Misc RH OC Scraps

[REDSTONE] Seven in the Morning

It was Saturday, and Maxx was up early. Usually this would never happen, but his boyfriend Jules had promised they could hang out all day today, so he wanted the day to start as soon as possible. So now he was sneaking through the halls of Rainbow High while it was just barely turning light outside. The thought occurred to him that perhaps he should have passed this plan by Jules's roommates first... Naaaah.

The dorm door was locked, but those crappy school locks didn't hold up very well, and he knew a few tricks. He was grinning devilishly to himself until he stepped inside the dorm and immediately, something was off. Most of the dorm was dark, except a warm light from the kitchen, as well as some rustling noises. Crap. Probably one of the roommates was an early bird type. Maxx tiptoed past the kitchen. Luckily, it didn't seem like he'd been noticed. He slowly turned the doorknob to Jules's room and swept inside.

His bed was empty.

Maxx burst into the kitchen to find that the boy in there WAS Jules, sitting at the table with a hunk of clay in front of him, focusing intensely as he smoothed the fingerprints off of the clay form. Maxx flicked up the switch for the ceiling lights, flooding the warm workspace with cold, bright light. Jules flinched and finally looked up, his eyes glazed over.

"Oh... What time is it?" He groggily glanced around for a clock.

Maxx was indignantly speechless for a second, slack jawed. Then he exclaimed, with barely contained rage, "it. Is. Seven. In the morning."

Jules seemed confused for a second, but pushed his chair back and got up. He went about covering his project with a damp cloth, gathering up his tools, pushing his stuff into the corner of the table so it was out of the way...

"Do not tell me you worked through the entire night."

Jules avoided Maxx's gaze. "I didn't– I– last time I checked it was only two, I was just finishing up the details."

"You saw that it was two AM and decided to keep going!?"

"Big deal, everyone does that sometimes." Jules's tone was snippy as he rinsed the clay off his hands. It annoyed Maxx, but somewhere in the back of his mind he couldn't help but make excuses for him. He was probably irritable because he was exhausted. He knew Jules's mind got into a state where he lost all common sense and only focused on his work, no matter what his body's needs were. He called it the zone and always acted like it was a neutral or even a positive thing. Maxx had told him a million times that he needed to be evaluated for something. 

Maxx stepped closer, following Jules to the sink. "Big deal? BIG DEAL!? You've been awake for twenty-four hours! Think about your own health for once in your life! You're hurting someone I–"

"Babe, I can't go back in time." Jules finished cleaning up and turned to finally look at Maxx, his hands raised in an attempt at a peacemaking gesture.

"Oh, do NOT think you are going to 'babe' your way out of this one," Maxx grumbled, although the rare pet name still made him blush. He had to reassert himself... He wrapped his arms tightly around Jules's waist and began pulling him out of the kitchen. He was tall and heavy, and stronger than Maxx was, but his tiredness and being caught off guard meant that the best Jules could do was try to keep his footing; Maxx headed towards his goal determinedly, even as Jules pushed against his hold, both of their movements sudden and frenzied. The years of sibling wrestling with his sister had prepared him for this. He dragged Jules through the door of his own bedroom and onto his bed. Jules hid his face in his hands, but it wasn't enough to hide his flustered expression.

"What are you doing!?" 

Maxx let go to get the blanket from the bottom of the bed and pull it up over his boyfriend. "You are going to sleep whether you want to or not."

"But... I need to clean the table and make sure the sculpture is evenly weighted and put away the wire and--"

"You can do that stuff when you wake up."

"Didn't you come here to start our date? It would be rude to you to sleep while--"

"No, this is our date now. This is what I want to do. I woke up too early anyway, I'm tired, aren't you?" Maxx huffed pointedly, as he laid down next to Jules and his arms easily found their place resting over his waist again. He closed his eyes, genuinely tired. Honestly, he had come over there to try and do something sweet, and now he had to play the mean boyfriend again. If Jules would just have a single drop of self preservation..!

He could feel Jules start to relax. He sank into the mattress and his breathing became slower. His hair brushed against Maxx's face; he must have been turning his head. "...Can I at least be the big spoon?"

"No. You lost big spoon privileges. Shut up and sleep." 

"Hmm." A soft noise of displeasure, but Jules ended up pressed against Maxx anyway. It was a little too warm between the body heat and the blanket, but neither boy really wanted to move to change that. Maxx's hand lazily caressed Jules's side. He could feel the slow rise and fall of Jules's breathing sync up with the gentle rhythmic motion. He must have been drifting off. 

Maxx waited until he seemed to be half asleep to whisper an apology for being rough. Jules didn't respond. Maxx sat up just a tiny bit to check on him. His face was peaceful, the faintest hint of a smile in his cheeks. It was rare to see him without a furrowed brow. Maxx happily resumed his previous position nestled against his back, holding him close, and soon he too was asleep.

Their date proper would have to wait until after noon.