Work Text:
Being as smart as Xeno was not easy.
Not only that, but running a new empire after the petrification was even harder.
None of the meatheads he had unpetrified were qualified to do the job, so of course, it was up to him and his partner to take the lead.
Speaking of, Stanley was draped on Xeno’s throne, polishing his rifle with a cloth while Xeno stood at his lab table. He was trying to figure out the revival fluid formula for what seemed like the hundredth time that week.
He let out a low groan as he picked his cuticles out of stress. Xeno never really had any healthy coping habits. Stanley constantly got on his ass about it, despite not having any himself.
-
”You're doing it again, Xeno.” Stanley's drawl came from behind the scientist as he worked on something he couldn't understand.
“Stan-”
“No, we've discussed this. Plus working with chemicals like whatever the hell you're working with can't be good to get in your skin. This is hurting you. You are hurting you.”
Stanley's voice became a bit softer, but more insistent as he inspected the split skin on Xeno's cuticles.
He was still in military uniform.
Xeno theorized that he had just gotten off from work. All the way to his private lab just to see him? How flattering, but he'd expect nothing else from his newly established partner. They had been friends for so long now, so really everyone around them had placed bets as to when they got to this point.
“I'm working…still.” Xeno forced out, a bit embarrassed that he'd been caught yet again. “But it is quite inelegant that you refuse to drop your rather unsightly habit. You're killing yourself with those cancer sticks, Snyder.”
Stanley paused.
“Well, Houston, I think that it's inelegant that you deflect to my habits when you're embarrassed. This isn't about me.” His tone never changed, but Xeno couldn't help but feel like a scolded child whenever he got called out for regressing to last name basis. Stanley always made sure to match his energy, much to his dismay.
“I'm right…and it's Houston-Wingfield” Xeno rebutted. He took his hands away and crossed his arms. “You and your oral fixations..”
Stanley's lips curled up into a sly smirk. “I can show you my other oral fixation if you'd stop being such a prude.”
Xeno turned a bright red.
Stanley just laughed. A real one, not one of the pity ones he did when someone in his unit told a horrible joke.
He only laughed like that around Xeno. Though, he only seemed to get a kick out of making the man a human tomato.
“I'm not the prude- y-you're just too…too-”
“Yeah yeah…let's just get out of here okay? I know a nice place where we can settle down and eat.”
“I…suppose.”
-
Even in this stone world, where so much time had passed since those days when everything was more simple, Xeno still found time to remember all of it.
Stanley, who had been silent that entire time, looked over with a small hum when he didn't hear the clinking of beakers. “Xen? You okay?”
He asked, carefully as he set down the cloth. His amber pupils flicked down to Xeno's hands on instinct.
Xeno flinched, knowing exactly how many seconds until his next lecture.
It didn't come. Instead, he heard footsteps coming towards him. He felt himself being pulled away from his lab. Xeno protested, however, Stanley was leagues ahead of him in strength.
“Stan-” He was promptly shushed.
Stanley didn't face him. Not even when he turned into their room and sat Xeno down on their bed.
Xeno was confused. But this was a different type of confusion. Not the ones where he got an equation wrong or the math wasn't making sense. It was tinged with worry. Like he knew something was wrong but nothing he knew was equipped to figure it out.
His head reeled and so did his thoughts.
In his worrying, he didn't hear the bath running or the shuffling in the next room where the bathroom was.
Xeno looked at his hands and then at the floor. He was silent while Stanley was doing god knows what.
“Xen, come in here please.”
Xeno felt his body move on autopilot. The mirrors were fogged up with steam, and Xeno caught a hint of lavender scents coming permeating the air.
“I didn't realize we still had some of the lavender oil left over..”
“We didn't. I found some on one of my patrols. Convenient. Now I'm glad that I had the girls help with extracting it. Amazing that we ended up in California.” Stanley unzipped his body suit and began to undress.
Xeno stood there, still dumbfounded and a little flustered.
When Stanley was completely naked, he looked at Xeno with a raised eyebrow. He put out his cigarette and stepped inside the bathtub, sighing in content once the hot water hit his skin.
“Xeno, get in.” He told the other, rather than just requesting.
“Stanley..I don't know..-” Xeno's leather clothing suddenly became really tight and uncomfortable amidst all of the steam.
