the one where james has to bath a tipsy regulus prompt by @star4daisy
“Please stay still.” James laughed at his very tipsy lover.
Regulus had his eyes closed and swayed slowly from side to side. James attempted to steady him by holding his arms. “Love, I’m going to undress you and then get you in the shower, is that okay?”
A sweet and quiet "mhm" left Regulus' lips. He fumbled with his shirt buttons, but after a minute of struggling to undo the first one, James intervened.
“You are so smart and good with buttons,” Regulus declared. “Too good, actually. Have you done this many times?
“What, unbutton your shirt?” James gladly responded to Regulus' drunken questioning.
"Yessss," Regulus drawled, his words elongated in that unmistakable tipsy way he'd always denied once sober. James finished unbuttoning the shirt, gently sliding it off one arm at a time. He leaned in, placing a soft kiss on Regulus' chest, then started unzipping his pants.
"Wow, Potter. You should buy me dinner first," Regulus quipped, laughing at his own joke.
"I have done exactly that, and apparently, more than enough wine too," James replied with a chuckle.
Once Regulus was undressed, James gently guided him into the bathtub, the water set to the exact temperature he knew Regulus liked. Taking care of Regulus came naturally to him. Every new detail that Regulus shared, James attentively listened, making sure he will always love him correctly.
Carefully, James began washing Regulus' hair, his movements tender and delicate. He softened as he watched Regulus relax under his touch.
"You're good at this too, Jamie," Regulus murmured.
"Thank you, love," James replied, rinsing his hands and delicately wiping away the shampoo threatening to drip into Regulus' eyes. Regulus purred contentedly at the gesture.
Then, he took Regulus' favorite shower gel and began scrubbing him softly. As he worked, James pressed soft kisses all over Regulus' body, unfazed by the taste of soap on his lips. There were moments when Regulus would chuckle and tell him that his kisses tickled, prompting James to kiss him even more until the chuckles turned into full laughter, filling their bathroom.
As James turned to reach for the towel, Regulus grabbed his shirt and pulled him back.
“Baby, wha—” James started, but it was too late. He tumbled into the bathtub, fully clothed. Regulus burst into laughter and playfully splashed water to ensure James was completely soaked. James stared at him, taking in the sight of the dark, wet curls, the droplets of water on Regulus' face, the curve of his mouth, the veins in his neck, and the pink of his lips. He allowed himself to savor every detail of the moment.
Regulus' cheeks flushed under James' lustful gaze. James extended his arm and gently touched Regulus' lips, tracing them with his index finger before slowly moving his hand to hold his chin. Regulus melted under his touch, leaning into James' palm with a contented sigh.
“You’re a bit wet,” Regulus pointed out, chuckling to himself at the understatement.
James laughed with him and leaned in closer to whisper, “Now it’s time for you to shampoo my hair.”
Regulus pouted. “But I’m drunk.”
“You should’ve thought about that before pulling me to the bath with you, love.” James’ voice was tender.
“Okay, I’ll try my best.” He promised.
Regulus got closer and began undressing him. James was delighted to be touched by Regulus—he always was. His boyfriend was attentive in his own way. He didn’t quite catch the shampoo before it got into his eyes, but he was gentle when untangling James' hair.
After his drunken attempt to shower James, they stayed there, their laughter prompted simply by silly looks.
“You look quite good naked, has anyone told you that before?” Regulus teased.
“Okay, love, time for bed,” James announced as he stood up. He grabbed a towel for Regulus and wrapped him. He looked like an angel, a precious being that James had the honor of taking care of.
James dried himself up and pulled the human burrito close to him, his arms wrapped around him.
“Thank you, Jamie.” Regulus whispered into his chest.
“It was my pleasure, love.” He meant it. He always did.
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"am i dreaming?"
Arthur realizes Merlin's got a little crush.
word count: 1.3k
for my beloved, @bellamyblakru <3
thank you to @sourdough-morbread for proof reading! <3
“Merlin! Merlin, where are you?!”
Ever since Merlin realized that he was hopelessly in love with Arthur, he had been avoiding him.
Or trying to at least.
For days, Merlin had been having strange sensations in his stomach and heart whenever he was near Arthur, and he had become worried that he caught some sort of disease. That is, until he went to Gaius with his symptoms, who only laughed at him before revealing what was really going on. That was two nights ago.
Right now, Merlin was hiding in Gaius’s wardrobe. That was his first mistake.
Arthur burst through the door, looking around frantically.
“Merlin!”
“What is it, sire?” Gaius asked, trying and failing to act shocked that Arthur was here searching for Merlin.
“Where’s Merlin?” Arthur stood with his hands on his hips, trying to hide the desperation he felt.
“Oh! He’s… he’s at the… tavern, sire,” Gaius replied as he glanced at his wardrobe. If he could see through the doors, he would see Merlin cursing the day they met.
“The tavern… At this hour of the morning?”
Gaius laughed, but it came out more like a grimace.
“What do you need him for? Is there anything I can do for you?”
Arthur hesitated, searching for an excuse. The truth was that he missed Merlin. And he was hurt by the manservant ignoring him all of a sudden. “Uh, yeah... he hasn’t… polished my armour.”
“Alright, I’ll tell him to do that immediately as soon as I see him.”
With a brisk nod, Arthur left, shutting the door behind him.
“The tavern? Again!?” Merlin couldn’t help but shout as he flew out of his hiding spot.
“Oops,” Gaius replied, having the decency to look a little sheepish.
