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Alex enjoyed sleeping with Henry - sleeping with as in sharing his bed, fighting for the covers, waking up to his bedhead and kisses - for three main reasons.
The first one was because he adored how His Royal Highness would blink up at him sleepily each morning and smile, actions he did on instinct before his brain caught up with his body and made him try to play it cool, much to Alex’s amusement.
The second was because of how Henry would press his nose into Alex’s throat, nuzzling him in such an adorably human way that Alex would laugh incredulously each time (also maybe because it tickled, a little).
The third and biggest reason was the lengths Henry would go to to get Alex to “help him fall asleep”, as he called it. Usually it involved many distractions, but sometimes it really was just Alex scratching his back until he felt him finally relax under his touch. And while it could be annoying, being yanked out of sleep to be of service, there was something so delicious about a literal prince needing his help with something so mundane.
(They hadn’t talked about why he couldn’t sleep yet - Alex reckoned they would have to one day.)
Henry was melting under his touch that night. Alex hadn’t allowed him to toss and turn for too long before he’d dutifully reached out, fingertips sliding skillfully over the skin, following each bump and curve, up and down, back and forth, and Henry was shivering maybe because he was being a little too light on the hand.
“Is it helping?” he mumbled, eyes closed and much too close to sleep again, hence the light touch, but Henry only grunting in response made him instantly perk up. It had only been a moment and Henry never fell asleep that quickly.
He had his eyes wide open when Alex opened his, looking anything but relaxed. “What?”
“You’re asking me?” Alex blinked once, twice. “Are you okay?”
“Of course.”
“All right.”
“Why do you ask?”
“I just-” Had Alex imagined it? “Nothing.”
“Well, keep going then.”
Rolling his eyes, Alex resumed his petting, feeling Henry tense up under his hand before relaxing, only this time he seemed to tense up again almost immediately. It made Alex want to snatch his hand away, give into indignation or confusion since it would be so easy to get upset over it had he been in the mood, but all he did was sit up and force Henry to look at him.
“It’s nothing,” Henry said, sitting up as well, both of their bodies radiating heat in the already too hot room. “It’s stupid.”
“Well, it can’t be both.”
“Funny.”
“You know you can talk to me, right?” He wondered if it had anything to do with how Henry would lay awake half the night sometimes, staring at the ceiling until Alex pulled him close. “If something’s bothering you.”
“I know.” Henry’s face softened. It was ridiculous how soft he could be sometimes when he looked at him. “I promise you it’s nothing serious.”
“But it’s something.”
“It’s embarrassing?”
“Oh? Now I really gotta hear it.”
“Can it wait until tomorrow?” The sun had set hours ago and Henry had flown in from a brief visit back home only the day prior. He was tired. They both were.
“Fine.” Alex leaned closer and pressed his lips to his temple, smiling when Henry hummed happily. “But if you act weird again I’ll stop petting you.”
“I won’t act weird, I promise.” For some reason he was avoiding Alex’s gaze.
Alex tried to be more aware of how he was touching him when he resumed, what part of his back that made Henry tense up, what spot made his breath hitch. He pretended he didn’t notice it when it started again, realizing how hard Henry seemed to be trying to stop it, and that was when it hit him.
“Oh my god, your back is ticklish.” It wasn’t the first time Alex had discovered a sensitive spot, but it surprised him that Henry still seemed to be able to keep certain tickle spots from him, even after all this time. He was nearly offended.
“It’s not,” Henry said weakly, but when Alex purposefully poked his lower back he let out a sound so delicious that Alex did it again just to hear it.
“That doesn’t sound like a non-ticklish back to me,” he said with a grin and Henry groaned, all too aware of how Alex never let things like these go.
“You’re worse than me,” Henry reminded him in vain, for Alex might be worse but Henry was never able to turn the tables once Alex got him.
“Mmm, at least I’m not pretending otherwise.” That wasn’t true. Henry had to tickle him to pieces three separate times before Alex even admitted to being ticklish.
Henry tried to flip over to shield his back, which would be kind of stupid since his belly and ribs were death spots, but Alex enjoyed the prospect of a new spot more and was on top of him within seconds, knees locking around his hips as he started laughing when Henry swore.
“Get off,” he growled, but the giggle that escaped simultaneously made his words sound very unthreatening. “Alex, I promise you I will get revenge.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Alex poked his back again, this time aiming for just below his shoulder blade. “Hmm, it seems only certain spots are ticklish. Let’s figure out which ones, shall we?”
“Oh my god, please, do-hon’t! Alex, I swear to-”
“Shoulders? Really, Henry?”
“Shut up!”
“Lift your arms a bit for me, darling.”
“You’re so fucking annoying- stop.”
“Back ribs, huh? How about the back of your hips? Let me try that lower back again while I’m down there.”
You’d think this would keep Henry from asking for back tickles in the future, but it didn’t. All it did was make their nights gigglier and Henry fall asleep quicker due to exhaustion.