Through the Years

Clingy

"Pa."

Tomura hums a response as he continues to dry the dishes, Touya having gone downstairs to deal with a brawl that had broken out.
They learned very quickly that Tomura going down to deal with fights just ended up in panic, so Touya had become the resident peacemaker when the two nomu had their hands full.

The next thing he knows is that arms are wrapping around his torso, and someone's pressing against his back. He stiffens for a moment, still on edge about being touched even years after his family had been lost.

"Starlight." He says, pausing his task. "Are you okay?"

"I want a hug." She replies simply.

Tomura wasn't typically the one she came to for a hug first. Usually it was Touya that got all of her affection. He didn't think she'd ever really learned the boundaries of Tomuras regarding touch, tending to leave it to him to initiate unless she was in pain or extremely distressed.

He places the dish towel on the counter top so that he can gently peel her off of him and maneuver them both so that he can hug her back properly.

He rests his chin on the top of her head, his arms wrapped around her torso just like hers are around him, and he stays quiet, happy to let her tell him what's wrong when she's ready.

"My stomach hurts." She admits quietly after a while, and Tomuras eyes slide towards the calendar hanging on the wall in the kitchen.

Yeah, it was about that time.

He rubs her back a couple of times. "I can make you a hot water bottle in a second."

"Okay." She agrees, but doesn't let go of him.

That's fine, too. Tomura doesn't mind being needed in this kind of way. It was honestly kind of flattering when both she and Touya wanted to be held, because not many people trusted his hands to be gentle instead of destructive.
It was nice that someone could trust him to love instead of destroy.

He rubs her back again when he realises that she's not letting go any time soon.

"Is there something else?" He asks her softly.

She's quiet, but holds onto him a little tighter.
There was.

"I can help you if you tell me." He reminds her.

"I just want a hug." She insists, her voice muffled against his shirt.

"Okay." He says, pressing his face into the top of her head.

He trusted her to come to the two of them if there was something seriously wrong with her after all.

*•*

It doesn't take much for Tomura to wake up.
He'd learned to deal with the extent of which Touya moved around in his sleep to the point he could ignore it in favor of remaining asleep.
But things that weren't a constant, like Cloud abandoning Star at night to come and comfort Touya while he was having a nightmare, and little noises coming from within the apartment woke him up easily.

And for some reason, soft little sobs coming from inside the apartment jolt Tomura awake, his hand flying out to hit the empty space in front of him.
Touya grumbles, moving his head further into the pillow under his head, and Tomura looks down at him, trying to gauge whether the sound had come from him.

When he doesn't hear anything again, he slowly lowers himself back down, pulling Touya against him again on the off-chance his partner was having a bad dream.

Touya mumbles something in his sleep, his face pressing against Tomura's neck and a warm arm wrapping around his waist.
Tomura leans his cheek against Touya's messy hair, and closes his eyes again, hoping he'll be able to drift back off.
But not even a minute later he hears another ragged breath through the walls and little footsteps pacing through the hallway.
He peels himself slowly from Touya, who complains even in his sleep. He moves Touya's hair out of his face to kiss his forehead softly before standing up and quietly walking out into the hallway.