Chapter Text
Martin rubbed his eyes, slumping down on his couch. He was exhausted, and more than a little heartbroken, and even if he was lonely he also didn’t feel like being around anyone right now. He scrolled aimlessly through his food delivery app. He ordered what he usually did and stood up to get himself a drink from the fridge. He really needed a pet or something.
Especially if he wasn’t gonna have a boyfriend, he should finally just get a cat like he always wanted. Maybe he’d look at the shelter this weekend. That thought cheered him up a bit more and he sat back down on the couch to find something to watch. He put on a documentary and sat back.
He wondered what kind of things Jon liked to watch … he wondered what Dom liked to watch. He huffed jealously. He took a sip of his drink.
Jon could date whoever he liked- see if Martin cared. He wasn’t even nice to him! Martin didn’t even know why he liked him so much. Just because he had a pretty face, and was book smart and awkward, and when he was focused his brow furrowed all cute, and how his slender fingers wrapped around his mug…
Martin blushed red to his ears and groaned. Who was he even kidding!? He loved Jon, he was head over heels in love with him. He pressed his hands into his eyes.
He really tried hard not to cry but it felt impossible. Maybe he should just tell Jon and get it over with. It couldn’t make him feel any worse at this point.
He’d give it a week, see if this thing with Jon and Dominic actually meant anything. He’d waited this long, he could let himself suffer a few days longer. He sighed again and took another sip of his drink.
…
Jon felt– odd. He was finally going on a real date with someone since his break up with Georgie years ago. He didn’t really count the one with Tim– but ever since he had met Dominic at the library a week or so ago they had gone out to dinner or drinks frequently. It was very nice. They were a friend he’d made all on his own, of his own choice.
And now they were going out to dinner tonight, Jon considered that very good progress if he wanted Dom to eventually be his partner romantically … which he still wasn’t exactly sure that he wanted but he was willing to wait and see.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
His hair was still pretty much a disaster as always, but he had tried to tame it, and it looked decent. He took a deep breath, wondering if his outfit was good enough. He was wearing the same clothes he had worn on his date with Tim, it was the closest he had to casual without being office wear or pajamas. He should really go shopping.
Maybe if things ended up going well. He smiled softly to himself, hopefully.
He moved around his apartment, cleaning up while he waited for Dominic. He tried to keep his mind off of work … off of Martin. He didn’t know why he kept thinking about him.
Martin was wonderfully kind, gentle, sweet, he always worked incredibly hard even when he wasn’t as good at his job as Tim or Sasha. Still- Jon didn’t know why his thoughts should linger on him specifically more than any of his other work friends.
He sighed and shook his head. It’s not something he should be thinking of right now.
He reached down to pet his cat lovingly as it came to purr around his feet. He smiled softly at it, glad he had them.
“Hi sweetheart” he said lovingly, scooping up the large cat and kissing its face. The cat mewed and purred against him.
Jon smiled at the pleasant sound lovingly, the cat had been adopted and already named Lasagna- probably a child’s doing- but that’s all it responded to now. Whenever he had to talk about her he called her Niles, though.
He kissed her face and set her back down on the ground. She walked off to go sit on her cat tree.
Jon sat on his couch to read until Dominic arrived. They arrived right on time, pretty much on the dot.
Jon smiled appreciatively and got to his feet to open the door, smiling at them happily. Dominic smiled back with a small wave.
“Hello!” They said brightly, “You ready to head to dinner?” they asked.
Jon nodded, “Yep- if you are”
Dom nodded happily, bouncing on their feet a little bit and righting their bag on their shoulder. “Where are we going?” they asked.
“Do you like Thai?” Jon asked.
Dom nodded, “I’ve never had it, but I’d love to try it” they said happily.
Jon nodded, “Only if you’d like- we could go somewhere else..” Dom shook their head quickly, “no no! It’ sounds fun, and I love trying new places.” they said easily.
Jon smiled warmly with a nod, “Okay- I’ll tell you the way”
Dom clapped their hands and the two stepped out of Jon’s apartment, Jon closing the door so Lasagna wouldn’t escape. He had a proper smile on his face.
…
“That was very enjoyable, thank you for going with me” Jon smiled when they stopped outside of his door.
