Work Text:
It’s Friday night, and Henry has been laying on the love seat for the past few hours, binge watching The Great British Bake Off on their television. Alex, on the other hand, has been working his latest assignment for law school. The both of them have the weekend off, but Alex is determined to get as much done tonight as he can so he can spend more time with his boyfriend this weekend. He’s close to being done but only with the first draft. The assignment isn’t due for weeks, but he’s always been one to stay up late trying to finish what he can when he feels productive.
Every now and then, Henry gets up to go to the kitchen or to the bathroom, he’ll stop to give Alex a kiss on the cheek, and he’ll go back to his place on the sofa. This allows Alex to break out of his trance momentarily before having to go back to the blinking cursor in front of him and the books piled up next to his laptop.
The two of them have found a rhythm for the night; however, that rhythm is quickly interrupted by the two of them being plunged into darkness, other than the assignment still visible on Alex’s computer.
“What just happened?”
“I’m going to say the power has gone out, love.”
Alex lets out a huff at Henry’s response and turns to look at his battery on his computer. “Shit, I only have 20 percent battery left. There’s no way I can finish this paper in that time.” He clicks save on the document and looks down at the books scattered around him. “I can’t even take notes either, not without the light.” At this, he looks out the window in front of him and sees the stars dancing in the night sky.
Henry appears at his side, using his phone’s flashlight to guide his way to the desk. “It’s okay, Alex, you needed to take a break anyway.”
“Yeah, but I would have preferred to take a break when I was done.”
Henry laughs and pulls Alex to his feet. “That,” he guides them over to the love seat and pulls Alex down to sit next to him, “is not a break. That is finishing.”
“Same thing. So, what are we supposed to do now?”
“Why do I have to come up with something?”
“Mmm,” Alex feigns deep thought, “because I have been working hard all night.”
Henry rolls his eyes but gets up, leaving Alex on the sofa in darkness.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
“To entertain you, Your Highness.”
“I am not the prince in this relationship.”
Henry comes back from their room, hands full of blankets and sheets. “Whatever you say, love. Go grab the chairs from the dining table.”
Alex does what Henry says, meeting him back in the living room. “What are these for?”
“For a fort.”
“Did you- did you just say a fort?”
Henry sets down the pillows he just brought out of their room. “Yes, was that not clear the first time I said it?”
“You, Prince Henry of Wales, want to build a blanket fort in the middle of our living room?”
“Obviously, have you learned nothing in the time we’ve been together?”
“Apparently not nearly enough.”
The two of them set to work building the fort, now using both phone flashlights to allow them to find their way around the room. They toss over the sofa and chairs, and once the structure of their fort is staying in place, the pair crawl under their roof of sheets and create a large makeshift bed on the floor using several blankets. Pillows now have a place scattered around the blankets, ready for wherever they may decide to sit later on.
They stand back to admire their work. Henry looks over at Alex and sees a smile on his face, one of the biggest he’s seen on his face in a while. He knows law school is important to Alex, and he fully supports his decision to go, but he also knows how stressful it can be. Seeing him relax like this is a relief to Henry, and he’s grateful he’s getting to help Alex strip off some of that stress, even if it did take a power outage to do it.
They find a couple of real flashlights in a kitchen drawer and decide to use those to help conserve their battery. They end up finding a deck of cards and playing several games under their sheets, covered in blankets. When they get bored of that, Alex begs Henry to read him some books.
“No, it’s not because I want to listen to your voice, Henry. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Alex, sweetheart, you picked up books I read for my courses when getting my degree. You really want to listen to me read these, as you would call them, prestigious books?”
“Uhm, yes?”
“Alex, just let me go get a book you’d enjoy, and I’ll read as long as you want me to.”
Henry comes back and starts reading to Alex. He rests his head in Henry’s lap, and the latter immediately starts running his fingers through Alex’s hair as he continues reading. The two of them are completely engrossed in the story, not noticing that the power has returned to their little place they now call their home. In fact, they don’t notice until Henry checks his phone a few hours later.
“Love, it’s almost one in the morning. We can finish the book later. And we can pick up this mess in the morning,” he says, still running his fingers through Alex’s hair.
“Excuse you, this is not a mess.”
“No, no, of course not. I love this; this was a perfect night.”
Alex hums, his eyes already closed. Henry smiles down at him and leans over to press a kiss to his forehead. “Let’s go, babe, we might as well sleep while the lights are out.”
“I don’t want to move.”
“Come on, you know you’ll sleep better in our bed.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I want to move right now.” His eyes are still closed, and he has yet to move an inch.
Henry rolls his eyes and moves the two of them, making Alex’s head fall back onto the pillows.
“Ouch!”
“Oh, that did not hurt at all. You landed on the softest blankets we own.”
“You hurt my pride.”
“Oh, hush, let’s go to bed.” Henry pushes back the dark sheet that has been enclosing them for the past several hours, but he immediately turns away when the lights from before the power outage shine in his face.
“The power is back! Now I can finish my first draft!”
“Absolutely not!” Henry turns to look at his boyfriend and shakes his head. “That is not happening. We are leaving this fort and we are going to bed.”
“But-”
“No. You’re resting now.” Henry all but drags Alex out of the fort and out of the living room, switching the lights to off. He pushes Alex into their bedroom and shuts the door behind him.
“Henry, was that necessary?”
“Yes,” Henry smirks to himself and changes before sliding into bed. Alex is still standing at the foot of their bed, trying to ignore the comfort and warmth of the bed before him.
“Fine. But I’m working on it first thing in the morning. I want to get it done early so I can spend more time with you,” he explains as he changes and crawls into bed next to Henry.
“Fair enough.” Henry opens his arms, and Alex quickly fills the space, placing his head on Henry’s chest and feeling arms wrap around his torso.
The two are slowly drifting off to sleep, and Henry feels Alex’s breath against his chest.
“Thank you, baby.”
Henry smiles into Alex’s hair and whispers, “You don’t have to thank me, but you’re very welcome, my love. Get some rest.”
Alex nods in response and soon falls asleep listening to his boyfriend’s heartbeat. Henry falls asleep listening to the even breaths of his boyfriend as he peacefully sleeps.