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"No Martin, I don't want tea." Jon said in his most polite voice possible. Martin just nodded and backed up out of the doorway with the mug in hand.
"Am I the only one that works around here? Now where was I?" Jon muttered before continuing his research notes, he didn't think Martin could hear him but he heard.
Martin heard everything Jon had been saying about him. Of course he's not deaf, or oblivious, yet Jon seemed to act like both statements were true. His complaints never fell to deaf ears, Martin knew the man hated him but he didn't care.
Martin realized his crush on Jon awhile ago, again, he's not an idiot. He saw just how attractive he was and assumed that was all, but down Martin fell and he fell hard. Not his proudest accomplishment but it was better than being alone.
The same situation happened over and over. It was hard to avoid each other when Martin was living in the breakroom, and Jon was basically living there as well. Martin would ask about tea, sometimes even coffee, each time Jon would deny each offer.
As weeks continued, worm sightings happened more and more. Martin had fallen asleep with a corkscrew in his hand, more nights than without.
Each morning he'd wake up and there were signs of life. Tea bag wrappers in the rubbish bin, the kettle was still slightly damp, and a mug was missing from the rack dedicated for office mugs, each time it was Jon's.
Martin ignored the lump in his throat and the way his stomach dropped when he saw these each morning. As the day progressed he'd see Jon sipping carefully from the missing mug.
He didn't stop offering Jon tea, or stop talking to Jim. In fact the tea mug missing made Martin feel more confident? Jon of course grumbled with each 'Distraction' caused by Martin. Over time the real words just became sounds of disapproval which Martin counted as a win.
One morning the mug was still there, sitting on the rack just as Jon had left it the night before. That was odd considering it was always missing, The Archivist always had it. Martin felt his heart jump at being able to actually offer Jon tea when he hadn't had any, maybe he would actually accept it this time?
Martin grabbed his and Jon's mugs and started the kettle. He stared as the water began to bubble, slowly regretting doing this, Jon didn't care and would probably curse under his breath about it. But before he could back out the kettle was done, he picked it up and poured the hot water into each mug.
He smiled as he sat the kettle down and stared at the mugs. He picked both up and walked down the hallway to the wooden door with a rusted metal nameplate
The Archivist
He pushed it open with a creak and was met with Jon sleeping face down on his desk, tape recorder off, and the cassette completely out of tape. Martin huffed and placed Jon's mug on the desk. He contemplated leaving and waiting for the archivist to wake up but decided he'd hate waking up "Late" to work.
Martin walked forward and gently tapped Jon's shoulder and quickly backed up as Jon stirred. He heard a low groan then Jon sat up, his usually slicked back hair was stuck facing slightly forward, and he looked extremely confused.
"Made you some tea" Martin whispered before stepping out of the door.
"Martin wait" Jon spoke in a rough tone, obviously tired and voice strained from lack of use.
"Hm?" Martin made a hum of interest and poked his head back into Jon's door. He saw the man rub his face and look at him directly.
"Thank you" He said barely above a whisper, Martin could see just how much Jon meant that, so he just nodded and shut the door. He half expected to hear some half asked mumble of annoyance but he didn't hear anything. Only the faint sound of the mug leaving the desk and a tape recorder be opened.
Martin walked to his office with a deep blush spread across his face. He went on with research as always, keeping up on his work and slowly sipping his now lukewarm tea. But every time he saw Jon with that mug in his hand, either around the archives or in his office the red flush in his face returned.
Tim, of course, had something to say, he always did. He barged into the office Martin was sitting in and pestered him about liking someone, something about being distracted. Obviously he was right he was head over heels for Jon but he wasn't about to tell Tim that. He's so sure that would've gone swimmingly.
He did say some nice things, and good advice, right before destroying those nice things by assuming it was him he liked. Martin wanted to hide in the shadows, he gritted his teeth as Tim did little finger guns in his direction and made his little pew noise as the door shut.
