Easy like Sunday morning

[thirstforvice]

Matthew wakes once during the night. He's rolled away from Bennet in his sleep, and when his leg wakes him he is cold and alone and for one awful moment he thinks he is back in the asylum; that everything about Bennet had just been a dream.

But no - the bed is too large, too comfortable, and he is not wearing that awful starched outfit all the patients were forced into. Turning, he sees his lover splayed out next to him, looking peaceful and content in his slumber, and his anxiety dissipates. It was no dream.

Still, that doesn't stop the ache in his leg, nor the desperate itch deep down inside of him. He scrabbles for the laudanum bottle without thinking, gulping it down like water until the pain dulls and his eyes grow heavy once more. When he next wakes, the bedroom is bathed in early morning sunlight.

It's like so many other mornings, weekends or days off where neither of them have anywhere to be, and they've always started the same way. Reminding himself that Bennet has already seen him naked, held him in the bath and kissed him breathless, Matthew tries not to feel too much like he's taking advantage as he cuddles in to his lover and slowly kisses him awake.

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[thegentlemanthug]

He smells him first, the rich earthy musk of his Matthew, and he smiles at the warmth at his side, the touch on his lips.

Bennet deepens the kiss and draws him close and it's only then that he remembers that he is not entirely himself.

"Mornin'," he mumbles against his lover's lips.

[thirstforvice]

"Mornin'," Matthew repeats before pressing another kiss to Bennet's lips. Just like always. He tries not to think about what has changed between them, knowing that that will help no one. If he keeps to their routines, Bennet will remember them faster.

And so he runs one hand slowly over his lover's chest.

[thegentlemanthug]

Bennet pushes aside the doubt and the fear about his missing memory, and allows himself to just feel the sensation.

He lifts that same hand and presses a kiss to the tips of Matthew's fingers.

[thirstforvice]

Matthew smiles at the touch, these little hints of Bennet that make him hopeful that his lover will return fully to him before long.

Ducking his head, he presses his lips to the older man's neck, teeth teasing ever-so-slightly at the skin there.

[thegentlemanthug]

Bennet groans at the scrape of teeth against his neck, his body stirring at the tease, and he swiftly rolls Matthew over and onto his back.

He hovers above him, eyes looking his lover over eagerly.

[thirstforvice]

You remember that well enough, Matthew thinks, but daren't voice it for fear of scaring Bennet off. This is probably the best thing for his memory, and... selfishly, he wants this too.

"Seen something you like?" he teases instead, light-hearted and grinning goofily.

[thegentlemanthug]

"You," Bennet answers honestly and leans down to kiss his lover, crouched over him but not pressing his body against his for fear of hurting him.

"You tell me now, what you want," he says, between kisses. "Everything you want."

[thirstforvice]

Matthew is quite sure he's never heard anything so uninhibited from his Benny's lips, and as unnatural as it sounds, he likes it.

"You," his answer is simple, reaching around his lover's back to pull him flush against his own naked body. "I want you every which way you can imagine it."

[thegentlemanthug]

Bennet bends down to kiss Matthew again, hungrily, greedily.

"I've been doing a lot of imaginin' since last night," he confesses.

[thirstforvice]

"Then it's a good thing we've nowhere to be today," Matthew encourages this bawdy side to his lover, enjoying it while it lasts, stretching up to kiss him hungrily.

[thegentlemanthug]

"Or tomorrow. Or the whole week, far as I'm concerned."

Staying in their bed for seven days sounds perfect right now.

[thirstforvice]

Matthew laughs, not complaining about Bennet's suggestion one bit, but kissing him harder to try and keep him from talking. There's all the time in the world for that, and right now he's desperately turned on.

[thegentlemanthug]

Bennet slowly lowers his body over Matthew's, taking care to straddle his injured leg and not place his weight over his lover's injury.

His mind is filled with sensation, the memory of a hundred such touches flooding back in, and he gasps with the feeling of it.

[thirstforvice]

Matthew is far less delicate, the ache in his leg a constant distraction, rather than a bruise made worse by pressure. It will hurt with or without Bennet on top of him, and he knows which option sounds the better.

"You always treat me like I'm porcelain," he chides. "I'm sturdier than I look."

[thegentlemanthug]

"I'll treat you whatever way hurts you least," Bennet tells him.

"Anything else you need? You just have t'say."

[thirstforvice]

"I don't mind a little bit of hurtin'," Matthew promises.

"I don't need nothin' but you, darlin'."

[thegentlemanthug]

"I mind," Bennet says, frowning down at him.

"I don't...I don't hurt you, do I?"

[thirstforvice]

"Never," Matthew promises at once, kissing his lover far more gently.

"You'd never do such a thing. I know you wouldn't."

[thegentlemanthug]

"Then I won't hurt you now," Bennet says, decidedly. "If you're not ready-"

[thirstforvice]

"I'm ready," Matthew tries not to curse in his desperation, instead reaching up to pull Bennet's face down to his, crushing their lips together.

[thegentlemanthug]

Bennet laughs at the eager, desperate kiss.

"Then you'll let me make sure you're not hurtin'."

[thirstforvice]

Matthew rolls his eyes, sure that the old Bennet is coming back more and more with each passing second. He's never known a lover to fuss so much.

"Fine. But I'm not hurtin', I swear it."

[thegentlemanthug]

Bennet retrieves a pillow from his side of the bed and eases Matthew's injured leg onto it.

"And I would keep it that way."

[thirstforvice]

Matthew lets Bennet fuss without further complaint, if only because he doesn't want to ruin the moment now that they've got this far. He graciously accepts the pillow, even promises not to do anything that will cause himself further pain (though that's a lie).

"Please," he begs when he is settled once more. "Benny, please..."

[thegentlemanthug]

Wearing naught but a smile, Bennet reaches for the bottle of oil he spies on the bedside table and holds it up for his lover's approval.