Work Text:
Aresh looked to the bed he shared with his lover and couldn’t help but pout. Seiichirou was fast asleep, lying on his stomach, arms wrapped around a pillow. That wasn’t how he usually slept, and Aresh wondered if he had tried to stay awake but simply failed. Regardless, it was another night where they barely got to see one another.
Slowly kneeling on the bed, careful not to disturb it too much, Aresh reached over and brushed Seiichirou’s bangs aside, studying his face. He’d been hard at work for the past two weeks, and before that, the Third Royal Order had been on an expedition. Aresh wanted to be sure the man had been taking care of himself, and he felt certain Seiichirou’s face looked a touch more gaunt than usual.
It had been nearly five weeks since the pair had any quality time together, and Aresh had been looking forward to the first night in some time that they were both home and without looming responsibilities. Biting back a sigh, he leaned over to kiss Seiichirou’s temple, his lips lingering for several heartbeats. Aresh settled in beside him, carefully shifted Seiichirou until he was on his side, then curled around the smaller man. If left to sleep on his stomach like that, he would certainly wake up sore.
The following morning, Aresh was surprised to find Seiichirou still fast asleep in his arms. Usually Aresh was second to wake, which was a testament to just how worn out his lover must be. Really, did he need to work so hard all the damn time? Sighing, he nuzzled into Seiichirou’s neck, pressing kisses against sensitive skin, feeling the man start to respond and wake. Aresh slid a hand under his lover’s shirt, gently rubbing his stomach, letting his fingers skim just above the waistband to his sleeping pants. He was rewarded with a soft moan, and he smiled as a tired hand limply settled on his head and began playing with his hair.
“Good morning,” Aresh whispered, lifting his head to find Seiichirou’s lips and press a soft kiss to them. Leaning into it, he pressed the man down into the pillow, his fingers beginning to tease their way under Seiichirou’s waistband.
Gasping, Seiichirou looked at him bleary-eyed, clearly still barely awake, and a wide, exhausted smile brightened his face. “Mornin’,” he mumbled, sliding his arms across broad shoulders and bringing Aresh in for another deep kiss. His hips lifted as he felt a tug on his waistband, and he gasped again when a large, callused hand wrapped around him.
Aresh kissed down Seiichirou’s neck and across his shoulders, hand bringing his lover to the same maddening hardness he was pressing into Seiichirou’s leg. As Aresh began trailing kisses along his stomach, he grunted in surprise and reeled back when Seiichirou suddenly bolted upright. “What?” he muttered, annoyed and confused.
“The time!” Seiichirou exclaimed, slipping out of bed and leaving an increasingly frustrated Aresh behind. “I have a meeting this morning to present everything, I can’t be late! I don’t know if I’ll have time to eat breakfast,” he muttered that last bit more to himself as he hurried out of the bedroom to get washed up for the morning.
Groaning, Aresh fell back into the mattress and rested an arm across his eyes. Of course. Of course the man would look at the clock, and of course that would chase him out of bed. Even so, he smiled wryly to himself as he remembered the morning after the very first time they’d had sex, when Seiichirou had nearly died first of tonic overdose, then Aresh’s own magic.
Some things never changed, though he rather wished this one would.
Then again, the meeting was likely to be with a lot of extremely important types. Come to think of it, Aresh himself was scheduled to attend that meeting, too, wasn’t he? Finding himself with a bizarre mix of irritation and amused nostalgia, he got out of bed and went to the bathroom to join Seiichirou in getting ready for the day at the double-sink. He could just use cleansing magic, but the water felt better and did more to wake him up.
Aresh would be damned if Seiichirou would skip breakfast, however, and he forced the man to take a seat, allowing him to bring his work papers to the table so he could review and organize at the same time as eating. They left for work together shortly after a rushed meal, and Aresh kept his arm around Seiichirou while in the carriage. The papers got packed away a bit before they would arrive, and Aresh tilted up his lover’s face so that he could kiss him deeply. Seiichirou squirmed and put up a token resistance, arguing that they didn’t have nearly enough time or privacy to get up to anything, but his words cut off when Aresh began massaging his inner thigh.
