Work Text:
“Okay..okay. So then you weave the hair tie over the bun and stretch it from your hand…like this.”
“Mhm..” Exer hummed, cheek resting on his hand.
“And then once you’ve stretched it out, you kinda have to twist it with your wrist like so-” There was a small pout on David’s lips as he concentrated, the thin black hair tie threaded on the outside of his finger tips.
Exer's room was dimly lit, with the soft blue glow of his TV projecting a humble Aurora of light behind them. Exer had grabbed the reading lamp from his desk and positioned it beside them and it allowed the dark of the room to light up the green illuminous stars on the ceiling.
With the fluffy pillows on the floor and house to themselves, It was perfect for the relaxing ‘spa-like’ ambience they were going for.
When David first entered the room, Exer allowed him to drink in the space and he beamed when Day gave him his approval.
“Just like Serenity Springs,” he had whispered. Exer remembered it as the spa Christine used to sneak Day off to whenever Mr. Miller was looking away long enough— which was rare —but one of the subjects of David’s many rambles.
He loved that place.
Hopefully Exer’s room could become a similar safe space. He needed it right now.
“Okay Ex! Are you paying attention for this bit?”
”Uh huh…”
The gentle glow of the lamp delicately illuminated their faces and Exer couldn’t pull his gaze away from the blue of David’s eyes, peering down on him as he manoeuvred Exer’s curls.
Holy sugar, they were like a waterfall at night. Twinkling, dull, blue waters glistening amongst the damp rocks. There were bags beneath them. Of course there were. David’s lack of sleep was one of the main reasons they were here having a spa day in the first place, yet Exer didn’t think they did the boy’s beauty any injustice.
The only injustice came from why they were settled there.
“-Tada! Then you can pull it over the bun!”
Exer noticed that they shimmered more when they were widened in pride; when David’s head was tilted upwards slightly, his pupils big and attentive in the mirror as he checked how Exer’s hair looked from the front.
“And it should start to hold it in place..” David uttered softly, looping the tie around.
The boy was so still, so engaged and particular with his curls.
Exer sighed at the sight. “Uh huh, yeaaah..”
“And then you kinda just repeat what you did before. But your hair is really thick and lovely so you wouldn’t have to repeat it as much as mine-“
A sharp gasp startled Exer from his- totally reasonable -admiring session, making his eyes shoot straight open.
“Exer!” David whined, slapping his shoulder. “Are you even paying attention?”
David’s face scrunched up in the mirror behind him and Exer couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.
“Yeah! Yeah! I’m paying attention!”
“Pffft. You liar! You were totally zoning out!”
They were both sitting on his blue fluffy blanket, David kneeling on a pillow so that he could reach over and carefully pull Exer’s hair into one of the signature ‘man-buns’ that have been saving his ass in work lately. He had kinda, sorta hated it at first. But as much as he liked his longer hair, the feeling of it on his neck at work really bugged him. Obviously, he absolutely refused to cut his mullet. He wasn’t exactly the fashionista that David or Pam was but he knew how to look good. And hey, the mullet was working. At least David thought so.
Pamela would, however, scold him enough and yank on his curls when he least expected it to get the strands out of his face.
“You are gonna light your hair on fire!” Or, “The length is gonna bug you enough that you get distracted and drop a tray!” She would hiss, practically tugging his head to the ground as she swiftly tied it up. “I’ve been watching you fuss with it all day!”
Although, that wasn’t the purpose of the infamous man-bun that evening.
A little after he arrived, David had pulled a couple hair ties from his bag and held them up in his hands. He preached the importance of not having hair in one’s face when applying the face masks he borrowed- well, probably stole -from Brenda and told him they’d both have to tie their hair up.
That night it was simply a part of the ‘relaxing spa experience’ and Exer found himself unable to complain as it was the most excited he’d seen David in what felt like lifetimes. It was then that Day suggested that they sit in front of the body length mirror, and David could give Exer a mini tutorial of how he was putting his hair up, just in case he ever needed an emergency bun.
In his defence, Exer had picked up on... pieces of what the other was saying. But the way David dragged his cold fingertips against his scalp, looking at him through those fair lashes, made it pretty difficult to stay focused.
“David, I promise I was listening.”
“Uh huh.” The other deadpanned.
The hair tie snapped against Exer’s bun one last time before David reached around to squish his face between his icy palms. Before Exer could even register what was happening, he was being twisted at the waist to look directly into the starry blue he’d been dreaming of.
