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“Stop fidgeting!” Simon giggles but actually almost smudges the nail polish against Wille’s fingertips.
“Sorry, my hands are shaky,” Wille says as he tries to place his palms down on the table more steadily.
“Are you nervous?” Simon arches an eyebrow, looking away from his handiwork to meet his boyfriend’s gaze.
“No,” Wille lies, he can hear it so he only offers a deadpan gaze. “Okay, maybe a little,” he gives in with an eye roll eventually.
“Is this your first time?” Simon asks then, returning to his task of painting Wille’s nails but still listening intently.
“No,” his boyfriend replies. “Felice did it for me once.”
“And I didn’t get to see?” Simon questions with mocked offence that makes Wille chuckle.
“I took it off almost immediately,” he admits.
“Why?” A curious note is hanging onto Simon’s tone. Wille lets out a heavy sigh.
“Because back then I wasn’t allowed to…” he recalls with some nostalgia in his tone. But it’s not a longing kind of one. It sounds more like something he still dreads.
Simon stops the nail painting for a moment, putting the little brush away into the bottle so he can lay his palm comfortingly on his boyfriend’s instead.
“Well, but now you are,” he tries softly. The reminder seems to work as Wille lets out an exhale and smiles.
It seems like the world is theirs now. Which is quite far from the truth but it’s the summer and it’s like the atmosphere of freedom can somehow be felt in the air. Especially for Wille, after his official decision to abdicate.
There’s still a lot to handle about that but they’re choosing not to worry about this now. As well as about some other things like for example the fact that they can’t be sure if they’ll return to school together after the holidays. Nothing is set about Hillerska yet as well. But it’s the summer and they deserve a break. Wille is staying at his house for a while and Simon could not be happier about this. He feels that after the rollercoaster the past few months have been, some relaxing time with his boyfriend is all he needs.
They’re still learning each other, still are tentative about their next move sometimes because all that they’ve been through left them fragile. What’s important is that now they have each other and can heal together.
And what better way to express some more freedom than painting your nails? Especially if you’ve been forbidden to do so for most of your life.
Secretly, Simon has made it his mission to make Wille experience all of the stuff he couldn’t when he was crown prince. It can be little things, like what they’re doing now. He’s still actually learning just how much of the most mundane things Wille wasn’t allowed to do so it’s a process. But his boyfriend has also been mentioning getting a haircut recently and no matter how much Simon would miss his longer hair, he’ll encourage it since he knows it was never an option for Wille before. Who knows, maybe next is a tattoo?
For now, though, he focuses on coating the nails with even lines of the purple colour Wille chose.
The shade looks cute on him. It’s not too dark or too bright, just the perfect purple, similar to the colour of Simon’s favourite hoodie. But if he’s being honest, he’s sure he’d like any colour Wille would have chosen. It’s not even mostly about that, but about him letting himself try the stuff he wasn’t able to. Simon would have painted his nails the most hideous colour if it made him happy. He’d do anything to bring out the smile that’s now drawing itself on Wille’s face as he looks down on his palms.
Simon looks too, admires his handiwork and mentally pats himself on the back for the job well done. It’s not perfect, there are a few smudges here and there but he did his best. And judging by Wille’s expression, it’s more than enough.
“Thank you, I love them,” his boyfriend says when he eventually raises his gaze to Simon. They share a smile and then Wille leans in closer, clearly with the intention of pressing their lips together in a grateful kiss. But as his hand wonders to cup Simon’s cheek, he withdraws.
“Careful,” Simon warns as he escapes his touch in the fear of him running his nails. “You don’t want to ruin my hard work, do you?” He arches a challenging eyebrow at his boyfriend.
“Of course not,” Wille shakes his head but he’s still smiling. He dutifully takes his palm away though and shifts closer more carefully. Simon manages a quick smile at that before their lips touch in a sweet kiss.
Once they pull back, Wille returns to staring at his nails, carefully extending his hands in front of himself. Simon leans back against the couch from where they are crouched on the floor around the living room table and watches him. There’s such a childish kind of joy on his face, one that Simon has only begun to see there recently. One that he probably wasn’t able to feel before he broke free.
“Can I do yours?” Wille turns back to him with a question then. Simon stares back confused for a second before his boyfriend points to his palms and it clicks for him.
“Sure,” he agrees. As if he could ever say no to Wille’s shiny, pleading eyes. “Let’s wait till yours dry first though.”
“What should we do till then?” Wille questions with a playful note in his tone. And as Simon feels a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, he retorts they must be thinking about the same.
“I don’t know,” he shrugs but moves closer, till he can brush their noses against each other before kissing his boyfriend deeply.
It’s like he can feel Wille’s need to reach out and touch him, it’s radiating off of him. But dutifully, he holds back, keeping his promise not to ruin Simon’s work. Simon can't help but chuckle at that in between their kisses.
