Hello guys! Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving or Thursday whatever you did then! Here's an update.

much love, doze

"You're listing to one side."

"I am not."

"You are." Alfred laughed in amusement. "You definitely are."

"I don't think so. You're moving around."

"I'm not!" Alfred squawked, squeezing his arms tighter around Arthur's waist. It took him a second to get Arthur to look at him. Even the alcohol didn't strip all Arthur's embarrassment away, and his cheeks were a ruddy red. But Alfred didn't care. It hadn't occurred to him until today that what he really wanted in life was to make out with his attractive attorney boss, but now that it had happened everything made perfect sense.

He had thought Arthur was acting weird lately and it pleased him to see that Arthur had been thinking about something like this.

"Hold still," Arthur grumbled. Their fourth bottle of wine twinkled in the kitchen lights behind them, clean as a whistle. Although, Alfred was pretty sure Arthur was the one to clean most of it.

"I'm not moving," Alfred crowed, allowing Arthur to grab his cheeks. "You're moving."

"Shut up."

Arthur pressed their lips together, surprisingly gentle for a drunk person.

"Hmm." Alfred broke apart, pressing his cheek to the top of Arthur's head. His blonde hair was even softer to the touch than Alfred imagined. What did he condition with? The essence of fluffy clouds? "So I was asking you about vacation days before we got carried away?"

"Oh, I'm definitely going to need a vacation day after this." Arthur responded, not unkindly. He didn't seem troubled, being smashed against Alfred's chest. His green eyes slipped closed sleepily.

Alfred laughed. "And me?"

"I think you're good. You can go in. Handle the calls. Freestyle a bit."

"Arthur," He groaned, tightening his grip around Arthur's waist.

Arthur chuckled, a breath of a laugh. "Fine. I suppose you can have one day off. This wasn't some long-winded scheme of getting a day off, was it?"

Alfred frowned to hear the genuine worry in Arthur's voice. The guy could be such an idiot. "I asked about a day off because I had plans for a day off."

"Oh." Arthur swallowed, but didn't pull away like Alfred expected. Even disappointing Arthur that little bit was nauseating. He wasn't sure when he had begun catering to Arthur's every emotional whim, but it was a well defined institution by now.

"And since you have a day off too, I figured you could join me." Alfred continued boldly.

Arthur paused for too long before saying, "Oh."

"Is that agreeable?"

"Yes," Arthur sighed and then snorted. "It sounds very agreeable."

"My thoughts exactly," Alfred tipped Arthur's chin up and kissed him again. That was never going to get old. After the first kiss, they had moved slowly. Alfred saw no reason to rush anything. Sex hovered in the wings as a very viable option until Arthur fell asleep against his chest on the couch. The cable droned on in the background, and Alfred shifted uncomfortably. Damn Arthur had the stiffest furniture imaginable.

He ran his fingers through Arthur's hair, marveling at how impossible this would have seemed just hours ago.

Arthur's mouth was open, his wild hair sticking up all of everywhere. This close Alfred could see the dark circles under his eyes, cumulative damage from a successful career. He let his thoughts wander away from him, thinking about how handsome Arthur was. Handsome and charismatic and gay (he had worried about that earlier) and single.

No one lived with Arthur. In fact, it seemed to Alfred that the flat was vigorously unlived in. For whatever reason, Arthur had as little personal touches lying around as possible. His office was more comfortable and lived in than this place. He speculated that Arthur was too busy practicing law to do much else, but surely by now he'd made enough money to take some time off.

Alfred closed his eyes, wondering vaguely if his car would get towed from the lot if he left it there overnight. He didn't have any motivation to get up. He was probably still drunk. And his drive home was an hour long. Looked like Arthur had won himself a houseguest for the night.

He dropped his hand lower, rubbing circles into Arthur's back. Alfred would bet it had been a long time since Arthur had last gone to bed before nine thirty. Alfred had been expecting a little TV watching, some suggestive kissing, and then maybe taking it up to the bedroom for some further exploration. But once they'd settled down on the couch together, it took only moments for Arthur to be out like a light.

It made Alfred smile. That he got this privilege. That he got to see this happening. Arthur was a mystery to the magazines. But Alfred got to see him without the veneer, drooling in his sleep.

Dropping his head back against the arm of the couch, Alfred allowed his eyes to slip closed. Arthur was heavier than a blanket, but he was warmer than one as well. And Alfred wasn't complaining.

0 0 0

The next morning Alfred woke to a face full of sunshine. He blinked groggily and tried to move, only to realize that Arthur was still on top of him. Arthur had apparently been awake awhile, because he propped himself up on Alfred's chest and said, "Are you expecting breakfast?"