“You’re welcome! I had a great time too, we should definitely do it again” they smiled.
Jon nodded happily, “I’d like that”
Dom beamed, moving forward to give Jon a hug, squeezing him softly. “Well, I’ll text you! Have a good night”
Jon waved back, stepping into his apartment. He smiled warmly, that had been very fun. Lasagna mewed as he walked in. Jon chuckled, picking her up and kissing her. She mewed again and purred happily at seeing him back.
Jon hummed fondly and went to his room to change into pajamas. His heart fluttered.
He set the cat down on his bed, wondering if Martin had any animals- … wait, no- not Martin, Dominic. He wondered if Dom liked animals. They’d seemed pretty interested when he’d talked about his cat-
Maybe he should invite them to his apartment at some point and they could meet Lasagna. He sat down at his bed, wondering why he’d thought of Martin.
If he was being honest with himself he had been thinking about Martin a lot lately. He had no idea why or how Martin had infiltrated his thoughts, but he seemed determined to stay.
He wasn't exactly complaining. Martin was nice enough to think about. Jon sighed softly and finished getting ready for bed. He laid down and mentally prepared to stare at the wall for a few hours. He hated insomnia so much.
It wasn't like there was anything he could do for it though. Lasagna curled up on his chest and purred steadily. Jon sighed softly, petting her gratefully. She always helped. He rubbed his eyes and tried closing them.
Hopefully tonight would be better than most.
…
“Martin seems to be really upset lately” Tim pouted up at Sasha. Sasha frowned at him, raising her brows. “Wouldn’t you be?”
“Yeah…” Tim muttered, “But it’s hard to see him like that”
“There’s nothing we can do about it baby” Sasha said, kissing his forehead. “If Jon is happy with Dominic we have to all be okay with that, and Martin will have to move on”
Tim sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.
“I know but I still want to help him. Is there anything else I could do without messing things up even more?” he asked weakly.
Sasha rubbed his shoulder, kissing his head, “I don’t know baby”
Tim sighed and cuddled closer, trying to come up with something. He really wanted to help Martin, he was one of his best friends. Maybe he could ask if Gerry had any friends he could set him up with. That might be better than doing nothing. He just wanted Martin to be as happy as he deserved.
…
Jon was honestly very pleased with how things had been going lately with Dominic. They had been out together a few more times since they had gone to dinner at the Thai restaurant together, and they were becoming closer friends. Jon still didn’t know if he was particularly ‘in love’ with Dominic, as Sasha clearly was with Gerry but he felt confident enough in saying he would like to continue dating Dominic exclusively.
He scrolled through his phone with a list of nearby restaurants, trying to come up with future possible date locations.
He was also confident in saying that he identified with the term ‘bisexual’ now. With the help of Tim and no small amount of research on his own time Jon had slowly come to the realization that he was just as happy dating men as he was women, just as he was happy with dating anyone of any gender expression. It was a surprisingly freeing realization to come to, and actually explained a few moments in his childhood he had nearly forgotten.
There was obviously still more to learn, but he was happy to do so if it meant understanding himself more. He was grateful he hadn’t had to figure it out on his own, or he probably never would have.
He smiled to himself and Lasagna purred happily in his lap, pressing her face against his stomach.Jon ran his hand down her back with a pleasant smile, petting behind her ears where she liked. She purred heavily and melted into liquid cat in his lap.
Jon chuckled, scratching behind her ears. He continued scrolling on his phone looking for new restaurants or activities Dominic would enjoy. He wanted to be the best boyfriend he could possibly be, despite his lack of experience.
He also needed to ask Dominic if they wanted Jon to be their boyfriend. They hadn’t spoken about it before.They should probably clarify boundaries, he’d read that that was important.
They were meeting for lunch tomorrow, Jon could bring it up then.He smiled softly and put his phone down to give Lasagna some more attention. She purred lovingly, spinning in a little circle.
“You’re performing for treats, aren’t you?” Jon smirked knowingly. She blinked up at him adorably and meowed.She was the cutest cat in the world, that was a fact.
He nuzzled her happily and gave her a kiss on the head.