“Just let me enjoy what I can,” Aresh grumbled against his ear, and he felt a smug satisfaction at the shiver that elicited. “It’s been too long.”
“That- that might be true, Aresh, but we’ll be there soon, and these pants are rather tight…,” Seiichirou complained, even as his knees shifted apart and he pressed towards that wonderful hand.
Smirking, Aresh rubbed over him, enjoying the feel of fingers digging into his shoulders in response, and the way Seiichirou buried his face into Aresh’s neck. “So, just sit there and enjoy it, and I’ll cast a cleansing spell on you after.”
“No,” Seiichirou groaned, and seemed reluctant as he shoved Aresh back and scooted away on the bench, shooting him a baleful glare, “I won’t be able to focus at the meeting if I’m dealing with magic sickness, Aresh. You know that.”
Aresh sighed heavily, and turned a frown on the window as the carriage seemed to slow at just that moment. They’d been closer than he’d thought, so it was just as well that Seiichirou had stopped things, but that didn’t mean he was happy about it. He tried not to sulk as they stepped out of the carriage, but Seiichirou’s heavy sigh and the elbow that wedged itself under Aresh’s ribs told him he was doing a bad job. “Stop that,” Aresh grumbled.
“You stop that,” Seiichirou snapped, glaring up at him. When Aresh didn’t branch off to head towards the knights’ offices, that glare intensified for a brief moment before he seemed to realize something and asked, “You’ll be at the meeting, too?”
“I’m Commander of the Third Royal Order, of course I’ll be there.”
Seiichirou barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the petulance in Aresh’s voice. “Right, sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Just behave yourself.”
“What do you think I am?”
“Right now? I’d say you’re acting like an animal in heat.”
“Hey! Can you honestly say you feel much differently right now?” Aresh growled, teeth grinding together as he forced himself not to raise his voice. Seiichirou looked away and didn’t answer. Aresh nodded, clearly feeling victorious, and slapped Seiichirou’s arm down when that elbow came for him again, “Don’t do that.”
Seiichirou sniffed indignantly and they walked silently to where the meeting was to be held. The bickering had no heat to it, they were both simply more than a little pent up, and the silence was even comfortable, with no one the wiser.
All of the preparation of the past two weeks paid off, and the meeting went off without a hitch. Seiichirou was very well suited to presenting at such meetings, and he always had answers for any questions that came his way. He seemed expert at being able to predict what comments he would receive, and if something was better answered by another, he always flashed a look their direction right before the answer was given. That included when a question came up that was best for Aresh to answer. Seiichirou hadn’t briefed him on it, but still looked to Aresh in a silent prompt, though it wasn’t needed, his mouth already opening to answer the question.
We’re not errand boys, Aresh thought with some irritation at the noble who had wondered why they couldn’t do a little more for guarding trade caravans. If magic monsters or foreign invaders were the attackers, then sure, the Third would be there. But not as bodyguards. Regardless, regular old highway robbery called for the First or the regular army, not specialized magic knights. It was insult to imply otherwise.
Of course, Seiichirou came prepared with charts showing how much more expensive it would be to employ the Third to such a cause. When hazard pay was a percentage of their base pay, it only made sense to employ the less costly military with a handful of knights from the First Royal Order. Besides that, the First had experience working alongside and commanding the military. They truly were the best fit.
When the meeting ended, Aresh accompanied Seiichirou to the Accounting Department’s office, locking their pinky fingers together as they walked. Their relationship was no longer a secret, though it had never been well-kept, and Seiichirou had slowly opened up to small amounts of public affection. He didn’t take well to Aresh trying to give him even quick kisses when others were around, but he didn’t object to some hand-holding and the occasional hug, so long as it didn’t last too long.
Once at the door, Aresh didn’t let him go right away, instead taking hold of both hands and facing each other just out of the way. “Lunch isn’t too far off, I’ll come by when it’s time.”
Seiichirou shook his head, and interrupted any incoming protests with an explanation, “It won’t take me long to put together a summary from the meeting, then I have to deliver that report to everyone. I could send someone else, but honestly, I could use the time walking around. I’ll save you for last, it should be right around the midday Fire hour by then, we can go from there. Okay?”
