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Elias wakes up slowly with tousled hair, then stretches to fully wake himself up. He instinctively reaches out for his hoodie that’s always laid on the dreaded chair, but a noise of confusion escapes him when he discovers he’s picked up his jeans instead.
Marius must have taken it, and makes a mental reminder to have a talk with him, pointing out that his wardrobe should be housing sweaters and not cobwebs. But before that, he has to clothe himself first before searching for his boyfriend. Slipping on a shirt he had grabbed from a nearby chair, he glances around.
“Marius?” Elias calls out, rubbing his eyes. He doesn’t hear an answer back and wonders where he could’ve gone. Ah right. He remembers Marius talking about a mission where he was needed to pilot the helicopter and pick up a few of their fellow operators from the rendezvous point. He’d been excited and exceptionally chatty about it since he mostly spends his hours tinkering away in the workshop.
He looks back at his ashy jeans that definitely needed to be thrown into the washing machine. Another mental note . Sighing, he stares more disappointedly at it and falls back into bed.
He misses his hoodie.
But unfortunately, Marius is a thief.
Elias wasn’t the only target; Dominic was as well. Until he found a great solution for it— just wear it everyday. However, Dominic seemed like he showered with it on too. Though Marius could have stolen Monika’s, her jacket was way too small for him.
And that left the only perfect candidate: Elias’ hoodie.
Not that he’s complaining. Well, he sort of is; Marius always did look adorable in his hoodie. But out of spite, the engineer would sometimes wear it over his own teal one, and Elias just wants to ask him why.
Was it a method of establishing superiority? Through hoodie thievery? Seems odd, but he’ll bite. It is Marius, after all.
Elias had always brought up that if he liked the size so much, why didn’t he ask to have a bigger size of his own hoodie issued. Marius then explained to him with a frown, “But that’s not the point.”
He leaned his head against Elias’ shoulder and grinned at him, “It smells like you. But.. the size is a bonus though.”
It doesn’t help that he looks very comfortable in his hoodie too, and eventually Elias gives in towards Marius’ kleptomaniac hoodie tendencies.
But right now, both were gone.
Temporarily.
Elias turns over, his mind can’t help but endlessly wander to what he should do today, doubling back on Marius with his hoodie. He looks over the empty space beside him and feels a small pang in his heart; he really does miss him.
He never really told him how he felt about Marius getting back on piloting a helicopter though. Don’t get him wrong, he trusts him and doesn’t doubt that he’s the best at flying the operators from Point A to B, but after what went down in New Mexico, the way his heart drops whenever Marius announces he has to fly someone somewhere, Elias can’t help but be worried.
Some nights serve as a painful reminder.
Marius assures him that he’s fine, that it happened a year ago, that he’s over it. But, the nightmares that violently shake him up says otherwise. Sometimes Marius doesn’t wake up, clutching onto Elias’ hoodie so hard that he swears his grip would leave marks. As a result, Elias would shimmy out of his hoodie and watch as the engineer clings to it almost like it’s some sort of comfort object. Doesn’t matter though, Marius is going through hell, and all Elias can do is calm him down and pray that his words reach him...
Less of it has happened recently, but still, Elias vividly remembers every single one he’s helped him through.
He shakes his head. Stop it. Those thoughts are no good, and would probably make him feel worse. He thinks, even after those nights, Marius has never failed to make the most out of his day. He assumes that Marius is probably chatting up the passengers right now, holding them hostage with inane facts pointed straight to their head. He chuckles. It’s particularly great when it happens to be one of Marius’ interests as well, and is advisable that one should bring a seat and maybe popcorn.
Elias wonders if he would take the scenic route back as well, Marius was never one to.
And thank god, because admittedly, he wants his boyfriend back.
Also, he thinks it's a bit cruel that the engineer left without saying goodbye.
Well actually, he technically did.
Elias does remember being stirred up upon hearing someone strapping up their gear. He had always been the light sleeper out of the three, and now it’s depriving him of his hours. He blinks slowly and registers a familiar figure holding his light grey hoodie.
Before he’s able to say anything, the figure walks over and Elias remembers feeling a pair of warm lips pressed against his forehead. He catches a small whisper of “Go back to sleep Eli, I’ll be back soon” and all that’s left in this memory is a soft click from the closed door.
Elias makes his way to the bathroom, hints of sleep still apparent on his face in the mirror. Eyeing the cup containing their toothbrushes, he’s careful to choose his own, especially since he’s made the mistake of picking up Dominic’s before.
Upon hearing the chorus of greetings outside, he immediately pops his head around the corridor when he makes out the sound of familiar footsteps nearing the door. He’s consumed with anticipation, but hurriedly goes back when the minty toothpaste starts to burn in his mouth.
He spits it into the sink and rinses it out with cupped hands.
“Marius?” he calls out before patting his mouth dry with a towel, a fond smile tugging at his lips, his heart hopeful in that awaiting moment.
“Yeah?”