Work Text:
A steady hum appeared from the wall behind his head, combined with an electric whirring of a tooth brush vibrating on the counter of the bathroom. He let out a groan, lifting his head to look at his clock across the room, his eyes narrowed as the red fuzzy numbers appeared from the dark. It’s three in the afternoon and you're brushing your teeth. He thought as he rolled over in his bed, pulling his pillow over his head in attempts to block the noise. He would grumble with the pillow over his head, remembering back to the times when he had spoken to his next door neighbor about his brushing habits, how he had requested not to leave it vibrating on the counter while he did whatever the hell he did before brushing his teeth. Eventually, the steady hum would stop, the slam of a cabinet being shut, and the light flicking off. He let out a sigh of relief, pulling the pillow off his head as he shifted to lay his head on top of it now. There were a mere few moments of silence, calm, peaceful silence. Then, the light would flick back on, the cabinet would creek open, and the toothbrush would start to vibrate on the counter once more, echoing in his ears.
He lets out a sharp sigh, slipping out of his bed, using the light of his clock to find his way around the room, searching for a sweatshirt and pants. He stepped towards where he assumed his closet was in the dim light, reaching forward as his hands touched the clothes hanging off the hangers. He would slip them both on, leaving his room, glancing at his dog who slept on the couch as his head peered over the edge of the couch that faced him. “I’ll be back,” he replied to his dog's unasked question, awkwardly stepping towards the door to his apartment. He pulled the door open, stepping into the hall and turning to his neighbors door. He reached up to knock, and as he did so it would echo in the hallway. From inside his neighbors apartment, he heard shuffling, then the flick of a lock, the door swinging open.
“Hey Wyatt.”
“Hey, what’s up man?” Wyatt would blink, looking him over for a moment with a slightly confused look on his face, as if he didn’t seem to realize as to why he was knocking on his door.
“I’m just here to remind you that you left your toothbrush on the counter again, I can hear it from my room, and I really need the sleep because they put me back on night shift,” He tried to phrase it as gently as he could, still hearing the vibrating from where they were standing, though he couldn’t tell due to the lull of sleep that tugged at his eyes. He would glance at Wyatt, realizing that his face had turned red with embarrassment, then shift his gaze deeper into Wyatt’s apartment past him. He narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of a rather large calendar placed on one of the walls, with letter L’s scribbled into the boxes with green and red markers. I really hope that those L’s mean he’s working those days. The thought would appear in his mind.
“Oh! Right. I’m sorry dude, I totally forgot.” Wyatt glanced behind him, to where he assumed where the bathroom was, “I’ll get that, have a goodnight.”
“Thanks.” He said, not waiting for Wyatt to close the door. He turned back to his apartment, pulling the door open to his own apartment where Roxy sat patiently by the door. He’d reach down, scrunching the dog's face as he mumbled a ‘com’on’, which caused her to follow him into the room. He’d fall onto the bed without taking his clothes off as Roxy settled down near his feet, hearing the toothbrush click off as he did so. Falling asleep was the least of his worries.
─ · ✶· ─
The electric whirring of a tooth brush vibrating on a counter of the bathroom would start, he would shift in his bed, mumbling in his half sleep state as he slowly opened his eyes, only to narrow them at the clock across his room. At least it’s later in the day. His shoulders would slump from where he had propped himself up on the bed, closing his eyes for a moment as the sound of the toothbrush attempted to lull him to sleep. Then, he’d pull off his covers, unwillingly slipping out of his bed, to put on a sweatshirt, and pants. He trudged out of his own apartment then appeared in front of Wyatt’s door, swiftly knocking on it.
Wyatt opened the door with surprise on his face, “Hey!”
“Hi Wyatt,” He’d start, half mumbling still, “Your toothbrush is on.”
“Oh, right. We spoke about this, I’ll get it eventually, sorry.” Wyatt nodded, rubbing the back of his head with his hand in slight shame, his shoulders slumping as he remembered, then the door would shut in his face. Wyatt let out a few curse words that could be heard from outside.
He turned towards his own apartment, pulling the door open as he eagerly made his way back to his own bed. He pulled off his sweatshirt, throwing it on the ground, then his pants. The blankets would slowly shift towards them as he pulled them out of the way, being careful not to disturb the sleeping Roxy at the bottom of his bed, before climbing into it.
The toothbrush would stop vibrating, then the lights would flick off, and the bathroom door would slam shut. Though he didn’t mind, it was much quieter than whatever the toothbrush did everyday.
─ · ✶· ─
“Hey Landon!” She would greet him warmly as she spotted him stepping into the cafe, waving him over from where she sat in the corner booth. She still had the ragged neon yellow sweatshirt that had ‘My brother is the coolest sibling ever’ written across the front. He had gotten it for her sixteenth birthday, it had been a joke gift due to the other one being lost in the mail. Though, with how faded it became, it seemed to be more than just a joke gift to her.
He turned from where he stood in the door, the cafe was rather empty at this time, quiet, peaceful. His shoulders slumping with relief; the stress of work leaving him as he weaved his way through the tables and slipping into the booth, “wasssap,” he greeted her with a goofy smile, “I can’t believe you still got that sweatshirt.” Landon said, nodding to the faded colors with a small shake of his head.
