Work Text:
Lauren stood by the desk examining papers in her hands when he arrived, as expected; working before him. He chuckled to himself and began to take off his coat hanging it on the coat rack. He unbuttoned the top of his shirt to have his chest slightly exposed and silently walked over to Lauren. Kieran knew she was expecting him to come to the cave at precisely 12:00am, it said so on the last letter Kieran wrote. Trying not to startle her seeing that she is more focused on the piece of paper in her hands, he taps the wooden desk to announce his arrival. “I already knew you were here.” she spoke, startling him instead. She placed the paper down and turned to look at him, giving him a soft welcoming smile. Kieran returned the smile and kissed her forehead. They haven’t seen each other for a month.
When I'm overseas,
will you miss me?
Of course I will.
Why do you ask that?
Because I never had
someone do that for me
Oh
They stood in silence, admiring each other's features. Never once did Kieran forget her luminescent eyes that remind him of golden honey. Lauren reached out to his face removing the strands of his dark raven hair, getting a better view of his eyes. And he lets her, he craves for the affection she gives him; like a small puppy. And the times she doesn’t he slightly frowns and turns away.
You never got affection as a child
have you?
No, the only affection we got were lashes from a whip
I'm sorry to hear that
Don’t be I quite cherish the affection I get now even if it's just a little
My deepest apologies that I don’t give my full attention to you
I have a job to get done
Well soon that job will be just you giving me your undivided attention
We’ll see about that subordinate
During his time overseas he had missed Lauren terribly. Gone for a month wasn't supposed to be bad, he's gone out for longer. Normally they go by fast, and he's back home after that. But this time, being with someone he loves felt like years and years being away. All for a stupid mission he needed to do, but it was something that needed to be done to be able to take down the Phantom Scythe and their leader.
How long will you be overseas?
A month
A month? Just to spy on one associate?
You be surprised on how long it can take just to spy on one person just to report back something so small
How ludicrous
Just please be careful okay?
I’m always careful darling
You better
She suddenly stops touching his face and the two embrace, holding each other tightly. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes until Lauren spoke again. "How was it overseas?" She whispered. He doesn't respond right away, instead he holds her close to him hiding his face in the crook of her neck. “The associate wasn't close with the police or the royals, it was a misunderstanding. I spoke about it with the messenger today." He said in a muffled tone. Lauren nodded and buried her face in his chest, he smelled like sandalwood and sugar. She had missed that smell so much.
Lauren
Hm?
I want to know more about you
What do you mean?
I don’t know, anything
Well what do you want to know?
Have you ever made love to someone?
"I just got back today, I came here as fast as I could when I finished giving my report." He said, caressing her hair softly. Silence fills the room once more but leaves as soon as Kieran opens his mouth once again.
"Lauren.” he stops caressing her hair.
“Yes Kieran?” she whispered.
He inhales and takes a deep breath.
“I have another mission to do." he said thickly.
Tensing, she breaks the embrace and turns away looking at all the papers and files of P.S. members. She needed to mentally prepare herself for when he brought back news from his previous reports. “They need me to head back overseas again.” Kieran whispered, gently wrapping his arms around her in slow manner.
He knew that if he did it quickly, it would startle her. He made that happen, giving her a traumatic response every time a person would try to touch her. Kieran doesn’t think he’ll forgive himself for it, even if Lauren apologized multiple times reassuring him that it’s alright.
No, I've never made love to anyone
Why is that?
Because of work, I focus more on work than having to think about sex with someone
Is that so?
And I’d rather do it with someone I would want to spend my life with
So basically waiting for the right person then?
I guess you can say that
Interesting
What about you?
I have once or twice
With the same person or someone different?
With someone different, but the last time I did it I dated them for a couple of months
And what happened?
They were too possessive of me
Hm, hypocrite
Only because you made me into that person dear
How?
You'll see soon
That doesn't make any sense
It will one day
"What type of mission is it?" She responds in a low tone. "I don't know, the messenger just told me that I have a new mission coming soon." Lauren sighed and held onto his arms. "When do you have to go back?" She asked.
She didn't want him to leave, she wanted him to stay, but she knew that he had to do this. "In three days." He answered. “How long will it be?” she replies again.
“A while from what I heard,” he says.
She grabbed onto his arms tighter, and let out a staggered sigh. Lauren dreams to remove him from the Phantom Scythe, keep him hidden away or run away with him somewhere where no one can find him and live a happy life together in peace. But deep down she knew it would be impossible for that dream to happen. It wouldn’t be the greatest idea at the moment. For now Lauren stays quiet, arguing back wouldn’t change a thing. He would still leave anyway. Kieran rests his head on top of hers, breathing in that flowery scent of her hair. How he loved the way she smelled. It always comforts him when he’s feeling down.
Would you ever make love to me Lauren?
I don’t know it never really occurred to me
Why not?
Do you want to make love to me?
Like I said, it never occurred to me
I see
Do you want to make love to me?
Mon amour do you want me
to answer that?
Y’know I don’t think I
want to know anymore
Oh darling you make me laugh even
when you’re not being funny
They stayed like that for a couple of minutes before he spoke again.
"Lauren?"
She hums her response.
"Can you turn around for me?" Is all Kieran says.
Without saying anything else she complies and turns around making eye contact. Kieran could see the glassiness in her eyes seeing a single tear roll down her cheek, making his chest ache.
“Please, don’t cry darling.” he wipes her tears with his thumb.
He had never made a woman shed a tear for him before, and he didn’t plan to see Lauren shed a tear for him. He desperately wanted to stay with her, he wanted to wake up everyday till the day he died with her in his arms. He could picture it clear as day. But he knew he had to do this, as much as it hurts him.
“I want you to stay, Kieran.” She cries softly.
He places his calloused hands on both sides of her cheek.
”You know I have to go Lauren.”
Quiet sobs can be heard from her mouth.
He removes his hands and places his forehead on hers, furrowing his eyebrows.
Damnit, why was this so hard for him?
“You know you're making this hard for me Lauren.” he retorts.
“Is it working?” Lauren sniffles.
“No, not one bit.” He lies.
Lauren stifles a small laugh, hitting his arm. “Liar.” She said, backing away just a bit to wipe her face with the sleeve of her blouse. He chuckles slightly, giving her room to settle down. Once she’s done, Kieran gets closer to her, feeling the warmth radiate from Lauren. She looked up at him, but before she could say anything, he kissed her. A soft but gentle kiss, without warning, without permission this time, without deciding to do it, but simply because he couldn't have done anything else at that moment. He wanted to make her feel better, he really did. And that night,
“I love you Lauren.”
He was set on making it happen before he leaves her once again.