Feeling encouraged by the recent comments welcoming wip posts, and I've made a start at a s3 plotbunny for this prompt. It's kinda pre-slash bonding and spider creepiness, and the spiders have complicated motives.
---
"Do you have a second, Martin?" Jon asked hesitantly, his right hand resting on the open door of the assistants' office.
"Oh, sure. What do you need?" Martin shifted his chair back and took a second to study Jon's appearance. No new injuries, no particular signs of distress... He was spinning his lighter in his burned left hand, a nervous habit that had gotten worse since his return to the Institute.
"I - I was just in the library, and both copies of Gussan's Almanac are checked out. Basira said you might have one of them."
"Ah, yeah. Sorry, I was using it the other day, I keep meaning to take it back upstairs. It'll be here somewhere..."
Martin rifled through the set of drawers under his desk, shifting folders and loose papers aside. After checking beneath the pile of cassettes and notebooks in the lowest drawer, he hesitated, trying to recall whether he might've left the book in the cafeteria or brought it home. Should he double check the other drawers? If he admitted to losing it, then Jon...
Well, maybe Jon wouldn't snap at him. He hadn't taken that tone much, recently. Not since they'd found out about Leitner, and Sasha. Not since the kidnappings, plural, and Jon's apology for a series of absences that hadn't even been his fault, for the most part. Not since they'd learned about the apocalyptic ritual looming over their heads, and finally pulled together as a team to prepare. As far as Martin could tell, Jon was treading carefully, testing the soundness of half-burned bridges, but unpleasant surprises could still test his patience.
Honestly, it was silly to worry about a misplaced library book. He could deal with Jon at his worst, and things were getting better between them these days. One little misstep wouldn't set them back, right? Right?
Gritting his teeth, Martin checked the top drawer again, just in case. Gussan's Almanac lay on top of his paperwork, covered in cobwebs. Huh.
"Here it is!" Martin tried to rub away the worst of the webs with his sleeve before setting it on his desk.
When he looked up, Jon had taken a step back. His grip on his lighter had turned white-knuckled, and his stare was fixed on the book.
"Why don't I clean it up and stop by your office later?" Martin suggested.
"Ah, yes, that would be... Later is fine." Jon backed away another step, then disappeared from the doorway in a hurry.
Martin glanced around the ceiling until he spotted a cobweb in the far corner.
"Was that, uh, did you just...?" Wait, what sort of reaction was he expecting? It couldn't hurt to be polite, at least. "Thanks, I guess?"
Fill: Jon/Martin, the spiders ship it (1/?)
---
"Do you have a second, Martin?" Jon asked hesitantly, his right hand resting on the open door of the assistants' office.
"Oh, sure. What do you need?" Martin shifted his chair back and took a second to study Jon's appearance. No new injuries, no particular signs of distress... He was spinning his lighter in his burned left hand, a nervous habit that had gotten worse since his return to the Institute.
"I - I was just in the library, and both copies of Gussan's Almanac are checked out. Basira said you might have one of them."
"Ah, yeah. Sorry, I was using it the other day, I keep meaning to take it back upstairs. It'll be here somewhere..."
Martin rifled through the set of drawers under his desk, shifting folders and loose papers aside. After checking beneath the pile of cassettes and notebooks in the lowest drawer, he hesitated, trying to recall whether he might've left the book in the cafeteria or brought it home. Should he double check the other drawers? If he admitted to losing it, then Jon...
Well, maybe Jon wouldn't snap at him. He hadn't taken that tone much, recently. Not since they'd found out about Leitner, and Sasha. Not since the kidnappings, plural, and Jon's apology for a series of absences that hadn't even been his fault, for the most part. Not since they'd learned about the apocalyptic ritual looming over their heads, and finally pulled together as a team to prepare. As far as Martin could tell, Jon was treading carefully, testing the soundness of half-burned bridges, but unpleasant surprises could still test his patience.
Honestly, it was silly to worry about a misplaced library book. He could deal with Jon at his worst, and things were getting better between them these days. One little misstep wouldn't set them back, right? Right?
Gritting his teeth, Martin checked the top drawer again, just in case. Gussan's Almanac lay on top of his paperwork, covered in cobwebs. Huh.
"Here it is!" Martin tried to rub away the worst of the webs with his sleeve before setting it on his desk.
When he looked up, Jon had taken a step back. His grip on his lighter had turned white-knuckled, and his stare was fixed on the book.
"Why don't I clean it up and stop by your office later?" Martin suggested.
"Ah, yes, that would be... Later is fine." Jon backed away another step, then disappeared from the doorway in a hurry.
Martin glanced around the ceiling until he spotted a cobweb in the far corner.
"Was that, uh, did you just...?" Wait, what sort of reaction was he expecting? It couldn't hurt to be polite, at least. "Thanks, I guess?"