#chastely

“We should, uh, we should probably, you know -” Martin says in a whisper. “Wake him up? I, I mean - he’d probably want -  though, I guess it is Saturday…”

Tim bends down carefully; it feels a bit unreal, to brush Jon’s hair out of his face. He still looks exhausted, even in his sleep; his brows are still furrowed in that distracted, troubled way they often are, but without his glasses he looks much more - vulnerable, and something in Tim’s chest warms up disgustingly.

“Or we could let him rest a bit more,” he suggests. 

“Mmh,” says Jon, and hides his face deeper into Martin’s shirt, making Martin’s cheeks turn a beautiful shade of pink. 

“Unless you had to get up,” Tim grins. “Who would have thought Jonathan Sims was a cuddler?” 

“I, uh, not me,” Martin says, his voice a bit high. “Oh god, he’s going to be so annoyed when he gets up -”

“Martin,” Tim says, patting his cheek. “Pretty sure he agreed to get into bed with you.”

“We haven’t actually slept together,” Martin says. “… I mean, I’m - I’m pretty sure - I mean we didn’t, right?”

“Dunno,” says Tim - if Martin doesn’t remember, then it’s easier to admit he still can’t quite recall either. “But I know what could help me remember.”

He waggles his eyebrows a bit; Martin looks sufficiently distracted for a second, flushing brighter. “What, really?” he asks.

It’s cute; Martin Blackwood is cute, and Tim really wants to kiss him; he leans over Jon, careful, and grabs Martin’s neck; Martin lets himself be pulled down, and when their lips meet it’s as pleasant as Tim thought it would. Sure, they’ve got to keep their mouths close - morning breath isn’t ideal - but Martin’s a pretty decent kisser, mindful and learning fast, and Tim is definitely sure they have absolutely not done that ever before. 

“Oh,” says Martin when they part, eyes fluttering a bit; he’s smiling, and Tim has to give him another peck. 

“Alright so we definitely didn’t,” Tim says. “We most definitely should, though.”

“Okay,” Martin says quickly, and then clears his throat. “I mean, uh -”

Tim snorts, and Jon makes another noise; this time, it sounds almost like a sentence. Martin freezes like a deer in the headlights. “Jon?” he tries.

“Will you two - just - be - quiet,” Jon mumbles. 

“Can’t do, boss,” Tim says gleefully. “Martin and I were negotiating some pretty important business. And you’re the one who’s in my bed.”

There is a moment of deep, lingering silence, and then Jon slowly disentangles himself from Martin and turns on his back, blinkingly owlishly at them both. “Wha -” it probably shouldn’t be as delightful as it is, to watch the great array of expressions that pass through his face: curiosity, bafflement, understanding as well as a great deal of sudden, vivid, horrified embarrassment. It’s only when he spots a hint of panic as Jon takes in Tim’s shirtless appearance that Tim feels the need to squeeze his arm.

“It’s okay, Jon. We just fell asleep.” 

“In your bed?” Jon says, voice hoarse and sceptical.

“Well, apparently, you’ve got great taste, I’m as surprised as you are,” Tim grins.

Jon glances at Martin; Martin squares his shoulders, something stubborn and resigned in the curl of his mouth, but whatever he thought would happen, it doesn’t; Jon moves a hand across his face, and asks: “What happened?”

“We were trying to figure it out,” Martin says; his voice is eager, now that he hasn’t been sharply rejected.

“By kissing,” Tim adds; “Proved to be a fantastic way to remember things.”

Jon looks aghast. Tim raises an eyebrow - they’ve already gotten so far after all, he might as well tempt it. “I -” says Jon, and he looks curious all over again, his piercing dark eyes falling on Tim’s lips like they’re a puzzle to figure out; it’s probably unconscious, when he tilts his chin a bit. But Tim moves to press his mouth on his, quick and chaste, and watches Jon flushing beautifully. “Er -”

“Nothing?” asks Tim. 

“I’m not - I - I don’t usually go and kiss my employees, Tim,” Jon scowls, and Tim laughs.

“You don’t cuddle with them either,” he points out, “but you looked pretty cozy with Martin right now. Maybe you should kiss him.”

He’s clearly pushing his luck here, but he makes his voice just challenging enough to make Jon frown pensively, the way he only does when he’s considering doing something seriously - Jonathan Sims has a large range of frowns, and Tim’s pretty sure between Martin, him and Sasha, they know all of them by heart - 

“You don’t have to, Jon,” Martin says, glancing a little bit reproachfully at Tim. 

“It’s research,” Tim says. “We like research!”

“Right, but -”

“Shut up, Martin,” says Jon, straightening up at last; he puts a clumsy hand behind the back of Martin’s head, and kisses him. It looks patently terrible, both of them staring at each other with wide open eyes, but then Martin makes a small, pleased noise, raises a gentle hand to Jon’s chest, the other moving to Jon’s hair, and he kisses him back properly. 

Jon’s eyes flutter as the kiss lingers and, for a second, Tim thinks he’s going to be quite forgotten, but then Martin moves away again; he opens his mouth a few times, like he’s trying to find something to say, but nothing comes until, at last, he’s staring back at Tim a little bit helplessly.

“I’m, er - I’m not much of a kisser,” Jon mutters. “I - again, I - don’t - do this.”

“I’m shocked,” Tim tells him, and that makes Jon scowls again. Tim winks. “It’s all good, Jon; Martin and I can do the hard work; you could watch, if that’s more your thing.”

Jon flushes horribly; his eyes though; his eyes are suddenly - hungry. It startles Tim. He hadn’t expected such a strong reaction; he turns to Martin instead, leaning in his head on the side. “What do you say Martin?”

Martin glances at Jon; whatever he sees in Jon’s eyes, that certainly seems to shock him less than Tim, because he licks his lips and says: “Okay?” his voice back to heights it really shouldn’t be able to reach.

Their second kiss is - as pleasant as the first; lazy and gentle, longer - Martin’s hand cups his cheek, and that’s lovely; Tim settles his on each side of Martin’s hips. Without looking, he knows that Jon is watching, and the weight of his gaze is heavy and makes Tim shivers with odd, intense familiarity -