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Some nights Locus woke up in cold sweats in humidity that didn't suit his hair, and he woke up with a body too hot for the weather pressed against him like it was desperate for warmth.
Other nights he woke up just because. Just because sometimes he needed to wake up and stand outside on the balcony of the room he occupied. Just because sometimes he needed to get out and breathe in cool air and try not to suffocate under the ever present heat of Chorus’ bi-split ecosystem.
But mostly he woke up at night because Felix snored, and he snored loud.
Locus was watching the sun rise with a cigarette in hand, sitting in an uncomfortable chair outside the provided room in his and Felix's base of operations. He was listening to his partner snore from inside, with the occasional smack of his lips and garbled words that didn't make sense. Even in his sleep Felix couldn't find the value of silence.
It wasn't that Locus didn't like sleeping with Felix. Felix was soft and sinewy to lean against in bed, and he made the sweetest noises during sex, and Felix could match him hand for hand whatever he did.
But Felix was also too hot to touch in this weather, and he was often a selfish lover, and Felix never shut up.
"Left me all alone in there, hunh?" Locus didn't flinch as Felix came up behind him, hands sliding over his shoulders and one wrapping around his neck. Locus knew he shouldn't be surprised by how stealthy Felix could be, despite how he chose not to. It often left him with false security that he would always see Felix coming. That would be the end of him one day.
But it was not this day. Felix seemed content to play with his life, rather than end it. Locus had a feeling that most days would end up like this one; their game had a habit of never being over. And what was a partnership, other than a game?
"You were fine," Locus grunted. He set the dying butt of his cigarette out in the ashtray beside him as he leaned his head back, blowing cigarette smoke into Felix's face.
Felix circled him and occupied his lap. He slid over him like a snake and coiled around him, refusing him an exit. Locus grunted, sticky heat already rising as the sun came up.
"This is pathetic and romantic, you know that?"
"Hm?"
"Waking me up just so you can watch the sunrise with me?"
"Not everything is about you."
"I'm shocked and appalled by this development," Felix mused, draping himself across Locus and raising a hand to him dramatically, as if he expected Locus to kiss it in apology. He probably didn't expect Locus to actually do it.
That was the driving force behind his actions. Doing everything Felix wanted, but everything he didn't expect him to do. Locus held Felix's wrist and kissed the knuckle where a ring would have been.
Felix didn't react or move, but Locus felt him shiver and he caught a look of bemused excitement in his amber eyes. Felix’s hand curled in his grip and Locus kissed again, this time higher up the knuckle.
Felix shifted again and Locus couldn't help but grunt. Felix was by no means a large man, the opposite in fact, but he had sharp elbows and narrow hips that always seemed to jab him in the exact spot that would get a reaction at that point and time. Locus refused to believe it was ever an accident.
Locus entertained the thought of watching the sunrise with Felix as romantic, as he had called it. He tried pretty hard not to listen when Felix talked; it always ruined the nicer moments they had, but that stuck with him. He exhaled through his nose, staring off at the horizon and the landscape of the jungle rocks and trees. "I suppose it is rather romantic."
Felix had been halfway to falling asleep in his lap when he spoke. The smaller man groaned and curled into him, resting his head in the crook of Locus' elbow. "Less talky, more sleepy."
"It's a miracle, you actually want to stop talking for once." Nevermind the fact that even when he was asleep Felix was never quiet.
"Shut up."
"That's what I'm trying to make happen." Locus curled his arm under Felix's neck and his knees to pull him closer; a small endearing sentiment that showed Felix that yes, he did care sometimes. Perhaps even more than sometimes.
Felix never stayed in one position for long. Felix moved and wriggled and turned while he slept. Yet another difference between them. Felix’s shifting and winding under the sheets at night was yet another aspect of sleeping with his partner that kept him awake.
Felix must have never caught onto that, because he never stopped moving.
It wasn't long before Felix was slithering into a new position in his lap, once more his sharp bones and narrow body pressing into the soft parts of Locus' form to make him cringe. He settled for kneeling in front of Locus, blocking his view of the skyline and biting his bottom lip with cheeky accomplishment. Locus frowned, brow coming together.
"You're blocking the view."
"I am the view."
"Not a very fulfilling one. Too close up. You're better to admire from a distance. Preferably out of earshot."
Felix didn't respond, instead making himself taller and placing his hands at Locus' shoulders. Even in his lap, sizing him up, Felix was small. Locus didn't mistake that for incompetence, not for a single moment.
"Pay attention to me."
Locus' lip twisted up into a half smile. "Sorry, what was that? I was enjoying the view."
"Funny." Locus grunted as Felix pressed his teeth to his jaw, biting and chewing down to his clavicle.
"A little early for you to be getting excited, isn't it?"
"You're the one who woke me up."
"You woke up on your own, I've been awake for hours." Locus sucked in a breath through his teeth and licked his lips as Felix kissed his pulse. A hand wandered up to Felix's hip, sliding over his bare skin and brushing freckles and scars that hadn't quite faded.
Locus turned his focus back to the freckles dusting over Felix's cheeks and one of the sunburns that had striped right where his visor opened, because Felix never wore sunscreen and Locus was always telling him he would regret it. "You're going to get more freckles," he said, thumbing over Felix's burn with an amused twitch of his brow.
Felix hissed as Locus touched his sunburn, shying away from his touch. "Yeah, so? Freckles are sexy." Locus would have said "cute," but only because Felix didn't have any knives close at hand.
"Mhm, whatever you say."
Felix just made a small noise that sounded full of indignation. Locus exhaled through his nose as he felt teeth at his neck again. He rolled his head back, letting Felix have him.
Felix’s bites held no promise and no intention of following through with anything concrete. They were both tired, and Felix was slowly settling back down, relaxing in Locus’ lap. Locus reached for the pack of cigarettes that had laid unattended for too long, idly tapping it on the table to tap the tobacco down.
While he lit up and turned back to the horizon, watching the sun finish rising, Felix seemed content to rest in his arms. Locus exhaled, his breath hot with smoke and his body temperature rising courtesy of his partner’s residual heat.
Locus could help but smile as he heard Felix snore, only to startle himself awake with the noise. He stubbed out his spent cigarette, forming a square with his fingers, framing his partner.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Felix huffed quietly, rubbing at his bleary eyes.
Shaking his head, Locus lowered his hands. “Enjoying the view.”