Work Text:
Monday.
The Moon’s Day.
Isn’t it romantic? Well, probably the Moon indeed is, but not the day. Not for everyone.
There could be some people that don’t even want to think about the distant and unavoidable arrival of that day in the future. Or maybe there could be some people that can’t wait for the coming Monday.
Elijah isn’t one of them, that’s for sure.
He hated Mondays.
Poor Monday, of course it isn’t their fault. It was his job’s fault. He was a barista, but he couldn’t stand either people, noise, or mess. Still, his job included all of them! What a perfect combination, wasn’t it?
He loved making coffee, baking, cooking, and seeing people’s smiles on their faces when they were enjoying their food. It made him feel happy. It made him feel like he was doing something useful and he was worth living on this planet. Worth enough to earn money with his job. He didn’t want to deceive anyone. He was being paid to make food, and he wanted it to be the best he could.
His dream was to be a cook, to open either his own restaurant or café and serve as many people as possible. But right now, he was just a college student working part-time on the weekends, and on Monday, at a café close enough to his condo. And he hated that place.
All the employees were selfish and couldn’t care less about clients. They only wanted money. Most of them were college students, like him, so he could probably encounter them out of their working place, but this was his last year so he was going to cope with it somehow.
A heavy breath flew out of his mouth full of stress, laziness and sleepiness. He didn’t want to work. He just wanted to sleep through his shift and go to his lessons in the afternoon. But he couldn’t. He needed that money. Every single penny from it.
Another breath, smaller than the earlier one, flew out as he sat up on the mattress. Every single part of his body leaving the sheets was crying, craving to have that warmth back as he was getting up and stretching his arms and back.
And there he was, sighing again and walking toward the bathroom. He closed the door, locking it. As he stood in front of the sink he took a look at his face. He looked horrible. His eye bags were still there, light beard growing unevenly on his cheeks in contrast with his chin hair and his little mustache. He liked the idea of having a mustache and chin hair. He would’ve liked the idea of having a full beard even more, but we don’t always have what we want, right?
He started his usual morning routine: taking advantage of the free toilet, fixing his beard, washing his teeth, taking a shower, dressing up, wearing perfume and finally brushing his short hair.
Elijah liked to shave his head approximately once every two months, and only a month has passed, there was still time before starting to bother himself to do that again.
He checked himself up, acknowledging that he looked good for the day, before getting out of the bathroom.
It was 7 in the morning already, and his roommate was still obviously sleeping. He knew already that Hudson had lessons that morning around nineish, and if Elijah wanted his friend to be on time he needed to wake him up right now.
Elijah knocked on the door three times heavily, waiting for an answer that never came. He sighed, knocking again and again. But nothing happened.
“Hud, ‘coming in”, he announced, before opening the door. He gazed around, noticing how his roomie’s room was full of dust.
“...do you ever vacuum?”
“What do you mean… I did that yesterday”, Hudson mumbled sleepily.
“Yeah… Sure. However, it’s time to get up sleepyhead”, Elijah replied while switching the light on.
“Dumbass, turn it off!”, Hudson said as he covered his head with the blanket.
“Oh well, excuse me princess for waking you up every morning. How dare I ruin your beauty nap?”
Elijah leaned against the door frame, resting his hands on his hips as he looked at his roommate. “Maybe I should stop waking you up, huh?”
“Okay, fine, whatever… I’ll get up. Just… Just gimme a min…” Hud sighed, as he snuggled in his blanket, looking for comfort.
Elijah gave his friend a concerned look. Maybe something was up in his life? Nothing to really worry about, probably, since he was going to talk to him when he felt like it. As always.
“Gonna make something for breakfast then”
Elijah closed the door, heading to the kitchen. He knew Hudson well enough to know that he was probably going to get up from bed, maybe only to eat something but that was enough to wake him up. It was just the trick to get him ready every day without arguing or letting him arrive late.
He opened the fridge, searching with his eyes for something that he could use to cook. Apart from Hudson’s grape containers that occupied even too much space for his liking, all he could see was eggs, zucchini, a container filled with lentils, half an onion, feta cheese, cheddar cheese and yogurt.
“Maybe… Shakshuka?” he asked himself. He was African, but he didn’t know much about his traditional food or whatever. He just loved cooking whatever he found. And even though Shakshuka isn’t part of his culture, he loved it.
He grabbed eggs, the onion half and the zucchini. As he took all his utensils out the cabinets, he started to think how to mix all he had. He started chopping the zucchini and the onion half, putting a pan on the fire and dropping oil in it.
