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Returning to the Tower after a night of work was rarely ever a pleasant experience for Earving. There was, of course, slight relief at getting a few moments to breathe. Depending on his schedule, sometimes he even managed to squeeze in a few hours of sleep.
He’d hoped that John being in charge would give him more moments of downtime, that since his friend didn’t seem to care about most of the nonsense the past owners focused on, he wouldn’t be needed as much.
How foolish of him to think he could be that lucky.
The Seven had more enemies now than ever, and Earving was the natural pick to deal with them. If he wasn’t out killing terrorists, then he was helping arrest Starlighters or working as a guard in one of those freedom camps.
He really didn’t see how the last thing was necessary. Everything else made relative sense, more or less, but there were more than enough other supes willing to guard these places.
None of them compared to Earving, apparently. He was perceptive enough to notice any escape plans before they even had a chance to begin, and could subdue any threat with little effort or fuss.
That’s what John had said, at least.
Saying he enjoyed it would be a massive stretch, saying he agreed with any of it would be even more so. Though, that wasn’t anything new. He’d never exactly ‘agreed’ with anything Vought did, but it didn’t matter. It would be done regardless of his cooperation, especially with John as the one giving orders.
His steps were heavy as he trudged back to his suite. (Still silent, of course. That was practically instinct by now) It was still dark out, the waning moonlight pouring in through the windows would have been beautiful if not for the overly bright fluorescent bulbs overhead.
He sighed in relief as he ducked into his room, the dimmer environment enveloping him. As many complaints as he’d had in the past about not even getting to design his own room, the sleek and dark aesthetic was much easier on his eyes than the rest of the building.
In the past, he would have been greeted by complete silence and solitude. The outside world finally shut out, nothing to disturb him but his own mind and whatever job he had to prepare for next.
That was no longer the case, it hadn’t been for a while. As he shut the door behind him, the first thing he heard was digital chatter flowing from his living room. The TV was on, barely quiet enough to not be heard in the hallway by the sound of it.
There was a time where this would have been annoying, would’ve caused a headache to spike as he retreated to his bedroom and buried his head under the blankets in an attempt to drown it out.
Or maybe he would have crept in, quiet as a mouse as he snatched the remote and turned the screen off. Then, ignoring the shouts of indignation that followed, he would walk away.
Now, he could feel the weight of the day beginning to slip from his shoulders. The tension in him eased as he stripped himself of his armor. It took a few extra minutes, but he made sure to put it all in its proper place.
His roommate, on the other hand, used to have a habit of simply dumping his on the floor. (It had been very aggravating. The other man could just fly over anything inconveniently in the way, Earving didn’t have that luxury) Now, there were two identical sets hung up next to each other. If you didn’t know what to look for, it would be easy to think the same person was responsible for each.
He walked into the living room, where he found Justin sprawled out on the couch. He was in casual, comfortable clothes, nothing to indicate he belonged here at all. Yet he still looked as if he owned the place.
How cute.
After several seconds passed without him being noticed, Earving reached over and tapped the other’s ankle.
“Oh shit!” Justin jolted in his spot, pushing himself into sitting as he scrabbled for the remote and turned the volume down to a more reasonable level. “Earv, bro. I didn’t hear you come in.”
Earving rolled his eyes, the movement exaggerated enough to be noticed even with his mask, as puffs of laughter left him. “I wonder why.” He signed, gesturing at the TV.
Justin scoffed, obviously trying not to smile. “Whatever, man.” He sat up a bit straighter, legs out of the way so Earving could sit. “How was your day?”
As he sank into the cushions, a heavy sigh left him. It had been the same as usual, really. Holding a gloved hand over the mouth of his targets so they couldn’t alert the neighborhood as he hauled them away, looking anywhere but their terrified eyes while he shepherded them to hell…
He shook his head, choosing not to say any of that. Instead, he decided on “Uneventful. Nothing ever happens.” Then, tilting his head, he asked “What about yours?”
A long groan left Justin as he dragged a hand down his face. “Fucking stupid.”
“Podcast stuff?” If Earving remembered correctly, an episode of that was supposed to be recorded earlier in the day.
“Yeah.” Justin confirmed, contempt oozing from the word. “Deep never knows when to shut the fuck up. He thinks he’s so funny and charming, but I know most of our viewers are just hatewatching.”
That sounded very accurate for Kevin.
“I mean, I gotta moderate our comments cause if he sees anyone pointing out how stupid he is, he starts crying like a bitch, making fun of me the whole next episode to prove how big and tough he is.”
Earving nodded sympathetically, patting Justin on the back.
“And he always has the worst ideas, too.”
That’s something that had been true his entire time in The Seven. Earving suspected the only reason Kevin hadn’t been booted from the team ages ago was because the whole water gimmick was extremely popular, and as such was incredibly profitable.
“Today he suggested I wear nothing but my helmet and mask the whole episode.”
Earving blinked, unsure if he heard that right. He reeled back slightly, slowly tilting his head.
That got a laugh out of Justin. “Yeah, some shit about ‘showing off our masculine energy’ or whatever. I said fuck no, obviously, cause who would wanna see that?”
Earving had a feeling quite a few people would, but he doubted any of them were the podcast’s target audience. “Did he listen?”
“Not til I pointed out how many people would call him gay.”
Of course. Also very typical of Kevin.
“And he was pissy the whole time we were recording cause I dared to shut down one of his genius ideas.”
And that resulted in extra mockery, then inevitably more horrible ideas. It was an awful cycle. Earving shook his head.
Justin huffed out a breath that was equally annoyed and relieved. “Thank god I don’t gotta deal with that again for another week.”
Earving nodded. It seemed both of them were acquiring some much needed peace. Then, an idea struck him. He couldn’t help grinning behind his mask as he suggested. “What if we switched places?”
Justin turned to face him. “You mean like…?”
Another nod. “I do the podcast for you, and you do whatever they want from me.”
A smile spread on Justin’s face, eyes lighting up. “You think he’d even notice?”
A sharp burst of air left Earving, shoulders bouncing slightly in amusement. “Kevin? Definitely not.”
John would notice immediately, but as long as Earving made sure he was in on it, he doubted his friend would care.
Justin scooted closer. “Then we gotta do it!” He insisted.
Earving nodded excitedly in return. It was a plan, then.
“I just wish I could see his stupid fucking face when he wonders why I’m not talking to him.”
“He’ll probably think you’re method acting again.” Earving pointed out.
“Heh, yeah. He hates when I do that.” Justin chuckled, presumably thinking about Kevin’s aggravated pout. “Sorry for the shit he’s probably gonna say to you.”
Earving shrugged. He’d most certainly heard worse than whatever Kevin could come up with.
“Pretty sure we have Oh Father as a guest next week, too.” Justin informed him. “So Deep’s definitely gonna say something stupid to.. To try and one-up you and.. impress…” His voice rapidly grew more weary and sluggish, before trailing off entirely.
He slumped, head resting on Earving’s shoulder.
Right, the narcolepsy.
As soft snores hit his ear, a warmth hummed in Earving’s chest. He could never understand how the others found this annoying.
Maybe he was biased, being horribly exhausted himself. He could sympathize. He yawned, the heaviness of his eyelids starting to fully hit him.
Carefully, trying his best not to wake his companion, he leaned back. An arm wrapped around Justin as he finally let his eyes shut, weariness swimming in his head and making his consciousness fade fast.
One of the last things he felt before completely drifting off was Justin shifting, sliding so that his head was on Earving’s chest instead. He nuzzled closer, sighting contentedly, breath pleasantly hot against a patch of Earving’s skin.