Work Text:
Daniel looked over at his friend, bent over his desk and writing furiously.
It wasn't an unusual scene. Alexander had never known nor understood the value of slowing down, of assessing your surroundings and deciding upon the most favourable option; no, he found something to do and he did it , and he defended it and argued for it until he was past blue in the face.
Daniel didn't understand why they were so close. He hadn't even really known how important Alexander was to him until he'd gotten the call from Jon saying he was in the hospital, and it was like the earth had turned in its axis.
They shouldn't be friends. By all logic, they should hate each other. Daniel had always resented Alexander in some part, and it was no secret that Alex hadn't been incredibly fond of him either, before.
But things had been different then. Daniel had been different then.
And now, as he watched Alexander type so fast it seemed the keys would come flying off his laptop, he couldn't help but grin.
Alexander was a mess . He was more than a mess. He was reckless, he never thought things all the way through, he worked himself too hard and slept and ate too little. He'd text Daniel in the middle of the night, spouting off full paragraphs of text about ideas for articles and essays and novels, sending four or five messages in a row. He forgot to shave more often than not, his hair was always a mess, and his clothes always somehow smelled like coffee and hot sauce.
He was the total opposite of Daniel Aaron Think Before You Speak, Take Everything Into Consideration, Make Sure Your Shirt Is Tucked In Barnes.
Daniel didn't practice Taoism, but he did appreciate the idea of the yin-yang. The idea of balance always had appealed to him. The concept of not alienating an entire part of something because it wasn't exactly like you, the act of accepting and listening to every part and weighing them all in equal measure, was something he'd always strived to achieve.
Alexander was, in many ways, his balance, and that moment when he thought he might have lost him, his closest friend in, well, ever … it wasn't something he wanted to relive.
“Aaron? Hey, hey, dude. Daniel. Aaron. Hey,” Alexander said, pulling Daniel out of his reverie. “I need you to do a quick look over of this report before I turn it in. Do you think the wording is okay?”
Daniel rolled his eyes and scanned the document Alexander pushed in front of him. “Use frustrating instead of agitating. Just because the word is different doesn't mean it's better ,” he commented.
“Yeah, but I already used frustrated in the paragraph above and--”
“And there are a hundred words between then and now. We all know you have an extensive vocabulary, Alexander. You don't have to keep reminding us,” Daniel said.
“Fine,” Alex relented, “Give it here, I'll fix it.”
“No, I'll just highlight it and keep going. If you fix every error as I point them out to you, we'll never finish. And, unlike some people , I actually plan on sleeping tonight,” Daniel said, holding onto the shitty laptop.
Alexander huffed and Daniel sighed. Alex was exasperating, there was no way around it, but he also cared . He cared about just about everything, and he cared a lot. He didn't half-ass things, and even if he worked quickly, he didn't rush . He put all his effort into everything. Yes, it ended in him being smeared thin like too little cream cheese on too much bagel, but it also meant you always knew he gave a damn. He wasn't pretending to give a shit about you--he legitimately did give a shit about you.
And after all of Daniel's time around people who would cosy up to you and and put on a the facade of friendship, only to turn and use it against you--hell, after all of Daniel's time being the person who would use it against you--it was comforting. Refreshing, even.
Daniel continued to read over the document, highlighting as he went.
It was good. Almost all of Alexander's writing was. A bit flowery in some places and overly explicit in others, but that was just Alex's style. Using ‘whilst’ was just as typical as telling someone to ‘politely fuck off’.
Alexander had adapted to the changes all around him. Alex always seemed to adapt. He always seemed to be able to fit whatever position was necessary. Deadly serious one moment, cracking jokes and grinning ear to ear the next. Always able to balance ‘Hamilton’ with ‘Hayley’, almost never seeming swayed by comments or memories or regrets.
“You work tomorrow, right?” Alexander asked as he rapted his fingers against the desk impatiently. “Because it's Herc’s birthday and Laf is throwing some huge party and you need to come.”
“My shift is done at seven,” Daniel muttered as he highlight another run-on sentence.
“The party starts at six-thirty, so you won’t be too late,” Alexander replied. Daniel could practically feel him jittering.
He sighed. “I’ll probably be there by eight,” he said.
“Why so late?”
Daniel finally looked up to see Alexander, drumming on the desk, leg bouncing, as he held a pencil between his lip and his nose. “How much caffeine have you had today? I know there was only one shot of espresso in your coffee,” Daniel said as his folded his arms over his chest.
“Um… two red bulls mixed with a coke?” Alex said, “And a mountain dew.”
Daniel wanted to bang his head against the table top. “You’re not going to make it to fifty,” he snapped.
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Daniel winced, and, for once, Alexander seemed to regret his words.
“Aaaaaanyway,” he added quickly, “Why are you getting there so late? It takes fifteen minutes to get to Laf’s place from Cool Beans.”
“Because maybe I want to go home and clean up before I go to a party?”
“You mean you want half an hour of peace before you go to what’ll probably end up being a fucking rave?”
Daniel sighed. “If you knew, why’d you ask?”
“I was hoping it’d be something different,” Alexander shrugged in the ‘what can you do?’ way.
“Just because you thrive on constant attention and socialization doesn't mean we all do,” Daniel muttered.
Alexander rolled his eyes. “I know,” he said.
“You're insufferable,” Daniel snapped.
“Always have been.”
“I know .”
They fell into another comfortable silence as Daniel continued checking Alex's writing and Alexander read something on his phone.
“Why do you feel the need to write everything like you're T.S. Elliot?” Daniel finally asked.
“It's more fun that way. Plain prose is boring,” Alexander replied flippantly.
Daniel glared at him. “This is a lab report .”
“So?” Alex asked cheekily, his grin being one that could only be described as shit-eating.
“You're impossible.”
“It's more fun that way,” Alexander replied.
Daniel just rolled his eyes.
Alexander was a mess. An invidious, presumptuous, somewhat intolerable mess , but for some reason… he'd made himself a place in Daniel's life. He'd wiggled himself back in and set up camp there, and it didn't seem he'd be leaving anytime soon.
Daniel was stuck with Alexander Hayley, and the funny thing was, he found he didn't really mind.