Work Text:
Martin was late home from work
That wasn't unusual, these days. He was often kept back by parents wanting to talk about… something to do with their kids? Admittedly he wasn't sure what there could possibly be to talk about - he taught reception, it wasn't like they were learning rocket science. But the parents did always seem to want updates. Which, to be fair, he could understand on an intellectual level. Even if he had no idea what constitutes an ‘update’ when it came to four year olds
So yes, Martin being home late was fairly common. It happened at least once a week. He had no reason to panic. And so he wasn't
…
…Well okay, he might be a bit
Jon drummed his fingers against the kitchen counter and glanced at the clock on the wall again. Fifteen minutes. It was only fifteen minutes. He was being ridiculous. It was likely just traffic on the road - the school was in a different village to theirs, and there were a lot of slow tractors around. He was just being silly
He would've admonished himself for being paranoid, if not for… well. If not for everything that had happened
For the first few weeks after everything, they both refused to let the other out of their sights. With Jon suffering from both the withdrawals of being Archivist and the knife wound, and Martin having inflicted said wound… they'd gotten very lucky that Tesco delivered to somewhere so remote. They probably would've starved themselves otherwise
And that was years ago, but still sometimes it felt like yesterday. He'd only just started working again a few months ago, part time at the library. And still that felt like too much some days. If someone happened to request the wrong sort of book, on bugs, or dolls, or prisons… he'd be gone. Hell sometimes all it took was someone looking at him for a moment too long and he'd spend the evening shaking
Meanwhile, Martin had done brilliantly. By his own admission, ‘teacher’ was never where he'd thought his life would go. He didn't exactly have the relevant qualifications. But given the remoteness of the location and the recent apocalypse meaning most were unwilling to move, when the previous teacher retired they accepted him with open arms. And a sensible decision it was - from what he understood he excelled at it. Even if he was exhausted by it sometimes
Jon was so proud of him
He heard the lock click, and the door swing open. And Jon couldn't help himself - he perked up in a manner similar to a dog missing its owner, and went into the hall. Martin looked perfectly fine, surprise surprise. He lit up at the sight of him, which made Jon feel a little less silly about his own reaction
Martin strode over and pulled him into a hug. That was strange. Normally Martin kissed him first thing back from work. And it wasn't like the hug wasn't nice - of course it was, it was Martin - but generally changes in routine happened for a reason. And as it turned out, the reason was right behind him. Two reasons, in fact, staring up at him with open curiosity and wariness respectively
“…Martin, why have two children followed you home?”
The shorter of the two jumped at the acknowledgement. One of them was small, the other one was… smaller. They both had round, very dark eyes. Were kids' eyes really that big on their faces? He'd assumed cartoons made that up
“Oh, right!” Martin jumped, pulling back. He was blushing “Well, er… Jon, this is Billy” he gestured to the younger one “And this is Jack”
“Hello!” said the taller one (though tall was very much a stretch)
“Hel…lo?”
Jon silently demanded an explanation from Martin
“They, er, they're two kids from the school”
He'd guessed that. The matching uniforms sort of gave it away. There was only one primary school for miles
“Yes? I didn't think you'd picked them up off the side of a road” he said dryly
Now that he thought about it, he was fairly sure he'd heard about a ‘Billy’ in some of his stories about his class. Which meant this child was either four or five. Oh, joy
“What road?” asked Billy
“What?” Jon said without thinking. He shook his head. Don't engage the child, it can only go badly “That doesn't- Why are they here?”
“Um” Martin dropped eye contact “Their mum has a hospital visit this evening and couldn't look after them. So I… said I'd let them stay here overnight”
“Overnight?” Jon exclaimed, louder than he meant to. Both kids jumped “Why? Surely there must be some rule against- Why can't their dad-”
“I don't have a dad” said the taller- Jack
“Me ‘either” said Billy, just sounding happy to join in with the conversation
Ah. Well doesn't that make him feel like the scum of the earth? “R-Right. Well, even so, do you not have family you can stay with-?”
“They've just moved recently, their mum doesn't really know anyone locally yet” Martin looked guilty “I'm sorry, I know I should've called you first, but- She just looked so tired, I couldn't-”
“It's alright. I understand” even if I don't like it “Just… don't be surprised if I spend the evening as far away from them as possible”
“Why?”
Jon jumped. He'd forgotten the two kids were right here, listening
“Erm. Because I don't know who you both are”
“I'm Billy!”
“No, I know that-” he pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed “Hello, Billy”
“Hello!”
Billy marched up to him, and turned around
“Look” he said proudly “I put on my coat all by myself”
“Oh, that's… impressive?” he guessed
Martin snorted “He's just learned which arm goes in which hole”
“And that's hard?”
“Apparently”
“Oh” he looked down at Billy “Well, er. Well done?”
