#nitroch

“Aoba-san!”

He loves Clear. Aoba really, truly does, but on instinct, he sighs. This is the way Clear calls his name when he wants something. Aoba looks up from his coil. “…Yeah?

“I’d like to sneeze!”

Usually something weird. 

Aoba sighs again, closes out the tab on the article he was reading, and looks up. Clear managed to get his attention with this one. 

“Alright, I’ll bite. What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Aoba pats his mattress, similarly to how one would coax a pet to sit with him, and Clear gets off the floor and climbs up next to him on Aoba’s bed. This could take a while, they might as well get comfortable. 

“Sneezing,” Clear repeats, “like humans do! I want to try.”  Aoba blinks. It wasn’t something that had exactly ever crossed his mind, but it did make sense. He’s so used to Clear by now, he almost sometimes forget that the other is still an android. “Then, you never have before..?”  

“Nope!” Clear shakes his head enthusiastically. “Which is why I want to. Is it fun, Aoba-san?” Aoba wrinkles his nose a bit. “Not… really. I mean, I think some people say it is, but I mostly find it a pain…” he trails off, and now Clear is giving him puppy dog eyes.

“So it could be fun for me!”

“I… guess so?”

“So help me then, Aoba-san!”

Good thing Ren is asleep for this. It’s not the weirdest thing he’s had to explain to Clear, but at least it's just the two of them.

“That’s… not exactly how it works.” He expects Clear to be a little disappointed, but continues, “Sneezing is like something your body does on its own. You can’t really force it.”

“Nuh-uh,” and before Aoba even registers, Clear is leaning forward towards the tissues Aoba keeps next to his bed. “I saw this online!”

Aoba watches in silence as Clear pulls out one tissue, and begins twisting it. He’s probably in too deep by now, so sure, why not. “And you’re going to stick that up your nose?”

“Yes! I’ll be careful, Aoba-san!” Clear presents the newly made tool to Aoba, laying it in his hands. He leans forward a little bit. “Go ahead!”

“You want me to do it.” Yes, it’s definitely good Ren is asleep. There’s no way anyone else needs to see this, Aoba thinks to himself. 

Clear nods enthusiastically. His skin is just as smooth as it looks close,  his eyelashes flutter softly against his cheeks. Too damn handsome. How could Aoba say no? 

He gently maneuvers the tissue, mumbling, “alright, I’m starting…” under his breath. Nervously, he brushes it against the inside of Clear’s nostril. 

“Ah!” Clear makes a noise and squirms a bit, and Aoba pulls the tissue away immediately.

“Are you alright?”

 Clear nods. “Fine! It just… tickled a bit,” he laughs sheepishly. He looks determined now, and nods. “Mm! Alright, keep going.” 

“If you’re sure…” Aoba brings the tissue back up, gently inserting it into the same nostril. Clear’s breath hikes a little, but he gives Aoba a small nod. 

This isn't exactly something Aoba’s done before, but he is worried about doing it wrong, so he goes about it as gently as possible. He wiggles the tissue just a bit, and Clear gasps this time. 

“It feels… strange.” Aoba pauses. “Keep going, ah… it doesn't exactly feel like enough. Um, a bit harder…”

The words out of context make Aoba blush, and clicks his tongue as he goes back to his work. He didn’t think this would be so complicated. Tissue back in, same side, gently nudge it around. This time, he brushes it closer against the walls of Clear’s nose. That should work, right? He gets carried away with his work, making small circles. The sight almost makes his nose tickle, and Clear has to speak up between a few soft gasps. 

“It’s not…” Aoba looks up. Clear is a little teary eyed. It’s cute, somehow. “It’s not, um…” He sniffs. “I can feel something, but its not there yet—, and he almost whines, “Aoba-san…” 

Aoba has to try not to laugh. He has to remind himself that Clear’s never sneezed before, but it’s hard not to tease him for getting so worked up over it. He’ll go for a new approach this time then, the left nostril.

