He wakes up warm, and for a moment he’s 12 years old in a stranger’s bedroom, wondering what on Earth possessed him to fall asleep on top of the most dangerous person he’d ever had the misfortune to meet. The sound of a shutter snapping brings him back to the present. Well, that and the bundle of warmth on his chest shifting.
He opens his eyes a little, enough to make out the faint afternoon light streaming in through the bedroom curtains, and the soft brown hair tucked under his chin, tickling his neck. Voices reach his ears, but his mind immediately recognizes them as Shion and Inukashi, labels them as safe, and tunes them out. He feels content. Another shutter sound.
“Shion,” he sighs, disgusted at how breathily his hoarse voice shapes the name. A cool, gentle hand lays on his forehead. Shion.
“Awwww, Shion, you didn’t tell me he whispered your name in his sleep! Just how whipped is this gu-ohshithe'sawake.”
He finally gets his eyes to open so he can glare at Inukashi, who had wisely scrambled out of reach. “The fuck are you doing in my bedroom?”
“You were supposed to watch the kid for the weekend,” they say flatly, “not get the both of you sick, stupid.”
He feels the urge to growl something rude at them, but at that moment the warm thing on top of him – the kid in question, apparently – tightens his little fingers in Nezumi’s shirt and makes a whimpering sound. Nezumi rubs his hand up and down the kid’s back slowly and is rewarded by the kid relaxing, and also by Shion’s amused smile, until he realizes what he’s doing. But by then Inukashi is already smirking and it’s too late to try and hide it. Another shutter sound.
He glares weakly at Shion, who stares back at him innocently, as if he wasn’t holding a camera and taking pictures of him napping with a small child. “You’ve slept all day,” Shion tells him happily. He’s always so ecstatic when Nezumi sleeps in. “You and Junior both.”
Nezumi rolls his eyes. “The kid needs a better name than Junior.”
“He has a better name!” Inukashi exclaims, affronted. “It’s just confusing when I say ‘Hey Shion’ and two people look up, that’s all.”
“I don’t have that problem.”
“That’s cuz you call Junior ‘Hey you’!”
“Sounds like a good enough name to me.”
“Says the guy who calls himself Rat,” Inukashi mutters.
Shion laughs, making Nezumi lose his train of thought. He’d had a really good comeback, but his head is so fuzzy, and the kid is so warm, and Shion’s laugh is such a beautiful thing. It’s all really very distracting.
“Heeeyyyy Nezumiiiiii!” Inukashi waves their hands in front of Nezumi’s face. Really, a few years ago this never would’ve happened. Inukashi used to be scared of him, whatever happened to that?
You became a huge fucking softie, that’s what, his mind whispered. What the hell are you doing?
He ignores both Inukashi and his mind. “Shion, I’m cold,” he says without thinking, which is what happens when one ignores one’s mind, and blindly reaches out for him.
“You’ve got three blankets and a mini human on you,” he hears Inukashi mutter disbelievingly, shortly followed by, “Oh my god,” as it clicks, but he doesn’t care because Shion is smiling like he’s just been handed an environmental science textbook, and stretching out to lay beside Nezumi on the bed, curling up to Nezumi’s side.
“Hey!” Inukashi snaps, though they don’t sound annoyed at all. “Can I have my child back, or?”
“I’m not waking Hey You up,” Shion answers, because he’s a little shit, but he’s Nezumi’s little shit. Inukashi groans dramatically.
“I’m so raiding your kitchen for this,” they mutter, climbing off the bed, as if they didn’t do that every time they came over, and Nezumi closes his eyes with a smile.
This week, Sy (@syrenhug) joins us to discuss all things 2x13! Brian steps in to help Lindsay and Melanie secure a spot for Gus in a top-notch pre-school, and Justin makes some risky moves to pay for his own school. Meanwhile, Michael meets his dad for the very first time. It’s an episode that explores absentee fathers, heterophobia, platonic kissing, and one where Brian Kinney provides a legendary answer to the question: “What kind of homosexual are you?”
Stream or download episode 2x13 of The Thumpa Thumpa Podcast on Podbean or iTunes! To discuss this episode, hop on over to AO3 or to our brand new Discord server! We’re always excited to hear from you!
syrenhug replied to your post “I'm aroace and agender. I like IDing as queer, but I worry my friends...”
but your defaulting being aroace to being queer inherently the same way aroace people don't want to be defaulted as straight? because their neither. if you don't experience same sex attraction why would you want to reclaim a slur that historically means you do?
you don’t have to experience same sex attraction to be queer, trans people fucking exist thanks
aroace people aren’t straight, so imo are welcome to identify as queer - queer isn’t just used against/for ppl w/ same sex attraction, it can be reclaimed by anyone not cishet
Sorry this is late. Happy holidays @naniya27 xx 1) This was longer but my laptop is shot so I had to retype it and it probably sucks. 2) I know you sad no angst but I’m utterly incapable of it, though it’s light and over with. Just nice nezumi/shion with their kid and a reunion. And they’re in their mid 20s. Happy reading.
-@syrenhug
Shion has trouble sleeping.
Nezumi likes to say come on, try counting sheep or something. And he does. He tries so hard. But, eventually it’s only him and the ceiling fan awake. Both listening to Nezumi’s deep, even breathing.
He thinks about the sky above him. The way it never ends, but always changes. He thinks of the stars and the way they smile to remind him they are still there, that he is still here.
You left, Shion turns to watch Nezumi’s face. They are beautiful, even in sleep. Where did you go when you left?
And, even hours later when the traffic in his mind has cleared, he thinks and thinks and thinks.