He gave him a sort of awkward thumbs up. Billy grinned, all gappy teeth
“Mr Blackwood, should we take our coats off?” asked Jack
Jon tried to hide his sudden smile behind his hand “Yeah, Mr Blackwood, what's the orders?”
Martin flushed “You- you- shhh” he waved a hand in Jon's direction, which just made him laugh “Uh- Yeah, both of you, coats off, shoes off. Leave your shoes by the front door, and give the coats to me, I'll find somewhere to put them”
They both did as they were told. Jon wondered what it would be like having a whole classroom full of them. Like an ant colony, perhaps, scuttling about. Or a herd of sheep
When they'd both stopped moving, Martin directed them both into the living room
“Right, you see that door there?” he pointed
“Yes”
“Yeah”
“That's the toilet. Now, same rules as school - if you need to go, just go, don't wait for someone to give permission. Other than that, stay in this room here, okay? You can look at anything you want, so long as it's in this room”
They both nodded
“Good. Now, this is Jon” Martin gestured to him. Jon jolted awake at his name being called, then waved at them, because his brain moved in weird ways sometimes. The kids waved back “He'll be around, but unless there's an absolute emergency, you don't need to talk to him, okay? If you need something get me”
They both agreed, and trooped into the living room. The moment they were out of sight, Martin deflated
“I am really sorry, Jon. I knew the moment I agreed to take them that I should've asked if you were okay with this. And then I was too busy getting them both into the car to realise I was late and I didn't tell you that-”
“I thought I was the one who apologised too much?” said Jon wryly. He pressed a kiss to his cheek “It's okay. It's only one evening. I assume they're going in the morning?”
“First thing, yeah”
“Well then. It'll hardly be the first time I spend a whole evening in bed”
Martin hummed. He brushed a couple fingers over his cheek absently “We, uh, probably shouldn't be, y’know, PDA while there are kids around”
“Ah. I've changed my mind, get rid of them immediately”
Martin giggled. Jon smiled, pleased that he realised he was joking
Martin left with the boys’ coats and bags, heading into the kitchen with an explanation of needing to get them something to eat. Jon almost considered offering to cook something, before he remembered how long it took Martin to get used to spicy food. If he tried to give those two small children anything he could cook their heads would probably explode. And that wouldn't be exactly conducive to Martin's continued employment
He could hear the two kids chattering to each other. His jaw twitched. He was planning on going upstairs, but, well. Some stupid, stubborn part of him refused. He couldn't let these two win. Win what, he wasn't sure. But this was his home. He wasn't about to be herded away by two people whose heads didn't even reach his ribcage at full height
He went into the living room. The two of them were crowded around one of the bookshelves, inspecting a book in Jack's hand. When they spotted him come in they perked up, clearly having immediately forgotten about the ‘don’t bother Jon' rule
“What does this say?”
Jon craned his head to see what they were looking at. When he realised, he marched over and snatched the book out of the boy's hand
“Hey!”
“That's not yours” he said shortly
“But- Mr Blackwood says we could look at anything we wanted” Jack pouted
“Yes, well. Not that one” he put the poetry book on a high enough shelf that neither of them could reach it “It's Martin's, and it's private”
“Who's Martin?”
Jon paused. Ah, drat “He's, uh… a friend of mine”
“What did he write in the book?”
“Poetry” he was about to say something snarky about it being written on the front cover, before he remembered that these two might not be able to read. Or no, they probably could, right? Surely they must start reading at the beginning of school, or what else would they be doing all-
“What's that?”
Jon jumped “Wha- uh, poetry?” they nodded “Oh. Well- it's like songs, but silly and pointless”
“I heard that!” came Martin's voice from the kitchen. Jon smirked
“What poetrys did he write?”
“I don't know. I haven't read it. And nor will you. Now go- play, or something”
“Can we play in the garden?” asked Billy
“We don't have a garden”
He blinked “What's that?” he pointed out of the window, to the forest by their house
Ah, you've got me there “Uh… Ma- No” he coughed, and called “Mr Blackwood? Are they allowed to play in the forest?”
Come back in here and deal with them, please? Also preferably say yes so I don't have to call you ‘Mr Blackwood’ all evening?
“No, you can't” said Martin, coming into the room holding two plates. Damn it “There's no fence, there's nothing stopping you from running off”
“I wouldn't run off” Billy promised
“Yes, you would” said Martin shortly. He sounded tired “Now, can you both come over here? I've made you sandwiches”
They trotted over to Martin. They both seemed unfamiliar with the concept of eating things while sat on the floor, but accepted it when Martin explained that they didn't own any child sized chairs
“So what do you two normally do when you're at home after school?” said Martin, slumping down onto the sofa
“Playing?” said Billy though a large mouthful of sandwich
“Colouring?” suggested Jack at the same moment
“Hmm. Well your toys are at home and we don't have any colouring books, so-”
“We could print out some colouring” blurted Jon, who thought that sounded like the quietest option
Martin frowned “We don't have a printer”
“The library does” said Jon “And it's free for me, I have ‘works there' privileges”
“But… isn't the library closed by now?”
