Work Text:
Protag couldn’t sleep. For days now. At all. It was aggravating. He just wanted to sleep. All day. While he rotted and wasted away. He didn’t care that he would miss everything. He just wanted to sleep, but apparently he couldn’t.
He couldn’t care less about anything. He felt so numb. People die, Elliot, he tells himself, but he doesn’t feel any remorse, nor good for whatever happens. It’s out of his control anyway. Disasters happen. And yet we have no play, as the Earth takes its course. He thought, whoever’s up there must have reasoning. Reasoning is above all, including the strongest of knights and peasants, women and men, and so on.
He grumbled and got out of bed, lazing plopping on a tie and blazer over his stained white shirt. He went down to the apartment’s kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. He carefully poured milk inside the cup, attempting to not spill any on his already dirty clothing.
He quickly brushed his hair and grabbed his coffee, making it pour out of the cup. He groaned and left his apartment.
He looked at the options to get down. An elevator- most likely not. Or stairs. Yeah. He needs the morning energy anyway. He looked at his watch, noting it was 3 AM and ran down the stairs. Sure, he was an adult man, but he still didn’t like..ghosts.
When he got into his car, he felt his eyes droop. Making him reconsider driving. He paid no mind, as his husband was still asleep. It was a silent drive, as the radio would only have some shitty pop music playing. It was a short drive though, as he only lived a few minutes away from his office.
He opened the door, admiring and dreading the emptiness of the building. He quickly went to the stairs, where he jogged up the steep stairway. The office was, empty, as expected. He went to his cubicle, not bothering to turn on the lights as they would hurt his eyes too much.
He turned on this computer and clocked himself in.
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”fuck…”
How many hours had it been since he’d got there?
More people had filled the office, it being full and bustling with laughter and chatting than before. Someone was talking about their kid’s graduation, while another was talking about the death of a beloved family pet.
Protag closed his eyes shut as the ringing in his ears got worse. He tried hard not to focus too hard on it, as that just usually made it worse. He took a shaky hand to a pen and messily scribbled and circled answers that didn’t and did apply to him. He looked up at the clock. *7:30 AM*. He’d been here..maybe all night. People were going to start arriving soon. Damnit.
What was especially worse was, his vision slowly started to blur out and go gray. His body felt *hot*, as he shivered, feeling the ringing growing louder. He decided to resist it the best he could, trying to calm down. It made him think. What was the last time he slept? Hours? Days? A week or two? Whatever. It didn’t matter now.
He saw his partner confidently prance into his cubicle, before noticing his partner. He walked over to Protag, giving him a quick ruffle of his hair and a kiss. When Coworker tilted Protag’s head so they could see each other, they stared into each other's eyes as Protag subtly reached out for the other.
thump.
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Protag’s head was against something warm when he woke up.
He paid no mind, as he was too tired to get up and check what it was. Instead, he leaned against it, feeling the warmth of it slowly rise and fall. He looked around the room. The light yellow walls complemented the wooden floors of the…….apartment? Protag guessed. It wasn’t his anyway.
After a few more minutes, Protag groggily tried to get off the couch and out of the apartment. He slowly released his arm and lift his head up, trembling slightly. He sat up straight, adjusting his glasses and slowly getting up. Suddenly, he felt an arm hook around him and lazily pull him back. A soft mutter came from behind him.
“Stay.”
Protag flopped bad on the couch, the arm still looped around him, holding him tighter to..Coworker, it looked like? Protag hid his face into the couch. This had to be his husband’s apartment. Why would he be there, then?
Protag tucked his head into his lover’s chest as Coworker lazily stroked Protag’s hair. Protag leaned into the touch, his eyes fighting against drooping and his body against falling asleep. Coworker chuckled. “You know..you got me out of work.” Protag lifted himself up just enough to look at him. “Why? Wouldn’t they keep you?” Coworker just rolled his eyes. “Well, I just said I could just leave to check and make sure you were alright, or just leave you alone in that hospital all day with no one.”
“Guilt Tripping, much?” Protag chuckled.
Coworker just smiled.
“I can make us some coffee if you want.” Coworker added.
“Yeah. That would be nice.”
Coworker grabbed two cups and started making some coffee, periodically checking behind to make sure his lover wasn’t dead. “So…” he started. “How long has it been? Since you last slept?” Protag laid on the couch, adjusting the pillows. Protag thought for a minute before looking over, making his eye bags and dark circles obvious. “Maybe a few days, 4? Yeah. Seems right. I think.” Coworker was obviously concerned. Four days. Four fucking days.
He passed Protag the cup of coffee. He drank it pretty fast, needing some sort of caffeine to function. He set his cup down on the table. Coworker did the same. Then flopped ontop of him. Protag laughed. “H-Hah- that-my fucking neck..” Coworker peppered kisses all along his face and neck, trailing down to his collarbone. Protag kept laughing, trying to ‘escape’ from his grip (failing, but expected). Coworker stopped for a second, taking a second to breathe.
“I love you.”
I’ll love you as everything crashes down, as reasoning becomes nothing and the world only knows barbarians. I’ll love you even when everything is gone, because I know I’ll be with you, forever. I love you. I don’t know how to say it, so I say it in such a short and sweet way I know you’ll understand.
“Love you too.”