to visit him next weekend. Fiona comes too.” By now, Naib wasn't sure if his boyfriend knew he was already wide awake and just keeping his eyes closed or if Eli was just speaking all his thoughts out loud. He knew Eli was always talking to his owl to sort out his head.
It was quiet again for a moment, Eli was still stroking Naib's hair almost as if in a trance, but he didn't make a sound. Very carefully, Naib opened one eye to check on the other. Eli was still lying next to him, but was now staring out of the window, lost in thought. Should Naib now say good morning and show that he was awake?
Just as he was about to speak, Eli looked at him. Naib quickly closed his eyes again.
"You know, I'm really glad to have you... and the others too, of course. Aesop is a great friend and he always takes such sweet care of Brooke, maybe we should get him a cat after all...but I don't think the cat and Brooke would get along. Does Norton even like cats? Hm, if we had to choose between Norton and the cat, who do you think Aesop would choose?" Eli was silent for a moment before he whispered in confusion, "What was I getting at? ...Oh yes, but I've never loved anyone as much as I love you..." He quickly added, "Well, I love my siblings too, but just like you love siblings, I love you like you love someone you love. Romantically, you know what I mean. I love you. You're still asleep anyway, so why am I even explaining myself?"
Now Naib could no longer hold back his laughter: “How many trains of thought were there in your head at the same time?” Startled, Eli looked down at him, “You're awake?!”
Naib was finally able to loosen his tense posture, “For a while now,” he looked at his boyfriend with amusement, “I too love you the way you love someone you love.” Eli blushed and sat up, “No, don’t tell me you heard that…!”
“I heard everything, it was nice to listen to you.” Naib did the same and stretched his upper body, which cracked loudly a few times. Eli grimaced, “That sounded disgusting.”
Naib snorted, “I'll talk to you again in six years and you’ll sound like that too.”
The two of them sat cuddled up together for a bit, while Eli played with Naib's fingers. "I'm sorry if I woke you up talking. I needed to sort out my thoughts...and talk about how much I love you." Naib kissed Eli's finger, "Like I said, I was already awake, so it's all good. Are your thoughts sorted now?"
The younger man thought for a moment, “I think so, but talking about how much I love you is something I'm never done with.” Satisfied, Naib nodded and gave his boyfriend a quick kiss, "Very good. I'll go wake Norton up then, I have to get back at him for keeping me awake for the last three days because he wanted me to help him with his stupid project." With that, he got up from the bed and ran out of the room.
“Naib, wait!” Eli struggled to kick off the blanket and climbed out of bed. He almost tripped over his slippers, which he hadn't had time to put on. “Norton didn't get to bed until midnight, please let him sleep!”
Resigned, Eli looked after his boyfriend, who had already disappeared into Norton's room with a grin. “Oh dear…”
“Let them fight, at least we'll have peace at the table.” Eli turned and smiled happily, “Aesop!” the grey-haired man gave a tiny smile back, "Morning. I've made breakfast, come on. The two won't kill each other." He led Eli into the kitchen, “And if they do, well, that's what I'm here for.”
With an uncertain laugh, Eli sat down next to his best friend, “True.”
Still, he was uneasy, he hated it when Norton and Naib argued. Even though they kept insisting that it wasn't serious. “It's too quiet, maybe I should-“, before Eli could finish his sentence, Aesop put both hands on his shoulders and looked directly at him "Eli, stop worrying and eat. You won't let the scrambled eggs get cold." The younger man smiled vaguely and nodded slightly, “O-okay...got it.” Under Aesop's gaze, he continued eating and tried to ignore the insult Norton threw at Naib in the hallway.
Of course the weekend with everyone at home at the same time will be chaotic, but at least he loved them all deeply.