“Yes. But I have keys”
Martin raised an eyebrow “Seriously? You're presented with two children and your first thought is ‘breaking and entering’?”
“Yes, well, good to instil a healthy disregard for authority young” he smirked
“As the ‘authority’ in question, I'd really rather you waited until they were both out of my class”
“Yes, well…” he pulled his keyring out of his pocket and raised an eyebrow in question
“…Fine. Haven't got any other ideas” Martin rubbed the bridge of his nose with a forefinger and thumb “Just- don't get caught, alright? It would be a really stupid reason to go to jail”
Jon scoffed “Aye aye, captain” he said dryly
As he left, he heard one of the boys whisper to the other “His name's not ‘captain’?”
***
So these children were very curious types, as it turned out. And them being busy with colouring did not stop them from using their mouths. Constantly
“Mr Jon?”
“Just ‘Jon’ is fine” he looked up from his book to check which one he was talking to “Yes, Jack?”
“Are you a boy or a girl?”
Jon smirked. Technically the answer was neither on most days, but attempting to explain that felt more trouble than it was worth. Not like he was going to see these two ever again. And he was feeling fairly masc today anyway, so…
“I'm a boy” or, man. Just saying ‘boy’ felt weird
“Oh” Jack blinked at him for a moment “My granny says boys can't have long hair”
Jon hummed. His ‘granny’ had held a similar sentiment “Well sometimes old people think strange things”
Jack looked confused “Aren't you old?”
Jon scoffed, affronted “No. I'm thirty five”
“Thirty five?!” Jack exclaimed, as if that was unfathomably ancient to him
“Indeed” said Jon “And- how old's your mother, then?”
It took him a moment to remember “Thirty two” he gasped “So you are old!”
Jon rolled his eyes. Yeah, that's it, kid. There are two ages: ‘younger than mum' and ‘old’
He didn't have a chance to go back to his book before the smaller one piped up
“Are you dinosaur man?”
“Am I- what?” Jon blinked “I’m… not a dinosaur, no”
“No, you're not a dinosaur” said Billy, like he was shocked Jon would suggest something so ridiculous “Dinosaur man at the library. He said he worked there, and showed me where the dinosaur books were. He had glasses like yours, and grey hair. He had a ponytail, though. You don't”
That sounded like him. There were only two other people at the library, and neither of them wore glasses
“That was probably me, yes”
He couldn't remember whatever specific incident he was referring to, but it sounded like something that might've happened. Technically part of his job was helping people find things, and children tended to need more help than adults
Billy frowned “Dinosaur Man said his name was Mr Sim”
“Sims” Jon corrected “And yes, that's me”
“But Mr Blackwood said your name was Jon?”
“Yep”
“So… which one's your real name?”
“They both are”
Billy just stared at him
“Right-” he put the book down “You have a last name?”
“Uh huh”
“What is it?”
“Tanner”
“So your full name is Billy Tanner, yes?”
“No, it's William Alexander Tanner” he corrected cheerfully
“Okay, whatever. So you could be called Billy” he explained “Or you could be called ‘Mr Tanner'”
Billy giggled, like he thought he was joking. Jon didn't really know what to do with that response
And on and on it went. At no point did they seem to run out of questions. What's your favourite colour? (‘I don't have one’ apparently wasn't an acceptable answer). Are you in charge of the library? (no). Do you have children? (That one bemused him - were they under the impression that he was keeping these hypothetical children hidden in a wardrobe or something?) If you're not in charge of the library how do you know where the dinosaur books are? What's your favourite dinosaur? And so on. He found that the best way to distract them was to ask them a question in turn. And it turned out they both had very strong opinions on what the best dinosaur was
While Jack continued, interrogating him on his favourite authors (or, ‘book writers’), Billy went quiet. Without a word he got up, wandered over to Jon and grabbed hold of his pinky finger. And instead of explaining why he put his other thumb into his mouth. Jon frowned, and looked at their linked hands. There must be some rule against him touching either kids, right? But he didn't want to just yank his hand away, not when he was presumably upset about something
“Are you… okay?” he tried
Billy nodded, still not talking
Jack went quiet too, and just looked at his little brother for a moment
Then he asked “Are we going home soon?”
Ah, homesickness. Thank you, Jack “Mr Blackwood said he'll take you back home first thing in the morning. So not very long now”
“Promise?” said Billy quietly, voice muffled around his thumb
Ah, drat “Promise” he lied “I don't know what your mother's having done at the hospital, but it'll be finished by the time you wake up tomorrow I assume”
“So like a sleepover!” Jack said cheerfully
“Yes, that's exactly what this is. Have you had a sleepover before?”
