Archive of Our Own

Illuga looked down at Lohen.

He had been doing that for the past two forty minutes and whenever he told himself that the whole thing was getting just a little bit weird, he'd take his eyes off his lover and then go back to watching him the very next second. He just couldn't get enough of it. The sun was streaming through the open window, the pale yellow curtains fluttering in the gentle sea breeze while the faint buzz of Dornman Port fluttered inside the room like a curious, delicate butterfly.

Lohen had returned home after handling some matters with his company early into the morning, after a whole night of patrols, after a day of running drills with the newest recruits once they reached Dornman Port from the City of Mondstadt. All in all, Lohen had a whole day of running all over the place, forgoing sleep for a nap here and there while he hurried to settle his duties as soon as possible so he could spend the next two days with Illuga in relative peace before he boarded his ship back to Nod-Krai. That left the knight so tired that he almost walked into the closed door of his quarters were not for Illuga pulling him back by his cape.

"Oh, haha, quick thinking there birdie."

And as expected, Lohen had refused to rest.

"Why would I go to sleep when you're here? And miss the chance to spar some more with you? Please."

Illuga could understand him — after all he behaved just the same when it was Lohen visiting him — but that didn't change the fact that Lohen needed to rest, otherwise the day would be hard on both of them. He thought he'd have to put his foot down, use his captain voice even if that was a double-edged sword, but Lohen surprised him.

Or well, Lohen simply accepted Illuga's hug without questioning it, and then he only sighed when Illuga threw both of them down on the bed in the corner of the room, then only staged a struggle to get away while Illuga threw his leg over Lohen's waist. He was fast asleep before Illuga could even speak.

And that's why Illuga was there, four hours later, still in bed with him, watching Lohen sleep.

He had tried to get up some time after the first thirty minutes, just so he could do something instead of staying in bed doing nothing — he wasn't tired, and his attempts at falling asleep with Lohen failed. Still, making a decision and acting on it were two very different things. At first he told himself just one more minute, then he thought that if he moved, he'd maybe disturb Lohen's sleep. Then he realised he had been debating over what to do for a hour already, and he told himself once again five more minutes because Lohen was nuzzling into his shoulder, lips parted around soft exhales, and he was so cute Illuga was fuzzy and warm all over.

In the end, Illuga just stood there and watched Lohen sleep.

He'd occasionally look through the window at the distant cobalt waves of the sea, or spot a bird flying by. He'd try to depict the distant words of people passing by on the streets below, and he caught the sound of knights patrolling the city, or of muskets firing out further away in the training grounds. All along, Lohen would let out tiny sounds whenever he moved, soft sighs when he made himself more comfortable against Illuga's body. The rustle of the blanket under them and of their clothes reminded Illuga of lazy morning spent together after long, exhausting nights. Although, more often than not they were naked in bed instead of fully clothed.

Eventually, Lohen started to fidget more, his fingers spread on Illuga's chest flexing before he pulled away, falling on his back, legs and arms sprawled — his right leg was still thrown over Illuga's thighs, and his right arm was bent at the elbow, his fingers curled into the pillow right beside Illuga's head. He looked so carefree like that, so relaxed and simply calm that Illuga really couldn't take his eyes off him.

He'd seen Lohen like that countless times before but the tenderness and flush of his skin never looked as ripen as when Lohen was sleeping. His lips were pink, and his right cheek was marred by red lines from Illuga's sweater. His hair was a mess, stray strands ruffled in every direction while his chest rose and fell with the rhythmic cadence of his breathing.

The later afternoon sun was warm and bright as it flooded the bedroom, its edge stopping right under Lohen's chin, leaving his face in the shadows but painting the rest of his lax body in brilliant light. Illuga exhaled softly before he turned on his side, his arm falling gently over Lohen's waist — he was warm to the touch.

In the end, Illuga thought that it was worth it.

Spending time with Lohen was spending time with him no matter what they did and he pressed a kiss to Lohen's covered shoulder. He'd miss him so very much for the following weeks, so perhaps that was why Illuga was so starved to observe and memorise every single detail of his lover. He always did it, before leaving, as if Lohen would somehow change in the time they spent apart and Illuga wouldn't be able to tell.

