This is written and dedicated to DolbyDigital for the February One-Shot Exchange on HPFC. The prompts I used were Regulus/James, moonlight, hourglass and the genre Romance
Rendezvous
The hourglass on the bench had come to an almost complete stand-still. Conversation had been running fluently for the past two hours or so, helped by the three open bottles of Firewhiskey beside it.
Two young men sat curled up on an old couch. The one on the right – messy hair and round glasses – was almost asleep against the other's chest. He had consumed the most Firewhiskey between them, probably drinking two of the three bottles by himself.
The other sat in silence, running his fingers through his partner's dark hair and contemplating life. They had only ceased talking a moment ago as the bespectacled man had drifted into a drunken dose. Even as the last words had drowsily left his tongue, the hourglass had remained still. It sensed the peacefulness of the pair and the enjoyment it brought them.
"I… love… you… Reg," the drunken one slurred in his sleep.
Reg froze, eyes moving from the hourglass and down to the sleeping man. "What did you say?" he asked, his heart now pumping in his chest. They had been together for only a few weeks, sneaking around to avoid the confrontation of others finding out. Firewhiskey had always been the cause of their rendezvous; their rough kisses and stripping of clothing.
Rather than answering, the drunk man rolled in Reg's lap and began snoring.
Reg sighed. This was so, so bad; but so, so good at the same time.
The man in his lap loved him. Him. Regulus Black.
Reg closed his eyes as if that would help retain the dream. That was what it had to be, didn't it? Simply a dream.
But then the sleeping man let out a loud snore, and it was all real again. Them. The pair. In love.
The hourglass had still not moved, even as the clock on the wall ticked by. Hours passed as Reg sat there and his companion slept. There was moonlight coming through the window, indicating the hour of the morning. And soon dawn with the pinkish sky and appearing clouds.
And yet, Reg had not slept a wink, and his companion had not woken.
Six o'clock hit. The cuckoo clock struck, this time startling the sleeping man. His head lifted from Reg's lap, but his eyes were bleary and it was obvious the bottles of Firewhiskey from the night before had given him a very heavy head.
"Good morning, sleepy head," Reg chuckled, his fingers returning to their spot atop his messy head.
The other man blinked, staring up at Reg. "You… did you sleep?" he asked groggily.
Reg chuckled. "It is much more pleasurable watching you sleep," he said, though his words were heavy with alcohol and exhaustion.
The man sat up, groaning from the effort it took. Brown eyes met blue. They had spent yet another whole night together, and all that had happened was the over-consumption of the drink and lingering kisses.
"You know," the man with the glasses said, speaking slowly, "I know what we do is simply fun, but…." At here, he paused.
Reg thought he knew what was coming, but did the other know that he had uttered the words in his drunken daze earlier? "You can say it," he urged softly.
"I think I love you."
"It's the Firewhiskey talking," Reg answered, and his lover shook his head.
"No. It's not. I love you." Warm lips pressed against Reg, causing his heart to flutter inside of his chest. It lingered for a while, as lips explored each other's bodies.
When finally breaking apart, it was Reg who spoke, cupping the face of the other man in the palms of his hands. "And I love you, James Potter," he said.
And lips returned to lips after that, this time knowing that this rendezvous might just be the one that would last forever.
I hope you enjoyed it, Emily!
Also, I am going to writing a story each month for somebody (anybody). I did this a few years ago, and it was fun. I have it all set out on my profile, so if you would like a story dedicated to you, please send me a list of pairings and prompts, and I will add you to my list :)