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The constant throbbing in the back of Pol’s head dulls to a splitting ache when Artemis leaves and SAM dims the lights in what should have been their father’s room. He curls onto his side and squashes his face into the pillow before pulling the blanket up to cover his other eye.SAM lowers the temperature of the room by a degree, and Pol sighs gratefully and burrows deeper in the linens. Maybe he’ll be able to get some sleep after all, despite the party still carrying on in the atrium and common areas.Just as his consciousness is starting to dim – in the pleasant, sleepy way, not in the horrifying injury or induced coma ways he’s gotten used to facing – the door swishes open and then locks back closed.He groans and covers his face completely with the blanket. Footsteps shuffle across the room and then the bed dips at his side. He clutches the blankets a little tighter, but insistent fingers peel it away to expose the side of his face.“There you are,” Gil coos, careful to keep his voice low. Pol’s eyes pop open in surprise, meeting Gil’s as he continues,
“I was beginning to think Artemis lied about where you were hiding.”Pol’s face turns a bright red, his ears starting to burn, but he carefully sits up and balances on one arm to hold himself upright. Gil leans back only far enough to let him move, then puts a steadying hand on Pol’s shoulder. This only makes Pol’s blush darker, but he leans into the contact as much as he can.They’ve barely seen each other since before the archon’s attack. They certainly haven’t been alone since Pol got out of the med bay. If only this headache wasn’t so bone-rattlingly deep…“I’ve been worried about you,” Gil says, somehow even quieter. His eyes are bright, but his eyebrows are drawn together with a deep wrinkle between them. Little lines extend from the outside corners of his eyes, too – all signs of how long and hard he’s worked over the last months, how much sleep he lost on the Nexus and then on the Tempest. And now sleep lost worrying about Pol.“I’m sorry–” Pol starts, but then he stops and winces as talking makes the pain radiate down the back of his skull across his jaw and into his neck. Across the room, the little SAM station whirs to life at the flood of neural input.Gil’s frown only deepens.
“Lie back down,” he says, and pushes gently at Pol’s shoulders until Pol can’t help but obey.
“I shouldn’t have come. I just… I just wanted to see you, and–”“Kiss me, please.” Pol cuts off Gil’s rambling, especially since his headache is edging into a migraine.
“Please.” He grabs Gil’s hand still on his arm and tugs, and Gil chuckles when he leans down to obey.He presses a kiss to Pol’s lips, lingering slowly, and Pol relishes the feeling after so long apart. When Gil pulls away, he presses another kiss to Pol’s aching head, then stretches out beside him on the bed. He gathers Pol up in his arms, gently rearranging them both until Pol’s body is cradled against his own.“Thanks,” Pol mutters, letting his eyes drift shut. Unconsciousness comes faster this time, aided by the warmth of Gil’s body and the steady thumping of his heart under his ear.