Billy shook his head. But a little smile was forming in the corner of his mouth
“Well that's… exciting, yes?” he guessed
“Uh huh” Billy took his thumb out of his mouth and said quietly “I've never ever had a sleepover before”
“This is your first one ever?” he attempted to put on a tone like that was very exciting news to him. He wasn't quite sure if he succeeded, but Billy's smile widened “Well, I guess we'll have to make sure it's a lot of fun. You know, I think some of the colouring pages I printed out were of dinosaurs if that's-?”
Billy nodded eagerly. He handed them over and he skipped over to his brother, homesickness entirely forgotten. Funny, how the young mind works
Once he was sure his brother wasn't upset anymore, Jack put up his hand and started talking as if returning to a conversation that had been interrupted
“The doctors says they need to look inside mummy for bad things”
What? Oh, right, he had indicated that he didn't know what she was having done. And this kid didn't know that he'd have no reason to know that
“Ah. Like an X-Ray?”
“Um… I don't know?” Jack tilted his head thoughtfully “Maybe?”
“It's rooty” said Billy cheerfully
“Routine” corrected Jack
“I said that!” said Billy, indignant “Rooty sugary!”
“Su-” He froze. His insides went cold “Do you mean ‘routine surgery’?”
“Yeh” Billy nodded
Jon gripped the arm of his chair. He felt the world tip slightly on its axis
“Right, uh-” He took a deep breath “C-Can you both wait here? I just need to talk to Ma- Mr Blackwood about… something”
***
Right, okay. He'd done dinner. Now, coats to put away. Book backs to sort out. Pyjamas to get out of the car. Billy's jumper got covered in paint at school, needed to wash and dry that in time for tomorrow. Then he had marking to do - he'd been stupid and put it off until the weekend. If only he'd known in advance he'd be occupied-
Martin took a deep breath. He had never been so glad that neither he nor Jon wanted children. One evening was quite enough, thank you
“You didn't say surgery”
He looked up. Jon was stood in the doorway, his eyes wide. It was immediately obvious that something was wrong, though he couldn't tell what
“Huh?”
“You- You said their mother had a hospital appointment. I thought you meant- like a scan or something, not-”
He cut himself off, and flexed his hands anxiously
“I- I figured you'd guessed?” he replied “If it was just a scan she wouldn't need to stay overnight, so…?”
“Yeah. Yeah, that's true” he ran a hand through his hair and pulled “I just wasn't thinking…”
He stepped properly into the room. Martin shut the door behind him. This might not be a conversation the kids would need to hear. He wasn't sure yet. He knew Jon was a good enough person to generally want people to be okay, but Billy and Jack's mother was a complete stranger. Why did he seem so anxious?
"It… It's going to be fine. It's not a heart transplant or anything, it's just a routine-”
“Yes well so was my-” he cut himself off, sucking in a harsh breath
It took him a moment to realise what he was about to say. His heart sank. Of course. His mother. How had he not thought of that?
“Hey. It's going to be okay”
“You don't know that” he hissed. He hid his hands behind his back - were they shaking? “What will you tell them if- what if she dies? Or, or there's a mistake, or-”
“Jon” he said, as softly as he could manage. Had he been this wound up all evening? “She not going to-”
“You don't- You can't-”
Jon sucked in a shaky breath. He looked right on the edge of hyperventilating
“Listen” he took a step towards him. Jon took a step back. He didn't push “If you'd prefer I know there's a b&b around here I could book for the night to take them-”
“No” said Jon immediately “No, it's- fine. I'm fine”
“If you're finding this stressful, and I know you are-”
Jon grabbed his hand “Don't go” he said, all in a rush “I… don't want to be alone with my thoughts right now. Please”
“Okay” Martin nodded, privately pleased “Still, if you'd rather I tried to get them to bed early or something-”
“No” said Jon. He took another breath, slower this time “They're a… welcome distraction, I think”
“You're doing well with them” he said, honestly surprised that it was the truth “I didn't know you were good with kids”
Jon laughed “I most certainly am not. I doubt these two like me-” Martin scoffed “-but if they do, that makes them weird anomalous children”
“Well, they seem to like you”
“Ah, certainly weirdos then”
Martin smiled “Hardly. You're being very patient with them. I don't imagine most grown ups would be content answering that many questions from two children they don't know”
Jon considered that for a moment. He hopped onto the kitchen counter
“Yes, well…” he played with one of his sleeves “I spent enough time as a child being told ‘because I said so’ or ‘because that's just how it works’ that…” he shrugged “Anyone in my position would answer a few questions”
“They really wouldn't” he said gently “It was 25 years ago. No one would blame you for forgetting what it was like”
Jon hummed “I struggle to forget things” he said quietly, seemingly to himself. His hand moved from the sleeve to drawing shapes over his palm “It's an issue with me”
Martin watched him for a moment. He knew Jon thought he was still a bit of a mess. And maybe it was true - he'd be more worried if both of them weren't a bit of a mess, after everything. But now… His hair was shining like it'd recently been washed, and tidy enough that he must've brushed it that morning. Martin hadn't reminded him to do that. His ribs weren't visible anymore, and his cheeks were filling out. The bags under his eyes were much less stark than they were. He was remembering to eat, and sleep, even after so long of needing neither