Oh and what a sight they were, now right there in front of him instead of captured behind the reflection of a manky old mirror.
Exer felt his eyelids droop. “Well hey there-“, he smirked.
David, who was still firmly grasping his flushed cheeks, inspected him thoroughly, moving his head around to make sure there were no loose strands.
He ignored Exer’s attempt at flirting, which made the boy huff.
Once happy, David finally took notice of Exer’s saltiness and carefully pressed his nose against Exer’s own with a loving smile. “There ya go dumby, you look cute.”
The compliment awakened the little butterflies that slept in his stomach. They were small and flittery and owned by David and David only. And when David released them, they enveloped the bleakness inside with colour and sunshine.
They also turned him into a bit of a sap.
“Why thank you very much.” Exer drawled, refusing to lean away even after his face was released and David’s hand dropped to his chest.
“You’re welcome.” David chimed lowly, shifting slightly so his knees were at his side and he could lean on his free hand.
Exer raised his eyebrows at David’s switch in position and followed instantly, pulling himself over so he was no longer awkwardly contorted. The two were now incredibly close and Exer loved the way his ears burned as he placed a hand on David’s upper knee.
In response, David’s cheeks turned a rosy pink, eyes flickering from Exer’s grinning face to his hand.
“So umm..once we have our face masks on…is kissing out of the question or…?”
“Hmm…that depends.” David’s hand held onto the fabric of Exer’s sweater, tangling the soft fabric in his palm. He was drawing even closer, pretty blonde eyelashes fluttering like the butterflies he felt within.
They were now well and truly rampaging, flapping around as if his gut was a flower field for their taking.
“Oh yeah..on what?” Exer whispered, their closeness needing nothing more than a few hushed breaths to carry sound.
“Well..” David replied, the star shaped light in his eyes being sent downward and, oh, how agonisingly near he was, the scent of his fruity cologne mingling with Exer’s coffee and cinnamon. Though, his fragrance wasn’t a cologne, just a result of having had work after school. But David always liked it.
And now he could only wish that summer kiwi and coffee grounds would compliment each other forever. Like breakfast on a sunny day. Which is now something Exer will keep note of.
A domestic dream he would make true when the bitterness of winter passed.
In every sense of the word.
The image of the lips in front of him, pink within the tinted rays of sun made Exer shiver with want and his next question tip-toed from his teeth like a broken breeze. “Can I kiss you?”
Their breaths intertwined, almost brushing against each other as their lips parted and just then, just when Exer was giving in to pure, utter bliss, David snorted and pulled away.
Summer passed and the air suddenly felt cold. Exer almost fell flat on his face.
“Hey! David!”
“You didn’t let me finish!” David teased, poking out his tongue. “It depends on whether or not you’re going to pay attention when I show you how to put the face masks on, Campbell.”
“Wha-..what!?”
“There will definitely be no kissing if you end up getting the solution in your eye!”
With that the other boy got to his feet and Exer’s hand dropped to the floor.
“I was paying attention, Day!”
David, however, did not look convinced and he crossed his arms with a knowing look. “Nuh uh! You were in your own little world during my man-bun tutorial!”
“Can you blame me when you’re looking at me with those baby blues- Ouch!” David shoved him slightly with his foot, an unimpressed pout gracing his lips. He then waltzed over to his backpack and pulled out the familiar pink scrunchie tie that he used to keep his bangs out of his face.
And that was when the idea came to Exer and he smiled in tandem. “Okay okay, look, I’ll prove to you I was listening! Let me do your hair next.”
“What?”
“Let me put your hair up!”
The suggestion had David pausing with his hands tangled in his blonde locks and one of his fingers beneath the scrunchie elastic on his wrist. There was a beat and he flushed a little before raising a brow.
“Oh..that’s okay. I was only teasing anyway, I can-“ But Exer cut him off as he got to his feet, gently taking David’s wrists in his grip. He guided them down and away from David’s hair, to which the boy cocked his head.
“Come on, man, I’m serious!” Exer chimed. “Throw on your comfy clothes, and then I’ll put your hair up.”
“My comfy clothes?”
“Ugh…yeah? You’re sleeping over, remember? I was gonna help you get some sleep-”
“No, I know! I am staying.” A sheepish smile crept upon David’s face and he proceeded to look anywhere but Exer’s confused glare.
