The blaring of James' alarm wasn’t the thing that woke Regulus up, it was the ache settled deep in his bones. The ache that turned from throbbing to burning.
Tossing and turning did nothing to dispel the pain coursing through his legs. Regulus moved as much as he could trying to get comfortable without waking up James, at least before his alarm sounded, he’d been up for hours at this point.
A soft groan escaped James lips as he pulled Regulus closer to his body, his eyebrows furrowing as he woke up. The little twitches in his face was something that Regulus could never get enough of, the small signs that he was waking up filled him with warmth. “M’rn’ng” James mumbles into Regulus’ hair, his speech slurred by his sleep.
James reached down to interlace their fingers, the warmth of James’ palm didn’t get rid of the creak and stiffness of his swollen knuckles as he bent them to fully grasp James’ hand. “Good morning,” Regulus says softly leaning into James, pulling his legs up closer to his stomach. James always ran warm, something that Regulus enjoyed since it helped the ache in his bones, although not better than a heating pad, hot water bottle or a steaming bath. All of those things seem orgasmic to him right now.
James tapped his shoulder as a motion for him to move off of him slightly. Regulus did his best, he shimmied over trying to ignore the wince that tried to breach onto his face. James turned off the alarm, before leaning over and pressing a soft kiss into Regulus’ hair. Breathing in the familiar smell of his hair, soft lavender and lemon, something that reminds him of home, of love itself.
“I’m gonna go start some coffee, okay?” James murmured into Regulus' ear, his breath casting onto the shell of his ear.
Regulus couldn’t stop the groan that escaped his mouth as James stood, the movement jostled his knees in just the wrong way to send the fire building there up his legs, burning his muscles. Charring them, ripping the muscles up with the flames. He tensed, locking his knees trying to keep them as still as possible, squeezing his eyes shut as he took a measured breath.
James stilled, concern falling over him like a sheet as he looked Regulus over. “Oh mera pyaar, bad start so far?” The term of endearment pulled a tense but happy smile onto Regulus' face.
“… My legs are mad at me” he huffs, annoyance slipping into his tone.
James runs his hand through Regulus’ hair, brushing it out of his face. The slight moisture on his forehead right above the furrow of his brows was sweat, something James realized immediately as a response to the pain. Regulus' forehead was warm to the touch, which is abnormal, he runs cold. Sirius had once compared his hands to a dead body.
“Do you want me to run you a bath?” James asked softly, lacking the pity people give him normally. Regulus could not express with words how much that meant to him, he didn’t need to be pitied.
He considered James' offer for a second. If the slight lack of feeling in his legs and the slight coat of sweat on him was anything to go by, the steam and heat from a bath wouldn’t be good. “No,” he paused “it’s too hot”
Which honestly contradicts how his body is reacting to simply existing. The cold air that floated through their flat, probably from a window that James had left open the night before, made his joints angry, red and swollen. The lightness flowing through his body was a telltale sign of a difficult day to come. Depending on how badly his body decided to fuck him over, he could either be able to walk around for a couple hours or not even be able to stand without dropping. It’s a gamble.
“Okay, i’ll go grab you some aspirin and electrolytes” James pats the top of Regulus’ head lightly and stands, the mattress shifting with the change of weight.
The door clacks closed softly as Regulus rolls onto his stomach, propping himself up with his elbows and reaching over to grab his phone from the nightstand. Rolling his shoulders, which let out a sickening crack as bone grinds on bone, he opens his phone and checks through a couple messages.
He purposefully leaves Barty on read just to piss him off.
Regulus can hear James approaching before the door even opens, he always walks with heavy steps which brings Regulus both a feeling of happiness and jealousy. One for the fact that he never had to learn to not be heard, and one for the fact that he had it beaten into him.
His water bottle is set down with a tap, pulling him back from his thoughts, along with the tablets that he can’t hear. “I grabbed you the heating pad too,” James says as he bends down to plug it in “to help with your knees.”
Regulus pushes himself up, up against the headboard pulling a pillow under his knees to keep them slightly bent, something that brings him relief.
James set down the heating pad on his knees, the heat from it is slightly uncomfortable, like he’s defrosting his knees. “Thank you” Regulus reaches over and runs his fingers down his arm towards James’ hand, grabbing on slightly to his pinkie before letting go.
The bed dipped as James sat down next to him, his legs bent near his chest. He trails his fingers under regulus’ chin guiding his face to him, pressing soft kisses on his face. The corner of his mouth, the tip of his nose, the height of his cheekbone and finally to his lips. “Mujhe tumase pyaar hai” He whispers onto Regulus’ lips, a smile on his face, fondness evident in his eyes.
James pulled back tapping on his shoulder with each finger, playing a rhythm. Slipping his hand down from Regulus’ shoulder to his hand. He reaches towards the nightstand passing the water bottle then the tablets, Regulus mutters a soft thank you.
Taking a sip of the water flavoured by the electrolyte package that James had prepped for him, it has a tint of lemon. Pushing the tablets past his lips and tilting his head back, swallowing them before wincing at the taste. Regulus opens and closes his mouth a couple times, licking the roof of his mouth trying to get the taste out, he gives up and drinks more of his water to get rid of the taste.
Regulus twists the cap of his water bottle closed and passes it back to James with a smile, the heating pad on his knees soothing the burning pain and mellowing it down to a full ache.
Regulus leans on James’ shoulder. “I love you so much tu sais.” as James rests his head on top of his. The feeling of warmth spreading through his chest, “Thank you for taking care of me.”
James lifts his head off of Regulus’, turning to look at him, with a questioning gaze. James looks at him with furrowed brows and love in his eyes, “Don’t thank me for loving you.”
He presses a kiss to Regulus’ lips and pokes his nose teasingly. A smile dawning his face, eyes bright with devotion brimming in his eyes.
“I love you” Regulus says.
“No, I love you” James counters.