Chapter Text
The next day, Sasha had dragged him out to get groceries after he finished his work early, stating that she needed someone to help carry everything on the tube home. He hadn’t had a chance to protest before they were already out of the door, pointedly ignoring Martin and Tim doing their work.
And god, it was awkward. It was impossible not to feel the uncharacteristic silence from her as she furrowed her brow over two avocados attempting to figure out if they were ripe enough. He fiddled with his hands for a few moments before finally deciding to speak up.
“You know, Tim might have been a bit more help with this. What with his car and…” He made an awkward gesture of flexing biceps he definitely didn’t have. “...muscles?”
Normally that would earn at least a chuckle from her, but she stayed silent before huffing and setting both of the avocados down and pushing the cart further down the aisle. Odd. Maybe she hadn’t heard him.
“I mean, he loves doing things like this. Playing house and all.”
“Hm.”
Don’t press it, Jon, just don’t press it.
“Is something wrong?”
Damn his curiosity.
Sasha’s expression twisted in what seemed to some very complicated indecision that Jon assumed wasn’t about breakfast cereal. Maybe she was regretting taking him along instead of Tim now. Still, he waited with bated breath as her eyebrows furrowed and un-furrowed before she finally gave up a sigh.
“Jon, do you remember the office holiday party a few years back? The one where you kept pulling down all the mistletoe even though it kept reappearing.” She turned to him with a weary glance.
“Vaguely. “ His expression turned sour at the memory. He’d tried reporting it to Elias several times to no avail.
“And how Tim gave me a ride home?”
That detail seemed to have passed him by, but he nodded just for the sake of getting the answer sooner.
“And how we didn’t talk to each other for months after for seemingly no reason and kept asking you to pass notes for us? “ Her tone seemed to imply that there was some obvious conclusion to be made, but it only passed right over his head.
“...Not really?” He managed.
She visibly deflated at that, giving him a look that told him that he was absolutely hopeless. And maybe he was, because everything she listed had seemed perfectly normal to him at the time and only slightly strange now.
“Tim and I slept together, Jon.”
Yes, that definitely had flown right over him. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Did you actually not know?”
Well, that certainly put a few things into perspective now that he thought about it. Suddenly, those months of awkwardness where they didn’t go out for drinks like they used to and both seemed more sullen than usual and refused to look each other in the eye started to all add up. Now he felt a little silly for not noticing all the signs that all showed so clearly from the breakfast aisle years later. At least by the time he made them assistants, all had seemed to be mended between the two of them, and it couldn’t have been that bad if they had been willing to move in together.
“Honestly? I didn’t even know the two of you liked each other. Like that.”
Sasha’s tiny smile dropped as she pushed the cart along once more, Jon trailing after. “It was complicated. Hence, the awkwardness.”
“Well, you’re friends, aren’t you? Which means you like each other so it shouldn’t be-- sorry, I don’t really know what I’m talking about. I’ve never slept with Tim.”
“I know, Jon.”
“Just to be clear.”
She huffed out something that sounded a bit like a laugh and Jon found himself relaxing once more as they pulled into the next aisle.
“It was complicated because I thought he would be my subordinate soon.” She replied after some silence, stacking baking ingredients in the cart that looked like the kind of thing Martin used to bake the other evening.
That thoroughly confused Jon even more than the revelation they had slept together. “Why would he be your subordinate?”
“You never fail to amaze me, Jon.”
“How?”
“Just being the way you are. So smart, but so so clueless.”
He openly balked, waiting for her to elaborate.
“I thought I was going to get the Archivist position. I met Gertrude a few times before she disappeared and she mentioned something to that effect. I guess Elias never got the memo.” She shrugged like it was nothing but it was definitely something to him.
“You wanted to be the Archivist?” He managed out, sounding thoroughly frazzled.
“ Yes , Jon. But it’s fine. Just… confusing now.”
He could understand that feeling quite well. Becoming the Archivist had been quite the adjustment for him and now that he thought about it, it would have made far more sense for Sasha to earn that position. Despite all his pomp and circumstance, she was much more cleverer, if that was even a word, than he ever was. Now he was just one of those sexist creeps who got a job he wasn’t qualified for and he hadn’t even known it. And he’d gone and made her his assistant ? He would have hated him too for that.
“I imagine living together has brought some of that to the surface.” Jon managed eventually once the shock wore off.
“Very much so.” She laughed and he had a sense that she truly didn’t hate him. He wasn’t sure how he’d be able to handle Sasha of all people hating him.
“You must think I’m an idiot. I feel like an idiot.”
“Not at all. I just think you’re our Jon.”
His cheeks heated once more at the warmness of her words and the way her gaze fell softly on him when she said our. There were certainly people in his life who would have been annoyed, rightfully, by that, but she said it with such honesty that he did feel, deep down, that he belonged with them. But that was silly and he pushed the thought aside as he moved forward to gather a few muffin tin liners.
“You can have the Archivist position if you want.” He eventually murmured when the embarrassment faded. “I didn’t realize there would be killer worm ladies.”
“No thanks. You can keep it now.”