He then kicked at the floor with an awkward laugh. “…but about those clothes...”
And Exer already knew where this was going.
“David.” He groaned, though the waver in his voice couldn’t hide his amusement.
“Looks like I kinda, sorta, maybe…forgot my pj’s.”
That was a lie. Exer had seen them when David was throwing his stuff around, frantically chucking things over his shoulder in order to find the tiny hair tie that had probably dropped to the bottom of his bag.
Yet, you would be very wrong if you assumed Exer would be pointing that fact out.
“Come on dude! Again?”
“Pssht, you know me and my memory!” David shrugged. “Fricken scatterbrain-“
Exer reached over and gently cupped the boy’s tomato-coloured cheeks, the whole stinkin’ world turning to a whisper when the other’s cold hands were being placed atop of his own. Leaning in, Exer pressed a kiss upon David’s porcelain nose, his red, bitten lips, and the dark circles that surrounded his eyes, still a rush of a waterfall blue, sparking signs of life.
Even after everything, they remained big and brimming with humanity; the one thing that man could never take away.
“You are no scatterbrain.” Exer murmured. “Don’t be mean to my favourite person please.”
“Haha. Sorry.”
“That’s alright.” Brushing his thumb over Day’s skin, Exer gave them some distance so he could beam at him, already knowing what David wanted.
“Day, would you like to borrow some clothes?”
And wow, if Exer could put a price on happiness, and that price just so happened to be some sweatpants and a sweater or two, then he’d pay it every single time.
Just to see that grin.
“Ugh, cheeyuh.”
“Haha, take whatever you want.”
David bounced on the ball of his heel, giving Exer’s hand a squeeze before making his way over to Exer’s closet.
There was finally that spring in David’s step that he had been missing.
Exer rubbed the back of his neck and puffed out a breathy laugh as David sifted through his clothes, pulling them out by the hanger and holding them to his chest.
And the grin never left. Pearly and compact, red because Exer had pressed his lips against it just moments ago.
A privilege he never would’ve known he would savour so closely.
Exer didn’t fight off his own grin because David seemed happier that evening, more so than he was at school. Having had a few weeks to recover helped for sure, having the bruises fade boosted his confidence and David thrived off distractions, but he was still jumpy in the halls. Paranoid about other people to an extreme that Exer wasn’t used to seeing.
Others seemed to pick up on his mood fairly quickly. Even Ricky and Marty gave up their insults and picked on David less. Exer supposed there was no fun in hounding on a guy who would only stare right at you. Peering in a way that looked like the face a person would pull when they were used to hearing the same old song over and over again. When Exer saw it, the implication of that terrified him. Did that far-off gaze mean all the cruel words and nasty comments were just part of the same neverending record?
Music like that wasn’t meant for David, it was scratchy and the lyrics were lies spat from acidic tongues. But it had been underscoring his life regardless, for much too long.
So Exer decided he would drown it out with his own music.
Leaving David to his searching, Exer muted his television and began rifling through his vinyls. He eventually landed on the ‘Every Breath You Take’ single by The Police, a chill, relaxing sound. He popped it onto his record player and let the music flow.
“You mind a bit of music, Day?” He called, brushing his hands together as he turned his attention back to the boy; who took Exer by surprise because he kinda looked like he was about to fully climb into his closet.
“Nah! You’re good!” David yelled back with a thumb raised.
“Jeez, you’re not trying to get away from me over there are you?”
“No! It’s not my fault your closet’s a mess- Aha!” A navy blue sweater was grabbed from the closet-abyss and David held it up in triumph. “I saw you wear this one last week and I’ve wanted to stea- borrow! Borrow it, ever since.”
Okay Exer, note to self, make sure not to wear your favourite sweaters before a David sleepover.
Well, unless they’d look super cute on him…
“Hey, it’s your spa-night! Whatever you want Day.”
The music settled nicely into the background and Exer opted to observe as he hummed along. Once David had found a suitable pair of sweats, he gathered the clothes and gave Exer a content look, meeting him where he stood.
“Thanks again for this Ex.” He chimed and after giving his cheek a quick peck, David went to the other side of the room to lift off his shirt. Exer promptly gave him some privacy and decided to put the time to use. He straightened up the blanket by the mirror, threw a couple more pillows on the floor, and tried to recount the steps David had shown him.
The memory was a little fuzzy, mainly due to the soft inflections of David’s voice and the sight of moonlight, falling through the window and landing atop of pale skin overpowering every instruction.