“I've done unspeakable things to your body before and now you're shy? Where is that energy now when-”
“Alright, alright!” Xeno cut in, his face burning in embarrassment. He began to peel off his own clothing, muttering bitterly. “You're so crude..”
He stepped in seconds later, sitting with his knees to his chest on the opposite side.
Stanley just soaked while Xeno was left wondering what spurred on the sudden bath. He wasn't particularly unclean. And the lavender didn't give any hints either. He flinched when he felt Stanley's presence next to him. He thought the worst, but the worst never came.
The man just doted on him, wetting his hair and keeping him company with his presence. Their bodies touched and intertwined, eventually, like they were made to mold perfectly with each other.
“Stan..?” Xeno finally spoke. “What is all of this…?”
Stanley finally looked at him. Really looked. Their eyes met, and Xeno observed them pooling with something he didn't know.
Pity? Sadness? Anger?
He just couldn't tell.
“You work yourself to the bone for everyone else. For me.” He began, brushing a stray hair from Xeno's face. “Sure we take care of each other in different ways. Blowin’ off steam and what not..”
Xeno's cheeks tinged a little bit red.
“I do just as much as you do..”
“Yes, but you and I never really had time to relax. This is the time to do that.” Stanley explained, pulling Xeno to his chest. “You've been working yourself to the bone to figure out this thing, and it's hurting you.”
Xeno couldn't help but relax as soon as they came into contact. His eyes closed and he released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Stanley's fingers traced the cracks on his face while the other hand messed with the ring that sat on Xeno's finger. He felt the other relax onto him, and his heart swelled slightly. Xeno was rarely vulnerable like this. Even with him at times, so it was the little things that made them both happy.
“Is everything comfortable, Xen?”
“Quite..”
Then it was quiet again. Nothing but the sound of their breathing filled the room, along with the lavender and steam.
“Do you ever wonder..” Stanley began. “What would've happened if this didn't exist? If we were still in the old world? With us, I mean.”
Xeno's eyes opened, and he sat up, lost in thought. They probably would've still been together, obviously. But would they have had the guts to marry? They were married now, but that was only because of the circumstances they were thrown in thousands of years ago.
-
Xeno sat at the picnic table beside Stanley.
The other was discreetly holding onto his thigh under the table. Xeno knew that Stanley knew he didn't really like these things. But it was a work conference that he had called them all to. Xeno knew Stanley was a capable soldier and partner, he had absolutely no doubts in his abilities.
Xeno was just lucky his partner was attending too. This made the gathering all the more easier. Even if Stanley had no clue as to why he was there.
He was ranting on about the stone sparrows, holding it up and explaining something or other that Stanley cared less about. His hand wandered to his pocket. Xeno was too busy ranting to pay any attention.
He took out a small velvet box and looked inside. It cost him a hell of a lot to get. The diamond wasn't lab grown, which made it harder to obtain, but it was worth it to see Xeno's face.
“Perhaps we could
“Oh! We could try doing a potentiometric analysis using glass wool electrodes doused in nitric acid-”
“Enough with the nerd talk Xeno.” Stanley cut in the middle of his rant. “Just cut to the chase.”
Xeno hummed and narrowed his eyes before pulling out a tablet and explaining the data that was on it. Stanley was even interested, which told everyone else it had to be good.
“This statue is still alive. It has somehow remained conscious.” He finally concluded, leaving everyone shocked. Even Stanley, who faltered with his lighter.
“So what your saying is, if we get hit by this supposed weapon, there’s a chance of survival if we just somehow stay awake?” Stanley finally asked, his mind off of the surprise and now fully in soldier mode. He lit his cigarette, inhaling as the stone swallow stared at all of them with blank eyes.
Just when Stanley was beginning to stand up to face his partner, a green light came over the horizon, lighting up everything in their path.
His heart dropped as well as his smile. Immediately, he grabbed Xeno and pulled him to his chest, yelling out orders to both him and everyone else attending the conference.
“Everybody retreat! Duck and find cover right now! You can’t escape petrification, but you can stay alive by staying conscious!”
Stanley held Xeno with a faltering grip, strong, but scared, until he finally placed him down on the ground behind a table. He felt his entire body begin to turn into stone. They met eyes one last time before they were both petrified.
Even after all was said and done. Stanley still regretted leaving the ring in his pocket and not placing it on Xeno’s finger.