An hour later, Merlin was still trying to muster up the courage to face Arthur when he realized that he could just go polish the armour in the armory and sneak away unnoticed.
But what he didn’t know was that Arthur had had his armour placed in his room for this very reason. He was gonna put an end to Merlin’s avoidance.
Merlin entered the armory, looking around for Arthur’s chestplate and coming to a stop when it was nowhere to be seen. After asking another servant who informed him that the armour is, in fact, in Arthur’s chambers, Merlin’s face felt hot. How could he go in there after realizing his feelings? He’ll just be a blubbering mess in front of Arthur.
Filled with nerves and the overwhelming urge to jump into a hole in the ground, Merlin slowly made his way to Arthur’s chambers. After pacing for at least 5 minutes, he finally walked up to the door and knocked quietly, hoping Arthur wouldn’t hear it.
“Come in.”
Cursing silently, Merlin stepped inside while keeping his eyes down.
“Sire, Gaius said you needed your armour polished?” he asked innocently, looking around the room for it and making sure to not look at Arthur himself. Only there was a slight problem.
The armour was on the dinner table. And the king was standing right in front of it.
Arthur fixed Merlin with what can only be called a glare, his arms crossed in front of him.
“Merlin.”
The manservant audibly gulped as he looked up at Arthur only to look away immediately.
“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you since two nights ago.”
Merlin was shocked to realize that Arthur sounded… sad? He had thought he would be furious with him. He looked back up at the king before responding.
“Um, I was busy… sire.”
“At the tavern?”
Merlin's eyes widened as he blurted out, “No!” He scratched the back of his neck and looked around awkwardly before continuing, “I mean um… No, I was just helping Gwen. With… you know…”
He jumped slightly when Arthur cut in sternly, “No. I don’t know. Helping her with what, exactly?”
“Her… house? Yes, she needed some help with her house. It’s… broken.”
Arthur nodded slowly, staring at Merlin.
“Her house. Right.”
“Yep,” Merlin replied while looking a bit guilty.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Merlin finally glanced up to see Arthur looking completely dejected, his eyes downcast. Panic flared through him. What was wrong with Arthur?
Just as he was about to ask, Arthur snapped.
“Well, if you could remember your real duties and complete them on time for once, that would be great.”
Arthur turned and walked away as he said this, leaving behind a surprised and confused Merlin.
“Right, the armour…” he mumbled, completely at a loss. What was going on? Was Arthur angry at him?
After the most painfully awkward 20 minutes of his life, Merlin finally finished polishing the armour. Unsure of what to do next, he slowly approached Arthur who was sitting at his desk.
Arthur didn’t look up.
Merlin cleared his throat. Still nothing.
“Uh, sire?”
Silence.
“I‘ve polished your armour… Was there anything else?”
Arthur slammed the quill he was holding down on the desk before looking up at Merlin, startling him again.
“That’s it then? You’re just gonna leave like nothing is wrong?”
Merlin practically broke out into a sweat, confused and panicked by Arthur’s behaviour.
“What… what’s wrong, sire?”
Arthur abruptly pushed away from his desk and came around to stand directly in front of Merlin before answering, “You really don’t know?”
Merlin shook his head, his nerves in overdrive. He struggled to maintain eye contact with Arthur, his face starting to flush under the close scrutiny Arthur was giving him. The close proximity wasn’t helping either.
And at the worst possible moment, his gaze fell to Arthur’s lips.
As quick as he looked at them, he ripped his eyes back up to Arthur’s, with his face feeling like he had put it inside the fireplace.
Suddenly, Arthur’s demeanour changed completely. His face relaxed as he took a step back before his lips turned up at the corners.
“Oh. Now it all makes sense, doesn’t it, Merlin?”
Merlin felt sweat dripping down his side. What on Earth was going on?
“What?” he choked out.
“I know why you were avoiding me.” Arthur was smiling now, his eyes sparkling.
“You do?” Merlin blurted before mentally slapping himself. “I mean- I wasn’t avoiding you…”
Arthur chuckled lightly before replying, “Right. It was for the same reason that I missed you so terribly yesterday.”
Now Merlin was really confused, his brain scrambling to figure out what was happening.
Arthur took a step closer, causing Merlin to step back as his face burst into flames again. The tension in the room was becoming palpable and Merlin had no idea what to do. Arthur kept stepping closer until Merlin felt his back hit the wall behind him.
“Did you miss me?” Arthur asked.
Merlin could barely breathe, let alone speak. “Huh?”
Arthur put his hand on the wall beside Merlin’s head before continuing, “Did you miss me when you were avoiding me all day?”
Merlin was like a deer caught in headlights, his hands pressed to his sides, frantically looking back and forth between Arthur’s eyes. They were absolutely stunning from this close.
After another few seconds, Arthur spoke in a low, soothing voice, “It’s okay. You can tell me.”
With his heart ready to beat right out of his chest, all Merlin could do was nod slightly.
Arthur smiled again, moving his other hand to brush Merlin’s cheek.
“You’re so cute when you’re flustered,” he teased, admiring Merlin’s blush.
“Am I dreaming?” Merlin blabbed, his mouth completely dry. That was the only explanation for what was happening right now.
“Oh, so you dream about me?” Arthur giggled, “That’s good to know.”
“What!? No, sire- I mean Arthur, I-
Merlin couldn’t finish what he was about to say when Arthur pressed his lips against his.
After only a couple seconds, Arthur pulled back but only just. He smirked at the dazed look on Merlin’s face before asking, “Was that in your dream too?”
Merlin didn’t know it was possible to blush this hard.
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