Exer had thought, ‘When did I turn into such a sap?’ When he probably should’ve been thinking, ‘What do you do after you’ve twisted the hair tie?’
So it was a slight spiral. But he was sure he’d figure it out.
His attention was caught when David threw Exer a little pose to show off the pj’s. Exer whistled through a slight chuckle and tried to play it smooth when, in fact, a little part of him always screamed with awe when he saw his best friend— now so much more —wearing his clothes.
“Okay David take a seat. I’m about to prove you so wrong, this is going to be the best ponytail you’ve ever had.”
David did as instructed, gently sitting where Exer had been. He pulled his knees to his chest and let out a shaky breath. “Uh huh. Better than Brenda’s?”
“Way better.”
“No magic cheating?” Day questioned slowly, eyes narrowed.
“Cross my heart!”
Another puff of air fell from David’s lips as Exer rolled up his sleeves and sat on the pillow behind him. There was a tensity in David’s shoulders and Exer didn’t miss the way he was breathing as if there were a boulder sitting on his chest.
It took Exer by surprise and he had to push down his own feeling of panic.
But it also wasn’t completely new and as much as it made Exer want to drop everything and question what changed so quickly, he knew David would hate it.
David liked to hide. And he liked hiding more than anything else.
So Exer had to pretend like he couldn’t see him.
Blue eyes lingered on Exer’s now exposed arms and David scrunched up his nose.
“Geez, are you putting my hair in a tie or fixing the latte machine again?”
“Shh blondie, this is all part of the process.” He quipped, lightly straightening David’s head as his eyebrows shot up at the name.
“Ha! Blondie? Really?”
“Yeah man. Did I ever tell you I’m totally seeing this cute blonde.”
As Exer spoke, he tenderly leant over to take David’s hand. Slowly, he began to push the scrunchie up Day’s pale wrist, soaking up the way that slender shoulders drooped and his whole body relaxed into the touch.
“You might’ve mentioned it.” David whispered, clearly amused but still with a slight edge. “Once or twice..”
It made Exer feel a little sad, he had no idea what was setting him off. He could always see it when it was happening. The way David’s body language got smaller and stiffer, the lack of eye contact and just the general feeling that Exer was talking to another person.
A different David. Not in a bad sense at all, just a side to him that felt too foreign and tucked away for Exer to truly know.
But he wanted to.
“Well I’ll tell you about this ‘cute blonde’ if you'd like…”
“Hmm…okay..”
Exer successfully retrieved the pink scrunchie, letting David’s hand curl its way back around his own knees as Exer sat up to look over the other’s head. Straight into the mirror.
“So this Blondie I’m going out with. His name is David. But he was never too fond of his name, so I always call him Day.”
Thinking back on every time Pam, or David put his hair up, they always kept the hair tie on their wrists. Like David just had been. So Exer followed suit, rolling the scrunchie onto his own.
“Pffffft. What kind of a loser doesn’t like his own name?”
“That’s strange, I said the same thing when he first told me.” Exer said with a shrug, finally gaining the courage to reach forward and sweep David’s bangs back.
The hair was unbearably soft and light to the touch, silky against Exer’s coarse finger tips.
“Anyways. Day really likes music, so much that when he was a kid, he used to steal albums and cassette players from his twin. He would sneak them over to my house so he could listen to them without her knowing.”
David was quiet in front of him, slightly drifted back as he listened carefully. It honestly looked as though he were hearing a story about a stranger, something he hadn’t known at all.
With a loving smile, Exer continued to gather strands of golden hair.
“My dad loves Day, so whenever he wanted to listen to the cassette players all afternoon— without his sister getting annoyed about it being her turn —my dad would let him use his Walkman. It was ridiculous because they were far too big for Day’s scrawny ass head.”
To Exer’s surprise David let out a breathy laugh.
“They were huge on him! Made the poor kid look like Darth Vader. He used to have to hold them in place with both hands.”
Another, much bigger laugh. Exer hummed as his fingers traced David’s scalp.
“Well, maybe he had to wear those because his best friend always hogged his own ones.” David protested, voice still hushed.
"Maybe that was because Day had already broken his last pair. Batting those big blue eyes wouldn't help if he broke another."
“Touché”
When Exer was sure he had the hair out of the way, he decided to move on.
Next step was to…..bunch it together?