"You're thinking too hard," Lohen grumbled, his voice rough and dry from sleep. It made him sound in a certain way that did things to Illuga's heart — very bad things, quite the destructive things actually.

He only huffed, squeezing the side of Lohen's waist. "I wasn't thinking at all."

Lohen made a sound, something between a snort of I don't believe you and that's very funny. And then went silent for a few moments until a little, faint snore came out of him.

So Illuga looked at him some more, counted his pale eyelashes — up to fifteen, and then again because he kept getting distracted by the sun climbing up Lohen's face. The light soon brought a flush to the tops of Lohen's cheekbones, and his brow furrowed so adorably when the sunlight reached his eyes.

"Ugh," he mumbled, turning on his side, away from Illuga, as he tried to bury his face into the pillow. "Turn that off."

Illuga only laughed and followed Lohen's body, pressing against his back, his knees slotted behind Lohen's. Like that, he could press his face into the soft waves of mint hair and inhale — Lohen's hair smelled like the wind and grass, a lingering touch of the Mondstadt plains and the faintest trace of gunpowder. Illuga loved it.

"The sun? Love, that would be quite the request."

Lohen muttered something, his voice muffled by the pillow until he went back to dozing off and Illuga let him.

"But you love me," his beloved said a few minutes later, the words slurred but Illuga knew their shape and weight well enough to recognise them.

"That I do," he affirmed, kissing the back of Lohen's head. "I suppose I do love you enough to explode the sun for you."

Lohen let out a little happy sound, so tender and faint it could have been one of Aedon's trills. And then he wiggled a little bit more into Illuga's embrace, his arm coming up to rest over Illuga's on his waist.

"Wait," he whispered, the word ending in a long, jaw popping yawn. "Don't explode it. Just pull the curtains."

He hummed, tilting his face to nose along the line of Lohen's neck. "But I'd have to get up for that."

With a whine, Lohen went silent and still for almost a whole minute before he huffed and turned on his back once more, then he huffed again when the sunlight hit him in the face — brow furrowed, nose scrunching, lips pouting. Then he turned one last time and pushed his face straight into Illuga's chest.

"Then protect me from the big, evil sun."

Laughing, Illuga gathered him into his arms, keeping him close. Their legs intertwined and Lohen shoved his arm under Illuga's body to hug his waist.

"I will, my beloved princess. Have faith that I will keep you safe from the wicked ball of light up in the sky!"

Lohen fell back asleep while giggling against his chest, the sound of it dying out slowly and Illuga held him for what felt like twenty more minutes before Lohen started waking up again.

In the end, it took Lohen ten more minutes to blink his eyes fully open and to keep them so for more than a few moments, for his voice to slowly flesh out and for his body to regain its strength, his limbs their coordination. Illuga held him and cooed at him through it all.

"I didn't mean to—"

Despite having slept for so long, there was still a trace of cool mint and sweet berries left inside Lohen's mouth when Illuga kissed him.

"But you needed it, and I had the time of my life simply being here with you, even while asleep."

Lohen's sigh was shaky against his mouth but the kiss he pulled Illuga into was deep and sure.

"What a freak," Lohen said, his voice light and his eyes half moons as he smiled when Illuga punched him in the shoulder. "Well, can't be helped now I suppose."

Rolling on his back again, Lohen raised his arms above his head in a stretch, his legs trembling as they hovered a little bit over the mattress. His shirt rode up his stomach and his hair was a mess.

"It's alright." He leaned down to kiss Lohen once more, his palm pressing against the soft and warm skin right above the waistband of Lohen's pants. "We'll catch up."

And Lohen laughed, curling his legs up, his arms going around Illuga's body to pull him on top of him properly, to kiss him long and sweet, full of love, until Illuga felt his dick responding to it. As if knowing what he'd say, Lohen stopped, his hands cupping Illuga cheeks to press a kiss on the tip of his nose.

"Dinner first?"

"Yes."

Still, Illuga leaned in for another kiss — slow and chaste.

The late afternoon sun was falling on his back, and the salty sea breeze was making the pale yellow curtains flutter while the buzzing of the port picked up as Lohen woke up.

Vulnerability, a concept that Illuga had refused to dwell upon for most of his life. For him, such a thing meant loss and despair and pain he never wished to experience again —yet he did, over and over again. It made him think of being unprepared and powerless, at the whim of Fate; if you dared to show a spot of weakness, then your life — or worse, others' lives — would be in danger.

