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Martin had sat down intending to play a game, but ended up being caught up watching Jon. He hadn’t realized Jon had brought nail polish, or even that he painted his nails. But there he was, going at it with the kind of focus he had only reserved for work in the past. Utterly focused on the blue going on his thumb.
At some point, Jon must have noticed he was watching because he shifted so Martin could see it better. Martin leaned over the arm of the couch to watch. “I never saw you with painted nails in the Archive,” he said after a moment.
“I didn’t often, it didn’t feel professional to me. I did sometimes after my hospital stay but . . . ” Jon let his words trail off and Martin felt a twist of something in his chest. Of course if Jon had done it while Martin was working for Lukas he wouldn’t have noticed. He had barely seen Jon in that time, and to check on him would have been putting everything at risk.
“I used to do it quite often when I was at Uni. Even did it now and then in research.”
Martin was glad not to linger on thoughts about the past months. “So you making them blue?”
“Blue purple and pink. This hand at least.”
Martin nodded. “Bi colors, yeah? You going to do the other hand different?”
“Yes, I always liked making each hand different.”
“So. Hm. Ace colors?”
Jon chuckled. “Yes, that was my plan.” He then paused, putting the small brush in the polish before patting the table. “If you’re going to watch come sit here. You’ll make your back sore like that.” Martin wanted to protest but before he could Jon raised an eyebrow. “Again.”
Okay, fine, fair. Martin stood, bringing his Gameboy to the table and sitting across from Jon. For his part Jon looked quite pleased with himself and began painting his nails anew. “So what about you?”
“What about me?” Martin blinked, not sure what Jon meant exactly.
“You ever paint your nails?”
“Oh!” Shrugging a shoulder, Martin shook his head. “Not really, wanted to try once but mum did not take that well, and even later it just seemed like a waste of money. Besides, my nails are crap. I’m always breaking them somehow.”
“Would you like it?” Jon asked as he changed to purple polish. “I can do yours after I finish.”
Martin considered it a moment, looking at his nails. “It’d be a waste, I’m sure I’d just mess them up by tomorrow and—”
“Martin, would you like it?” Jon looked at him so earnestly that Martin couldn’t help but answer honestly.
“It sounds fun.”
He’d always thought things like that sounded fun. Painting nails or dying hair, things to express yourself in colorful ways. But Martin had never been that colorful, or flashy. He was quiet and forgettable. So it had never been a thing he felt like he should indulge, especially not when he had to manage his money and play at being professional less the truth come out.
But now, with Jon offering, it sounded nice. Cozy.
“So what game were you going to play?”
“Oh! More Oracle of Ages. I haven’t played in forever and I cannot, for the life of me, figure where the hell I need to go to find the sea chart. People keep talking about Tingle but I can’t bloody reach him!” Martin rolled his eyes and then grumbled. “Completed the bloody game tons as a kid but now, it’s like noooope no clue what I’m doing wrong.”
“Tingle?”
“He’s a man in his thirties that thinks he’s a fairy and no one likes.”
“ . . . ” Jon paused mid stroke to squint at Martin. “What I—Oh god, why would the beholding—what the hell is Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland?”
Martin couldn’t stop a laugh. “Sorry, how do you—”
“Beholding just shoved it—why is that—this is upsetting.” Jon was frowning as he changed to pink polish. “Why would you do this to me Martin?”
“Oh no, you don’t get to blame me for this. I am trying to find the fucking sea chart, not—oh for fuck’s sake, I just needed to go to this random screen to talk to a NPC, of COURSE it’s the screen I didn’t need to visit, of COURSE it was!”
Martin grumbled but did show Jon the kangaroo with Link in its pouch. “So have you never played a Zelda game?”
“I did, the one with the wolf? Back in Uni we had a gamecube and I played a few games. Georgie and I almost broke up over Mario Party 6.”
Martin snorted. “Really?”
“Things were said. Lessons were learned. We stuck to single player games after that.”
Martin was trying so hard not to laugh. “Well, besides that, what else did you play?”