Martin was so proud of him
He wanted to hold him close, kiss him until the furrows in his brow faded away. But he couldn't - another downside of having children around. So he contented himself with pulling him into a hug. Jon hummed, and leaned against him stiffly
“I'm sorry” he whispered into the crown of his head “I should've remembered… I shouldn't have just sprung this on you”
“You said they had nowhere else to go”
Martin pulled away “Y-Yes, well, I'm sure if I'd just tried harder I could've found somewhere for them to stay-”
“You did. Here” he said simply. He smiled weakly “Besides. Regardless of my personal discomfort, I'm glad those two boys know they have a teacher who cares about them”
Martin flushed, and mumbled gruffly “Yes, well. Obviously. I'm their teacher, of course I care-”
He knew it was a stupid thing to say even as the words left his mouth. Both the people currently in the room had had teachers who’d made it clear that they did not care about them in the slightest. Jon's smile turned sad - his thoughts must've turned down a similar path
Martin huffed a breath “Anyway. They can be right little bastards sometimes, all of them. But… I don't think I could ever not care about any of them. Even if I tried”
Jon's eyes brightened “I know. I love you for it”
He wasn't sure how, after almost half a decade of being together, Jon still managed to blow him away with that simplest turn of phrase. And yet
Jon hopped off the counter, and pressed a kiss to his cheek
“Are you alright? You've seemed… tired, all evening”
“Yeah, well. That's accurate” Martin sighed “It's been… a long day, is all”
Jon hummed sympathetically. He was about to tell him about it all - Billy's obvious worry about his mother, Abby and Polly’s row, Liam’s broken glasses, and on and on - before he remembered that Billy was in the other room and could likely hear him
“I'll… I'll tell you later, yeah?”
“Alright” he tipped his head to the side “Do you want to take an early night? You have been already working all day”
“So have you”
“You know what I mean. Don't you want a break?”
Yes. He shook his head “I can't just turn up with them and then saddle you with them”
“Yes, if only I was literally offering” said Jon dryly
Martin laughed, he couldn't help it
“No, I'm okay” he said. It wasn't quite a lie “Besides, they both have weekend reading. Their mum won't be able to do that while recovering so I should get on with it now”
“I could help?”
“Would you know how to help them with reading?”
“…No” he admitted
Martin smiled, and kissed his forehead
“Thank you, for offering. Love you”
“Love you too. Oh, I should probably, er, make sure they're not reading any of your poetry while I'm not there-” he guested behind him
Martin smiled “Okay. I'll be there in just a second”
Jon smiled back, and went back into the living room. Martin let his eyes linger for just a moment, before focusing back on the book bags
***
Jack's eyes were very wide when he came back into the room. He didn’t say anything, just stared
“Are you alright?” said Jon cautiously
Jack nodded, not-so-discreetly wiping his eye with the back of a hand. Jon decided not to pry. He sat back down. Almost immediately Jack caved
“Did I say a bad thing?”
“What?” Jon blinked “No? What makes you think that?”
“You looked sad” his voice wobbled “And then you left”
Ah. Honestly he hadn't expected them to put two and two together like that
“No, I wasn't- I was sad” he admitted “But not because of anything you said. I'm not sad anymore” he lied “I spoke to Ma- Mr Blackwood, and I'm better now”
Jack nodded again, looking far more thoughtful than he'd expect from a seven year old “Did Mr Blackwood kiss it better?”
“Did he- huh?”
“Mummy always kisses it better when I fall over” he said “And falling over makes me sad. Did you fall over?”
“Ah- no?” Jon blinked
“Oh”
“He, uh- something like that. Sure”
“Okay!” he said cheerfully, and went back to his colouring
Jon shook his head. To his own surprise, he was smiling. Welcome distraction indeed. He'd just gone back to his book when Billy's voice piped up
“Is Mr Blackwood your mummy?”
Jon choked. Both kids giggled
It was only when they kept staring at him did he he realised they were being serious
“No, Mr Blackwood is not my mother” he tried not to make it look like he was laughing at them, but it was a struggle
“Oh. Who is he then?”
“He- what? He's your teacher. You see him every day”
“I don't see him every day” said Billy, clearly thrilled to be able to correct a grown up “I don't see him on weekend days”
“Yes, yes, alright”
“Is Mr Blackwood your best friend?” asked Jack
Jon frowned. He'd never been particularly enamoured with the concept of a best friend, even as a child. Always seemed to cause more problems than it solved. It probably didn't help that he'd never been one
“Er, no. He's my husband” he explained
“But-” Jack pouted “Miss Thompson said when you have a husband it means you had a party and promised to be best friends forever and ever”
Who? “Well… yes, that's basically it”
“So he is your best friend!” he pointed at him triumphantly
“Uh…” Jon shrugged “Sure”
Billy gasped
“But that's lying!” he was clearly trying to sound angry, but his voice was so high pitched it just sounded funny “That's against the rules!”