Finally he was alone, or so he thought before some came busting in, of course, of course it would be Jon. As he's already blushing and irritated, the reason for all of this is in his doorway staring at him in confusion.
"What are you so irritable about?" Jon spoke in his regular tone, sleep long gone from this voice.
Martin just sighed and thought about hitting his head on the desk in front of him.
He pointedly chose to ignore Jon's half smile when he brought up Tim. He immediately switched to business mode in a second and started discussing research.
After a brief discussion about how Martin felt, which was odd he never cared before, Martin could feel the heat of his cheeks and he heard Jon's sincere voice fall into the voice he almost exclusively used to boss Martin around.
Martin just sank into his chair covering his face to stop further embarrassment. He survived the rest of his day and fell asleep with a corkscrew gripped tight in his hand.
He woke up to the sound of shuffling, and a slight tap on his shoulder. When he opened his eyes he saw Jon with his arm extended. He had Martin's mug in his hand, steam billowing from the top. His heart jumped as he sat up and accepted the tea.
To Martin's amazement Jon sat on the couch opposite to Martin's makeshift cot on the floor. They drank tea in silence, Martin usually hates silence but this felt comfortable, almost domestic. He liked it, he liked this version of Jon that was so often ditched when he left the breakroom.
So this became their routine, drinking tea together in the breakroom. They were never joined by any of the other staff, Martin wondered just how early Jon woke up for this but never dared question. So they sat, in the carefully crafted safety they created.
After the attack on the archives, Martin felt that, false sense of safety in the breakroom be stripped away from him. He didn't feel safe, anywhere, his flat was still terrifying to enter, but it felt slightly better than the archives.
But waking up without tea with Jon wasn't better. So after the 3rd day of waking up now more depressed than the night before he left extremely early to make tea and hopefully feel that calm silence again.
He entered and no one was at the entrance, and the lights were still turned off like the night before, only relying on the emergency lights to illuminate his walk to the breakroom. He entered the door and saw Jon sitting on the couch, drinking tea. But Martin's mug was sitting on the floor where his cot once was.
He smiled, and didn't ignore the flutter in his chest when Jon's sleepy eyes met his. Jon grinned, mostly hidden by the mug he positioned perfectly over his lips, but he was still obviously smiling.
"You still made me tea" Martin said when he grabbed the tea and sat in his rightful position, in front of Jon drinking tea, that was only slightly cold.
"Never stopped" Jon confessed, he spoke so quietly Martin almost didn't hear him, it was like Jon was confessing some secret others couldn't hear.
Martin smiled wider now, he tried leaning back but quickly realized it was still a horribly covered hole in the wall. He looked at Jon who just shifted over and didn't speak.
Martin knew what this meant, and when he sat down he felt that comfortable silence fell over them, but he couldn't ignore just how happy he was to sit next to Jon. His face heated up when he felt Jon's knee knock against his. He continued to stare at his mug.
"Did you really think I was a ghost?" Martin joked, eyes following the swirling liquid in his mug, he couldn't dare look at Jon while his entire face flushed red.
"No, obviously not." Jon argued but the small red blush on his nose gave him away without needing to hear him say it.
"Really? Because you seemed pretty convinced the other night." Martin looked up and turned his body to face Jon's. Jon mimicked this movement, and pushed Martin's chest lightly, sleep still dragging down his movement.
"Be quiet" He chuckled and looked down at his own mug, but Martin continued to stare. Entranced by the now healing, soon to be Scars littering his face and body. He knew Tim had them as well, but with Jon sitting very casually in just his undershirt and dress pants he could see far more than he could see of Tim's.
His body involuntarily shivered when he remembered how they happened. The tunnels, the worms, Gertrude. He guessed Jon noticed and slowly shifted his leg so it was against Martin's. Silently grounding him, they continued to drink tea in peaceful silence.
So they continued this routine. Martin would arrive early to drink tea with Jon and sometimes even make it with him. It was Martin's favorite part of his day. That was until they began to eat lunch together.
