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Passed down to him from his father, Ruben has an antique gramophone. A precious thing which he has kept shining and polished all these years, despite the loathing he held for his father. This player brings him back to those memories from his childhood, of playing with Laura as the gramophone released a sweet melody, filling the silence of the den.
Standing now at it with a half-full glass of wine in his hand, he drifts his scarred fingertips across the beautiful carved in design that swirled across the metal plates of it.
“You said there would be a burial ceremony...” Ruben speaks in a calm, soft tone, tracing the markings on the gramophone as he watches the movement of his fingers, icy blue eyes downcast. He hears an affirmative noise from his husband, who sat hunched over in the arm chair, rubbing at his face tiredly.
“Where will it be taking place?” Ruben asks, turning to face the other. He regards Sebastian with a sweep of his gaze, noticing how disheveled he looked. More so than usual, anyways. Sebastian drops his hands from his face, revealing to him the exhaustion written across his features.
“In Granada, where her mother was buried,” Sebastian answers in a heavy voice, which easily showed Ruben how worn down he truly was. Silently Ruben approaches him, his dress shoes quiet on the carpet, and once he's standing in front of him between his spread knees, he reaches out to curl his fingers under his strong jaw, feeling the brush of his stubble against his skin as he gently lifts his head. Sebastian raises his gaze to the other, looking up into his cold blue eyes, which shown gentleness and faint regret. Sebastian offers a strained, weak smile.
“I'll take a couple days off to join you,” Ruben says softly, drifting the pad of his thumb across Sebastian's skin by the corner of his mouth, a loving touch. Sebastian looks slightly relieved at that, but then his weak smile falls.
“I would rather you stay here, saving lives. You don't need to come to it. You hardly even knew my mother.” He lowers his head, Ruben lifting his hands away, and rubs at his eyes as he says this, his broad shoulders falling a bit. Ruben frowns and then reaches out to set his wine down on the dresser by the arm chair. He takes both hands and cups Sebastian's cheeks, making him meet his gaze again. Sebastian's eyes were reddened and it hurt Ruben to see him like this.
Ruben gazes at him silently for a moment, looking into his golden eyes, before speaking in a murmur, “Your heart is more important to me than any other that I could bother fixing. I'll be going with you, Sebastian. It would be cruel and wrong of me to let you go alone. I'm your husband, and... I love you. It's only natural for me to care.”
It took a pause to get it out, such words were unfamiliar on his tongue, but he knew Sebastian needed to hear it. When he's given a light smile, more genuine than the one Sebastian forced earlier, Ruben leans in to kiss him. Sebastian's hand is on his side as he kisses back lovingly. Ruben's hands are gentle on his face, delicate, loving. Sebastian was one of the very, very few things he treasured, he adored. He knew Sebastian was far from a delicate tea cup, yet he felt compelled to touch him as such. Like he is fragile enough that one careless touch from Ruben could shatter him, could yank him from his life so abruptly.
When Ruben pulls away, he gazes into Sebastian's dazzling golden eyes, searching in them as he holds his face. Sebastian begins to stand then, keeping his eyes locked on Ruben's. He takes his hands from his face, lowering them to hold them between their bodies.
“You didn't put on the music,” Sebastian says in a murmur, a faint hint of a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. Ruben nods.
“I felt it would be inappropriate to start it in the middle of a discussion,” he answers, brushing his scarred thumbs across the rough backs of Sebastian's larger hands. Sebastian eases a hand from Ruben's to reach up and drift a blunt fingertip down Ruben's pale cheek, his golden eyes softened with a blatant adoration that gave Ruben a warm sensation in his chest.
“Put it on, Ruby,” Sebastian says, a sliver of teeth appearing as the twitch of a smile extends to a teasing smirk. Ruben levels him with an unamused look and slips his other hand from Sebastian's. Sebastian grins cheekily at him and before Ruben could slip away, Sebastian brings his hand around to hold the back of his head, fingers resting over the combed back platinum locks as he leans in to press a kiss to his forehead. Ruben looks embarrassed, uncomfortably so, when Sebastian pulls back.
