(one can only truly feel with their eyes closed) s.gojo
satoru was born bearing the curse of atlas, the world weighing a little too heavy on his shoulders. the body of a child is a frail one and satoru, in his early years, was too scrawny a kid, his bones too fragile to carry all of that weight all by himself. he had fallen on his feet and struggled to stand up on his own one too many times until he had grown to become something akin to a god, one who barely even knew fear.
itâs three in the morning and satoru is standing outside your bedroom door, pinching his bottom lip in between his fingers while anxiously awaiting your arrival. you shouldâve been back before midnight and there is something unfamiliar brewing inside him, an uneasy feeling in his gut that is rendering him restless. he feels nauseous and there is a heavy lump on his throat that is making it hard for him to swallow.
satoru reaches for the phone in the pocket of his sweatpants, waiting for something, a call, a text even â anything to let him know that youâre okay.
his head is quick to turn at the sound of heavy footsteps making their way towards him and he can make out your silhouette emerging from the darkness of the poorly lit corridor, your feet weary and sore after being away for so long and having just traveled all the way back here, back to him.
ten days to be precise. thats how long youâve been away. and when you manage to make your way along the seemingly endless hallway, so very tired from your lengthy mission, you finally cease your fight against gravity, letting yourself collapse into satoru, closing your eyes immediately upon impact, finding your relief in him, in the sturdiness of his chest. youâd gone without him for too long and youâre so quick to find comfort in him. he, too, is just as quick to search solace in your touch when he guides your arms that fall limp at your sides to wrap themselves around him - is so prompt to hold you and offer you the stability you need when he wraps his stronger ones around your shoulders, welcoming you back with a quiet good girl being whispered to the crown of your head.
thereâs a minute of silence in which satoru realizes, while trying to recover from the fretful state he induced himself into, that fear has become something permanent in his life.
âyouâre lateâ he threads his fingers through your hair, soothing away your fatigue though he thinks he might have just lulled you to sleep because youâre standing so still, breathing so softly. you protest with a breathy whine when his hand cups the back of your head, tilting it upwards to make you meet his gaze. only then do you perceive the distress painted on his handsome features.
satoru is always so good at hiding his feelings. his voice barely even wavers and his hands are holding you so firmly that his worry wouldâve almost gone undetected. almost. because concern is so easily discernible in his eyes. his eyes are so honest, as honest as satoru gets. they have always let on more than his words.
theyâre his biggest strength and yet his biggest weakness. the blindfold conceals more than just his power. it keeps his vulnerability from seeping through.
âi know but i'm hereâ you close your eyes when his thumb rubs the spot between your eyebrows âmy flight got delayed and i didnât wanna wake you up with a phone callâ
âi wasnât sleepingâ not until i know youâre safe.
âiâm alright, satoru. im hereâ you two speak in whispers like two kids sharing a secret, your voice barely audible as you lean your cheek against his chest, a hand rubbing circles over his heart.
another wave of silence envelops the two of you as you take your time to touch, to grab and to squeeze â to let your hands get acquainted with each otherâs skin again â you swear you feel him shiver against you when you caress the skin behind his ear, where you know itâs sensitive.
âletâs get inside, baby.â
you nod against his chest and squeeze him in your arms one last time before you pull away to unlock your bedroom door. you lace your fingers together with his to pull him along, dropping your luggage somewhere in a corner and not even bothering to turn on the lights instead guiding him towards the bed that youâve shared during so many other nights â so eager to be cradled in his arms, to drift off in the comfort of his embrace. but when satoru drops his head to your shoulder you cease any movements, stopping in your tracks.
he doesnât say a word, just moves the palm of his hand gingerly up the skin of your exposed arm, only stopping where the strap of your dress sits on your body, gripping the fabric in his fist, begging to see you, whole. to make sure there is not some magical force holding you together and that you won't fall apart under his fingers upon touch. he still touches you so carefully as if you will.
for a long time now, reality has presented itself to satoru as something dubious, he has grown to be skeptical towards it. after all, his best friend had met his demise at his own hands - satoru had watched him take his last breath - yet, that unfaithful day in shibuya, there he stood in front of him, intact - alive. now satoru is imbedded with a constant feeling of uncertainty, worrying that the eyes he has relied on throughout his entire life, might deceive him sooner or later.
you lift your hand to rest over his, loosening the tight grip he has on the fabric of your garment before you slide both straps off your shoulders, letting your dress fall to the ground and revealing your partially nude body to satoruâs prying gaze. he closes his eyes with a sigh that makes the hairs on the back of your neck raise in antecipation. he brushes a few strands away before he places a kiss to the mound of your neck where your spine protrudes your flesh, where your skin is most tender and delicate, feeling the subtle bumps of your skin against his lips â the way your body reacts to him proof that youâre not just some hallucination. that youâre alive and well. that youâre here.