“That’s something else I really like about him ya know?” Exer began to pull the locs between his palm. “He’s got these big blue eyes. The prettiest out of anyone in Kingsmont.”
Exer had wanted to see them when he risked a glance at the mirror.
But instead, David’s breath hitched. His fists were squeezed shut and his eyes glued close. Not even a hint of that blue in sight and it made Exer’s movements slow entirely. His eyebrows knitted together.
“You should really see them…” He trailed off, hair still in his hold. A beat passed and Exer didn’t dare move. Neither did David. “Day..are you alrigh-“
Exer was cut short by the slap of a steel-like grip around his forearm and the sound of a pleading voice. “You’re not gonna pull too hard are you?”
“I- what?”
“My hair!”
Eyes widened, Exer watched as David’s face twisted. “I’m scared it’s gonna hurt Exer!” He croaked loudly.
Exer’s hands immediately dropped from their place and he raised them as David’s blonde waves fell back into place, covering his watery eyes.
“N-no Day! No, I would never hurt you? What’s going on?”
There was a moment where David’s eyes finally reopened and they searched the carpet so intently that Exer felt as though he wasn’t even in the room. But within a second David was whipping himself around and shoving his face into Exer’s chest.
The movement caught him off balance and he stumbled backwards with David practically in his lap.
“Sugar sorry! Sorry that was so stupid.” David muttered desperately, curling into him further as Exer’s arms encased him, “I don’t know why I freaked out so bad!”
“Hey, hey it’s alright..”
“No, I'm so sorry.” David tore his face away from the softness of Exer’s sweater and wiped at the few stray tears that he just couldn’t fight off. “Tonight was meant to be relaxing and I ruined it already.”
Everything in Exer fell flat as he helplessly looked down at the other. The scrunchie still sitting forgotten upon his wrist.
It hurt. It hurt so bad to watch David recoil into himself with little explanation as to why he changed so suddenly. All Exer could do was slowly cradle the pained face in front of him and question him as lightly as possible.
“What’s going on up here Day?” Exer said cautiously, pleadingly, brushing a thumb over David’s temple.
“It was so dumb..I just need to man up.”
“Stop it. I don’t like it when you talk like that.”
David held onto his wrists, fiddling with the scrunchie as his lip trembled. Exer didn’t breathe, not until the other spoke again.
“I just- I know you’re not like him. I don’t know why I was scared.”
Like him?
Like William.
“Was it your hair?”
Sorrowful eyes finally met Exer’s horrified ones and it managed to answer the question better than any words.
“He pulled it. Hard.”
Fuck it was excruciating to hear. To know so many horrible little details went on during that dark and miserable morning. No one even knew it was happening.
“C’mere Day.” Exer placed his hand at the nape of David’s neck and pulled him close. “You should’ve told me. I never would’ve insisted that I-“
“No! I want you to be able to do my stupid hair Exer. I don’t want him to take you away from me.” David protested into his shoulder.
“That’s never going to happen. We just needed to take this slower is all.”
“You’re not mad? That I got weird with you?” He sniffled.
“No, no. Never. It’s not your fault. I know that.”
A silence hung in the air after Exer muttered those words, and the room felt still and empty as David shook beneath his hold. The music of the vinyl was suddenly distant and Exer’s eyes instinctively narrowed as his mind wandered to all the things he’d like to do to David’s abuser.
It was only when Day drew in a shaky breath and distanced himself a little that Exer felt grounded again.
Cold fingers weaved between Exer’s own and he was slightly confused when David lifted them.
“I still want to make this work.” David admitted, plucking the elastic on Exer’s wrist, the scrunchie that was still waiting to be used. “Do you still want to prove me wrong about that ponytail?”
“I just want you to be okay..”
Something in the large pupils of David’s eyes begged with him and Exer took it as his cue to test what Day really wanted. He reached for one of the blonde strands that settled next to David’s eyebrow and delicately tucked it behind the boy’s ear.
“Was that okay?” Exer whispered.
David nodded and Exer leaned in, pausing just ahead of the other’s lips. He brought his hands down to David’s waist and anchored him with the utmost care.
They had kissed enough to know one another by this point. The pauses and silent questions, the answers and understanding when words didn’t feel right.
The small parting in David’s lips, accompanied by the slight pull of his eyelids and the way he nudged forward until their noses brushed made Exer’s heart race and he knew what it was saying.
