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“Martin,” Jon calls from his office, peeking out of the doorway, “Could you come here?”
Martin makes some sort of noise of surprise, “Yeah! Of course! Just give me a second and I’ll be right there!” There’s the sound of several papers shuffling and a couple muttered curse words before Martin is walking into Jon’s office with a stack of stapled papers in his hands. “Here are the statement follow-ups you wanted.”
“Thank you, Martin, but that’s not why I called you in here.” Jon sighs, glancing at the papers that the taller puts down on his desk, “I wanted to ask you about your current living situation. I know that things might not be the best in the Archives but I do want to make sure that you are… finding it up to code. I can’t have one of my archivists experiencing issues.”
“How sentimental.” Tim mutters from the still open doorway.
But Martin either doesn’t hear him or ignores him and rubs the back of his neck, “It’s alright. I mean, I’m still stressed out about the… things…”
“The things?” Jon pushes, raising a critical eyebrow.
Martin huffs, “Yeah, the…” he flails his hands around a bit as if the gestures are going to help, “The… oh what are they called?” The question is muttered and he puts his face in his hands, pulling them down until they slide off his cheeks.
“I’m not sure what you’re on about, Martin.” Jon sighs, getting increasingly irritated with him.
Unfortunately, Martin seems just as frustrated at himself, now starting to snap, “The- the… the robaki.” He says, his tone indicating that Jon should know what he’s talking about but the word isn’t at all familiar to him. Once again, he starts gesticulating as if that’s supposed to help.
Jon sighs again, “I don’t know what you’re on about, Martin. And I don’t know what a… robaki… is.”
“I know you don’t!” Martin sighs, “But I’ve forgotten what they’re called in English.”
“What do you mean?” Tim asks, waltzing into the room. He was clearly invested enough in the conversation that he assumed it was important enough for him to leave his desk, and therefore abandon his work. The work that Jon specifically asked him to do.
“I mean that I can’t remember the English word for it!” Martin huffs, “The robaki. The little silver things that are impossible to kill!”
“The worms?” It’s both a question and a statement out of Jon’s mouth.
Martin snaps and points at Jon, “Yes! I’m still stressed out about the worms suddenly appearing and I feel like I’m constantly itchy but I think that’s my own issues. Really, staying in the Archives isn’t that bad.”
“You aren’t feeling home-sick, claustrophobic, or like you’re unable to take care of yourself?” Jon pushes, trying to move on from the ‘worm’ incident as quickly and smoothly as possible. Martin begins to answer and Tim takes that as his cue to leave, shaking his head with a small laugh as he peels himself away from the door frame and back towards his desk.
~~~~~
“Jon,” Martin starts, peeking his head into the office his boss is sitting in. Jon takes a couple seconds before he looks up in favour of raising an eyebrow at Martin, which beckons him to continue, “I looked into Mrs. Valerie’s statement.”
“Did you find what she was talking about?”
“I haven’t gone and looked yet, but I found a piece of paper in the back of the file for Mrs. Valentine saying that the… the- the object is in Document Storage. Did you want me to go look for it or…”
Jon furrows his brows, “The… object?”
“Yes, the…” Martin sighs heavily, “Oh help me out, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.”
“I’m not sure that I do, Martin.” Jon says, folding his hands together to gaze properly at the taller man.
Martin groans, “The lalka. The small, fabric toy with a… niebieska sukienka and blonde hair.”
“The doll?”
Martin snaps, “Yes! That! The doll. Did you want me to talk to Document Storage about pulling it out or did you just want to know if we actually had it.”
Jon waves him off, “I just wanted to make sure that we still had it. The statement was from a while ago and I don’t trust anyone in this damn building.”
“Alright, is that all you wanted with the follow up on her case?”
“Yes, that would be all, Martin.” He once again waves his hand. Martin nods and slips out of the room.
~~~~~
“Ugh, that was so embarrassing.” Martin groans, walking back into the archives. He throws his jacket over the back of his chair and his bag on the floor next to his desk, falling into his chair.
“I take it the interview went well.” Sasha hums, raising an eyebrow.
Once again, Martin groans, “I forgot an entire sentence in English.” He tosses his head back, “I started speaking Polish to them and they had no clue what was happening so they got freaked out. I had to explain to them that it’s just a thing that I do.”
