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It was always nights like these that messed with David's head.
Nights in which he stayed up until the early morning hours, knowing that he would have the worst headache in the morning. Nights in which he allowed himself one cigarette after the other. Nights in which he left the window open, well aware that he might catch a cold or, even worse, someone could look inside the room. On those nights, David's head couldn't wrap itself around the fact that he was indeed experiencing those silent hours of peace in the presence of his boyfriend.
He would like to blame his confusion on the cognac, the cigarettes, Lord, even on the sex, but he knew that none of that was the reason.
It was frustrating. Frustrating enough to light up another cigarette and sigh melodramatically.
His gaze wandered to the bed and observed the naked man in his sleeping.
Thomas was lying on his stomach, tangled up in the duvets, head laying flat on the mattress. His hair was a mess, just a mob of thick, unruly brown hair, which David would love to run his fingers through.
The duvets covered Thomas' legs, right arm, and lower half of his back. Even in the dim light of his werelight - which he had extinguished about an hour ago - you could still see all the bruises on his body. David had counted those on his back just an hour ago.
"There was a time I counted the moles on your skin - today, I count the bruises." That had been David's words.
David took a long drag from his cigarette and closed his eyes. He imagined Thomas and him back in Casterbrook.
They were back in the old days when they snuck out of the dormitory every night to lie in the grass and look at the stars. They told stories about the myths and heroes after which the constellations were named and smoked their stolen cigarettes.
Back then, David hadn't thought he would grow to become dependent on them. The thought that he would need them to numb the pain never crossed his mind.
David took another drag from his cigarette and chuckled as he saw Thomas wrinkle his nose. He loved it when Thomas did this. It was the reason for the tingling in his stomach. Even after all those years together.
A silent groan came from the bed as Thomas shifted, tangling himself more in the duvets. It looked like he was about to wake up. David held his breath without noticing, but Thomas turned his head to the other side and continued to sleep.
David breathed the smoke out.
"Oh, you want the cold side of the mattress," David thought. He always liked the cold side of the pillow - more pleasurable this way.
He turned around and tapped the ash off on the window till. The sky was still dark, but David could see the deep dark blue spreading slowly over the sky. It was too dark to see the clock, but he guessed it was around three in the morning.
Now there was nobody awake in The Folly. Well, maybe Molly was still awake. Sometimes she wandered through the quiet building. From time to time, Molly frightened the shit out of the new boys, who thought they were just taking a quick trip to the toilet before falling back into bed. David always found it incredibly funny.
The duvets ruffled, louder this time, making David quickly put his cigarette out. Thomas didn't have to know he was smoking again.
"Davey, even a steam engine smokes less than you," Thomas had said. "Oh, but it's fine for you to smoke," David had asked, but he'd put out the cigarette anyway. He knew Thomas was right, he knew he smoked too much. Since then, he's cautious to not smoke too much in Thomas' presence.
He could hear the other man grumble and groan and knew he was awake. In a second David cast a spell, a breeze to get the smoke out of the room. David was sure Thomas would notice it anyway.
It took Thomas longer to climb out of bed and join him at the window than David had thought. Fatigue made Thomas slow. That trip from Prague back to London must've been hell for him. He knew Thomas hadn't had the time for a break.
Even he was tired, even though he had spent the whole day in his laboratory instead of flying across half of Europe. But he couldn't sleep. He couldn't let this moment pass. The first night with Thomas in three weeks.
Once Thomas reached him, he wrapped his uninjured arm around David's torso and rested his head on his shoulder, the arm sling pressing against David's back. He had been careful not to touch that arm the whole evening, afraid he would hurt him more.
After Thomas told him what happened in Prague, David slammed his hand on the table and nearly knocked the lamp off the table. He never thought Dohmen would shoot at someone, he had asked Thomas if he was sure that Dohmen was SS, but there was no doubt.
"Why are you still up?"
"Why are you awake? I barely made any noises," David asked back.
He didn't turn around but leaned against the other man's chest and stared into the sky. It was still cold, but Thomas' body heat warmed his back. For David, this was even better than the softest duvet in the world.
His lover yawned in his ear and made him wince.
"I missed you. I don't sleep well when you're not next to me," he answered with his rough, sleepy voice. Lord, David loved that voice. It gave him goosebumps every morning. Although he would prefer hearing Thomas' snoring rather than this attractive, sleepy voice. He knew he needed sleep.
"You slept fine the last three weeks without me," David said and pressed himself a bit more against Thomas.
He barked out a small laugh.
"Bold of you to assume that I slept well. Why are you still awake?"
David shrugged. "I want to enjoy the moment. I didn't see you for three weeks - I missed being near you."
There was a small sigh escaping Thomas' lips. They've talked about it before. Thomas went away, seeking adventures, completing missions for the Folly in far-off countries. Some of them David wanted to visit, like India or Tibet, but he was needed here, in the Folly.
They didn't like being apart, but three weeks was a minimum. Something they both could manage. Three weeks wasn't even close to the record. When Thomas had been in India for ten months, that was hard. Three weeks were nothing compared to that.
In times of peace, at least. Maybe not when they were so close to a war.
"If you want to be close to me, why don't you go to bed?" Thomas asked, ripping David out of his thoughts before he could start worrying even more.
He nodded slightly. "That does sound tempting."
Thomas let go of him and made a small hand gesture, shutting the window with a spell. The signare wasn't strong, but David could feel it. This smell of mown grass and white willow felt - oh, so very familiar for David. A smile spread over David's face. Something he had missed.
He let himself be dragged back to bed by Thomas. The mattress wasn't comfortable, maybe because he'd gotten used to it, but the warm duvet Thomas spread over them still felt like soft heaven. A satisfied sigh escaped his lips as Thomas snuggled against his chest and sighed happily. He was finally back in David's arms.
They knew they would untangle themselves in a few minutes since neither could sleep so close to a person. Still, David had a few minutes of stroking Thomas' back. He calmed down while listening to his lover's heartbeat. He was all David needed right now.
Thomas was back home.