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spacestationdaedalus · 3 years

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soft tma prompt #5 - you always know how to make me smile

my first soft tma prompt that isn’t jm! featuring pre-canon Jon and Tim friendship. cw for minor injury and brief mentions of blood.

ao3 link here!

...

When Tim makes his first trip down to the Archives, Jon is losing a battle against his new office door. Which is to say, they're off to a great start. He also has a stack of papers pinched between his lips, both hands occupied with the old set of keys and the tarnished door knob.

"Whatcha got there, Boss?"

Jon makes a little mmm around the papers before pulling them from his mouth. "Just some paperwork I picked up from Rosie. I believe she has some for you and Sasha as well."

Tim was referring to the door and it's distinct lack of opening, but that works, too. The wry grin slides easily across his face, and he can't resist giving Jon just a little bit of a hard time.

"What, you couldn't have picked it up for us while you were up there?"

Jon sputters, bits of his careful professionalism lost between breaks in his words. "Ah- I didn't, uh, I didn't think-"

Tim raises his hands in what he hopes is a placating sort of gesture. "Hey, hey- relax, Jon. I'm just teasing. I have to get the rest of my stuff from upstairs anyway."

Jon lets out a breath, and then- "What, you haven't killed that desk plant of yours yet?"

Oh, the bastard. Tim still doesn't know how he holds that deadpan so well. Although he swears he can see the barest, faintest hint of an expression at the corner of his mouth.

Tim squares up his shoulders, dramatic, in an effort to turn that hint into something more. "No, Jon. Jonathan is doing wonderfully, I'll have you know. I think his complexion is better than yours."

Jon's expression morphs into a proper scowl. "I told you not to name that damn thing after me."

"I can't just change his name, Jon! He already knows what it is."

The frown lines deepen around Jon's mouth, which for some people would be the opposite of a smile. But not for Jon. Not as long as Tim had known him. It's more...tangential, really.

Tim lets him off the hook for a reply, and sighs. "Although the lack of, uh, windows down here might make things a bit tricky."

Jon is still eyeing him with that characteristic glare, but he nods. Not quite sympathetically but something close to it. "Right. It is a little… hmm. Dim. But I'm sure you'll figure something out."

Tim extends a hand for the papers, and Jon passes them over with a muttered thank you as he fumbles with the keys once more. After a few moments Tim considers offering to try, because quite frankly it's starting to get painful, when a dry and rusty click comes from inside the lock.

"Ah! Finally, the damn thing-" Jon mutters to himself. He turns the knob, and with a confidence and finality he'll soon regret, walks face first into the still-closed and very solid office door.

Tim is a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them. And he would be lying if he said he didn't laugh - although mostly from the shock of it, and only for a split second before it morphs into a sympathetic wince.

"Oh, christ- are you alright?"

Jon's eyes are squeezed shut, hand over his face for a second too long, and Tim knows he's actually hurt something. He tries to wave him off with his free hand, a punched out hiss of I'm alright, it's nothing, but Tim isn't having it. He puts a hand on Jon's shoulder, feather-light, something Jon could shrug off if he wanted to - which he does, most of the time, and Tim respects that - but Jon seems to allow it. Tim wants to take that as a win, but now, it might be more of a bad sign than anything.

"There's a break room down here, right?"

Jon nods tightly, gesturing down the hall. The irony of Tim leading the way when it's his first time down here isn't lost on him, especially given his, rather fraught history with directions. But it's not a large Archive. They find the break room easy enough, a dingy thing with a small table and kitchenette. Tim thinks it looks like something out of his great aunt's house, and it’s probably just as old as she is. But it'll have to do.

"Really, Tim, i-it's alright-" Jon manages as he sits down in one of the rickety chairs. Tim isn't inclined to believe him, and the new trail of blood dripping slowly from below Jon's fingers only cements his resolve.

The fridge may be pathetically empty, but the freezer does have ice, which is more than Tim could have hoped for. He finds some napkins in the cabinet as well, and passes them over to Jon. He takes them, leaning his head back-

"Woah, woah, hey - make sure you lean forward, Jon."

Jon levels a stare at him from across the table, around his hand. "Thank you, Tim, but I do know you're supposed to lean your head back when your nose is bleeding."

"Yeah, if you want to choke on your own blood." This man is going to be the death of him, Tim is certain. "I'll bet you twenty pounds you're supposed to keep your head forward."

Jon eyes him for another moment, and sighs, before leaning forward over the table.

"Fine. But it's coming out of your paycheck."

The quip surprises him, and Tim barks out a laugh as he wraps a handful of ice cubes in a layer of cheap napkins. Not the best solution, but it's the one he has. "Area man loses all financial benefits of promotion by making terrible bets with his employees."

Jon makes a strangled sort of sound, and Tim panics for a moment before he realizes it's a laugh. Well, not quite a laugh. Jon doesn't really do that. But it is a chuckle, and a pleased smile spreads across Tim's face as he passes Jon the makeshift ice pack. He'll take it.

…

"What should we tell Sasha?"

"What are you on about, Tim?"

"We gotta come up with something good. Adventurous. Like, you fought something off in Artefact Storage."

"Tim-"

"You got in a bar fight."

"For some reason I don't think she'll believe me."

"Stopped an armed robbery."

"That's worse, somehow."

"Oh, I'm sure we'll think of something before she's back in tomorrow."

"Hmm."

"And make sure you keep ice on that!"

"Yes, yes, alright."

And then, quieter. "Thank you, Tim."

#the magnus archives #tma #tim stoker #jonathan sims #tma fics #soft tma prompts #my writing #cw blood

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