“I accidently stole a friend’s Naruto game. I had a sort of fugue during finals where I just remember cramming for tests, energy drinks and running around as an orange ninja. I also started hallucinating at some point from sleep deprivation, wrote a page of my essay with my fingers on the wrong keys and almost threw up on a fellow student who was obnoxious.”
“How were they obnoxious?”
“We did an ice breaker the first day and religion came up. I don’t have strong convictions but I said animals had souls as much as a person did and this woman brought it up every time she saw me.” Jon rolled his eyes, starting on the second coat of polish. “Oh there’s Mr. Animals Have Souls! I was so sleep deprived and sick at one of my finales I thought I would hurl. I told Georgie not to sit near me in case and planned to aim at her.”
“You were a menace!” It was hard to reckon the stiff academic he’d seen when transferring to the archives to a sleep deprived Naruto playing student who threatened to puke on people and yet . . . somehow that seemed to fit actually. “Guess she’s lucky you didn’t have to.”
“She’s lucky I never had another class with her.” Jon shook his head. “University was a strange time. That’s not even getting into when I had my breakdown on a carousel.”
“A breakdown on a carousel?”
“Yes well. Things were going badly with Georgie, my grandmother was having health issues and I was almost done with University with no idea what to do after. I ended up at the London Zoo and just disassociated by the cheetahs for a bit. I finally went on the merry go round and it was surprisingly thrilling? It actually helped with clearing my mind, and really, I think we’ve gone enough into my embarrassing university days.”
Martin didn’t think they’d gone far enough. It warmed his heart a little, knowing these things about Jon. “It doesn’t sound too embarrassing.”
“You’re sweet to lie to me like that dear.” Jon switched to a different color polish. “What about you? You insisted on bringing that Gameboy. Your system of choice?”
Martin smiled and tapped fingers on the dark purple casing. “Only system honestly. My grandfather bought it for me, last Christmas present I got from him before he died. We were close. I always felt safe with him. It was a comfort, having it after he passed away. And mum would buy me a game on my birthday and one on Christmas, while she was able to. Ended up with a nice little collection of them, especially when they went obsolete and I could pick them up really cheaply. It really helped pass the time when I’d have long waits in the hospital.”
Glancing at the Gameboy he gave Jon a shy look. “I felt such a rebel when I played pokémon as a kid and I named my rival ‘Butt’. I was sure I was getting away with something. And of course I spent way too many hours playing Tetris.”
“Oh, were you good at it?” Jon was looking at Martin with a fond smile.
“Rubbish at it actually.”
That caused Jon to laugh. “I got good at it in research, Tim installed it on my computer to play while I was waiting to get through to people. Some of those calls would put me on hold for hours.”
“Sounds right. I remember some people I called in the Archives would try that with me.”
“It makes sense you wanted to bring it with you from London though. I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting that to be the most pressing thing you sought to bring with you when we were fleeing.” Jon paused and then looked at Martin. “Would you mind helping me with this hand? It’s hard to do it with the burned hand . . . ”
“Oh! I, sure, but I’ve never done it before so I might mess it up.”
“I don’t mind if you do.” Jon’s easy smile as he said it squished the anxious part of Martin’s mind that was saying it was better to not even try.
“Alright. Give me your hand.” Martin reached for the nail polish and paused. “Ace colors are white, black, grey and . . . purple, right? I don’t know what order.” Martin was like that with most of the flags honestly, he could recognize the colors but if he had to give the order.
“Black, grey, white and then purple.”
“Alright. That’s four so what one do you want twice?”
Jon wiggled his pinky and ring finger. “Two black on these.”
Nodding, Martin opened the black polish before taking Jon’s hand. He tried not to overthink it as he brought the small brush to the nail, swiping it over. “Oh!” He couldn’t help the sound of surprise as the nail was instantly black, with very little overlap onto Jon’s finger. He moved to the second finger which took two swipes over it. A some got onto the side of Jon’s finger and Martin used his own hand to try and wipe it away, though it only sorta seemed to help. “Sorry.”
“Martin, you’re doing fine.”
