Work Text:
So far, it had been a truly uneventful day, of which Dr. Cimmerian had no intention of complaining about.
Perhaps the most eventful part of the day had been in the morning when Kondraki had launched into berating some poor assistant who had been tasked with helping him photograph a new SCP, Cimmerian choosing to not linger in the break room long enough to hear either the detailed reason or conclusion to Kondraki’s rant.
Besides that, there was little to break up the long span of paperwork that he had been steadily working through during the day.
That was, of course, not including a book that he had brought from home. Some cheap horror or sci-fi story that a coworker had given him a while back that he hadn’t had the heart to just toss in the recycling bin.
He had been tempted to ignore it in exchange for rereading one of his older books but had chosen to bring this one out of a mere feeling that today would be another of the dull days and that the nice little bit of unexpectedness from a fresh story would likely be pleasant.
That was why, when his lunch break came, he chose to simply walk a few paces away from his desk to the comfortable couch nearby and to lay across it with the book held loosely over his face as he flipped it open and began reading.
It was… Alright. Nothing spectacular.
The first chapter went by with little to set it apart from countless other books before it. The symbolism that the author was trying so hard to stress was noticeable but honestly fell a little flat. That aside, as he quickly drew into the later chapters, the setup of the story wasn’t actually that dreadful, only a little choppy in its pacing but otherwise fine.
About a half hour passed by uneventfully, Cimmerian finding the first four chapters to pass by quickly. It was only when he heard four dull raps at his door followed by a click of the lock popping free and the door opening that Cimmerian glanced away from the book for the first time during his break.
“Clef?”
Clef glanced up, seemingly surprised to see Cimmerian in his own office. Then his expression fell a little. “Oh,” He said flatly, Cimmerian hearing the clear exhaustion in his tone.
He couldn’t help but notice that the clothes that Clef was wearing looked different than what he had originally shown up in. He supposed that was not too big of a surprise, it was common for researchers to have extras considering the amount of SCPs involving slime, goo, and all sorts of other disgusting liquids. It looked like he’d recently showered too, which was always a pleasant surprise for the doctor.
“Do you need something?” He asked, lowering the book to rest it against his chest. “If you forgot your lunch, you can have mine. It’s in the break room fridge,” He calmly said before raising the book once more, figuring that he had resolved whatever Clef had come in here for. It wouldn’t be the first time someone ‘borrowed’ his lunch. Besides, he had a granola bar that he knew could stave him off for a few more hours before his shift ended.
“I’m good,” Clef mumbled, Cimmerian barely having a moment’s notice as the man came closer to him before the other doctor started dragging himself onto the couch on top of him. “Just didn’t know you were already using your couch.”
“I-” Cimmerian began, his eyebrows sharply knitting together. “What are you doing? You realize that we are still at work, right?”
“Mm,” Clef mumbled dismissively, shifting as he started trying to get himself comfortable on top of Cimmerian, not seeming intent on doing much else besides finding a good position to rest.
Cimmerian couldn’t help but give a small sigh, his eyebrows still furrowed as he watched the man try to shimmy into a good position, almost reminiscent of a dog trying to burrow a nice place to rest into its bed. He didn’t suppose it could really be that comfortable for either of them; as much as he enjoyed Clef, he was a bit larger than he was and Cimmerian was nearly the living definition of ‘all skin and bones'.
Yet he didn’t have the heart to tell him off as he stared down and noticed just how exhausted Clef looked. It sincerely looked like the man had been worked half to collapsing.
Cimmerian sighed, “Was your day really that ba-” He began before sharply yelping as a surprisingly sharp elbow jammed straight into his ribs.
“Ah, fuck, sorry!” Clef said quickly, pushing himself up using the sides of the couch. “Christ, can you get a smaller couch, huh?” He asked in a somewhat playful tone.
“I understand that that’s a rhetorical question but could you at least give me a moment to remember how to breathe?” Cimmerian said with a wince, shifting a little bit out from beneath Clef while moving his arm to clutch his ribs. “How about I get a chair and you can have the couch?”
“Mm, how about that?” Clef mumbled with another small sigh, starting to shift on the couch again, choosing to be a little more gentle this time as he pushed an arm between Cimmerian and the cushion and pushed the other behind Cimmerian’s back, pinning it between him and the cushion Cimmerian was resting against.
