for @universal-imagines! happy birthday! hope you enjoy this cute little fluffy drabble <3
The hum of Shinsou’s voice is a soothing, steady timbre, and you often commented just how relaxing it is to listen to, even now, separated by miles, filtered through the static of your phone. Can he really blame you for the way your eyes slip shut?
His voice causes suddenly. “You’re falling asleep,” he says. Despite the way you can construe it as accusatory, his voice sounds amused.
“Sorry if my story isn’t entertaining.” His statement is part teasing, part self-conscious that perhaps his narrative of stopping a bank robbery wasn’t entirely as glamorous as he hoped it would be. He leans back in the seat of his car, one hand draped across his steering wheel as he worries his lip. When it comes to you, especially, sometimes he worries about coming across as uncool.
“Your stories are always fun to listen to,” your voice comes, after several beats of you attempting to stay awake. “I’m just... closing my eyes to better immerse myself in them.”
You get the distinct pleasure of hearing him laugh, a full-bodied rich sound that has your consciousness yearning to hold on, just for a bit longer.
“Mmhm. And if you stop talking in a few minutes, should I also assume you’re immersing yourself?”
“Yeah... even if I snore again. Assume that.”
You’re referring to the time you fell asleep while on the phone with him, and he had the pleasure of listening to your light snores and mumbles the entire trip to his press conference. You’ll never live it down, and Shinsou likes to tease you about it; because of that you’ve become even more careful to stay awake during these few moments you had with him, encapsulated in these simple calls.
While Shinsou is apt to tease you any and every mishap, he much prefers seeing the way you flush in person, feeling the heat simmer beneath your cheeks as he cups them in his palms, presses his nose against yours in the idleness of the early morning. You always dislike it when he does that. In turn, your scrunched up expression makes him laugh.
You’re quieter now, drowsiness dulling your senses, but there is a pressing urge in you to stay awake.
“Back to headquarters. I have to turn in some paperwork.” He pauses. “Maybe if someone was listening, they would know this.”
“I was listening! I just..... thought you were done with work.”
“Ha... Am I ever?” he asks. The both of you know, however, that he wouldn’t have it anyway. Shinsou’s a hard worker through and through, and his status as a rising Pro Hero only motivated him to greater heights.
Those highs just happened to involve an inordinate amount of paperwork.
“Are you going to sleep there again?” you ask, cradling the phone between your ear and shoulder.
He looks at the time on his dash. The numbers 4:00 blare up at him; it’s already early morning. “I might,” he says guiltily. “Work starts in a few hours.”
“It’s okay, make sure to drink lots of coffee, alright?”
“Yeah...” He eyes the stacks of files on his passenger seat gloomily.
“I’m not even going to ask why you’re up,” he says, changing the topic.
“Because that would open me up to criticism about my own sleeping habits—or lack thereof.”
“Exactly,” you say, smugness in your tone. It has a smile tugging at Shinsou’s own lips.
“...But I will say you should get some sleep.”
“Kitten.... are we really going to argue about this?” he asks, not exasperated as much as he is amused by your likemindedness. The two of you always seem to be in sync, like mirror-imaged souls.
“I’ll sleep when you do.”
He can’t even complain about how stubborn you can be, because he’s exactly the same. He sighs. “Okay. Fine then. At least I have company on my drive. But I’m not sure you’re going to last long.”
“I know as well as you do you’re seconds away from knocking out on the phone again.”
“Are too.” Shinsou has to stifle a laugh at your silent indignation. Call it late-night loneliness, but he’s feeling much chattier than usual. In fact, he’s enjoying these conversations where the two of you talk about nothing and everything all at once.
“Enough about me.” He pauses. “Did you eat today?”
“Enjoy your espresso meals?” you shoot back.
“I do, actually,” he says wryly. “Coffee tastes better when the caffeine goes straight into your veins.”
“When it’s your next day off... let’s go that restaurant down the block,” you say, stifling a yawn. “Maybe then we’ll both eat a decent meal.”
He hums. “I’ll take it. It’ll get me through the week.”
As persuasive as Shinsou is—even without his quirk, even with just the drawl of his voice—the lull of sleep is too alluring. You’re just starting to drift off, flecks of light floating behind your eyelids, when you hear a door shut in your ear. You jolt awake, before realizing you’re still in the call. Crap.
“You still there?” you ask, attempting to rub the call of sleep from your eyes.
“Yes,” he says. “I... ended up taking a detour.”
“What kind of—“ But your question is interrupted by the sound of your door opening now, and just as you turn your head, your vision goes dark from a blanket being dropped on you.
“Figure it’s worth making sure you get some sleep before I head back.” And as you scramble to yank the blanket off your head, you’re met the visage of your ruffled, eternally tired-looking boyfriend.
“Come on, I bet you were also sleepy.”
“Guilty as charged,” he mutters, wrapping the blanket around your shoulders, before lazily dropping onto you. You squeak as his added weight causes both of you to topple onto the bed. He lets out a short laugh, rolling onto his side.
He sighs heavily, stretching out his limbs. “Haven’t slept in a bed in awhile.”
“Yeah, your spot’s gotten cold. Was considering selling it to someone else.”
“I hope the cat’s been keeping you company?”
“He has. He’s taken the #1 spot in my heart.”
“Hmph.” Shinsou draws you closer to him, lazily resting his head on your chest. “Not for long.”
You’re about to reply when Shinsou lets out a light snore. Huh. That was fast. Looks like he’s the one falling asleep now.
And more importantly, you win. Eyes slipping shut once more, you tangle your legs with his. The sight you fall asleep to is his unruly tufts of hair, which your fingers card through until he makes a rumbling sound, deep in his chest.
Finally, sleep takes you both under its wing.