Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Do you think he’s dead?” Cagalli asked, turning from her spot on the couch to fix her gaze on Aidoneus’s closed office door. Lunch had earlier been made and brought in for Aidoneus, who was working nonstop since the morning. 

“I hope not,” Aymeric replied. “But it has been three hours since I last heard a sound out of that room. I propose we go check up on him.” 

“Yeah,” Cagalli replied. “What could he be doing in there?” 

Aymeric rose from his spot on the couch and crossed the living room to stand in front of the doorway to the study room. Cagalli stood up as well. 

“Either he’s overworking himself again…” she began to comment. When Aymeric pulled the door open and peered inside, then withdrew, speechless, his face shadowed with great alarm, Cagalli trailed off, quickly hurrying to take a look for herself as well. 

Her eyes widened at the sight before her. “Or he overworked himself to the point that he passed out…” 

Aidoneus was slumped over his desk, his head sideways upon the surface, facing the doorway. His white hair was splayed across the messy pile of city planning papers that he was currently using as a very uncomfortable-looking pillow, and Cagalli could tell his breaths were dangerously shallow. 

“Oh, dear,” Aymeric said. “Come to think of it, when was the last time he drank more than three glasses of water in a day?”

“Or when was the last time he slept early?” wondered Cagalli, usually the last person to care about sleeping at a reasonable hour. 

They looked at each other, concern growing rapidly as they realized they didn’t have an answer to either question. 

Aymeric finally broke the brief silence that had settled over them. “This is not good.” 

“Yeah,” Cagalli replied, uncharacteristically serious. 

Without further ado, she crossed to the desk, slid an arm beneath the crook of Aidoneus’s neck and hooked the other arm under his back, and then rose with the esteemed sorcerer of eld in an attempted bridal carry. 

Alas. 

At five feet two inches, a height just insufficient for proper bridal carrying, the Warrior of Light fell short. 

Screw this, Cagalli thought, and shifted her hold on Aidoneus, preparing to sling him over her back in a much less graceful, though equally effective, manner. 

Yet before she could do so, Aymeric rested a hand upon her shoulder and she turned to him. 

“I’ll take him,” he said, gently reaching for their partner. Then, with no little amount of shifting, Aidoneus was transferred from the arms of his wife to those of his husband. 

“Come, let’s get him to the bedroom,” the Elezen continued, heading for the living room. Cagalli closed the office door behind them gently, although at that moment nothing short of a wild boar attack could have woken the unconscious Ancient. 

“Ow!” Aymeric exclaimed suddenly. 

Cagalli hurried to Aymeric’s side. “What is it?” 

“…I walked into the sofa.” 

“And I thought it was I whom the sofa had it out for,” Cagalli remarked idly. “Ai-ya.” 

“Shush,” Aymeric shot back, making his way carefully to the bedroom door. 

Cagalli pulled it open for him. “You look very attractive, carrying him like that,” she remarked, hoping to sear the moment in her mind. “If not for the circumstances, one might even think…” 

Aymeric’s face darkened with a blush. “He’s passed out and that’s what you think of?” he questioned incredulously. “Shouldn’t you focus on the situation at hand? Quick, pull aside the covers,” he suggested, but Cagalli was already hurrying to do so, all the while waggling her eyebrows, hoping to further fluster the Elezen. 

Aymeric lowered Aidoneus gingerly onto the mattress. “Cagalli…” he began. 

The Au Ra pulled the blanket back over Aidoneus, before returning to Aymeric’s side, cutting off the reprimand that she knew was about to hit her. “Let’s talk outside. Let him rest.” 

She cast a tender look at Aidoneus where he laid peacefully on the bed, the flipped the light switch, blanketing the room in darkness, before slipping out the door with Aymeric in tow. 

~

“It’s been so long, yet he hasn’t awoken…” he could distantly hear Cagalli fret.

“Bother him not,” came Aymeric’s emphatic reply. “Allow him the rest he so sorely needs.” 

And with that, Aidoneus drifted back into unconsciousness, his eyes fluttering shut as darkness overtook him. 

Blearily, Aidoneus opened his eyes to find his partners sitting at his bedside with matching furrows in their brows and worry clear in their expressions. He groggily blinked once, then twice, trying to grasp his bearings, before his eyebrows furrowed as it finally registered where he was and who was with him. 

“What?” he asked. “Don’t tell me Cagalli put sleeping drought in my drink and drew on my face again.” 

“I’m not that childish,” Cagalli protested, sticking out her tongue in a manner that directly contradicted her own words. 