"Not right this moment. What time is it?"

"I haven't the foggiest," Arthur said brightly, and Alfred realized that he was smiling, fiddling with one of the buttons of Alfred's shirt.

"Hmm." Alfred made a noise of approval, rubbing his fingers against Arthur's lower back through his thin dress shirt. "Kiss me."

"Is that what you want?"

Alfred matched Arthur's crooked smile. "Why yes it is, Mr. Kirkland."

Hesitating just a second and biting his lip, Arthur then leaned forward and closed the gap. His elbows dug into Alfred's chest uncomfortably, but as Alfred kneaded his head forward, the feel of Arthur's lips drove any distraction away.

"Better?" Arthur asked and Alfred grinned.

"You always make my day much better, Arthur."

Arthur didn't say anything, but he rested his cheek again on Alfred's chest. "I just realized that neither of us phoned Marlene about the vacation day."

Alfred chuckled. "Are you worried she'll get suspicious?"

"I don't care if she does," Arthur said, surprising him. "And I don't really care about the client meetings I had scheduled today or the case work I was going to do. Or the 12,000 dollars of profit you're going to cost me."

"Me?" Alfred sniffed indignantly. "If you didn't want any of this, Arthur, ya coulda said at any point. Don't shoot the messenger boy."

"Oh stop it." Arthur sighed, sounding content. "I said I didn't care, didn't I?"

"Okay, but you always say exactly what you mean?"

Arthur snickered. "Look who's becoming cynical. I've done a number on you."

"Jedi mind tricks." Alfred muttered, but tipped his chin up to kiss Arthur's head. "Are you gunna get up?"

"Later," Arthur's answer was muffled and he sounded sleepy again.

"I feel an obligation to ask under the circumstances. But have you ever done this with your summer associates?"

"Oh all the time," Arthur said dramatically, drumming his fingers lightly against Alfred's palm. "It's my working business plan. I'll sleep with as many summer associates as possible. That way, if I ever face them in court, I have something on them. Or I can use my knowledge for favors. I doubt they would want to refuse me with what I know."

"You are evil." Alfred said blankly. "But we didn't sleep together, so I guess that wouldn't work for me."

"Some quick suggestive lines to Marlene and we've as good as," Arthur retorted with a smirk in his voice.

"Oh god," Alfred said, thinking of the sort of break room gossip the secretaries got up to. "The whole building would know by noon."

Arthur snickered again, before breaking off to yawn. "Have I suitably impressed you with my powers of persuasion?"

Alfred rolled his eyes. "You haven't… actually done this with your summer associates, have you?"

Arthur sighed. "I figured you intelligent, but it seems I was mistaken."

"Arthur…"

"Of course, I haven't. I don't have the interest to flirt with bigheaded would-be attorneys driven by ambitions to work the next O.J. Simpson case. And if they had the interest in me, they'd have it for all of a day before I stripped them of their delusions. By the end of the summer, I promise you Alfred, none of my associates want to be anywhere near me."

"That's optimistic," Alfred muttered dryly. "Well, thank you for answering in so many plain words. I know it causes you physical pain to speak without allusions, but my simple mind appreciates it."

"Physical pain," Arthur agreed mildly. "You know, you were the one harassing me about sleep. Are you planning to stop interrogating me soon?"

"But you'll spend your whole day off sleeping!"

"Isn't that what they're for?"

Alfred gave in and laughed. "I can understand why you would say that. Not having a vacation in the last forty years."

"I'm thirty four, Alfred. Not three hundred." He grumbled.

Alfred rolled his eyes again, but said nothing else. Within minutes, Arthur's breathing had evened out again. He wondered if he was going to spend his whole day off pinned by Arthur. Ha. That sounded better than it actually was. This couch was going to have him in the chiropractor's soon enough.

He began tracing patterns on Arthur's back with his finger. To be fair, if he hadn't had a vacation in so many years, he'd probably just want to sleep too.

0 0 0

Arthur woke groggily to the lumping sound of Alfred's heart. He was warm all over, even sweating slightly. Alfred was snoring. Evidently, he'd taken the time to go back to sleep as well. Not that he could have done much else with Arthur on top of him, anyway.

Now that he was awake again, Arthur found that he didn't have much motivation to move. Outside, the sun was high in the sky, splashing his living room in sharp white. He could just see his mobile from here, light flashing. No doubt he had an obscene amount of messages. It was irresponsible of him to just take off like this, but extenuating circumstances had well and truly squashed Arthur's usual dedication.

So he had made a snap decision… and it had ended on the couch with a lot of body-on-body content.

Yes, best possible outcome. Best possible outcome, Arthur decided cheerily.