"That's not how it works," Lohen muttered, his face pressed against Illuga's naked stomach. "Look at you now, you're vulnerable because you deserve it. To relax enough to just exist."

It took Illuga quite a long time to agree with those words.

"It can be a good thing, yes," Flins said while kneading Illuga's flesh with clever fingers, his weight barely there on top of Illuga's ass. "It shows that you trust us, and it can offer you a way to let go, to allow us to take care of you when you need it,"

He still didn't like the concept itself although he enjoyed those moments Lohen and Flins were talking about.

"Hm, I think Young Master is most vulnerable when he sleeps."

"Oh, right right. He closes his eyes and it's like he's a different person! Very cute, no sight of that strong, bad squad captain around!"

"You paint a very similar picture too, little bunny, did you know?"

"Shut up."

Eventually, Illuga's views on such matters changed. How could they not, when it wasn't only him the one who had to show such fragile sides of himself?

Between visits from Nod-Krai to Mondstadt and Mondstadt to Nod-Krai, days and nights spent in the same three houses or together, out in the wild, Illuga started to forget just how much he had struggled before. Still, there were moments when the differences seemed to slap him across the face, a contrast between then then and now that left him breathless — grateful for what he had at the present.

One such occasion was one time when he returned to Cliffwatch Camp after a streak of three consecutive days of paperwork that left even the old man huffing and cursing, his fingers itching for a glass and the company of someone else than his son or countless sheets of paper. So Illuga left Nikita to his own devices and made his way up north, to where both Flins and Lohen had ran off after trying their very best to help him. They managed to survive a whole hour before both of them looked at Illuga as if they were two innocent, feeble puppies whom Illuga had kicked down to the ground mercilessly. So he sent them to the camp, after some heavy negotiations — masochists the both of them, crying when faced with a report but also unwilling to leave him.

At least his work was done and he could spend some time with the two of them.

"Thank Solovei you're back," Egle yelled at him from across the camp as soon as she spotted Illuga.

Some of his squad members started laughing and Illuga could only sigh. "That bad?"

Egle shrugged, a grin on her lips while Vlaicu walked up to the two of them.

"Not really, captain, but well…both Flins and Sir Lohen are quite the characters, when together."

"When unsupervised you mean," Egle chuckled and Illuga could only sigh again.

"Where are they?"

Vlaicu tilted his head towards her and Egle snorted. "In your tent, captain."

Oh heavens.

"They were out the whole night," Vlaicu explained, bless him, "and came back early in the morning. It was actually only Sir Lohen who showed up though."

Those very simple words managed to put a stop to everything that Illuga was in an instant.

Sensing his panic, Egle reached out to grab him by the shoulder, her touch light. "He came back whistling, covered in grime with his polearm swung over his shoulders the way those lads herding sheep and goats walk around, you know?" Illuga didn't understand why that'd matter. "And right there, at the tip of the weapon, was a very familiar lantern swinging from side to side."

"Oh."

Not many knew of Flins' true nature, but Illuga's squad was made up of smart people. All of them were also very dear to him, and by extension to Flins so the man let some things slip, here and there, while relaxing around them. They knew, just as he used to, that Flins was not human and that was enough for them.

Although he had a hunch that Vlaicu knew what and perhaps who exactly Flins was.

"Alright. I get it now."

Egle squeezed his shoulder with a smile. "Better go check up on them, captain. You never know, they might need a wake up call, or something."

He decided to ignore the way his cheeks flushed as he swatted her hand away. "Don't you have stuff to do?"

"Actually, not really," Vlaidu responded in her stead and Egle cackled. "But! There's nothing requiring your immediate attention captain, and we'll just be going through some drills now, you know…on the other side of the camp."

Illuga left the two of them without saying another word.

He did not know what to expect when he entered the tent that served as his quarters whenever he was at the camp.

Illuga stood there frozen in place while Aedon emerged from his lantern, cooing quietly as he circled the place once before he landed on what seemed to be Lohen's bent knee. His lover was sprawled on Illuga's bedroll, two of his own woollen blankets tangled around his legs and waist, the pillow so off-kilter that Lohen's head was only resting on a corner of it.

