❛  careful, or we're never getting out of this bed.  ❜

❛  you're making it very hard to leave.  ❜

❛  who said i wanted this to just be a casual one-time thing?  ❜

❛  you looked peaceful, so i didn't want to wake you just yet.  ❜

❛  don't get up yet.  ❜

❛  sorry, i didn't mean to fall asleep on you after.  ❜

❛  we should probably talk about what happened.  ❜

❛  can we not ruin this by talking yet?  ❜

❛  i could get used to waking up like this.  ❜

❛  i thought you'd be gone before i woke up.  ❜

❛  don't look at me like that unless you want a round two.  ❜

❛  you're trouble first thing in the morning.  ❜

❛  no need to act shy now, I saw more than that last night.  ❜

❛  you're blushing again.  ❜

❛  i think the neighbors may have heard us.  ❜

❛  it's only awkward if you make it awkward.  ❜

❛  i don't know what's gotten into me last night; i don't usually do this.  ❜

❛  i should probably go now ... unless you want me to stay.  ❜

❛  please don't say this was a mistake.  ❜

❛  we crossed a line last night.  ❜

❛  well, i guess this does complicate things.  ❜

❛  i don't want to pretend this didn't happen.  ❜

❛  are you sore?  ❜

❛  i think my shirt is still somewhere in the hallway.  ❜

❛  how did your clothes end up over there?  ❜

❛  i remember you were very eager to get them off.  ❜

❛  i think i have some scratches on my back.  ❜

❛  i got worried when i woke up, and you weren't there anymore.  ❜

❛  i don't want this to be just one night.  ❜

❛  please tell me you don't regret it.  ❜

❛  last night meant something to me.  ❜

❛  this changes everything, doesn't it?  ❜

❛  were you trying to leave without saying goodbye?  ❜

❛  like you even remember what happened last night ...  ❜

❛  you might want to cover that before anyone sees.  ❜

❛  i didn't hear you complaining last night.  ❜

❛  i liked seeing that side of you.  ❜

❛  you took care of me last night. let me return the favor.  ❜

❛  i think i'm in trouble because i want this again.  ❜

❛  i wanted you last night, and i still want you today.  ❜

𝚝𝚑𝚎  𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐  𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚗’𝚜  𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜  𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔  𝚞𝚙,  𝚊  𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔  𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐  𝚐𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎.  he’s  polishing  a  glass,  movements  near  and  controlled,  but  there  is  a  certain  kind  of  tension  in  his  shoulders  now  …  he  is  listening  more  closely  than  he  wants  to  admit.

❝  power  …❞   he  echos,  voice  low,  almost  amused  in  tone,  the  corners  of  his  lips  twisting  into  something  small  and  wry.  ❝  if  you  say  so,  sir…❞ 

❝  I  suppose  some  people  find  comfort  in  …  accepting  their  lot.  dressing  it  up  as  pride  and  purpose.  if  that  makes  you  happy,  then  good  for  you.  but  some  of  us  aim  a  little  higher.❞   a  small  shrug,  elegant  and  dismissive.  his  gaze  sharpens  just  a  touch.  there  is  no  outright  disrespect  …  but  thomas  likes  to  push,  to  needle  and  poke.  it’s  a  challenge  wrapped  up  in  politeness,  a  young  man  refusing  to  pretend  he’s  content  with  his  world  the  way  it  is.  at  the  risk  of  sounding  impertinent,  he  continues.  ❝  serving  may  suit  you.  don’t  mean  it  has  to  suit  me.❞ 

Jasper listens to the young man with the patience of a father listening to his child complain of timeless troubles as though they were unique. Indeed, he had felt similarly, once upon a time, when his position was less prestigious. There may be little he can do to change the other's opinion now before his experience catches up, but he still has the wisdom of perspective to offer.

Of course, the decision also benefited Mycroft in terms of his unending professional life too. A roast dinner took quite a while to make, which left him more than enough time to make a few phone calls, respond to emails, and tidy up a few remaining loose ends.

Internal timer ticking away in the back of his mind, he slipped out of the study and returned to the kitchen around the time he estimated that Jasper would be making the final preparations. Unsurprisingly, Mycroft's instincts proved to be correct. He arrived just in time to see the other man place a glass of wine down on the table. Red was a given considering the meal, and though he hadn't seen the bottle's label, it felt safe to assume that Jasper's good taste was once again on display.

"You didn't have to go to so much effort," Mycroft said as he approached. "You know I would have been perfectly happy with something simple."

While it would take some time, he thought a roast the perfect meal to come home to, grand and tasty. He himself had fond memories of Sunday nights being blessed by a full plate, and that's how he wanted to make his man feel after a tiring trip and having to return to work tomorrow.

It was a different experience cooking, plating, and serving all himself, and he didn't always manage it to the level of presentation that he was used to from previously living with a staff—but he had to say, he did pretty damn well with it. Paired with his experience in buttling, that was, maintaining a wine cellar, Mycroft Holmes was truly spoiled. He left the bottle on the table for them both.

₊˚⊹ ㅤa collection of character analysis/headcanon questions to learn more about your character and your partners'! writing/headcanon prompts requested by anonymous. feel free to edit these as you see fit.

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He could only imagine what the other guards had said about him. He'd heard some of it, with his exceptional hearing, but it wasn't anything he hadn't heard before. Brute, monster. Things of that sort. Did it stop the sting of it? No, but he had gotten adept at wearing a mask.

Shrugging, he said, "Nothing I can think of in particular. If you have questions, I'm willing to answer them." His voice was a deep, deep timbre, like the rumble of a mountain.

The other man had taken Walter's matching thoughts and put them right into words; he found the frankness refreshing. The thing was, although it was his job to advise the King, openly criticizing his decisions was not a wise move—especially to someone under his roof and responsibility, and unfamiliar at that. Rhythorn would come to hear all of it from his fellow guardsmen soon enough, anyway.

"There's a shortage here at the castle at the moment. Most of our men have been moved to the city—some even farther into the country." There was a chance that, since Rhythorn was new to Albion, he hadn't witnessed the civil unrest the crown was currently dealing with, but it was something else he'd come to hear about and possibly experience himself at the castle gates. "It's not conventional, but the King knows what he's doing, I suppose... We'll make a guard of you yet.

"Intarsia ornaments dated Bologna, 1495. They afford studies in pendant and vertical forms, set out by exceptional areas in solid backgrounds."

Historic design in printing. 1923.