The Merry Men Masquerade

19. Reason #8

Drained as he was, Ronan didn't stir until bright bands of sunlight streamed past the curtains he had never gotten around to closing. He woke up sticky and uncomfortably warm, reaching blindly to push away the quilt only to realize he must've already done so in his sleep. It pooled around his thighs, but the heat at his back remained.

"You're a fucking furnace," he grumbled, shoving his face into his pillow.

He jolted half-upright, dislodging the arm slung around his waist. Sure enough, behind him lay Amir, draped against the length of his body with his cheek smushed against the pillow, snoring like he had nowhere to be.

Cursing, Ronan turned onto his other forearm and muttered Amir's name, nudging gently at his shoulder. When Amir didn't even twitch, Ronan tried again, and again, until his prodding bordered on violent and he was nearly shouting. The only person capable of efficiently and humanely waking Amir seemed to be Amir himself.

So Ronan resorted to the barbaric methods he'd relied on when they were roommates. He stuck his little finger first into his mouth, then into Amir's ear.

Amir hurtled away with a haggard wheeze. He would've tumbled off the bed if Ronan didn't catch him around the waist.

"Why?" Amir warbled, deeply mournful.

"Because you should have left hours ago," said Ronan, sitting up. "And now you're- what, stuck here 'til nightfall?"

Amir rubbed his eyes and made no effort to match Ronan's concern. "Seems so," he said around a yawn. "Might as well stay until tomorrow at this point, hm? Can I loiter here while you go to work?"

"I don't have work today."

Amir replaced himself at Ronan's side, entangling their legs and muttering into Ronan's hip, "Lucky lucky."

"Vito will be livid."

"Vito can gag on my-"

"Amir," Ronan urged. "Is everything alright? You've never overslept before."

Amir peered up at him, frowning. "I didn't. You were shaking in your sleep. You looked like you'd been crying. I couldn't leave."

Ronan looked away, self-consciously wiping at the crusted remains on his cheeks.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He nodded, slowly. "Just, not right this second?"

Amir kissed his side through his shirt. "Of course. We've got the whole day."

It finally dawned on Ronan that this was the first time they had woken up together. He wished he would've taken a second to appreciate Amir's stupid sleeping face in broad daylight.

"How did you know to come?" he asked. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Amir had appeared like a dream, right when Ronan needed him.

"I...didn't. At least I don't think I did. I just needed to see you."

"Did something happen?"

Amir laughed. "Nothing happened. Just missed you. Actually, I have something for you."

He rose from the bed, kissing Ronan's cheek on the way. There was a flat, square paper bundle on the chest that Ronan hadn't noticed. He leaned forward curiously as Amir came to kneel before him on the crumpled sheets.

"You seemed so stressed the last time I saw you," Amir explained. "I don't know if- well, I wanted to cheer you up, and you like...ah," he clammed up, adorably flustered. Ronan reached for the gift. It was soft, drooping where his hands didn't support it. "You like things that are- feminine? I think? If I've read that wrong, I'm sorry, I just-"