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Dan laid flat on his back in the bed he shared with Herbert as he watched the sun rise. There were still another couple minutes until his alarm would start to beep, and he relished in feeling fully rested and ready for the first time in weeks. No one had ever said that being a healthcare worker was easy. Or that the pay was good. Or that they got enough sleep.
The early rays shone in through the partially closed curtains. They cast long striped shadows over the two of them, the faint light brightening up their world.
When he turned his head to the left he saw Herbert. Or well, the back of Herbert. The other man wasn’t much of a cuddler, something that Dan respected, but he would often have his back pressed up against Dan’s side whenever the occasion arose. And this happened more often than not while he was asleep, so maybe he wasn’t as cold and distant as he tried to come off as after all.
Dan turned to his left, watching the second hand on his clock tick by and dreading when he had to leave the sanctuary of their warm bed. He closed his eyes and focused on how the mattress moved in tandem with Herbert’s breathing, and the sound of his soft snoring. It made Dan’s heart swell.
Then the clock rang.
He tried to turn it off as fast as he could, but in his hurry he instead knocked it off the side table and onto the floor. Which meant he then had to lean over the edge of the bed, fondling the floor a bit too much for comfort as his hands searched for the blasted piece of electronics. By the time he found it and managed to turn it off Herbert was stirring next to him.
“A bull in a China shop would make far less noise than you do in the mornings.”
Dan rolled around so they were lying face to face; Dan with a smile he hardly tried to suppress and Herbert with a disgruntled frown on his face.
“I’m sorry Herb, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said as he studied the other's expression.
There was an inherent softness in Herbert’s features when he wasn’t wearing his glasses. It wasn’t as if Dan didn’t enjoy watching him with the spectacles on, when there was a persistent furrowing of the brows and a stream of muttering as he did his work. But the pure unguardedness as he’d just woken up? Oh how Dan revelled in it.
He brought his hand up to smooth those dark unruly bangs out of his partner's face, allowing his hand to slide down the side and rest on Herbert’s cheek. Herbert merely squinted suspiciously at him.
“I have to go or I’ll be late for class. Wouldn’t want a spot on my record,” Dan joked as he slowly began to make his way into an upright position, but to no avail.
Herbert immediately flung his arm over Dan’s torso and put his head on his chest, physically holding him down. Not that he was very heavy, but the sentiment was crystal clear, so Dan capitulated. He fell back against the pillows, wrapping an arm of his own around the other’s shoulders. Herbert murmured something inaudible at that, melting into the embrace.
“What was that?” Dan asked.
He leaned down as he nestled his face into Herbert’s hair, smelling the faint scent of coconut on him.
“I said something along the lines of ‘five more minutes’, I believe,” Herbert replied, deadpan as ever.
Dan chuckled, throwing a cursory glance at the clock just to make sure he still had some time before he had to actually rush. It was five minutes past seven.
He wished they could share more moments like this in between studies, work, and extracurricular activities. Because really, Herbert wasn’t very different from a cat. The way he kept to himself, yet wanted contact, always on his terms and nigh impossible to coax into doing anything he didn’t want to. Dan sometimes thought that perhaps his actual cat had met its untimely demise simply because Herbert was jealous and never had intentions to share him with anyone. He wasn’t sure if that would’ve been sweet, or horrific
“Herbert, love , I have to go,” he whispered.
“Knowing you, you’ll still be perfectly on time if you stay in bed another ten minutes.”
“Oh so it’s ten minutes now? I distinctly remember you saying five last time I asked.” Dan chuckled.
Herbert’s response to that was to hold on tighter, firm little fingers digging into Dan’s side. Dan sighed. The rays of light had moved ever so slightly across the room as the sun had started its journey from the horizon to the sky. He had to angle his head so they wouldn’t blind him.
“Come on,” Dan said, “I’ll be back so soon you won’t even miss me.”
“I always miss you,” Herbert muttered in a voice so low that Dan almost didn’t hear it.
Dan hadn’t been prepared for that. And worst of all was that he still had to leave at one point or another, despite the neediness he’d heard in that tone. If he really thought about it? He’d never even considered the fact that Herbert missed him while he was away. It just didn’t seem plausible, knowing him and how he functioned.
“...you do?” Dan asked softly, running his hand through Herbert’s hair.
“Of course I do, I always thought that was obvious. I don’t like people, in general, but I dislike being apart from you even more.”
“Oh,” was all the answer Dan had to that.
Now Dan could read between the lines, but Herbert gave him a run for his money more often than not in that aspect, so instead he pulled his lover closer to his chest. Herbert syphoned heat out of him like a scavenger stealing gas right out of a car. The little rascal had a tendency for being cold whereas Dan was hot as an oven, meaning that together they worked out well. Though that was an account of more than just temperature.
“Now,” Herbert said into Dan’s chest, after having sat pressed together like that for a while, “you’ll have to leave or you’ll actually be late.” He then continued to not make any effort in removing himself or in any way helping Dan out with said task.
”You’ll have to move if I’m to get up,” Dan pointed out.
At which point Herbert actually rolled off of him and took all the covers with him. The only thing still visible after that move was Herbert’s face from the nose up, sleepy little eyes peering out at Dan.
“Go. Before I change my mind,” Herbert muttered from within his cocoon.
“Alright alright, I’m going,” Dan said as he finally got up.
He knew Herbert watched him the entire time he was getting dressed; from the socks on his feet to the shirt on his chest, and he was even kind enough to turn around so that his friend might catch the whole show as every button was buttoned.
When he looked down at the clock again he realised Herbert must’ve already accounted for the additional cuddling session, as he was still perfectly on schedule. It got him wondering truly how wrapped around the other's finger he was.
“Want me to get you coffee?” he asked the pile of duvets on the bed once he was done.
The pile merely shook vaguely, which he could decipher as neither a yes nor a no. He leaned down and left a kiss on the top of Herbert’s head, taking one last whiff of his hair. He was lingering. Unsurprising to no one; Herbert’s earlier confession had made leaving near unbearable. But he’d be back.
“Sleep tight, my love,” Dan said as he left, gently closing the bedroom door behind him.
Fully dressed, with shoes tied and bag slung over his shoulder he went out the front door of their shared apartment and locked it, already wishing he was back in bed.