✧ — peach iced tea.

[boba]

this post is so clean

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[transmit]

[ it is one of those moments where elysium wonders why he likes him? they're both sick!!!!!!!!!!!!! does he want sc*en's research that bad?

elysium looks at him in disbelief. ]

How are you getting in? Are you picking locks? There are cameras at every entrance, bro!

[oversea]

I have a key.

[ why does he have a key.

still, he looks at elysium for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. ]

No, let's go home. You need to rest.

[ two threads where thorns tries to get elysium to sleep for very different reasons ]

[transmit]

Why do you—…

[ he sighs, similarly to thorns. this is what they're going to remember when they think about the day they confessed their feelings. lovely. ]

Nevermind. Just get in.

[ he's going to take the driver's seat. if thorns does not fight him on this, he might note… this is not the direction to home? crazy. they'll end up at the school. ]

[oversea]

[ OKAY.

thorns is once again wondering if elysium is going crazy from the illness... he has no sense of time or direction, it seems. ]

Why did you come here?

[ elysium was the one against it!! ]

[transmit]

[ THORNS IS SUPPOSED TO BE TOUCHED!!!!!

elysium tiredly rests his forehead against the steering wheel. they have no honeymoon phase in this au because the other versions of themselves hogged all of it up. ]

You wanted to come here.

[oversea]

[ at the rate they're going, they're going to start wondering if the confessions were some sort of hallucination, nothing romantic has happened.

thorns squints at him. ]

But you didn't.

[transmit]

What matters is you did…

[ this would be romantic if it weren't for elysium sounding like he's about to kill someone. ]

Are we going or do I need to throw you over my shoulder?

[oversea]

[ it would be so romantic if thorns hadn't already decided that elysium really should be resting, especially after sitting in a hospital for so long and everything else.

but they might as well get this over with now that they're here. thorns steps out of the car, and just starts walking to the building for the science department. he unlocks the door and gestures for elysium to go inside.

it's fine the dean of medicine gave them permission (she did not) ]

[transmit]

[ elysium has his hood drawn up to hide his face, which somehow makes this both better and worse. the dean of medicine implicitly gave them permission by not saying anything about their little break-and-enter? it's fine. everything's fine.

until they hear footsteps that is and he drags thorns behind a wall. it's security. ]

If you're going to take a sample, wouldn't mine make more sense?

[ thorns has already lost so much blood… ]

[oversea]

We can do both.

[ they don't need to stop at just one!!!

once the sound of footsteps disappear, thorns is back to walking, although this time his hand is firmly in elysium's wrist again to tug him. he can't do actual hand holding yet that is way too scandalous. ]

[transmit]

[ the confessions are such a thing of the past. day one of flirting and thorns is taking his blood!!! romantic. he's quiet as to not draw attention to themselves, and when they ultimately reach his lab— ]

Kind of funny, isn't it? 3AM on a weekday would be the first time I've been in your lab.

[oversea]

You've been to someone else's first, even.

[ let the scien thing go.

but he will gather the needed supplies before setting it up so he can draw his own blood first. he does the process rather mechanically. ]

It's fine. Now that we're in here, if someone comes in they'd believe I was here the whole time. Getting in was the hard part.

[transmit]

[ why does he make this sound like an affair. elysium huffs, amused. ]

You probably let people in all the time. C'mon, you can't use that argument with me. It's not my fault you never invited me?

[ like it's probably just his classmates but elysium's counting those to be equally as ridiculous. settling into one of the nearby chairs, he props his chin in the crook of his arm and watches thorns. ]

Just how often are you staying in this late, huh? You're a menace.

[oversea]

It just didn't seem like something you'd be interested in.

[ thorns now knows that was a wrong assumption, but before it was pretty easy to think that elysium just went along with this weirdness because they were friends back in high school. and they spent most of their time in college either still ignoring each other, or existing as roommates. the steps towards being close again is a fairly recent development in the grand scheme of things. ]

... And not that often.

[ it is often enough that he has a key. ]

[transmit]

[ hmmm. there it is again, that same excuse. thorns, being mindful, when their whole friendship started with elysium inserting himself into his life and dragging him into things he never asked for. still, he figures that's the heart of the problem. once he stopped inviting himself along, it probably looked like he'd just gotten bored.

he folds his jacket up, baring his arms as he settles in more comfortably. ]

Yeah, and you totally got one from the department, right? Didn't just make a copy while no one was looking? Please.

[oversea]

There's cameras, so they obviously don't mind.

[ only because thorns is such a promising student. you know if his grades were bad and if he was involved in even half as much research as he is, he would not be getting away with this.

once he finishes collecting his own blood, he moves onto elysium. the difference in which he approached himself for this and elysium is staggering though. he carefully searches for a vein in elysium, and does everything from wiping down the spot to inserting the syringe with such a careful precision. ]

[transmit]

[ he is so dozy by the time thorns makes his way over to him. it probably speaks to thorns' level of care that he continues nodding off despite having a needle in his arm, but that's something for him to reassess later when the day hasn't been a trial and a half.

he'd wanted to watch thorns work, too…

snzzzzzzzz. ]

[oversea]

[ ... cute.

once thorns is done with everything, he will have things marked to send for analysis but that is something that cannot be done now, so he packs everything away and then waddle over to a snoozing elysium.




he pulls out his phone to snap a picture. it is not the first time he has seen elysium asleep, but it's the first time it happened in his lab, so it's an important moment. thorns tucks his phone away and then tries to pick elysium up without waking him. ]

[transmit]

[ okay but



without war how easily can thorns pick someone taller than him up, especially if he's such a weenie about protein and the gym…… ]

[oversea]

[ tears up not easily

he at least does get a lot of exercise from fencing, but there is a vast difference between picking someone up when they are awake vs carrying them through an entire building and to a car while trying not to disturb them. there is no possible way thorns can manage this without jostling elysium in some way. him managing it at the wedding was more of a testament to how drunk elysium was than anything else. ]

[transmit]

[ thorns your noodle arms

unfortunately, this just means he stirs the moment he tried. it takes more than a hot second for someone to fall into a deep sleep, and he tries to detangle himself enough so that he can just lean his weight on thorns instead. ]

You're going to hurt yourself trying to be cool. Don't.

[oversea]

I didn't want to wake you. You've had a long day.

[ the amount of bullshit they have done today alone is crazy when you think about it. the confession not being the most surprising event of the day tells a story. ]

If you were this tired, we could have just gone home.

[transmit]

You're going on about that again?

[ he is warmer to the touch than before… he's thinking he's going to have to email in and dazedly tries to make a mental note of it.

elysium's not going to even pretend he's in a state to drive and automatically deposits himself into the passenger seat. ]

It seemed important to you. [ … he almost dozes again. ] As long as you use… what you find out to kick his ass… it'll have been worth it…

[oversea]

Uh huh.

[ elysium... is cute, perhaps?

but the drive back is at least relatively calm considering no one is definitely on the road at this point except for the people who have to wake up extra early for work. when they reach the apartment, he will make another attempt at trying to carry elysium inside because he does not learn. ]

[transmit]

[ he is even sleepier than before but he will force himself upright. his eyeballs refuse to function so it's up to thorns to guide them to their flat. once they're there, muscle memory takes over. ]

Good night…

[ he makes it to the couch. ]