This time, when he inserts the tissue, Clear’s reaction is almost immediate. His breath hitches, almost dramatically. Aoba takes it as a good sign. He goes up a little further than before this time, making the same soft motions.

“A- Aoba- san…” Clear’s saying something. He needs to look up again. “I— hhih, no, wait, keep goi—hhiH!” and Aoba does, watching Clear’s eyes gently close. “I feel lik— hh, this might be, it…—“

He picks up the pace, thinking offhandedly to himself that this is almost similar to when they have sex.

“Aoba,” Clear tries to warn, “Something, um, i-it’s gonna, hh,  I—,” and Aoba has the common sense to at least try to yank himself away a little bit. The sudden removal of the tissue is what pushes Clear over, and he sneezes downward.

“hhIh’ tsCHUE! ...Ah. Aoba-san, I did it!”

Aoba grimaces and wipes his hand off on his sheet. He probably should've explained at least a little better beforehand. “Clear, if for whatever reason that happens again in public, you’re kind of supposed to cover it up.”

“Ah!!” Clear scrambles, but Aoba is quick in handing him a tissue. “I’m sorry, Aoba-san!!!” 

And Aoba knows he really is, so he can’t be mad. “It’s alright,” he sighs. “Well? What did you think?”

Clear finishes wiping his nose off with the tissue, sniffs, and pauses for a moment. He seems to be thinking deeply about it. “Fun! Strange, but fun, I think. I’d do it again sometime.”

Aoba laughs, but his eyes follow Clear’s hands as they grab another tissue and begin to twist. “Wait, now?”

“No, silly! It’s Aoba-san's turn.” Clear turns towards him, brandishing the tissue like a weapon.

“Um, I don’t know,” he says quickly, but Clear, as usual, is quicker with puppy dog eyes. 

“Aoba-san, please! I want to hear yours too—”“You’ve heard me sneeze!” Aoba interjects, but Clear goes on— “Yes, but I forgot! Come on Aoba-san, let me try too..”

Aoba sighs for the nth time in the last twenty minutes. Well, it wont be the worst thing he’s given into Clear on. “Alright, fine. But be careful.”

Clear nods, and suddenly Aoba finds himself a little bit embarrassed, letting Clear come to him rather than lean forward. His eyes close naturally, which is why the first tickle takes him by surprise.

“A-Ah!”

“No good?” Clear hesitates.

“No, just..” a brief sniff, “You can go ahead.”

Aoba closes his eyes again because for whatever reason he thinks this would be too embarrassing to do with them open, but he’s prepared this time. Or so he thinks, before his lips part just a bit and his breath hitches softly. 

“hh—, hih..,” it’s not enough to make him sneeze just yet, but it definitely tickles. He nods to Clear to keep going, and as he does, the tissue brushes up closer to the walls of his nose, right as Clear shifts it again, and—

“hhHAH—!” Aoba jerks away violently, and it all happens so suddenly that he can barely turn away from Clear. “hIH’ kkSHU-! —kkshu.-kssh.kshh!!- —  iiH, fuck—“ he manages to get out, shoulders jerking forwards again. “iH’ ksshu.!”

Clear watches in silence, speaking up when Aoba gently fans his face after another sneeze. “Are you—“

 “Tissue please,” Aoba desperately cuts off, and when Clear hands him one he immediately sneezes twice into it. Aoba buries his nose in it, eyes squeezed shut, and the room is silent for a minute (except for Aoba scrubbing his nose against the paper, because Clear can hear anything Aoba does.)

“Jesus…” He sighs, and brings the tissue down from his face. “That was—“ his face screws up, “Wait, no, one more— hih— h’K’sshhuh.!” Aoba sniffles. The tissue goes back up. “Ugh.” 

“Um, Aoba-san…” 

“It’s fine. You can see why not everyone likes it though, right?” Clear nods, and he almost looks like he feels bad, and offers him another tissue. “It’s okay, really. You got to learn today, right?”

Clear plants a kiss on Aoba’s cheek, and Aoba is thankful he’s avoided his nose for now. “Yes, thank you! Aoba-san was very cute as well, you know.”