Chapter Text
Estinien could barely express his relief as the familiar stone walls surrounded him once more. Home at last.
Not long ago, a small dravanian horde had risen up south of the city and had caused no shortage of grief to merchants attempting to cross said roads. There had been no choice but to send whomever was available at the time. Having been between assignments at the time, he was the obvious candidate .
That was nearly two weeks ago. Now thoroughly exhausted by the trip and all contained within, there was truly nothing more the dragoon wished than to curl up in a warm bed and sleep until the end of times. However no matter how badly he wanted to rest his heart had other matters it wished to attend to first. For one he sorely missed his beloved.
He was however thoroughly annoyed after breaking in and slipping into Aymeric’s room to discover that the room was in fact completely empty. He had hoped to find Aymeric already sound asleep so he could simply slip into the bed with him and snuggle up behind him. As he had already spent a many cold and lonely nights while on the road, the dragoon had no desire to do the same tonight. Estinien gave a breathy sigh. Oh who was he kidding, of course the Lord Commander wouldn’t be sleeping as he should.
It was with this in mind he found himself marching up to Ser Aymeric’s office. Knowing the man he probably hadn’t even left it since he left Ishgard. To his surprise however the door was tightly shut and a single guard stood in front. He furrowed his brows, this was new.
“Pray tell, what is going on?” he gruffed marching up. The guard scrambled to attention, nearing hitting her head on the wall as she was startled from her slight daze.
“Dragoon! Ser! Uh… the Lord Commander had ordered that he is not to be disturbed unless absolutely necessary as he has much work to go through.”
From beneath his helm, Estinien rolled his eyes. Knowing Aymeric he was probably working overtime again. Chances are the paperwork didn’t even need to be looked at until the end of the week but the Lord Commander was not one to slack.
He debated simply barging on in despite the guard but was stopped by a small voice.
“Uh w-wait...” continued the guard the nervousness creeping into her voice, “Pardon my intrusion. You are Ser Estinien correct?”
He quirked an eyebrow, unsure of where this was going but gave a small nod anyways.
“S-ser Lucia asked that I might give this to you.” She pressed a small folded note into his hands. Without a second thought, he opened it. Lucia’s impeccable handwriting was scrawled out in a single line.
He smiled.
--
His feet followed a familiar path. With a leap he made it onto the balcony of the Forgotten Knight, nearly knocking over some poor soul’s potted plants in the meanwhile. Finding a solid purchase on the stone he hoisted himself up and onto the roof. With his destination locked in his line of sight, he began running. Upon almost reaching the end of the roof he pulled out his lance. With a shove he planted the tip of the spear into a groove within tiles and gracefully vaulted himself over and onto the nearby building. His fingers dug easily into the gaps between the stones.
Clinging to the edge, he peered into one of the snow stained glasses and smiled at the familiar mop of hair. Sure enough Aymeric was burning candlelight and haunched over his desk, the quill in his hand furiously scribbling back and forth stopping only occasionally to dip into the inkpot.
Counting the windows as he shifted over, Estinien nudged the last one. It lifted ever so slightly, the latch obviously had been pulled out. He breathed a silent thanks to Lucia and opened the window just enough to pull himself in and quietly closed it behind him. Gripping the sides of his helmet, he tugged it off and placed it to the side. The other pieces of his armor followed soon after. There will be no need of such tonight.
Aymeric made a noise of surprise as a pair of arms suddenly slipped around him and a cold cheek suddenly nuzzled the top of his head. He however relaxed and gave a small smile upon noticing the white strands of hair that suddenly hovered into his vision.
“Dare I ask how you managed to work your way into my office?”
“Only if you answer when was the last time you left said office,” the dragoon gruffed out with his face buried in the other’s hair. It was soft.
Aymeric gave a tired chuckle. “Touche my old friend. Touche.”
Slipping a hand down, Estinien gently cupped the other’s cheek and turned his face to towards himself. Without a moment’s hesitation he crashed their lips together and kissed desperately at the other’s lips. Aymeric’s mouth was warm and his lips soft beneath his own.
He could hear Aymeric make a startled noise before melting into said embrace. With a pull, he managed to separate Aymeric from his seat and pressed him into the wall behind his desk. He had missed the man dearly and was desperate to make up for all the lost time. Pulling his arms up to rest on his back, he slowly pushed his tongue into the other’s mouth wanting to taste him.
Aymeric did not react. Estinien frowned. This was a little out of the ordinary. Normally the Lord Commander was fairly quick to react to such. The dragoon furrowed his brows before his ears picked up on the tell tale noise of a quill scratching behind him.
Really?
Estinien kissed harder, trying to pull the Lord Commander’s attention away from the parchment. He heard the quill stop for a moment before the scribbling continued. He growled before giving a particularly hard nip to the other’s lower lip. This got a yelp.
“Estinien!” Aymeric scolded pulling back a little. Estinien opened his mouth ready to retort but words died upon his lips as the light revealed something he hadn’t noticed earlier.
“When was the last time you slept?” he mummered rubbing a finger over the dark shadows below his beloved’s eyes.
Aymeric casted his eyes away, a guilty look shadowing itself on his face. “I… I slept a little last night.”
“For how long?”
“I… uh… a couple hours or so.”
“And how long have you only been getting said ‘couple of hours’?”
No response.
The dragoon gave a long heaving sigh. “We are getting you to bed right now.”
“W-wait. I need to finish thi-”
“The paper will wait until morning,” he gruffed. “Otherwise I’ll add it as kindling to your fireplace.”
He could still see the hint of defiance shining still in Aymeric’s eyes. Any other time he would had taken the moment to press the image into his mind. He truly was lovely to look at, especially when he had that particular look in his eyes. However this was not the time nor place for this and quite frankly it was sort of annoying when said look was directed at himself.
He rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around Aymeric’s waist. Without giving the other a chance to collect himself, he hoisted him up and over his shoulder.
“Put me down!”
Estinien ignored him. “You are far too tired. Bedtime.”
“I’m not done yet!” Aymeric struggled back all while still managing a solid grip on his quill. Estinien could hear the desperate ink scratches behind him. Rolling his eyes yet again, he gently kicked back one of his legs and smiled when he heard the yelp and the clatter of the quill onto the ground.
“Yes you are,” he smirked as Aymeric gripped unhappily to his shirt. “Now I would be quiet if I were you least you want the entire congregation to see you like this.”
He could feel the gaze burning holes through the back of his head but continued on anyways. He unlocked the door and strolled out making a small tsking noise upon seeing that the guard had indeed fallen asleep. While normally this would be considered unacceptable, he counted it as a small blessing since he was in no mood to be questioned.
No other soul was present at this hour in the Holy See and other than the occasional struggle and insistence that ‘I am fine and can easily walk on my own put me down immediately’ from over his shoulder the walk to Aymeric’s room remained uneventful.
He of course refused to put down the Lord Commander until they had reached the bedroom. With a tired yawn, he tossed him onto the bed. He could see in the way that the other’s eyes flashed that his beloved was no where near happy with him at that moment but he truly could care less. Estinien gave a small smirk before flopping down on the bed with him. Pulling Aymeric close, the dragoon could see the anger struggling to stay afloat in the sea of exhaustion. He laughed and pulled the covers over them both.
“You can be angry at me in the morning.” He gave a small peck to the other’s lips. He was warm and his eyelids were heavy. Just as he was drifting off, he felt a pair of arms also wrap themselves around his waist.
He smiled.
‘I’ve missed you too.’