Elijah wasn’t exactly a fan of fat food, but olive oil was an essential part of his life. He slid his finely chopped onion pieces in the pan, as they started sizzling. He then let in his finely chopped zucchini fall in, joining the onion in this sensual dance, capturing all of Elijah’s senses.
Elijah loved how food could be attractive. He mixed all of them with a wooden spatula, adding curry spice mix, as he remembered that he forgot to put in some of his lovely chili peppers. He cut a few swiftly, letting them fly in the pan with everything else.
As he let his creation live their own life with their pan partners, he asked himself what to add next. He felt like the dish was still bland. He needed some more flavor.
Elijah kneeled down, rummaging through his cooking stuff when he finally found some canned peppers. He chopped them as he added them in the pan along with some of the leftover lentils.
He covered the pan with a lid, waiting. He fell deep in thought, entering into his auto-pilot cooking mode.
He didn’t want the early morning to end. He didn’t want to head out to work at that lame café. He just wanted to remain in the comfort of his home cooking and studying.
His colleagues were boring, selfish and had bad humor. They were mostly talking about girls that were in their classes or that entered in the café. They were always laughing and treating people like objects. How could they live such a life and feel contented? Why were they so happy on Monday while he only wanted to get out of there? He couldn’t get it.
Actually, Elijah was looking for another job. He originally accepted to work there because he was in charge of the coffee and to help the baker at the back, but he was starting to think that maybe he preferred doing something he didn’t like rather than living every week with those guys.
As he fell out of his world, he found himself plating the food.
He sighed, fixing the table. He then opened the fridge again, taking out feta and cheddar cheese, and yogurt. He closed the fridge, putting a few slices of bread on each plate, along with a cup of yogurt.
He sat down, eating his yogurt, as Hudson entered the kitchen.
They glanced at each other, without a word. Hudson sat in front of him, as he picked up the cheddar cheese and cut small pieces that he cautiously put on the plate, far from everything else.
They both started eating in their own way. Hudson made his shakshuka become a sandwich with cheddar pieces in it, and ate the yogurt at the end. Elijah ate the yogurt first. He then scattered on his shakshuka some feta cheese, eating it with the bread.
After they finished eating, Elijah left for work, and Hudson remained at home for a while. They shared chores. Elijah was mostly in charge of the food - so cooking and groceries, usually - and part of the cleaning, while Hudson was in charge of the other cleanings - such as dishes cleaning and the laundry.
Elijah reached the bus stop. He checked the time on his phone, he was a bit early. Not having anything better to do, he slid his headphones on so he could listen to the audiobook he recently bought.
A long day awaited him.
***
Hudson stared at the ceiling while was still sitting at the kitchen table. He was listening to some audio rain and piano music tracks with his headphones on. He needed to gather all of his strength to get up and do the dishes. He liked that task, he really did, but the idea of heading out for his lessons was terrifying.
Every week was the same. Every Monday was. He starts the day having problems getting up, he somehow manages, then he does the dishes, then he goes to his morning lessons, then he looks for a place where he can find some comfort and feels motivated enough and starts studying the material his professors assigned. He then goes back home to eat, and he falls asleep in his room.
Every Monday was the same. As much as every day was. The only reason that made Mondays worse than the other days was that the weekend ended that very day.
***
As Hudson walked toward the bus station, water fell on him, soaking his clothes. He found it almost amusing that he was craving to hear the rain’s noise just that morning and now the sky was pouring out all of his accumulated frustration.
He liked to think that he wasn’t the only one that needed to find a way to relieve his stress. The sky wasn’t exactly any better, wasn’t it? It rained once in a while. Sometimes it rained for days. Sometimes it didn’t rain at all for months.
Hudson felt exactly the same. He just kept bottling up his emotions the same way the sky was gathering all the humidity in the air all together, until they both couldn’t handle it anymore and they let it all out.
Hudson was suffering. And the sky was just following his work path.
They were different, but still having similar habits.
He raised his head, looking at the sky.
“I guess it couldn’t go worse, huh?” , that was what he thought.
As the bus arrived and parked in front of the station, a wave of muddy water was scattered around hitting Hudson’s clothes, making him even more soaked than he was already.
“...I guess not anymore”
He jumped in, glaring at the bus driver as he went to sit down in an empty seat.
His head bumped against the window, as he leaned closer, falling deep in thought.
Everything had a purpose. That was what he felt like it was the truth. He couldn’t stand the idea of things made for no reason. But he couldn’t find his purpose. What was it? He didn’t know.
He just felt small. Even smaller than a raindrop that was falling down and then sliding down the class of the bus window. Water had a purpose, so that meant that a raindrop had more purpose than him in that moment, right?