He propped himself up on his elbows so that he could see Alfred. Soft tan skin, sun-streaked dishwater blonde. Long nose and straight teeth. Lovely smile. Yes, he had made a good decision. Alfred was devastatingly handsome. Whenever he graduated law school, he'd take the attorney world by storm. No one would be able to keep their eyes off this newcomer in court.

Well, Alfred had a devastatingly handsome face. Arthur had yet to discover if… other parts of him were also so satisfactory. Making up his mind, Arthur pushed forward and began to kiss Alfred. Insistently.

Alfred woke with a jolt, before relaxing and kissing back. His soft, sweet touches became something else under Arthur's force. When Arthur pulled away, Alfred laughed flightily, "Give me a chance to breathe, won't you? Geez."

"Hot at the collar," Arthur responded lazily, moving his kisses to Alfred's neck. His nose brushed the vein and he could feel Alfred's heartbeat accelerating.

"C-calm down." Alfred said. "I'm fine. But you are obviously— hgnnh."

Alfred's words got away from him when Arthur sat up in his lap. It pleased Arthur to realize, judging by the tightness of Alfred's trousers, that Alfred was already so eager to share the bed with him upstairs. Perhaps he had underestimated his abilities. He hadn't had a real partner in such a long time. This could be fun.

"Arthur…" Alfred breathed cautiously, looking attractively disheveled. He caught Arthur's gaze, biting his lip. "Are you sure?"

The sunlight lit Alfred's eyes a lighter blue, brought out the highlights in his hair, glinted in his teeth. They said that with daylight you'd regret a rash sexual partner from the night before. But all the sun did for Arthur was drive him crazy. Alfred looked even better to him today than he did yesterday. As he leaned forward, circling his arms around Alfred's waist, pushing Alfred's mouth open with his own, he thought to himself that this trend might just continue. Maybe Alfred would look better and better every day that Arthur saw him.

And that would be okay. You know, he was okay with that.

Alfred's large hands cupped at his shoulders, but he allowed Arthur to lead. It was the most exercise Arthur had had in so many months, and he was out of breath faster than he would have liked. Alfred grinned devilishly when he broke their kiss. "Bedroom? I mean, I love your hardass couch but it's giving me scoliosis."

"Don't whine," Arthur gasped, jerking Alfred's tie from around his neck. His fingers were shaking too much to get the buttons of Alfred's shirt undone. And he cursed himself for losing his composure so quickly. It had been a very long time since he'd been in this position. Even if Alfred was young, Alfred was still very much out of his league. It didn't help that the real reason he wanted to sleep with Alfred had very little to do with his handsome grin or gorgeous eyes. Much more to do with his sweetness, his concern, his compassion, his understanding. It was hard to make a shallow affair out of that.

And then there was that pressure. Because maybe this was a terrible idea. Arthur didn't want to make a shallow affair of himself. It was all well and good to play lawyer and to order Alfred to his knees. He was used to being in charge, but when was the last time he'd slept with someone he liked?

Arthur jumped when Alfred grabbed his wrists, steadying his shaking fingers with a lopsided smile.

"I promise I'm not an alien, Arthur." He said solemnly. "Or a robot. If you remove my shirt, you will see the skin of a human man. Or…" He laughed, his nose wrinkling. "Something close."

Behind the smile, there was a hopeful warmth to Alfred's eyes. He had an incredible talent for putting people at ease. It would come in handy with the clients someday.

"I don't think I would care either way at this point," Arthur admitted and then scowled, his ears going bright red.

"Good." Alfred's hands found Arthur's tie, jerked it over his head. "Because you're driving me crazy and I already know I'm going to like what I'll see."

"Of course," Arthur snorted, giving Alfred's collar a crisp tug. "Now, let's get you proper."

Alfred smirked, shooting forward for a quick peck on the lips. He had Alfred's shirt off with no more delays. His fingers itched for more contact. He couldn't keep them still as he ran them over the contours of Alfred's chest and felt the muscles of Alfred's back. Amazing how different they could feel without clothing.

Alfred grew impatient with his woolgathering and all but ripped his shirt off of him. He laughed breathlessly, thinking that there was no way Alfred would do that if he knew how much the shirt cost. Arthur shivered in the living room air. His trousers were already tight as a knot, and if they wanted to do this in the bedroom, they'd have to leave soon.

Alfred's pupils dilated. His warms hands skimmed over Arthur's sides, dragging him down into another slow, hot, excruciating snog.

"Alfred, Alfred," He breathed as he broke apart, looping his arms around Alfred's neck and tugging.

