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"Nigel...?" Adam patted the other man's cheek hesitantly, watching him stir with a low grunt. Nigel moved no further. Adam huffed in his rapidly growing frustration, but didn't raise his voice yet. "Nigel, wake up," he leaned over to fumble around the darkened nightstand and turned the light on, the warm glow casting shadows all around their bedroom. Nigel growled, pulling the pillow from under his head to throw it over his face.
"Adam..." His voice was gruff from disuse, muffled entirely with the help of the pillow; it was slurred and almost completely unintelligible with his accent so thick at this time, "it's 4am... Go to sleep."
"I can't sleep, Nigel. I was thinking of getting some cereal to eat."
A dismissive hum from the older man.
"Are you even listening?"
"Hmm... yes, yes..."
"I said I was going to eat some cereal, do you want to come with me?"
Nigel was silent for a long moment, and Adam had to prod him on the chest for him to stir ever so slightly. The pillow stayed firmly on his face.
"Mm. S-Sorry, dragă, say that again..."
Adam rolled his eyes with a heavy exhale and swung his leg over the older man to straddle Nigel's waist, gently pulling the pillow away from him and setting it aside. Nigel blinked at the low lighting that spanned his vision, but smiled at the sight of his lover so close to him.
"Now, that's a nice fucking way to wake up. Thinking of doing more?" He attempted a wink, but it looked more like a face spasm that had him twisting his features in mild disgust. Adam either didn't notice or didn't care enough to point it out, because the boy was tugging at Nigel's shoulders to pull him into a sitting position on the bed, the older man wrapping his arms around Adam's waist as he reluctantly got up and instinctively placed a kiss on the younger man's forehead.
"If you mean giving you a blowjob, I don't think I can do that now. My mouth is too dry, and I want to eat some cereal." Adam looked up at Nigel, baby blue eyes wide in faint pleading as he reached up to tame Nigel's mussed bed hair. It definitely worked, Nigel would think on it later, but who was he to deny his little genius anything?
"Okay, baby, give me a moment. Why don't you go and get the cereal first, I'll be there soon." Nigel grinned tiredly at Adam, who bounced lightly in his lap in excitement and quickly made to get off the bed.
"I'll prepare two bowls, one with milk for me and one dry for you. I'll have to get the milk from the fridge last, though, because it'll start to condense if I took it out first, and I don't want to get the table wet." Adam plucked his galaxy robe from the cupboard and wrapped it around his body before fastening it with a neat bow as he spoke, then gave Nigel a small smile and headed out the bedroom door. Nigel returned the smile with a wave, but the moment the door was shut behind Adam his head had fallen back onto the pillows.
Adam went through the routine quickly enough, pouring out two generous bowls of cereal for him and Nigel, and then retrieving the carton of milk from the fridge and placing it in the middle of their small dining table. He decided he should pour the milk when Nigel came out so his cereal wouldn't get soggy, but he was taking a lot longer than usual to get out of bed. He decided to check on the older man, briskly jogging back to the bedroom.
It took a lot of effort not to tear his robe or throw something once he opened the door. Nigel had fallen asleep again; he had obviously lied about wanting to be with him.
Adam shut the door with a significant bit more force than he would have liked, trying to take deep breaths like Nigel always reminded him to and sat down with his back against the door. He glanced up at Nigel, who shifted at the loud sound and noticed Adam rocking himself with knees pulled up to his chest.
"Adam, are you okay?" He asked softly, finally awake enough to get out from under the covers and pad over to the younger man. He made no move to touch Adam, instead lowering himself to Adam's curled frame and attempted to seek out his eyes.
"Why didn't you come? You lied."
"Adam, I didn't mean to–"
"I know you don't always lie to me but this was really important, and you didn't keep your word."
Nigel remained silent.
"I don't want to eat anymore. Please go away."
"Come on, Adam, I'm out of bed, and we're both here, so we might as well." Nigel kept his voice soft so as to not startle Adam, but the younger man looked up at him, bright eyes flashing anger. Nigel moved his hand away from him, any intention to touch Adam quickly dissipating.
"I said I don't want to eat! You didn't come, so now my appetite is ruined, and I just don't want to eat anymore!" He stood up and glared at Nigel, who stood his ground.