Huffing, Ruben mutters with a blush, “Idiot.” Then he turns and approaches the gramophone. Like always, the correct record is set on it, waiting to be played. With a graceful movement, Ruben sets the needle on the record and then soft notes fill the room, melting the tension immediately from both men. It was a melancholic melody they both know well. In Sebastian's case, it's only because Ruben adored the piece so much and tended to play it on the piano.
“Come,” Ruben says, turning back to him and lifting a hand, beckoning him closer with two short curls of his fingers. With a slight smile, Sebastian steps up and like the smoothness of a current, their hands link together and Ruben is setting his hand on Sebastian's shoulder, with Sebastian's curling securely around Ruben's slender waist.
The song always starts slow, so for a moment they don't move, only linger in the feeling of their linked hands. Ruben keeps his eyes down for the moment, secretly enjoying the firm weight of Sebastian's hand over his side, slightly pulling him closer. Ruben usually is insistent when it came to keeping the right stance, but as the notes begin to pick up, melting into a flowing gentle song, he feels less inclined to keep it that way. He moves closer to Sebastian and finally meets his golden eyes, seeing a deep expression of possessive love in them. Smiling thinly, more of a faint smirk than anything really, Ruben slides his hand further in over Sebastian's shoulder and in return he's given a stroke of a calloused thumb over the back of his hand.
The notes of the song soon beckon for movement, so then Ruben begins to fall into the steps, controlled and graceful, and Sebastian follows easily.
The first dozen times they've done this, years ago, Sebastian was as clumsy and as graceful as a newborn foal. But with practice, Sebastian learned to melt into the song as easily as Ruben did. Ruben never grew tired of how effortlessly Sebastian guided him, as if he was the one that taught Ruben in the first place. The light smile never left Sebastian's lips, but the intense look of possessiveness softened to that of adoration, his eyes now partially lidded and relaxed.
Ruben doesn't look away. As the song continues and their bodies flow gently and smoothly with the melody, Ruben glides his hand further in and rests it over the side of his husband's neck, feeling the thrumming of his pulse. A more noticeable smile drifts across his scarred lips, his cold blue eyes lighting up with delight. He was happy to know that something as simple as this still managed to make Sebastian's heart race.
No words are spoken, which Ruben appreciates. Sometimes Sebastian knew when to not say something sarcastic and unneeded. Sebastian brings his hand back from Ruben's side to take the hand that rested on his neck. He pins it to his own chest, holding it tight with his hand. Ruben smiles faintly at him and arches a brow subtly. Sebastian squeezes his scarred hand and then brings it up to his mouth to give it a soft kiss. The movement of their feet slow to a stop and Ruben finds himself fascinated with the way Sebastian delicately kissed each of his fingertips.
Ruben's smile grows slightly, enough to show a sliver of teeth when Sebastian kisses the band around his ring finger. Sebastian was such an affectionate sap, but Ruben definitely wouldn't complain.
“Lost interest in dancing?” Ruben murmurs in that low voice of his, his light eyes bright with amusement. Sebastian smirks at him and then lets go of Ruben's hands to slide his own around Ruben's slender waist, his broad hands gliding over the sleek fabric of his waistcoat, curling around to tug him closer. Laughing softly, Ruben sets his hands on Sebastian's shoulders, fingers resting over the sides of his neck.
“Maybe,” Sebastian remarks, looking at him with blatant mischief and tenderness, a nice mixture that showed in his golden eyes. Then he leans in to kiss him on the mouth, his hands slipping down Ruben's back to grope firmly at his ass as he does. A surprised laugh slips from Ruben at the grab, muffled into the kiss. But he doesn't pull away. He curls his arms around Sebastian's neck, embracing him more intimately as he begins to kiss back with slow, loving purses of his lips.
The song ends, but shortly starts up again on the gramophone. A soft melody that fills the master bedroom, the delicate notes curling around them in its own kind of embrace as they continue to share a long kiss.