Work Text:
A month and a Day after Workner and Edward started rooming together
The next night, it was Workner’s turn to get back before Ed. As he got ready for bed, he wondered idly if Ed would want to sleep in his bed, or Workner’s. Workner didn’t know what he preferred, to be honest. He had gotten used to Ed’s presence back in his old room, on his old bed. They’d shared well, for the most part. Elbows and knees in odd places not withstanding, Ed was a good sleeper and didn’t move much. Neither did Workner. What Workner hadn’t counted on was how it felt to have Ed’s body pressed up against his own.
By the wands, it had been a long time since Workner had felt another body on his that way. Not that it was anything to be excited about, nor had he been excited, exactly. It had just been nice to have another person close. To feel someone else’s skin.
Workner hit his head on the nearest wall. Skin? That was where his brain went? Next he’d be mooning over the softness of Ed’s hair, or the shape of his lips and eyes. Ed was his best friend; more to the point, his best, male friend. Workner hadn’t exactly been a poster boy for relationships in his past, but the few he did have were with women.
Which didn’t matter, because the obvious reason for Workner’s current problem was that he was apparently more touch-starved than he’d realized. It was the only conclusion he could come to with the available data. The only reasonable conclusion.
But what could he do about it? Workner sighed, and sat on his bed. He wasn’t the type to jump into a relationship just for the physical; in fact, he was the exact opposite type. It had never mattered much to him about his partner’s physical characteristics. He’d always been one to fall for a person’s brain before their body, anyway. He’d had a few one-night stands, but they had left him more unsettled than sated.
Going about his nighttime routine, Workner continued pondering his situation while he showered and brushed his teeth. Maybe he should cast a long-term heating spell on Ed’s blankets? But he didn’t want the other man to think it was Workner’s way of telling the man to stay away.
Or maybe he should just let it be? He usually slept with his door shut, but that felt odd. What if Ed took that to mean Workner was mad at him?
Workner sighed in frustration as he towel-dried his hair and slipped into sleepwear. He added a shirt this time, checked his room once more, then decided to leave the door open a crack and go to sleep. Open, if Ed decided he was too cold to sleep, but not too open as to be weird.
Of course, the whole situation was weird. Then don’t make it weird, Workner, and go to sleep, a voice in his head stated. It sounded a lot like the more reasonable side of his brain, and Workner decided to obey. It wasn’t like anything would get solved until Ed came home, anyway.
///
Edward’s heat spell lasted all of two hours. He had done his best to drill it during the day, but hadn’t wanted to overdo it in the confines of his room. He didn’t relish setting the bed on fire, for example. There would be no good way to explain why a high mage of his caliber set fire to his home with a simple heating spell. Workner didn’t deserve to be put out because Edward had shirked Home Spellcraft.
He’d noticed Workner’s cracked door when he came home that night, and his anxious heart had calmed a bit. Workner hadn’t done anything most people would notice, but the cracked door said volumes to him.
“I’m here if you need me. We’re good. See you tomorrow.”
Enough to be getting on with, and Edward was grateful. It was also why, after another fifteen minutes of fiddling with his blankets, Edward gave up. Gathering his own pillow and blanket this time, he stalked across the common room and pushed open Workner’s door.
It swung open soundlessly, and Edward shuffled over to the bed trying to be quiet. Warmth. Blessed, blessed warmth awaited him if he could just get under the covers without waking up the other mage…
“Ed?” Workner drawled in his sleep-laden voice. Edward paused, grimacing. What was he even doing here, again? He shivered, and remembered.
Right. He was about ten seconds away from becoming a frozen mage-cicle and Workner was sliding over in bed, lifting the covers in invitation. Edward walked forward determinedly, and before he could second-guess himself he slid under the covers. Plunking his pillow down next to Workner’s, he flipped his blanket on the top of Workner’s duvet and snuggled down into the rapidly warming space under him.
Edward heard a light chuckle before he felt Workner behind him, draping a warm arm over his waist and pulling Edward flush to the other man’s front. Edward tensed, then relaxed at the feel of Workner’s chest rising and falling behind him. Even the soft breaths on Edward’s ear became comforting as warmth suffused every part of Edward.
Edward knew they had to talk about this; they needed to be adults, and come to some sort of agreement or something that took words and more brainpower than Edward had at the moment. But that was later. For now, Edward let his mind wander and sleep claimed him faster than he thought possible.