What made Illuga stop wasn't that, no. He's seen Lohen asleep so many times before in all sorts of positions — compromising or not. What made him cover his mouth with his hand was the object resting halfway on top of Lohen's naked chest, cradled carefully even in sleep by Lohen's arm.

Flins' flame was burning steadily, the shadows and lights inside his lantern casting flickering patterns over the walls of the tent. Illuga was achingly familiar with that lantern and with the way its light looked depending on circumstances and Flins' own moods. He had seen him like that only once, the first time they came back from visiting Mondstadt — and Lohen. The journey had been long, but nothing too troublesome, yet Flins had been unable to rest for reasons he kept to himself, but Illuga could guess.

Back then, Illuga had stopped at the lighthouse to spend one additional night with Flins. He had to bully his lover to actually retreat into his lantern to rest, and Illuga spent that night simply watching the fire inside the lantern flicker around until he too fell asleep at some point.

That was exactly what he was seeing again.

Flins' light was mild and gentle, soft even as the flames undulated lazily, the movement itself something subconscious. He must have been burning warm with how close Lohen was cuddling him.

After a few careful breaths, Aedon's head tilted to the side as he watched Illuga, he started undressing himself.

The jacket, the boots, the sweater, the undershirt and the pants, even the earring. The air inside the tent wasn't that warm, but Lohen had an increased resistance to coldness so him sleeping shirtless like that wasn't too surprising.

Illuga realised that Lohen's cryo vision had nothing to do with his state when he lowered himself on the very cramped bedroll and the warmth coming from Flins assaulted him. It felt gentle, beckoning for him to join them and Illuga almost did just that.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep either way, not after making the whole trip to the camp and so late into the morning. And, well, who could blame him for wishing to admire the sight before his eyes for a little bit longer?

So he rested his chin in his hand, elbow on the bedroll, and watched his lovers as they slept.

Aedon, bless him, decided not to comment on the situation. He hopped off Lohen's knee, landing as gracefully as a snowflake on Lohen's stomach from where he hopped a little bit closer to the lantern. There, he ruffled his feathers once before he sat down, tucking his beak under a wing.

The sight of his three most beloved companions sleeping so peacefully made something deep inside of him twist. It reminded him of when he was washing his clothes and he had to wring them off water. It hurt, in a way he couldn't tell if it was good or not.

He decided for good either way.

"Mine," he whispered, his free hand falling softly on top of the blankets pilled over Lohen's stomach.

All three of them, for as long as Illuga could possibly have them all.

"Mhm."

With a yawn so big his jaw popped, Lohen mumbled something, his head turning to the side. He struggled a little bit to free his other arm from under a blanket, then managed to wrap that too around Flins without disturbing Aedon and the sting behind Illuga's eyes was almost unbearable.

He refused to close his eyes, or blink for longer than necessarily though. He wouldn't dare miss any detail of what was happening.

As if sensing that Lohen was holding him even tighter than before, Flins' fire danced merrily in a burst of flames Illuga could only describe as an embodiment of happiness and content. The heat coming off from the lantern spread out, mellow and delightful and Lohen sighed, mumbling something that could have been toasty, or not.

They settled down after that and Illuga huffed.

When he slid his hand a little bit higher, his fingertips tracing the ornate bottom of the lantern, the flicker of azure inside the lamp twisted and turned in a hypnotising way, so Illuga dared to rest his hand in between Lohen's on top of Flins.

Like that, the lantern was almost hidden from view, its warmth seeping straight into Illuga's palm.

He wondered idly as he looked at Lohen's face — there was drool at the corner of his mouth — how neither of them had woken up yet. Was it the camp that offered them the security, or his tent? Did they actually notice him walking inside, and simply decided via some telepathic communication to go back to sleep?

Illuga didn't know, and it didn't matter much.

After some time, his arm started crampinh so he lowered his head onto the pillow, next to Lohen's.

"Sleep."

The words were so soft he could have imagined them were it not for the brush of a breath ghosting over his naked shoulder.

"Or maybe you should wake up," he whispered, daring to curl his leg around Lohen's as much as the tangled blankets allowed him.

Lohen scrunched his nose and Illuga had the sudden, inexplicable urge to pinch his cheeks.

"No, no no. Sleep birdie."

