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The sunlight danced lazily in the air above them as Titus slowly blinked himself awake. He stared towards the window in confusion before sneaking an arm from out under the heavy quilts above him to check the time. The movement jostled his bed mate, who grumbled as the movement, and caused the quilt to slip off of them a bit, which caused a sleepy grunt before his companion snuggled deeper into the covers seeking warmth.
Titus did not blame the man for doing so.
The air was cold outside the bed and Titus too would be seeking the warmth of the covers if not for- “Titus,” Cor mumbled sleepily into his shoulder. “I can hear you thinking from here.” Cor looked up to shoot him a withering glare that was softened by how half-asleep he looked. “What’s on your mind?”
Titus leaned over to press a kiss to his husband’s nose. Cor grinned before his grin quickly morphed into a scowl. “Seriously, Titus, what is-“
Titus glanced back at the clock to make sure he had the time right. “It’s 8:42,” he stated plainly.
The scowl on Cor’s face deepened. “And just what is so important that you have to get up at 8:42 in the morning when it’s colder than fucking Shiva’s frozen fingertips right now?”
He would have chided Cor for the uncoth language. Cor, he knew, hadn’t grown up in the best of circumstances and his language reflected that sometimes. (Titus, too, hadn’t had the best of opportunities growing up. His family had lived in a cramped one story farmhouse, but his mother would have smacked him or any of his siblings if they used that kind of language.) He didn’t as he looked back to the clock. It was 8:43 now.
What should he say? That it was 8:43 and a good chunk of the morning had already passed? That he usually got up at 5:30 and it felt weird to “sleep in” for so long? He opened his mouth to respond and thought about what to say.
Titus didn’t have to go to the citadel today, so he couldn’t say that. He also didn’t have to oversee glaive training since he was retired from being the captain of the kingsglaive. Wasn’t there a leaky faucet in the kitchen? (Hadn’t he fixed it two days ago?) He closed his mouth. There were good reasons for wanting to be up early, but none seemed forthcoming right about now.
“That’s what I thought,” Cor growled out before he closed his eyes and let his head fall back onto the pillow. “I know you like to get up early, Titus, but we’re retired, you could at least try to enjoy retirement and its benefits a little bit more.” There was a pause as he stared in bafflement at Cor. “One of those benefits is sleeping in Titus, especially on a weekend when no one needs us to be around.”
He shook his head with a sigh and slowly let himself fall back into bed. Titus didn’t miss how Cor crawled towards him and rested his head on his collarbone when his back hit the mattress. “You know, that’s strange coming from you.”
“Hmm?”
“Cor, you were infamous for getting up at ungodly hours in the citadel. Leonis gets up with the sun, no, he gets up before the sun, they used to say. What happened to the man who used to run around the citadel at five in the morn-”
Cor opened one eye and stared up at him. “He retired,” his husband responded flatly. “And he would like his husband to shut up so they can both sleep in for once. Gods know how much they need it since apparently neither of them have ever had a lazy morning before retirement.”
Titus snorted and let his eyes fall closed. There was silence, and then- “Okay, but you know that Nyx, Monica, and whoever else will be stopping by for lunch today right?”
“Then you can cook today, but, for now, just shut up and sleep Titus.”
…
The eggs were slowly frying in the pan as he flipped first one, and then the other. The kitchen was bright with sunlight and he smiled as he saw the scene outside the window. A group of kids were playing soccer on a quiet tree lined street. The eggs sizzled merrily as he taped the pair to test their firmness before turning off the heat.
He and Cor had talked about getting a house outside of the city for retirement. They would exchange ideas over the kitchen table on late nights when neither could sleep. Galdin Quay, Cor had suggested once. Outside of Keycatrich, he had suggested another time. For a while the two had daydreamed about selling the townhouse and getting a boat. They would spend a week in Altissia before spending the rest of their days at sea, exploring the nooks and crannies of the coastline and the various islands around Accordo.
It had been a nice dream, even if it had never panned out.
Titus grabbed a plate and scoped the two eggs onto the plate. Cor was still asleep, but hopefully he would shuffle into sight soon. He glanced at the clock on the stove: 10:34. Less than an hour before Monica, at least, was due to arrive. Titus hummed an old tune to himself as he placed the plate on the table and headed to the bedroom to wake his husband.
The kids below the window screamed as one of them kicked the ball further down the street. He caught a glimpse of them scrambling after the ball and chuckled to himself.
It wasn’t so bad living in Insomnia. They lived in a rather quiet subdivision of the capital city, and it was nice to be able to walk to the local shops for things. Living out on their own would mean having to maintain their own garden, amongst other things, and Titus didn’t know if his joints would put up with him having to get up early to weed and water the plants.
He stopped at the doorway when he saw the blanket covered lump in the middle of the bed. It seemed that after he got up, Cor had wrapped himself in all the blankets in an effort to shut himself away from the outside world. His hands itched for a phone that wasn’t by his side. It made for a nice picture. A nice picture that he could share with Monica. A pity he didn’t have his phone on him.
“Cor,” he murmured as he crouched down besides the bed. “Get up.” There was something that sounded like a sniffle from the blankets and he slowly began to peel away the layers from his husband. “Monica is going to arrive in an hour. You don’t want Monica to see you in your pajamas, do you?” Cor stared at him sleepily before closing his eyes and turning away from him. “Cor.”
“What time is it?”
Titus sighed and looked towards the clock on the nightstand. “It’s almost 10:40, Cor. You know Monica is going to get in around 11:30, she always arrives early.”
No response and then- “Can’t we push lunch out? Just say something came up.”
“Sadly, wanting to sleep in doesn’t count as an emergency, Cor. And, even if we don’t have anything that needs to be done for the rest of the day, I can’t say the same about Monica or anyone else who is showing up.”
Finally, Cor turned to face him with an adorable half-asleep pout. “At least tell me you made breakfast.”
He leaned forward to kiss his husband’s nose. “Eggs are on the table. Get yourself cleaned up and I’ll make sure coffee is ready for you.” Cor pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth before he got out of bed and shuffled towards the bathroom. Titus just shook his head before heading back to the kitchen to prepare coffee.
(It was almost scary how well Cor took to not needing to get up early after years of doing nothing but that.)
…
Back before their retirement, Cor used to be the one who got up early. Titus could still remember the first day he had shown up at the citadel, and how the marshal had been on his daily jog around the block that surrounded the citadel. He had remembered asking Clarus later that day if he was expected to get up just as early. (He also remembered how Clarus had just sighed and shook his head. Apparently, Cor had been just as bad when he was younger. For some reason, the man just preferred getting up as early as possible.)
Even when they were dating and after they had gotten married, Titus would remember waking up to find the other half of the bed empty, Cor having already gotten up and off on his daily run. He remembered waking up to Cor looking down at him with an amused look in his eyes and a plate of food by the bed.
Cor rarely got up before him now, but, Titus thought to himself as he watched Cor sleep soundly the next morning, he couldn’t find it in himself to mind.