Work Text:
A month after Edward and Workner move in together again, officially
It only took a month before Workner found Ed in his bed. Again.
A late night of grading papers had kept Workner in his office past his usual hours. It was well past midnight before he dragged himself to the door of the suite, through it, and into his own bedroom. Ed’s door had been closed, and the white-haired man assumed the other mage was already asleep.
Workner discovered his error halfway through stripping off his trousers. He had already lost his shirt, and was thus caught in his underwear when a voice rose from the darkness.
“About time you got back,” the voice said. Ed’s voice, to be exact. Workner almost jumped out of his skin, he was so startled. “By the Magia Vander, Ed! Warn a man! What are you even doing here?!” Workner demanded.
Workner heard a sigh, then a rustle of sheets as Ed lit a candle. The two men squinted at each other. Sure enough, Ed was in Workner’s bed. Under the sheets, for once; but it was chilly at night. Workner still wasn’t sure why Ed was in his bed at all, though.
“Come on in first, Workner. It’s cold,” Ed said uncharacteristically. Workner looked around for his sleep clothes when he felt something soft hit the back of his head. Ed had chucked Workner’s sleep pants at him. Exhausted and not really interested in parsing the why of Ed’s presence, Workner pulled on his pants and trudged over to the bed. Forgoing a shirt, he climbed under the sheets and lay down facing Ed on his pillow.
“Care to explain now?” He asked. Ed shuffled a little, and Workner noticed the other man was wearing a robe on top of his own sleep clothes, as well as thick socks. Workner noted the way Ed had hiked the sheets up to his chin, and a second blanket he hadn’t noticed in the gloom. Suddenly, it clicked.
“Are you cold, Ed?” Workner teased, before pulling up the duvet over them both. Ed’s eyes narrowed to slits, but the overall effect was ruined by a pale hand pulling the duvet closer. Workner had noticed this before. Despite not liking the sun, Ed tended to run cold. Like a snake, Workner thought exasperatedly. Workner would admit the nights were growing colder, but nothing warranting the veritable snow-gear Ed took to wearing around the suite in these fall months.
Workner had made a comment in passing, and the other mage had glared. Workner knew Ed hated showing weakness of any kind, so he just filed the incident under “Weird Quirks About Ed”. But here Ed was, in Workner’s bed, practically vibrating while trying not to shiver. Workner suppressed a laugh, then turned and put his glasses on the side table before blowing out the candle.
In the dark, he could feel Ed’s tense body near his own. There was no way either of them were going to be able to sleep like this. Weighing his options, Workner came up with a solution. “Just, come here, Ed,” Workner said softly. When his words were met with no movement, Workner reached out his arm under the blankets. His fingers found the soft, thick fabric of Ed’s robe. Tracing his way up the sleeve, Workner took hold of Ed’s shoulder and wrapped his own arm over the other man’s back.
Using an awkward shuffle, Workner both pulled Ed closer and his own body towards Ed’s until they were touching. He could feel Ed’s hot breath on his cheek, and he could just make out Ed’s eyes in the dark. Wide, and staring. “If we share body heat, you’ll get warmer faster, yeah? I’m too tired for a heat spell, Ed. You’ll just have to suffer with the old fashioned way.”
Ed didn’t respond at first, then rolled to turn his back to Workner. Just as Workner was about to fall asleep, he felt Ed scoot backwards until his soft robe was pressed against Workner’s chest. Workner smiled, and looped an arm around Ed’s waist.
“Night, Ed,” he murmured. He counted the rise and fall of Ed’s breaths, as they both drifted off into sleep.
///
Why Edward had never bothered to master basic house spells always baffled his co-workers. It didn’t usually bother him, though. He’d never admit it, but he liked doing simple things around the house for himself. It was a waste of magic, and showed a laziness of character to be using magic for every little thing.
He also doubted a simple heat spell would ever be as effective as sharing a space with Workner. Sometime in the night, Edward had gotten warm enough to shuck off his robe and one layer of shirt, though he didn’t remember doing it. All he knew was that when he awoke, he was down to his short-sleeved sleep shirt and had his face plastered to Workner’s bare chest. To his dawning horror, he realized he was curled up around the other man, right leg over Workner’s left, basically clinging to the white-haired mage.
His only solace was that Workner himself appeared totally unaware and dead to the world. Somehow, Workner had ended up on his back with his right arm trapped under Edward’s torso. Edward barely resisted cursing out loud at the situation.
The moment he got out of this predicament, he was going to drill the basic heat spell for an hour before his first lecture. This was an unpardonable trespass into Workner’s personal space, and he shouldn’t have been in Workner’s bed in the first place.
Edward was busy plotting his escape when a yawn ruffled the top of his head. “Morning, Ed,” Workner slurred a bit. Edward froze in trepidation, waiting for an awkward shuffle or some sort of reprimand. Instead, he felt a hand on the top of his head as Workner freed his arm from beneath Edward’s neck.
“Did you sleep ok? Feeling better?” Workner asked softly, absently patting Edward’s hair before letting the arm fall back on the bed. Edward looked up at Workner from his place on the man’s chest, and found bright gold eyes looking down at him. Workner’s usual soft grin was in full effect, even this early after waking up. Edward felt heat begin to rise in his cheeks at the sight, which was absurd. He had nothing to be embarrassed about! It wasn’t like he’d groped the man; he’d merely been in search of warmth. A natural response.
Deliberately, Edward rolled off the other man and sat up. The chill of the air was unpleasant on his bare skin, but it would have to burn like acid before he admitted it. Workner blinked at the sudden movement, but didn’t comment.
“Breakfast?” Edward asked, almost challenging Workner to comment on the situation. Workner merely nodded, his smile growing on his face. “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll meet you in the common room,” Workner agreed. Edward collected his shirt and robe, before exiting the bed and the room. Heading to his own freezing cold room, he used a light spell to give him enough to see by as he got dressed. He’d shower later.
Right now, he was determined to treat this morning just like any other morning. There was no reason for anything else.