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A soft thump would spill out as the ever so overworked, ever so tired prince flopped onto the comfy bed, his form sinking into the mattress slightly. It had been an especially long day for Takumi – lots of battle plans, lots of war tactics, and especially a lot of training, the latter being as far away from people as possible.
Which, gods, this was almost near impossible thanks to the two retainers who were most likely outside his room right now. Always following him and checking up on him, like he was two! Not that he didn’t appreciate it – it just sometimes felt like overkill.
Fortunately, unless they had a reason, the drowsy prince was now graced with being all alone in the bedroom, just him and the fluffy bed. A sigh leaves his lips. Finally, comfort, peace, and quiet.
….not that he expected a good night’s sleep. Even on a luxurious bed like this, Takumi’s thoughts would always race long into the night, and his mornings often started in a cold sweat thanks to the awful dreams that would come to torment him.
At least the bed felt nice, though. And he would use the time to take that in, face pressed against the mattress and hands outstretched. After a few minutes, he would lazily roll over, head facing up towards the ceiling…
"Making yourself comfortable, sir?"
…and find someone staring back at down at him, a sly grin on their face.
Immediately, he felt color rushing towards his face. "Yes, I…am?" He would sit upright, keeping a firm stare on the intruder. "Why are you in my room though, Hinata? Did something happen..?"
The prince could very easily count the numbers of times it wasn’t due to an emergency, but the confirmation would nonetheless bring ease to him, a heavy sigh escaping upon hearing it was nothing life threatening.
What did strike Takumi as odd, however, was how unusually loud and even more impulsively driven Hinata’s words were. A simple, "Then why are you here?" would be returned with a loud, "Because I should check on you!" then a sudden, "It’s uh, part of the job, sir?"
"You’ve done your job then." the prince would state, sprawling out on the bed once more. "I’m doing fine, so there’s no need to linger here. It’s ‘part of the job’ to patrol around my room too, isn’t it?"
"Yes, sir…" there’s slight disappointment in his voice as Hinata sluggishly heads to exit the room, stopping himself a the doorway. His head hung low, almost as if he was deep in thought–
"Sir, can i least prepare you for bed?"
Takumi would see Hinata, still facing away from him, pale in color around the hands as his retainer would clutch them shakily. He was so stunned to see such a nervous Hinata that he forgot to speak, only snapping out of the trance when his retainer would follow with a rushed "Nevermind I’m going to leave now-"
Carefully, the prince would hop out of bed, cupping his hands around Hinata’s, trying to catch a look at his retainer’s face. "I…would like that, actually." He would mumble, gently leading Hinata towards his bed, and once there, wait expectantly for assistance.
Hinata, who wore an expression that read, 'I sure didn’t expect him to say yes,’ would quickly pull the covers off, leading a hand towards the bed and addressing the prince to lay down. Once he’d done so, Hinata would pull the covers back over Takumi with a bit more care, ensuring that his master was comfortably underneath the warm blankets.
Once again, however, the prince would find his retainer acting a bit sluggish. Putting the covers over him was such a simple task! Why was his retainer so slow about pulling the sheets towards his neck? Why was he still holding the blankets, anyway?
The fact that he was unusually close to Takumi’s face was also, well, warmer than he would of liked it – the longer his retainer stared, the more he could feel the heat in his cheeks, awkwardly glancing to the side. "A..Aren’t you finished?" He’d mumble.
And then, suddenly, he felt something press against his forehead, something warm and gentle, something that brought his face a few shades redder. He’d glance upwards as Hinata would remain there, breaking away after moments that felt far longer.
"Now I’m finished." Despite his shaking hands, and steamed face, Hinata still pulls off a smile, wide and grinning and absolutely ecstatic. Had he not expected himself to pull the action off?
Even after Hinata leaves, the prince still finds himself holding a hand to where his retainer had given his affections, as well. Surely, this was simply him exchanging a good night, right? It was only on the forehead, after all.
Whatever the case, the next morning turns out surprisingly well – whether it was the action, or pure luck, he’d find that he had slept extra well that night, feeling unusually more chipper than he had felt for a long time.
The action still couldn’t leave his mind, however. Perhaps, in due time…
….he should return the favor to him.