Work Text:
The golden light of the morning had already begun to creep its way into the bedroom Crocodile had been sleeping in, the warmth of dawn slowly covering him as the sun rose out on the horizon, rays of sunshine coming from the slits of the blinds on the windows of the wall near the left side of the bed.
He had already been awake himself for nearly half an hour, though. He’d always been more of an early riser than anything else. He had found that he ran on little sleep compared to most, getting up early in the morning shortly before dawn broke, and heading off to bed late into the night whenever he had finished his work for the day.
It was something he had done for years, a daily routine of rising early and going to bed long after it had gone dark outside. It was the best schedule for himself; he greatly preferred being awake and getting work done than being asleep when he didn’t even feel tired in the slightest.
Under typical circumstances, he would have been up and out of bed by now. He would have already been wide awake, taking a quick shower for a fresh start to the day and to keep his cleanliness up. He would have already been dressed in one of his crisp and expensive suits, heading down to the kitchen to make breakfast for himself. Eggs, toast, and coffee drowning in cream and six sugars as he read the paper, or any documents or files for work that needed reading over that morning.
Yes, under typical circumstances, he had quite the streamlined and perfectly executed process down for how his mornings would usually go.
This morning was not under typical circumstances.
He let out a deep breath, sounding quietly frustrated as he turned his head to face towards his left, glancing down at where his arm was sprawled out across the bed. It was hookless for the time being; he removed the giant hunk of cold golden metal every evening before going to sleep for obvious reasons. It wasn’t comfortable to leave on in the slightest, and he much preferred taking it off, leaving his arm bare and actually comfortable.
And by the looks of the person who was keeping him in bed, it wasn’t just him who slept peacefully thanks to the lack of a giant golden hook.
Smoker was currently fast asleep, facing the window and away from Crocodile, but lying down on his arm all the same. His head was lying on Crocodile’s bicep, one of his hands resting over the end of his forearm where his hook was usually placed during the day. It wasn’t just him who was asleep either, no. The numbness in Crocodile’s arm told him that the second he got his arm back, he would be having to deal with a pile of pins and needles running through it for a few minutes afterward.
Great.
Not only was his daily routine being kicked to the curb, but he could no longer feel his arm. This was the greatest morning he had ever had.
Grumbling to himself mentally, he really wondered why he had let Smoker stay the night last night. Had it been so late that his exhausted mind hadn’t been thinking straight?
Well, he was never thinking straight , but thinking properly ?
Thinking back on the night before, he could remember that the two of them had been drinking. Smoker had stopped by that evening after he had finished his rounds at work, unannounced and letting himself in quite rudely the second Crocodile had so much as cracked the door slightly to see who was there. He hadn’t disliked it, he would have to admit. Smoker’s confidence and penchant for being bold at any given chance was always quite the charm, and it wasn’t like Crocodile was just going to turn him away when he enjoyed his company so much.
They had ended up spending the night drinking with one another, griping about their days and any little mishaps or adventures they had experienced since the last time they got to see each other for longer than a few minutes and a bundle of kisses.
It had been fun, there was no doubting that. Crocodile would love to do it again sometime soon, but it had also had a slight downside.
They had both gotten rather… tipsy.
Well, Crocodile had been tipsy. Smoker had mirrored every drink Crocodile had had that night, despite being slightly more of a lightweight compared to him. So while he had become tipsy by the end of their evening together, Smoker had become… just a bit fully drunk.
He didn’t feel comfortable in the slightest risking sending Smoker back to his place, alone in the middle of the night in the state he was in. He also had felt that it would have been nearly impossible to drag him back to his place when he could barely even stand, much less make it five minutes without telling Crocodile he loved him more than life itself.
He had decided to settle for letting him sleep on the couch in the living room, which eventually turned into letting him share a bed with him when Smoker had laid down in it and refused to leave, removing his jacket and burrowing under the covers like he was still a toddler.
He had fallen asleep there shortly thereafter, before Crocodile could even argue against it. He wasn’t about to give up his bed either though, so sharing it ended up being the solution.
Crocodile had cleaned up the remnants of their evening together and gotten changed out of his own clothes from the day, climbing into bed with Smoker and hugging him closely as he slept. Not even realizing that this was going to be their first night spent in bed with each other.
