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Barnaby looked down when he entered his boyfriend’s flat, door still open and still standing inside of it. “O-Ohio?”
“Shut the door, there’s a draft.” Ohio was in front of the coffee table on his back, eyes covered in the crook of his elbow, with the lower half of his body on the rug and upper half of his body on the bare wood floor. Barnaby took a single step into the flat, shut and locked the door, then started to take off his jacket and shoes.
“Are you o-okay?”
“I just couldn’t get comfortable on the couch. It’s better down here.” Barnaby looked at the couch, which had somewhere between three and five blankets on it, then back down to his boyfriend. “What’s up?”
“It’s m-movie night? I b-brought Chinese. B-but I can l-leave if-”
“Shit!” Ohio sat up quickly, then gripped the edge of the coffee table and looked equal parts disoriented and nauseous as he got used to the new position. “ Babe , I completely forgot, I’m sorry. I- don’t leave. Do you mind if I grade paperwork while we watch the movie?”
“I f-figured something was g-g-going on when you d-didn’t respond to my texts.” Barnaby leaned over and pressed a kiss into Ohio’s hair, then ruffled it before going to the kitchen to grab plates and chopsticks for them. “G-get comfy and we’ll eat f-f-first. Then g-grade away.”
Ohio moved from the far end of the coffee table to the one closer to the couch, still sitting on the floor. He organized the papers that were covering the entire surface into piles then leaned back against the couch, realizing Barnaby hadn’t left the kitchen and had gone quiet. “Barnaby? You good in there?”
“ Ohio .” The professor jumped up, rushing into the kitchen to see Barnaby staring into the sink. The hero looked up, a mixture of love and frustration on his face. “Your pills are in a colander in the sink and you have cooked pasta still in the pan - with water - right next to it. Why were you cooking pasta in the morning?”
“I wasn’t.” Ohio hooked one of his arms around Barnaby’s waist leaned against his back, chin resting on the hero’s shoulder.
He grabbed the three pills sitting in the colander and Barnaby realized he meant to actually take them too late, grasping at air. “D-don’t take those -”
“I remember making pasta. I was making lunch at like, three? Because I realized I was hungry and then I thought about how there’s a reason I didn’t realize I was hungry, I forgot to take my meds, and then I went to take my meds and- actually, I thought I took them. I’m not sure- I got myself some M&Ms, actually, and put them next to my meds to treat myself when I remembered to take them and- oh. I may have eaten a handful of M&Ms for lunch at three.” He winced a little. “Which- yeah, makes a lot of sense, considering I was having a massive headache when I was trying to grade papers on the couch and so I decided to lie on the floor for a bit, and the wood was too cold for my feet but it felt really nice on my neck and shoulders.”
“It all m-makes sense n-now.” Barnaby twisted his head to press a kiss to Ohio’s nose, and the sociologist wrinkled it just a bit, but not in displeasure. “M-maybe we m-move the M a-a-and Ms? And get to d-dinner before it gets c-cold?”
Ohio’s arm tightened around Barnaby briefly before he nodded and unwound himself from his boyfriend, helping him take the plates over to the coffee table where Ohio had cleared off enough space for them to eat sitting side by side while they chose a movie.
The sociologist was starving, he definitely should have eaten the now-ruined pasta for lunch. Barnaby had also brought him over water, which he chugged, then gratefully drank most of the D tier’s glass as well. “You’re the best, you know that? Amazing that you put up with me.”
“P-p-put up with?” Barnaby nudged Ohio, smiling. “I th-think I do m-m-more than p-put up with y-you.”
“Right, yeah, you also basically take care of me.” Ohio kissed Barnaby before he could make any more objections. “I love you, little ghost.”
“I l-love you too, i-i-idiot man.” Barnaby’s cheeks were reddened and Ohio agreed, he was an idiot-man, his brain cells fried whenever the other hero would say those words. “S-still need t-to grade those p-p-papers?”
“I-” Ohio was ready to give all his students Bs, except that definitely didn’t gel with his moral code. He pressed his forehead against Barnaby’s shoulder, groaning. “ Fuck , why didn’t I take my meds earlier and save me from having to-to grade papers when I’m being tempted by my gorgeous boyfriend? You know how difficult it’s going to be for me to focus now ?”
“W-w-we discussed that. Y-y-you ate the M&Ms i-instead.”