“What is that?”
He straightens up from the floor and smiles weakly. Nora is bouncing on the balls of her feet, excited to see him after two days at a school friend’s house. She only stops when she notices Nezumi still hovering at the entrance of the apartment. “Surprise?”
Nezumi blinks the longest blink ever blinked. “Uh.”
“No,” Shion rushes to assure him because he can already see where Nezumi’s mind is going and it isn’t - it would never be that. “I adopted Nora two years ago.”
Nora can’t keep quiet any longer. “Who are you? Are you papa’s friend?”
Nezumi looks down for a moment. Then, with a tiny smile, crouches down to Nora’s level. “Yes. I am his greatest friend.”
“Okay.” She seems to process that quickly, already grabbing Nezumi’s hand and pulling them to the dining room where the Christmas tree perches in the corner, poorly but lovingly decorated. It’s a sad thing - he’s awful at holiday related decorations, but he tried to make it look as good as possible for Nora. She hadn’t complained beyond a slightly sassy look when he asked her if it was appropriate to put a glitter ball on top of the tree.
Later, when they’ve settled down and have two dozen cookies laid out to cool, he takes a moment to breathe it all in. The lights are lit up and the fireplace is working again, the place giving off the kind of warmth Shion remembers from his childhood. Nezumi makes a noise in the back of his throat. He’s very tall. They aren’t kids anymore, maybe they never were.
“She’s beautiful.” Nezumi says. Watches Nora munch on her cookie, rambling about her sleepover. Her hair is braided into two sections, tied together by a blue ribbon. Her eyes are big and grey-brown framed by wispy eyelashes. His daughter is always searching for answers but doesn’t mind a little mystery every now and then. An amazing trait for a five year old to have. And not unlike someone he knows.
“She is. I can’t believe I’m a father.”
It’s still amazing to him that this ball of light, the brightest star in his constellation would ever come down to earth and choose him. He hadn’t set out to adopt. Ever since Nezumi had gone he’d felt some part of him not necessarily close, but shutter like blinds, maybe. A protection from those would want to look inside and hurt him. But he’d done some volunteering and his mother had suggested - if not moving on, moving forward with someone who needed a home.
Nezumi turns to stare at him. “I can.”
Suddenly, he has to examine the cookies. Grabs one in the shape of a heart and takes a bite. “You’ll have to share the bed with me, but it’s pretty big. Sorry we don’t have another room.”
There’s a pause. Nezumi has always been one to take their time, but lets all the words show in his face. Shion wonders what his face is saying now, but is too afraid to venture up again. “Thank you, Shion.”
“Papa, papa, look.”
Shion wakes up quickly, jolting from the bed. But Nezumi is there. Warm fingers circling his wrist and calming him with soothing noises. “It’s fine. She just wants to show you the snow.”
Nora settles. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s alright, sweetie. Papa was just surprised.”
She kisses his cheek in apology. Nezumi scoops her up unto his shoulders and Shion stumbles along, still in his sleep haze and not dressed for a long trek in the snow. But it is snowing. And Nora laughs, already turning pink as she runs around in the cold air. Thankfully, Nezumi had wrestled her into a jacket, gloves and a hat. All blue, her favorite color.
“Good thinking with the -”
Nezumi kisses him. A soft, beautiful thing. As familiar to Shion as breathing. And kissing Nezumi becomes a breath, and another and another and -
“Happy Christmas, darling.”
And it is. Happy.
It’s the same. But different.
Nezumi’s hair is still long, a wave crashing against his shoulders, dark and shiny. His eyes still narrow when he thinks too hard. He still has a confidence to the way he moves, like his personality can barely fit inside his body. Which is strong. Ever broad-shouldered and healthy.
Shion watches them with Nora. He’s great with her, more stern then Shion, but also more willing to carry her through the house on a whim. Suddenly -
But you came back. It shoots him like an arrow, a realization so right it almost seems silly.
Nezumi reaches over to tap his nose when he looks over from coloring with Nora. Shion face hurts from smiling.
syrenhug replied to your post “syrenhug replied to your post “I’m aroace and agender. I like IDing as...”
trans people are inherently queer now? i'm trans but that doesn't make me queer does it? because there are straight trans people? also okay, so a white person gets called the n word, does that make them black? i'm really confused. like i want to understand how you would want to feel like someone who feels like trash everyday by society because i am "odd" "strange" "peculiar" i get not being straight but the opposite of straight doesn't have to mean gay. just not het?
yes, trans people can always identify as queer if they choose to. you don’t have to, but straight trans people are welcome to identify as queer
i’m queer because i feel like it describes me best. i am reclaiming the slur, because i have the right to do that, and because ‘queer’ is much easier and fits much better for me than trying to explain every aspect of my sexuality & how that aligns with my gender identity
otherwise i’m left with ‘trans pansexual/asexual/bisexual panromantic/aromantic/biromantic’ because none of those quite fit on their own
again, queer is about being not cishet, it’s not exclusively about being gay. and there is no ‘opposite’ of straight because there are more sexualities than ‘gay’ and ‘straight’, this isn’t a 2-sided thing
aroace people aren’t gay, and they aren’t straight (unless they personally identify as either), but they can be queer
Really, to that punk anon and to all anons in the past or future, like you said - the answer to that is always going to be yes. there's a butch out there that is super into whoever you might be. i love all types of fem/mes and just want them to be themselves. you all are lovely. we cherish you.
there’ll always be butches out there that find you attractive and, speaking personally, a punk femme would own my grunge/punk butch heart
I’m in a goth butch4punk femme relationship believe in yourself
