Work Text:
The sky was almost a perfect shade of blue as color filled the cloudless sky. It was the ideal temperature as well, not too warm thanks to the slight breeze that ghosted through the barren hillside. Rogue let out a contented sigh as he laid back and basked in the sunshine like a pleased cat, a rare smile upon the Shadow Dragon Slayer’s face. He could almost feel the sunshine being absorbed into his body as a warmth spread over him and for once his mind was at peace. His raging inner demons didn’t dare rear their head on such a day, so Rogue was only left with his own quiet peace of mind, a luxury he hadn’t be able to indulge in for far too long.
However good things never last and Shadow mage felt something invade his left ear and suddenly the perfect day began to crack and shatter as he slowly regained consciousness. It took him about a minute to realize that it was Sting who was spraying silly string in his ear. Rogue say up immediately, an irritated growl rumbling in his chest as he glared death at his best friend who was rolling on the ground next to their shared bed, cackling, overly pleased at how well his plan worked.
“Your...face!” Sting sputtered out in between heaves of heavy laughter and at that moment Rogue wanted nothing more than to face palm, annihilate his teammate and go back to bed, but he was the more mature of the Twin Dragon Slayers so he kept his cool, but only barely. He rose from the bed gracefully, flicking his ebony hair from his slitted red eyes as he glared down at Sting.
“Was that really necessary?” He growled and Sting just kept laughing and Rogue sighed and rubbed his temples in an attempt to keep from smacking his palm to his forehead. Good sleep was something Rogue rarely got so of course Sting would ruin such a perfect thing. Glancing at his best friend, watching the tears start coming out of his eyes from all the laughter Rogue couldn’t help but smile gently at his idiotic partner. As dark and brooding as Rogue might seem, Sting knew there was more to the Shadow Dragon Slayer and he was determined to show the world there was more than just darkness and shadows to Rogue Cheney and in all reality it was only Sting who could accomplish such a feat.
Sting was the one person Rogue could absolutely trust with no doubt in his mind. If Sting ever told him to jump, he would jump without thought. If Sting told him to run, he would run until Sting told him to stop. If Sting told him to kill, he would. His trust in Sting was absolute and nothing would ever change that. He knew that the idiot rolling on the floor trusted him to the same degree as well. It wasn’t something either of them took lightly, but it wasn’t something that they let weigh on their shoulders. It was just a comfortable acceptance of each other and Rogue appreciated it, especially as times grew darker he was always relentlessly grateful to have someone like Sting around.
Now, was a different story as Sting had ruined his perfectly wonderful dream just to see some emotion play across Rogue’s face and the irritation returned to the shadow mage.
“If you’re done acting like a child, we have things to do today.” Rogue spoke again, his voice gruff and slightly gravelly from lack of use. Sting’s laughing stopped and Rogue found himself pinned under a bright blue gaze that suddenly seemed much more intense. The Shadow Dragon stiffened, not comfortable under such an unyielding gaze even if it was from Sting.
“Alright, alright sleepy pants I’m good. Stop bristling at me like you’re some porcupine. It’s not a good look for you.” Sting got up and walked over to Rogue, tapped him on the nose before walking away towards the bathroom. “By the way we’re going shopping today. Lector says we’re out of a lot of food and that we need some sort of fragrance thing for the kitchen since it still smells like those burnt eggs I cooked up a few weeks ago.” The White Dragon Slayer waved his hands in the air in a dismissive manner like it wasn’t a big deal and shut the bathroom door behind him, not letting Rogue open his mouth to complain or argue. Rogue’s red eyes narrowed at that bathroom door, and let out a long sigh, trying to temper the irritation slowly rising due to Sting’s prodding.
He took his time getting dressed and ready for the day, letting his mind wander as a means of relaxation until the bathroom door opened and a roll of steam was released from the bathroom along with an almost naked Sting with a towel wrapped around his slim waist. Rogue turned to give him his attention and blinked in surprise, he hadn’t even heard the shower turn on. Sting smirked and winked at him, flashing him a smile that would’ve made any girl swoon especially which how scantly he was dressed.
