Contains: fluf, clingy Senku, wife au, tell me if I missed anything.
Word count: 571
The room was still dark when Senku stirred awake.
Not because of sunlight. Not because of noise.
Because the warmth pressed against him was moving away.
“Mmm… oi,” he mumbled, voice rough with sleep as his arms instinctively tightened around his wife’s waist. “Where d’you think you’re going at…” He cracked one eye open toward the clock. “Four-thirty in the damn morning?”
She laughed quietly, already halfway sitting up. “I told you yesterday. I have to leave early.”
“Yeah, and I ignored that information on purpose.”
His face was buried against the back of her shoulder now, white hair a complete mess while he stubbornly refused to let go. For someone who usually woke up alert and calculating, morning Senku was significantly less dignified.
“I’ll be back before noon,” she whispered.
“Unacceptable.”
“You’ll survive.”
“Maybe biologically.”
She tried to pry his arm off her waist, but he immediately dragged her back down against the mattress with surprising strength.
“Senku—”
“Five more minutes.”
“You said that ten minutes ago.”
“Then clearly the system’s working.”
A sleepy groan left him as she shifted again, trying not to laugh too hard at the rare sight in front of her. Senku Ishigami, genius scientist, conqueror of impossible odds, currently clinging to his wife like a needy baby.
“You’re being dramatic.”
“Correct.”
“You don’t even like sleeping in.”
“I like you being here when I wake up.”
That made her pause.
Even half asleep, Senku noticed immediately.
He cracked an eye open again, catching the soft expression on her face before clicking his tongue. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not repeating it.”
“You’re cute in the morning.”
“I’m filing for divorce.”
“You’d miss me.”
“Ten billion percent.”
She smiled and brushed messy strands of hair from his face. “I really do have to go.”
Senku stared at her for a long moment, clearly debating whether science had advanced enough to invent teleportation solely so she could leave later.
Then he sighed dramatically and pulled her close one last time, burying his face into her neck.
“One minute,” he muttered. “That’s the final offer from the Kingdom of Science.”
“One minute?”
“One extremely efficient minute.”
She stayed.
The room fell quiet again except for the faint hum of early morning wind outside. Senku’s breathing slowed, arms loose but still around her, like he was trying to memorize the warmth before she left.
“…You know,” she whispered, “normal people would just say they’ll miss their wife.”
“I did.”
“No, you said ‘unacceptable.’”
“Same thing.”
A tiny smile tugged at his lips when she laughed softly again.
Then, after another few seconds, he reluctantly loosened his hold.
“Fine. Go do your mysterious early morning thing.”
“You mean my job?”
“Still suspicious.”
She leaned down to kiss his forehead, then another kiss to the corner of his mouth. Senku made a quiet noise of protest when she finally slipped out of bed, instantly reaching toward the now empty space she left behind.
“Text me when you get there,” he mumbled into the pillow.
“You’ll be asleep.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
She grabbed her bag near the door and looked back one last time.
Senku was already half unconscious again, sprawled across the bed dramatically but one arm was stretched toward her side like he expected her to come back any second.
“…I love you,” she said softly.
His response came instantly despite how sleepy he sounded.
I feel like there’s needs to be, like, handbook for authors who post on Ao3 for effective metatext.
By metatext I mean like tagging, summary, and authors notes (especially initial authors notes at the beginning of a fic). The means by which we communicate to our readers what they’re getting into.
Because we kind of all have to learn it by osmosis and there are conventions but nobody’s really taught them at the start, so there’s inconsistencies and misunderstandings or people just not knowing things through no fault of their own.
This ends up breeding frustration and confusion and in the worst cases resentment, hurt, and aggression.
I’m severely tempted to make such a handbook and get it circulating.
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