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Slowly, Julian pushed himself away from the cold stone wall he had been laying next to. In an attempt to be cat-like, he moved across the bed over the sleeping Apprentice. He could appreciate that the beds at the Rowdy Raven were bigger than the twin at Mazealinka’s. But this particular room? The room at the farthest end of the hall - smaller than all of the others on this floor - with the bed shoved in the corner, barely enough room between the foot and the wall to drape a jacket over the frame? He was not its biggest fan.
Of course, he knew he shouldn’t complain; he was lucky there was even a place in Vesuvia that would rent a room to him. However, avoiding the guards as the murderer of The Count or avoiding waking up the person next to him…it was a draw between which was harder.
Finally, on solid ground Julian quickly got dressed. Pants? Check. Shirt? Check. Coat? Check. Boots? He was so close to a perfect score until he dropped one with a thud.
The Apprentice stirred behind him. He cursed under his breath as he picked up his boot.
Their voice was sleepy as they questioned him, “leaving again without a goodbye?”
“Oh I- no I wasn’t-” Julian fumbled over his words as he turned around. “Just getting an early start. I was coming back, honest.” The Apprentice laid there - blankets pulled up over their shoulder - squinting up at him in the early morning light. He couldn’t help but smile at the image.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” they laughed.
Even with the window shuttered, cracks of light peeked through gaps in the wood. The apprentice stretched and rolled over onto their side to avoid the bits of sunlight that reached their pillow. No longer having to squint to see Julian.
“I just didn’t want to wake you,” he managed to get his other boot on this time without dropping it. “You looked so peaceful there and it’s still so early,” he gestured to the window.
The Apprentice reached out grabbing him by his wrist pulling him closer as they pouted, “can I at least get a goodbye?”
Red spread across Julian’s cheeks as he stumbled forward to his knees at the side of the bed. He leaned down to place a kiss on their forehead, “I’ll be back this time, I promise.” He hovered over them, still caught in their grasp.
“A real goodbye,” they teased, running their free hand through his auburn hair.
Julian paused breathing in slow before he leaned in again. He went for their lips this time - a real kiss. He shifted, leaning over them more. The Apprentice released his wrist, their fingers trailing across gold buttons. Grabbing at the fabric of Julian’s coat they took their chance to pull him even closer, deepening the kiss.
Julian pulled away just millimeters away from their face, “you’re going to get me in trouble you know that?” His breath tickled their lips. He was so easily distracted whenever the Apprentice showed him how they wanted him with the same intensity that he felt for them. He still couldn’t believe it.
“So? You like trouble.”
A full laugh escaped him as he leaned his head into their shoulder smiling against their sweet skin.
The Apprentice pulled him into another kiss while he was still distracted. This time Julian didn’t protest. Instead, he pushed the blankets out of the way, readjusting so he was fully above them on the mattress. One of his hands trailed along their waist, fingers twisting at the hem of their shirt. The Apprentice followed his cue, rolling over to lay flat on their back again. With Julian hovering above they were able to see better as the sunlight diffused through his hair instead of shining right into their eyes.
The Apprentice’s heart beat faster - they were definitely awake now. They kept their hands wrapped in his hair, in his coat. Didn’t want him to quickly pull away and stand up, to change the subject back to leaving. They held him tight.
Julian wasn’t going anywhere for the moment. He kissed along their jaw, down their neck leaving bite marks along the way. The body under him wrapped their legs around his, moaning out his name as they lifted their head to expose more of their skin to him. He obliged, trailing his mouth along their collar bone. Hands grabbed at the back of Julian’s coat as he moved to their shoulder; pulling fabric out of the way.
With a sigh, slowly, reluctantly, he lifted his head to look at them again. “If I don’t leave now I don’t think I ever will.” His voice was low as he propped himself up with one hand the other rubbed slowly along the Apprentice’s thigh.
“I don’t want you to leave,” they quipped back.
The red blush was back over the doctor’s cheeks, up to his ears this time. His heart beat faster, making his whole body hot. “You don’t know what you mean.” He stumbled out trying to regain some of his composure.
The Apprentice moved one hand to his face, resting it on his cheek. Julian couldn’t help closing his gray eyes as he leaned into the gentle touch. “I want you, Julian.” They whispered. He looked at them, opened his mouth to counter, but before he could get a word out they added, “I thought I’d made that pretty obvious.” Every encounter between them - even when they weren’t kissing - the Apprentice couldn’t help from teasing Julian to get him to blush or stumble over his words. It was so easy to lose track of time with him.
He sighed, closing his eyes again. He squeezed at the Apprentice’s thigh but it didn’t seem like he realized he was doing it. “I’ll just bring you down.” Still he thought that.
“Let me bring you up then, so many of us care about you, Julian.”
“And what if everything I’ve done, all my failures make me too heavy to lift?” He looked at them, vulnerable, heart on his sleeve. “I never do the right thing…I’m always making someone mad. Hurting someone. Always running.”
The Apprentice looked at him. At this man who healed a near stranger from vampire eels when he could have just as easily left. He knew they recognized him, knew they were working for the palace, that they could’ve turned him in. Julian could have let them die; one less loose end if he was really so evil. Or, he could have turned himself in then and there to the guards if he wanted punishment for a murder he couldn’t remember. All they had seen from him was kindness. To them and to others staying in the South End. He didn’t bring pain and destruction everywhere he went, quite the opposite. The only time he hurt people was when he tried to push them away, deny their help. He wasn’t malicious.
“If I remember correctly, I made you bleed the first time we met. I threw a bottle at your head,” the Apprentice reflected on the encounter speaking more to themselves than Julian. They ran their thumb along the edge of his hairline at the memory. “Just, stay a little while?” Their voice was soft; half pleading, half encouraging.
“You’re too kind to me,” he whispered.
There were so many different things the Apprentice could’ve said to him. Too many different responses. Tell him he needed to be kinder with himself. Tell him he deserved love. List all the ways he had been kind to them. None of it felt right. The Apprentice pulled him into a soft kiss instead to show him how deeply they cared for him. Both their arms wrapped loosely around Julian giving him a chance to pull away if he wanted it. They could feel the muscles in his back start to relax as he melted into them. He gave in just a little, let some of his walls down. The Apprentice smiled into the kiss as they felt him relax.
“What?”
“Nothing,” they laughed. “I’m just happy.”
Another blush spread across Julian’s pale face. He looked down avoiding their gaze, a curl of red hair fell obscuring his sight from his one visible eye. He fought his instinct to correct them. Reminded himself that he didn’t need to convince them that their positive opinion of him was wrong. He knew by now that if he even tried the forgiving creature holding onto him would’ve countered him. They were always challenging how he viewed his options. He was learning.
This time instead of trying to argue Julian just kissed them again.