Work Text:
Ivy wasn’t particularly looking forward to going back to work, but they’d be lying if she said he missed the endless video calls and end-of-week migraines that came with them. It is nice being back at her desk in the library. Less nice dealing with middle schoolers, but they’re not so bad as he remembered. Things are alright, ignoring the world being on fire.
A man walks in with the requisite nametag of a non-employee on campus, and they raise an eyebrow at him over her glasses.
The year and change at home have been kind to Jonny. (Admittedly, Brian and Tim have also been kind to him.) Without the daily stress of his boss breathing down his neck and having started freelancing again, he’s let himself go soft around the edges- round cheeks, a double chin that Tim kisses to make his face burn in the morning, strong shoulders giving way to a proper bear bod and a belly Marius has dubbed the perfect pillow. With his hair grown out, his beard fuzzy, and the recent weight, he feels more… at ease. He looks it too. Things are alright, ignoring the world being on fire.
He nearly spilled his drink tray- his mocha, and Ivy’s latte, as well as an almond croissant- on the poor secretary in the front office in his attempt to write his name down. He’s here after his morning shift, but he has to catch the bus home and it’s raining and he doesn’t really want to wait at the bus stop and shiver for the few minutes it’ll take between buses.
Ivy regrets not wearing her bifocals. The man is walking toward them- he assumes they’re a man- and his face breaks out into a sheepish smile and he opens his mouth and- Oh!
“I brought y-”
“Jonny!” Ivy squeaks, fumbling their way out of her chair and closing the gap with his arms flung around the shorter man’s shoulders (who took the few spare seconds to set their coffee down on the desk before grunting at the sudden squeeze). Ivy feels him grin against her neck.
“Hi.” His voice is muffled.
“You look cute. Sorry I didn’t recognize you.” Ivy tugs her mask down to kiss his forehead. They pull away a bit, and cock their head, a hand on his chest. “Is that Brian’s shirt?”
“It’s alright, face blindness and all th-” Jonny’s cheeks turn pink. “Yeah, I figured my usual thing wasn’t… school appropriate?”
“You look like a hipster.”
“I figured the front desk wouldn’t be amenable to the battle jacket with the all caps ‘eat your fucking heart out’ backpatch.” Jonny bares his teeth.
“Or the ‘louder than God’s revolver and twice as shiny’ on the chest?” Ivy grins.
“And the ‘fuck’, and the ‘this machine kills fascists’ with a pacemaker, and the ‘real men eat out’, and the ‘freak on the streets, freak in the sheets’, yeah.” Jonny laughs, smiling fond and warm.
“They might have been a little hesitant, yeah.” Ivy’s chest feels fuzzy.
A beat passes. Chest to chest, Ivy’s arm still wrapped around Jonny’s shoulders, both their breathing a little slow.
“I missed you a lot.” Jonny breaks the silence, his voice a bit small.
“I missed you too.” Ivy runs a hand to the back of Jonny’s hair and presses their cheeks together, before pulling away a step and glancing down at the desk. “So… treats.”
“Right. Treats.” This is still Ivy’s workplace. “The croissant’s yours, the mocha’s mine.”
Ivy hooks a foot in the chair closest to hers and pulls it over to the desk next to him, waving at it with the hand that isn’t picking through the bag and tearing off a bite-sized bit of croissant. “Sit, then, there’s catching up to do.”
Jonny beams and takes his seat.