Work Text:
Greg rolled over in bed and immediately noticed that the space next to him was empty. He looked at the clock and sighed, it was past 2:00.
He got out of bed with a grunt and headed for Mycroft's office.
He saw the light filtering through the door.
He should have known that once again Mycroft was not going to keep what he had promised. When it came to work, that was never the case. He said he was coming to bed in an hour, and two hours later he was still at his desk.
Greg, annoyed, opened the door a bit sharply and said in a deadpan tone, "You lied."
Mycroft turned to him and with a slightly haughty demeanor replied, "This is important, this is my work."
"It can be the Queen, I don't care, besides it's the Queen? Anyway, I don't care. The only thing I care about is you and the fact that for the past five days you've averaged three hours of sleep a night!"
Mycroft's face closed and he replied curtly, "I can take care of myself just fine."
But Greg didn't let the tone or the words unsettle him, because he knew Mycroft very well, and Mycroft only reacted like that to Greg when he was cornered.
"Tell that to anyone you want, but not to me. So don't put on your big airs and come to bed."
He was leaving the office when he turned and added to a shocked Mycroft, "Right now, not in an hour."
Greg went back to bed, wondering if he had gone too far. But when he heard Mycroft enter the room, he figured he'd been right.
Greg had his back to the door, so he felt Mycroft climb into bed, crawl under the covers and then he felt him hesitate for a few seconds before wrapping his arms around Greg and whispering into his neck, "Sor..."
But Greg didn't let him finish, "Don't." He said softly. "Don't say you're sorry because you're not sorry for working longer, you're not sorry for the damage you're doing to yourself, you're just sorry that I caught you in the act like I always do."
"Greg..." Mycroft whispered softly into that hair.
Greg turned in his arms and said softly, "I know perfectly well that your work is important. I know you're a perfectionist. But..." Greg raised his hand and gently traced the outline of Mycroft's face, and continued, "You need to take care of you, you need to sleep, Mycroft, you look exhausted."
Mycroft opened his mouth, but Greg covered it with his finger and continued, "I love you, you know that," he said then. "And because I love you, I can't stand to see you hurt yourself like this, you cover them up, but I see the bags under your eyes, the dark circles, the pale skin, the shoulders that droop when you think no one sees you, I see it all Mycroft. You can't go on like this."
Mycroft kissed his finger and said softly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I spoke to you like that before, I... I'm not used to having someone take care of me yet. Before, no matter how many hours I put in and how tired I was, there was no one who minded so I just didn't care anymore."
Greg kissed him gently and replied, "But that was before. I'm not asking you to change Mycroft, just to be more considerate of yourself. Okay?"
Mycroft nodded and kissed Greg back, letting the kiss linger. When they caught their breath, he said with a smile, "Thank you" and buried his head in Greg's neck.
Greg heard him whisper, "I'm exhausted."
He wrapped his arms around Mycroft and whispered into his hair, "I know, love. Just let go, I'm here."
It was less than a minute before Greg felt Mycroft's breathing get deeper and his body heavier against him. He kissed Mycroft's hair one last time and said softly, "Good night love."
He knew that this would not be their last fight on this issue. They were both the same, bad habits ingrained in them because they had a bad habit of relying only on themselves. But they were learning and educating each other.
That was them.