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“Hey, Alhaitham?” Candace calls out to him, and he turns to her with a hum. “Just to let you know, there’s only one room available. We don’t get many visitors, so we don’t have a lot of accommodations.”
Alhaitham raises an eyebrow. “So?”
“So, you’ll have to be sharing with Cyno. My house only has two rooms, one of which Dehya and I will use. The remaining room, you’ll have to share.”
Ah, the matter of sharing a room with someone who just tried to kill him. Not to mention that that someone is his ex. “That shouldn’t be a problem,” he tells Candace. Candace looks unconvinced, but doesn’t push it.
“Well, I trust the two of you won’t make it a problem?”
“I can’t speak for Cyno, but I will be fine.”
Candace shrugs and leaves, and Alhaitham walks over to the only other room in the house.
Alhaitham, turns out, is not fine.
There is only one bed. How convenient. He has no problems with sharing a room with Cyno, but sharing a bed ? At least in separate beds, Alhaitham could pretend he’s not sleeping in the same room as his ex-boyfriend. Cyno looks resigned to his fate the moment Alhaitham enters the room.
“I could take the floor. Or just sleep on the couch,” Alhaitham offers, but Cyno shakes his head and moves to leave.
“Never mind. I’ll sleep outside. I have to keep an eye out anyway.”
“Dehya’s on watch duty tonight. You should just sleep on the bed.”
“Candace is going to assume there’s a problem, you know. At least she knows I’m a stickler for safety. It’s fine.”
“No. Take the bed.”
“No, you take the bed, Alhaitham.”
Alhaitham takes a deep breath. This could go on forever, and he’s tired. He doesn’t want to argue over such a small thing. They’ve shared a bed before, had sex, for god’s sake, they could share again. Just for a while.
After a moment of silence, he finally says, “Let’s just share the bed.”
“What?” Cyno looks at him like he’s grown a second head. “Why?”
“It’s in our best interest to be well rested and not get back pain,” Alhaitham deadpans, trying to look as unaffected as possible. “And it’s not as if it’d be our first time.”
If Alhaitham was a better man, he wouldn’t relish in the blush blooming on Cyno’s cheeks at his words. Alas, he is a terrible man, so he lets himself enjoy the sliver of vulnerability. Cyno turns away from him.
“Fine,” he mutters, and pushes past Alhaitham to leave. Alhaitham doesn’t chase him.
Come night, Cyno enters the room again while Alhaitham is already in bed. He looks one part annoyed, one part nervous, avoiding Alhaitham’s eye contact altogether. Alhaitham watches as Cyno takes off his regalia and puts on something more comfortable, watches the way Cyno’s back flexes when he slips on a loose shirt Alhaitham belatedly recognises to be his .
“That’s mine,” Alhaitham observes aloud, and Cyno’s head whips to turn to him. He smiles. “It still looks good on you.”
The comment sets Cyno’s face ablaze, if the deep flush on his face was anything to go by. He walks to the bed and all but throws himself on it and faces away from Alhaitham, burying his face into his pillow. Cute.
“I can’t believe you kept it,” Alhaitham says, toying with the hem of the shirt. Cyno really hasn’t grown an inch since their time in the Akademiya.
“Of course I did,” Cyno mumbles into the pillow. “You told me to keep it.”
Alhaitham smiles. He did do that. He thinks of the trinkets Cyno left in his possession during their time together and no longer feels guilty for not getting rid of them.
“Hey,” Alhaitham nudges Cyno’s back. He gets an unenthusiastic what? in response. “Do you ever think about giving us a second chance?”
Silence.
“Do you ?” Comes Cyno’s reply.
“I do,” Alhaitham admits, because there is no point in lying, not to Cyno. “All the time.”
There is a noise that sounds suspiciously like a laugh coming from Cyno. “I do, too. Not all the time, but I think about you every time I wear this shirt. And I wear it… a lot.”
“It’s clear neither of us have moved on.”
Cyno hums.
“So, what do you say we try again?” Alhaitham asks, wishfulness seeping into his voice. He dares not breathe, scared he might miss any form of response Cyno gives him. After a minute, Cyno turns around to face him.
“No,” Cyno whispers, and Alhaitham’s racing heart almost stops, but Cyno’s next words give him some hope. “Not right now, anyway.”
Alhaitham swallows the lump in his throat. “‘Not right now’ means you might be willing in the future, Cyno. Is that what you’re saying?”
Cyno reaches out for his hand, and his touch is burning. “Yes. Everything is hectic right now. Maybe when it’s all over.”
Alhaitham slips his fingers between Cyno’s to intertwine their hands together, and squeezes. “Okay. I’ll hold you to that.”
“No promises, Alhaitham,” Cyno says firmly, but he squeezes Alhaitham’s hand back regardless. “Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yes. Good night, Cyno.”