He leapt to his feet and raced off into the kitchen, where Martin was
“Oh hey bud-”
“Jon did a lying!” he shouted. Snitch “He has to sit on the Naughty Step now”
“He- What?”
“He said, he said you wasn't his best friend and, and he said you is his best friend, and that's lying and it's a bad to lying so he has to sit on the Naughty Step now”
“Okay, uh- just take a breath, yeah?” he heard the sound of a comically large breath being taken “Let's go into the living room, yeah? And Jon can- no you need to breathe out, too-”
Martin came into the room, looking bemused. Billy had grabbed his finger and was charging along enthusiastically, clearly under the impression that he was dragging Martin forward. Martin caught his eye and mouthed a You alright?, to which Jon responded with a small smile and a thumbs up
“Alright” said Martin “What happened?”
“Oh, I know, I know!” Jack perked up “So I asked Mr Jon if you are his best friend, because he said you weren't his mummy-” he completely missed Martin's choked laugh “-And you're not his brother coz your names are different and I thought you had to be best friends if you were in the same house. But he said-”
He went through everything everyone had said, in a manner that took twice as long as the original conversation. By the time he was finished Martin was hiding his smile with a hand
“Alright. Thank you Jack. Billy, what was that thing you said about a step-?”
“You have to sit on the Naughty Step if you've done a bad fing” said Billy insistently “Mummy says so”
“Right… And, er, what's the ‘Naughty Step’?”
Billy scanned the room for a moment, before lighting up
“That one!” he pointed to the flight of stairs in the corner of the room “Second stair up from the floor up to bedroom”
“What's naughty about that one in particular?” asked Jon, baffled
“No” said Billy, with a tone that would definitely be matched with a rolling of eyes if he'd learned how to do that yet “You have to sit on it if you've been naughty. And you're not allowed to play with any toys”
“Oh, right” Jon smirked “Can I bring a book?”
“Um…” Billy thought for a moment “Okay!”
Wow. Great punishment there, kid “Alright then”
He got up from the sofa and sat down on the step “How long do I stay here for?”
“Forever!”
“How about five minutes?” Martin suggested
Billy paused. Then he turned to his brother “Is five minutes a long time?”
“Yeah it's ages” said Jack with great certainty
“Yeah! Five minutes!” Billy threw his hands in the air
“Alright then” Jon put a hand over his heart and said sarcastically “Harsh but fair”
Martin snorted
He stayed on this step for a lot longer than five minutes, but also those two kids had no idea how long that was anyway. He'd move when he felt like it, and he was comfortable here. He was half aware of Martin listening to the two of them read, occasionally pausing to give advice about particular words, but it all faded into the background
Or it did, until a shadow appeared over the pages. He looked up. Jack was leaning over him, attempting to read the page upside down. Even stood up he was barely the same height as Jon sat down
“What are you reading?”
“A… book?”
Jack made a face that screamed ‘yeah, obviously’, but he didn't say it out loud. Probably didn't want to get in trouble
“Is it a story book or a fact book?”
“It's non-fiction” he said. And then, “Or- it's a fact book”
“Where are all the pictures?”
Jon turned the page round “It's a grown up book, it doesn't have any pictures”
“That's silly” Jack frowned “Why can't grown up books have pictures?”
“They can if they want. Lots do. But it costs more money to print pictures, so lot's don't”
“Oh” Jack gave him a blank look. Clearly he didn't spend much of his young life considering money “They… could draw the pictures?”
Jon smiled “Maybe. But they're probably not as good at drawing as you or Billy”
Jack grinned. In the distance, he heard a “Yeah!” from Billy
Jack disappeared for a while. After some time, he became aware that the room had gone quiet. Then Martin came over
“May I join you?”
“Sure” he shifted over so he could sit next to him “What crime did you commit, then?”
“What- ah” Martin laughed “Oh, you know. General oppression, probably”
“You told them what to do?” he guessed
“I told them what to do”
Jon chuckled
Martin sat down beside him. They couldn't both fit on the same step, so he took the one just underneath instead. It still worked - Jon was able to rest his head against Martin's shoulder this way. It was nice
“Where… are they?” he asked, just then noticing the complete lack of little scuttlers in his vicinity
“They're getting ready for bed”
“Already?”
He checked his watch. Seven o’clock. He then remembered that they were indeed young children
“Hmm. They claim to be able to get ready by themselves. We'll see. If not-” he shrugged “It’s only one night. And besides, their mum probably has bigger things to think about right now”
Assuming she'll ever think about anything ever again. Jon shivered, and tried to shake the thought away. It didn't really work
“Right. What’s the plan with- Where are they sleeping?”
