Work Text:
Tom was blasting his music, again.
It had been no more than an hour since Tord had kindly asked him to keep it down, yet there was recognizable lyrics bleeding through the wall again. (Tord hated how he could hum along to whatever shit was on, he hated the fact that he did even more.)
It was an exhausting back and forth between the two, Tord wanting to work and Tom just living his life,but it was routine at this point,and the other two boys had given up trying to make them come to an agreement long ago.
Tord rubbed his Temples, before banging his head into his desk in frustration. He stayed like that for a long minute,before dragging himself back up and glaring at the wall that sat between the two rooms. "Why is he so.. difficult?" he mumbles to himself, looking at the discarded robotics.
Despite his disregard for the other man,Tord knew that if he wanted to get anything done,then he had to fuss with Tom again.
Tord pushed his hair back, carefully standing and adjusting to his own height after hours of sitting at his desk.
"Vanskelig, Vanskelig." He shakes his head, accent thick with his mother tongue.
He makes his way out of his room and to Tom's door, Opening it without knocking.
"Didn't I ask you to shut your music up?" He crosses his arms, looking over the other,who sits laid on his bed, fidgeting with his checkered wristbands.
"Yuh,but that was forever ago, assumed you were done" Tom responds, humming. He looks over to Tord,eyes widening, "Your hands are bleeding,come here."
Tord had vaguely known his hands were bleeding,they had been for hours now,as he was working with sharp metal and wires. He was used to the scrapes and cuts he would end up with at the end of projects.
He never really cared,Yet he finds himself walking over to Tom.
"Dude,you're not kidding when you say robotics takes blood sacrifices,huh?" He laughs, gently taking Tord's hand in his own "these look painful,you've got metal all in your fingers." He turns Tord's hand over, looking over the back of it with the same interest he had been holding up till now. Tord shrugs, finding no words in his throat as he gets used to the gentle touch.
"We're gonna clean these up,stay here" Tom's voice is stern, like he's giving an order. He gets off the bed and disappears into the hallway, leaving Tord to sit patiently in place, barely breathing in his confusion.
Tom comes back minutes later,the first aid fished from where it was under the bathroom sink and set in front of Tord.
Tom sits down,a pair of tweezers in one hand as he holds out the other for Tords hand.
Tord gives Tom his hand, cringing as the man starts to pull small shards of metal out of his fingers and palm. "how do you not feel all this? it looks painful." Tom questions,to witch Tord shrugs
"I'm used to it,I suppose," He comments after a second. "I work with metal so much I don't really think about it when I get cut or anything, Just keep working." He looks at his free hand,and the shine of metal bits stuck in it. He cringes again, wincing when Tom tugs out the metal bit.
"Sorry,sorry" His voice is soft as he speaks, shushing Tord gently "this wouldn't happen if you would wear gloves or something" he looks at Tord for a second,then back to his hand "But you're too stubborn for that,arent you?"He hums.
"That takes away the intimacy," tord tilts his head, thoughtfully. "It's never been a problem,till you decided it was." He watches as Tom wraps bandages around his hand, sticking plasters to any cuts that he couldn't cover. As Tom lets go of the one hand,Tord lifts the other,and Tom goes right back to what he was doing.
"You dont have to act like this doesn't hurt,you know."Tom comments,and Tord lets out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, because this hurt like a bitch. "There you go." Tom hums,a coo in his tone.
"Fuck-" Tord digs his nails into his leg, biting his lip "Tom can you just,stop?" He doesn't pull his hand away, despite the pain finally registering in Tords head and spreading through his nerves.
"If we get it all done now, itll hurt less later"Tom drops another bit of metal onto the plastic he had set out. "And then you can go back to work faster." He adds, knowing tord could care less about himself,as opposed to his work.
Tord huffs, but says nothing.
After another few minutes,Tord's other hand is wrapped with bandages,and only a few tears are rolling down his cheeks from the pain.
"There we go,"Tom wraps the metal bits up in the plastic, throwing them away in the trash next to his bed "All done."
"That was hell. And I am never letting you do it again" Tord wipes his eyes, taking a deep breath. He stares at his hands covered in bandages and plasters. They would probably end up coming off before the night ended, but for now the multicolored plastic could stay stuck over his skin. Tord thinks they look ridiculous.
"Then maybe you should be more careful when working." Tom crosses his arms,eyes closed and head tilted to the ceiling "Then you wont have metal in your hands sitting there waiting for an infection."
