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1. A Night on Dragonstone
The first time they shared a bed, Arthur was seven and ten and Rhaegar and him had arrived back on Dragonstone after the disaster that Duskendale had been. Spurned on by his father's sudden vile anger towards him, Rhaegar had fled for his own island to not evoke the paranoid man's ire even more.
And half a year's turn of ruling during a crisis had turned Rhaegar's desire for Dragonstone into unbelieving heights. They couldn't have known that they would exchange the powderkeg of King's Landing into the tense almost grieving silence of Dragonstone.
It was there that they heard about Jace's disappearance and Corlyn basically banishing Aurane from Driftmark. The castellan told them that Captain Lucerys had dropped the boy off on his way back to King's Landing and while Rhaegar went ahead to take care of the stacked up issues off his bannermen, Arthur made to find Aurane.
Worried. Having known how close Aurane had been to his brother.
It took hours for him to find his cousin, and he only did in the end because he gave up for a short moment to change out of armor into something more comfortable before he took on another floor of the castle. In his chambers, he found the shaking trembling form of his cousin curled up in his bed, lying on his side, face hidden in thick pillows.
“Aurane?”
Aurane had not reacted, not to his voice, not to a gentle touch on his shoulder and Rhaegar had not gotten anything from him either later. So Arthur had grabbed something to eat and then lied down on the other side of the bed, just waiting, a hand stroking over Aurane's back.
Until the younger boy had turned around, pressed his face against Arthur's shoulder and began to cry. “Why?” He sobbed out when Arthur wrapped arms around him, “Why did he leave? What did I do wrong?” He wanted to know and Arthur closed his eyes.
“You didn't do anything wrong.” Arthur assured him and held on tighter when Aurane cried out quietly, he wasn't sure what of the hundred rumors he had caught while roaming the castle was true but he had no doubt that Aurane could have never done anything that would make Jace leave. That idea was ridiculous, he was more believing that Corlys had finally went too far and that Jace's pride had let him make a mistake. “I'm sorry, Aurane, I'm so sorry.”
A terrible, terrible mistake.
Aurane fell asleep soon after, cried himself right into exhaustion and sleep, and Arthur didn't have the heart or even just a thought for leaving him alone right then and there. So he staid, pulled the covers over them and swore to himself to write to Corlyn right in the morning to find out just what happened to have the people stop talking and making up scenarios that just couldn't be true.
Only...
When he woke up again, the only one with him in the room was Rhaegar sitting on a chair by the windows with a look in his eyes that could have been read as jealousy by a toddler, Aurane was gone.
“Don't look at me like that. He's family. He's your family, too.” He grunted and wiped a hand over his face, he hated sleeping on his back, “Jace is his whole world.” Arthur reminded them both, “And no matter what happened, this is destroying him. If Corlyn truly sent him away...gods, this is all a mess.” Rhaegar had hummed and climbed up on the bed, catching his lips in a kiss that was a bit too possessive to have Rhaegar even for a second pretend he was clearly unaffected.
Duskendale had left them all worn thin and thinner.
“We need to find Aurane, Regg.”
And Rhaegar had sighed and nodded, and of course they hadn't let Aurane out of their sight again in the next weeks.
2. Nights in King's Landing
The night was a mess. Arthur was a mess in that first night in the guest chambers of the Red Keep, bolting awake from nightmares or just feeling too sick to fall asleep again. Painfully aware that Aurane noticed it all, from where he way lying right next to Arthur on the bed, even if on the covers and not under them.
At the same time, Aurane was the only reason he found any sleep at all in between those moments, a quiet warm body next to him, steady breathing to focus on. A hand squeezing his wrist, hip or arm when the nightmares had him gasping again, soft gentle words and promises, even a plan if everything went wrong.
He was a blessing come true.
And Arthur was not ashamed at all that at some point he just so tired and desperate for sleep that he rolled onto his side and buried his face in Aurane's shoulder, thankful for the warmth and even more for the head coming to rest against his. The dreams didn't stop but they were less vicious then.
In the morning, Arthur woke up alone in the bed, no other sound in the room but Richard's quiet snores, Aurane was gone.
The second night, the night after the confrontation with Robert, was a blur at first and maybe Arthur should have even for a second been horrified over what he had done, but he wasn't. He had wanted something and taken it, and it wasn't like Aurane was in any way not reciprocating.
And when they later laid in bed, catching their breaths and the everlasting breeze in the room drying the sweat on their bodies, there was no regret. There was no pain, there was no guilt, there was just relief almost, a pleasant buzz in his veins and a wonderful silence in his head.
Tiredly, Aurane had pulled the sheets over them, pushed a leg and an arm over Arthur and then gone to sleep, no awkward conversation, no questions asked. Arthur had laid awake still, traced fingers over Aurane's naked back and been left wondering why it had been so easy to let himself fall.
In the morning, Arthur woke up alone in the bed, no other sound in the room but the distant ones of the city filtering in through the windows, Aurane was gone.
It became a recurring theme then. They spent the days together, they spent the evening with others, they spent the night together. Only the mornings, that moment of waking up, that Arthur spent alone again and again.
