send me a ship and one of these and i’ll write a mini fic12. things you said when you thought i was asleep
He should know by now that Xerxes doesn’t sleep so easily; he should be well aware that Xerxes can’t ever seem to rest in front of another person, to let himself look peaceful and exposed so. Maybe it’s just that Reim woke to find the albino crouched at his bedside that leads him to believe that he’s still unconscious with exhaustion, but he’s immediately half-aware when the other stirs, so even if it could have been true, the point is entirely moot.
But he keeps his eye shut, even as his other senses come online; he hears a small vocalization of surprise, followed by a soft sigh, fabric shifting against fabric, the click of something metallic as Reim presumably dons his spectacles. He feels attention, likely in the form of a gaze, hanging over him; Xerxes dimly realizes he’s too at ease, letting himself stay prone like this, relaxing for just a bit longer to ease his tired bones, but it’s alright.
Another sigh, half relief and half exasperation, falls overhead; Reim’s sitting up, now, leaning toward him, watching him breathe. Silence is a beautiful and terrifying thing; like many beautiful things, though, it is only made to be broken, even as Xerxes doesn’t bother to do so.
“…Still in his clothes, too…” Reim begins to mutter aloud, as if he’s not entirely aware his thoughts are being vocalized, either, “What a moron. He can’t even sleep like a normal person…” but despite his words, what’s in his tone isn’t quite irritation—it’s gentle, something like concern, which Xerxes can’t yet bring himself to get irritated about. “Maybe I should tell him to just get in the bed properly next time…” another soft sigh, as if to say that would be ridiculous.
Something approaches Xerxes’s face and it’s all he can do not to spring alert there, but some desire to leave the moment as it is holds strong enough to keep him still as long fingers barely stroke his hair. When has anyone done this—had the nerve to do this to him? It must have been Lady Shelly, he thinks, who he last allowed to touch his head with such a feather-light caress, as though those fingers intended to comfort him; and stranger still, they do.
Unable to bear such nonsense any longer (both inside his own mind and outside), he raises a heavy eyelid, smirking wryly at his dear friend (…?) as mild surprise flits through bright hazel eyes. “What was that, now~?” fearlessly idiotic he breathes that meaningless question, grin growing a bit more foolish as Reim’s irritation becomes visible; “Well, in that case, I—”
A pillow strikes his face with a soft thump to interrupt his words, but Xerxes only begins to laugh, whereas Reim gives a loud grumble, lacking any particular syllables, before speaking. “You have no idea how to read the atmosphere, do you…?”
The albino continues to giggle, covering his chin with a hand as though he could possibly be innocent. “Well, you’re awake, so you might as well tell me what you’re doing in my room this early in the morning,” he says it like it’s nothing at all, and perhaps, for the two of them, it is nothing but a chance to share a cup of tea and some company while the rest of the world wakes up.