Domestic Bliss
By the turn of the Empire's second decade, Darth Sidious accepts that his Apprentice will use half the bed for his datapads. He knows that part of it is due to the rigorous curriculum that he has set for his Darth Vader. The rest is because of the various reports that Vader must peruse as Supreme Commander of Imperial Forces. Recently, the reports had triple over the Rebellion and their mysterious pilot that destroyed the Death Star. Sidious did entertain the notion of cutting back the Sith texts, but he can't go soft on his Apprentice. He's already broken enough rules for his Vader already.
Anakin's scowl makes the wrinkles around his eyes remind Palpatine that Anakin is no longer his dear boy. He's a man entering middle age at a leisurely pace.
His fingers comb through those dark blond locks; they find more strands of silver that weren't there a year ago. Strangely, imagining the silver reaching his Apprentice's temples stirs a heat inside him. His own aging didn't leave him with lust, rather the resignation that he inherited Cosinga's premature gray.
"Oh, you're wearing the thick robes tonight," Anakin comments, while his golden eyes rover over him. Even after fifteen years of being romantically involved, Sidious cannot comprehend Vader's peculiar adoration over his ruined face. His true face has made more than one child of a palace attendant flee, but Anakin never hesitates with laying gentle kisses on the disfigured furrows when he could. His Apprentice is as loyal as he is sickeningly sentimental. Yet, Sidious is secretly grateful for Anakin's fierce devotion.
"Anakin, you find all my robes to be thick."
"You wear five layers," he snorts.
"It's no more than three."
"Sheev, it takes me forever to get all those clothes off you!" The man's face sports his dear boy's pout. It tickles him to know that Anakin will always be himself when it's just them. No one else deserves to see the pleading look on his Apprentice's face.
"Think of it as an exercise in patience," Sheev repeats dryly in their song and dance.
"I have gotten better. I know that I can't put a single tear in your clothes, or else you'll make me sleep on the island for the rest of the week."
"It's your meditation retreat, Lord Vader."
"It's more yours than mine; you saw to that with your horticultural project."
"And would you have been willing to sit through all the meetings with the landscapers and botanists?"
"You could've just left it a barren rock like it was. You didn't do much with my fortress on Mustafar."
"As Lord Vader, you must have a domicile that reflects your power." He wraps a gold silver lock around his fingers. "The meditation retreat is for your pleasure."
"I like pleasure that's more immediate," Anakin replies impertinently.
He tugs lightly on the lock, earning a mewl from his younger lover. "I see you need a refresher course."
"Master, I need your firm hand to guide me."
"I can see that. Don't worry, I will always be here, Anakin."
Author's Comments- Here is the link:
Here is an image of TROS Palpatine in his robes: a href=" . "Link/a
Originally, this started off as another Kylux and Palpakin time-travel story. Then, the Sheev Discord's discussion on Palpatine's fancy robe in TROS along with my thirst for Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker flashbacks in Kenobi decided the fate of this story. This is an AU where Anakin decided to be a little smarter when fighting Obi-Wan and got to keep his hot bod, but he wasn't quick enough in his decision to join Palpatine, so Palpatine doesn't get to keep his hot face. Why? Because I also want to write some teeth-rotting fluff between melty face Palpatine and his forty-something lover-apprentice with a drop of sadomasochism. Oh, and Vader had a meditation retreat in Legends/EU, but he never used it and it was a way down from the Emperor's Villa. In my stories, I put it on an island where Palpatine has plenty of space to plan out the greenery.