Alfred knew exactly what he wanted, but he wasn't through kissing. And he repeatedly tried to kiss Arthur while they were going up the stairs. Jabbing the railing into his back, tripping over Alfred's discarded shoes, losing his belt somewhere along the way. He fumbled for his bedroom door, backing into it with Alfred's mouth eclipsing all his brain capacity.

"You have a loft bed?" Alfred broke apart panting. All one side of Arthur's bedroom was floor to ceiling windows, framing a beautiful city skyline. The floor space was magnificent and as Alfred had noticed, his bed was raised.

"Ladder, ladder," Arthur said impatiently, pushing him that way.

Alfred dug his feet in, looking around with his mouth open. "This is so fucking sweet. Oh my god." He ran his finger over the edge of Arthur's dark-wood desk, cluttered with case notes. Just at the base of the ladder to his bed was a fuzzy rug. Alfred made a happy squeaking noise when his bare feet made contact. "That's so soft!"

"Ladder, up." Arthur said irritably. Perhaps they should have stayed downstairs. He had no idea Alfred would get so distracted. The mood from before was fast getting away from him and he was beginning to feel sour about it.

"Woah, this is so high." Alfred peered over the edge of the bed at the floor. His eyes alight like a child's. "You'd break your arm falling from this height."

Arthur sighed over-dramatically, flopping back into his pillows.

"It's like a dream up here." Alfred continued, shaking the whole bed frame as he investigated. "Woah, look at those skylights. That's amazing. Can you see the moon at night?"

The skylights above Arthur's bed were proving annoying. Noonday sun bearing down on them with all its strength. Alfred's eyes glittered and glowed with wonder as he got up on his knees to put his hands on the window and look out.

"I regret my decision to bring you up here," Arthur lamented.

"Hush." Alfred tossed a pillow at his face. "You're acting like I haven't been giving you my full attention all summer."

Arthur only grunted, leaving the pillow in place to block out the damned sun. Maybe he could catch a bit more sleep while Alfred tore the place apart exploring. Strangely, it didn't bother him that Alfred was going around and staring at all of his things. He was a private person, but Alfred had always been different. He refused to admit the small flare of pride in his chest at Alfred's enthusiasm.

"Okay," Alfred said later and removed the pillow from Arthur's face.

Arthur scowled at the onslaught of sunlight.

"I have ascertained that you are the most interesting thing in the room," Alfred said loftily, "And I would like to get back to what we were doing."

"Oh would you like to, your Highness?" Arthur rolled onto his side. "Too bad. Come back later."

"Rude." Alfred chirped. And then, "I guess I'll have to beg."

"And debase yourself so?"

Arthur heard a rustling behind him.

"Just look what you've made me do?" Alfred complained. When Arthur didn't move, he heard the frown in Alfred's voice. "Look!"

"I'm sorry, Your Honor. I just can't be bothered right now."

"Arthur!"

"Nope, it just isn't happening, Your Honor."

He heard the pout in Alfred's voice. "This isn't court, Arthur. Come on."

"Now, imagine that." Arthur laughed in amusement, rolling onto his back to look. Alfred was hovering over him in just his boxers, all hopeful puppy dog, head cocked and everything. "The Honorable Alfred Jones."

Alfred started to scowl, but Arthur reached up, looping his arms around Alfred's neck and kissing him gently.

"I don't want to be a judge," Alfred continued, still scowling.

"But you'd make such a good one," Arthur said, half-joking half-serious. He drew Alfred into another kiss.

"I want to be an attorney," Alfred broke them apart this time, frowning fiercely.

"A defense attorney. Like me." Arthur said and smiled a little bit.

Alfred's expression wavered strangely. "Yes," he said. "An attorney like you." And before Arthur could think about the semantics of it, Alfred brought their lips together again, fiddling with the button of Arthur's trousers.

Soon Arthur was in only his boxers as well, Alfred covering his chest in kisses and playing tantalizingly with his waistband.

"I think you would make a good judge," Arthur said again at the risk of ruining the mood.

"Why?" Alfred laughed in exasperation, pausing to humor him.

"You'd keep everyone playing fair," Arthur said, tipping his chin up to kiss Alfred's nose. "Even me."

"The world's policeman," Alfred joked. "Yeah, that's not happening. How am I supposed to make you play fair?"

"You expect me to tell you and make it easy," Arthur gasped, rubbing his thumbs across Alfred's cheeks. "Alfred, you could do anything in this profession that you wanted to do. A few bumps and hits here and there, but I imagine you'll surprise everybody. I'm betting on you. The Honorable Alfred Jones."

"Arthur…" Alfred paused, his eyebrows coming together earnestly. "Arthur, I-

"Enough talking," Arthur interrupted hastily. He pulled Alfred down by the shoulders. "I've waited long enough."