Leave a “Love Me” in my ask, and I’ll write a fluffy drabble about our characters. {{I can't help loving these two idiots}}
“Lahar.” he hadn’t expected to see the former Magic Council member up so late. He himself had been up studying one of the thousands of books on magic and energy he had stored in the palace library. He’d been unable to relax for some reason, some nagging anxiety that drove him from their chambers, deep into the repository of knowledge they had here.
Actually… he was rather impressed that Lahar had managed to find him at all. The palace library was like a maze and could be rather difficult to navigate, especially for someone who had only been in Alvarez for a few months now.
But he also guessed he shouldn’t have been surprised, Lahar was a very intelligent, capable person, and a powerful mage all in his own right. If anyone could learn how to circumnavigate the Imperial Library within just a few minutes and only a couple of previous visits, it was his lover.
Lahar gave him a wane smile, a tired but soft expression, “I couldn’t sleep because someone was not in bed where he should have been.”
Zeref smiled in return, though it quickly faded, “My apologies… I found sleep… rather hard to come by tonight.”
The lavender-eyed mage came up and took a seat in the plush chair directly across from the Emperor, staring at him with a faintly concerned expression on his face. “If something was bothering you… why didn’t you wake me?” he querried.
The black wizard turned his gaze away, “I… didn’t want to wake you. You’re still not completely recovered from almost being killed in the bombing of the Magic Council… you needed your rest.” he offered softly. Some of it was also his own paranoia. He couldn’t help but want to leave his troubles untouched, as to not drag Lahar into more than he already had, to protect him.
“I may still be healing… but that doesn’t mean I’m fragile, or helpless, Zeref. In fact, avoiding the issue, trying to hide it and skirting around me about it… only makes me feel more powerless,” Lahar snapped, irritation showing in his pale colored eyes now, “I am your lover, Zeref. I need to be able to know that you’re okay… I need to be able to protect you too. Do you not understand that?”
It hit him like a slap in the face. Truly… he’d forgotten…. His fear of losing Lahar again, his worry that something might go wrong in his recovery, or that someone might strike him down while he was still not at his full strength. He knew Lahar was capable and far from powerless, but this knowledge was pushed to the back of his mind whenever his anxiety flared up. Being made to believe that he was dead, only to be granted him back… losing him once had only made him want to cling tighter and he hadn’t quite realized that he’d been shutting Lahar out in the process of trying to protect him.
“I’m sorry, Lahar…. I… am just so scared of losing you again… I wanted to let you rest and recover, without bothering you with my insecurities… I was trying to protect you from my own troubles… I was trying to ease your burdens while unknowingly creating more…. Forgive me.”
Lahar sighed and rose to his feet again, coming over to climb into the Emperor’s lap, wrapping his arms around his lover tightly, resting his head against the other’s shoulder. “I figured it was something like that…. But Zeref, you must realize that I’m still here… I’m not going anywhere. And neither are you. I’m recovering, slowly, but everything is fine… You don’t need to protect me, at least, you don’t need to put me in a room with no windows and guard the door, figuratively speaking.”
Zeref relaxed, having not noticed that his body was tense until that moment, and he pressed his cheek to Lahar’s dark hair, his own arms curling aroud the willowy frame to hold him closer. “I’m sorry.” he whispered again.
Lahar lifted his head to lightly kiss the dark mage’s cheek, and then his jawline. “Stop it.” he ordered, “No more of that. Forget about it. I understand why you were doing it, and now that you’ve got it in your head that you don’t need to be like that anymore, you’re not going to do it again, right?”
“No.” Zeref replied, leaning gratefully into the warm touch, “I promise.”
“Good.” the former Council member scoffed, tightening his hold on the other male, “Now carry me to bed and lay with me. I… can’t sleep well if you’re not there.” the admission was intoned more softly than his other words, and Lahar had turned his face to hide the pink tint of his cheeks.
Laughing softly, Zeref nudged the other’s face up with his nose and kissed Lahar’s lips for a moment, before putting one arm under his lover’s knees, and the other over his back, and then rising up from his chair. Holding the long-haired male securely in bridal-style he carried him through the dark, empty corridors and halls of the palace, “I really do love you, Lahar.” the emperor murmured, looking down at the other male.
Lahar’s lavender eyes were clear as they looked up at him, and his blush returned, but this time he did not look away. “….. I know.” at this point he did tucked his head under Zeref’s chin, “….I love you too.”