The only room in the home with a bed was their room. There were some spare mattresses in a cupboard somewhere, but he'd really rather not give up his bed, thanks
“I was planning on putting them in that side room off the kitchen”
“Ah”
Before they'd lived here, Daisy had used that room to store truly an obscene amount of weapons. It was strange imagining two children sleeping in there, even if they had disposed of all the knives years ago
“That… works, I suppose”
“Hmm. I doubt either of them will actually be sleeping, but it's worth a try”
“Why not?”
“Oh, homesickness, that sort of thing. And, well-” he lowered his voice “Neither of them have the words for it, but I know they're worried about their mum”
Jon nodded. They weren't the only ones
“Are you gonna let them bring their colouring with them?”
“Well, technically they are supposed to be trying to sleep-” Jon raised an eyebrow. Martin sighed “-but yes, I'll find something for them to distract themselves with”
“Do you want any help?”
“No, it's alright, you've done more already than I could've asked for. Honestly I just want to get it over with and then have some time with you alone”
A pleased feeling zipped through him “Not enjoying being ‘Mr Blackwood', then?” he teased
“Not in the slightest” he grumbled
“Documentary in bed?” Jon suggested hopefully
“Sounds great” said Martin “You find something, I'll join you soon, yeah?”
“Yes”
Checking behind him briefly to make sure the kids weren't there, he pressed a kiss to Martin's cheek. Martin went bright red, which he couldn’t help but be charmed by. Then he hopped off the step, grabbed their laptop from the kitchen counter, and headed upstairs
***
He was woken up by the sound of a phone ringing
“Shhurup” he grumbled before he even registered he was awake, batting a hand in the direction of the noise
“It's mine, sorry, I'll get it-” he felt more than saw Martin sit up and lean over to the bedside table on his side “Who one earth would be calling at this t- oh”
Jon realised who it must be at the same time Martin did. Ah. Now he was awake
Martin moved faster than he could process, grabbing the phone and leaving the room before Jon could even sit up. He only managed to hear “Hello? …Yes, speaking” before his half of the conversation was too muffled by distance to hear
He knew, reasonably, he shouldn't eavesdrop. He could just ask Martin when he came back in a few minutes. And since he stopped being the Archivist, he'd gotten pretty good at not seeking out information when he didn't need to. This would just be good practice
…Oh, who was he kidding?
He gingerly got out of bed, fumbling in the dark for his glasses. He found them on top of his laptop, which was in turn on top of the bedside table. He was fairly sure he'd fallen asleep while a documentary was still running, so Martin must've put them both away. Honestly, he had no idea how he managed five days a week with children, just one evening was exhausting enough
He wasn't sure if he should tiptoe or not. He peered down the stairs, and spotted Martin heading into the kitchen, towards the spare room. He reached the ground floor just as Martin was quietly opening the door
“Boys? You awake? I've got your mum on the phone-”
Jon's heart squeezed almost painfully. He just about made out a hopeful little “…Mummy?” from Billy, and that was all his brain needed to decide that he didn't need to be eavesdropping, actually
He went back to their bedroom and buried himself under the covers. He took a deep breath. When had he forgotten to breathe? He should be happy. This is what he'd wanted, obviously. Two little boys hadn't been orphaned tonight. So why wasn't he happy? Why did he feel like his insides were clawing into his skin?
He lay down, hoping that would help the spinning in his head. It didn't
***
He knew Jon had been following him. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he'd been trying to hide it or not. Hopefully not - he was doing a terrible job if so
To his complete lack of surprise, neither of the boys had been sleeping. Which was lucky, because both of them were loud enough on the phone that it would've woken the other one up. Thankfully now they had confirmation that their mother was going to be okay, they seemed much more willing to sleep - Billy's eyes had been drooping even as he handed the phone back. Martin smiled, and left them alone to rest
Jon wasn't visible when he turned around. He must've gone back to bed too. He made sure to tiptoe up the stairs - it was very unlikely he was already asleep, but hey, he could hope
Their bedroom was dark when he opened the door, but he could see the outline of Jon lying foetal under the covers. He didn't react to the door opening, but he could tell from his breathing that he wasn't asleep. That… didn't bode well
He put his phone back on the bedside table, and got into bed on his side. Jon's eyes followed him the whole time, wide and dark. It took a long moment of silence in the dark for Jon to blink, swallow, and finally talk
“So she's…?”
“Yup, everything went as it should've. They're keeping her there overnight to recover, but then she's free to go”
Jon nodded quietly. He fidgeted a little, nibbling on his lower lip
“Are you… okay?” he asked cautiously
Jon looked away, and appeared to give the question genuine thought
“I… don't think so, no”
Well, that was something. He could still remember the amount of effort it would've taken him in years past to even get to that admittance
“Would you like to talk about it?”
