Chapter Text
Koby had not planned on spending the entire day in his office, but he knew he should not be complaining. It was his own fault that he had let his paperwork get this bad. He should have been taking care of it in the evenings or when he had a little downtime in his busy schedule. There were dozens of reports that had made their way onto his desk in the past week that he had been ignoring. Koby was at least grateful that he was making progress, the pile lessening bit by bit as read through, filled out and filed away each bit of paperwork. If only the aches and pains from being hunched over for so long would go away.
Koby was so deeply focused that a knock on his doorframe startled him. He had forgotten that he had left the door open so people could come and go as they pleased. In case they needed something from him or just wanted to give him some company. Koby took a moment to compose himself and then turned to see who it was. He was surprised to see one of the recruits with a plate of food for him. Was it that time already? Helmeppo or Drake must have sent it when they realized he was missing from lunch.
“I was asked to bring this to you.” The recruit explained, then stepped inside to offer the plate of food to Koby.
“Oh, thank you,” Koby said as he gratefully accepted the food. He had not realized that he was hungry until lunch was presented to him. “Tell whoever sent this thank you.”
The recruit nodded and then left so Koby could get back to what he had been doing. The young Marine would eat the food as he worked through a little more paperwork. There was an odd taste to it, but he brushed it off. This was a base in the Grand Line after all. It was likely just a spice or ingredient that he was not familiar with.
As soon as he was done, Koby set the plate aside then focused fully on the paperwork he had left. He could finally see the end of the horizon with it. Just a little more then he could do something else.
Koby did not realize anything was wrong until he was on the very last page he needed to be entirely done. He started reading the same sentence over and over. The young Marine blinked and then rubbed his eyes. He tried to ignore the fact that his brain was feeling a little fuzzy. Koby wondered if it was from focusing on one task for too long and it was his brain trying to urge him to take a break.
But then it felt a little too warm in his room. He furrowed his brows. Koby wanted to blame the weather outside, but it was a relatively nice day. Something was wrong, and he could not figure out what.
To try to find any sort of relief, Koby unzipped a portion of his uniform top. If someone came in or he went elsewhere in the base, he could just zip it back up. When that did not help, he decided to get up and open the window. A slight shifting of his shirt from the movement to open the window had him freezing. It felt as if he had just been struck by lightning. He barely stifled the sound that had tried to escape him from just the bare movement.
Koby covered his mouth in horror as he processed what had just happened. What if someone had heard him?! All he had been doing was opening the window to get some air. Had there been something in his food that was causing this? The fog in his brain was getting worse, making it harder and harder to figure out what to do. Everything else was rendered unimportant as one person filled his brain.
Drake.
The older man dominated all of his thoughts now. If there was a problem, then Drake should be the one to help him with it. All he needed to do was find the taller man.
Koby steeled his resolve, then zipped up his shirt and went through his open door. He only paused long enough to grab something from his desk then he continued on. Walking like a man on a mission. There was a part of his brain that was mortified at the thought of someone seeing him like this. But he pushed it away. Nothing else mattered. Koby just needed to find Drake.
The two Marines had been dating for almost an entire year now. Not a single person on the base knew, though some may have suspected. When they started dating, both had agreed to keep it a secret. Not because they were nervous of some judgement. But because they wanted their privacy. Neither was the type to want people prying into their personal business if they could help it.
Koby and Drake often made time for each other when they found themselves in the same place. Making up for lost time in the dead of night or when they were sure they were the only two souls around. Lucky for Koby, they happened to be at the same base for the week at least. Drake had arrived the previous day to report in for a mission. Since he had been so busy, Koby had not gone to see him yet.
It was about time for that to change.
It was easy for Koby to find the man considering he was not in uniform and towered over most of the other Marines. Thankfully, he was alone, which brought a smile to Koby’s lips. It seemed the world knew what he wanted and was willing to make way for him. The young Marine picked up the pace to catch up with Drake’s much longer strides. As soon as he was close enough, Koby reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him.
“Koby—?!” Drake said in surprise as he looked down at the shorter man, coming to a stop. Koby was sure the man must have been convinced that he would not see him today. That last bit of paperwork could wait. Koby wanted to spend some time with his significant other.
There was a question on Drake’s lips that he did not get to finish as he was dragged into a nearby broom closet. It was only pure luck that kept Drake from whacking his head into the door frame. Koby would have felt terrible if that had happened if he was not so focused on something else. Koby looked up at him. The man was clearly wondering what the hell had gotten into the younger man.
Koby was sure he would wonder the same thing if his brain was not so fogged over with need.
Koby cut off any question that Drake tried to ask when he dragged him down for a heated kiss. He pulled away just long enough to whisper into the older man’s ear. “I need you. Right now.” For emphasis, Koby pressed himself against Drake’s leg.
Koby could see the exact moment the gears in Drake’s head ground to a halt as he processed.