“You’re turn for the shower Rogue, you need it, you stink.” Rogue wrinkled his nose, not liking the idea of the shower since he just got dressed but the look in Sting’s eyes told him that he really did need it. He turned and started walking to the bathroom when Sting decided to speak again,
“Why don’t you just undress here so your clothes don’t get exposed to the steam and cling to you after?” He suggested with that same smirk plastered on his smug face and for the second time this morning, Rogue wanted knock some sense into his teammate, but once again restrained himself from such an inviting thought, much preferring to keep his composure.
“I’ll pass thanks.” He responded easily and Sting’s smirk dropped to a scowl for a second as he stared at Rogue. His midnight hair was still slightly ruffled from sleep, his ruby eyes sharp and hard, his face looked a little strained though and Sting made a mental note to ask Rogue about whatever was bothering him later.
“Fine whatever suits you.” The smirk was back and Rogue rolled his eyes, but not before giving his partner a once over, admiring Sting’s powerful physique and how some stray water droplets dangled at the ends of some of his hair. His skin was golden and moist from his shower and Rogue tore his gaze away before he was caught staring. He walked into the bathroom and regretted not taking Sting’s offer of undressing outside of the bathroom. The air was hot and sticky and his clothes began to stick to him like a second skin and he grimaced, hating the feel of it.
He peeled his clothing off, started up the shower and stepped in then flinched at how hot the water was. He turned the knob to cool it slightly before relaxing again. The scent of Sting still hung heavily in the air and Rogue inhaled it deeply as he let the hot warm massage and loosen some of his muscles. There was always something fresh about the scent of the White Dragon, like he had picked up the scent of a fresh breeze under his slightly masculine musk and the mild smell of crisp apples in fall. That’s right, Sting smelled like a fresh masculine breeze with a hint of fresh apples, it was something Rogue found very amusing but at the same time he loved the scent as it was so unique and was associated with comfort and trust. He showered rather quickly, slightly disappointed as Sting’s scent was now replaced with his faintly mint shampoo and conditioner. Once he was satisfied he was clean, he turned the water off and stepped out, toweled off and redressed, once again regretting not taking Sting’s advice, but he would never let the White Dragon Slayer know that of course.
While Rogue was showering Sting rolled onto the bed, immediately sinking his face into Rogue’s pillow, growling in appreciation as he let in Rogue’s earthy scent with a hint of mint. He loved Rogue’s smell and often sniffed his stuff when the Shadow Dragon wasn’t around which wasn’t often. Once he had Rogue’s scent swirling around him, Sting began to get ready for the day with a grin on his face.
Rogue stepped out of the bathroom feeling much better. As he walked out, Sting looked up at him from where he was seated on the bed, pulling on his pants and their eyes latched onto each other’s for a split second before Rogue awkwardly broke eye contact with a slight blush and didn’t even to turn around to know that Sting was smirking at him again.
“Have a nice shower sleepy head?” Sting asked in a sing song voice and Rogue just grunted out a “yes”.
“You look nice today.” Rogue was unprepared for the sincere sounding compliment and turned to see Sting with a soft smile on his face.
“I don’t look different than any other day.” The words sounded emotionless and cold maybe even a little rude to some but Sting’s smile grew and Rogue had to hold in a groan.
“You took a compliment! Dang today is gonna be a good day!” The White Dragon Slayer exclaimed with delight and excitement. It wasn’t like he threw Rogue constant compliments, but he even when he did compliment him, the Shadow mage never really acknowledged or accepted them, so this was a big deal for Sting.
“Whatever, let’s just get going.” Rogue shook it off as Sting expected he would and smiled, not much shook Rogue so he would just have to try harder and he had plenty ideas to test out before the day was done.
First item on their agenda was to tidy up the guild hall. Since Sting had become Master things were more easygoing and while the place wasn’t completely trashed it could also look better. Sting and Rogue left their small shared house after waking up their Exceed partners who preferred to sleep together and in a separate room as the Dragon Slayers as most nights Rogue has nightmares that leave him thrashing around in his sleep. Sting and Rogue set to stacking and organizing papers while their partners swept and dusted and in no time, the guild hall looked pristine and Sting high fived Lector while Rogue sent an appreciative smile Frosch’s way which made the Exceed beam with happiness.
