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ajremixTitle from an Overclocked Remix song because I couldn't think of anything else.
Title: Morning, Thinker
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG
Word Count: 665
Characters: Will, Ted, Booster
In Response to: 30 days of Boostle - sleep deprivation
Summary: During Extreme Justice. Ted doesn't sleep because there are things he can't face.
The first worker Will saw pointed down the corridor and said, "He's over there," and sadly enough Will already knew exactly what he was talking about. On the floor, slumped over beside an open panel and tools scattered around him, Ted was snoring in what had to have been a painful half-upright position. Will knelt down in front of him and lightly clapped Ted's cheeks with both hands. "C'mon, man- time to get up."
Ted jerked, eyes blinking unevenly. "Mrah?"
"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty." Will stood, pulling Ted up with him and guiding him toward the dining area. "Ya gotta stop doing this. Cap catches you again, he's gonna have your hide."
"Cap can stick it," came the mumbled reply. Will didn't think Ted was even actually awake yet with how much Will was half-carrying, half-dragging him down the hall.
In the dining area, Ted groped blindly for a chair to slump into and laid his head on the table with a sigh. "Why do you do that to yourself?" Will asked, moving about as quietly as he could, gathering two mugs and pouring out some coffee from the machine.
He could just barely hear Ted mumble "Which part?" into the tabletop.
"The part where you stopped sleeping in your own bed?"
Ted gave a little laugh. "Prob'ly 'cuz I can't sleep."
"You're practically asleep right now."
"Won't last." He rolled his head to the side to yawn hugely.
"So when you can't sleep you fiddle with stuff?"
"'M a fiddler. I fiddle with everything." When Will sat down and pushed a mug of coffee Ted's way, Ted cradled it close to his face, just soaking in the scent of it. "When 'm bored, frustrated, thinking, whatever. Just need something to do with my hands."
Will snorted. "Reminds me of a story I read 'bout a guy who fiddled with locks just for something to do. Ended up letting a lion loose in a zoo before he realized what he was doing." He watched Ted sluggishly drink from his mug. "One day you're going to fiddle your way into a tank and God help the rest of us."
Ted let out a laugh that sounded more like him going through the motions. "Been there, done that, wasn't that hard."
The younger man sat there for a moment before coming to the conclusion that Ted was too sleep deprived to be making that up. "Sometimes you scare me."
"Then don't let me tell you how that ended." Suddenly Ted sat up, a huge smile plastered to his face, looking and sounding every bit as if he'd had a full night's sleep. "Morning!"
Will turned in his seat, fully expecting to see Captain Atom frowning at them. Instead it was Booster that gleamed sullenly in the flat lighting.
"Morning," the mechanically-shrouded man said, his tone clipped.
"Morning," Will suddenly remembered why he preferred doing his workouts before breakfast. Between Ted's near-manic attempts to make it seem like everything was okay and Booster's passive-aggressive attempts to make sure everyone knew it wasn't, Will realized he didn't know how either man acted normally. "Coffee?"
"No thanks." Booster strode to the fridge, pouring himself a glass of juice and grabbing a couple pieces of fruit from the basket. His armor clanged almost painfully loud around them. "Ted, if you manage some time today, I have a couple reports for you to look at."
"I'll be by this afternoon," Ted replied, but Booster had already left.
When Will turned back from watching Booster leave he found Ted's expression had crumpled into something dangerously like despair, his hands moving over the coffee mug in a desperate attempt to find some way to take it apart. "Hey," Will reached over to squeeze Ted's shoulder. "You'll figure something out. He'll be alright."
He didn't know the older man that well, but Will knew what it looked like when someone had given up hope, especially when they were sitting right in front of him.
Title: Morning, Thinker
Fandom: DCU
Rating: PG
Word Count: 665
Characters: Will, Ted, Booster
In Response to: 30 days of Boostle - sleep deprivation
Summary: During Extreme Justice. Ted doesn't sleep because there are things he can't face.
The first worker Will saw pointed down the corridor and said, "He's over there," and sadly enough Will already knew exactly what he was talking about. On the floor, slumped over beside an open panel and tools scattered around him, Ted was snoring in what had to have been a painful half-upright position. Will knelt down in front of him and lightly clapped Ted's cheeks with both hands. "C'mon, man- time to get up."
Ted jerked, eyes blinking unevenly. "Mrah?"
"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty." Will stood, pulling Ted up with him and guiding him toward the dining area. "Ya gotta stop doing this. Cap catches you again, he's gonna have your hide."
"Cap can stick it," came the mumbled reply. Will didn't think Ted was even actually awake yet with how much Will was half-carrying, half-dragging him down the hall.
In the dining area, Ted groped blindly for a chair to slump into and laid his head on the table with a sigh. "Why do you do that to yourself?" Will asked, moving about as quietly as he could, gathering two mugs and pouring out some coffee from the machine.
He could just barely hear Ted mumble "Which part?" into the tabletop.
"The part where you stopped sleeping in your own bed?"
Ted gave a little laugh. "Prob'ly 'cuz I can't sleep."
"You're practically asleep right now."
"Won't last." He rolled his head to the side to yawn hugely.
"So when you can't sleep you fiddle with stuff?"
"'M a fiddler. I fiddle with everything." When Will sat down and pushed a mug of coffee Ted's way, Ted cradled it close to his face, just soaking in the scent of it. "When 'm bored, frustrated, thinking, whatever. Just need something to do with my hands."
Will snorted. "Reminds me of a story I read 'bout a guy who fiddled with locks just for something to do. Ended up letting a lion loose in a zoo before he realized what he was doing." He watched Ted sluggishly drink from his mug. "One day you're going to fiddle your way into a tank and God help the rest of us."
Ted let out a laugh that sounded more like him going through the motions. "Been there, done that, wasn't that hard."
The younger man sat there for a moment before coming to the conclusion that Ted was too sleep deprived to be making that up. "Sometimes you scare me."
"Then don't let me tell you how that ended." Suddenly Ted sat up, a huge smile plastered to his face, looking and sounding every bit as if he'd had a full night's sleep. "Morning!"
Will turned in his seat, fully expecting to see Captain Atom frowning at them. Instead it was Booster that gleamed sullenly in the flat lighting.
"Morning," the mechanically-shrouded man said, his tone clipped.
"Morning," Will suddenly remembered why he preferred doing his workouts before breakfast. Between Ted's near-manic attempts to make it seem like everything was okay and Booster's passive-aggressive attempts to make sure everyone knew it wasn't, Will realized he didn't know how either man acted normally. "Coffee?"
"No thanks." Booster strode to the fridge, pouring himself a glass of juice and grabbing a couple pieces of fruit from the basket. His armor clanged almost painfully loud around them. "Ted, if you manage some time today, I have a couple reports for you to look at."
"I'll be by this afternoon," Ted replied, but Booster had already left.
When Will turned back from watching Booster leave he found Ted's expression had crumpled into something dangerously like despair, his hands moving over the coffee mug in a desperate attempt to find some way to take it apart. "Hey," Will reached over to squeeze Ted's shoulder. "You'll figure something out. He'll be alright."
He didn't know the older man that well, but Will knew what it looked like when someone had given up hope, especially when they were sitting right in front of him.
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no subject
Date: 2010-11-10 04:31 am (UTC)This line is brilliant.
Also, BOYS. I'm so glad you write EJ fic, no one else does!
no subject
Date: 2010-11-10 04:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-10 04:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-10 08:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-10 07:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-10 08:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-10 05:20 pm (UTC)Also, I love your Amazing Man. More?
no subject
Date: 2010-11-11 02:18 am (UTC)