Work Text:
The loud clattering sound of metal hitting the ground echoed through the hall. Large prosthetics sluggishly glided across the floor, and although each step carried the weight of exhaustion, the gait remained surprisingly elegant. The wolf Thiren, took a deep breath as he stood before the entrance of his house. The day was finally over—an extraordinarily long and busy one. Lucky tomorrow -well actually, already today, he had a day off.
The number of tasks that needed to be finished could probably drive someone to quit being a housekeeper. They had to service a big event, and that in itself wasn’t a problem. The problem was that the party hadn’t been organized by Victoria Housekeeping, and as soon as they arrived, it became painfully clear that the organizer was far from competent. Eh, each of them will have to be compensated for the overtime.
Lycaon closed his eye before running his hand through his hair. He could feel his head pounding, and after trying to keep his composure throughout the day, his muzzle finally twisted in discomfort. He took the key to his home and was about to put it in the door lock when he heard a buzz from his pocket. It was a message from Rina
‘ Dear sir Lycaon, I deeply apologise for reaching out so late, but there's an emergency ’
Lycaon just stood there, looking at his phone with an empty expression. He tucked the device away, along with the key, and started walking toward the location Rina had sent him.
—
Somewhere around the same time, a young man was sitting in a dark room in front of a bright screen. Wise tried his best not to stay up so late this time, but he gave up upon realising it was well past midnight. He couldn't fall asleep, so he decided to check their proxy account for some remote commissions that could put him to sleep. And before he knew it he was already elbows deep in work. Wise took a moment to stretch and let his eyes rest a bit. He was thankful that the implants kept his vision somewhere intact. What a shame the rest of his body wasn’t so reliable.
After a quick rest, he returned to his task, and surprisingly, it didn’t take long before it was finished. Satisfied with what he had done, he decided it was time to go to bed, or at least lie in it until morning. However, as he was about to stand up from the desk, a notification popped up. He immediately opened the message upon seeing that the first word was "EMERGENCY." The client wanted to retrieve some documents from the hollow and needed someone ASAP. At first, Wise wanted to ignore it, since the commission would require him to sync with Eous, but he quickly changed his mind when he saw the pay the customer was offering. ‘They must be really desperate’ he thought to himself as he started typing.
He wasn’t going to fall asleep tonight anyway.
—
The little bangboo sat on the ground in front of the entrance to the hollow. The client mentioned that there was a person coming and he was to guide them to find the documents. Wise wished they were someone skilled so they could finish this quickly. He himself didn’t mind how long it would take, but he started to feel a little guilty for waking Eous up in the middle of the night. ‘I will have to treat Eous to something after this’ He thought to himself. Finally, someone's footsteps bring him back to reality.
“I apologise for the delay; I had—" The voice suddenly stopped upon seeing the proxy. Wise looked at the speaker, and his eyes widened in shock.
“Lycaon?!”
”Wise?!” Both of them shouted in disbelief at the same time. For a moment they stood in one place simply looking at each other, then Lycaon interrupted the silence.
“My love… What in the world brings you here at this hour? Are you not aware of the time? Have you already forgotten the conversation we had regarding your sleep schedule?” A stream of words left Lycaons mouth, not letting Wise answer any of them, and though his tone was harsh each word was filled with worry.
“Okay, first of all, I could ask you the same,” Wise responded. “And second of all, I just wanted to get tired and work a little bit. It wasn’t my plan to stay up so late.” The little bangboo hand started rubbing the back of his head.
Lycaon let out a sigh before starting again. "It seems we are here for the same reason, how about we get moving? I fear we are wasting time here. We can talk while we walk." He turned towards the hollow and looked expectantly at Wise. “I agree, let's finish this quickly”.
Lycaon then knelt and offered his hand for Eous to sit on. Then he stood up and swiftly walked through the entrance.
—
“So, I shared my part, but you still didn’t answer my question” Wise said while scanning their surroundings for any clues.
“Eh, Rina was helping one of our clients to wrap up everything after a big event when he realised that some of the documents regarding expenses that needed to be submitted today were left in his old office in this newly created hollow. Since Rina still had to stay at the venue, she asked me for help”. Lycaon explained while looking around for any potential danger.
“And you just happened to be awake at 3am to answer her?” Wise asked, glancing at Lycaon with a raised eyebrow. “Ekhm- I didn’t have a chance to fall asleep yet” He’s eye looked at anything but Wise. “I didn’t really get a chance to even walk to the bed”. Wise wanted to say something but before he could he was interrupted by Fairy. “Master, I have located the office building the client mentioned.”
“The office should be around that corner” Wise relayed what the AI said while pointing the tiny hand toward the direction. Lycaon turned to the place and sprinted, somewhat glad that the topic changed.
