#langlex

The dread that clarity brought in refused to settle down.

'Maybe because it's Alexander', Langley thought as he glanced at the man sleeping like a stone beside him. The Supreme Commander of Clavaria in the flesh right before him, literally. His imposing figure somehow remained intimidating, even without the uniform.

A hazy memory resurfaces from the inky depths of drowsiness. Langley couldn't help but grimace at the second-hand embarrassment. He'd never drank before, at least not like last night. But really, the most the alcohol did was fill his head with a warm, pleasant buzz and lower his inhibitions a little to act on desires that were already there. Drunkenness wasn't like how the romance books depicted it to be. He wished it was, so he wouldn't have to confront the truth that for the most part, he was in full control of his actions. He was in full control of the words that left his mouth.

'So,' Langley thought, flushing a little, 'What then, does that say about Alexander? What does it say about him when he was being--'

A murmur from a low, gravelly voice broke him out of his train of thought. Alexander had turned his head to face him. "Qui… vets..?"

Langley feigned confidence. If he was going to be mortified about this, he'll be damned if he wasn't going to bring Alexander with him, "I thought I ordered you to call me Langley instead." He said, a direct allusion to a specific memory.

Alexander turned his head away from Langley, but he could see a flush creeping from his cheeks to his neck. Langley felt smug. 'Hah, got em.'

It took a while before Alexander spoke again, "We slept together."

The urge to reply sarcastically was tempting. Instead he opted for a simple, "Yeah, we did."

A pause settles between them, the silence amplifying the tension to an unbearable degree.

Alexander glanced at Langley, narrowing his eyes, "We shouldn't have." He sat up and stared at his hands, blanket cascading off his chest to reveal his sculpted physique, "I... shouldn't have."

It was hard to get a proper read on what Alexander was really feeling. The room was dimly lit by moonlight flitering through the windows. Alexander wasn't making it easy either. His eyebrows were furrowed but his lips weren't scowling. A bonafide unreadable expression. The mark of a diplomat, through and through.

Langley frowned for the both of them. "Do you regret it?" He craned his head to look Alexander in the eye, "If you could redo and unfeel everything, would you?"

Alexander faced him head on. His brow more furrowed and lips thinned into a fine line, "What's your objective here? What is it you stand to gain from this?"

"I'm not looking to gain anything." It was Langley's turn to avert his gaze, "All I'm saying is, I still meant all the things I'd said. I thought you were-- still think you are attractive. I... wanted to see you disheveled, stripping off that military uniform. That the faces you were making looked so good with your undone hair." The word-choice was deliberate, despite not being verbatim. He's trying not to focus too much on the specifics. Even just by going off the blurred imagery of hazy memories was enough to get his blood rushing below the blankets again.

"I wanted you." Langley pressed harder. He sat up so that now he's eye to eye with Alexander. "I wanted. still want to make a mess out of you." The quick glance to his lips doesn't go unnoticed, and Langley feels an inexplicable warmth pool at his chest.

Alexander looks down and mutters, "You've already made a mess of things." If Langley couldn't see his lips, he wouldn't be able to know. It was barely audible.

He chose to point out another thing entirely, "You never answered my question."

Alexander inhaled sharply and sighed. "It'll be sunrise soon. Won't your associates be looking for you?"

"They'll be fine. I'm honestly still spent." Langley said as he'd returned to laying on his back. "Yours?"

Alexander glanced at the door, "They know not to enter my office until I've already went out for the day. Admittedly, I—" He paused, the look of someone realizing what they're about to say on his face. "I feel like I need more rest."

Langley gestured lazily, "Well... It's your bed, so..."

It was silence again for a while. Langley looked at Alexander intently from the soft pillows. He was right beside him and yet his eyes looked like he was miles away, deliberating every move. The moonlight casted on his troubled face made him look almost ethereal. The same moonlight that illuminated him as he tried to get him on his side. Langley's still not buying his crazy ideals, but damn. Alexander is gorgeous. Like a marble statue, in all ways. He honestly still doesn't know how he managed to get in his bed.

"I..." Alexander paused and looked at Langley's lips. Langley gave him a look of silent understanding. Alexander's throat bobbed as he seemingly swallowed down his hesitance "May I?"