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Despite the weird dreams he had always seen, Xehanort usually slept well enough. Falling asleep wasn't a problem for him, and when he woke up, he was awake from the first instead of spending his mornings in a groggy half-daze.
Very unlike Eraqus.
Xehanort knew from experience that waking up Eraqus when he didn’t want to get up was a hellish task and trying to do so with any kind of urgency was a fool's errand. You would probably eventually succeed but it was going to be long after you should have been done.
Which was one of the reasons he was glad they had a day off and so, for once, there was nowhere to hurry.
It was most likely going to be a nice day. The bright morning light filtered through the white lace curtains, swaying softly in the breeze from the one window they had left open last night. Now and then you could hear the distant sound of the gulls, screeching as they dived from the sky and tried to snatch something to eat from the hands of the early people going about their business in the harbour, the peddlers and merchants setting up their stalls or opening their shops. That sound, the sound that belonged near the open waters, was so familiar to Xehanort that if he kept his eyes closed, he could almost imagine he’d never left home after all.
So he’d rather keep them open. Ground himself into the present.
This was Eraqus's room, his papers and clothes strewn across most surfaces. Eraqus said it wasn't a mess, he knew exactly where each item was and if anyone else tried to clean it, he would have to spend hours on organizing it all again. Xehanort had long decided it was not his problem.
Those nights the two of them shared a bed he slept with his back towards the windows, facing Eraqus. The way Eraqus faced in the morning was never a certainty, as he shifted a lot in his sleep and sometimes even tried to sleepwalk, usually jolting Xehanort awake with a loud thump as he crashed out of the bed, barely blinking once before he was gone again, leaving Xehanort to maneuver him back up under the sheets from the floor.
This time Eraqus faced him, curled on his side and his chest rising and falling calmly. His hair had fallen in front of his face, hiding most of it, a few strands sticking to his mouth.
It made Xehanort smile, and he lifted a hand to gently tuck the hair behind Eraqus’s ear. His lips parted slightly, a soft, content breath escaping them. They were close enough for it to tickle against Xehanort’s neck, and it made his heart skip a beat for no tangible reason. He had been planning on pulling his hand back right away when he was done, but he ended up slowly carding his fingers through Eraqus’s hair instead. It felt nice, black and smooth against his skin. Despite the few curls, Eraqus's hair didn’t seem to tangle easily.
Eraqus sighed again and angled closer to the touch, bringing Xehanort’s hand from his hair to rest on his cheek. Xehanort lightly brushed a thumb along his cheekbones, down until it hovered over his still parted lips and he could feel the warm breath prickling against it.
With a feather-light touch he smoothed the finger against Eraqus’s lips, which elicited a quiet, sleepy moan. Hearing that a small shudder traveled down his spine, but more important than that was that he was happy to know Eraqus was right there.
Xehanort shifted down on his side and brought their faces closer to each other, quietly watching Eraqus. He looked so calm when he was asleep, a far cry from all the restless energy he had when he was awake, even if he seemed to have decided to never use it for anything actually productive.
Xehanort snickered, dropping his hand against the pillow.
A small crease appeared between Eraqus's eyebrows.
“Nice to know my face is that funny, but honestly if you’re not going to do it, then I am,” Eraqus muttered and opened his eyes halfway, looking straight at Xehanort before tipping forward, bringing their lips softly together. Xehanort was surprised for half a second before kissing him back.
"Sorry, did I wake you?” Xehanort asked once Eraqus pulled back. For all the trouble he and the others gave Eraqus for his sleeping habits, Xehanort didn't really think it was something that needed changing. If Eraqus liked sleeping in, who were they to tell him he couldn't? At least when it didn't interfere with his studies.
“I’m not awake,” Eraqus said, smiling, and flopped on his back, closing his eyes again against the brightness of the room. He yawned a bit and stretched his hands before taking a peek up at Xehanort. “I might wake up quicker if I had a good reason to, though.”
Xehanort knew that to be the utter lie it was. But if Eraqus had something he wanted to wake up for, well, that was a different matter entirely. And Xehanort knew exactly what Eraqus was going for, but he was not in a hurry. Quiet mornings like this when they were free to do whatever they wanted were a luxury Xehanort was learning to enjoy.
“Urd did talk about having breakfast together with everyone today,” Xehanort said, half-heartedly playing with Eraqus's hair.
“Mmh, she did, but they know me," Eraqus conceded. "She meant brunch. There's still time." He was right about that, obviously. They were all aware of his natural sleep rhythm—how many times had he come late to class and haphazardly apologised to their Master?—and all their plans together took it into consideration.
Eraqus watched him with a tilted head, a gesture he knew Xehanort thought was cute. Or at least Xehanort assumed he must have known. "Anything else you've got?"