Cimmerian fell silent for a few moments, unable to help the small blush beginning to spread across his cheeks. They’d been… More intimate plenty of times before, but that did not settle the fact that this was work and this particular interaction was simply strange . “What are you even doing?” He mumbled, watching Clef wiggle a little more. “Are you alright or would you like me to call a medic-”
Before he could finish that thought, Clef sharply spun them on the couch, tugging Cimmerian with him until Cimmerian ended up on the top side while Clef tucked himself underneath him with a surprising amount of grace, the book being lost beneath Clef’s head. “There we go,” He mumbled with a satisfied smile, shifting only fractionally before closing his eyes.
Cimmerian’s face flushed a little more as he blinked down at Clef from his new position. Finally, after a few long moments, he sighed sharply and let his eyes flick to the side as he tried to stave off the gentle fluttering in his chest.
Christ, what was he, a school kid with his crush?
They’d known each other for ages. They’d been together for ages .
Still, he couldn’t help it.
Some time passed of Cimmerian just awkwardly laying there before his gaze flickered back to the book, neatly tucked underneath where Clef’s head was resting, reminiscent of some sort of awful pillow.
“Could I at least have my book back?”
“No.”
Cimmerian’s mouth twitched down slightly. “I’m going to take my book back,” He corrected.
“Have fun.”
He sighed again and slid his hand carefully behind Clef’s head, grabbing the book and beginning to gently tug it free, the other doctor’s eyes still tightly closed as if laying on a hard rectangular surface wedged beneath his head and neck was the most comfortable surface in the world.
Finally, Cimmerian tugged the book free and glanced at Clef again, briefly catching another small smile that disappeared just as soon as he had caught it.
Cimmerian blinked at him but couldn’t help but give a small exhale of amusement at the minor antics before gently lowering his head to rest it on top of Clef’s chest as he craned his hand slightly off the side of the couch at an awkward angle, starting to flick through the pages back to his old one, a few of them having been bent by the small scuffle.
The minutes trickled by, the sound of Clef’s gentle breathing beneath him filling the gaps between the occasional page turns.
Eventually, however, his focus began to wane and he had to shift his other hand out to hold the book when his first one grew tired, making the angle a little more awkward.
That worked.
For a few more pages.
He sighed and furrowed his brows as he tried shifting it back to the original hand, only making it through another single page before his arm was already growing strained again.
He heard a small snicker from in front of him and sharply glanced up, Clef having been quick enough this time to wipe the smug grin off his face and go back to feigning sleep before Cimmerian could catch him.
“I know that you’re awake,” Cimmerian said sharply.
A few seconds passed before Clef opened his mouth and made an obnoxious snoring noise, disrupting any and all of the peaceful quietness that had filled the room formerly.
Cimmerian scowled.
However, the look quickly fell as he blinked at Clef, then let his gaze flicker back to the book.
With little gusto, he brought the book up and plopped it open straight on top of Clef’s face.
“Are you being serious?” Clef asked in a faintly muffled grunt from beneath the book, not even bothering to move it.
Cimmerian couldn’t help but smirk. “Oh, my apologies, it’s just my instinctive reaction to a coworker walking into my office, jabbing me in the rib, and then holding one of my books hostage.”
Clef mumbled something under his breath with a sigh before reaching up and plucking the book from off his face, Cimmerian raising an eyebrow at him expectantly as they locked eyes.
Their eyes flickered across each other for a few moments, almost like some sort of challenge to see who would blink first, before Clef sighed and his shoulders sunk a little, clearly giving in. “Okay, how about this,” He mumbled as he tucked a hand loosely behind Cimmerian’s back, shifting him a little bit so that they were both angled towards the edge of the couch, then draping his other arm with the book off the end, holding it to allow them both to see it. “Better?”
Cimmerian hesitated. “I thought you were tired?” He asked seriously.
“Mm, I’ve only got about fifteen minutes left on my break and I’m pretty sure they’ll try to feed me 682 again if I’m late again,” He sighed.
Cimmerian gave a dry exhale of amusement. “Well alright.”
With that, both of them looked back to the book and began to quietly read. Cimmerian figured that it didn’t seem like Clef’s type of story, but it was still nice that he was willing to humor him. He would need to make sure to find a way to thank him later, perhaps a nice dinner would do? Either way, Cimmerian couldn’t help but smile a little.
Then it occurred to him.
“Say,” He began, his eyebrows knitting together a little, “What even made your day so bad?” He asked softly, figuring that the answer would probably just be a lot of paperwork that had soured the other doctor’s shift.
“Oh,” Clef said with a small laugh. “Some rookie shadowing Kondraki accidentally set off an SCP and it exploded a researcher in front of me.”
Cimmerian’s expression sharply fell.
At least… At least today hadn’t been uneventful for everyone?...