Sunbathing with a snowman

Remember the cute space between the bed and the windows? It's also a place where most of the sun reflection falls in the morning. Hoshi is still asleep. The sun beams didn't hit his hazel nut eyes yet, and nor would mine, if I didn't offer them myself.

I woke pretty early, feeling something fluffy tickling my nose. Before screaming for help I realized it wasn't a hairy spider, no, it was just Nelson and his cheeky tail.

"You scared me Nelson." I gasped quietly. This cat is so needy, that it woke me up just to get its cuddles. How adorable I thought.

And so I ended up leaning against Hoshi's side of the bed, sitting in the sunshine with my little fluffy Nelson. The sun is hitting my nemophila blue eyes, that are drowning in the sight of a busy, morning city.

But the view of what's, or who's above me is probably even more beautiful. Hoshi is lying in a comfortable position, having one leg over the brown duvet, his hands wrapped around it, embracing it gently. It is as if he was holding a huge teddy bear, or as if he was imagining wrapping his hands around a person. His long, black hair is all over his face and the puffy pillows. He probably doesn't even realise it, but I wonder if he feels their tickling. His chest is slowly rising and falls down with every relaxed breath of his. His small, yet tall and softly shaped nose absorbing the scent of fresh bed sheets. And I wish I was the duvet now, peacefully snuggled up in his warm embrace, while the sun that finally reaches his face would be waking us up. The sun indeed shines right into his eyes, into his face, as he complained yesterday. His silver brow piercing, and the earring in his ear both glisten, adding some extra shine to his already wonderful facial features.

My face naturally forms a soft smile, observing him with a feeling of love and peace in my soul. And I don't know if it's the sun, or my shyness that accumulates heat in my cheeks, but they become a slight hue of pink as Hoshi begins to shift a little. I readily turn my head back to the window, and I feel a little embarrassed for observing him, especially in such a vulnerable situation as sleeping.

I keep stroking Nelson, who's purring in my lap, and I can hear the duvets behind me rustling as Hoshi sits up, his dark wooden eyes now woken up.

He smiles behind my back, seeing me sunbathing with his dear Nelson. If I had to anticipate more of what he does behind me, I'd say he lets his slim fingers go through his wild hair, getting them out of his face, before his hand goes to my hair, and gently scratches my head. I keep looking at Nelson instead of turning to Hoshi, but my smile widens slightly, and I lean my head back so I look up at him. The duvet makes a gentle rustling noise as my light, brown hair leans on it. "Good morning, Hoshi-kun." I simper adorably.

He lets out a tiny yawn, and with his half closed, sleepy eyes he returns me my amiable morning greeting. "Good morning shorty~"

"S-shorty?! Did you just mock my height?" I ask tenderly, yet caught out by this unexpected address.

"No. You got it wrong. I just thought it was cute. I think your short height is cute…" Hoshi says, a little embarrassed, not wanting me to misunderstand his intent to give me a cute nickname. "Can I… call you that?" He asks inquiringly. Hoshi is flustered, yet he maintains his adult manners, his face honest rather than shy, and his eyes winking at me, waiting for my answer. I wonder how the blood doesn't abruptly rush up to his cheeks like mine does when I'm in an embarrassing situation like this. Is it a normal trait of a mature person to not blush at everything? Wait- does my blushing make me immature?!

I hate to say it, but all these thoughts, and the way Hoshi gives me such sweet nicknames make my cheeks warm, and all pink, apparently making me seem childish.

"Of course you can call me that. It actually is kind of cute when you say it…" I finally answer.

Hoshi climbs off the bed, sitting beside me on the beige carpet. He pulls his knees to his chest, his bare feet resting on the floor. His inexpressive gaze lingers on my hand caressing Nelson's colorful head. Hoshi looks me in the eyes, questions seemingly flowing through his mind. I smile softly, returning his eye contact, but I immediately pause in surprise as he asks his question out loud. "Why did you eat most of the popcorn when you said it tasted like polystyrene? I thought you didn't like it." He asks casually. How is he so straight forward in the morning?! Is he even sober?

