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Jon was very conflicted as they rode away from the Institute. His human side (no matter how quickly that was fleeting) was near ecstatic to be away. The majority of his brain felt as if someone was sawing away at his nerves. Slowly. It appeared his ties to the Institute were stronger than he had believed. The landscape outside the window was honestly gorgeous, if only anything wasn't shrouded by concern, fear, and a constant feeling of tension.
The fog around Martin had dissipated at least slightly, Martin was nowhere near substantial, but it was better than the wisps he was before. Jon had managed to talk Martin into seeing one of the more touristy stops (mostly because Jon saw there were Highland cows within walking distance, Jon knew, just from seeing Martin's mugs in the cupboard, that he appreciated how cute highland cows were)
“It’ll be…well, probably not fun but, a lot less horrifying,” Jon had said, unconsciously reaching for Martin's hand, Martin didn't flinch away, so Jon took that as a win. Martin also didn't object as Jon toted him around to see the cows. Jon may be a shorter than average man, but his default speed is also speed walking.
The cows were indeed adorable, they even got a smile out of Martin, a soft, small, genuine one. It was one of the most beautiful things Jon had ever seen. Jon would have stayed there all day if only just to see Martin smile like that again. Martin was, in fact, the one to realize they probably needed to get back onto the train. “We should get back to the train, shouldn't we?” Jon shook his head “Yes, we probably should,”
The rest of the ride was…much less tense, maybe it was the distance from the Institute and them, maybe it was Martin slowly coming back into himself from The Lonely. But Jon had found Martin sitting next to him, as opposed to across from him, with their hands still being intertwined. Jon felt himself lean into Martin's shoulder, and eventually fall asleep.
𓁹𓁹𓁹
When they arrived at the Safehouse, Jon walked into the kitchen “I know Daisy isn't- wasn't exactly traditional, but she has to have some tea in here,” he muttered, only to come up with a box of out of date decaf tea, and out of date earl grey. “Are you coming for my job?” Martin asked, Jon paused for a moment before realizing it was a joke and snorting much too late “Unless you want to drink out of date tea, no im not,” Jon put the boxes in the bin “We most likely need to sleep anyway, my powernap didn't help, 20 minutes won't offset multiple sleepless nights, go figure.”
Martin went quiet “you were sleeping? I thought you were just staring off into space, your eyes were completely opened.” Jon whipped his head around “no I was…definitely sleeping, and do you mean these eyes” Jon gestured at his face “or the eye eyes” Jon walked over, feeling as if he already knew the answer. “Just your human eyes,” Martin clarified. “I’m sorry if that unnerved you, Martin,” Jon sighed.
“No, you’re- it's fine, Jon, really,” Martin assured. Jon had a feeling he was lying. “On a lighter note, bed?” Martin suggested, “Sleep would be quite nice”