Stay Awake

Part 1

Heracles hated sleeping as much as he did.
It wasn't so much that he hated the action, he hated how people treated him because of it.
Constantly, all he heard was, "why are you sleeping now?" or "get up you lazy boy", from his mother who loved him dearly.
He would never tell a soul, but there was a reason he slept so much.
His soulmate tattoo.
"Wake up", were the words etched in tiny precise letters along his collar bone.
Once he was made aware of what the words meant as a kid, he began to pretend to sleep as much as he could, hoping that one day someone would come by and say those magic words.
Even if the person's words match his, it is not the same the other way around.
Years went by and his pretend sleeping turned into real sleeping and a real problem.
His poor mother spent countless amounts of money in therapists and medicines to keep him awake.
None of them worked.
The pills were either to strong or too weak. The therapists were either too gentle or too cruel.
After years of attempting to cure him, his mother finally gave up.
"Heracles", she sighed one day, "I can not help you anymore, but I don't want to see you fail in this world.
What ever you do, if you fall asleep when you should be working, go straight back to work and work harder than ever to finish on time."
Heracles took his mother's advice, glad to be rid of the burden of his doctors and medicine.
In the years that followed Herc discovered he could do the work necessary of him in a record amount of time.
Happy for the development he stressed less over his condition and excelled in school when he wasn't sleeping.
Even after his mother died and Herc was left alone to pay for college, he stayed positive.

"I'm fired?" Heracles whispered  to the notice on his desk.
Gilbert, his nosy cubical neighbor, overheard and immediately jumped into the conversation.
"What? Dude that sucks."
"I can't be fired, I just started here."
Gilbert bit his lip debating what to say next to the teary man sitting next to him.
"Well...to be honest Herc. Can I call you Herc?"
No answer.
"Uh, well, you fall asleep a lot"
"I know that," Hercules hissed in an unusually cold tone of voice.
"I have hypersomnia, I've had it since I was a kid."
"Well I guess that's not a good enough excuse for the boss for slacking off at work."
Heracles' head snapped up, "Slacking off!? But I get all my work done, on time!" He practically shouted in partial anger, partial desperation.
Gilbert flinched at his coworkers' sudden mood change and glanced around to see the rest of the office turn towards the commotion.
"I think, he thinks you're setting a bad example to the interns," Gilbert offers quietly hoping the office isn't still trying to overhear their conversation.
"It's just that as a full time employee, you are expected to be in top of things."
Heracles put his head in his hands.
"I failed"
"I'm sorry dude, I really am. Hey, I've got an extra bedroom at my place. If my brother and his boyfriend don't mind you could stay with me for a bit." Gilbert offered sympathetically.
Heracles mind drifted off for a moment pondering why Gilbert's brother would have a boyfriend, but snapped back to reality quickly.
"No, I'm fine for a while. I just...I just need my space."
"Okay... Just call me if you need me, dude," Gilbert said, scribbling his number down on a loose sticky note.
Heracles looked back down at his desk, his hands shaking as the entire situation set in.
"What am I going to do?"
***
The low drone of the train threatened to knock him out.
Heracles shook his head, determined to keep awake as a ticket checker walks towards him and wordlessly takes his outstretched ticket, quickly looking over it and handing it back to him.
It was the middle of the day, but Herc didn't care. His old office supplies stuffed in a box seated on the seat next to him remind the man of his troubles.
His gaze once more lands on the public officer who was already on his way to the next car.
Black, slick hair. Thin dark eyes. Most likely Asian. Herc stares at the mesmerizing man for a moment longer and before he realizes it, he drifts off to sleep.
***
"Wake up"
Herc is started by the familiar words.
Snapping his eyes open franticly to spot the speaker, he comes face to face with the Asian man he was fixated on earlier.
"Oh, I'm sorry", he stumbles the words out as suddenly his tattoo starts to warm under his collar.
The man flinches in surprise, grabbing at his left arm and looking Herc dead in the eyes.
With a heavy swallow he chokes out, "was that your soulmate phrase," after a few moments of stunned silence.
Pulling at his collar and revealing the tattoo that has plagued him, he responds, "uh, yeah.  And maybe that was yours?"
"Yes it was", the smaller man shyly murmured holding out his arm to show off the mildly uneven phrase scrawled there.
A few moments more of silence.
"Um, the train is really about to stop for the night, can we get off and talk about this over dinner?"
Unhappily realizing he's been asleep for several hours, Herc nods and stands up grabbing his box.
The smaller man nearly falls back in surprise.
Herc's muscularly built, six foot tall, Greek body  was a little terrifying from a short slim Japanese man's point of view was terrifying.
Giving a reassuring smile and putting his hand on the other's shoulder he says, "I'm Heracles by the .way."
"Hello Heracles, I am Kiku Honda", Kiku responds as he bows slightly to the man before him.
Stepping off the train, Herc offers his hand to Kiku.
"Come on", Herc huffed beginning to walk away, "if we're any where near the south station, I know the owners of a great Italian place. You're gonna love it."
"Um, Heracles?"
Herc paused to look back.
"I know this might not be what you wanted to hear, but I'm sorry if I act strange right now. I..."
"...wasn't expecting a guy?" Herc finished for him.
Kiku nods.
"At least not like you."
Herc gives him a warm smile.
"Well, get to know me and you might like what you see," Herc said as he offered His soulmate a hand to hold.
"I'm sure I will," Kiku whispered quietly as he took it.

This is going to be one strange relationship.