Well, that was actually reasonable, and Aresh had to admit, he liked the idea of Seiichirou taking some time to walk around instead of staying hunched over his desk. “Very well,” he agreed and squeezed his lover’s hands, hesitating just a moment as he resisted the urge to lean in for a kiss. “I’ll see you then.”
They parted ways then, and Aresh returned to the knights’ offices. Orjef had the men out in the training yard, and he contemplated whether or not he should join them just yet. Checking on the work waiting for him, he decided to wait until the afternoon exercises, and sat at his desk with his door slightly ajar. He certainly didn’t enjoy paperwork, and didn’t take much joy or pride in it, either. Taking it over had started, pathetic as it was to admit, as a way to impress Seiichirou. Worse yet, it had seemed to work.
After seeing a year end report on the differences that had been made since Seiichirou had implemented changes, and then the slight improvement again when Aresh had taken over the paperwork, he knew he had to keep it up. Beyond that, when he had taken a look at that report and seen the sorts of things that had been sent to accounting for reimbursement, Aresh had taken a few weeks to whip his men into proper shape.
Really, they thought the kingdom should pay for their nights spent with whores? That had galled him when he had seen that, and as much as it shamed him, he had asked Seiichirou what other sort of nonsense had been reimbursed before the changes. It had been an eye opening experience, and had reinforced the belief that he really did need to keep charge over the paperwork.
So, much as he hated it and would prefer being out in the training yard, Aresh set to looking over his paperwork. Not many expense reports were sent through anymore, now that everyone had come to terms with the new regulations, but there was more than just that in the stack. Reports from different parts of the country had to be looked at to determine if there was any sign of foreign interference or magical beasts, sent in regularly so that if any patterns cropped up, they could be noticed and tended to. Requests for aid had to be delegated to the correct company, as so many people asked for the Third, even when it wasn’t within their purview. With fame came great piles of paperwork, it seemed.
Aresh had worked his way through most of the stack when someone knocked on his open door, peeking inside. He looked up and smiled to Seiichirou, waving for him to enter before turning his attention back down to the sheet in front him. He only had a couple more lines to read before he could determine where it went, and he didn’t particularly wish to have to reread the dry document from the beginning.
Once he’d marked it as something for the First to handle and set it in the appropriate pile, he set down his pen and sat up straight. Seiichirou had closed the door behind him, and walked over with a sheet of paper and a smile. Aresh took the summary of changes agreed to in the morning meeting and set it aside, watching his lover curiously. That glint in his eyes was usually only there when he was plotting something. He better not have been handed another project immediately after this last one.
Seiichirou walked around the desk and sat himself quite agreeably in Aresh’s lap before looking to the clock. “Before you started joining me for lunch, what did you do?”
“Hm?” Aresh blinked in confusion, too busy burying his face in the man’s neck to pay much attention to the words at first. Once they sank in, however, he answered, “I would have something sent in from the kitchens. I usually just ate here. The men seem to have a hard time relaxing with me around, so it just made more sense to eat in my office then take a walk afterwards.”
“Would you be able to order for me, too, so we can take our lunch here?”
“Sure, let me have a message sent to the kitchens.” Aresh grabbed a sheet of paper and jotted out the request, and he tried to repress his irritation when Seiichirou left his lap as a messenger was called in.
Seiichirou watched the boy leave with the message then closed the door again. “You still have work to do?”
“It can wait.”
“It isn’t the Fire hour yet.”
“It can wait,” Aresh repeated in the same tone, stubborn.
Seiichirou shook his head and leaned against the desk, setting another paper into the center of the writing area. “Don’t be like that, Aresh. I’m not going anywhere. But I’ll make finishing your work worth your while.”
Raising a brow, Aresh tried to pull Seiichirou back into his lap, but the older man resisted, setting his hands on Aresh’s strong shoulders and leaning back. Rather than the usual irritation in such a situation, he actually seemed amused, and that cunning glint was still in shining in his dark eyes.
“Worth my while, how?” Aresh asked, mostly reluctant, and a bit intrigued, though he didn’t want to admit as much.
“You promise you’ll work?”
