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“do you usually— um. go into rooms you’re not supposed to?” ivory asked quietly with a yawn, eyes following serapter’s form as he went around the room. there was minimal lighting coming in from a narrow window near the roof, allowing her to scan the room carefully. it was a small, condensed room with various boxes lying around. most of the boxes had a layer of dust coating them with labels like clothes and utensils on the side. currently, serapter was kneeling on the floor digging through one of the many clothing boxes from a closet on the side.
he pulled out a blue button-up, tilting his head slightly in consideration. “only ones i know people don’t usually go into.” then, serapter questioned with a chuckle, “are you losing sleep over playing the piano again?”
rubbing one of her eyes, ivory responded, “not too much, i can still do my work.” she heard serapter hum at that, sending a glance over her way.
“alright, let me know if you ever need any help, okay?” his lips quirked up. “also, could i hear you play sometime? i’d love to hear it if you’d have me.”
ivory blinked, a bit surprised by both his offer and his curiosity. “uh, if you’re interested you can, yes.”
“awesome, thanks!” he beamed. “i’ve been wanting to ask for a while, i’m excited to hear it.” serapter paused then, standing up and holding the shirt he had in his hands to his chest. “hey, is this a good color for me?”
ivory’s eyes trailed from serapter’s face (or rather mask, which covered most of his face excluding his mouth) to the shirt. serapter fidgeted in place as she considered it. “it suits you.” she replied. serapter noticeably relaxed at that, a sigh escaping him. as he re-folded the shirt, he smiled. “thanks. also, anytime i ask that, don’t feel pressured to like— lie. not that i think you’re lying, just so—” he cut himself off suddenly, head snapping over towards the door.
“ shit, um—” serapter looked back towards the closet and quickly turned back to ivory. he reached forward and grabbed her arm, rushing her forward with him. she startled but didn’t resist. “someone’s coming. we need to hide— now. in here.” he speedily guided her into the closet and closed the curtains.
a moment after, the low groan of the door being opened was heard as the sound of footsteps echoed off the walls. there were voices talking in murmurs, boxes being moved, and continuous creaking from the door.
the closet barely fit one person, let alone two; ivory had her back pressed against the shelf as serapter tried cautiously peeking through the curtains. it was warm with serapter being so close, his body radiating heat; it was making her sleepy. she leaned her head forward a little, attempting to see out of the small crack serapter was. voice low, ivory spoke: “what’s happening serapter?”
serapter turned back to look at her, jumping a little either at her watching him or at the sudden proximity. “uh, looks like they’re moving a bunch of the boxes out of the room.” he whispered, crossing his arms before deciding to put his hands in his pant pockets instead.
“we’ll have to wait a bit. i’m sorry, i had no idea they’d go in here— in all my time here, i haven’t even heard someone mention this room.” serapter sighed, shifting from foot-to-foot.
ivory stayed silent, processing serapter’s words. she didn’t want to get in trouble, and at least she was in this situation with someone she was familiar with, but how long would they have to be in here? it was making her uneasy.
as if sensing her unease, serapter grabbed her shoulder gently and whispered, “look, if we get caught, i’ll take the full blame, alright? i don’t want you to get in trouble, especially when you were only in here because of me.” the warmth ivory felt radiating off of serapter before was amplified by his hand holding her arm as he reassuringly rubbed his thumb back and forth.
she swallowed, nodding her head as heat rose to her face. “uh. okay.” she reached her own hand up and covered his with her own. it was a nerve-wracking situation, but it could definitely be worse. “thank you.” she responded softly.
serapter appeared more invigorated, licking his lips. “yeah, of course.” his hand had stopped moving, eventually pulling it away to rest by his side. “we just need to wait it out and we’ll be good.”
“okay.” she yawned again, covering her mouth with her hand. even after the aforementioned panic, ivory’s exhaustion was catching up with her. with the dark room and serapter’s warmth, it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay awake.
“hey, hey,” serapter waved his hand in front of her face. “did you wanna take a nap while we’re stuck in here? i can keep watch if you wanted to sleep.”
ivory thought about it: while she’d would feel bad about leaving serapter alone to be look-out, sleeping was very tempting. ultimately, the lull of sleep won her over. “alright. thank you.” she closed her eyes, swaying a bit. she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, feeling oh so warm.
“of course. sleep well ivory.”
-
ivory woke up to a gentle shake of her shoulder, a voice murmuring to her, “ivory, they’re gone.” she slowly opened her eyes and blinked languidly, remembering where she was. “serapter?” she had to look up at him, at some point she had sat on the floor to doze off.
tilting his head to the side, serapter gave her a tender smile. “hi. you feeling better?” he held his hand out in front of her, which she took. “i am, thank you.” serapter pulled her up, only letting go when she was steadied. he looked relieved at her response. “good. let’s get out of here now, quick.”
he pushed the curtain open a little to leave, taking a wide step over a mess in front of the closet. ivory was close behind him, hurrying out. “be careful, there’s boxes—”
ivory gasped as she knocked into serapter, having tripped over one of the many boxes that had been moved near the closet. serapter fell to the floor first on his back, making a small noise of pain as ivory followed immediately after, landing on top of him which caused another pained groan from serapter. ivory scrambled to sit up, pushing herself up with her hands on either side of serapter with apologies on the tip of her tongue.
“oh my god,” serapter was frozen, wide-eyed staring at ivory. his face was flushed from his cheeks all the way to his ears and down his neck. his fingers twitched at his sides, frazzled. “um.” he breathed in. “are you okay ivory?”
the words fizzled out as her mind went blank. serapter underneath her, red in the face looked—
“i’m— i’m fine,” ivory whispered, her face feeling hot. carefully, ivory stood up and stepped to the side, offering a hand to serapter. he took it, warmth seeping into her skin as he stood up.
“thanks,” serapter smiled, seeming almost shy. he rubbed his neck, glancing over at the door. “let’s get out of here before they come back.”
ivory nodded, a small smile on her lips as serapter went around her to open the door. he stood in the doorway with a gentle expression. “come on.”
nodding her head, ivory followed him out. his gaze lingered on her, his cheeks warm. “let’s get back to work ivory.”