Martin didn’t want to call Jon a filthy liar, but he did give him a look as he changed to the grey polish. He tried being much careful with this one, taking a longer time. The focus paid off and he was pleased with himself.
“So, how would you like me to do your nails?” Jon asked, as Martin grabbed the white polish.
“Oh, um, nothing fancy. Maybe a nice green?” Martin wouldn’t mention it was because he always associated Jon with the color green, from his green eyes to the green of the sweater vest he had worn often when they first started in the Archives. It was just a nice color and it was a Jon color.
“Hm, alright. I have a few nice greens.” Jon moved his hand away as Martin went to grab the purple and leaned across the table. For a moment Martin looked at him, confused, but then Jon tugged him closer with his bisexual hand and Martin found himself kissing Jon.
Really, one of his favorite past times, ten stars out of ten, no notes.
Once the kiss broke Jon hummed, seeming pleased with himself, leaning back and bringing back the hand for the last nail to be painted. “Once they dry you’ll want to do a second coat.”
Martin began painting the thumb purple. “I saw you did that. To make it more solid?”
“Yes. I used to have a top coat to put on them as well but I didn’t close it properly and it dried out.”
“We can pick one up when we get groceries next. Do they just help protect it?”
“Mostly. Some give an extra effect, like making it matte or holographic.”
“Sounds neat.” Martin had replaced the brush in the polish and was studying Jon’s hand. “How do you know when its dry enough for another coat?”
“I usually tap it once I’m reasonably sure it’s ready. If its not and it messes up, well, I’m doing another coat anyways.”
Martin nodded, and then set Jon’s hand down before reaching for his other hand. Those nails should be well and fully dry so he didn’t have to worry about smudging them as he gently began rubbing the hand. “Ah, that’s nice . . . ” Jon mumbled, eyes half closing in a way that reminded Martin of a cat.
“Need to work out some of that stiffness . . . ” Martin put a little bit of pressure into the palm, able to feel how tense the hand was. Of course, that was just a sign of the biggest problem, that Jon’s whole body was full of tension. Martin had rubbed his arm a little and Jon had been so tense it had apparently felt like he was digging into his flesh with his fingers. So Martin tried to take moments to work out some of the tension. Especially since it seemed like Jon kept most of his tension in his jaw and hands.
“Ow, ow, not nice anymore,” Jon muttered a minute later when Martin rubbed between his fingers. “Ow ow owwww. You’re trying to kill me.”
It made Martin bite back a laugh. That was how it normally went with rubbing Jon’s hand. He would enjoy it a moment, then Martin would find where the tension was and Jon would no longer enjoy it. That was fine though, because it meant when it was over Jon would need to begrudgingly admit it felt better. Martin stopped when his own hand began to get sore from rubbing Jon’s, and watched as his boyfriend flexed his hand before grumbling.
“Yes, fine, it feels much better you sadist.” The grumpiness of the words was undermined by Jon leaning in for another kiss.
“Think the nails are ready for a second coat?”
“Should be long enough with how you tortured me.”
“Oy! Watch it or I’ll torture you~” Martin wiggled his fingers as a threat and Jon narrowed his eyes.
“If you even try to tickle me Martin, I swear I will get you back?”
Martin opened the nail polish, feeling a bit smug. He wasn’t the ticklish one here. “Oh will you now? How are you going to do that?”
For a long moment Jon was silent before he nodded decisively. Martin barely paid attention as he swiped the black nail polish over his pinky, sure there was nothing he could do. That meant he fumbled badly when Jon spoke: “I’ll bite your ass.”
“What?! Jon!” Martin quickly moved to fix the nail polish he’d knocked over at that declaration.
“Yes Martin?”
“You can’t just say that!”
“So you prefer me to without warning. Noted.”
“No! That’s, it’s not, that isn’t allowed!”
“Why? It’s a very bitable ass.”
“JON!” Martin had given up on painting the nails, hiding his face in his hand in hopes he could stop blushing so badly.
“You know, you still have three nails to finish painting on my hand Martin.” As if Jon didn’t know WHY Martin was hiding his face.