They spend some time like this, just making out without caring much about what else is happening. This is how he feels with Wille, like he can let go for just a moment, not worry about the world around them but just be and enjoy the time with his boyfriend. This probably is how love should feel like. Simon’s glad that after all of their hardships, he’s finally found it with Wille.
“Are they dry?” Wille asks after they pull apart.
“Let’s see,” Simon reaches for his palm and gently touches the nail plate with the pad of his finger. It seems fine to him. “I think they're okay,” he retorts.
“Let me do yours then?” Wille pleads and Simon extends his hand with a smile. “Just so you know, this is my first time doing someone’s nails so it may be a disaster,” he adds anxiously but Simon’s smile only softens.
“I’m sure it will be perfect,” he assures and it seems to put Wille a bit more at ease as he reaches for the purple nail polish. “Should we do the same colour?”
“Yeah, if you want,” Wille states. He bites his lip hesitantly but before Simon can inquire what’s on his mind, he continues. “Wouldn’t it be cute? If we had matching nails?” He asks shyly.
And he’s right. It would be a bit cute.
“Yeah,” Simon answers, trying not to let it show how giddy it makes him. Wille only mirrors his smile and with a steadying exhale, he gets to work.
It’s kind of funny how focused Wille gets, how meticulously he coats each nail. Honestly, Simon hasn’t seen him that focused in some of the classes. And he’s actually doing quite good of a job with the nails.
“Is this your first time getting them painted?” Wille questions when he switches to the next hand.
“No. Sara has done them for me a few times. When she started doing hers she wanted to practise, so I let her.”
“That’s nice of you,” his boyfriend pauses to flash him a smile which Simon easily returns.
It takes him a bit longer than Simon to finish but it’s not like Simon doesn’t enjoy just sitting here and watching him. It is a very enjoyable task.
“Okay,” Wille states uncertainty. “I think I’m done.”
Simon hums as he leans closer to inspect his nails more thoroughly. The first ones Wille did look a bit sloppy, probably from how his hands were shaky slightly. There’s some of the purple smudged in the corners but later on, you can definitely see progress. They’re not perfect but they were done with love and it’s all that matters to Simon.
Simon looks up at his boyfriend who’s anxiously awaiting his verdict.
“They’re perfect,” he retorts but Wille lets out a snort to such an answer.
“No, they’re not,” he shakes his head.
“They are perfect for a first time,” Simon offers a bit more honest review then. Wille sighs but only ends up smiling. “Look,” he holds his palm closer to Wille’s so they can both look at the matching colour adoring their nails. “Cute.”
“Very cute, yeah,” his boyfriend agrees. When their gazes meet again, they smile softly at each other. This, matching nails, is a new thing for both of them. Simon is glad he can share it with Wille.
“Simon!” Suddenly comes Sara’s voice from somewhere in the house. “Have you seen my purple nail polish?”
Simon looks at Wille startled and his boyfriend appears to be just the same.
“Should we lie?” He proposes in a whisper.
“Wille, our nails are literally purple.”
“Oh,” he seems to realise his mistake.
Just then, Sara appears in the living room and there’s no time for a proper strategy as the suspect itself, the purple nail polish that is, is right there on the table. Which Sara notices right away.
“Seriously?” She throws them both a deadpan gaze.
“It was Wille’s idea,” Simon shrugs and his boyfriend gasps. Maybe it’s not completely true but Wille did want to try and did not protest when Simon marched into his sister’s room in search of the nail polish. Therefore, he should take some of the blame.
Wille stays quiet, not exposing Simon on that though. He really loves his boyfriend sometimes. Or well, more like all the time.
Sara shakes her head as she snatches her nail polish from the table before offering them one more measured gaze. Her eyes settle on Wille then as she points at him with the tiny bottle still in hand.
“You’re lucky he loves you,” she states, almost threateningly. Wille swallows thickly but just then, Sara cracks a smile, glancing at them with more amusement than any sort of anger now. Then she turns on her heel and leaves the room. Simon waits just about a second before bursting out laughing.
“Shut up!” Wille whines from his side. “I was really scared for a second,” he says but soon enough, he joins in and begins to laugh too.
“Don’t worry, I’d protect you,” Simon assures as their laughter subsides a bit.
Wille arches an eyebrow, clearly not convinced by his words.
“After you’ve just thrown me under the bus light that?”
Simon rolls his eyes.
“Maybe I wanted to mess with you a bit,” he says, gravitating closer to him again.
“Mhm, good job then,” Wille retorts and Simon feels himself grinning.
“Yeah, it was a test. Whether you’d expose my scheme or not.”
“Did I pass?”
“With flying colours,” Simon’s answer makes them both smile before they dive into another kiss.
And if Simon finds himself adoring their matching, purple nails each time he takes Wille’s hand for the next few days, no one will call him out on it. Especially not Wille, since Simon has been catching him doing just the same.