the upstairs room

.><. four .><.

'robert?'

two more fucking knocks against the wooden door.

'mmh?'

steven poked his head in through the small gap in the door to take a look inside, he then let it swing open and leaned against the frame. he had a small dish in one hand and a glass of milk in the other.

robert had to admit, being caught in the early stages of a wank in the bath wasn't exactly his proudest moment. that confidence he had possessed just moments before was whisked away with the gust of cool air that entered the room. under his host's gaze, he felt like a naughty child. as if steven had caught him in a much more compromising situation than he had actually been in. he presented the glass and the dish with a knowing leer.

'thought these might be of use to you' he said. this sudden domestic intimacy came so casually to the pair.

'you know me too bloody well' robert smiled up at him.

steven stepped into the room, walking towards the bath and perched on the edge. robert sat upright in the tub and took the glass from steven's hand. severin held the dish of tablets in front of him; good painkillers, mineral supplements, a couple of multivitamins, valium if he was lucky. a perfected concoction, which could make him feel human again in a little over an hour. banishing any semblance of a hangover in mere hours, it was severin's greatest creation. even the little touch of giving him milk rather than water was an act of pure care. milk was always robert's favourite. it was easy on his stomach and good for his throat after it had been rubbed raw, like it had been last night (the benefits of this having been discovered at a breakfast bar when they were on the road for seventeen seconds)

he reached into the dish and took each pill in succession under steve's incessant gaze. each thick swallow was followed by a momentary grimace. the room echoed with steve's heavy breathing and the sound of the medicine rattling around in the bowl while robert tried to grasp them with his shaky hands. robert knew he was still half hard under the water, and was completely aware that the other man had noticed that.

'are you any better now petal?' poor steven; eternally stuck cleaning up robert's messes.

'yeah.. think so' he sighed and licked the remaining layer of milk off his upper lip with a teasing swipe of his tongue.

'there's only two left, chin up rob' he shook the dish and smiled down at robert, who threw his head back in mock-exasperation and dramatically groaned. already exhausted with the task.

'oi!' steven retorted, 'don't make me feed you the bloody things!'

robert stared blankly at steven, then dared to open his mouth with a bratty glare. which prompted an exaggerated sigh of exasperation from the other.

'you lazy bastard' steve muttered, barely concealing his satisfied smirk.

two long fingers entered robert's mouth, forcing it open even wider in the process. a capsule was then placed onto his wet, waiting tongue.

'swallow' severin commanded as best he could. robert slowly raised the glass to his lips and closed his eyes as he wrapped his lips around the rim, feigning sexual ecstasy as he threw his head back and swallowed. he gulped loudly, intentionally, and panted for breath after an exaggerated swallow. steven shook his head with a sigh and wrenched robert's mouth open to feed him the final pill. dropping it into his mouth, then tipping robert's head back as he swallowed. he sputtered a bit, but he still managed to get the medicine down. he finished off the final drop of milk and victoriously pressed the glass back into steven's hand.

'fucking obscene' steven mumbled to himself and took the glass from his grasp 'when did you become such a diva robert' he quipped while placing the glass and the dish on the ground.