“Why do you do that?” Tim asks, “The whole, forgetting English words thing. Isn’t that your first language?”
“Yeah but I have memory issues and when I get nervous or I’m thinking about several things at once, I forget whatever language I’m speaking.” Martin explains, “Because I’m speaking English most of the time, that's the language that I forget the most and I’ve been speaking Polish for so long that it’s what I switch into. I forget Polish when I’m speaking it, too.”
“So are you fluent in Polish?”
“Mhm,” Martin nods, “Though it took a long time for Jon to realize that. He just thought I was lying about being able to speak Polish to make him like me more.”
“Sounds exactly like Jon.” Sasha rolls her eyes.
“Why do you even speak Polish?” Tim pushes, “That’s not the most common language most people learn.”
Martin blushes furiously, “There was this bloke I liked in school. He was Polish and once complained about people making fun of him for his accent being so thick sometimes. Made a whole show of talking about how it’s hard to speak in English all day when he’s only known it for so long so I… learned Polish for him.”
Tim barks a laugh, “No shit?”
“Mhm,” Martin shakes his head, “He was really happy that I learned it but…”
“Did it not work out with him?” Sasha asks, compassion overtaking obvious mirth in her tone.
Martin sighs and throws his head back against his chair again at the memory, “He was straight. Got a girlfriend and everything… we’re still friends. Well- more acquaintances now but I was invited to his wedding a couple years back, the same girl.”
“So you learned an entire language for a straight dude you fancied?” Tim asks, half laughing, “Truly the pinnacle of being gay, isn’t it?” He elbows Sasha, who rolls her eyes.
“I think it’s sweet,” she says, “I mean, I would love it if someone went out of their way to learn a language for me.”
“He actually started teaching it to me after I told him I was learning it. His mom was helpful in my learning too.” Martin shrugs, “His wife speaks Polish, too. Their kid is bilingual.”
“I don’t think Jon is as impressed.” Tim teases.
“Don’t remind me.” Martin groans, straightening and sitting properly at his computer like he’s going to start working to ignore Tim for the rest of the day.
But nonetheless, Tim continues, “And I don’t think he knows any other language for you to learn for him.” The man rolls towards him, settling his chair right next to Martin’s and grinning at the distinct lack of typing or work that Martin is doing.
“I do speak Romanian.” Jon says, having come from absolutely nowhere.
Martin goes positively scarlet while Tim next to him jumps about five feet into the air--he can also hear Sasha snicker but he’s too caught up in his embarrassment to immediately acknowledge that, “Jon! Where did you come from?”
Jon raises an eyebrow and smirks, “My… office.”
“How much of that did you hear?”
“That Tim believes I wouldn’t be impressed by you learning a language for me.” The shorter man informs him, smirk widening, “While I can’t say I’m all that impressed by you learning a language for another man, especially one that I don’t speak, I can’t say the same if you were to learn Romanian for me.”
Sasha furrows her brows, “Wait, why do you speak Romanian?”
“I had a…” Jon clears his throat, “Particular interest in Dracula and… it was inspired by Vlad the Impaler, who was from Romania and so… I learned it.” He sticks his chin up like he’s being stingy but Sasha just knows he’s doing it to save face from the teasing he’s sure to get.
Tim cackles, “Oh I bet you thought Freshly Eaten Dracula was hot.”
“I’ll inform you that I did not…” Jon starts, blushing a second later, “I rather enjoyed Arthur and John Seward.”
“You didn’t.” Tim exclaims, jaw dropping, “You were into a dude with the same name as you.”
“His research and dealing with two vampires at once was… admirable.” Jon explains himself, “And… Arthur was so loving towards Lucy… I decided that I wanted a man that devoted to me.”
“Well, you’ve got a lovely Martin that would be willing to devote himself to you in the way Arthur did.”
Jon hums, gazing at Martin and his tomato face, “I suppose if he is willing to learn a language for a man he likes at that young of an age…” He smiles at Martin before turning and walking into the breakroom. Martin’s eyes are wide and he feels like his head is going to explode and he doesn’t even try to talk because he knows that neither English or Polish is going to come out of his mouth.
“Hey Martin,” Tim starts, leaning directly into Martin’s shoulder, “I know you’re not going to get any more work done, so why do you take the time to find some Romanian translation books or whatever it is you need.
“Zamknij się, Tim.”