And it wasn't until he woke up on the morning of what would become the day of Robert's decision that he realized he wasn't just confused over Aurane's behavior, he actually wanted him to be there. He wanted that moment of sleepily pressing back against a warm body, that feeling of not being alone to start another day in a city that he despised.
In the night before, Aurane had stiffled the panic attack in Arthur's mind before it was really there, and he had held Arthur in his arms as they had fallen asleep again.
Giving a name to this thing inside his heart when he thought of Aurane scared Arthur, but there was something and it felt good.
3. First Night on the Pride of Sea
On Aurane's ship, leaving King's Landing behind, Arthur felt like he could actually breathe again, questions over this whatever with Aurane ignored, everything had gone better than they could have hoped for even.
Being banished from the capital was a favor nearly. Arthur had absolutely no desire to ever return and now he had a perfectly fine excuse as well.
King's Landing was dead to him as long as a Baratheon set on the Iron Throne.
“You alright?” Aurane asked him after they had gone below deck again once the ship had passed by Dragonstone, and Arthur rolled his head to the side to watch Aurane ready himself for bed. Entirely unashamed of the look Ashara had thrown them, Aurane had pushed Arthur into the Captain's Cabin as they had been sorted into cabins hours ago.
Arthur was glad for it, Ashara was only longing to pin him down with questions and squished up with Richard and Benjen would have just been uncomfortable, and they didn't need to see Arthur's demons, especially not any potential nightmares.
“Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking.” He answered Aurane and shifted further against the wall to make room for when Aurane pulled up the blanket.
“About what?” Aurane wanted to know, lying down and brushing his lips against Arthur's shoulder, an arm wrapping around his waist.
“Going home, seeing Jon again.” Arthur gave only a taste of what had been going through his mind, “Being happy that this nightmare went over well.” He admitted and then closed his eyes, gladly falling into the warmth of the man next to him.
In the morning, Arthur for once woke up just as Aurane was standing up and reaching for his clothes and boots.
Still heavy under the pull of sleep, Arthur rolled onto his side and blinked at him, “Where are you going?” He slurred almost and could barely see how Aurane slipped into pants and boots before leaning back over him.
“Go back to sleep, Arthur. I just need to give out some instructions and check that we're still on the right course.” Aurane whispered to him and gave him a kiss before pulling the blanket up higher again and leaving the cabin.
Why did he keep running?
Plus One:
One Night before reaching Starfall on the Pride of the Sea:
He had fallen asleep in the evening with Aurane pressed up against his side and his head soothed by the knowledge that upon morning they would arrive in Starfall, and he would get to see his little boy again.
Sleep had been resting and without any trouble, as it had been ever since the Pride of the Sea had left the Blackwater Bay for the open sea. Arthur's head and heart had sensed freedom and safety and the nightmares had been exchanged with pleasant dreams.
It would have only been topped by easy mornings if Aurane hadn't kept disappearing at first light like some spooked animal.
But apparently the water of Dornish coasts changed a lot.
When he woke up to the sounds of the crew changing shift to let fresh men man the deck to guide the ship into the mouth of the Torrentine bay, Arthur blinked and found himself warmer than usual. An arm was still wrapped around his waist from behind, a knee brushed against the back of his and warm air was breathed against the back of his neck.
His heart gave a weird little skip and he shifted just to test his luck.
Aurane grumbled under his breath and tightened his hold on Arthur, having him believe that maybe all those excuses had truly been just excuses, that Aurane hadn't wanted to slip away right the second the first light crawled through the windows.
“Good Morning.” He said quietly and Aurane hummed some kind of reply, cuddling even closer to nudge his nose against the back of Arthur's neck. Arthur smiled and wrapped a hand around the one resting on his stomach, Aurane squeezed right back. “No instructions this morning?”
“There is a coastline in direct sight and the only castle for miles is Starfall.” Aurane grunted and then pushed Arthur onto his back, leaning over him with confused eyes, “Do you want me to go up? Fearing any trouble? There haven't been pirates in these waters in over a decade.”
Arthur smiled and shook his head, bringing up a hand to push a strand of hair out of Aurane's face before tugging him down. They kissed slow and deep, foreheads resting against each other when they broke apart for air again.
“You thought I ran.” Aurane teased him with a smile, pulling back a little, and Arthur wasn't sure if the heat flushing to his face was embarassment or the result of Aurane's right hand pulling up his tunic. “Or did you think I just want you to warm my bed?” Despite the words being all that playful, Arthur could see the sincerity behind Aurane's question, the need to know that it really wasn't the case.
He smiled and framed Aurane's face with both hands, “I don't think that. Not at all. I'm not eight and ten anymore, Aurane, that's not what I think of this.”
“Good.” Aurane told him, smiling again, eyes coloring over their insecurity, “Because that is really not what I see you as. It's never been what I wanted from you.” He confessed and then frowned, “It's too bloody early for this kind of conversation.”
Complaint made, he slipped out from Arthur's hands and moved down.
“Where are you..ohhh...Oh, I definitely prefer waking up next to you.”