Mmm… remembering everything now from the night before, he could safely say he had made the right decision in letting Smoker stay over, despite his neediness and claiming the bed without so much as asking first. Yes, he had made the right decision; but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be grumpy about the outcome.
He couldn’t say he hated the situation at hand entirely, though. He’d never had someone so special to him snuggled within his arms for so long, cuddled against him for most of the night and breathing quietly as he slept deeply.
His eyes flickered down to Smoker again, looking at him- actually looking at him- for the first time that morning since waking up.
He looked content where he lay on his arm; his bare sides rising and falling as he breathed, his side of the blanket having since long been kicked off in his sleep. His hair was disheveled, strands covering his face and ear with the lack of gel, making him look quite fluffy.
He was… cute.
He studied his face a bit closer, not even noticing the tingle in his cheeks or the warmth that joined it. He traced Smoker’s curves and edges with his gaze, watching him sleep quietly and content as he did so.
He followed the edge of his jawline with his eyes, the strength of it and the fuzz that ran along it- the beginnings of a beard that he never allowed to get very long, that tickled Crocodile’s own chin whenever they kissed.
He stared at the curve of his nose, slightly rigid from being broken before in fights from when he was a kid, or young and newly recruited in the marines; his grumbling retelling of the tales to Crocodile on late night walks back to his base together.
His eyes flickered lazily up to the scar that drove through his forehead down from his hairline, over his eye and down his cheekbone before disappearing into the edge of his hair again. Crocodile still wasn’t quite sure how he had received that one- he hadn’t asked. He didn’t believe it was polite to, so it had remained a mystery to him for the time being. Just like how Smoker’s eye had remained undamaged despite the worrying level of harm the scar seemed to have been caused by.
He breathed in deeply, and sighed.
His outtake of breath blew gently over Smoker, stirring his hair slightly and drawing Crocodile’s attention to it as he tried to resist running his hand through it.
It was surprisingly soft every time he had had the pleasure of doing so in the past- oh how it was soft. He enjoyed carding his fingers slowly through it and over his scalp as gently as he could manage, watching Smoker’s expression turn relaxed and goosebumps appear over his exposed skin every time he did.
Smoker’s eyelids fluttered ever so slightly in his sleep, Crocodile’s focus turning to his lashes as he thought softly of all the times he would rest his face against Crocodile’s own; his eyes blinking slowly in the calm of being close to each other, his lashes tickling his cheek and causing him to mentally fall to pieces at the gentle feeling.
His face felt warm, but not just from thinking about all the little details of Smoker that he loved. In that moment, a ray of sun had shone in his eyes, golden and warm as it left him blinking for a moment.
The sun had risen higher outside of the window, shining brighter through the slits of the blinds as a beam glared directly over Smoker and over his face, causing him to stir from his slumber.
Crocodile cursed to himself mentally. Right when he had just accepted his fate of being stuck in bed this late… right when he had been enjoying it…
Why couldn’t the sunrise come later? Why couldn’t he have had just a few more min-
His frustrated thoughts were cut off abruptly when Smoker began to move, turning over in his sleep and rolling softly over on Crocodile’s arm to face towards him.
Crocodile watched him silently as he readjusted himself, moving his head to rest on his chest, instead of his arm. Crocodile could feel his face growing warm as Smoker moved his left arm to wrap around his waist, letting out a content sigh as he fell back asleep fully.
Crocodile swallowed hard.
Oh, this man was going to be the end of him.
He lay there in silence for a few moments, listening to Smoker breathe as he had a mental crisis on what was currently happening. He willed himself to stop blushing, knowing fully well that no one was around to see it, but being embarrassed about it no less. How could he stop blushing, though? With everything happening, with everything Smoker was doing without even realizing- it was all too much.
He sighed quietly to himself, tilting his head downward to glance down at Smoker once more. He couldn’t see most of his face anymore, but bits of his hair were brushing against his nose from how close he was lying up his chest.
He moved his head just a little bit more, letting his face bury within Smoker’s hair as he nuzzled him gently. Contently.
Mmm… he wouldn’t mind late mornings very much in the future.
Not if they were anything like this one.