Work Text:
Kenma was streaming again. Not that it was a problem. Tetsurou was only concerned with Kenma's lack of self preservation.
He would hole himself up in his office, streaming for hours on end, forgetting to eat or drink water or sleep. Tetsurou wasn't in the habit of interrupting his streams, but he had long since silently vowed to check on Kenma when he exceeded the twelve hour mark of not exiting the room. Check points, they called them.
This morning, Tetsurou was fairly certain Kenma had never made it to bed. He glanced at the timer on his watch in the mirror, his fingers stopping their work on his tie to focus on the numbers. 11:56:08.
Kenma sometimes did that, set the timer himself. Tetsurou smiled in the mirror.
He made his way over to Kenma's office, knocking first. No response.
"Kenma, check point."
He could hear faint chimes coming from inside, he recognized them as sounds the chat sometimes made.
"Kenma?"
Still nothing. Tetsurou risked a peek inside and his heart stuttered.
Kenma had fallen asleep on stream, their cat, Mikasa, was curled up on the back of his neck, lifting her head to sniff at the camera. It was honestly the cutest sight in the world.
The chat was flying past on screen, the stream had switched to a screen saver, the corner where Kenma's feed usually appeared was covered by a pink nose. Tetsurou smirked at the onslaught of hearts and coos shown on the screen as he picked up the calico.
Kenma stirred a little, but didn't wake.
"Kenma?" Tetsuro shook him gently. "Check point, pause the stream or something."
Mikasa squirmed in his arm, leaping to the floor. She circled his legs once and exited the office; it was time for breakfast.
Kenma blinked awake, looking disoriented. He sat up quickly and winced.
"Ow," he mumbled, rubbing at his neck. "Kuro, I'm streaming."
"No, you were sleeping." Tetsurou did a quick scan of the area, picking up empty wrappers and suspicious looking bottles. His wrist began to beep then. "And that's twelve hours."
"Got it," he sighed, rubbing at his eye. He signed off with an apology and a shake of his head.
He shuffled out of the room, looking dead on his feet. Tetsurou was close at his heels, picking up all the trash he could manage in one trip. Tetsurou threw it out in the kitchen, finally going to feed Mikasa as well.
When he turned, Kenma was sitting at the dining table, with his head down.
"Oi."
Kenma only grumbled.
"What were you shaking your head at, you don't close streams like that."
"The chat was asking questions."
"About what?"
Kenma looked up, his eyes squinting at Tetsurou's neck.
"Your tie is ridiculous."
Tetsurou laughed at that.
"They’re volleyballs, it’s great," he chuckled, looking down at his tie.
"Dork."
"Nerd."
Kenma smiled sleepily. "The chat was asking about your dorky tie. I refused to be held accountable for your questionable fashion sense."
Tetsurou shrugged. "I like what I like. I'm heading out, I've got a meeting with the Alders' PR manager."
"Have fun."
"Go to bed."
Kenma nodded, watching as Mikasa swished her tail back and forth as she ate.
Kuro had been overworking himself recently. He often forgot how to separate home from work. It was like he never left the office. He'd have spreadsheets laid out on the coffee table, calling sponsors and balancing budgets. Mikasa would often fall asleep on top of the sheets, that being the only reason Kuro stopped working at all.
One evening Kenma was laying on the couch, playing on his POP; he'd been feeling nostalgic. Kuro was sitting on the floor, leaned against the couch, running through some numbers. Kenma glanced over and nudged his head with his foot.
"Yeah?" Kuro leaned his head back, closing his eyes.
"Check point."
Kuro's head turned toward him, a smile spreading on his lips. "Yeah, okay."
He stood up and started to crawl on top of Kenma.
"Wait, no—that's not what I meant."
"Too late," Kuro sighed, burrowing under Kenma's chin. Kenma huffed, settling the handheld on top of Kuro's head.
It was easy to fall asleep like that, POP slipping from his hand, eyes drooping, Kuro's slow breaths lulling him to sleep as well. Life was hectic enough as it was, being a respite for each other only made sense.
Easy check points to rest.