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Laurent woke up to the sound of the waves breaking, the warm ocean breeze blowing, making his hair tickle the back of his neck.
He was lying on his side, one of his legs was between Damen's legs, warm against his skin. His arm was around Damen's waist, he could feel his belly expand and contract while he inhaled and exhaled softly.
Laurent opened his eyes and there he was.
It felt like a dream. A good one, for a change.
He had dreamt about Damen sometimes, but not like this. In his dreams - his nightmares - sometimes he met Damianos. The man who took Auguste's life. In his dreams, his brother's killer never had a face. Just arms and sword and blood on his hands.
This man lying next to him was the man who had taken his brother's life and he was also the man who had saved his. Laurent knew the past couldn't be changed. But the present was full of possibilities and the future was ever-changing, as always. Damen was now someone he trusted. His friend. His lover.
He moved his hand up Damen's body carefully until it rested on his back. He did it in a way that the touch was almost weightless, light as a feather.
He wanted them both to heal. He wanted them both to be whole again.
He wondered if he'd ever get used to waking up next to Damen like this. If someday this would come to him as a part of his life, as natural as undoing the laces of his clothing. Not trivial, but natural. He looked at the way Damen's shoulders shifted slightly with every breath. His eyebrows relaxed, tender.
Laurent dared to move his hand again, to lift it and touch Damen's jawline with the tips of his fingers.
He was real.
He suddenly felt dazed, dizzy at the thought of where he was, inside an akielon palace - would it still be akielon when they had their kingdoms merged? -, lying on the king's bed. Damen's bed. Our bed, Damen would have said. He felt himself flush at the thought.
Laurent traced Damen's jawline smoothly, his fingers but a shadow, the insinuation of a touch. By the time he reached Damen's chin, he lifted his eyes. Dark eyes were gazing back at him.
When their eyes met, Damen smiled. His dimples adorned his cheeks. Laurent put his palm on Damen's face, let his thumb caress his skin. Damen's smile widened so Laurent smiled too. Laurent's chest ached. His lips moved.
"Damianos", he heard himself say.
Damen's eyes were on him, he didn't blink. "Yes?", said Damen.
"I like to say your name", said Laurent. "It's a beatiful name."
"It's beautiful when you say it." Damen looked delighted. He touched Laurent's lower lip with his thumb before getting closer. Laurent closed his eyes.
But the kiss never came.
He opened his eyes again. Damen's face was so near to his own they were breathing the same air. "Don't trick me."
"I wouldn't. Ever." Damen's hand was on his waist. "I just wanted to look at you closer."
When Damen smiled it wasn't just his lips and his teeth. It was his eyes and his dimples and the tip of his nose and his eyebrows. His whole face lit up. Laurent's chest ached more, his heart was beating fast, his cheeks as warm as they could be.
Damen was beautiful like a good dream. Glorious like the rising sun. Eyes as clear as the sky during summer. And Laurent could look at Damen like this. He could look at his smiling eyes and be sure it was because of him.
Laurent closed the distance and kissed Damen. Slowly. Like Damen had kissed him many times. Like they had the whole day to kiss each other.
And they had. The whole day. The rest of their lives.
He pulled away and Damen looked at him surprised, his mouth partly open, speechless.
Whenever he was the first to kiss, Damen would look like at him like that, like he had just seen the most incredible thing in the world.
He found himself smiling. Damen was looking attentively at him, waiting for the next move with a peaceful look on his face.
"You make me feel at ease", Laurent said. At ease. That meant so much to him. It meant so much to both of them.
"It looks good on you", said Damen. "As does everything."
And Laurent laughed, because he felt like it, because he didn't have to hold back. Ever again.
"How do you feel about swimming?" Damen asked.
"Will we have to walk around the palace naked again?"
"Yes."
Laurent put his arms around Damen's neck, pleased to have him near. "Then let's go", he said, and kissed Damen once more.