Is That a Thing That Can Happen? Part 1 (TMA)
Came up with an idea a while back, for the archival assistants having a couple odd experiences with Jon putting things together little by little. @sebastian-droste drew some awesome pictures that actually inspired me to start writing this, and here they are Part 1 and Part 2 .
“Hey, Jon, I was just making some…tea.” Martin walked in, trailing off as he noticed the other man slumped over his desk, leaving him frozen in place momentarily.
His heart rate picking up a little as Martin approached the desk, sighing when he saw that Jon was still breathing. He was just asleep, snoring softly.
Martin turned the tape recorder off with a click. He considered waking him up, knowing Jon was going to be sore after sleeping hunched over his desk, …but he could bring himself to wake him. God knows the man needed the sleep.
Realistically, Martin knew if he woke him up, Jon would just insist on going back to work, so it would probably just be best to leave him be.
A small shiver ran through Jon’s thin frame, and Martin chewed his lip, ducking out of the room temporarily, returning with a blanket from one of the cots.
He draped it over Jon, carefully tucking it around him, pleased to see the chill leave the other man for the moment.
Backing away, he admired his handy work, glad that he could at least do this one thing for Jon, even if it was just something small.
Martin eventually pried himself away knowing, Jon would get after him if he found out he was lingering around when there was work to be done.
~
Basira was next coming in to invite Jon to go drinking with them, figuring with all the stress going around all of them could use a good stiff drink.
She knew he’d probably decline the offer, but she felt like she should ask anyway.
Walking Basira saw Jon hunched over, pressing a palm into his eye socket, his expression pinched.
Raising an eyebrow, she knocked on the door lightly. “Come in…” Jon called out weakly, not even bothering to lift his head when she walked in.
“M’not interrupting some weird psychic moment am?” Basira asked, a sliver of humor slipping into her voice.
Jon chuckled bitterly, “No, I just…” He winced, hissing rubbing his temples, “ have a headache.” He told her. “Not important right now,” He said, looking up at her, the pain still evident in his features, “You needed something?”
Basira rolled her eyes, “You’re ridiculous,” She said, digging through her bag, “and you should have said something.” She pulled out a little bottle of pills, shaking out a pair handing it to them over, “Take these.” Basira told him.
“What are they?” Jon croaked, glancing up, squinting up at her.
“Aspirin, take them,” Basira told them, slipping the pills into his hand, pressing a bottle of water into the other one.
Jon took them with a sip of water, “Uhm…thanks.” He said, pressing the cold water bottle to the back of his neck, in hopes of getting rid of the ache a little faster.
“No problem…Just say something next time, okay.” Basira told him.“You’re allowed to ask for help.” She said before leaving him alone once again with his thoughts.
~
Melanie wasn’t sure why she was even in here. Wrong place wrong time is what she could only guess. But now that Melanie was here, it was hard to ignore what she was seeing.
She’d heard someone in the bathroom, and had thought it had been Martin as he was the one with the allergies, and it had been sneezing that had caught her attention.
But she quickly realized that this sneezing was much louder and not quite as fittish as Martin’s usual fits. Melanie hesitated outside the door for a moment before pushing it open, coming face to face with Jon.
She didn’t know why it shocked her so much to see him, maybe it was just weird to see him doing something so human as blowing his nose.
Jon hadn’t seemed to notice her yet, so Melanie cleared her throat to get her attention, watching him practically leap out of her skin. The was his face flushed with shame, made a sharp pang of guilt pierced her chest.
Which was stupid; she didn’t feel bad for Jon. He was the reason they were in this stupid mess. Still, she found the words she didn’t mean leaving her mouth, “Are you alright?” She asked.
Jon blinked at her almost in a daze like he hadn’t quite heard her, “M’fine.” He mumbled, answering slowly like his thinking was slow and foggy. “Need to…need to get back to work.” He said, pushing past her.
Melanie stared after him shoving down the concern in her chest. If he wanted to be ridiculous, that was his problem, and if anyone asked about the box of tissues that mysteriously appeared on Jon’s desk later, well, she didn’t know how it got there.
~
When Tim walked into Jon’s office, he was caught off guard by the emptiness of it, the man rarely left the archives anymore.
He didn’t plan on lingering long enough for him to come back, not too thrilled about the idea of running into his boss. Though luck didn’t seem on his side today as the office wasn’t as empty as it had first appeared.
Jon was just out of sight leaning against one of the filing cabinets, so still that Tim would have almost believed he were dead, if not for the slow, even rise and fall of his chest.
“Sleeping on the job, boss?” Tim asked, in bitter amusement.
Jon groaned, cracking open an eye, “Don’t think I could if I tried.” He croaked, wincing as he swallowed. “Did you…”Jon hesitated before asking, thinking about his words carefully, not wanting to compel Tim in any way on accident, “need something?”
“Just dropping off some statements, don’t want you going through any weird withdrawals or something.” Tim said, haphazardly dropping the box on Jon’s desk, “I’ll be going now leave you to whatever is going on here.”
Tim turned to leave, pausing in the doorway, “You look like crap, by the way, maybe you should consider getting some actual sleep, not that I care.” He said, going before Jon could get a chance to respond.
~
Tim walked into the break room, almost turning around to leave when he saw the other archival assistants lounging about, but he really needed a cup of tea, so he pushed through the awkwardness.
He was looking for the kettle when Martin cleared his throat, “I already started a kettle. I can make you a cup if you’d like.”He mumbled.
Tim grunted in agreement, flopping down on the couch with Melanie, pulling out his phone in an attempt to avoid idle chatter.
The message wasn’t clear apparently, “Has anyone noticed anything…off about Jon?” Martin blurted out, failing to keep the concern out of his voice.
“What isn’t weird about Jon?” Tim chuckled bitterly, “ I just caught him sitting on the floor leaning against one of his filing cabinets just now, he’s losing it really.”
“Maybe he was trying to get some more sleep, I did find him asleep at his desk earlier,” Martin said, “can’t be comfortable, maybe he was looking for a better position?”
“He needs to cut the crap and just lie down in proper bed or take one the cots, or he’s gonna make himself sick.”Basira said, rolling her eyes, “Already gave himself a headache earlier.”
“I think it’s too late for that, I found him earlier in one of the bathrooms sneezing and blowing his nose.” Melanie told them, feigning disinterest in the conversation, “The man’s a disaster, it’s not like we don’t have tissues.”
They were all quiet for a minute, as the information they’d shared with each other sank in.
“Y-you don’t think Jon sick, right?” Martin finally spoke up, sounding a bit uncertain.
“No…no, of course not…Jon, he can’t get sick anymore…right?” Tim asked, sounding just as unsure, looking at Melanie and Basira.
“I don’t know I’m not an expert on all things, Jon,” Melanie answered, pointedly crossing her arms over her chest.
“We could ask him…”Basira suggested nonchalantly, all eyes on her now, “What it’s just a suggestion unless you guys have a better idea.”