-
“You…had planned to do it then…hadn’t you…? Stanley?” Xeno’s voice became softer as the realization began to set in. He looked at the ring on his finger, a bit of the leftover platinum from the ring Carlos kept safe for Luna.
“Yeah, but there’s no point in dwelling on it longer than necessary. I’m already married to you aren’t I? Diamond or not, I still think it looks good on you.”
“You got me a diamond? Interesting…though I would’ve chastised you for spending that kind of money on those damned lab grown ones.”
“That’s why I spent more to get a natural one. You were worth it back then Xeno. You’re still worth it now.” Stanley pressed a kiss to Xeno’s temple, leaving behind residue of his purple lipstick. “You’ve done too much for me all of our lives, it was about time I repaid some of the debt that I owed, Xeno.”
In any other circumstance, Xeno would’ve batted his husband away and rubbed the makeup off of him, but now it felt more important.
“I’m just glad I still got to do it. This ring may not be the best, but it’s what started us back over to become comfortable like this. That, I think, is more important than the past.”
“Stanley…” Xeno was at a loss for words. He couldn’t help the tears that rolled down his face. Stanley always knew how to get him down from his own inelegant thoughts. He wiped them away and just allowed the silence to envelope them once more. “I’m sorry for hurting myself..and apologies for making it come this far.”
“Xen, it’s always healthy to speak about things when you’re stressed. You can’t just hold it all in and then crash and burn. That’s not okay for anyone here including you and I.”
Xeno nodded and just leaned back into his husband.
This was nice.
Being pampered like this.
Xeno’s perfectly styled hair came down when the warm water was poured over his head. Stanley bathed him, humming something from their era that he had still somehow remembered. They stayed with each other up until it was time to get out. The water had become cold and murky. Their fingers were also pruned beyond belief, which was also their sign that they should’ve gone out ages ago.
“Go get dressed, I’ll clean up here and take care of laundry. Then you rest. Got it?”
Stanley gave him a look that said that his orders were non-negotiable. Xeno didn’t argue. He wrapped himself up in a towel and left Stanley to his own devices.
Their room was just as quiet as they’d left it that morning.
Xeno went into their closet and began to cover himself back up. He was still coming back down from being with Stanley. Their time together made him realize that they didn’t really do anything. Just sat and talked.
Usually something completely different would’ve gone down, but Xeno assumed that Stanley knew that it wasn’t the time. He got into bed and underneath the blankets, sighing. He looked at his nails, then his hands, which had been held so tenderly just moments ago.
Xeno thought back to the time that he had caught Stanley after a particularly horrible argument with his parents about the military. They were 17, ready to graduate and possibly go separate paths. Stanley in the military, Xeno into MIT.
Stanley’s parents wanted him to go into service, and Stanley didn’t want to leave Xeno. All the stress grew much past cigarettes.
It was Xeno who bandaged him, and Xeno who had reassured him that his genius would never stop them from being friends. Xeno who had made the first move that progressed their relationship beyond friends that night. Xeno remembered the fear that struck his heart when he saw Stanley hurting himself over something easy to talk over.
Then Xeno came to the realization that Stanley was just returning the favor when it came to his own self destructive behavior. Xeno saw Stanley like that and it scared him. It was the same when Stanley saw him doing the same, albeit subconsciously.
Stanley was scared.
Xeno gripped the sheets and grit his teeth. He was a horrible partner for making Stanley worry for him. Especially since he was the most level-headed out of the both of them.
The other came out in the midst of Xeno’s overthinking. But he didn’t yell or lecture. He just pulled him into a grounding embrace and held him. He didn’t speak either.
The smell of Stanley’s cologne, the tobacco, and just his warmth were enough to pull Xeno out of the negative headspace.
“You are aware that I love you, right? I wouldn’t do any of this if I didn’t, Xeno.”
Xeno nodded.
“I think all we need is just a little time away from all your nerd stuff. As much good as it's doing for everyone else, it’s not good for you to just bottle up all of the stress it’s giving you. So, can I propose something?”
He nodded again. Stanley took that sign to keep going.
“We’ll just stay in for the next couple of days. No science crap for you, no missions and patrols for me. I’ll leave Brody or Maya in charge. It’ll only be us. That sounds great, right? It’ll be like a little honeymoon for us. Not a real one, I still have to plan that.”
“Alright…”
“Good. Now sleep you big idiot, god only knows you need it.”