"They wouldn't get infected, I'm above infection." Tord comments. "they've never gotten infected before." he adds.
"That's a miracle, really." Tom hums, and the two go silent as Tord tries to come up with something to say,but fails. His words are stuck in his head as he debates going back to his room or staying to keep conversation with Tom.
He doesn't have to make the decision,as Tom looks at him and speaks "Wanna split a cigarette?im craving one but i can never finish one on my own"
Really, How could Tord say no to nicotine?
"Sure" Tord shrugs, watching the other man grab the pack of cigarettes off the bedside table and stick one between his lips. His lighter is some fancy electric one that makes this buzzing sound as its lit. Tom takes in a breath, tilting his head back and breathing out a gray puff of smoke, cigarette held between his fingers.
"I can do rings." He glances at Tord,who only then realizes he's been staring. Tord quickly stands from the bed, going over to the window and sliding it open, feeling the cold chill of the air before he sits back down on the bed,closer to Tom than he was before.
"Thats cool, I haven't ever tried to do anything cool." Tord forces himself to look at the blanket he's sat on, instead of Tom. There's a comfortable silence that falls over the two.
After another drag or two, Tom hums and holds the cigarette out to Tord,who takes it with a nod.
"I could teach you, if you wanted," Tom says,his eyes following Tord's hand to his lips "It's a cool party trick to have" He finishes, leaning against the wall behind him.
Tord hesitates,then shrugs "I have enough party tricks,I think i'm good" he takes a drag, watching the smoke spread into the air before passing the cigarette back to Tom
"Your loss" He puts the cigarette between his lips,and Tord finds himself staring again, despite his internal protests. "How's the freelance work going?" Tom speaks after a second, looking at Tord as he rips his gaze away from the other man.
"Good,good" he fidgets with the bandage around his palm "Almost done with the code i've been slaving over'' He takes the cigarette as it's handed to him, taking a long drag that his lungs must not enjoy, because he coughs softly. "It should be done early too,so maybe I'll get some extra money for that." He takes another drag, looking at the ceiling. "How's the music?" he turns the question back to Tom,who sighs.
"Susan needs to be tuned again,I think."He seems irritated at the thought, running a hand through his hair, letting it fall back exactly how it was before.
"I still don't understand why you felt the need to name your guitar." Tord hands him the cigarette
"You cry over particularly cute robots,tord" He blows out O's,and Tords eyes follow them until they disappear into the air.
"Touche." He tilts his head, waiting for tom to continue.
"But otherwise it's good, i'm still writing that one song i started last month,but i think i finally am satisfied with the chords and progressions and stuff." He waves his hand around vaguely,the cigarette leaving a trail of smoke as he does, before being handed back to Tord.
He nods and takes his drag,humming
"Here,you can finish it. there's like a drag left." Tord hands the cigarette back, watching as Tom seems to think for a second.
"Come here" Tom waves him over,and Tord moves himself in front of Tom,who smirks. "Open," he gently grabs his chin,and thoughtlessly,Tord does as he's told.
Tom takes the last drag off the cigarette, blowing the smoke into tords mouth. Tord takes in a shaky breath, trying to get as much of the smoke as he could.
"Youre red" Tom comments, letting go of Tords face and snorting,a lazy smile on gis face "Flustered?"
"Youre such a douchebag!" Tord backs away from him "Of course i'm flustered that was,,weird!"
"You let me do it!" Tom points out
"I wasn't thinking! I'm tired!"Tord argues weaky, unsurprised when Tom rolls his eyes
"its only like 11. you of all people are not tired" and tom was right, Tord was as awake as ever. but he wasn't about to admit that he had brainlessly listened to tom because he wanted to. he wouldn't admit he enjoyed the feeling of his face being held of the close intimacy that was stretched between the two During nights like these.
"I'm actually exhausted. Good night tom." With that he stands up,and leaves the room. only vaguely registering the 'good night,tord' he gets as a response.
Tord only processes that the music had been turned down once he's back in his room,but instead of working he throws himself onto his bed with a groan, confused feelings clouding his head as the taste of nicotine stays strong on his tongue, keeping him grounded to the reality of what had happened.
He almost hated the days he got along with Tom. They left him confused most of the time.
Tord groans, grabbing his headphones off his bedside.
He kind of missed Tom's music. Tom's rough hands against his,
He almost would say he missed Tom.
Tord turns up his playlist to drown out his own confusion.