he figures he is so much more in tune with his surroundings whenever heâs not looking. his eyes are closed shut yet the way you shudder under him when he runs the tip of his finger up the curve of your spine, the little sounds you make, the gasp that unintentionally escapes your lips when he lays the most gentle of kisses on the shell of your ear â heâd know you anywhere, even with his eyes closed. he knows the way you feel, the way you sound, the way you smell. even blind, his other four senses would still lead him to you.
he touches you until your skin starts feeling feverish under his fingers, wishes youâd just melt into him and would fill in every crevice in his body until heâs so completely covered in you he can barely breathe. and when he needs more, he carries you to bed in his arms then lies you down in the white linen sheets. he reaches for the back of his shirt and tugs it off before taking the spot next to you, craving the feeling of his skin against yours.
he kisses your collarbone, left then right, worshiping you whole, paying equal attention to every part of your body, then dips lower to kiss over your sternum. he loves on the freshly inflicted wounds on your skin then proceeds to run his tongue over the newly healed scar that runs diagonally on the flesh of your stomach â your taste, that, too, he has memorized by heart.
âi always come back looking worse than when i leftâ and it's supposed to be a lighthearted joke because you're smiling and your tone is somewhat playful but it makes satoru wonder if you think he loves you any less because of it.
sometimes itâs hard baring yourself to satoru like this, he knows it. your scar ridden body a striking contrast to his almost pristine, untouched one. however, itâs on nights like this one where you feel closest to him, laying bare your insecurities to him and, in return, satoru undiscloses his â more often than not escaping his lips impulsively in the form of strangled moans against the sweaty skin of your neck, telling you he loves you. donât ever leave. donât wanna lose you too.
âyou returned, baby. thatâs all that matters.â he utters against your belly then comes to rest on your chest, hear pressed atop your heart.
satoru has grown fond of the sound of your pulse lulling him to sleep, slow and steady. he unwraps his arms from around you, moving his hands up your sides until they settle around your ribs, feeling the way your lungs fill up with air, his head moving up and down, in sync with your heaving chest. he smiles to himself, every heartbeat, every breath you take a reminder that there is still so much life inside you.
he looks up at you, eyes searching for your face after a few minutes have gone by since you stopped playing with his hair. he had wanted to protest but then he takes in the image of you, mouth slightly agape, a subtle frown on your face â an angel lying under him. so fragile, so innocent.
you're sound asleep and satoru is overcome with the intensity of the sheer adoration he feels towards you when he realizes you had felt so at peace in his arms it'd only taken you a couple minutes to doze off. it is as if your body reacts to his presence on it's own, telling you that its safe around him, that it's okay to let your guard down. there is no bigger privilege than to know his touch brings you consolation â that heâs your safe haven.
upon further inspection, however, thereâs a cold shiver that makes itâs way up satoruâs spine when he notices how youâre laying so still, barely even moving. apart from the subtle rise and fall of your chest, youâre so inert, so lethargic. this is what your lifeless body would look like in his arms if he ever failed to protect you.
it is as if suddenly there is not enough oxygen in the room and his lungs start growing heavier with each passing minute, his hands clammy and fingers digging into the flesh of your ribs instinctively, out of desperation.
he calls out your name once, and he wouldâve felt bad for waking you up but he canât even think straight right now. he could be so selfish at times but you never resented him for it.
you donât answer at first, his voice too weak to even pull you out of sleep. satoru pushes himself up the bed, lying sideways next to you, his body looming over yours as he brushes the strands of hair that are sticking to your forehead away from your face â your complexion looks so much paler under the moonlight.
âbaby.â he calls in between heavy breaths, eyes frantic searching for something. anything. this time you stir in your sleep, turning around and nuzzling into the crook of his neck as if seeking for the heat of his body on instinct. he sighs releasing some of the tension inside him âbaby.â though there is still a hint of urgency in his voice.
âim sleepy, satoruâ he can barely hear you as you bury yourself deeper into his neck.
âi know, baby. i knowâ he tries to sooth you, cradling your head closer to him but is just as quick to change his mind, grabbing your cheeks in between the palms of his hands to gently pull you away from him and take look at you instead. your eyes remain closed, still so heavy with sleep.
âjust need you to say my name.â it sounds as if heâs pleading.
âsatoru.â you barely even manage to mumble as you lean deeper into his touch, lips brushing against the sensitive skin on the inside of his hand. moving only on instinct still, too drowsy to even make sense of what is happening, to notice the despair in his tone.