Aresh sighed heavily then glanced at the papers. Only three left to go. Then he looked to the time. Fifteen minutes until the Fire hour, and lunch likely wouldn’t arrive until it was another fifteen minutes in. Finally he looked back up at Seiichirou and loosened his hold on the man. Apparently he had some kind of plan, and Aresh supposed he could go along with it. “Alright, promise. I’ll finish these three reports, or stop when the bell calls the lunch hour.”
Pleased, Seiichirou nodded and rewarded him with a deep kiss. That certainly didn’t help with his work motivation, but seeming to sense that, Seiichirou pulled away after just a few heartbeats. Aresh sighed with a hint of regret, and a moment later the sound morphed in a strangled, confused grunt. Instead of waiting on the couch as Aresh had expected, Seiichirou had taken to his knees right there, his slender frame tucked mostly under the desk and between Aresh’s legs.
“Seiichi-?”
“Work,” Seiichirou ordered with a smirk, even as he undid Aresh’s belt and opened up his pants.
“How?”
“Do you really need to be retrained on your job?”
He could tell from the tone that Seiichirou was baiting him, but that didn’t prevent him from grumbling and grasping at the man’s short hair, “I mean, how in the hell am I supposed to focus with you like this?”
“That’s for you to figure out, if you want this to continue.”
Aresh doubled over, his forehead smacking into the heavy wood of his desk. He looked down at Seiichirou, who met his gaze evenly, as though his fingers weren’t rubbing Aresh down through his clothing. “Where do you even get ideas like this?” Aresh asked, voice strained.
“Hm, does it matter? Anyways, work.”
Gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut, Aresh took just a few breaths to get himself mostly under control, then straightened up. He set his jaw and looked over the first of the last three reports, trying to focus on the words even as Seiichirou expertly stroked him. In one hand, he held the report as he tried to read, and the other hand patted Seiichirou’s head, occasionally scraping nails over his scalp.
A few wrinkles creased into the paper when lips suddenly wrapped around him, and he bit back a groan. Glancing at the door then down between his legs, he mumbled for Seiichirou to hear, “I’m going to cast a silencing spell on the room.” Seiichirou didn’t stop what he was doing, simply gave a muffled grunt of agreement and pressed his tongue at the base of Aresh’s length. Nearly biting the inside of his mouth at that, it took Aresh a moment before he could cast the spell. Once done, he poured magic into Seiichirou through the places where their bodies met, so that he wouldn’t fall ill.
Seeming to notice the attention he was receiving, Seiichirou withdrew and looked up at Aresh expectantly. Realizing he had stopped working to watch, Aresh closed his eyes and allowed himself to groan, this time in disappointment. He turned his attention back to the paperwork, and after a few beats, that wonderfully hot mouth took to working over him once more.
Aresh hoped no one would comment on the unusual wavering in his normally neat and ornate signature as he set the first report aside. Taking up the second, he once again held a report in one hand, and stroked his lover’s hair with the other. It was difficult to focus on the words on paper, and he had to keep rereading parts to make sense of what was being said. If he understood it correctly, the most recent expedition his men had been on had taken care of the reason why so many people had turned to banditry and robbery in that area of the country, which ought to reduce the timeframe for the military’s deployment to clear the area that had been discussed at the morning meeting.
The report didn’t need to have anything done with it, so he simply set it aside to read again later, when he could focus. He hesitated in grabbing the final paper, the tongue teasing at the incredibly sensitive skin at the head making him tremble with an almost pained pleasure. Urging Seiichirou back down his length, Aresh sighed and shivered as the man took all of him in. A tapping on his thigh reminded him to get back to work, and he swore he felt Seiichirou laughing at him as he failed to bite back a desperate groan.
Final report in hand, Aresh was grateful this one was short. An expense report, simple enough, to replace a handful of training swords. He remembered them breaking, remembered being the one to break them earlier in the week, so he signed off on it without hesitation. Putting that last report in the outgoing pile, he cleared off the center of his desk and ran both hands through Seiichirou’s hair, looking down at him, violet eyes nearly black with desire. “Done,” he rasped, and tried to urge Seiichirou up.