Nope. No. He wasn’t doing this. Standing, Martin headed to the kitchen. “I’m going to put on some tea!” It would give him time to calm down, because how Jon could just say he was going to do that—didn’t he know how it would make Martin react?!
Actually, he probably did know it would turn Martin into an embarrassed blushing mess, thus why he said it, the—
“AH!”
Martin jumped, spinning around, eyes wide and looked down. Jon had apparently followed him into the kitchen and done just as he promised while Martin’s butt was bit. “JON!”
“It was right there Martin.” Jon snapped his teeth before heading back to the table. “Once you make the tea you can finish my hand!”
Martin watched him, before very carefully returning to making the tea, glancing back to make sure there were no butt-biting sneak attacks. Thankfully there didn’t seem to be, and Martin was able to finish the tea, bringing it to a Jon who was looking impossibly smug still. Bastard. He was lucky Martin loved him.
Taking Jon’s hand in his again he began the second coat of grey. “You are trouble.”
“I’ve never been trouble a day in my life.” Jon said primly.
“Oh really?”
“I’ll have you know I made it through research without getting in trouble with the police once.”
“But how many crimes did you commit?”
“Unimportant.”
“And before that?”
Jon was silent for a long moment. “No, the case was dismissed, and I got my criminal record cleared.”
“Jon!”
“And juvenile records are sealed so there’s nothing to look at.”
“You are so much trouble!”
“Come on, you’ve been trouble too. You at least broke and entered.”
Martin was trying not to laugh. “Because you wanted more evidence!”
“There has to be other crimes you’ve done.”
“Only after you tell me some of your crimes.”
Jon sighed, as if put upon by that. “Fine. Lots of trespassing, breaking and entering. I’ve assisted in cybercrimes and I suppose if we count Lukas I’ve committed murder.”
“You really went from trespassing to murder. Quite a jump there Mr. Sims.”
“Wait, shit, I just realized, if I was a suspect of Leitner’s murder, do you think that’s on my record?” This made Jon scowl. “If Jonah got something like that on my record . . . ”
“I don’t think so, since you never got arrested?” Martin shrugged. “Mine aren’t as exciting. Mostly stealing, lying on my CV. Oh and the massive amounts of bank fraud.”
“What was that last one?”
“Oh, well. Lukas had me handle all of his accounts. So I just, you know, transferred money to other accounts. Liiiiike, you know, mine.”
Jon managed to stay calm for a moment before he bust up laughing. “H-How much did, did you manage to—?!”
“Oh, you know, a couple million pounds.”
“Martin!” He wasn’t able to hold back his laughter anymore. It was a good thing that Martin had just finished painting his nails because he was slapping the table due to laughing too hard. Martin moved the polish out of the way, admiring how carefree Jon looked when he laughed like this—it was something he had only discovered since arriving in Scotland with Jon. Could Martin really be blamed if he always ended up watching Jon with a lovestruck expression on his face.
Finally Jon calmed down and then held out his hand. “Alright love, let me see your hand and I’ll do your nails.”
Feeling a little shy about it, Martin put his hand in Jon’s. His nails were never something he had paid much attention to. He clipped them if he broke them or they snagged on things, which seemed to happen a lot. Even before the archives he’d seldom thought of them outside ow that pulled up my nail! or damn that broke my nail where’s the clippers. And once the horrors started, any thought on nail care had rather flown out the window like haircuts or getting his eye prescription checked or keeping up on any type of media. There were monsters, his nails were fine as long as they weren’t being eaten by worms or turned by the Boneturner (could he even do that??) or distorted or something else horrible.
Jon selected a nice forest green that seemed to have a little bit of a shimmer to it and began painting his nails. Martin watched, before his gaze inevitably turned upwards to look at Jon in his face, watching how seriously he was focused, and how the little space between his eyebrows wrinkled as he worked. And Jon’s hand always felt nice when it was holding Martin’s.
That was also something new they’d discovered since they’d had to flee. Jon had held Martin’s hand almost the whole way from London, only letting go for Martin to pack or move the luggage. Even then he was anxiously waiting for the first second he could hold onto Martin again. Martin knew why, he’d been almost drifting away a few times during the trip, but Jon kept him anchored.