âthatâs it.â he pecks you on the lips âagain.â hes trailing kisses across your cheeks, his breath heavy on your skin when he begs you in a quivering voice âplease."
you begin to be pulled out of slumber when you feel his hands trembling against you, opening your eyes only to be met with his wide-eyed gaze, his pupils fully blown out in the dark, alert with fear.
this has happened before yet it never fails to alarm you. you know how he gets, youâd seen it in his eyes many times before and youâd seen it again earlier tonight when you arrived, tenuous yet just waiting for the smallest trigger to so easily turn into something out of his control.
it's like he's suddenly in a trance and nobody can pull him out of it. his hands start wandering everywhere and in a rather frenetic way, feeling around your skin as if he has gone blind. hands fumbling to hold whatever is within their reach, clenching whatever it is you're wearing in his fists, searching for something that he canât quite seem to find and that you canât quite understand.
you never know what to say, you can only hold him in hopes it will pass. you hold him and coddle him in hopes that you can be as much of a source of comfort to him as he is to you.
he apologizes afterwards, he always does. apologizes for needing you so much that sometimes it drives him crazy. then he thanks you, thank you for letting me rely on you, but he barely ever does, only when he so desperately needs it â when itâs him lending others his strength, being relied on, who says thank you to him.
you sit up in bed, extending your hand towards him, waiting for him to take it. you pick him up when he does and you let a hand wrap around the back of his head, guiding him to lay on your shoulder
âsatoru, satoru, satoru.â you whisper against the shell of his ear while stroking his hair. he thinks he could fall sleep right here, like this.
please, lean on me, too. if you let me, i can be strong for the both of us. you donât have to be strong all the time. satoru thinks he knows what youâre trying to tell him.
âiâll say it as many times as you need.â
for the second time tonight, he is so overwhelmed by his profound infatuation that it is as if his love has grown a will of itâs own, as if it has grown fangs when his teeth sink, unwarranted, into the skin of your shoulder, love wishing to seep itself deep into your bloodstream. âwant you whole.â
âso greedy.â you wince quietly against his snowy hair and he runs the tip of his nose up the side of your neck.
he keeps on nibbling on the tender skin of your neck, as if heâs hungry and trying to prove a point. that if he so wished to, if he was greedy enough, heâd devour you full.
âi'm the greediest, babyâ for what is love if not greed. is it not wanting to consume the other person and let yourself be consumed in return? for his entire life, satoru has known nothing but an insatiable hunger. always wanting more, always needing more. gluttonous for more, more, more. in the end, he always managed to get what he wants and he doesnât hold back, you never asked him to either.
he knows he owns you wholly, youâve told him so, your soul, mind and body fully placed on the palm of his hand and he doesnât think he could ever settle for less.
he places a trail of kisses that goes down to your shoulder again and he pulls away from your skin with one last kiss to the spot where he left a mark. a mark that is so unlike any other in your body. one that comes from love.
âi'm sorry that i need you so muchâ he envelops you in a warm embrace, touching his heart with yours.
but heâs also apologizing for so many other things. heâs sorry that he canât give himself to you the same way youâve given yourself to him. youâve always kept your heart open to him yet it seems that he only ever allows you a glimpse into the heart inside his chest on nights like this, during one of his episodes or when his body is panting above yours, falling apart at the feeling of being inside you and too lost in his own pleasure. only then does he spill all of his heart's content into your distracted ears â when he thinks youâre already far too gone to listen, to truly acknowledge his feelings.
those are the only times he ever allows himself to be vulnerable with you and you treasure every single one of those moments, listening attentively even when he thinks you donât.
âsay my name one last timeâ he breathes against your ear.
here, in these sheets, satoru pretends to forget his name and the burden that inescapably comes with it. he forgets the world needs him and lets himself need you instead, just this once â just this once, heâll pretend to be the weak one, the one who needs saving, and find shelter in your arms.
âsatoruâŚâ your words are spoken barely above a whisper, like theyâre meant just for him.
âagainâ he connects his lips with yours and holds the back of your neck with one hand, the other resting on your back for support as he dips you both down onto the matress.
and you say it. again. and then again. not because he asks you to but because he knows how to get what he wants. he pries his name out of your lips as he trails open mouthed kisses down the valley of your breasts, forces it out of you in the form a laughter as he nibbles on the inside of your thighs, tickling you with his breath and ultimately earns it as a moan that you cry as a prayer when he sinks down on the matress and makes a home in between your legs â until you're chanting his name over and over again, sobbing that you love him, you love him, you love him.
he smiles. satoru is now twenty eight and his shoulders a little lighter, the world fitting all too perfectly in this queen sized bed.

















