When Axel Syrios wakes up to Gavis Bettel screaming at the top of his lungs, all he can think of is that he wishes for the headache to stop.

The light hits the blonde’s eyes like a hammer and nail, and he immediately blocks it out with a hand as he takes stock of the current situation. The first thing he notices is that he is currently naked in bed, which is a fairly normal occurrence. It’s the most comfortable way to sleep, and so he immediately categorizes that as normal. What isn’t normal is the cream colored paper that’s peeling off of the walls, the brown carpet that looks like it’s been pissed on, or the pile of clothes that are balled up in a chair in the corner of the room.

What takes the cake in this scenario, however, is the man who’s staring at him with wide eyes and a beet red face.

Gavis Bettel has never been a strength-based fighter, Axel thinks to himself as his eyes take in the shirtless man’s form. His body is more lithe, lacking the wide pectorals but compensating with a thinner frame and no flabby skin. Axel has to force himself to stop when he realizes that he can see the man’s bare hips peeking out from the blanket, and he realizes quite quickly that Bettel is naked in bed with him.

He tries to think what led to this, and comes up blank. They went out to the bar, had many drinks, and he can’t fucking remember anything else. Had he hooked up with the jester of the Tempus guild?

Axel considers this possibility, and just as Bettel opens his mouth, he breaks into a cheeky grin.

“Mornin’, Bettel. Like what you see? You sure did last night~!” Axel waggles his eyebrows as the bullshit spews from his mouth, reaching over and wrapping his arms around the boy’s shoulders. Bettel is surprisingly relaxed as soon as he does, almost leaning into his touch as Axel pulls him right against his side.

“U-Uh…yeah, man…we sure did have a good time, huh?” Bettel stammers, his eyes flicking around the room as the blush on his face only intensifies. Axel’s grin goes wider. There’s no fucking way he remembers what happened.

“Yeah, although I didn’t expect you to be so flexible in the end. When were you gonna show the guild those moves, man?”

“I don’t show that t-to just anybody…” The clown murmurs, fixing his eyes on the blanket that they’re sharing.

Axel blinks. He has a secret move?

The gladiator opens his mouth to respond, and that’s exactly when the smell hits him. It’s a stench he’s quite acquainted with, really. There have been many nights where Axel has woken up with his head half submerged in vomit after a long night, and judging by the way Bettel’s nose wrinkles, he smells it too.

Both of them look over at the corner, and then look at each other, the traces of the burgeoning lust now lost to the wind.

“…we’re so fucked.”

“Yeah…”