…
Martin winced as he looked over the statement write-up again. He didn’t even know why Jon had sent it back this time, he had been extra careful! He felt like no matter what he did Jon would find something wrong with it regardless. Jon always managed to find a way to be upset with Martin when Martin had been nothing but kind. At least, he assumed he was being kind, his mother might call it something else.
He gave the statement one last read over, quadruple sure that there wasn’t anything wrong with it by Jon’s standards.
He got to his feet again to take the statement back to Jon’s office. He moved down the hall and knocked on the door softly.
“Come in,” He heard a voice from the other side.
Martin peeked the door open slowly, holding the papers to his chest.
Jon glanced up, pressing stop on the tape recorder.
“Ah Martin, have you finally finished the Simpson statement?” he asked with a sigh, leaning back in his chair.
“Y-yes, sorry-” Martin mumbled, handing it to him.
Jon took it and opened the folder to look over it, his dark eyes scanning the paper closely. Martin shifted awkwardly in place, swallowing the anxious lump in his throat. After a moment Jon set the papers down with the pile of other statements on his desk.
“Good,” He hummed, picking up the statement he’d been working on.
Martin blinked in surprise. “G-Good?” he asked hopefully.
Jon glanced up at him with a nod, “Now just do that with all of them from now on”
Martin blushed, feeling slightly upset. “I- … I try to do my best you know” he said, attempting to stand up for himself.
Jon lowered his papers, looking at him properly. “What?”
Martin’s blush spread across his face but he kept going. “I said- I try my best. I’ve never been trained on any of this and I’m not a professional writer, or a researcher, I’m basically trying to guess what you want every time and just … I’m trying my best.”
He braced himself for an angry response, clenching his shaking fists as his side. However, Jon continued to stare at him as his expression shifted to surprise.
“Oh- I guess you’re right… I just assumed-” Jon cleared his throat. “You’re right, I appreciate the effort… I’m… new to this as well…”
Martin blinked in surprise, immediately feeling the impulse to apologize, but he held it back. “I … Thank you. I know you’re just trying your best too, hopefully we can help each other” he smiled softly.
Jon nodded, a soft red dusting his cheeks as he regained his composure.
Martin took that as his cue to leave and turned back to the door quickly, but someone managed to open it just before him.
“Oops! Excuse me, sorry-” the person laughed, brushing past Martin into the office with a smile. “How are you today Martin?” Dominic smiled happily.
“Oh um- good. Good to see you-” Martin blinked in surprise.
Dominic nodded, “same, same” they smiled, dipping their head slightly before turning to Jon. “I’m not interrupting am I?” they asked sweetly.
Jon shook his head, standing up from his desk with a small smile. “Not at all”
Dominic beamed and moved to hug him and Martin immediately stepped out of the office as his heart dropped into his feet. So it was true, Dominic and Jon were definitely together. He’d known for a while, but it was still upsetting to learn.
He resisted the urge to cry as he moved down the hall quickly to the bathroom. He locked himself in a stall and took a shuddering breath, taking off his glasses to rub at his eyes. He shouldn’t cry over something like this, he was being silly and it was just a crush. He would get over it eventually, he was still young and he would find a different boyfriend.
Martin composed himself, continuing to steady his breathing before stepping out to wash his face. He blinked up at the mirror as water dripped down his face, pressing his fingers over his freckles.
Why would Jon ever like him anyway? Even without Dominic he would never fall for Martin. He didn’t even like Martin. To be honest, if he was Jon he wouldn’t like him either. He should just be happy he still had a job like a normal person and move on.
He wiped his face dry with a paper towel and stepped out of the bathroom back into the hall. As he turned the corner to head back to the office, he bumped right into someone coming from the other direction.
He yelped and quickly apologized, holding his arms to his chest.
“Oh! Sorry!” The other person said, Martin looking up at them.
She was a taller woman with wavy blonde hair and a round face, she had a couple journals clutched to her chest. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her here before.
Martin righted himself, dusting himself off. “I-it’s alright-” He stuttered.
She smiled softly, “sorry, I’m just looking for artifact storage. I’m Paige Duplass, I’m a new researcher” she introduced.
“Oh- nice to meet you- I can show you there- oh- Martin Blackwood” Martin said.