They would sit on the couch, eating together and quietly discussing research and sometimes it got personal, never that much from Jon, more from Martin spilling his guts to Jon when asked.
Well this routine caught some attention from the others, Mostly Tim who just looked at them, and then winked at Martin before exiting with a shit eating grin that never seemed to leave his face.
Sasha would just laugh and sometimes join when she had something to add to the research. But Jon and Martin never separated, legs always pressed flush as if the other would disappear if they moved.
Elias never seemed to notice. Which Martin was actually happy about, nothing against Elias but he's sure if Elias heard anything about this from Tim specifically it would be an HR issue. Martin just rolled his eyes at this thought and returned to the quiet haven they had carved out for themselves in the archives.
Well one lunch, Martin was completely distracted while Jon carefully ate whatever he was eating. He had been watching as the wounds across Jon's face had scabbed, and healed over leaving nothing but fresh red scars. He didn't think anything less of Jon because of these, In fact he swore he fell harder for him as they healed. He didn't know it was possible to be this deep in love but here he was, in love with his boss.
"What?" Jon asked, looking up and meeting Martin's eyes.
"Nothing," Martin blushed and went back to eating his food.
"Do you think they're ugly?" Jon asked, placing his fork down into his container he was eating from. A pit formed in Martin's gut when he heard something he'd never heard from Jon before, he sounded ashamed?
"No! Never! I think you look good with them! Well, good as in good, not good as in attractive." Martin stuttered out. Carefully putting his hand on Jon's shoulder.
Jon looked up in confusion as he felt the touch.
Jon just laughed at Martin's horrible attempts to hide what he said. His eyes met with Martin and he could feel the blush sneak his way up his neck and onto his cheeks.
"Do you think I'm attractive Martin?" Jon asked with a small smile. Keeping eye contact with Martin.
Martin felt his heart go into his throat as the words were forcefully ripped from his chest.
"Yes. I find you very attractive, Jon." Martin spits out, he retracted his hand and held it covering his mouth. He thought that, but did not expect to actually say that out loud.
Jon scooted so his legs were almost entirely on Martins so he didn't strain his neck to each Martin. He just grabbed Martin's neck and pushed their foreheads together, with a tiny smile he spoke quietly, words only meant for Martin.
"I think you're attractive too, Martin." He chuckled but didn't move his head. Keeping them there, breathing in the silence after what was just exchanged.
Martin finally broke out of whatever silence spell he was under and moved to cup Jon's face. Jon looked up at him, foreheads still carefully shoved together.
Tim's words swirled in Martin's head.
"You deserve something for yourself."
He doesn't know what came over him when he locked eyes with Jon, maybe magic or some undiscovered confidence, but he leaned forward and cautiously connected their lips.
To Martin's surprise Jon didn't pull back, in fact he pulled Martin closer and kissed back. Hands fumbled to each other's lap and they interlaced fingers before they were rudely interrupted by the door creaking open. They separated quickly, and when Martin saw Tim standing there with the largest grin he'd ever seen on his face he buried his face into his hands, well one hand because the other was still firmly in Jon's hand.
"Took you two long enough. I've been over the longing glaces for weeks now." Tim spoke with a mocking tone. He crossed his arms and locked eyes with Jon.
"That was nothing Tim- get back to your research." Jon gave it his best attempt to sound like a boss but still stuttered in embarrassment.
Martin looked up in enough time to see Tim put his arm up, fingers facing to his back. Sasha then walked by and placed a fiver in Tim's hand and walked away with a roll of her eyes.
Tim just smiled wider and waved the bill in the air.
"Congrats to the happy couple." Tim took a dramatic bow, placed the bill in pocket, and closed the door still with that classic Tim shit eating grin.
Martin devolved into nervous giggles and fell forward, head going to Jon's forehead. Jon laughed too, lightly and carefully, but still carefully holding Martin's hand.
In the place of horrors and the constant feeling of dread they found a slice of perfect peace in each other. Hands connected, and hearts intertwined.