Work Text:
A knock on the door disrupted Budny’s sleep. He grumbled to himself, cursing him for being a light sleeper, and eyed Cecil next to him. Still asleep. He sighed, moving out of the bed with far more care than he’d usually do, not wanting to wake the other man. His head was pounding, and he began to regret drinking so much. The knocking was more insistent now, and he stumbled his way through the relative darkness of Cecil’s apartment. He hoped it was a solicitor or something and not some weird stalker. The door had a peephole, but Budny was too tired to care much and still a little drunk, so he swung it open. In front of him stood Yeoh, who was holding a stack of papers and a cup of coffee.
“Took you long enough. I need some—,” She cut herself off when she glanced up from her papers and blinked a few times, looking Budny up and down suspiciously. “You’re not Cecil,” She stated. Budny nodded once.
“I am not,” He said. She stared at him for a few more seconds, squinting, brushing her bangs out of her face. She looked at him for a moment longer.
“Are you guys…” She gestured vaguely in a way that Budny took to mean involved. He shrugged.
“Just for tonight.” She didn’t seem satisfied with that answer, as her lip curved down into a frown. Budny figured she was a protective friend.
“Damn. I owe Naiser a 20.” Or not. She paused for a moment, before looking at Budny contemplatively. “Is he awake?”
“Uh. I don’t think so.” She nodded behind him, one eyebrow raised.
“Get him. And put a shirt on, no one wants to see that.” He looked down at himself, a little embarrassed. He hadn’t even noticed he was still shirtless. He looked back at Yeoh and nodded once, before turning on his heel back to Cecil’s bedroom. He heard her close the door behind her.
Once his shirt was safely back on, he gently shook Cecil awake after a second of watching his chest rise and fall. He didn’t wake up to that, so Budny shook his shoulder a little harder. He made a tired noise and grumbled a few words, which was cute, but Budny was honestly extremely scared of Yeoh, so he shook him a little more insistently.
“C’mon,” He muttered, pinching one of Cecil’s cheeks. That made him scowl in his sleep (incredible) and turn his head the other way. Budny sighed, watching him for a few seconds more. He was quite pretty in sleep, all the stress from the day relaxed now. Budny actually felt bad trying to wake him up, but he remembered Yeoh in the next room, and shoved at Cecil. “Loretta’s here, Cecil,” He whisper-yelled, hoping that would wake him up more. It did the trick well enough, because within the next few seconds one blue eye was cracked open and staring up at Budny.
“Lorrie?” His voice was rough and still imbued with sleep, and he looked. Well. Miserable, really. Budny nodded.
“She, uh. Let herself in?” Cecil closed his eye again and groaned tiredly, scrubbing a hand over his face. He muttered some swear words under his breath, before sighing loudly and forcing himself to sit up.
“Shirt.” Budny stared at him for a second, not processing, but Cecil frowned insistently. “Shirt.”
Budny scrambled to find the other man’s shirt on the floor in the dark, making his way back over to him as quickly as he could. Haynes held his arms up for Budny to help him put it back on, and the act was so childish that Budny almost laughed. He didn’t, though, choosing to obediently help Cecil instead. He reached out to help flatten his hair a little, too, pausing when Cecil grabbed his wrist. Cecil pulled him down a little, meeting his lips in a lazy kiss, causing Chris to flush. Cecil pulled back after a moment, his lips quirking up the slightest bit.
“So good f’r me. H’lp me up.” Budny immediately grabbed his hand to help him up, noting the drop in his mood the closer they got to the living room. His eyes were open now, but his lips were turned down in a scowl. Yeoh stood up when she saw them enter the room, crossing her arms.
“You two are sleeping together,” She declared. Budny nodded, while Cecil glared at her. She raised her eyebrows. “For how long?”
“Just tonight,” Budny repeated his words from earlier. Yeoh looked at him as if she didn’t believe him, as if it were impossible for her to think this was a one night stand. Cecil still hadn’t said anything, probably still half-asleep. After a couple more moments, Yeoh sighed, pursing her lips.
“Give me a 50 and look at this for me,” She held the papers up. “And I won’t say anything.” Budny didn’t really care if she did or not, honestly, but he grabbed for his wallet in his back pocket anyway if only so she didn’t have more reason to dislike him. She gave him the papers when he handed the money over, and he glanced over them. He wasn’t really sure what he was looking for, but Yeoh began explaining anyway.
“The patient showed up in my ER yesterday with a bad concussion and a broken arm from a fall…” Budny mostly tuned her out as he scanned the papers, silently wondering why Yeoh was still dealing with this case if the patient had been transferred to the ICU.
“She just randomly started vomiting blood this morning?” Budny asked, looking up at Yeoh. Yeoh nodded slowly, and Budny became slightly flustered, because he’d definitely just interrupted her.
“That’s what she’s saying, yeah.” Her tone made Budny pause.
“You don’t think so?” He asked. She hesitated before sighing and shaking her head.
“Not really. Her scans showed significant inflammation that couldn’t have just come on, but when I tell that to the others they’re just reminding me that it’s out of my hands now.” She shifted on her feet. “Which, I guess is true, but I just need to know I’m not crazy.” Budny pursed his lips as he looked at the scans, nodding his agreement.
“Internal bleeding is excessive for a fall like this.” He hummed, comparing two scans. “I can talk to them about this if you would like.”
“Whatser brain look like?” Cecil piped up from his spot on the couch. Budny held that scan up for him to look at. “Liver?” Budny held that one up as well, and Cecil made a noise. Both Yeoh and Budny turned their attention to him.
“What?”
“Not crazy,” Cecil said, eyes closing again, his voice still rough from sleep. “Let Chris talk to th’m.”
Yeoh didn’t seem too sure about the idea, but she nodded reluctantly. “Sure, your highness, any other demands?” Cecil shook his head and waved her off.
“Out of my court, commoner.” Yeoh laughed at him, gathering her things back up and giving him a quick hug.
“See you.” She looked at Budny then, looking significantly more serious than she did a few seconds ago. She nodded at him once. “Chris.”
“Lorrie.” He nodded back. She gave him one final suspicious look, before heading toward the door.
“Walk your guest out,” She said lightheartedly, not turning to see if either men were following her. Budny helped Cecil up, guiding him to the door by the small of his back.
They watched her leave together, and once she was in her car, Cecil slouched against Budny’s shoulder tiredly, entwining their fingers together. Something about the action made Budny feel weird.
“Twenty bucks says everyone will know by 10,” He whispered into Budny’s shirt. Budny hummed in agreement, leaning his head against Cecil’s, speaking into his hair.
“Fifty says it’ll happen before we even get to work.”
“You’re so on.”