She glanced down at the sweatshirt, pulling it up so he could see the faded text on the front, “It’s my favorite sweatshirt,” she said, with an embarrassed laugh, “Why wouldn’t I want everyone to see me and know that I have the coolest brother ever?” Her gaze would shift as someone would stop by their table, setting down two drinks, she would mumble a thank you as she moved the cups towards the center of the tables. “I got your usual.”
Landon would reach for the cup, taking a small sip of the steaming coffee before setting it back onto the table, he’d wince as the coffee burned his tongue. Though didn’t seem to mention it as his sister began to speak again.
“Okay, I wanna try something,” She said, before turning to dig around in her purse, she would pull out five small toy figurines of forest animals. A deer, bear, snow leopard, owl, and finally a wolf, setting them in a row in front of him before glancing up. “Choose one, and then I’ll tell you what it means.”
A confused look appeared on his face, as he glanced up from the animals to her, “Really? Where do you even find these?” His gaze would flick back to the snow leopard, noticing how out of place it seemed within the bunch of animals, but he pushed the thought away as his sister spoke.
“I had to take them from one of the kids at work,” she grabbed the deer, prancing it around the table before setting it back in the row, “They kept arguing over them during class.” She shook her head, focusing on the topic at hand, “Com’on, stop stalling, choose one!”
He blinked, shifting his gaze back to the animals that sat on the table in front of him. The mental math would start without him even trying, attempting to figure out what each animal meant to her. The bear probably means I’m lazy, and that I don’t have any hobbies. Deer? Maybe that I’m shy, and that I run away from my problems. The snow leopard? Yeah, I don’t know I’m not going to choose–
She watched him with gentle eyes as he focused on the animals for a few seconds, longer than he should think about picking a toy animal, “Landon, just choose one it ain’t gonna kill you, it's just for fun.” She rolled her eyes with slight annoyance, reaching for her coffee, sipping on it.
Landon would clench his jaw in annoyance, “Don’t rush me, this is really important if it’s coming from you,” he said, his voice slightly sarcastic, reaching out towards the wolf. He hadn’t thought about what the true idea behind it meant, but it felt like him. He would fidget with the wolf in his hands as he spoke, “The wolf.”
Her face lit up when he had finally chosen an animal, “The wolf! Ooh, that's super interesting. They’re strong-minded, ambitious, and don’t mind work,” She said, not really giving him a chance to speak, “but, they’re quick to anger, and very loyal, kinda…like you,” she would grab the bear, fidgeting around with it in her hands, “Did you know wolves are pack animals by nature?” She would finally pause enough for him to answer.
“I did know that.”
She nodded, “yeah, it’s super cool because wolves’ packs are normally their family, but sometimes they get into fights and leave each other–” She paused, almost as if her thoughts had caught onto something from the past, “Like, mom and dad.” She shook her head, “ah, nevermind. It doesn’t matter. Anyways, what I was trying to get at is have you found your ‘pack’ ?” She moved her hands in air quotes when she mentioned the word pack, obviously he didn’t have a real wolf pack. Though he understood what she meant.
“Yeah, not really,” He laughed awkwardly, “I’m kinda more like a lone wolf.” He glanced away, looking out the window as he fidgets with the wolf in his hands,“I don’t really have time, between my two jobs, school, and trying to stay alive. I don't really need all of it right now.” He’d watch a few cars pass before he turned back to her.
She would nod, “I get it, life’s stressful,” She would pause, glancing at her watch for a moment, "Don’t you remember what dad said though, you need friends Landon, you’ve always been this way, but you need...like people you hang out with.” She sighed, placing the bear on the table, grabbing her coffee and sipping on it before she continued to speak. “Is there anyone who you think could be a part of your pack? Whether it's friends, neighbors, even people from work? People who you talk to often?”
He thought for a moment, his mind flicking through the ideas of who could be a part of his metaphorical pack, though as he looked over his sister's face, he hoped she realized that this wasn’t the conversation he wanted to have, especially this early in the morning. His mind would still wander to who would be in his ‘pack’, Wyatt? No, we aren’t close enough; and all we talk about is his stupidly loud toothbrush, Jerry? Too old. Tom and Tim? An image of him shrugging would appear in his mind, he would set the wolf back down on the table, “yeah, a few people.” Landon would reply absent mindedly, as he shifted to move out of the booth, “I have to get to work, talk to you later Em.”
Emma’s face would fall, as she felt his shift in emotion, a frown appearing on it as she called after him, “Landon wait, that's not what I meant–” She would try to scramble after him, but by the time she reached the door, he would have already vanished into the moving crowd within the sidewalk.
─ · ✶· ─
Finally, after two shifts, he’d crawl into his bed, curling into a ball, his mind would shift through the conversation that he and his sister had earlier in the day before simply pushing it away. I know I need friends, it's not easy to make friends. It’s not my fault. He was far too tired to even think about what his sister had been trying to get at. He pulled the blanket over his shoulders, slowly drifting off into sleep.
