Work Text:
The morning sunshine invaded the room, despite Lou’s objection. Should’ve closed the blinds after all. But no one has time for that when you’re stumbling drunkenly-high into your apartment in the middle of the night and crashing on the couch. Unlocking the door was already a challenge in itself, so the blinds remained open.
Nights like this one were always a blast. Well, at least they should be. For Lou, they have become more like a routine, a necessity even. Getting high and black-out drunk got boring a long time ago, but there was nothing else to do. And Lou would rather die than get even more bored.
He tried to pull his blanket over his head to protect his eyes from the unforgiving sun, only to realize that he didn’t have a blanket after all. He was still wearing yesterday’s jeans and top. Definitely not the most comfortable sleepwear. Lou didn’t even take his shoes off before falling asleep. Maisie would kill him for that, he’s sure.
Speaking of the devil; he heard somebody frantically trying to unlock the door. By the desperate tugging of the door handle, he already knew it was Maisie. She never figured out how to properly open the front door, despite living there for over a year. Lou didn’t get up to help, though. His temples were pulsing violently and even the slightest movement sent a raging ache to his head. Maisie finally managed to open the door.
“Wow, didn’t even open the door for a lady, what a shame,” she said, throwing her purse on the chair next to the door.
Lou just grunted. He didn’t have the energy to talk, or do anything, really. Maisie didn’t care, though.
“Get up,” she commanded, “I have a client coming in 15 minutes.”
He didn’t react. Maybe if he didn’t move, she’d leave him alone to have a peaceful hangover.
Maisie tutted and started shaking his shoulder: “C’mon, get up! I can’t have a druggie sleeping on my couch when I’m working!”
Her acrylic nails dug deep into his skin and it started to hurt. This woman really knew how to get somebody up (in all the senses of this word).
Finally, with a terrifying groan, Lou lifted himself from the sofa. Immediately, his head started reeling even more and his neck started to feel sore. He felt pretty disgusting, as he always did, no matter the circumstances. He started vigourously rubbing his eyes in hopes that it would wake him up at least a little. Didn’t work. Still felt gross and sleepy.
“You know,” he said in a raspy voice, “I might be a druggie sleeping on the couch, but” he interrupted himself with a cough, “it’s not your couch. It’s the landlord’s couch.”
He looked up at Maisie, not really expecting to see anything other than annoyance from her part, but she smiled.
“Okay then, I can’t have a druggie sleeping on the landlord’s couch” She patted him on the thigh and got up to make some coffee.
Their old pink rusty tin where they kept instant coffee was situated on the highest shelf in the kitchen, so only Maisie could reach it. She hid it there because if Lou drank coffee more than twice a day, he’d get horrible anxiety and wouldn’t be able to fall asleep all night. Lou wouldn’t even see it on the top shelf, being only five feet tall, so it was the perfect place for hiding: in plain sight, but not really.
She turned on the kettle and poured three teaspoons of instant into two pale-yellow cups.
“So you were out yesterday, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Any good?” she asked pouring boiling water into the cups.
Lou ran his fingers through his hair, tying them into a small ponytail.
“As usual. So, no,” he replied.
Maisie nodded. She quit partying a while ago since it was no longer fun. Or healthy. She tried to convince Lou to quit as well, but he refused to acknowledge her concerns.
The coffee was ready. Even though it was just instant and tasted like sludge, it still filled their stuffy apartment with a nice aroma. Maisie handed Lou his mug and sat back on the couch next to him.
After taking a few not so pleasant sips, Lou noticed that something was missing. Well, someone was missing.
“Wait, where’s Boston?” he said in a concerned voice, looking around the small apartment.
“I was over at Claire’s and took him with me,” said Maisie after taking another gulp.
“Are you talking about the clutter shop where they give you shitty piercings, that later get infected, or about that annoying bitch’s flat?” asked Lou with a weak grin.
“Why’d you take him there anyway?”
Maisie huffed. “Well, first of all, don’t call her a bitch, she’s much nicer than you.” She replied side-eyeing him and defiantly slurping her coffee.
“Oh well, a lot of bitches are nicer than me and they’re still bitches,” he narrated, “I’m the mega-bitch if you haven’t forgotten.”
“How could I,” Maisie replied with a smile. After a moment she continued: “Alright, secondly, someone’s not cleaned his litter box for like a week, and thirdly, today’s client is allergic, so yeah.”
Lou shrugged his shoulder, which still had Maisie’s nail marks imprinted on it. He felt like a teenager, who got his computer taken away for not washing the dishes.
