Chapter Text
Aemond yawned for the umpteenth time that night, trying his best to keep his eye open to complete the darned report he had been working on all week.
He thinks it should be easy by now, working late nights, but as stoic of a mask he wore around others, he had no shame in admitting to himself that half year reports were a bitch.
A bitch who decides to take up most of his time, his sleep, his peace, and give nothing in return but the satisfaction of knowing that he had done his job, as was expected of him.
But he wasn’t about to let it bother him or deter his determination, he always worked well under pressure, a fact he had discovered in his early childhood, which became all too apparent after the loss of his eye.
He had risen up to the challenge. Granted, it was no easy feat, re-learning almost all aspects of one’s lives, but it wasn’t like he had a choice.
It was to either let himself be seen as a cripple or buckle down and prove himself as able-bodied as anyone else in the word.
It gave him newfound strength, if he had managed to survive such a life-changing alteration, he could survive completing this blasted report.
He had to be a role model for his subordinates, the control of this branch of their family business wasn’t given to him for shits and giggles.
He almost let out a hurrah of victory once he managed to rid himself of the work, but he kept he sound at bay.
Not to mention he was far too exhausted for such a thing, the only thing he wanted to do now was to go home and crash like there was no tomorrow.
To fall into a slumber so deep that it would put the sleeping beauty to shame.
He exited his office, only to be met with the sight of his secretary, friend and confidant, Alys.
‘’Hey.’’, she greeted, flicking her long hair behind her, giving him a polite smile.
‘’Hey,’’ he greeted back, taken aback by her appearance, ‘’I thought you went home.’’
He had already dismissed her by the evening, it wasn’t safe for her to spend late nights at the office.
It was acceptable and nothing unusual, but the world was a dangerous place for omegas like herself, and as much as he preferred her help and expertise in all aspects of his professional life, he would hate to subject her to any form of danger.
‘’Yeah, I was just heading out,’’ she took out her phone, and looked at the screen, ‘’Oh, a few of my friends are going out for a drink, would you like to come?’’
He already knew the answer.
It is almost comical how he would have jumped at the opportunity to get drunk just a few years earlier, but wouldn’t even consider it now.
He shook his head.
‘’No, I’m just gonna head home.’’
Alys chuckled.
‘’Yeah, I thought you might say that,’’ she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, ‘’can’t wait to get home to your loving husband, huh?”
He couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him at that statement.
If only she knew what his marriage was truly like.
If only she knew how pathetic he actually was.
It was almost too tempting to open up to her, gods knew he needed it. it had already been years since he wed, and yet he hadn’t told anyone.
But he kept his mouth shut, settling for the polite reply as he exited his office.
‘’You know me.’’
----------
Once parked in the driveaway of his too large home, he merely sat in the silence, leaning back against the leather seat and closing his eye.
Letting his mind go blank, to clear himself of any and all thoughts, dreading having to go back inside that cold, lifeless house.
The house which had everything he could possibly need, the house where his husband resided with their child who carried both their blood in her veins.
The house in which was an awful realisation of everything he could have, but couldn’t, simply because it wasn’t possible.
Because he was a fool who still hoped that his marriage could become more, that it couldn’t morph into something beautiful.
Something entirely contrary to what it was right now- loveless and hollow.
Nevertheless, he opened his car door and walked inside with heavy steps.
His keys jangled as he inserted them into the lock, opening the door to fully expect the living room lights to be off, to be greeted with the empty space of his house.
It would make sense, it was already 4 am in the morning, and a weekday.
His daughter must be fast asleep and his husband must have retired for the night as well.
it was such a shame that he wouldn’t get to see him until the morning, he internally cursed that darned report again for keeping him for so long, for making him miss his chance.
So, imagine his surprise when he opened up the door to be greeted with a most unusual sight.
The living room lights were off, as expected.
His daughter was asleep, also as expected, courtesy of her mother, who always made sure she kept a strict sleep schedule, as was healthy and befitting a five-year-old.
