Three full days had past since his retrieval. They’d been rough days spent nursing his illness with a fever that took far too long to break. A large majority of that time was spent curled up in bed. The make-shift air mattress had been comfortable enough for him to slumber while wrapped up in a multitude of blankets. Sure, his coughing caused the whole thing to shake, but it was what it was. He certainly wasn’t getting rest during one of his fits.
Curled up in the bed, Aelius pulled the blankets up to his chin. They’d fallen down when he’d been sleeping. He wasn’t sure what time it even was. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t like he was being kept to any sort of schedule, let to drowse off to sleep as needed. But, even as he tried to nestle back in, he found himself unable to get comfortable again. His legs practically ached with a need to get up and move since he’d done very little of it recently. Try as he might to ignore the feeling, he couldn’t. So he slid the covers down and scooted himself to the edge of the mattress.
He took a moment as he sat there, feet on the wooden floor, hands perched on each side of him. The last damn thing he wanted to do was get up too quickly. While he had been moving around himself for a day now, he was still sore and stiff. Taking care not to go too quickly was best for him, his health and his dispostion. Best not to face plant it.
Sitting up, he coughed a few times. It was looser now. Less painful for his throat but his ribs still complained at the abuse. A grimace as he groaned slightly at the reminder to his healing bones, but he didn’t let it deter him. Once he was set, he pushed himself up and stood.
The grey sweatpants he wore hun loosely around his hips. A moment pause to fix them and the drawstring that was precariously still tied, Aelius finally moved to the door. With not knowing the time, he wasn’t sure if Faustite was awake or not or if Waru was around. So he listened for any movement as he shuffled out of the room and headed down the hallway to the bathroom which had been the extent of his roaming the past few days in the house.
—------
Faustite
He hadn't slept since they recovered Aelius. Ever did his mind turn over the history of that night, and the few words that Aelius had for him upon first coming home. The implications hung over him, its irrefutable edge pointed ever toward the boy's throat. His muscles now ached for the lack of sleep, for the countless hours spent taut with an unmitigable tension.
With only his thoughts for company, the prospect of sleep fared ill. He tossed, turned, repositioned this way and that on the circular, recessed bed, but never found himself comfortable. Occasionally a foot hit one of the railing bars or he accidentally stabbed himself in the calf with a clawed toenail. The plasticized sheets crinkled in rumpled complaint for all his fidgeting. Steadily, however, the hours ticked on. Even knowing his next week of labor would begin the following night, he couldn't silence his mind enough to sleep.
Faustite capitulated the effort at last, finally sitting up with a smoky sigh. He expected his next steps to go poorly.
A simple thought took him to Aelius's bedroom, where the boy made his home in nothing more than a couch and an air mattress. But the blankets were cast aside, and the boy was not in his cot. Likely not far, though — no farther than the walls of the house. Bare feet carefully stepped around the mattress, wary of kicking it and putting an unpatchable hole in it, then he saw himself into the hallway.
Faustite's first sight was of Aelius's scarred back. He paused, swallowing, knowing that his firelight would have given him away for how it danced over the walls and sent Aelius's shadow into paroxysms. He waited until the boy turned.
Need a favor, he signed. Come to bed with me.
—------
Aelius
The light fluctuated. Shadows undulated against the wall from a source that was clearly behind him. He didn’t need to question where it came from or why the shadows moved around him as if in their own dance. It was majestic in its own way and had Aelius turning to look behind him to find Faustite.
A very almost naked Faustite. The only thing sparing any sort of modesty were a pair of very tight bikini or thong (He couldn’t tell from the front) style underwear in a familiar damask pattern, piped in a red/orange color.
Thank goodness for the wall which he leaned on to steady himself as blood rushed to areas he was far too ill to do much with. How was this fair? There Aelius stood, probably still looking like he had a way to go with his healing, and Faustite dared stand there like, like…like that?
It wasn’t a good reaction on his part though. Not considering the current state of their relationship. AKA: Almost non-existent. But ********, if he still didn’t find himself and his mind reminding him of the countless times he’d been with the boy. How he kissed, tasted, felt…
Full halt. Stop now.