He was studying, but studying wasn’t what he was good at. He found it difficult to concentrate. He liked reading, but his brain wasn't as fast as his eyes were and he got bored easily for this reason. He preferred listening to stuff, like rain.
Rain was so simple yet so fascinating. So entertaining yet so boring.
He wanted to feel like a raindrop. He knew for sure he was boring. But he wanted to be simple, fascinating and entertaining, too.
A cold shiver ran down his spine, bringing him back to reality.
He gazed around, acknowledging the fact that he was still on the bus.
“So many people today…”
He found people very interesting. He found how people worked really interesting. How their brain worked. When he started to analyze them he didn’t even feel like a human anymore. He just felt captured in it. He wanted to know more. He wanted to study biology. He wanted to study psychology. He wanted to specialize himself in criminology. So many things to study yet so little time.
He observed around as two young girls were talking, laughing and having fun with each other's company. He too found comfort in his friends’ company. He was just craving to be left alone for a while from some of them. He loved talking to them, but at the same time he sometimes felt like he needed a holiday from it. Maybe just a day. Maybe a few months. Maybe a few hours. He just knew he needed it, but he didn’t know why.
As he was still thinking, he found himself recognizing that he was almost at his stop. He got up, pressing the button to signal the bus driver that he wanted to get down.
When the bus stopped, he jumped down, running toward the mall.
He wanted to read something. Or maybe he just needed to buy it for the future. Or maybe - trust me this is the right one - he just needed to wander around the comic store.
How could you blame him? That store was full of wonderful stuff. He loved walking around and finding things he wanted to read, even though he wasn’t actually buying them at that moment. That store was so colorful, so comforting, so attractive.
As he wandered around the store he found what he was looking for. Some “old” volumes of a series that was ongoing that he loved reading. It was an underrated one in his opinion. Everybody was criticizing it because it was a sequel of a famous series. But he couldn’t care less. He liked it anyway and he was going to read it and enjoy it all!
He paid and went home. He was happier now.
***
As Elijah walked to the grocery store he tried to distract himself from life.
“What should I cook? Should I actually cook tonight?”
He didn’t feel like cooking. But at the same time he wanted to cook. He found relief in his mind’s process of cooking. How his thoughts finally left him alone. He needed that. But at the same time he was feeling tired. He just wanted the comfort of his bed and to pass out. He was feeling overwhelmed.
Still he decided to finish his grocery shopping. But he agreed with himself that he was not going to cook that night.
***
As he arrived home he noticed that the lights were off. The only light source was the TV. Seeing it on, he gazed around finding his roommate snuggled in the corner of the sofa. Hudson was almost hiding under a blanket.
Before even greeting his roommate, Elijah ran to the kitchen to unpack the shopping. He then went to his room, changing into something more comfortable. And at the end, he finally got back to the living room.
“Are you done, now?” Hudson asked as he saw his roommate finally walking instead of running around.
“Yeah…” Elijah answered, glancing down at him. “Do you… Mind if I join you?”
Hudson blinked, staring at him in shock.
“...no, I don’t” He was pretty surprised. Elijah wasn’t the one that usually asked the other to join the sofa, it was the way around. But he didn’t mind. It wasn’t the first time anyway.
Hudson moved the blanket, as if he was inviting him in. He continued glancing at Elijah, observing him as he was lazily getting closer to him and letting himself fall on the sofa. Tired as he was, Elijah roughly fixed his side of the blanket as he slowly started to sink in the comfort of the cushions.
He sighed lightly, resting his head on Hudson’s shoulder.
For once, he just wanted to be the one feeling vulnerable without being teased. He knew that Hudson wasn’t that type of person. And anyway, can’t a guy need some affection? Why were only girls cuddling with their same sex friend? He couldn’t understand that.
He sighed again, closing his eyes and trying to relax, still leaning against his friend. But for some reason he still felt tense.
“Something the matter?” Asked the one beneath as he was watching the TV.
“Just a long day at work” Elijah answered mumbling, unsure if he either wanted to bother his roommate with his load.
Elijah was usually the one that was comforting the other, because he thought Hudson wasn’t interested in listening. He didn’t mind if Hudson wasn’t willing to listen, he just wanted him to stay where he was to hold his head. And as he thought that the conversation was over, he felt an arm resting around his shoulders, bringing him slightly closer.
“Go on, I’m listening” Was all that Hudson said. It was almost unexpected.
Elijah sighed lightly with a small smile on his lips, starting to unwind.
Maybe Mondays weren't so bad with the right company.
It's just one of those mondays .