What wasn’t expected was the sight of Lucerys, who was currently seated on one of the sofas, his legs outstretched on the cushions, with his laptop perched on his lap.
Granted, Lucerys always stayed up until he got home, and today wasn’t an exception.
But he had never been so late in his arrival, therefore he had expected Lucerys to just bite the bullet and go to sleep, especially considering the fact that he had to wake up in a matter of few hours to get their daughter ready for school.
‘’Hey.’’, Lucerys greeted with a stoic face, his voice even, giving nothing away as he walked towards him, taking off the glasses he always wore for the screen of his laptop, and handing them by the neck of his T-shirt ‘’You’re quite late today.’’
He reached for the bag Aemond carried like he always did whenever he came home, as if it was something natural. His scent of sweet lillies, vanilla and citrus invaded his senses, and he had to actively hold himself back from sniffing like a madman, lest his husband thought him mad.
He wanted to tell Lucerys to not wait up for him if he ran late from work, that it was unhealthy for him to do so.
He wanted to tell him not to free him of his bag as soon as he walked in, that it wasn’t his responsibility to do so.
Be could say neither of those things, because if he did, he might have to give up the only interaction he shared with Lucerys.
The interactions which were no doubt meaningless to his husband, but were more often than not the highlight of his day, though he would never admit that to anyone.
So, he cleared his throat to free up the words which were clogged in his throat.
‘’Yeah, work ran late.’’
Lucerys simply nodded, not sparing him a glance as he placed his bag on the glass table of the living room, rummaging through the contents until he found the lunchbox he had made for him, opening it up and checking that it was empty.
To confirm that Aemond had eaten his lunch that day.
It was another unconditional act of kindness from Lucerys that he simply accepted without any question. It felt almost like an honour, to accept the small pieces of crumbs his husband scattered for him in the way he always performed what he thought was his duty towards him.
Some of his employees would call him a lovestruck alpha behind his back, Alys would do it right to his face, since he always rejected their invitations for dinners or lunches unless it was completely necessary to do so.
He never denied their accusationa, acutely aware of true they were.
‘’Did you have dinner?’’, Lucerys inquired, putting away his bag to its rightful place from where it could be easily recovered when he would need it tomorrow.
He simply shook his head, it was the truth, he hadn’t and anytime to eat today, if hunger gnawed at him, he simply ignored.
Lucerys nodded again, moving towards the attached kitchen, opening up the fridge to no doubt heat up whatever leftovers his husband and daughter must have had today.
‘’Is vegetable stir-fry okay?’’
‘’Yeah.’’
He conveniently didn’t mention that he loved anything and everything his husband cooked for him.
He took his place by the kitchen island, seating himself on one of the stools as Lucerys placed the food in the microwave.
He took in the sight of his house again, and as always, it was all pristine and clean, not a single thing was out of place.
It was always hard to conceal his awe, considering the fact that they had a five year old in the house, not to mention they didn’t have a housekeeper.
Meaning it was all up to Lucerys to keep everything clean, which he did without a single complaint.
In all the years of his marriage, he had never witnessed Lucerys huffing, or expressing annoyance, or even saying simple things about how tired he was or how exhausted he was.
The heated food was placed in front of him and he felt his appetite make a miraculous return.
‘’Thanks.’’
Lucerys didn’t respond, merely shrugging his shoulders as he walked away.
He only got to take a bite of the delicious delicacy before his husband returned with his laptop in tow, seating himself opposite to him and opening up the device.
Taking his glasses from where they hung on his neck and placing them back on as he faced the screen again, the frames suiting him more than he would like to admit.
The only noises occupying the space were the clatter of his spoon and the clicks of Lucerys’ fingers as he typed on the screen, his cherub face in impressive focus as he focused on his writing.
He had to tear his eyes away from the sight before his nephew caught him staring at him like a fool.
It was such a shame that he had run out of his favourite beer the night before, because he was definitely craving a drink before he went off to sleep.
As if on cue, Lucerys spoke up like he had read his mind or something.