He closed his eyes momentarily as he rubbed his free hand that wasn’t supporting him on his face. He hoped Faustite didn’t think too far into the reaction and assumed it was only Aelius’s fatigue and weakness. And…sure, it partially was.
“Wait. What?” The favor was completely unexpected and sent Aelius reeling for the abruptness of it. He stared for a moment before breaking the awkwardness and pushing himself slowly away from the wall.
“Sorry I just. I wasn’t expecting that.” What were the implications of ‘bed’ anyway? What was Faustite gunning for cause as much as his body might think was able, Aelius damn well knew better. Not to mention he loathed to jump back into something with Faustite for just the physical aspect of it. They’d started there before. It obviously hadn’t ended well for them in the long term.
“I mean. Do you think that’s smart right now?” His bafflement and hesitancy was evident in his face as brows knitted and the timbre of his voice lacked any sort of calmness.
—------
Faustite
Aelius about clattered into the wall the moment he laid eyes on Faustite. Must've startled him, then; best he didn't teleport to where the boy might be in case his arrival was too abrupt.
But as his attention lingered on the boy, a shift caught his attention. His gaze grew lidded with soured humor. To think you were getting on Waru's case before, he signed in a dry tease.
Stranger still that Aelius wasn't outright declining, but asking if Faustite thought it smart. What difference does it make? A bed's a bed. Doesn't matter if you're sleeping in yours or mine, does it? Can't sleep alone anymore and you're the only one here. Faustite crossed his arms thereafter, half-expecting Aelius to have an objections.
He could already think of a handful. Spiral staircases are too hard right now, never mind the fact that Faustite could teleport them with little cost to himself. But then it'd be something else, like he'd say Faustite had to put on clothes first, or the plasticized sheets were too uncomfortable, or the bed was too hard, or Aelius needed his alone time, or the room got too hot when Faustite was around. Already he was deciding at what point he'd suffered enough, whereupon he could ask Waru to skip spending the night next to Aelius and sleep next to him for once.
—------
Aelius
“It’s not my fault you showed up wearing just that.” He huffed out in response. Sure they’d just been naked together only a few days ago but Aelius had been in no shape to really take notice. At that point he’d just been trying to not hack his lungs out, fall over or completely just fall asleep while Faustite had cleaned him up. Now, he was a bit more whole and healthy if only by a small margin.
Oh. OH. He meant sleep. Just sleep. Ok. Just…that was more reasonable he supposed, if still a bit of an oddity of a question.
He cleared his throat as he shifted on his feet a bit uncomfortably and very aware that Faustite noticed what Aelius wished he hadn’t. “I um…” He really couldn’t think of a reason to say no that felt like it held any substance to it beyond… “I mean…if you don’t mind my coughing. I’d hate to keep you up with it.” Cause it was still ragged.
He owed it to Faustite after all. The boy had been up watching over Aelius for how many days now? He’d gone out of his way to take care of him, dress wounds, and over-all act as a caretaker while Aelius had healed. If all Faustite needed was a warm body to curl up with so he could sleep, Aelius could oblige that, even if he ached for some time out of the bed.
A small part of Aelius hoped that perhaps this might be Faustite willing to reach out a bit more to him. Perhaps the past few days had changed something? Certainly nothing of Aelius’s own doing of course while he laid in bed practically coughing up a lung and sweating the death from a fever. Cause that was not certainly not his best look. Not his worst, by far, but definitely not the best either.
He just needed to turn his flaring needs off cause otherwise this would be a much more awkward thing than it needed to be.
“I can go for some more sleep.” He assured hesitantly.
—------
Faustite
It was different when he was Eion, he knew. Aelius was more accustomed to that skin. To something less actively burning and charred black. But seeing the youma General so divested hadn't turned the boy off. Maybe Albite was rubbing off on him in his filthy mannerisms, then.
Won't bother me. With his exhaustion so perilously evident underneath his eyes, Faustite doubted that Aelius's frequent coughing spells would make a difference. He'd just as likely sleep through that as he would a massacre right now. So heavy was the burden of consciousness that his every blink caused the room to spin just slightly.
After a moment of consideration for Aelius's acceptance, he signed back at the boy. Shower first. Then we go upstairs.