Their next task was a simple mission that wasn’t far out of town to get rid of a rogue mage who kept pestering the villagers. The traveling took the longest even though it wasn’t a far walk, but once Rogue and Sting found the misbehaving mage they wasted no time in putting him back in his place, making him promise to change his ways and received the reward from very thankful villagers.
It was nearing late afternoon when the team arrived back to town and they stopped at a small bakery to grab something to eat. Sting got an all meat sandwich while Rogue ordered a light chicken wrap and of course fish for the Exceeds. Sting and Lector made up most of the conversation where Rogue and Frosch commented minimally, but it was normal and Rogue found his inner demons relieving quiet today. He smiled slightly as he took in the scene of Sting chomping hungrily into his sandwich, pieces of meat falling from the bread and landing messily on the plate, to Lector and Frosch happily munching on their fish. The sun was still shining strongly and shone through the window, somehow bathing Sting in a soft glow of light. Rogue knew that Sting was almost painfully attractive, he knew this fact very well but he also knew there was so much more to his best friend than just his looks. He knew that he also had a heart of pure gold, deep loyalty to his guild and friends, but Rogue also knew the darker sides of Sting. The sides that showed him scared and vulnerable, angry and murderous. Rogue had seen every side of Sting but still was able to see him as a being of light and purity. Sting glanced up from his food to see Rogue gazing at him with an almost worshiping stare and almost choked on his food. He waved his hand in front of the Shadow Dragon.
“You alright Rogue?” He asked through his sandwich and Rogue blinked and recomposed himself within a blink of an eye and nodded and went back to picking delicately at his chicken wrap. Sting watched him for a moment longer, analyzing his friend to see if anything was wrong but didn’t sense anything so he turned his mind back to his food.
The next thing that the team needed to do was go shopping, something that Sting loved and Rogue dreaded. The guild master always seemed to forget that they actually had a budget that needed to keep in mind and with his impulsive personality, it never took long for the cart to become filled with unnecessary goodies that seemed appealing to Sting at the time. The team walked into the grocery store and as always Rogue got the cart, set Frosch in it and then had to try and find Sting and Lector as the two disappeared into the world of edible possibilities. The Shadow Dragon Slayer went up and down a few aisles, grabbing what they needed after comparing prices. After a few minutes he started to get suspicious as usually Sting had already dumped a few loads of unnecessary food into the cart but today there was no sign of the White Dragon. With a slight frown he continued the shopping, red eyes darting around, scanning around for Sting. For a second he thought he saw him as he went down the aisle of frozen food but the blur moved too fast for him to confirm, which in itself confirmed to Rogue that it was Sting.
He went down the aisle and turned the corner to find it deserted and Rogue growled a little to himself, not amused with Sting’s game. He just wanted to finish shopping and go home, but of course things could never be that easy when dealing with an impulsive, childish, happy go lucky dragon slayer. Once all the shopping was finished Rogue was really starting to get irritated by Sting, who had all of the Jewels to pay for the groceries and was still MIA. The shadow mage sent Frosch to fly around the store and locate his missing partner when Sting lazily walked by with that killer smirk on his face and Rogue just about lost his cool. Instead he calmly approached his partner, but with red daggers for eyes.
“Where were you?” Sting blinked at the hostile tone but kept the smirk on his face.
“I was playing hide and go seek but you never even sought me out. I’m hurt Rogue.” He placed a gloved hand over his heart in mock pain and Rogue really wanted to just swipe the smirk right off his face.
“I think you should kiss it to make it better.” There was a challenge in Sting’s voice and eyes and suddenly Rogue became very wary. The two had experimented with the each other’s affections and while they both knew of each other’s feelings, they did nothing to really pursue a solid relationship, favoring more to act as they always did with the occasional surprise of more affectionate behavior.
“I’ll pass. Might bite your lip off instead.” Rogue muttered, whispering the last part a little angrily but with Sting’s hearing he had no trouble hearing what Rogue said and that sly smirk became glued to his face once again.