Aymeric chuckled briefly, but his expression quickly turned back to concern. “You passed out on your desk,” he explained. 

Aidoneus immediately sat up — or at least, he attempted to — but he was immediately hit with a light wave of dizziness and closed his eyes once more, leaning back against his pillows. 

“Ahh,” he said stiffly. “I see.”  

After a moment, he opened his eyes once more and fixed his gaze upon his two partners. “So, how long has it been…?” 

“It’s been a full day and a half since,” Aymeric answered. “We thought to let you rest, and decided against disturbing you even at mealtimes.” 

“Is that why I feel so hungry?” Aidoneus questioned. 

“Probably, yeah,” Cagalli answered. “Skipping meals will do that to you.” 

Aymeric coughed. “Enough of that. Aidoneus, how are you feeling? Well enough to go to the dining table to eat a little?” 

“Abysmal, thank you for asking,” Aidoneus answered. 

Aymeric leaned forward, concern evident in his expression once more. “I think it’s best that we bring the meal to your bed, then.” 

“No, no,” Aidoneus said, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Just—”

“Here, drink some water first,”Aymeric suggested, reaching for the glass that was sitting on the nightstand. Aidoneus gratefully accepted it and downed its contents. 

“You know, even if I don’t practice basic functionality that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t,” Cagalli remarked. “Do as I don’t, not as I do.” 

Aymeric shook his head in disapproval. “You’re not a slave to your work,” he added, “and not some kind of god who can ignore your bodily needs. You’re just human. You have to take care of yourself — do it for the sake of my gray hairs, if nothing else.”

Aidoneus sighed. “Yes, yes, now cease with the mother henning. Should you grow any more gray hair, I’ll ensure that it’s Cagalli’s fault, not mine.” 

Aymeric’s lips quirked up in a smile. “I shall look forward to it.” 

~ 

They sat at their dining table an hour later, the meal that Aymeric and Cagalli had prepared spread across the wooden surface, taking up every inch available. 

“Did you cook this?” Aidoneus inquired with part awe and part apprehension. 

“Mmhm!” Cagalli nodded proudly. “I chopped garlic!” 

“Get away from me.” 

“And onions!” 

“That’s it, I’m sitting next to Aymeric.” With that, Aidoneus pushed his chair back and made to stand up, but before he could do so, Cagalli grabbed his shirtsleeve and tugged him back down. 

“Come on, the smell will keep you conscious,” she reasoned. “We don’t want you passing out again, do we?” 

Aidoneus shook his head in disappointment but made no move to get up again. 

“Try the meal,” Aymeric suggested. “We spent the last three hours on it. Perhaps you’ll enjoy it.” 

Aidoneus inclined his head, and then, without further ado, picked up his fork and speared a piece of fish, hesitantly placing it in his mouth and chewing. 

“Hmm.”

“Is it…?” Aymeric started to ask. 

“Well, tis satisfactory, I suppose,” Aidoneus finally said after finishing his bite and taking another. 

He turned his attention to the vegetable stir-fry and devoured his portion before continuing. 

“Though I cannot say I am surprised. Even I must take note of your diligence preparing this, and your hard work must be commended.” 

Aymeric beamed. Cagallli giggled. 

They ate in relative silence for a stretch of time before Aidoneus changed the subject.  “So, how did I get from the office to our room?” he questioned. 

“He bridal-carried you!” Cagalli replied, pointing at Aymeric and grinning. “Oh, you should have been awake then… you would have loved to see the sight…” After a moment, her grin turned slightly evil. “Want him to do it again?” 

“No thank you,” Aidoneus muttered darkly. 

“Actually, Cagalli tried to bridal-carry you first but was too short to properly do it, so I did so in her stead,” Aymeric answered readily, a hint of a smile playing at the corners of his lips as he looked fondly at his wife. 

Cagalli glowered. “Excuse me,” she exclaimed indignantly, smacking Aymeric lightly. “That was unnecessary information!”

Aidoneus snorted. “While I am touched by your noble attempt…” he smirked. “That sounds like what you’d call a ‘skill issue.’” 

“Hey!” 

“Or would you prefer ‘height issue’?” Aidoneus teased. 

“Well, had I known that you were feeling well enough to offend my efforts so, perhaps I needn’t have bothered,” Cagalli retorted. “Besides. I’m still at the perfect height to Limit Break your kneecaps. Or your nuts, for that matter.” 

Aymeric choked on his water.