And then he went on some more, mumbling things about nests and long nights and warm fire before he was out cold again.

Illuga hid his laugh in Lohen's hair, his nose buried in those strands that smelled like ice and the elements while the heat under his palm pulsed once before it settled. Still, the sensation of it seemed to lick along Illuga's palm, soft and inviting and he sighed, closing his eyes.

"Alright. I'll close my eyes then."

He did not manage to fall asleep, as expected, so he noticed when Lohen moved again. Illuga opened his eyes to the sound of Aedon's little chirps while Lohen turned on his side, dislodging the poor bird from his resting place. Still, Aedon only slid down along Lohen's body, his bright form ending up in between their abdomens just like how Flins ended up pressed in between their chests.

The sight of them like that made Illuga laugh out loud.

And that woke up Lohen a little bit.

"Ugh, so mean."

As if wishing to agree with him, the lantern pulsed in waves of warmth.

"Me?" he whispered, wrapping his arm around Lohen's waist to pull him even closer. Aedon let out a warning chirp and Flins' fire flickered some more before it settled down.

Lohen sighed, long and suffering, the sound of it turning into a whine as he grabbed Illuga and hugged him close too. "Don't wanna," he whispered under Illuga's chin, his breath warm over his neck. "Five more minutes."

Usually, he'd have teased Lohen some more but the fact that Flins himself was still in his lantern made Illuga feel impossibly warm and full of feelings he couldn't really describe. So he pressed a kiss to Lohen's head.

"Five more minutes."

The happy little sound his lover let out could have rivalled one of Aedon's trills. And he had the audacity to keep calling Illuga birdie.

Of course, five minutes turned into ten and then Lohen decided to wage psychological warfare against Illuga.

"Sunshine, please."

He was a warm presence in Illuga's embrace, mellow and so needy as he kept nuzzling his neck, his fingers kneading the flesh at Illuga's waist as he kept begging for more. He was only human, after all, and the way Flins' fire kept curling against the casing of his lantern in lazy, languid waves didn't help. Hell, the constant darkness of the tent and the distant buzzing of the camp itself as the others strayed away from the tent didn't help either.

"You'll end up sleeping the day away."

Lohen whined again in the back of his throat, his lips dragging lazily along Illuga's neck. He was so sweet like that, slow and sluggish with sleep and love and Illuga was slowly getting dizzy from all of it.

"As long as you two are here," Lohen whispered, yelping the very next moment when Aedon probably pecked his stomach. "You three, you three! Let's all sleep!"

Illuga hid his laughter against the top of Lohen's hair.

He was incredibly weak, after all.

In the end it was Flins who put a stop to it all right after Lohen went still with sleep in Illuga's embrace once more. In a show of darkness and azure fire, he emerged out of his lantern, the object falling with a dull thud on the side of the bedroll while Flins' long body slipped in between theirs.

Now, the three of them had spent time together in every possible combination, but never on a Lightkeepers issued bedroll for one, not with Flins inserting himself in the minimal space in between Lohen and Illuga's bodies.

"Fuck." With a jolt, Lohen let go of Illuga to roll on his back, half of his body crushed under Flins' weight. "Ouch, uff."

As if unaware of what he was doing, Flins simply lay there, face first into the bedroll, his arms wrapped around Illuga and Lohen's waists.

"Flins, Sir," he mumbled, spitting out strands of blue hair as he tried to speak. "You're crushing us."

At least Aedon seemed like he had the instinct to fly away right before Flins transformed back — he was chirping something too akin to a cackle from across the tent.

"Oh, am I?"

With a string of words in a language the two of them were still learning, Lohen started to wiggle under Flins' body with no avail.

"You are the meanest actually," the knight huffed, going still. "Sir Lohen, dead, crushed by a greedy, heavy fae!"

"I thought my weight was rather light, kind Sir, with how you picked me up two nights ago to throw me down on this very bedroll."

For whatever reason, Lohen decided not to comment on that and Illuga found himself laughing, turning a little bit on his side, enough to throw a leg and his own arm around Flins' waist. At least he had the grace to magic some of his clothes away.

Illuga would have manhandled him off the bedroll, heavy or not, if he dared to crush them under the weight of his clothes and all those metal ornaments.

"Good morning," he said, accepting the fact that his mouth would be full of Flins' hair for the foreseeable future. "Slept well?"