The older man didn’t budge, however, and instead seemed more interested in redoubling his efforts. Groaning as that mouth moved over him, Aresh stood up, slow enough not to interrupt anything as Seiichirou slid his arms up the backs of his thighs and tugged his pants further down to make it easier. Steadying himself with a hand on the desk, Aresh ran his fingers through Seiichirou’s hair and gently made a fist, holding him in place. He pushed into his mouth, watching him through narrowed eyes, taking care not to move too fast or too hard. Seiichirou moaned encouragement, tilting his head just enough to cause a pleasant tugging on his hair, his grip around Aresh’s waist tightening and urging him on.
Aresh hissed out several swear words as he bucked into Seiichirou’s eager mouth. He was trembling, the anticipation leading up to finally being able to give in having him already feeling close and weak in the knees. Gasping and tugging on Seiichirou’s hair, Aresh struggled to release his hold and instead stroke his lover’s head as he tried to let him know he was almost there. He didn’t think he had managed to say anything intelligible, but Seiichirou seemed to understand as he grunted and turned his hands to stroking sensitive inner thighs.
That was enough to send Aresh over the edge, and his mouth hung open as strangled sounds of pleasure escaped him, sounding something like a cross between groaning and whimpering. He rode out his pleasure then fell back into his chair, head tossed back and eyes squeezed shut. When he caught his breath and seemed to find a tether back to reality, he blinked his eyes open to clear them and looked down at Seiichirou. His lover was resting a cheek on his thigh, watching him with a satisfied smirk.
“Seriously,” Aresh asked, his deep voice rough and worn, “where did you get an idea like that?”
“You enjoyed it, then?”
“What do you think?”
Seiichirou smirked and leaned into Aresh’s hand stroking his cheek. “Office porn isn’t exactly unheard of in my world.”
Aresh felt his face heat up at that and he mentally cursed himself for the reaction. He hadn’t really ever been one to seek out such materials, as he never saw the appeal the few times someone - usually his cousin, Orjef - brought them to him. That didn’t mean he had to be embarrassed about it, though. Still, something about the idea of Seiichirou having an interest in it was intriguing. “Why does it not surprise me that that’s the flavor of porn you’d like?”
Laughing, Seiichirou freed himself from the tight confines under the desk and stretched. He leaned back on the desk and shrugged before answering, “I wouldn’t say that. I preferred other types more. If anything, the office environment would take me right out of it, and all I could think of were the numerous HR violations.”
“Then why-? No, nevermind, it doesn’t matter.” Aresh shook his head and grinned, standing up and putting hands on either side of Seiichirou. As he leaned in for a kiss, he paused scant millimeters from his lips as the bell alerting everyone to the lunch hour rang. Ignoring it, Aresh closed that last bit of distance and kissed his lover thoroughly, not minding the strong taste of himself as he pressed his tongue past eagerly parted lips.
They took to undressing one another, cloaks falling and uniforms opening. Before Seiichirou could push his jacket away, Aresh pulled back just enough to reach into an interior pocket and pull out a bottle of the perfumed oil they used for lubricant. Seiichirou snorted with laughter to see it, but the speed at which he continued undressing Aresh afterwards made it clear he was thrilled that they were well prepared.
Aresh lay kisses along Seiichirou’s throat and down his chest, taking his arousal in hand and stroking. The fingers that ran through his hair and gripped tightly and the longing moan that rumbled under his touch spurred him on. He teased his way down Seiichirou’s chest and took to one knee before him. Aresh didn’t often go down on Seiichirou like this, as he greatly preferred bringing him pleasure through other means, but after what they had just done, he thought it only fair. Even if it did mean waiting a little longer before bending his lover over the desk and ravishing him until they were both spent and exhausted.
Seiichirou moaned and ran his fingers through Aresh’s hair, seeming to purr as he murmured encouragement. Aresh closed his eyes and teased Seiichirou with his tongue, groaning around him. He wasn’t as quick or expert as his lover, but the sounds coming from above him told him that didn’t much matter, that his every movement was thoroughly enjoyed. He increased his pace, bit by bit, until Seiichirou was gasping under his touch and desperately trying not to thrust against his throat. Fingers tightening in his hair and breathless words warned him before a thick, bitter heat coated his tongue.
