Work Text:
A humble detective lay snoring amongst a pile of paperwork, pen with ink splotching the paper it stood still on. The stale smell of morning coffee from hours ago took over the room with its odor, a flickering warm lamplight to give the environment a sense of lateness. Late-nightness? Well, late.
In fact, it was incredibly late in the night, 2:38 in the morning to be exact, and Almond had promised himself he’d speed through all of the tickets, court notices and case files he needed to run himself by.
As you can see, that isn’t going too well.
His hand, which slided along as he drooled onto the paper he’d been mistakenly resting on, dragged and stretched out to tip over a cold coffee mug, spilling all over his sleeve with a tink and rolling off the desk onto the hardwood floor.
It cracked. It shattered.
Almond jittered himself up, trying to find attentively where the loud crash and crack came from, finding his eyes dotted near the floor. With a heavy-headed sigh, he finally sat up to stretch and clean up the mess, before then noticing his pen had strung out a line on an important paper from the insurance company—
“Oh, bother-“ he complained to nobody.
He really shouldn’t have decided to race against his own body’s sleep schedule. Still, he never had a single vacation from work, and never quit his job. The safety of others came high above his own well being, after all.
Hard work to reap the rewards.
He finished his stretch, a symphony of joints and bones popping as he did. Did Almond really sit down for so long? How long ago was it he decided to commit to..-?
The digital clock on the top shelf shined 2:40 on the dot.
It’s been awhile. Earl must’ve been asleep by now, either that or still cleaning up, doing some final touches for the kitchen, maybe the living room, he didn’t really worry about his schedule too much. Almond put back checking up on Earl, sometimes he goes on too far or goes on some kind of endless cleaning cycle-
He grunted, furrowing his brow and wiping his eyes with an arm, getting ahold of himself as he picked up the pen and started to finish the last paper. Then.. then, he’d..
He nodded off.
“Almond, dearest? It’s late in the night, what’re you doing in your-“
Earl wrinkled their nose to the smell of coffee, days-old dirty laundry from the corner and cigarettes. They would’ve walked out of the room if it weren’t for Almond desperately needing some rest. They brought a handkerchief to their nose and continued.
“.. Almond. My stars, It’s positively wretched in here- I’m sorry, love. I should’ve brought you out of here sooner…”
The hotelier was met with snoring.
“Almond? oh…”
Gently, they stepped down from their place in the doorway, holding a candle for light, to then place it down on the desk, focusing on shaking the poor sleeping man awake.
He jerked himself up from sudden slumber, complaining under his breath before turning to face Earls sorrowed expression, reflected by warm candlelight.
It made his heart flicker and flutter. He didn’t want to make them sad, did he?- oh, Oh, he worked too late-..
“Earl…”
“You look like a ghost, detective. Please, come to bed with me.”
The softness of their voice, although tired and worn, sounded like that of a siren. Almond immediately stood up from his chair once again, helped by Earl, and decided to sleepily mumble to his other, voice rasp and a bit low.
“m’sorry, earl. i got a little too caught up there.”
“I understand.” They both stepped together up from the Offices stair-steps into the main hallway, where Earl had picked up his light, batting back the darkness as they made their way back to their bedroom. “You’re a very busy man, I know. I’m just lucky enough to see you home, safe and sound.”
The hotelier turned their head toward the unlit darkness, peering out at the creaking, tethered shadows created by the moon.
“im okay. i promise you, just overworked a bit. im home now, right? and that’s what matters.”
They still held Almond lovingly, going slowly just to make sure he didn’t trip on his own feet or accidentally hurt himself, bump into anything, all of that.
“It’s a relief. I care about you far too much.”
Almond wiped the small pieces of gunk out of his eye with a sleeve, letting out a weak, echoed chuckle, that bounced off of the old houses walls.
“really, don’ worry about it, honey. is’ just paperwork.”
“You know it’s more than paperwork, it’s out on the field too. I'm sorry, dear, it’s just that-.”
The restless detective appeared concerned at Earls sudden shift of tone, and so late too. In fact, they were already at their destination, the door to their bedroom. Earl had reached to turn the knob before hesitation took them over.
“I worry about you, Almond. Every day. You work yourself to death and hardly ever catch a break, so… I urge you, I need you to take one. This weekend, just us.”
He only gives a slight grumble.
An agreeing grumble.
Earl twists the knob, letting Almond in and watching him sleepily undo his belt, untie his tie, unbutton his formerly-neat buttoned up shirt.
Understandable.. He didn’t say much else, he was tired.
Despite his lack of communication, they knew he wanted a break. He looked weary in his movements, calloused, bloody hands from handling heavy rusted copper all day and sometimes all night.
It’s all over him. They always took note of the gunpowder on his shirt, dried blood ruining his neatly pressed shirts and pants, marks of a fight. Just how rough was the city out there?
Sometimes, they could see more blood on his hands than anything else.
Scarred tissue. It sickened them.
They wanted him back home, where he was safe, away from all of those criminals and swamps full of crime. They absolutely hated him being surrounded by all of those.. ruffians.
But for now, he’s here and he’s with them. He’s safe, and that’s all that matters to them right now.
They close the door behind him, taking their candlelight and swapping its ambered warmth out for a nightstand lamp instead, watching politely as he got comfortable. A feeling of intimacy wafted over the room, a smile of glee subconsciously spreading across the hoteliers face.
My god, is he beautiful.
No, beautiful wasn’t enough.
He was gorgeous, handsome, spectacular, everything else and more. Beautiful wasn't enough a word to describe him.
Though he was messy, though he wasn’t always the perfect man he dressed himself up to be each morning and what he presented to his co-workers each day, he was perfect to Earl. His flaws, the way his hair became ruffled and crooked, that surge of confidence he had after catching another crook, the littlest things.
There was some kind of beauty to this man not even they could explain.
… Yes. Beauty to even his unkept and rather dirty office. It’s all a result of hard work, and 4 cups of coffee each morning.
Earl had soon unbuttoned their own nightclothes, slipping into bed with Almond and cuddling him from behind, rustling the neatly folded and presses blankets by fault of love.
They made no hesitation in coming in to cuddle and cradle Almond, giving him all the love and affection he needed after such a hard day of work. He deserved it, they were so proud of him.
“earl…” He spoke under his breath, relaxing and pushing away all that troubled him.. just from the thought and feel of them. Earls arms wrapping around his body, swooping him into safety, comfort like none other.
They hummed wistfully, pulling the sheets over the two of them before planting kisses on the worked areas of his old, toughened skin, making sure he served well to make Almond feel worthy, to make him remember what he came home to each day.
It’s what they lived for.
Earl loved him so much.
An unspeakable amount.
Taking in some rather tasteful rolls of fat created by his softened dough, pressing into his back and whispering their last few wishful thoughts into Almonds ear.
“I’ll take care of you. And the twins, maybe, can come along with us. I love you, Almond. Its set in my very being to make sure you’re loved.”
With their arms embracing Almonds torso lovingly, they felt him shift and move to give them some attention aswell, feeling him press sleepy kisses on their hands and arms, only making slight noises and movements to show his own sort of affection.
They enjoyed eachother fruitfully, savoring every kiss, pull and hug. Every sweet nothing, every word meant so much.
So little, yet so much.
Earl had folded his glasses on the nightstand, tugging the beaded string to shut the lights out, taking their time to fully hug Almond and give him their fullest, laziest kisses. The hotelier had untied his hair, letting snowy-blonde softness unfurl.