Title: Let's Stay In Bed (Variation 01)
Author: Lucifer Rosemaunt

Summary: Short ficlet variations on a theme: the bedroom/bed. Mornings are usually rough.
Fandom: Phantom of the Opera
Pairing(s): Erik/Raoul
Warning(s): domestic!AU, modern!AU
Word Count: 424
Rating: K+

o.o.o.o

Erik has rarely ever appreciated sleep as much as Raoul does. He does not like the hours that pass without him creating or composing or doing some activity, basically living. Every day is filled with dedicated hours to his piano, to his canvas, and to his gallery. He has already missed so much because of his face that what little he can cling to is that much more important.

There is something to be said, however, about mornings when both he and Raoul can choose to stay in bed for as long as they want. They are the times that he has the foresight to close all the curtains in their bedroom, turn off both their alarms, and silence their phones the night before. Their schedules rarely align, and Erik can admit that it is mostly his fault that he works on weekends.

Still, he finds himself resenting specifically weekday mornings for its rush, for the stress, for pulling Raoul away from him for such long hours, but mostly, he resents mornings during the work week for depriving him of this: Raoul curled up against him, his hair a mess of tangles that Erik sometimes has to blow from his own face.

He even does not mind how their blankets have this tendency to end up at the foot of the bed. Raoul always gets hot in the middle of the night, but instead of choosing to move out of his embrace, he will kick the blankets off of them both. Erik relishes in such warmth shared freely. Raoul's slow and steady breaths keep him at least partly convinced he himself is still dreaming because no one should be able to trust him so wholly. No one should want to share his bed, and yet someone does. Raoul does.

Most of all, Erik resents the weekdays because he cannot take his time to wake the younger man with an unhurried exploration of hands and lips upon exposed skin. He cannot watch as Raoul, the person who absolutely hates mornings and is vocal and morose about waking until he has at least two cups of coffee, crinkles his brow and has this moment where his sleep-addled brain has to decide how to react to being woken. He is deprived of watching as Raoul chooses time and again to give him a slow smile. With his eyes still closed, he will stretch and somehow press his body even closer to him, pull him close to kiss his jaw before whispering in his ear.

"Good morning, love."

o.o.o.o

End ficlet

A/N: Don't forget to R/R (Read and Review)!
Fic Review: Honestly, I don't think Raoul's a morning person. I do, however, believe that once he's awake, he's awake and it doesn't matter the hour, Raoul will be Raoul (to perhaps an annoying degree XD).