—
“Rina mentioned that the folder should be in one of the drawers on the second floor,” Lycaon explained as they climbed the stairs.
They reached the main office, relieved that there hadn't been any obstacles along the way. However, the mood shifted as soon as the doors opened. The sheer amount of shelves and scattered papers was astonishing. Almost every drawer was packed to the brim, and some of the shelves were lying on the floor after breaking under the overload. Wise and Lycaon exchanged a look of pure pain.
“Well, the document wasn’t signed long ago, so it should be somewhere on top”. Wise tried to sound optimistic, but he wasn’t sure if he believed himself.
“I shall begin with the top shelves on the right; could you inspect the one on the floor, my dear?” Thiren didn’t even try to hide the exhaustion in his voice.
“Yes honey” Wise answer, equally defeated.
—
“And i thought that Belle didn’t know how to organize documents” a heavy sigh left the bangboo. “Did you find anything Ly? He asked, still looking through the shelf. ”Ly?”
Wise turned around after not hearing an answer, only to be stunned in shock. The man stood next to the drawer, leaning on it with his eye closed and snout slightly open. His expression seemed relaxed and his breath was steady. ‘DID HE FALL ASLEEP STANDING!? I thought only Ellen could do that’. Wise thought to himself and slowly approached Lycaon.
Wise didn’t realize until now just how worn out his lover was. He wanted to wake him up, however after taking a longer look at his face he decided against it. He speared one last glance before touring away, back to the papers. ‘I just hope he won’t trip’.
—
Lycaon could feel his ears twitch before he heard the faint sound of something tapping against metal. At first, he shrugged it off, not wanting to interrupt his nap, but then he remembered exactly where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. His body snapped, straightening immediately. The sudden movement made the bangboo jump to the back.
“Wise, I am terribly sorry. It was inappropriate of me to—” He was about to go on a tirade when he noticed the item that the proxy was holding.
“I found it!” Wise said, booming with pride. Lycaon looked at him in complete silence for a moment before letting out a chuckle.
“I’m glad my sweetheart. I'm sorry for falling asleep and making you do all the work. I guess i haven't realized just how exhausted i was”
“Don’t apologize! If it was a problem i would have woken you”
Wise then walked closer to the Thiren and handed him the binder. He wouldn’t admit it to his mate but he found the folder a moment after he noticed Lycaon slumbering. He wanted him to get at least a little rest so he waited about fifteen minutes before he woke up.
“We should get going now. The faster we finish this the sooner we will get some actual rest”
“Ah, yes, of course, you’re right. Would you mind notifying Rina?”
They both then walked toward the exit, Eous one again sitting on Thiren’s hand. As they were moving Wise couldn’t help but notice that Lycaon seemed a little down.
“Hey Ly, is everything okay? You look… sad” Wise felt worry fill his body. He then placed the little hand on Lycaon’s, and started gently stroking it.
“I just... still feel a bit angry with myself. I feel like I didn't do anything while we were both supposed to be looking for it." He let out a sigh and looked down. "I know you said it wasn't a problem, but I still want to make it up to you somehow.”
Wise was about to protest again when he suddenly got an idea. It wasn’t visible on Eous’ face but there was a huge grin on his face. Pleased with himself he looked into Lycaon's eye.
“Well, if you REALLY want to make it up to me, since I’d have to drive here to pick up Eous, how about you drop off the document, then take Eous to the Random Play, aaaand... you stay for the night? With me? In my bed?" It took every atom in his body to not sound too needy. And though it was thrown as a suggestion WIse already knew the answer.
Lycaon’s muzzle lit up with pure joy at the simple thought of snuggling with his beloved mate. He then without a warning started to sprint with a newfound strength. The sudden change of speed sturdled wise as he clanged to Lycaon’s chest.
“No time to waste than”
—
Before Lycaon could get to the store, Wise quickly got to his room and changed the bedsheet to the fluffiest and most comfortable ones. He also placed a water bottle on the nightstand in case his mate wanted something to refresh.
Surprisingly it didn't take nearly as long as Wise thought before he heard a knock on the door. He sprinted downstairs and quickly opened the door. He wanted to properly welcome his lover however he wasn't given any time before being trapped in strong furry arms.
“I got here as fast as I could," Lycaon said, clearly proud of himself as he let Wise go. Neither his snout nor his tail could hide the clear happiness he felt. He then felt a tug on his collar, indicating that Eous, who was now sitting on his shoulder, was also getting impatient. They all made their way upstairs to Wise’s room, where he placed Eous back on his charger while Lycaon undressed. They didn’t waste any more time and went straight to bed. Wise wanted to at least say goodnight to the other man, but as soon as his head rested on the soft and fluffy chest, he blacked out. Lycaon didn’t stay behind; with his beloved, living heater in his arms, he quickly drifted off to sleep.