She shook his hand. “Thank you so much, this place is a maze.” she chuckled, rolling her eyes.
Martin chuckled softly with a nod, starting to walk. “You know you're the second person to say that lately,” he chuckled, “It is, but a fairly simple one when you get used to it”
Paige smiled gratefully and they moved back towards the stairs.
…
Tim glowered at the back of Dominic’s head. “I can’t believe they took Jon away from Martin '' he hissed at Sasha.
“Tim.” Sasha hissed back, “They didn’t do it on purpose.”
Tim pouted, “it’s still annoying.” he growled, angrily jabbing his pen at his paper.
Sasha sighed with a nod, leaning into him. “Yeah… but being angry about it won’t fix it.” Tim hummed and wrapped his arms around her possessively.
Sasha smiled softly and kissed his cheek. “Have you seen Martin?”
Tim shook his head and nuzzled into her. “Not since this morning”
Sasha nodded softly, petting his hair. Tim purred pleasantly and closed his eyes to relax against her for a while. He just wanted his friends to be happy, sue him! Even if his friends made it extra difficult by being oblivious to each other. He was seriously contemplating the negative repercussions of just telling Jon about Martin’s crush at this point.
His girlfriend kissed his cheek, “Don’t worry so much, they’ll figure it out”
Tim sighed. Why was she always right, it hardly seemed fair.
They both looked up when Martin came back into the office.
Tim smiled softly, sitting up, “Hey Marto.”
Martin smiled as well. “Hello” he hummed softly, “have either of you met Paige? Apparently she’s a new researcher, I just walked her down to artifact storage”
“Oh I think I heard there was someone new,” Sasha said with a smile. “Did you meet her?”
Martin nodded, “yeah! She’s really lovely, her husband’s a police officer and she applied here after he helped with one of our paranormal cases” he smiled.
“That’s cool! Glad to see you making friends!” Tim smiled. Martin nodded and sat down at his desk, opening his laptop to work again.
Tim turned his attention back to Sasha, petting his hand through her hair when the office door opened for the second time and Jon stepped through.
“Hey bossman!” Tim waved as Sasha sat up quickly.
Jon simply nodded at them and Sasha moved back to her own seat with a little blush.
“Hello Tim” Jon hummed, setting down a stack of papers on the desk. “I would like all of you to work on these until it is time to clock out, I will be leaving a bit early today.” he said, and Tim could’ve sworn he saw his cheeks go a bit dark.
“Oooh, got somewhere to be?” Tim asked.
Jon pursed his lips and stood up a bit straighter. “If uhm … if you must know I am going out for the evening.” he said with a stiff nod. “I expect the write ups for these on my desk Monday. No later.” he said.
Tim hummed with a nod. “Sure thing Boss”.
Martin was resolutely looking anywhere but at Jon as the Archivist stepped back out of the room and closed the door behind him. By the time he was gone Martin was glaring at his computer screen as if it had personally insulted him.
Tim looked over at him. “You alright, mate?”
Martin nodded stiffly. “I bet he’s going out with Dominic” he voiced bitterly, getting to his feet to pick up a few of the statements.
Tim frowned softly, glancing at Sasha for help. Sasha frowned as well and went to stand beside Martin.
“We don’t know that for sure” she tried to say helpfully, “maybe he’s going out with Georgie again, or perhaps he has some other friends.”
Martin huffed and moved back to his desk, falling back into his seat.
“He and Dominic ate lunch together! Just an hour or so ago and now Jon’s going away for the whole weekend” he said miserably.
Tim stood up to walk over and set a hand on his back for reassurance. “I’m sorry Martin…”
Martin leaned into his touch and shook his head. “It’s fine,” he sighed heavily, “I need to get over it.” he said, flipping open one of the new statements and making a face. “Oh gosh- another fleshy one, someone’s been turned inside out.” he said in disgust.
…
Jon was going to ask Dominic to be his partner as soon as they were finished with dinner. That is, if he managed to keep the nerves he’d been building up over the past week.
They were eating together at Jon’s flat, he had made dinner for them and lasagna was purring heavily and twisting around Dominic’s feet. Dominic smiled down at her happily, giving her attention every so often.
