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Laszlo didn’t notice the signs himself. It was a difficult case, and they were at a dead end, so he didn’t think twice about getting up to pace around the room in an attempt to make sense of the evidence. The general noise of Sara’s office seemed louder than normal, but that was likely due to the door being closed and shutting them all in. And when he snapped at John, Laszlo merely assumed that perhaps the man was being more annoying than normal.
He didn’t recognize the signs, but he saw the moment John did. His eyebrows raised slightly as a look of understanding dawned on his face, and Laszlo’s stomach sank; he knew what that look meant.
At first, it was casual comments. “Why don’t you come sit for a moment?” “We should draw the shades a bit, the sun’s rather bright.” All things Laszlo had heard before, and he refused to let himself be drawn into John’s attempts. He simply shook his head and continued to study the blackboard, scanning the words but not really reading them as he felt John’s eyes bore into his back.
When that didn’t work, John moved on to more obvious suggestions. “We haven’t had lunch yet, why don’t you accompany me to the deli?” “You look rather tired, perhaps you should take a rest.”
Still, Laszlo denied him. He was going to make headway on this case. He felt fine, if a little weary; there would be no point in wasting time by doing nothing when he was perfectly capable of more work.
A few hours later, John’s gentle persuasions became firmer, his voice becoming more annoyed with every one. It had Laszlo grinding his teeth until he was unable to think with the constant badgering, so finally he threw his chalk on the ground, the sudden noise making Lucius jump in his seat.
“Fine,” he hissed, glaring at John. “If it will make you shut your mouth for two moments, I’ll sit on the damned couch.”
John didn’t look perturbed at Laszlo’s outburst, which immediately made his stomach sink as he realized he’d lost. Still, he stomped over to the couch and petulantly dropped onto it.
He instantly knew he’d made a mistake as an exhaustion that hadn’t been there moments prior washed over him, making him sag into the cushions with a quiet sigh. His eyelids were drooping almost immediately, and he distantly heard Lucius bid John and Sara goodnight before the door clicked shut again.
He didn’t realized he’d fallen asleep until he was dragged back to consciousness by a gentle shake to his shoulder. Groggy and uncomfortable, Laszlo mumbled in protest as another shake brought him back to the present.
“Sara’s locking up for the night,” John said in a hushed voice. He was crouching beside the sofa, looking at Laszlo with a smile that barely masked his concern. “I’m going to take you home.”
Laszlo didn’t need to ask whose home; he just hummed in acknowledgement and let John guide him to sit up.
The cool night air woke him up a little, enough to draw himself up from where he was leaning heavily into John as they left the building. A carriage was already waiting for him, and he was mildly surprised to see Cyrus sitting atop it, despite no longer being under his employment. He heard John say a quiet thanks before he was ushered into the cab, John settling down beside him as the carriage began to move. He slumped against John’s side, instinctually seeking out the crook of his neck and tucking his head between John’s head and shoulder. His cheek vibrated at John’s quiet laugh, an arm slipping around his shoulders and pulling him closer.
He managed to stay awake for the duration of the ride, though his head had began to throb with the movement of the carriage. He allowed John to help him out, giving Cyrus a tired nod before following him up the steps and inside.
John’s house was dark, but even tired as he was Laszlo knew his way around by heart. Still, John gently took his hand and led him up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom.
Despite wanting to immediately crawl into bed, Laszlo let John help him unbutton and shed his outer layers. Almost as soon as the cool air of the bedroom touched his bare skin, John was slipping a nightshirt over his head and guiding his arms through it as though he were some sort of doll or mannequin.
Finally, John pulled back the covers and nudged him to lay down. Laszlo didn’t need to be encouraged, climbing into bed and immediately burrowing under the blankets. He heard John chuckle as he disrobed, and felt the weight of his body settle beside him soon after.
It was almost second nature by now for Laszlo to lean back into John’s warmth, for John to drape an arm over his waist and pull him flush to his chest. Laszlo could hear his steady heartbeat through his nightclothes, and the comforting lullaby matched his own as he began to doze off again.
Moments before he was pulled under, he felt John press an achingly tender kiss to the side of his throat.
“Sleep now, my dear,” was the last thing he heard before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When Laszlo finally awoke the next day, John’s side of the bed was empty. He rolled onto his back and yawned, wide enough that he felt his jaw crack, and blearily looked around the room before sitting up and sliding out of bed. He found a housecoat hanging on the bedpost and pulled it on, then padded out the open door and out into the hall.
John was sitting at the table when Laszlo entered the dining room, and he looked him up and down with a fond, slightly satisfied smile.
“Good morning.”
Laszlo grunted, rubbing his eyes and yawning again.
“Whutimeizzit?” he mumbled. John chuckled.
“Half past eleven. I’ve saved a plate for you in the kitchen, it should still be warm.”
It was, of course.
“Did you sleep well?” John asked as Laszlo slumped down in the chair across from him. Laszlo managed a smile, tired but genuine.
“I did. The best I have in a long time, if I’m honest.”
He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he was halfway into his plate of pancakes. John pointedly wasn’t looking at him, but he looked up from his newspaper when Laszlo cleared his throat.
“What made you...that is, how did you…”
“How did I know you were about to crash and burn?”
Laszlo’s cheeks prickled with heat, but he nodded. John sighed, setting his paper aside and leaning his elbows on the table.
“Well for one thing, when you’re close to your limit, you become even more of an ass than normal.”
Laszlo glared, but there was no heat behind it.
“You get much more snappy than you usually are,” John said in a more serious tone, “and you seem to aim to hurt with your comments instead of simply being blunt. And you appear to drift off, staring at nothing until abruptly snapping back again.”
His face was soft, yet his eyes betrayed his worry. Laszlo fiddled with his fork, suddenly filled with an urge to look anywhere else.
“You flinch away from noises,” John continued. “Even the smallest sounds seem to cause you discomfort. It’s as if everything is...more. You react to things you normally wouldn’t.”
Laszlo sighed.
“Once again, I cannot comprehend how you seem to know more about me than I do.”
John chuckled. He lay a hand over Laszlo’s on the table, making him flush.
“You can’t know everything,” he teased. “You’ve got to leave some to the rest of us, you know.”
Laszlo felt himself smile, and John squeezed his hand before standing.
“I’ve contacted Sara to let her know that we won’t be coming over today,” he said. Laszlo was about to protest, but John fixed him with a stern look, and his words died on his tongue.
“Alright,” he managed instead. The agreement felt forced, but the way that John smiled at him was more than worth it.
As he finished his breakfast and stood to return the plate to the kitchen, John wrapped his arms around him from behind.
“I love you, Laszlo,” he said quietly. Laszlo’s cheeks burned, but he couldn’t help but lean into the embrace.
“I love you,” he whispered. The words had been difficult to get out at first, but the more he said them, the easier they came.
He felt John’s lips curve up into a smile where they were pressed to the side of his jaw. He kissed Laszlo’s cheek before letting him go, a sparkle in his eyes that filled Laszlo with pride to know he put there.
“I’m going to run you a bath. Then, we have a long day of nothing ahead of us.”
Laszlo shook his head in mock exasperation, but he couldn’t hide his smile.
And if he convinced John to join him in the bath so he could lean against him in the warm water while they exchanged tender words, that was between them.