By Morning's Light
From the moment they set foot into Velanik's small, chilly inn, Asbel could tell that Richard was ill at ease. In one light, he could understand why the inn was not overwhelmingly inviting. It was only slightly warmer than the streets outside and it was poorly lit. Nevertheless, Asbel always found it easy to look past the shortcomings since shelter was shelter to him.
Richard's mindset was undoubtedly different, as it was far from meeting the standards of royalty. The king moved to unfasten his traveling cloak once they stepped inside, but stopped once he realized that walking farther inside did not make it any warmer.
Asbel greeted the innkeeper cheerfully and the woman addressed him by name. Richard only half listened to their light conversation as he scanned the room apprehensively, as though he expected something to jump out from one of the dark corners. Once Asbel had a room key and they started up the stairs, Richard leaned closer to him to quietly ask a question.
"Is this the only inn in the town?" he questioned surreptitiously.
"Of course, this place is half the size of Lhant," he said lightly, "if not a quarter."
Richard nodded slowly and looked over his shoulder, back toward the counter. "Was that a roach crawling up the wall?"
Asbel also looked over his shoulder to see the scurrying creature scuttling up the wall. The innkeeper was blissfully unaware of the crawling visitor on the wall behind her and simply waved at them. Both men awkwardly waved back as Richard hastened his pace up the stairs.
"Well, they don't have a whole lot of faculty for cleaning…" Asbel said sympathetically. "And they probably can't afford things like pest repellant."
"Fendel is supposed to be taking better care of the cities beyond the capital," Richard said disapprovingly, his voice becoming more serious.
"They're trying, but the valkines still isn't normal after…" Asbel began, but then stopped. "You know, it's always been so inconsistent. They have to install better lines from the capital before they can really get enough eleth to this place."
"It should not be too much longer then," Richard said, without delaying too long in lieu of Asbel's careless comment. "This experience will be worth mentioning at the meeting."
Asbel fumbled with the key as he unlocked the door to the room. Richard's additional guards were not far behind them, carrying a trunk of the king's belongings and a small satchel of Asbel's. The room was lacking a desk and void of any furniture save a dresser and a bed.
"How…quaint," Richard remarked.
"It'll do…or were you planning on doing paperwork?" Asbel asked, glancing around for a chair that was not there.
"I always have paperwork, unfortunately," he said. "Though I assume that you do as well?"
"Ah…well…it's funny that you mention that…" Asbel trailed off, looking toward his bag guiltily.
"Perhaps we should both try to get some work done before you retire to your quarters."
"I suppose so," Asbel agreed, deciding not to mention that he had hoped that the trip escorting Richard would be the perfect excuse for delaying the census.
Richard hung his traveling cloak up on the hook by the door, but stepped back suddenly. Asbel looked over to see what was wrong in time to see a cousin of the first roach they encountered scurrying down the wall. Attempting heroism, Asbel jumped forward to try stomping on it, but failed spectacularly and lost his balance in the process.
He landed on the floor with a thud that was strong enough to make the floorboards vibrate. The sudden vibration was enough to make the roach freeze in place momentarily, providing the perfect, albeit unplanned, chance for Richard to finish the creature off.
"That almost looked like it was planned," Richard remarked.
"Something like that…" Asbel said with an awkward smile.
"I'm sure you could convince Sophie of it, if she had witnessed it," he said jokingly.
"Only because the captain has trained her to believe bizarre stories," Asbel said half joking, half resigned.
After dealing with the remains of the visitor, Asbel started to unpack the mess of office supplies that lurked at the bottom of his bag. Asbel kept his disorganized stack of papers at one side of the bed while Richard had his neat folders, scrolls, and fastened portfolios in orderly stacks on his own side. Asbel propped pillows against the wall to fashion the makeshift work area into something a bit more comfortable.
"This would have to be the most…casual place that I have sifted through the country's budget," Richard said, pausing to choose the most eloquent word to describe the room's inadequacies.
"Whatever works, right?"
Richard used a thick book to support the papers he had to write on and advised Asbel to take a book from his trunk when the lord tried to write against the footboard of the bed. They may not have been the ideal office conditions, but they managed to work for a while, occasionally commenting political matters or Asbel's lack of proficiency with large figures in math.
"It really is freezing in here," Richard said as he dipped his quill into the ink well that was balanced on the thin windowsill.
On a tired whim, Asbel moved closer to king, so that they sat side by side. The lord turned the blanket around so that it went around both of their shoulders. Richard did not object and looked a bit amused at his friend's solution to the cold.
"Better?" Asbel asked.
"Notably more comfortable," Richard chuckled, "perhaps it is a good thing that this room lacks a proper desk."
Asbel smiled and returned to the paperwork, inwardly agreeing wholeheartedly.
"Is this any neater than your regular desk?" Richard asked jokingly.
"Of course…" Asbel trailed off as he looked down at the tediously slanted stack of papers. "Of course it's…different."
"So not necessarily any more organized."
"Not necessarily," he admitted, smiling when Richard laughed.
The evening went on in that fashion. The candles were starting to burn low, but they still shed enough light to read by. Even though the paperwork was tedious and time consuming, it felt so much more bearable when he was not alone at his desk for the hours it demanded.
Asbel looked over when he heard the sound of Richard's quill falling against the paper. Richard's eyes were closed and his head lulled against Asbel's shoulder. He glanced down at the paper his sleeping friend had been working on, somehow unsurprised that Richard's handwriting remained impeccably neat up until the moment he nodded off.
He reached over and pulled the quill out of Richard's loose grip and set it aside. He tried to finish the census paperwork from Lhant, but as the king's head rested on his right shoulder, it was nearly impossible to write without disturbing him.
Deciding that there was no point in still trying to work, he started to move his arm slowly and carefully. He adjusted gingerly, trying not to wake Richard up as he wrapped his arm around the king's shoulders. Richard only stirred slightly but did not seem to wake up as Asbel kept a watchful eye on his expression. Despite Fendel's nearly perpetual cold, he felt pleasantly warm.
Look, I got them in a hotel again and there was still no smut…
Ahem!
RichAss Week Day Two! The prompt was comfort and snuggling is a prerequisite for comfort.
RichAss week is in full swing and open to everyone! Please consider joining in! :3
The prompts are…
05/23, Day 1: Devotion
05/24, Day 2: Comfort
05/25, Day 3: Longing
05/26, Day 4: Confession
05/27, Day 5: Fear
05/28, Day 6: Redemption
05/29, Day 7: Past/Future
05/30, Extra Day: Anything!
Join in our madness! 8D
And many thanks to Lenienna / Nienyan for proofreading for me! *w* She was also kind enough to proofread my first contribution to RichAss Week as well as this one.