He still did now. Martin didn’t need to be held constantly, he was mostly okay, but there were moments when the color faded from the world and he could smell the bitter scent of brine. And every time it happened, Jon was there to bring him back. How could Martin give into the Lonely with that quiet reassurance that no matter what happened, Jon would come after him? Even when the cold nipped at his heels, even if the worst was to happen, Jon wouldn’t let the Lonely have him.
“Martin?”
Jon’s voice made Martin glance over, realizing only then how his eyes stung a little. He reached his free hand up, rubbing at his eyes. “Sorry, I was just thinking and I just, I love you a lot, you know that?”
Jon’s concern softened into fondness. “Yes. I feel the same.” He had put the nail polish aside and brought Martin’s hand to his lips to kiss his knuckles. “I’m glad I have you Martin.”
“Not as glad as I am to have you Jon.”
Martin couldn’t stop the stupid smile on his face as Jon switched to his other hand, painting those nails the same green shimmery color. “There’s something else I want to try once I finish these. Though it might not end up looking great, my drawing skills are . . . so it’s up to you if you want me to try or leave them like this.”
“Do whatever you want Jon. I’ll like it however it turns out.”
Jon smiled and then leaned over where his polish was, looking through it and coming back with what seemed like a few pens. “This is a nail art pen. I got a couple but never really got a chance to try them out.”
“Oh, to do like designs?”
“Yes! This one’s gold, this one’s blue and this is a red one. I got a metallic set of them.” Jon then uncapped the pen and got to work. Martin wasn’t sure what he was doing at first, it seemed like just drawing a shape on each finger. It wasn’t until he drew three triangles together that Martin figured out that Jon was drawing rupees and a tri-force.
Jon hadn’t been lying about his art skills. The rupees looked a little wonky but it just made Martin’s heart flutter a little bit as Jon focused on filling in the designs. They were charming with how they weren’t perfect, and honestly if Jon had art skills along with that voice, his intelligence, cooking skills and a singing voice (something Martin had found out when Jon sang in the shower and still wasn’t over) . . . anyways, it would have been too much if he was good at art on top of all that.
When Jon took Martin’s other hand, it let Martin admire the work. “It’s so cute Jon.”
“Well, you’ve been playing the Zelda oracle games, and I believe the tri-force and rupees are consistent through all the games.” Jon laughed a little as he began drawing more rupees. “Thankfully both things easy to draw. If the wolf form was consistent you would be out of luck.”
“Well, what about his horse? She’s in most games isn’t she?”
“You would be even more out of luck if I tried to draw a horse.” Jon tsked a little as he continued to draw on Martin’s nails. “And I’m not about to try to drawing Link or Zelda.”
“Zelda is barely in the oracle games. I mean she doesn’t show up on your first playthrough at all.”
“What?” That caused Jon to pause. “But it’s named after her!”
“Yep. But she only makes a appearance if you link ages and seasons.”
“Honestly, Zelda is getting a raw deal in these games. Not playable, and then not even in some of the games. How is it her legend if she’s not around?” Getting back to work, Jon continued to grumble. “She was who I liked to play as in smash brothers when we would play in a group. Her and that little—ah, pichu. Pichu wasn’t good, but you could give him little goggles and I enjoyed it. But I was fairly decent with Zelda as well. Enough that I could usually win when doing the dishes was on the line.”
“Doing the dishes?”
“Yes. Occasionally we would decide who did chores with a smash bros fight or a mario kart race. It was the only time we played multiplayer after the incident.”
“And never Mario Party?”
“Never.” Shaking his head, Jon lifted the pen and tilted Martin’s hand back and forth before nodding. “Alright. I think that’s good. Just let them dry and you should be good.”
Martin nodded a little, admiring the little design on his nails. “So what do you want to do now, with nails done? We still have a while before dinner.”
“You were going to play your game, weren’t you? If you get comfortable on the couch I can fit between your arms and watch. I’d like to see this game for myself.”
Martin smiled, feeling so very in love. “That sounds lovely Jon.”