"It's 4am, Adam. You can't expect me to just get up in the middle of my fucking sleep and eat cereal! Did it occur to you that I wouldn't have the fucking appetite either?" Nigel fought to stay calm, knowing how much the neighbours loved to complain about the noise they sometimes made, and this time wouldn't be any different. His imposing stature was of no help to him either, Adam was pressing himself against the wooden frame of the door as he went quiet.
Then the door was being tugged open by the younger man's smaller fingers and he was gone.
Nigel knew he had gone a bit too far with berating Adam for his want to eat cereal, but at 4am? Sângeros iad...!
He opened the door and made his way over to Adam, the younger man shovelling dry cereal into his mouth and barely chewing before he was swallowing, the pain on his face evident. Nigel contemplated leaving him be, maybe give him some space like usual, but it seemed it wasn't the case this time.
Nigel picked up the carton of milk and poured a little into Adam's bowl in testing. The other man didn't stop him, so he continued to pour Adam's preferred amount and put the rest back into the fridge before taking his seat opposite Adam. He noticed the tall glass of orange juice the other man had poured for him, and his heart ached as he rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes.
"I'm sorry for lying, Adam. I was just really fucking tired from yesterday. You know what happened." He started quietly, fingers curling around the glass of orange juice and taking a quick drink from it. It was his favourite brand too, with the pulp and all. He felt even worse.
"Yes, you had a deal yesterday. I'm surprised you didn't get shot." Adam looked up from his bowl, finally chewing thoughtfully. Nigel placed a hand over his heart and winced in faux pain. "I can't believe you'd underestimate me like that, Adam. Where's your fuckin' trust?"
This made Adam smile. "When you start eating your cereal, maybe I'll start to trust you again."
Nigel grinned and winked at him. "Now, that I can do."
The room fell into relative silence as they ate, but Nigel's thoughts still weighed heavily on his mind. He eventually lowered the spoon into his bowl and leaned his weight forward onto his folded arms on the table.
"Why did you suddenly wanna eat cereal? It's 4am." He asked upfront, knowing that any skirting around the edges would only confuse Adam.
"...I couldn't sleep."
"I'm pretty fucking sure there's more, gorgeous."
"I... I just wanted a reason to be with you..." Adam finally said after a few moments, his face red in slight embarrassment. Nigel could have collapsed on the spot from heartache if it weren't for the chair he was sitting on. And he'd been so mean to Adam, too.
"You could've just told me, baby. I'm sorry." He got up and walked around Adam, putting his arms around him from behind. He couldn't help but kiss Adam's lightly stubbled cheek.
"Oh." Adam replied, hand tightening around his spoon. "I didn't know..."
Nigel laughed softly. "Next time we can just spend time in bed together, yeah? No need to get up for cereal or whatever it is your 4am brain craves. I'm always gonna be here."
The younger man nodded shyly. "I'm sorry about just now. I didn't react well, and I didnt realise you were so tired. It's hard for me to tell."
"It's no problem, darling. Wanna go back to the room? You can choose a show to watch while we eat."
Adam shook his head as he took another spoonful of cereal in his mouth. "It'll disturb the routine, and I won't be able to associate the bed with sleep anymore."
"Fine by me." Nigel lightly dragged his fingers up Adam's sides to tickle him slightly as he moved away to finish his cereal. The other man fidgeted in his chair with a giggle, but then pulled Nigel back with a hand. He looked as if he was contemplating something, and Nigel waited patiently for him to continue.
"Nigel, I– Can I... Can I sit on you for a little while? I wanna... eat my cereal with you..."
The older man smiled and nodded, letting Adam get up and sitting on his chair before situating the younger on his lap. He let Adam wiggle around a little, letting him get adjusted before settling down and leaning back against Nigel's chest.
"You like this, dragă?"
Adam gave him a small nod, ducking his head when Nigel started peppering kisses and small nips on the sensitive area around his ear. He tilted his head away as he laughed and turned around to press his lips to Nigel's on a whim, temporarily stunning the older man into stillness.
A moment of quiet. Adam was smiling. So was Nigel.
"I... I actually love you so fucking much, you know that?"
"I know that, and I do too, Nigel. I-I love you."
"Mmm... Now eat your cereal before I tickle you again." Nigel smirked and ran his hands down Adam's sides again, making him squeal as he tried to get away from Nigel. "Okay, okay! I'll finish it!"