“You can’t just take my cat away every time I forget to do something. It’s not like I don’t feed him. You’re not my mum.”
He tried to hide the frustration in his voice but failed. He didn’t want to give away that not seeing his cat for a day or two made him this upset. But Lou and the fluffy bastard had been inseparable since he was fifteen and was the only stable presence in his life, even though Boston was just a cat.
“Let’s be honest here, I kind of am. You’d forget to shower if I didn’t remind you,” Maisie laughed, “speaking of which: you need a shower. And to brush your teeth.”
She theatrically sniffed the air and flinched her nose.
“Ugh, okay, mum,” Lou replied sarcastically.
He started slowly getting up from the couch, but no matter how carefully he moved, his headache intensified. Maisie didn’t pay attention to his groans since she was already used to Lou making old-man sounds in the morning.
“Hey grandpa, can you get me my earrings from my room?” she asked while wiping down the coffee dust from the kitchen counter.
She didn’t specify what earrings, but Lou already knew which ones. She wanted the big gold hoop earrings she always wore around clients. She called them The Ultimate London Dominatrix Earrings. Even though the hoops weren’t the most BDSM-like ear jewelry that she owned. If you asked him, the black dagger earrings, that Claire got her for her birthday were much more appropriate for the job. But Maisie liked the hoop ones the best, for some reason.
Lou entered her room. The walls were covered with crimson wallpaper with small golden ornaments, that she recently had put up. There was a small bed in a black metal frame in the back corner of the room. All of Maisie’s whips and harnesses were proudly displayed on all of the walls. He was always impressed by the amount of things she had, because BDSM gear was pretty damn expensive, and she wasn’t exactly well off. If she was, she wouldn’t be living in a ratty apartment with her slacker friend. But Maisie was very dedicated to her work and always bought new things to experiment with. That’s why she was loved by clients and already considerably successful in the field, even though she was working for less than a year.
The only thing that disturbed Lou, though, that this room didn’t look like a bedroom. Well, sure, it had a bed, but it seemed like no one was living there. It was a work room. And Lou knew how important it was to separate work from personal life. Maybe that was the reason why Maisie spent so much time at Claire’s place and slept with Lou on the couch when she was home. He didn’t mind, but it must suck not to have your own personal space, he thought.
“Lou, you found ‘em?”
He was forced out of his thoughts back to the real world.
“Yeah.”
He grabbed the earrings from the bedside table, where they always were and rushed back to the kitchen.
Maisie was now doing her makeup, which consisted of a bold cat-eye and some black lipstick.
Lou placed the earrings next to her on the table.
“Thanks, love,” she replied, drawing a thick straight line across her upper eyelid.
Love. This word always made Lou’s stomach flutter a little bit when she said it. People always referred to each other as “love”, but with her, it felt different.
“Oh, shit!” Maisie exclaimed, putting down her eyeliner, “He’s coming in five minutes and I haven’t even changed yet!” She quickly and swiftly started applying her black lipstick. It really brought out her dark brown eyes, and with her shaved head, she almost looked like some kind of demonic seductress. And that was exactly the look she was going for.
She quickly clipped in her earrings and turned to Lou:
“Okay, now I really need to change and you really need to get into the shower. I don’t want anyone around when he comes.”
Lou pouted. He just wanted to lay back down on the couch and sleep for an eternity. Also, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, her not wanting the client to see him kind of hurt. He knew that it was just a formality, that she was working and the client wanted to see her, not some random dude. But it almost made him feel, that Maisie was ashamed of him. And it hurt because she had every reason to be.
“Oh, ‘cmon, you’ll feel better after the shower, I promise,” she said, planting a kiss on his forehead.
Her lips left a black stain on Lou’s skin and he almost didn’t want to wash it off.
He smiled. It comforted him, that Maisie found him cute enough to kiss his forehead. It was nice. Their casual domestic banter was nice. But it was time for work now.
“How long will the session take?” he asked, reluctantly walking towards the bathroom.
“An hour or even less, I suppose,” she replied, “so you can have a nice bath!”
“Yeah, I’ll just drop a bath bomb in the shower cabin and let myself go,” Lou laughed.
Maisie smiled, looking at the ground.
“If you feel better later, we can do something,” she said finally, “If you don’t have any other plans, of course.”
A wide smile carved itself across Lou’s face. He and Maisie haven’t hung out in ages and he really missed her company.
“No, I’m totally available after my relaxing full bath,” He replied cheekily.
“Great then,” she replied, back rushing into her room.
Lou stood in the kitchen for a few more seconds, then disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.