Flins hummed, turning his head to give Illuga a very hairy kiss.

"Perfect."

"I'm gonna throw up blue hair balls all day today," Lohen complained and Flins turned his head the other way to silence their lover with a very long, noisy kiss. "You just made it worse!" Lohen complained when Flins pulled away and Illuga laughed again

Truth be told, he didn't mind the situation that much.

His most important people were safe and sound, rested well and in a good mood and that was all that mattered. If it took them a ridiculously long amount of time to de-tangle from the bedroll — much to Aedon's audible amusement — and if they pulled at some strands of hair and elbowed each other in certain regions, well…

It felt good, so good even that Illuga ended up being the one to delay them some more.

He simply wished they could be like that every single day.

The sound of his boots over the worn out metal under his feet echoed into the open air, a few people turning their heads his way as he walked the short distance from the elevator to his destination. Lohen greeted the Ratniki he could recognise, and simply tilted his head towards those he couldn't.

He wasn't that much of a usual sight in Piramida, but the city itself wasn't that big for rumours not to spread. After all, Illuga wasn't just a nobody to the Lightkeepers, and while most of them had been well aware of Flins' existence in Illuga's life, Lohen joining the older Ratnik wasn't something so easily predicted.

It didn't really matter anyway.

The front door of the house was unlocked, and the letter box was devoid of envelops sticking out — Flins beat him to it then.

His guess was proved right just as he closed the front door behind him and Flins walked around the corner to greet him.

"Lohen," he said, a smile on his face as he reached out for him, his bare hands cupping Lohen's face to keep him still for a lingering kiss. "Welcome home. beloved."

Those three very words almost made him choke and he pushed at Flins' chest, his face turned to the side to hide the warmth flushing over his skin. "Alright, tone down the spouse behaviour won't you?"

With a chuckle, Flins decided to tease him more instead of behaving.

"You think about me in such terms?" he asked innocently as he knelt on the floor, right there in front of Lohen, to reach out for his boots, his clever fingers already pulling at the belts. "You never said so, my love."

Honestly, this guy.

"You just came to me wearing a blue frilly apron, smelling like food, and said all that. This isn't even my home, or yours for the record."

Flins hummed as Lohen placed his hand on his shoulder to keep himself steady while he pulled his left boot off.

"It's Illuga's house, his home, and while he's here with us, I reckon this place is our home too. Am I wrong for thinking so?"

He wasn't, but Lohen didn't mention that — Flins already knew, by the way he was smiling up at him.Instead, his tucked a stray strand of hair behind Flins' ear — his long locks were tied up at the base of his neck in a bun, but some escaped it, framing his face in wispy tendrils.

"What were you cooking?" he asked as soon as Flins was done with his boots and moved on to Lohen's cape and jacket.

He let his lover be, knowing already that arguing against the treatment would be pointless.

"Soup," Flins said as he dragged Lohen's jacked down his arms. "Illuga hasn't been feeling well, some stomach bug going around due to spoilt rations. Ivar has him on a strict diet, so I made soup. And a batch of muffins, and sugar cookies and oh, Illuga had a pie in the oven when I came over, so there's that too — valberry."

They looked at each other for a long moment, Flins' smile sweet and amused, Lohen's blood boiling in his veins.

When he pushed himself up on his toes, Flins leaned down, eyes already closed for their mouths to press in a long, deep kiss. He would have happily let the other one ravish him right there and then — Flins' grip on his waist was tight and promising — but the thought of a sick Illuga kept clattering inside his mind.

"Where is he?"

Flins licked one last time into his mouth before he pulled away with a little peck on the tip of his nose. "Sleeping. Perhaps you could join him for a nap?"

Tempting.

"Only if you come too?"

Flins hummed, taking a moment to consider the offer as if both of them didn't already know that he'd accept.

"Just let me tidy up the kitchen a little, you know how Illuga dislikes to find it messy."

Oh, Lohen knew.

"I'll help."

In the end, they cleaned side by side and Flins herded him to the bathroom right after, citing something about hygiene and that they should be careful around Illuga while he's ill and all that. Lohen didn't protest, happy to have a travelling day's sweat and dust rubbed off his skin. Couldn't really complain when big hands kneaded the flesh of his ass while Flins guided his movements, their slick mouths pressed against each other while Lohen rode his thigh under the stream of warm water.