Faustite could wait in Aelius's bedroom in the interim. Maybe try to nap in there. All the while, Aelius would have some personal time to rid himself of his inconvenient problem.
—------
Aelius
Faustite Looked….well, now that Aelius wasn't as distracted, he really noticed how absolutely worn down the other boy was. Exhausted might not be a strong enough word. If he were capable of it, Aelius was sure that Faustite would pass out standing up.
“Yea. Shower.” He agreed. Mentally thanking the other for the reprieve. “I won't be long.” He promised, eyes furrowing as he watched Faustite for a moment more before finally turning to return to his duffle down the hallway to the bathroom.
Being to shower on his own was a big achievement in comparison to before. But unfortunately he needed to subject himself to yet another cold shower. He was not intending to make anything more awkward than it needed to be. But a promised he didn't take long with showering and calming himself down. By the time he got out his skin was pricked up with a chill.
He had to slip back into the sweat pants he'd been wearing, making more to ask Waru to maybe bring him some more. Maybe even some in his size.
After toweling his hair off, purposely not looking at his reflection in the mirror, he finally emerged. Faustite was nowhere to be found in the hallway, but a glow could be seen coming from his bedroom so he made his way back to his quarters.
“I am back.” He announced himself as he entered the room. Not that he thought Faustite could miss him coming down the hallway when he had another coughing fit. “Let's get you to bed.”
—------
Faustite
Faustite had waited on the couch in the interim, where he hoped that the assurance that he wouldn't be alone might be enough to put him to sleep right then and there. But sleep was ever elusive, even as time slipped through his fingers, and Aelius was back in the bedroom sooner than he realized.
That the boy had been coughing only caught up with him belatedly when he turned his head at the sound of Aelius's voice. He nodded, once, then rose to meet him. With a touch on the elbow, they were standing in the turret bedroom that he and his boys oft called home. The space featured a bay window with heat-proofed seating, though the view was of the desolate remains of would-be neighbors and an ominous, false sky. Faustite had liked it nonetheless, frequently abandoning his works-in0progress there when he was pulled from his reading for work purposes. Numerous volumes on military strategy and counterintelligence lay on the window sill.
Around and about, all the furniture was made for the specific curvature of the room, from a writing desk to bookcases and curio cabinets filled with strange finds from the Rift. There was, of course, a makeshift pantry near the bed, whose glass surface showed that it was largely emptied.
The bed itself was the focal point. Installed in a recessed area in the center of the room, it was easily king-sized with a short railing built up around it. A rug had then been laid over stone around the railing, its pattern an echo of the resident's own uniform. On the bed itself was a plasticized sheet protecting it from Faustite's high heat output, as well as pillows and blankets made of furs that could similarly survive Faustite. Naturally, all but one pillow had been migrated to one side of the bed, with the largely free side of the bed showing repeating marks where the grate had lain.
Faustite crossed the few feet to the bed and opened the latch on the railing, holding the gate ajar for Aelius to make himself comfortable.
—------
Aelius
The bedroom was warm in both temperature and appearance. It looked lived in and seemed to tell a story about it’s resident half-youma General King that may surprise some people. Aelius was unsurprised by the books that occupied the space even if the subject matter was not something he, himself, would have gravitated towards on his own. Maybe I should be reading more like that though. The thought flit across his mind in a silent chastisement. Perhaps if he had been better educated the situation he’d found him in might not have happened. Or, at the very least, he maybe would have handled it batter. Though, what else he could have done was beyond him besides being more aware of himself and things around him.
He did find the bench lines window to appear like a lovely cozy retreat though, and honestly, the curvature of the room as a whole did much to make the whole space feel like a cocoon. Like he was being enveloped in a safe nook that no one could find him in. Something removed from the world completely.
“I have always liked your room.” He remarked quietly as he took it all in. He missed the room. It had been far too long since he last had seen it, and it was obvious Faustite had continued to put care and thought into its design and furnishings since the two of them had their falling out.
He could hear metal move, and he was pulled from his observations to the bed that sat as the main focal point. The railing was a feature that was new to Aelius. He’d only seen it once before and that was when Faustite was healing. He had thought it a temporary fixture at the time. But now, Faustite was holding the gate open in invitation. For some reason, Aelius found the railing disconcerting in some way. It felt almost cage-like despite it’s low profile along the beds frame. Still, he walked over and eased himself in and onto the bed. He made sure to leave the area that was obviously Faustite’s favorite side by the marks left there from the metal grate of his midsection.
