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'Ah.. I overdid it this time', is Merold's first thought as he feels the world beginning to spin around him. His ears begin ringing and he feels weak. He barely registers the feeling of someone's arms around him, first catching him, then embracing him.
He closes his eyes for a moment to stop the spinning, but he finds that it doesn't help much. Instead, he tries to focus his attention on the arms wrapped securely around him. The other person smelled faintly of roses, which he immediately recognized to be Romarriche. With this in mind, Merold feels the rest of his consciousness fade, and he goes limp in the other knight's arms.
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When he comes to, Merold finds that he was no longer outside, but instead laid upon a soft surface and surrounded by a gentle warmth. His eyes slowly flutter open, and he finds himself looking up at Romarriche. A quick glance around the room, and he finds that he'd been brought into one of the lounge areas in Lord Marron's castle.
He'd been situated on the couch, a quilt draped over him and his head resting on Romarriche's lap. The other knight had taken to working on some sewing project while waiting for Merold to wake up, which he sets aside after glancing down again and realizing that he had woken up.
"How are you feeling?" Romarriche asks, gently threading his fingers through Merold's hair.
Merold sighs softly, leaning further into the touch. "I'm alright. Is everyone safe?"
The other knight nods, a gentle smile appearing on his face. "Yes, the SEEDS are gone. Everyone in town is fine, thanks to you."
He pauses, inhaling and then breathing out a quiet sigh. "Though.. You didn't have to banish them all on your own. It's my responsibility to protect my Lord's kingdom. Your help was appreciated, but you didn't need to take on everything yourself.."
Merold pouts slightly, looking off to the side. "I know, I know.. But I'm just glad everyone is safe." He looks back at Romarriche again. "And I'm alright, so all is well, I'd say."
Romarriche sighs softly, but he makes no further argument. He continues running his fingers through Merold's hair silently for a moment longer. "Are you feeling up to eating something? I can prepare tea and I can bring out some of the cookies that I made yesterday."
Merold smiles faintly. "You know I'd never say no to eating something you've made," he answers, slowly sitting up. Romarriche stands up and offers a hand to help Merold onto his feet.
They make their way into the kitchen, and Romarriche immediately puts together a plate with cookies, setting it on the table. Then, he fills the kettle and turns the stove on.
Merold idly nibbles on a cookie while he waits, his gaze fixed on Romarriche. Before he knows it, he's completely zoning out and admiring the other knight.
Romarriche was always so elegant in everything he did, even if it was just basic menial tasks. It was almost annoying. But it was also very alluring. Merold sighs dazedly and shoves another cookie into his mouth.
"What's wrong?" Romarriche was at his side again in an instant, a gentle hand brushing some hair away from his face. Merold leans into the touch, looking up at Romarriche, who then shakes his head with a fond smile and wipes a few crumbs away from the corner of Merold's lips with his thumb.
"What's wrong, is that you weren't paying attention to me!" Merold huffs. Romarriche merely shakes his head, still smiling.
"I am now, though. The tea is almost done, too," he points out, nodding towards the kettle on the stove, that had begun to whistle. He waits a few moments before reaching for Merold's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be right back."
Romarriche moves back over to the stove, taking the kettle off and pouring the water into the two teacups on saucers he'd set out. Then he picks up the two saucers and returns to the table, setting them down carefully.
Merold knows the tea needed time to steep and cool down, but he reached for his cup anyways, wanting to hold something warm in his hands. Romarriche also noticed this, and his signature concerned frown returned to his face. "Would you like the quilt again?"
Merold nods, sighing softly. "Yeah, thanks." Romarriche nodded silently and got up, leaving the room to retrieve it. This was a reoccurring issue that happened after Merold overexerted himself and used too much of his magic; his body temperature was lower than normal for a while until he rested properly again.
Romarriche returned a few minutes later, unfolding the quilt and draping it over Merold's shoulders. However, instead of sitting back down, he leans over the back of the chair and loosely wraps his arms around Merold, resting his chin on top of his head. He feels the other knight relax in his embrace, and he smiles a little.
"How are you feeling, Merold? You can be honest with me," he says gently. Merold sighs softly, leaning his head back to look up at Romarriche. "I'm not lightheaded anymore, probably because of the snacks. But I'm still really cold."
Romarriche nods, giving the other knight a light kiss on his forehead. "I can set up a warm bath for you after this, if you'd like? Then we can rest for the night." Merold smiles a little. "That'd be nice. Will you join me?"
Romarriche's eyes widen slightly, a light flush appearing on his face. "In the bath? If you wish for that, then I suppose.."
As he trails off, Merold grins, then quickly reaches up with one hand, threading his fingers through Romarriche's hair. He abruptly pulls him down, smashing their lips together in a not-so-graceful kiss, causing Romarriche to grunt in surprise.
Merold lets go a moment later, and Romarriche pulls away with a huff, though one look at his face tells that he wasn't really upset over it, even if his hair had been messed up and he needed to tie it back again.
He returns to his own chair and the two lapse into a comfortable silence for the rest of the time it takes for them to finish their tea. Once they finish, Romarriche brings the dishes to the sink and washes them, then he exits the kitchen and makes his way to his bedchambers. Merold follows, still clutching the quilt wrapped around his body.
"Wait in here, I'll warm the water and fill the tub," Romarriche instructs, walking into the bathroom attached to the bedroom. Merold nods, sitting on the foot of the bed and pulling the quilt tighter around himself. He still felt cold, but he knew it would be better soon. Romarriche always knew how to take care of him when this sort of thing happened, it was sweet.
It wasn't long before Romarriche came back into the bedroom. "It's ready," he states, walking over to his wardrobe and grabbing a nightgown for each of them to wear when done. Merold smiles a little. "I take it you want me staying here for the night?"