Aresh managed not to sputter as he swallowed back Seiichirou’s pleasure and eased himself away once he seemed spent. He wiped saliva from his chin as he stood, then leaned in for another deep kiss. Seiichirou gripped his shoulder with a trembling hand and shoved the bottle of oil into his grasp with the other. Smirking at the demand, Aresh coated his fingers and slicked himself first before reaching under his lover to slip inside.
Their eagerness had made him forget the time since they last had sex, and he hissed out an apology as he realized a beat too late just how tight Seiichirou was. The older man denied that there was any problem, but Aresh still cast a minor healing spell to push away any discomfort as he stretched his lover out to accommodate him. Sliding his other arm under Seiichirou, he lifted him onto the desk, capturing a bent leg under his arm and angling his lover’s hips up to not interrupt his access. Fingers slipping in and out with increasing ease, Aresh pressed eager kisses to his throat then his lips as he removed his fingers and replaced them with something thicker.
He loved the way Seiichirou groaned at this part, the relief and pleasure in that sound as he was filled. Aresh gasped, leaning in desperately for more and more kisses, the pair pausing just a beat as several items went crashing onto the floor and paperwork scattered. Laughter filled the space between them and Aresh wasted no time in picking things right back up. They didn’t have all that much time until their meals would arrive, and from the fingers digging into his shoulder, he could tell they were both very much desperate to make the most of every minute of the lunch hour.
Seiichirou let his head fall back, hanging over the far side of the desk. Aresh lay kisses along his chest and thrust eagerly within him. Pressing the captured leg up until Seiichirou’s knee nearly reached his own shoulder, the guttural moan Aresh’s next thrust elicited told him he had found the perfect angle. Moving ever harder, ever faster within his lover, he watched with fascination as Seiichirou gasped, bit his lip, and groaned. Aresh loved watching him let go, to simply enjoy himself, and it had truly been far too long since the last time. Seiichirou’s fingers dug painfully into his shoulders as he moaned, low and deep, and his climax threaded thinly across his stomach.
Aresh narrowed his eyes in pleasure and shifted Seiichirou once more, just a bit, to increase his own pleasure. Bucking fiercely against him, he heard Seiichirou cry out, felt those nails biting into his skin and raking mindlessly across his shoulders, and he couldn’t help but to groan as well. The burning sensation from his back was a distraction, but not one he couldn’t shove to the back of his mind. Without thinking, he bit into Seiichirou’s shoulder, an unintended retaliation for the scores across his back. The deep-throated moan that brought forth was his undoing, and Aresh gasped against bruised skin as he unravelled with a few final thrusts. Resting his head on Seiichirou’s shoulder, Aresh massaged his lover’s hips and thighs as he let the captured leg go.
When Seiichirou began to squirm underneath him, uncomfortable but trying to bear with it, Aresh grunted and pushed himself up. Looking down at Seiichirou with wonder, he slowly leaned in for a lingering kiss. After several tolerant moments, Seiichirou pushed against his shoulder, laughing quietly as he sat upright with a groan. Aresh reluctantly pulled away, casting first healing spells over the both of them, then cleaning spells on them and the furniture. He gave Seiichirou another deep kiss as he seemed a touch dizzy from the small spells, then handed him his clothes and pointed him to the couch to recover.
Aresh got dressed as well, leaving off his jacket and cloak, then set to fixing up his desk. It would be best not to have such an obvious clue as to the things they had gotten up to. He had dismissed the sound proofing spell once they were both clothed, and he was just about done setting his paperwork back into their appropriate piles when there was a knock at his office door.
Answering it, Aresh nodded his thanks and dismissed the runner who had brought their lunch. He wheeled the cart inside then shut and locked his office door once more. He set their food out on the low table in front of the couch before taking a seat beside Seiichirou. Looking him over, Aresh frowned and took Seiichirou’s chin in his hand, turning his face towards him. “Did I go too hard on you?” he asked gently.
Seiichirou smiled tiredly and shook his head, “Not at all. Though the magic might have been a bit much.”
“Sorry. I thought I had acclimatized you enough,” Aresh frowned and pressed their foreheads together, pouring some more of his magic into Seiichirou to help him process the magic lingering after the spells were cast. “Better?”
“Mm, yeah. Thank you, Aresh.”