‘’Would you like some beer?’’
He almost had the urge to question his husband, to find out what tricks he used to always live rent free in his mind.
‘’We’re out, I checked last night.’’
Lucerys simply shrugged before making his way over to the fridge again, crouching down and taking out the can of drink from the hidden spot where it couldn’t be discovered by their daughter.
Proceeding to then open it up with a pop and placing the chilled liquid before him.
‘’I bought more in the evening.’’, he informed in an even tone and Aemond had to hold back his hands from expressing his gratitude in what would be considered inappropriate for what their relationship is.
‘’Thanks.
‘’No problem.’’
Lucerys simply returned to his typing and he couldn’t help but feel pity for his poor husband.
The house was clean, the dinner was delicious, but Lucerys looked quite contrary to all those things.
His brown curls were messy and greasy like he hadn’t combed through them in years.
There were dark circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept properly for days, which he probably hadn’t. The clothes he wore were far from his best, the grey sweats and black T-shirt only meant for comfort.
Because Lucerys may have been a house-husband, but he was anything but lazy.
And even in that state, he managed to look so beautiful.
He wanted to ask him how he was doing, whether or not his writing was going well, whether or not he had eaten properly, whether or not he had a good day today.
Whether or not he was happy.
But he had no right, simply because that wasn’t their relationship.
Some part of him even hated Lucerys for being how perfect he was at everything he did, how his complacent nature was too much sometimes.
He almost wished there was something he wasn’t excelled at, wished he would complain, or even fight with him about something, anything.
It would be better than the stalemate they were currently in, it would maybe give them a chance to become more.
And by the gods did he want more.
The sight of Lucerys rubbing the back of his shoulder only served to break his heart all over again, the poor boy was most definitely exhausted, and yet he continued on working.
Aemond had worked long hours in the office the entire day, and yet his husband somehow looked even worse than him.
He was almost tempted to offer him a massage, to rub his back, work out the knots in his muscles. Gods knew his nephew could use it.
He would have done it, had he not feared how Lucerys would react to something so unusual.
Something so unsuited to their arrangement.
‘’By the way,’’ Lucerys spoke up, looking at him through the lens of his glasses, ‘’Rhaenyra has an art exhibition tomorrow, she really wanted her daddy there,’’ he looked down fiddling with the wedding band on his ring finger, ‘’you don’t have to come if you’re busy b-‘’
‘’I’ll be there,’’ he agreed immediately, ‘’What time?’’
The small smile that Lucerys gave him made it all worth it, no to mention how the simple action managed to take his breath away from his lungs.
If only his omega knew of the hold he had over him.
‘’You can come anytime between 2 to 4.’’
The decision to name his daughter after his half-sister was one Lucerys had made himself, with his permission of course.
It was just another effort of his nephew to mend his relationship with his mother, to appease her.
Granted, his sister loved her namesake, but seemed to have none to spare for her son who was once her sweet boy.
He simply nodded, finishing off his dinner and taking the dishes, but Lucerys beat him to it.
‘’Let me.’’, his nephew took the dirty dishes, placing them in the sink.
He got up himself, watching Lucerys as he closed his laptop, no doubt carrying it to his bedroom, to allow himself a few hours of rest before he woke up again.
As always, the sight of his husband leaving without sparing him another glance brought him crushing dread, it was something he had never gotten used to, even after all these years.
‘’Lucerys.’’, he called, the out, the words leaving him before his mind caught up.
His husband simply looked back, his expression as apathetic as ever, his brows raised in silent question.
He took in his form again, the sight of Lucerys’ collarbones peeking out from his shirt only threatening to make him lose his reason, to make him want to kiss and trace those contours.
But he regained his senses just as fast, clearing his throat to expel the tightness in his chest.
‘’Good night.’’
Lucerys only nodded back.
‘’Good night.’’
He watched his husband’s figure disappear into the bedroom, ignoring the longing twisting his guts in sadistic glory.
Sighing and making his way to his own bedroom, his cold bed waiting for him mockingly.