Maybe it was because it was a real bed as opposed to the air mattress he had been gratefully sleeping on the past few days, but the purple-haired young man instantly felt a tiredness sweep over him at the plush feel of the bed under him. Plastic covering or not, it was still comfortable. Plus, there was a soothing feeling in knowing he wasn’t going to be alone, even if he still felt uncertain about the current arrangements despite how innocent they were.
—------
Faustite
Faustite blinked at the comment. It was altogether surprising to hear that the boy liked anything he had. While he shared the room with his boys at one point or another, the space was largely his own — largely unmodified by the presence of the other people in his life. Their signs of visitation were scattered around the room, of course — some drawers in a dresser or curios kept in a standing cabinet — but where they might have spent the night, Faustite lived there. For that reason alone, he assumed Heliodor would have detested the space.
He waited for Aelius to make himself comfortable among the various furs. Likely enough that they would not be needed — Waru really only put them to use when he was feeling feverish or uncharacteristically cold — but at least they provided a softness that Aelius could enjoy without feeling like he was sticking to the plasticized sheet.
Faustite followed after him, toes angled diligently upward to avoid putting holes in yet another set of sheets. He kept his hold on the railing until he could turn and settle down in his rightful place on his favorite side of the bed. He hadn't bothered with the pillow this time, preferring to push it aside in favor of using his arm for resting his head. Briefly, he considered how he wanted to sleep before deciding that it was best if he curled up and away from Aelius. The boy had already acquiesced to sleep in the same bed as him; Faustite assumed that anything more personal may just as easily drive him right back out.
Already he felt a little less keyed up. It was as if he needn't be on such high alert in case something happened to Aelius, though he knew that Aelius wasn't going anywhere and no one was going to bust into the Sunken City to take him again. And while his thoughts still ran the gamut of worries, his body began to relinquish some of its restless energy. He could, to an extent, relax.
So Faustite breathed a long sigh. He stretched out his legs until the tips of his clawed toes scraped against the railing before they relaxed against the bed.
Maybe they could build a new sense of normal out of this, somehow.
—------
Aelius
Getting comfortable on the bed was…challenging, and it had nothing to do with the required linens to keep the furniture from going up in flames at Faustite’s touch. The furs Aelius nestled on, were certainly comfortable enough after all. It was the nature of the whole siutation and the awkwardness of it all as Faustite made himself comfortable, facing away, and keeping a noticable distance between them.
Aelius looked at the bare back and elaborate grate of a mid-section. He could have reached out and touched the boy, certainly. Faustite was only an arms length away after all, but it felt like a chasm sat between them and he wasn’t sure if he was welcomed on the other side of it. Safe, he may be from the fire with his small token of crystallized fire securely around his neck, it didn’t promise his heart a safety net.
Fingers curled against a brown, short-haired fur as he contemplated the risk of the situation. Why have Aelius join him in bed and then just, turn away? It was confusing and sent such mixed signals that the ill boy wasn’t understanding. Tentatively he began to stretch an arm out to that exposed back.
He coughed. Burying his face in the furs under him he did his best to muffled the sound as he pulled his hand back to himself.
When it was over he turned back to Faustite, noting the relaxed posture and the dimming of the flame within that metal grate. He sighed as he curled his knees up to his midsection.
He didn’t turn away, but also made no more attempts to bridge the gap. Instead, he laid there watching as sleep made herself a fickle mistress. His mind raced along all of the possibilities of things he could have, or shouldhave done better in the past. How he felt both lost about his future while tentatively hopeful that maybe something good could come from this. Them?
A heavy sigh escaped him, bringing with it more coughing and a ragged breath. He closed his eyes, so as not to feel like he was intruding on the space that was Faustite’s. After all, staring at the boy’s back was both creepy and unhelpful. For all he knew, the General King could feel Aelius’s gaze upon him, making sleep that more difficult. It was clear Faustite needed rest.
So, Aelius laid there chasing after his own sleep with no success as he wondered what it all meant that he was there.
Strickenized