Jon made a frustrated noise “That's the thing, I don't know what's-”
He pressed a hand down onto the mattress, levering himself up into a sitting position. He played with his hands for a bit. Martin listened to the tick tick tick of the clock on the wall, and tried not to feel too impatient
“It's just…” Jon finally broke the silence with “They're both so little. They're far too young to lose their mother. And I” he swallowed again “I think I'm starting to realise… so was I”
He barely heard the last word, a harsh whisper almost entirely obscured by his voice shaking. Martin's heart broke
“Oh, love…” he pulled him sideways into his arms “Of course you were. It wasn't at all fair what happened to her. You deserved a lifetime together”
Jon choked on a breath. He tilted her head to bury his face into Martin's chest, pointy chin digging into his ribs
“It's- I'm being ridiculous” he mumbled “I don't even remember her, not really. I just… I suppose I must've been around Billy’s age when it happened, so it just made me think…”
“It's okay” he pressed a kiss to his forehead. Jon hummed “Not ridiculous. I'd be thinking about it too”
Jon pulled back, just enough to look him in the eye
“They’re sure she's going to be okay?” he rasped
Martin smiled, and brushed a thumb over his cheek “Well, assuming she doesn't get hit by a car on the way home-” that succeeded in a making Jon laugh, a surprised, wet thing “Yeah, she's going to be okay”
Jon melted into him, the sweet man “Oh, thank god”
Martin ran a hand through his hair and quipped “I guess it's not just the kids who might be able to sleep now, huh?”
Jon scoffed “Oh, I'm not going to be sleeping tonight, I know it. Too busy worrying about some bloody stranger and two children I met less than six hours ago”
Martin chuckled “You're a big softie sometimes, you know? It's cute”
“Slander” mumbled Jon “I'm nothing of the sort”
They both knew it wasn't true. Sure, most of the time he was the furthest thing from ‘softie’ you could find. But every so often… How gentle he'd been in the weeks after the Lonely. How sweet he was with the local stray cats. How bright his eyes had gotten when he said his vows
He used the hand not currently in his husband's hair to catch his hand in his own. Jon's wedding ring had been put away for the night, but he could still see the indent around his fourth finger where it would usually lie. Carefully he drew the hand in close and pressed his lips to his knuckles. The soft noise Jon made in response made his heart sing
“I want to kiss you” said Jon quietly “Do you think they'd be able to hear?”
Trying not to sound too eager, he answered “Well they're on the other side of the house, and I doubt the walls are that thin-”
He was cut off by Jon grabbing his lapels and pulling him close. His lips tasted like coming home
***
He must've fallen asleep at some point, because then he was waking up. He could feel sunlight on the other side of his closed eyelids. There was birdsong just outside
He hadn't had any nightmares, which was a pleasant surprise. Nor any standard dreams. Perhaps he simply hadn't been asleep long enough to reach the REM cycle
He shifted, wakefulness coming in slowly like a tide. He reached over to the other side of the bed. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't occupied either. And that was confusing enough to make him open his eyes
Martin wasn't wrapped up in his arms anymore, even though that was specifically where he'd left him. Instead he was out of bed, which wasn't fair. And… he was already dressed? When did that happen?
“Whu-”
Martin turned “Oh, I'm sorry, didn't mean to wake you”
“Why’r’oo up?” he grumbled
Martin smiled, for some reason “I'm just gotta drive the kids to the hospital”
“Oh” he said, sitting up. Then, several seconds later, he actually processed the words “Oh. Do you need me to-”
“I need you to go back to sleep” he said firmly “You need it. If you're still in bed when I get back I'll join you, yeah?”
Jon frowned “Are you attempting to blackmail me into sleeping more?”
Martin chuckled “I'd consider it more bribery, but… yeah” he leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead “Goodnight. Love you”
“G’night” he lay back down “Love you too”
He listened to the door close, and the muffled thump thump thump of Martin heading downstairs. Then, after a minute or so, voices made him jump
“BYE BYE DINOSAUR MAN!”
“Billy, don't yell. He's trying to sleep”
“Oh. SORRY!”
Jon chuckled to himself. After a minute or so, he heard the front door open, and shut. He wondered if he'd ever see those kids again. For some bizarre reason, he hoped he did. He'd have to keep tabs on the dinosaur books at the library just in case
As it turned out it would take just under an hour for Martin to get to and from the hospital. He'd wake Jon up very briefly by getting into bed and pulling him into his arms. He'd press a kiss to his crown and whisper a “thank you” that neither of them really heard before they were out again. They would spend a lazy morning in bed, then a lazy afternoon and evening curled up in front of the telly. And Jon would feel the tension in Martin's body leech away with each passing hour
But he didn't know any of that yet. So for right now he rolled onto his side, and closed his eyes