Eraqus's smile, that tilt of his head. They were both things that had always drawn Xehanort's attention towards Eraqus's lips, even if he had denied it and all its implications for a time when they'd first met. It had been longer still until they had finally kissed for the first time, but it hadn't been because Eraqus hadn’t shown interest. That had been fully on Xehanort, coming to terms with his feelings. Eraqus's affection was easy, genuine and freely given, all of them qualities Xehanort had not been used to, but Eraqus had given him all the time he needed, even if Xehanort was pretty sure he had enjoyed seeing him squirm when he hadn't yet been sure how to answer. Making Xehanort's face heat up took a lot more effort now, but if someone was able to do it, it was Eraqus.
"Depends."
"On what?" Eraqus raised his brows.
"Does kissing me count as a reason?" Xehanort asked, leaning over to nuzzle Eraqus's hair. Eraqus laughed in his ear.
"It's the best possible reason," Eraqus said and wrapped his hands around Xehanort's neck.
Expecting it or not, it didn't stop amazing Xehanort how Eraqus could say things like that so easily and mean every word, too. While his life back home hadn't really been lonely or sad, possibly best described as simply dull, this was still something new to him. He hadn't been loved like this before. Or, maybe, he just hadn't loved like this before.
Xehanort turned his head and kissed Eraqus's jaw. Eraqus waited patiently enough for him to kiss his way up to the corner of his mouth, but as usual, that was as far as his patience went. Eraqus sought Xehanort's lips with his own and they slotted together in a way that showed they had done this before. He curled his fingers against the back of Xehanort's neck, slightly tugging at the shorter hair there. Xehanort let out a quiet hiss but Eraqus knew it didn’t mean for him to stop, quite the opposite, and so he didn't let go.
Eventually the tug turned into a pull as Eraqus's hand came to rest fully against the nape of Xehanort's neck, gently pressing him closer. Xehanort was already leaning in, but he was always happy to get even closer, pressing their chests gently against each other.
Eraqus still moved drowsily, his eyes closed and his fingers drawing small circles against Xehanort’s neck. They kissed softly, languidly.
Xehanort let out a quiet hum, cupping Eraqus’s face with one hand. "Are you just falling back asleep?"
"Never," Eraqus laughed.
“Uh-huh.” Xehanort sounded like he didn’t particularly believe that, but also like he was stifling a laugh himself.
Eraqus opened his eyes once more and met Xehanort’s gaze with a wide smile.
"I mean it, honest," Eraqus assured and let his hands wander, giving Xehanort's lips a short, breathy kiss before turning his attention down. Xehanort already wore his shirt loosely laced, and it was a simple thing for Eraqus to move the collar to the side and tilt his head down to access his neck.
If Eraqus knew exactly what Xehanort liked, then so did he. He remembered exactly the look Eraqus had had when they had shared a bed for the first time and he had stared at the sliver of bare chest visible under Xehanort's nightshirt. Xehanort had already almost believed he could not make Eraqus get that flustered, but the blush on his face had proved him wrong. After that Xehanort had taken to wearing loose shirts more and more, be it on purpose or not, and Eraqus clearly liked that.
He pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the dip of Xehanort's shoulder, then another.
Xehanort groaned. He first felt the curve of Eraqus's smile, then the gentle nib of his teeth and the brush of his tongue that followed.
Eraqus’s knee pressed up between Xehanort's legs and Xehanort gasped.
“Sorry,” Eraqus muttered against him, but didn’t remove himself.
"Sure you are," Xehanort said and cupped Eraqus's head with both hands to lift it so he could kiss him again. Their lips met, warm and soft and pliable. Breathing became something they needed to remind themselves to do, sharp inhales and heavy sighs between brushes of lips and hands against each other.
They continued kissing in a tangle of limbs as the morning passed by, slow and pleasant, until the sun had climbed considerably higher in the sky and the sounds of the town had gotten louder outside the window. A bit reluctant, Xehanort finally got up and moved to wash his face. Truth be told, he could have spent even the whole day with just him and Eraqus, but he supposed they needed to meet the rest of their friends as they'd promised.
"We should get dressed. If we don't leave soon, Vor is going to drag us out of here with her own hands," Xehanort said and watched as Eraqus shuddered, all the complaints to stay in bed for a little longer that were likely forming completely forgotten.
"Bragi would never let me live that one down," Eraqus said and sat up, slowly gathering his hair on his usual ponytail.
Changing their clothes didn't take long, and soon they were ready to face the day. Their timing seemed to have been nearly perfect as they met Vor down the hall, Baldr following sheepishly after her. Apparently he had studied late and slept way past his normal wake-up. Together they joined the others waiting for them outside.
"Where do we go?" Hermod asked and Urd told them she had a place in mind, and so they all followed her.
Gulls screeched above them, white outlines against the bright blue sky. The air smelled of salt, the sight of blue waves surrounding them so achingly familiar to Xehanort. He closed his eyes and he was home. It was the chattering of the other six around him that made him feel so, the gentle touch of Eraqus's hand on his while they walked along that grounded him.
It was going to be a nice day.