Aresh frowned at being thanked for fixing his own mistake, but didn’t argue the point. Instead, he simply leaned in for another soft kiss, focusing on his overwhelming affection for Seiichirou as he did, then slowly pulled away and gestured for him to eat his lunch.
Seiichirou seemed dazed for a moment, blinking at the intense emotion that had been held in that kiss. His face heated to his ears and he turned his attention to the food with an embarrassed reluctance. Aresh grinned at that response and took to his meal, glad to refuel after all the energy that the pair had just expended in such a short time. Seiichirou finished first, and as he neared the end of his own meal, Aresh tentatively asked, “Did you want to go out to the courtyard like usual after this? Or…?”
The grin that was turned on him sent heat pooling in the pit of his stomach. Seiichirou shook his head, settling a hand on his thigh and massaging inwards, “No, I think I’d like to spend the rest of the break right here. We still have,” he squinted in the direction of the clock on Aresh’s desk, fortunately not broken from its tumble, “Seventy-five minutes? Well, I suppose technically a little less than that, but… I think we can make good use of the time.”
Make good use of it, they did. By the time seventy-five minutes were up, they were both thoroughly spent, and exhausted through and through. Even Aresh felt worn out, though he did still have some energy to spare. He smiled at Seiichirou’s sleeping face and gently brushed his fingers over his cheek. When even the bell calling the end of the lunch hour didn’t wake him, Aresh decided it would be best to just let him sleep. The morning meeting should have been his only real responsibility for the day, and after working so hard on that project, he could be allowed some rest.
Aresh covered Seiichirou with his commander’s cloak and prepared excuses for the man. He sent a runner to the Accounting Department to inform them that their manager was exhausted after the project and would see them on his next scheduled day. Then he left a note with Seiichirou explaining the excuses he’d laid out and with instructions to go home, just in case he woke up while Aresh was in the training yard.
He truly must have been exhausted, however, as he was still asleep on the couch when training was over and the day was nearly at its end. Aresh smiled fondly at the way Seiichirou had curled up, clutching at the large cape keeping him warm and burying his face into it. He knelt down beside the couch, watching his sleeping lover for several heartbeats, glad to see he looked less tense than he had that morning. Laying soft kisses across Seiichirou’s jawline and behind his ear, Aresh gently shook him awake while speaking softly, “Seiichirou. Seiichirou, it’s almost time to go home.”
Dark eyes blinked open and settled on him in that unfocused way he always had when not wearing his glasses. “Mm, Aresh? Did you say it’s time to go home?”
“I did,” Aresh smiled, running fingers through his lover’s hair. “You fell asleep before the lunch hour ended. Don’t worry, I told your coworkers that you were just exhausted after working on that project and you’d see them on your next workday.”
Seiichirou grimaced, clearly not thrilled with that, but he didn’t offer any complaints, either. Instead, he sighed and nodded, then smiled and slowly sat up. “I guess, well, that’s not wrong. Thank you, Aresh.”
Relieved to see him accept it, Aresh flashed his own smile, warm and loving, and he gently stroked Seiichirou’s cheek. “How are you feeling? Not still magic sick, are you?”
“I don’t think so,” Seiichirou answered as Aresh pressed a wrist to his forehead, then either cheek in turn. “Pretty sure it’s just as you said, honestly. I haven’t put in that many hours in such a short time in quite awhile, it wore me out more than I expected.”
Aresh grimaced at him and shook his head, “It wore you out exactly as much as it always did before, but now you’re used to not feeling like shit so you noticed.”
Seiichirou looked away, seeming to be trying to find a comeback and failing. Instead, he sighed heavily and nodded with some reluctance. “Well, anyways. You said it’s time to go?”
“Yeah. The Wind hour ends shortly, but I’ve finished my work for the day, so no need to stick around.” Aresh took his cloak back and clasped it in place, then helped Seiichirou with his own half-cape. Leaving the office together, Aresh noted Orjef startle upon seeing Seiichirou leave the office with him, and he shot a glare at his cousin to keep the man quiet.
Orjef tried to smile like usual, but the expression was tight with surprise and a million questions, and he squeezed out in far too abnormal of a voice, “See you on Fire day, Aresh!”
“Right, see you, Orjef.”