“Trust me, I’d love to see you try.” He responded, his voice challenging and a bit lower, more seductive than usual. His tone was almost cocky, as Sting was 99.9% sure that Rogue would never do such a thing but was pleasantly surprised when he felt teeth sink into his lower lip as Rogue’s lips covered his own in a fast, angry blur. The White Dragon Slayer wasn’t prepared for the attack and had no chance to react before Rogue pulled away with an emotionless mask on his face, but Sting saw his red eyes glittering with slight irritation, pride and a small amount of desire. Those red eyes trailed down to his lips as Sting felt a drop of blood slide down his lip towards his chin. He was just about to wipe it away when Rogue moved forward and licked it away and backed off just a second later and looked at Sting with an almost bored expression like he was silently asking how long Sting was going to stand there looking like an idiot with his mouth hanging open. Sting was shocked though, Rogue was usually very timid and shy about their affectionate gestures and only allowed them in privacy but here he was biting Sting’s lip open and swiping away the blood in public! This change excited Sting and his blue eyes glittered.
“Now that you’ve had your fun let’s go.” Rogue was the first to speak and his dark voice was full of impatience as he wheeled the cart around and began walking away. Sting watched him walk away and shook his head in amazement and smiled. He had to admit Rogue was one complex little dragon. He followed Rogue and the team reformed and paid for their purchases and they all returned home. After putting the groceries away, fixing a quick meal and eating, the Exceeds went off to bed leaving just Sting and Rogue to do the dishes. They did them in silence until Sting decided that it was too quiet and splashed Rogue with some soapy water. The Shadow Dragon Slayer pinned Sting with a deathly glare and threw the drying rag at Sting’s face.
“Rest are yours, have fun.” There was a smirk to Rogue’s voice as if he had been waiting for Sting to do that just so he would have an excuse to leave Sting with all the dishes. The White Dragon Slayer whined and complained and grabbed Rogue’s collar and dragged him back to the sink, pinning him between the sink and his body and stared hungrily down at Rogue who looked completely at ease if not a little bored.
“What was bothering you earlier today?” Sting asked, which threw Rogue a little off guard as he was expecting to be devoured by the white mage rather than being questioned.
“You ruined a good dream for me, was tired, you kept irritating me.” Rogue shrugged and fought the temptation to roll his eyes like a moody teenager.
“That’s all?” Sting asked again his blue eyes narrowing.
“Yes, trust me.” Rogue responded and Sting immediately dropped the topic, trusting Rogue’s word and moved aside to let Rogue pass, but instead the shadow mage picked the drying rag back up and started drying dishes again like the incident never happened. Sting stole a glance at the silent, solemn looking mage and smiled.
Once the dishes were done and put away the two best friends returned to their bedroom and started getting ready for bed. As usual Rogue brushed his teeth first then changed clothes and settled into bed while Sting undressed then brushed his teeth before settling in next to Rogue in their shared bed.
“Sorry for disturbing your sleep today.” Sting’s voice rang out into the dark bedroom and Rogue smiled gently but was rolled onto his side so Sting couldn’t see. “I probably shouldn’t have because I know you do have trouble getting a good night’s rest these days with your nightmares.” Sting went on and Rogue just listened, touched by how much Sting cared, though he shouldn’t be surprised.
“Don’t worry about it.” Rogue responded even though he knew the words were wasted on Sting who worried about him anyway.
“That was a stupid thing to say to me.” Sting called him out and Rogue allowed himself to smile gently again. He felt the bed move as Sting’s weight changed as he rolled over so his chest was right up against Rogue’s back and he draped a muscled arm around Rogue’s waist and pulled him closer. Sting nuzzled Rogue’s neck, inhaling the earthy and mint scent that was Rogue and ran a hand through Rogue’s dark locks, loving how silky it was as the strands ran through his fingers. Despite his usual hatred and discomfort of being touched, Rogue relaxed under Sting’s gentle hands and felt himself drifting off to sleep.
“Don’t worry about nightmares tonight, I’ll protect you. Trust me.” Was the last thing Rogue heard before he fell into a peaceful sleep with his white dragon watching over him, gently running his fingers through his hair while blue eyes stared at him with protective adoration before they too closed and the Twin Dragons rested together peacefully.