Later than he had wished, yet still fast enough for Illuga to still be asleep, Lohen ended up standing naked at the side of Illuga's bed — brand new, to accommodate the sizes of three adult men — with an equally bare Flins. It was as if, once faced with Illuga's prone form, they found themselves unable to even act as functioning human beings anymore.

Their lover was sleeping soundlessly, his face buried into the pillow he was hugging with both of his arms. The blanket was tangled around Illuga's body, one leg peeking out from under it. He was wearing a loose shirt — one of Flins' by the black colour it had — which rode up his waist, exposing his stomach and the trail of auburn hair dipping into the waistband of his sleeping pants.

"He's so…"

Lohen hummed in agreement.

They remained like that for some time before Lohen dared to look up at Flins. The suggestion that they should just go downstairs and take the couch instead of bothering Illuga died on his tongue at the sight of Flins. His face was completely naked, bleeding raw love and adoration as he looked down at Illuga's sleeping form.

Sensing his stare, he turned his head towards Lohen, his hair partially obscuring his bright eyes as the man smiled — soft, tender and just so beautiful.

"Come on, dear one."

Flins' hand in his was dry and sure, warm like a fire burning in the middle of a winter night as he guided Lohen down on the bed.

Illuga didn't even stir, his breaths faint and even.

It took them a few moments to settle down, Lohen tugging the blanket over himself slowly until he could press his body against Illuga's back. His lover reacted then, turning a little bit on his side so he could fit better in the cradle of Lohen's body and his hand shook as he slid it slowly around Illuga's waist.

On the other side, Flins scooted down on the bed enough for his legs to dangle off the edge. He seemed not to care in the slightest as he pressed his face into Illuga's chest, his head tilted just so that his nose would brush Illuga's collarbone. Being blessed with such long limbs, his hand ended up on Lohen's own hip when he slid it around Illuga. Flins squeezed, short and lingering, before he spread his fingers wide against Lohen's naked flesh.

"You always take so long," the barely there murmur of Illuga's voice made both of them go very still. "Hi."

With a light chuckle, Flins nuzzled against Illuga's chest. "Apologise, love. We didn't wish to disturb you."

"Yeah, sweetheart. Go back to sleep."

Illuga sighed, which turned into a long yawn at the end of which he wiggled a little bit in between them — not to pull away, but to settle down better. "Will."

That single word made Lohen laugh, his mouth pressed at the back of Illuga's head.

"Eloquent as always."

His lover mumbled something before he grabbed Lohen's hand and guided it lower, to press flat against the warm skin of his stomach.

"Does it still hurt?" Flins asked, barely a whisper and Illuga made a sound that was pretty much a denial.

That was good.

It only took a couple of seconds for Illuga to fall back asleep, but Lohen could tell that both him and Flins lingered in the moment, their eyes closed but their minds still present and alert. They did not talk nor move but the awareness that both of them were enjoying Illuga's mere presence in between their bodies was a living thing connecting the two of them.

Eventually, Flins started rubbing patterns into the skin of Lohen's waist, down his hip, over the swell of his ass while Lohen himself did the same thing only more careful against the warm and soft flesh of Illuga's stomach. Soon enough, the faint sound of lips against skin filled the stillness of the room and Lohen hummed into Illuga's soft hair while Flins did just the same against his chest and neck.

Illuga himself made tiny, barely there sounds as he kept sleeping on.

Something warm and soft like silk seemed to shroud Lohen's senses, his chest aching with so much love that he could swear that his ribs were bruised from it. It had taken Illuga so long to get used to this, to stop himself from waking up at every touch, every word whispered against his skin. Yet, there they were.

The two of them lavished Illuga with gentle touches, reaching out to each other around him until Lohen's own eyelids grew heavy and Flins' humming turned into a string of lulling sounds. The last thing Lohen was aware of before he fell asleep was a little laugh, breathless and so fond, a laugh that did not put a stop to Flins' singing.

Illuga's hand squeezed Lohen's on top of his stomach and the two of them fell asleep together as if that was the most natural course of events in the whole wide world.

If Flins remained awake to watch over the two of them, the vigil of a flame over his most beloved souls, well, that wasn't something new either.