"What are you thinking about Aelius?" Lucius asked, lightly hitting Aelius' head with a stack of papers.
"..Nothing."
Lucius stared at him before shaking his head, "There's no way that is nothing. You are sighing every now and then like an old man stressing about his daughter's marriage!"
"You don't need to put it that way Lucius."
"So," Lucius walked closer to his table, placing his palm on the desk and grinned, "What are you thinking about that is making you unable to work?"
"I am working." he snapped back, staring down at his document which he hadn't touched since an hour or two ago.
Aelius then sighed and pinched his nose bridge before looking up at his friend. Slowly, he opened his mouth,
"..."
He shut his mouth and looked down. Lucius' grin nearly fell before angrily speaking,
"Don't keep me waiting!"
"...see her.." he softly mumbled.
Lucius blinked as he was only able to hear a few words.
"What was that?"
"...want to see.."
Lucius took in a deep breath, trying his best not to punch some sense into Aelius.
"Aelius, please speak in a full sentence and louder." he calmly spoke.
Aelius nodded, staring at his fingers and said, "Why do I want to see her?"
"See who?" Lucius questioned, tilting his head to the side.
"My wife."
"Your wife?" Lucius repeated and Aelius nodded at his words.
"Don't you usually see her?" Lucius questioned.
Aelius responded back, "But I can't wait."
Lucius hummed, rocking his body back and forth on his heels as he thought about it. He snapped his fingers and spoke,
"Isn't it because you like her?"
"Like?" Aelius raised an eyebrow at his words.
"Yes, like. You must be feeling like this because you like her and want to see her." Lucius explained but Aelius shook his head.
"I don't like her." he firmly stated, twirling the pen around his fingers.
Lucius sighed and shrugged, "I guess so. You two only got married because it was political after all."
He nodded at Lucius' words. Lucius had a deep frown before shaking his head,
"Then perhaps it's because you're sick today. You're always more emotional and clingy when you're sick. Why don't you get some rest like I told you to?"
Aelius weighed Lucius words before nodding, agreeing with his words. He stood and wobbled slightly.
"Sorry.." he muttered towards Lucius who waved it off with a smile.
"No worries, I'll help you do most of what I can do for now and when you get better you can finish them."
Aelius bid him farewell and left his office, heading towards his bedroom to get some rest. He continued walking down the hallways before stopping in front of a door.
He stared at it and hesitated before finally knocking on the door. It was silent and nobody answered the door.
The realisation of what he was doing finally sank it. His already pale face turned even paler. Hurriedly, he turned his heel and was about to leave when the door suddenly opened.
"...Duke?" Valeria called out to him, confused.
Aelius froze on spot. He came here all by his own will without realising and now he didn't know what to do or say in this situation. The silence continued to drag on for a couple of seconds before he heard Valeria shuffling her feet on the carpet.
"Is there something you need?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe to her room.
Aelius finally turned to her and stood up straight, "..No there isn't...my apologies for disturbing you, duchess." he tried to bow and leave but was stopped by her grabbing the hem of his sleeve.
A small petite hand was placed on his forehead which startled him. Valeria's face was close, at elbow's length. He blinked once then twice before hearing her speak to him.
"You're burning up." she muttered.
She took a step back and removed her hand off his forehead. She glanced at her room before looking back at Aelius who kept quiet the whole time.
"Where's your room?" she asked in which Aelius responded by pointing at the door not far from hers.
She nodded and began walking over to the door he had pointed. Aelius didn't move and stared at her, not understanding her meaning.
Valeria noticed a lacking presence behind her, so she turned and raised an eyebrow. "Are you not coming?" she questioned in a flat tone.
Aelius finally moved after she questioned him and followed behind her. Reaching his room, she opens the door and turned to him,
"May I go in, duke?"
"...Yes you may.."
Valeria nodded as thanks and walked into his room, with him trailing behind her. She stopped at his bed and pointed at it.
"Sleep." was all she said before leaving the room.
He gazed at the door, flabbergasted. He turned back to his bed and obediently lied down after removing his coat, placing it at the corner of his bed. Aelius was unsure what to do next and was debating if he should get up again when the door to his room opened, revealing Valeria's figure.
She took light steps as if ensuring she wasn't disturbing him from his rest. In her hands had a basin of water and a face towel, dangling on it. She made eye contact with him.
She placed it on the nightstand beside the table, pointed at it and said, "For fever."
Aelius bemusedly nodded and stayed still on his bed. Valeria took the towel and dipped it into the water. She wringed out as much water as she could before placing it on his burning forehead.
It was cool on his forehead, very soothing. He slightly turned to look over at her but she abruptly stood up and left once more. This time however, he could somewhat guess she would come back again and he was right.
Valeria came back with a glass of warm water. She placed it beside him.
"Have you eaten?"
Aelius knew she was asking about the medicine he had gotten from Keith so he nodded. Valeria quietly stared at him before draping the blanket over his body up till his chin.
"Sleep." she ordered.
He submissively complied to her orders but still kept his eyes open, gazing at her intently. All the years they had been living together on the same roof, Valeria barely did those kinds of things for him. Suddenly receiving it made his body feel warmer but it most probably the fever acting up again.
Aelius could feel himself growing sleepier by the minute. His blue eyes slowly blinked before darkness nearly engulfed him but before it fully did, he noticed a blurry figure standing up, about to walk away.
Without thinking twice, he instinctively grabbed hold of Valeria's wrist. Thin and breakable were the two things that Aelius thought of when his fingers wrapped around it.
"...Stay.." he mumbled, half asleep.
Aelius couldn't remember what happened after that as he finally succumbed to his sleepiness but when he finally woke up, he noticed a slumped figure on his bed.
Long blonde hair was scattered across his bed as the figure silently slept. His sleepiness washed away as he took in everything. Carefully, Aelius brushed Valeria's hair away from her face, revealing a calm expression.
He took the now dry towel off his forehead and got up from his bed. Bending down, he scooped Valeria up into his arms and brought her back to her room, tucking her in. He quietly watched over her before leaving her room.
Unbeknownst to him, the gaze he had while watching over Valeria's sleeping figure was as gentle as a cotton fluff ball.
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Author's note: helped my college filmed something and if i see my face on the internet i am going to cry and hide forever 🙂👍
finally fluff guys (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