Vex folded his arms behind his head, leaning back as the early morning sunshine filtered softly in from one of the windows. He wasn’t used to being woken up with the light but Ciel had insisted they leave at least one set of velvet curtains drawn back.

Vex was pretty sure Ciel had a slight fear of the dark as the other demon’s mercury eyes had widened with panic when Vex had initially flicked out the lights, plunging them into a blackness that Vex’s vision was acutely enhanced for.

Vex pulled out his phone, seeing that it was only six a.m. He frowned a moment later as he realised the strange rumbling noise he had assumed was coming from outside was in fact emanating from the single bed over in the corner. The new bed was a light pine frame which clashed horribly with the rich dark mahogany and oak of Vex’s décor.

He’s snoring. Vex realised delightedly, lifting his phone back up and switching to video mode so as to capture the incriminating material.

He quickly slipped out of bed, drawing nearer to a peacefully slumbering Ciel so as to make sure he captured the full glory of a gurgling aquatic demon who only last night had very imperiously declared that he hoped Vex didn’t snore.

“Hypocrite,” Vex chuckled as he zoomed in on Ciel’s face. Thick, silvery, aquamarine lashes fluttered like dewy cobwebs on dark cheeks. After a few moments, Ciel’s nose scrunched up as if he had encountered something foul smelling in his dreams.

“Cute,” Vex murmured before freezing, he had said that out loud and would now have to edit the video before using it to torture Ciel.

Vex began fiddling with his phone when he heard a small gasp, he looked back up to find Ciel staring at him indignantly before pulling the covers to his chin.

“What are you doing?” Ciel hissed accusingly.

“Trying to get you to stop snoring,” Vex drawled lazily in response. “It was like a freight train running out of diesel. That coupled with the ridiculous amount of sunlight streaming into my eyes due to your curtain preferences I feared I wasn’t going to get any lie in at all this morning.”

“I don’t snore,” Ciel snapped back, but his voice was still croaky with sleep and he sounded as threatening as a beached jellyfish.

“I can assure you, you absolutely do,” Vex grinned, “I have it on video.”

“You were filming me?!” Ciel sat bolt upright looking aghast. “You’re a pervert.”

“Oof,” Vex raised a single eyebrow sarcastically. “That cuts deep my little salty anchovy, but you know what they say about glass houses.”

Ciel immediately flushed a delectable purple hue before thumping over to his side with his back firmly to Vex.  

Vex grinned to himself, he could seemingly always win an argument with the other man by making some thinly veiled reference to their dream encounter. For the most part, Vex had tried not to think about the dream, after initially concluding it had been some sort of honey trap concocted by Ciel.

However, recently the idea had seemed more and more unlikely given Ciel’s obstinate personality and so now Vex found himself plagued by sudden flashes of salt washed dark skin, breathless moans against his ear and the rhythmic sound of water splashing against the cave wall in time with Vex’s passionate thrusts.

“Are you just going to stand there watching me?”

Vex blinked back into focus, Ciel had twisted his head round to glare at Vex with narrowed, accusing eyes.

“If I can’t sleep, why should you?” Vex shrugged.

“I thought the whole point of dragging me to stay in your room was for the benefit of my health,” Ciel huffed. “What time is it anyway?”

“Six fifteen,” Vex replied, glancing at his lock screen, “I’m going for a run.”

“Good,” Ciel replied, turning back round. “Feel free to make it a long one.”

Vex quickly changed into his running gear and jogged downstairs out into the open gardens. There was a slight chill that morning that had been absent for the previous months. He swished his thick tail about the air, hoping to get the blood flowing.

Vex stretched as quickly as he could before casting a quick glance up at the iron lattice windows of his quarters. There was no movement to be seen, which wasn’t surprising given that Ciel had seemed very firmly determined to stay in bed for as long as possible. Vex began to run, taking his usual route down towards the duck ponds.

By the time he arrived back in his room, dripping with sweat and mud caked up his calves Vex was rather disgruntled to find the bathroom already occupied. Sure, he could go and use the communal bathrooms that were installed in the south side of the Lethe Society wing but Vex had never had to suffer such indignity before and he wasn’t about to start now.  

After about five minutes Vex huffed impatiently, striding forwards to rap his knuckles on the oak door. “Have you drowned?” Vex snapped, feeling a slight cruel satisfaction as there was a muffled yelp of surprise from inside the bathroom along with a clatter of dropped objects.

“What do you want?” Ciel hissed back.

“Unsurprisingly, a shower,” Vex replied, rolling his eyes. “I just ran ten kilometres.”

“I’ll be out soon,” Ciel replied in a determined voice.

Vex groaned and went to shrug on one of his zip-up hoodies, he was starting to feel cold. Finally, the bathroom door swung open in a bellowed cloud of warm steam scented with something floral.

“This isn’t a spa,” Vex muttered.

“You’re the one who –“ Ciel snapped before shutting his mouth abruptly and looking a cross between embarrassed and angry. Vex frowned, glancing down to see that Ciel was cradling a number of glowing bottles in his arms.

“Wait, are those the medicated oils I got for you?” Vex’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.

“I found them in a canvas bag behind my bed,” Ciel replied defensively, “I figured they were for me given the instructions on the bottles are for dermatological issues. Was…was I wrong?”

Vex blinked as he noticed that Ciel had shrunk back slightly on his last question, as if he really meant it rather than trying to be sarcastic as his demeanour would otherwise suggest.

“No,” Vex answered quickly, “you were right – I got them for you. You said you get skin problems.”

Ciel was bundled up in a large fluffy dressing gown so Vex couldn’t see much but the angry red patches were still visible on the other man’s neck.

“They – they take a while to sink in,” Ciel cleared his throat uncomfortably, and you have to do it whilst your skin is wet, that’s why I was…that’s why –“

“It’s fine,” Vex said automatically. “I never run out of hot water, so it’s fine.”

“Oh, okay,” Ciel replied softly, looking slightly surprised.

Vex nodded awkwardly before pushing past the other man and locking himself safely in the bathroom. The entire space was steamy and misted up with the fragrance of night jasmine laced in the air along with Ciel’s natural smell.