"Wha- I didn't eat most of it!..." I defend myself, still surprised by such a random question.

"You definitely did. I was holding back my laughter at your hypocrisy the whole movie. " Hoshi snickers, but it makes sense to me now."That's why you were smiling and observing me while I was eating the popcorn!"

"Yeah, and you just confessed! Admit it, you ate most of it."

I look away, mumbling under my breath. "Well, I may have said it tastes like polystyrene, but I never said I didn't like it…"

"How do you even know how polystyrene tastes?!" Hoshi blurts with a scoff.

"Hey! I just think it tastes like that. Besides, popcorn is still not my favourite thing to snack on…" I pout.

"But you ate most of it." Hoshi says, smiling cheekily.

I playfully poke his arm, and he leaves to the kitchen, still maintaining his smile.

"What do you want for breakfast?" He shouts, while I take Nelson, and stand up to follow him.

"What are my options?"

"Anything you wish, I'll cook."

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Nelson is hyped, jumping all around, as I'm lying on the floor, teasing him with my hand. The sun beams coming in through the huge window make this room homely, and calm. Oil sizzling can be heard from a stove nearby, as Hoshi puts some eggs on a pan. He's focused on preparing a delicious breakfast, yet in the corner of my eye I can see him taking glances at us. The way he observes us with a loving smile melts my vanilla heart, as if it wasn't melted enough already. And I don't know if I'm dreaming, but I think Hoshi's cheeks just turned rose pink. He turns his attention back to the stove, and Nelson pounces on my hand, playfully biting it and scratching my soft skin, leaving trails of redness on them.

"Nelsoniii~ ouch." I say, and tease him some more. Meanwhile Hoshi-kun takes out some white plates, and serves the eggs with pastry and fresh veggies on the wooden table.

"The breakfast is done!" Hoshi calls me with a hint of joy in his voice. Nelson is still going after my hand, as the bright morning sun makes my skin shine. "I'm glad I could stay to see your apartment filled with sun. It's beautiful." I smile softly. "Hoshi, come and lay here with me!" I suggest, as I'm comfortably sunbathing with Nelson once again. Hoshi, although he's not a sun lover, doesn't object anything, and he lays down beside me, letting the sun cover him. Nelson leaves us alone. Hoshi's pupils shrink as the light hits his eyes, showing their true beauty. Eyes that never stood out, always so dark, almost black, now shine with a strong hue of brown. They're tender like cinnamon, and warm like Winter bear's. Hoshi's gaze meets mine. I wonder what he's thinking about. His hand brushes a lonely strand of my short hair out of my face, but it falls back, as it's too short to stay behind my ear. He brushes it out of my face again, this time his hand lingering on top of my head, holding the strand. The sun shines right into my blue eyes, so I can't see much, but I see Hoshi is closely studying my face. His hand lets go of my hair, and his thumb slides down my face, stopping on a mole under my bottom lip, slightly caressing the spot. My heart beats faster with his every blink.

"Hoshi, the breakfast will be cold." I remind softly.

"Does it matter?" Hoshi's lips form a lovely smile. "I love your ocean eyes, Nikko."

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I could just stay there with him, and hug him all day, whispering sweet words into his ears, but they say it's best to cut it in the best. So right after an appetising breakfast from my hopefully future chef, I take my nothing, since I only had a phone on me, and decide to go home. I fold the pajamas Hoshi-kun lended me, and return it with a polite bow, to show my gratitude for everything from taking me out on my bad day, to sunbathing with me in the autumn sun. I'm coming home motivated, and full of life. When Yuki visits me, her mindfulness and curiosity doesn't keep me quiet for long. I dish out everything about my dreamy weekend, until I have to snap back into reality.