So Exer closed the space between them and their lips met and pieced together perfectly. Warmth erupted from the very place they connected.
There was no force, no passionate eagerness or hands pushing David down so Exer could deepen the kiss like they usually liked to do. No this was a promise, a demonstration, a message that Exer only used his words to express when they eventually pulled apart.
“I’m gentle. I promise.”
“I know.” David bit his lip. “Can you keep telling me your stories when you do it?”
”Yeah Day, of course. Shall I continue where I left off?”
“Yes please.”
The next 10 minutes or so were rocky and slow. David opted to stay facing Exer, which made putting his hair up a little more awkward, but anything to make the situation easier was welcomed. As promised, Exer had continued his rambling from where he left off, talking about his favourite blue eyes before drifting to humble memories of his past.
David was sat cross-legged as Exer was, and in the same space he had been in, his back facing the mirror and his hand clutching the loose fabric of Exer’s pyjamas.
Exer was pretty far into making up the ponytail but he was now much more conscious of how much he was pulling and when to warn David of a tug here and there.
“-And when I was a kid, I used to refuse to let my dad comb my hair unless David sat with me. Which was a horrible phase and I’m pretty sure I spent most of the third grade looking like a lion.”
Silent tears were marked on top of David’s cheeks but he at least smiled slightly as he watched Exer work his— non literal —magic.
“You do look a little bit like a lion sometimes. But I think it’s cute.” David said, voice raspy after not talking for a while.
“Oh yeah? Maybe I’ll stop styling it then, just for you.”
“Well I didn’t say that dummy…”
Exer was at about the point where everything went wrong last time. But he was grateful now to at least know how to help. This was something important to David, one of the first chances he had to prove that William hadn’t ruined everything.
So he took a deep breath and very calmly began to pull the hair tie over the ponytail. Which was actually more of an half up- half down kind of situation, but at least David’s bangs were out the way.
“Sorry David. Too late. I’ve already decided, the lion look is gonna be my new thing.” He drawled, twisting the hair tie and repeating the process.
Hey, maybe he had been listening more than he first realised.
David choked out a tiny sob at the sensation, but he didn’t flinch nor tell Exer to stop. Exer’s own eyes stung at the fearful noises David would make at the back of his throat. Knowing something so mundane and normal had been twisted into something else for Day made him feel angry and scared for all the other battles he knew they’d have to face. That David was already facing.
At least this one was almost over.
“Just one more loop, okay? Then it’s all done.”
“Just one more loop.” David echoed, jaw clenched tightly.
Exer’s fingers moved quicker this time, threading the scrunchie through the final loop. As the small ponytail took shape, David’s tense shoulders gradually relaxed.
“There,” Exer uttered, swiping his thumb just beneath David’s eyes to catch the tears. “All done.”
David lifted a hand to touch the ponytail, a small, tentative smile playing on his lips. “It didn’t hurt,” he said softly, a hint of surprise in his voice.
Exer’s chest swelled with relief. “See? Told you I’d be gentle.”
David leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Exer’s. “Thank you,” he murmured. “For being patient. For understanding.”
Exer kissed the tip of David’s nose. “Always, Day. Always.”
David leaned in for another kiss, this one more confident and lingering long enough for Exer to taste the remnants of Day’s strawberry chapstick.
When they moved back enough to smile at each other, Exer leaned to the side to catch their reflection in the mirror behind David. Day followed his gaze, and when they were both staring back at themselves in the mirror, they couldn't help but grin at the ridiculousness of it all.
“About your question earlier…” David mused, locking eyes with Exer’s reflection, “-I think kissing is definitely still on the cards with those face masks on.”
“Oh, hell yeah.”
The night continued in a soothing rhythm. David set up his little skincare station, slapping at Exer’s hand whenever he tried to eat the cucumbers because ‘no Exer! They’re not for eating,’ and soon they both had bright green face masks on.
After that they climbed into bed under the impression that they would remember to take them off after an hour, so Exer had decided to play some Tetris on his Game Boy, the soft click of the buttons a comforting background noise.
David rested with the back of his head against Exer’s chest and he watched the gameplay above him happily, only piping up whenever Exer was about to lose.
But lo and behold, within the same hour David ended up softly snoring and Exer didn’t have the heart to wake him after so many restless nights.
So the next morning when Exer woke up to find David’s face mask imprinted onto his pyjama top?
Well, he found that he didn’t mind one bit.