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ajremixToday's title comes from another song, this time by Cibo Matto, that fits these two well in that unspoken comfort kind of way. Also, as an interesting side-note, for some reason the boys aren't gay (or together) in this storyline. Don't really know why but it does make it easier to focus on their friendship without wanting to throw romantic tension in there.
Title: King of Silence
Fandom: DCU
Rating: G
Word Count: 610
Characters: Booster, Ted
In Response to: 30 days of Boostle - making ends meet
Summary: Sequel to Morningside. Reigniting a partnership.
It was disturbing how frequent Ted was stuck in a hospital bed. Even when Booster was the one technically dead, all his memories of machines and sterile walls had Ted's pale face in them, abnormally quiet and still. Booster hated it, but he stayed anyway, hour after hour. The nurses would be kicking him out soon, just as they did yesterday, but he was sticking around as long as he could, just in case Ted woke up in those preciously brief visiting hours.
He ran a finger down the length of Ted's arm, relieved that he'd yet to loose weight from this stay. "If you wanted to see me so badly," he told the other man, "you could've just called. I wasn't that mad at you."
As he was turning back to the newspaper he read over five times, there was a shifting, the rhythm on the heart monitor switching up a bit. "Booster?" Ted's voice was barely a whisper, eyes unable to focus on the blonde by his bed. "What're you doing here?"
He didn't miss a beat. "Waiting for an apology."
Ted's pale brow knotted weakly. "Wuh?"
Primly folding the paper and tossing it aside, Booster gave Ted a haughty look. "An apology for regulating me, yet again, to sitting at your bedside, waiting for you to wake up. I don't know if you've noticed, buddy, but a face this handsome deserves to be more than a despondent wallflower."
Ted let out a little huff that was probably laughter, his smile worn and tired but was just enough him that Booster thrilled to see it. "If it makes you feel any better, you're the prettiest flower I ever got."
"I'll be sure to put that in my resume."
Booster slid his hand over the bed, grabbing Ted's and holding on tightly and Ted just looked up at him as if he were surprised his best friend was really there. "You're here."
"I'm here."
Unable to muddle his brain to a proper response, Ted murmured, "I'm glad." Booster could only smile.
He could see Ted fighting against his medication, against his body's natural inclination to rest and Booster thought it was amusing even as he said, "Sleep. I'll be by tomorrow."
"Yeah... Hey, Boost- hate to ask you this, but I trust you n' I know you got a head for this stuff, but if you wanna say no-"
"Ted," Booster warned lightly, "you're losing my attention. Just say it."
Ted huff-laughed again, head rolling slightly to one side as he croaked out, "Could you help rebuild my stock?"
The certainly wasn't what Booster was expecting. "Ted..."
"Company's value tanked n' I need to get it back up again." His eyelids fell closed, eyebrows knotting as he fought against sleep. "Just gotta... smooze investors, deal with marketing n' make sure projects... on time... Case you didn't notice, 'm kinda useless right now..."
"So you're going to lay all the responsibility on me? No pressure at all, I see."
"You built yourself from nothing. You can do this," Ted's voice was barely audible, his consciousness slipping rapidly away. "...trust you."
As his last word breathed out, Booster felt his heart freeze until he heard the slow inhale, saw Ted's chest rise. Booster sat there, counting breathing cycles and heartbeats for a good minute, not knowing if he was expecting Ted to keep talking or for one of the machines to start beeping some kind of failure at him. Nothing happened and Booster eventually reached forward to brush some of Ted's hair out of his face.
"Every time," he said fondly. "You always manage to talk me into it every time."
Title: King of Silence
Fandom: DCU
Rating: G
Word Count: 610
Characters: Booster, Ted
In Response to: 30 days of Boostle - making ends meet
Summary: Sequel to Morningside. Reigniting a partnership.
It was disturbing how frequent Ted was stuck in a hospital bed. Even when Booster was the one technically dead, all his memories of machines and sterile walls had Ted's pale face in them, abnormally quiet and still. Booster hated it, but he stayed anyway, hour after hour. The nurses would be kicking him out soon, just as they did yesterday, but he was sticking around as long as he could, just in case Ted woke up in those preciously brief visiting hours.
He ran a finger down the length of Ted's arm, relieved that he'd yet to loose weight from this stay. "If you wanted to see me so badly," he told the other man, "you could've just called. I wasn't that mad at you."
As he was turning back to the newspaper he read over five times, there was a shifting, the rhythm on the heart monitor switching up a bit. "Booster?" Ted's voice was barely a whisper, eyes unable to focus on the blonde by his bed. "What're you doing here?"
He didn't miss a beat. "Waiting for an apology."
Ted's pale brow knotted weakly. "Wuh?"
Primly folding the paper and tossing it aside, Booster gave Ted a haughty look. "An apology for regulating me, yet again, to sitting at your bedside, waiting for you to wake up. I don't know if you've noticed, buddy, but a face this handsome deserves to be more than a despondent wallflower."
Ted let out a little huff that was probably laughter, his smile worn and tired but was just enough him that Booster thrilled to see it. "If it makes you feel any better, you're the prettiest flower I ever got."
"I'll be sure to put that in my resume."
Booster slid his hand over the bed, grabbing Ted's and holding on tightly and Ted just looked up at him as if he were surprised his best friend was really there. "You're here."
"I'm here."
Unable to muddle his brain to a proper response, Ted murmured, "I'm glad." Booster could only smile.
He could see Ted fighting against his medication, against his body's natural inclination to rest and Booster thought it was amusing even as he said, "Sleep. I'll be by tomorrow."
"Yeah... Hey, Boost- hate to ask you this, but I trust you n' I know you got a head for this stuff, but if you wanna say no-"
"Ted," Booster warned lightly, "you're losing my attention. Just say it."
Ted huff-laughed again, head rolling slightly to one side as he croaked out, "Could you help rebuild my stock?"
The certainly wasn't what Booster was expecting. "Ted..."
"Company's value tanked n' I need to get it back up again." His eyelids fell closed, eyebrows knotting as he fought against sleep. "Just gotta... smooze investors, deal with marketing n' make sure projects... on time... Case you didn't notice, 'm kinda useless right now..."
"So you're going to lay all the responsibility on me? No pressure at all, I see."
"You built yourself from nothing. You can do this," Ted's voice was barely audible, his consciousness slipping rapidly away. "...trust you."
As his last word breathed out, Booster felt his heart freeze until he heard the slow inhale, saw Ted's chest rise. Booster sat there, counting breathing cycles and heartbeats for a good minute, not knowing if he was expecting Ted to keep talking or for one of the machines to start beeping some kind of failure at him. Nothing happened and Booster eventually reached forward to brush some of Ted's hair out of his face.
"Every time," he said fondly. "You always manage to talk me into it every time."
