corkscrewed | IC Inbox

I tried to go play pinball.

[ he's still laughing, a little helplessly. ]

[ Jon reaches over and pokes his leg. ]

Ping.

I didn't say I wanted to be pinball, you-

[ he's burying his face in his hands. ]

I'm so glad you're here.

Well, that’s nice to hear. New. Different.

[ He looks over at the television. ]

Can they do that? Cars, I mean...

Is not. Practically everyone likes you.

[ he's also staring at the television now. ]

I dunno. I should get my driving license.

[ Jon blinks at him. ]

Sorry, what?

Meant when I go home. Obviously not here. I mean - it's probably silly, I can't ever imagine having a car, but it'd be nice to be able to, right?

[ He reaches over to poke him again. ]

Not that bit.

[ he swats that hand away. ]

What? They do, when you're not being prickly, or - or taking pictures of their homes.

Nonsense.

[ Followed by a snort and, now that he's already leaning over, he's going to take one of the pillows and put it against Martin's leg to lay down on. Because he'd leaned over a little far and leaning back up is hard. He'd rather do this.]

Also people seem to think I'm always prickly. Blows holes in your theory.

Well - well, I mean, you- you usually are, at work. Tim says you got a lot less fun when you took the Archivist job.

[ martin is going to deliberate for a full minute, before he oh-so-carefully rests his fingers against the back of jon's shoulder. since he's lying there like that and all. ]

[ Jon shifts a little in encouragement. Yes, that's fine. Go on with that. Christ he's sleepy now that he's... vertical. Horizontal. The- the flat one. With the lying down. ]

Never was much good at 'fun'. But- just too busy for it. Always- always feeling like I'm watched.

It's not paranoia when it turns out they are watching.

[ his fingers rub a small circle into the back of jon's shoulder, just because - well. he didn't seem adverse to it. ]

You still feel like you're being watched here?

Always.

[ Oh, that's- that's quite nice, actually. Yes, he'll sink a little.]

Less, though. Like there's- there's a filter. Or a curtain. Like it's harder.

Well, any distance you can put-

[ martin swallows hard, trying to figure out how bold he wants to be. lightly, gingerly, he combs two fingers through maybe an inch of jon's hair, just because he can't ever fathom getting this opportunity again. ]

Sorry if I made you self conscious about your hair.

[ If it helps, Jon sinks just a little more and nudges into the fingers. Yes. That's also good. Keep on with that.

He doesn't stifle a yawn.]

Didn't- didn't make me self-conscious. It's- what it is. To be fair, everyone's- [ another yawn] Everyone's thought I was forty since I was eight.

[ He swallows and sort of opens and closes his mouth a few times before he actually speaks again.]

You're comfortable.

[ Definitely drowsy.]

Thanks, Jon.

[ he feels like a stupid kid with a crush, his ears warm and stomach vaguely knotted. they're drunk, yeah, but this is - sweet.

jon is sweet, and he wishes everyone could see it. ]

I'm gonna watch the movie for a bit, okay?

[ except his fingers are sinking experimentally into jon's hair, now. maybe he can put him to sleep. ]

[ There's a sort of response, some kind of affirmative noise mixed in with something happy and comfortable and satisfied and very very sleepy. The only real tell is that he shifts into the touch, but otherwise he's simply settling in and starting to drift off.

There's a low, steady wheezing breath in and out only a few minutes later.]

[ martin will, eventually, conk out himself, the movie nearly over and his fingers plunged into jon's hair.

it's a better sleep than he expects. ]

[ It does take a few hours, but Jon does wake up. He's actually... relatively well-rested, even if his head hurts. And he feels- mmmm comfortable. Exceptionally comfortable.

Yes, even when he turns his head to note that Martin is there. That's- that's fine, really. It's even sort of... comforting. Mmm.

... all right, he might not be entirely awake.

He'll wake up and try to carefully sort of push himself up using the couch, but the hand is still in his hair and ooo. Hmm. That's sort of nice.]

Geeeetting up.

[Said quietly to himself to help him do just that.]

Oh, good.

[ martin is stirred to actual consciousness by jon's voice, and he lifts his own head from where he's sort of slumped sideways into some cushions of his own.

his voice is raspy, throat dry, but this was a lot less awkward than he had expected it to be. ]

I've needed to use the toilet for an hour now.

[ drowsily, he pulls his fingers from jon's hair. ]

[ There's a faint pleased noise... and then a slightly grumpier one: the feel of the hands in his hair and then the realization that they've been removed. Regardless, he shakes off a little, licks his lips a couple of times, yawns and waves Martin off to do that while he heads over to the kitchen to start tea and find some biscuits or something.]

[ martin goes off to do just that, and luckily doesn't have too much difficulty locating the bathroom. his hands are damp when he returns, and he's taking his water cup from the table from the night before to refill at the sink with a wince. ]

Uh. Sorry about getting - emotional last night.

[ and trying to storm out again. ]

It’s- honestly, I’d be worried if you just- just took it all without-

Without feeling it. Either you’d think I was insane or- well, you wouldn’t be the Martin Blackwood I know.

[ And there’s clearly- he wouldn’t like that, if Martin wasn’t Martin. Nor if Martin thought he was insane, of course, but that should be pretty evident on its own.

Meanwhile, a tea pot is pulled out and milk is retrieved and- ]

How do you take it?

Here, I don't mind -

[ he's just going to lean over and take the teapot, serving himself, because even now it feels weird to have jon offering to do that for him. ]

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epistemological - 2019-03-18 22:00 (UTC) - Expand