An electric whirring of a tooth brush began to vibrate on the counter of the bathroom, a loud thud followed not long after, he winced at the noise, before groaning and throwing his blankets to the side. Landon slipped off the bed, slowly making his way to his apartment door, then to Wyatt’s. He reached up to knock, and as he did so the door would swing open due to his force as he knocked on the door. He stood in the door dumbfounded as his eyes shifted across Wyatt’s apartment, taking note of the calendar once more, then, his gaze shifted to a pair of legs moving sporadically on the floor. The body they were attached to was hidden just behind the couch.
What the- The thought would appear in his mind, his breath hitching in his throat as he froze in the moment. Am I supposed to help? What should I do? His mind would race with thoughts, before he forced himself to step into Wyatt’s apartment, a strange feeling flooding through him as he did so, his skin tingling as he felt like a million eyes were watching him. As Landon rounded the corner, his gaze caught sight of Wyatt laying on his back, white foam bubbling out of his mouth as he spazzed on the ground. He stepped backwards, his eyes widening in fear before he rushed forward, “What the hell Wyatt,” he muttered under his breath, patting his pockets in attempts to find his phone, dread filling him as he realized he had left it on the charger in his apartment. Fuck. Quickly, Landon began to pat Wyatt’s pockets, pulling out Wyatt’s phone, using the emergency call feature to call for help.
“911, what's your emergency?”
“My–” he stopped as he tried to figure out what to call Wyatt, then shook his head, “My friend is foaming from the mouth, I just found him like 2 minutes ago and I don't know what to do, he lives at 2311 Lone Oak Apartment buildings.” Landon would spew out the information, whether it was nerves or fear he couldn’t tell.
“What’s your name? I’m sending an ambulance there now, is he on his back?”
“Landon, and Yes, he is.”
“Roll him to his side, and make sure he doesn’t go into his back again, help should be there soon, make sure the door is open and I’ll stay on the line with you until they get there.”
“Okay.” Landon would roll him onto the side, attempting to hold him still as he shook violently on his side, Wyatt’s phone would go quiet, the operator on the other side simply seemed to be waiting on if he had questions, or if anything else would happen for that matter.
“They should be there any second now.”
“Is he going to be okay?” He asked, his voice quieter than usual, though the rushing steps in the hall distracted him more than the operator's reply, “They’re here, I think.” He would take his gaze off of Wyatt for a moment as two paramedics appeared in the doorway.
“Landon?” One of them asked as they stepped into the apartment, placing their bags on the ground as they swarmed over Wyatt, she would begin to pull out equipment from her bag, “You can step away from now, we got it. You probably saved his life.”
Landon would simply go through the motions, he’d mumble a yes when they asked his name, then shifted away, watching as they worked, shoving things underneath his shirt and fidgeting with his mouth, he took a shuttery breath. “Is he going to be okay?”
The paramedics wouldn’t reply to him.
He stepped away still, his gaze sweeping Wyatt’s apartment as they worked, he wanted to leave, to crawl in his bed and never talk about this day again. His unsteady breath would hitch when his eyes caught the calendar on the wall again. Landon took a step towards it, his gaze scanning the multicolored green and red ‘L’s’ that were labeled on the day. What…the hell. At the top of the calendar, a red and green square would be labeled, days with red said ‘days Landon hasn’t checked in on me’, green labeled with ‘days Landon has checked on me’. The entire calendar was filled with his initial, his name. This was far deeper than a toothbrush.
The paramedics would place a hand on his shoulder as another one appeared in the door, pulling a gurney towards Wyatt, “Landon, we’re going to transport him to the hospital just in case, would you like to ride with him?”
He turned towards the paramedic, with a slight shake of his head, “No…” he would pause for a moment, “I’m just a–I’m just his neighbor, you should call his parents, or something.”
“Okay.” The paramedic turned away, helping the other two lift Wyatt onto the bed; he seemed stable as of now, pushing him out of his own apartment.
The quiet of the apartment would settle now, the vibrating of the tooth brush still continued on the bathroom counter, Landon would glance at the bathroom door. Then, shook his head, he’d leave towards theWyatt’s apartment door, pulling it shut behind him. Landon would open his own apartment door, wandering slowly towards his room and crawling into the bed. The vibrating of the toothbrush would echo through the walls. He didn’t mind it now.
─ · ✶· ─
Landon would step into the hospital room, his gaze shifting to Wyatt who laid on the bed. He seemed small, weaker than he normally looked when Landon had spoken to him within their apartments.
“Hey Landon.”
“Hey man.” Landon would move to sit next to the bed, looking over Wyatt with an awkward expression.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, about everything.” Wyatt would start, the words stumbling over him, “I should’ve told you that the toothbrush meant something, and that I had this weird condition and that I’d forget to take my meds whenever you wouldn’t talk to me about my tooth brush. My mom used to help me, but she passed and I-I didn’t know what to do besides bother you–”
“Wyatt, it's okay.” Landon would cut him off, “It’s okay.”
“Are you sure?” He asked, worry cutting into his voice.
“Yeah. You’re a part of my pack now.” Landon would nod, relaxing into the chair, “You’re my friend. I would’ve done it for anyone else.”