Jon was trying to focus on making conversation rather than repeating over and over in his head the script he had prepared. He just really really didn’t want to mess this up and make a fool of himself.
He waited until after dinner had been cleaned up and he and Dominic were having a glass of wine and talking about museums. He loved talking with them, they were so nice and sweet. He blushed a bit and cleared his throat, setting down his glass of wine.
“Dominic, I actually wanted to ask you something” he eventually managed, on script.
Dominic looked over at him with a curious smile. “Yeah?”
Jon nodded with a small smile. “Y-yes I actually … well-” he cleared his throat. “I wanted to tell you that I really enjoy spending time with you. I like you very much and I’ve enjoyed dating you-”
“Wait-” Dominic interrupted quickly, catching Jon off guard. “I’m sorry- um… dating?”
Jon blinked a few times, confused at being taken off script. “Y-yes. Dating.” he said, gesturing around them at the date they were currently on.
Dominic’s eyes widened and he put a hand over his mouth. “Oh- oh no-”
Jon suddenly felt like his stomach had dropped right out of him and he felt dread settle in its place. “Oh- oh goodness- oh my goodness-” he startled, realizing he had misinterpreted things drastically.
“Oh Jon- I’m so sorry-” Dominic rushed, grabbing his hand. “I didn’t know-”
“No-” Jon groaned miserably, using his other hand to hide his face. “Please don’t apologize! I’ve never been so embarrassed.”
“I should’ve realized- I’m so dumb I’m sorry.” Dominic said.
Jon felt sick with how quickly all his nerves had sabotaged against him. “You’re not dumb Dominic, not at all- I was being incredibly presumptuous, I should’ve stated my intentions m-more clearly-”
Dominic squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry Jon- you’re a wonderful guy and I love being your friend- It’s nothing against you really it’s just me-”
Jon shook his head, getting to his feet. “I completely understand, it is perfectly alright. I would entirely understand if you’re uncomfortable remaining friends.”
Dominic shook their head. “No! I don’t want to lose our friendship if you don’t- I’m so sorry I led you on-”
Dominic got to their feet as well and squeezed Jon’s hand. “Jon. I really enjoy spending time with you, and all the things we did together the last few weeks.” they smiled. “I just … don’t date. I’m aromantic is all, it’s nothing to do with you.” they said apologetically.
Jon’s eyes widened. “A-aromantic?” he muttered.
Dominic blushed heavily. “Oh I didn’t- uh … I didn’t realize you didn’t know- well-” they cleared their throat. “Aromantic means you don’t experience any romantic attraction, you know- the feeling that people get when they want to date someone, or hold hands with them, or live with them? I don’t get any of that! I just … enjoy being friends with people! But nothing more than that, I don’t ever feel that way, I don’t understand it.”
“Oh! Oh I see- I get that.” Jon nodded, still blushing brightly.
Dominic was blushing too and they smiled shyly. “I’m honestly very very sorry. Sometimes I forget that most people feel romantic attraction at all” they chuckled weakly. “I didn’t mean to give you the wrong idea”
Jon shook his head. “No it’s okay- I just feel embarrassed- I’m sorry for assuming”.
After quite a few more rushed apologies Dominic gathered their coat.
“Well-” Jon said weakly, “I may need a few days to recover from that ordeal” he chuckled, Dominic giggling with him.
“I’m so sorry, but don’t feel like you can never talk to me again. I still love being friends” Dominic said.
Jon nodded, “it would be silly for us to never speak again. I liked you enough to want to date you, I like you enough to remain friends.” he smiled gently.
Dominic chuckled with a smile. “I’ll see you around.”
They stepped quickly out of the apartment and down the stairs and Jon fell back onto the sofa with another groan. That had been painful. He was still burning with embarrassment over the whole ordeal.
He couldn’t believe he had been ignorant enough to just assume they were dating. He should’ve checked with them way before now, instead he looked like a prat.
His insides squirmed uncomfortably, it felt a bit like he may be sick. He pulled out his phone, needing to explain this situation to the person who had practically gotten him in it in the first place.
…
Tim opened the door to find Jon on his doorstep looking very displeased.
Tim raised a brow. “Jon? What’s up?”