Romarriche turns toward Merold again, the concerned frown once again returning. "I don't want you traveling when you should be resting. You can go back tomorrow if you have pressing matters, so please, just let me take care of you tonight."
Merold forgets any idea of teasing that he had previously, feeling a warm sensation in his chest. "Alright, if you insist."
Romarriche leads the way back into the bathroom, setting their change of clothing on the counter in a neat stack. It's only then that Merold remembers he still had the quilt, so he backtracks to put it on the bed, then goes back into the bathroom.
Romarriche had removed his shirt and binder, along with take his hair out of the ribbon, and now it spilled loosely over his shoulders. Merold stares for a moment before turning his back to the other knight to undress.
It is only then that he realizes the scent of roses in the room was too strong to just be remnants of Romarriche's perfume from that day, but after a glance at the contents of the bath, he finds that Romarriche had sprinkled rose petals in the water, and possibly also added some rose essential oil to the water as well. Ah, he really was spoiling him..
He turns away again to finish undressing, removing his three shirts and his binder; he finds it almost funny that even with several layers on, he felt like he was freezing. By the time he's done, Romarriche had already gotten into the tub, pressed against the back of it. He purposely turned his head away to give privacy, which Merold found a little funny, considering they were just going to be looking at each other's bare body in the next minute anyways, but he appreciated the gesture all the same.
He carefully lowers himself into the water in front of Romarriche, breathing out a long content sigh as the warmth enveloped him and chased away the perpetual chill in his bones.
Romarriche immediately wraps his arms around Merold and holds him close, which Merold gratefully leans into. They sit in silence for a few minutes, until Merold turns around to face Romarriche. He brings his hands up to cradle the other knight's face, and then he leans in to capture his lips in a soft kiss, which is immediately reciprocated.
The kiss doesn't last long, and when Merold pulls away, he merely switches his focus to other areas on Romarriche's face, starting with his forehead, then his cheek, then just under his jaw.. He hears Romarriche's breath hitch as he continues moving, trailing kisses down his neck and along his collarbone. He smirks against the other knight's skin as he feels a hand come up to lightly tug on his hair.
Merold moves back slightly to deliver a brief peck to Romarriche's lips again before he leans down and begins trailing slow kisses across his torso, feeling the grip from the hand in his hair tightening ever so slightly.
He can hear the other knight's labored breathing, and so Merold looks up, finding a completely flustered Romarriche. Even like this, disheveled as he was, he was beautiful.
Romarriche was always beautiful, and he voices this thought, a soft murmur against his skin as he leans back down once more to continue trailing kisses along the expanse of the other knight's chest wherever he could reach.
"Merold," Romarriche mutters in a gentle protest after some time, using his other arm to lightly push the other knight away. "The water will get cold.. We should wash up now."
Merold sits up, looking just as dazed as Romarriche, but he nods in agreement, reaching for the shampoo bottle and handing it to Romarriche, then turning around again so the other knight could wash his hair for him.
Romarriche gently massages the shampoo into his hair, his nails lightly scratching along Merold's scalp, and he feels himself suddenly overcome with the urge to weep at how gentle he was being, but he reins it in; the last thing he wanted was to make Romarriche concerned over something as silly as that.
Romarriche washes his own hair, but he allows Merold to wash his back for him, which he reciprocates in return. Then, they assist each other with rinsing away all soap residue.
Merold steals a brief glance at Romarriche while they both dry off and get dressed, and he finds himself fixated with his hair again. It was a well known fact that Romarriche took great pride in his appearance. His hair was long, so he wondered how much of a hassle it was to have a haircare routine.
Before he really can stop and think about this new thought process he'd had, Merold finds himself blurting out a question. "Can I dry your hair for you?" Romarriche looks mildly surprised. "Are you sure? I really don't mind doing it myself.."
Merold had merely shaken his head. "You've done so much for me today.. Let me at least do this for you." Romarriche immediately caves in, and that's how they find themselves in their current situation; Merold sitting on the edge of Romarriche's bed, and Romarriche sitting on a spare pillow on the floor in front of him.
He had only done this a handful of times, but Merold finds that the routine is rather soothing. He manages to make it through most of it; having fully dried his hair and had begun working on detangling it with a brush, when Romarriche's head gradually begins to drop forward as he struggles against his own fatigue at the late hour.
Merold snorts in amusement, lightly shaking Romarriche's shoulder. "Hey, Romarriche! You're not supposed to be falling asleep! The floor isn't comfortable!" But he receives no response.
He sighs softly, setting the hairbrush aside. He wasn't as physically strong as Romarriche, and he was unsure if he could lift him and move him onto the bed smoothly enough to not disturb his rest, so he settles with the next best option; grabbing the quilt and slowly moving to sit on another spare pillow on the floor next to him.
Carefully, Merold maneuvers Romarriche until he was lying with his head pillowed on his thighs, and then he throws the quilt over the other knight as well.
"Hey, Romarriche? I'm giving you a hard time about this in the morning, y'know," Merold grumbles, though he's observing Romarriche's face with nothing but pure adoration.
It must have been nice to be the one taken care of for once instead of being the caretaker, Merold muses to himself, gaze still lingering on the slumbering knight in his lap for a little longer. He really, truly didn't mind doing something like this for Romarriche on occasion, he just did not want to learn how to sew or bake, because it would be dreadful if Romarriche did not make him things anymore.. Merold shakes his head.
It isn't long before he feels his own fatigue catching up with him, so he leans his head back against the mattress and closes his eyes. He figured that enduring a sore neck in the morning would be worth it, if only just this once.. Romarriche would likely scold him for not waking him so they could sleep on the bed, but that would be future Merold's problem to deal with.
The last thing he hears before dozing off, is the light sound of the other knight's breathing.