Mutual (A TheSyndicateproject/Tom Cassel)

Daily Grind

A/N: Sorry for the delayed update guys! I've had a lot going on recently, stuff with work, school, and personal life. My boyfriend is going to be gone for the next month so I spent a ton of time before he left. But now I'm back in Seattle to visit family so I have some relaxation time to just sit down and catch up on updates and the sort. But on the bright side, it gave you guys some more time to work on your character submissions! There are some really great ones in there! I'm super excited to include one of them in Mutual Part 2 (not sure when that will be a thing). But I'm still looking for ideas for it. Now I have yet another comment challenge/question thingy for you. 

Question: What has been the funniest part of "Mutual" so far? 

Just let me know in a comment, or inbox me! Anyway, enjoy the chapter. There's some Syndiclysm fluff ahead <3

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tom's POV - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

"Hey Tom" I looked up at the sound of Tucker's voice, finding him standing in the narrow hallway that separated the kitchen from the living room. Grizz sat patiently at his feet, probably hoping to get a scrap of the sandwich Tucker was eating. 

"Hey man. Finally decided to get out of bed?" I asked, waving him over to the couch. I went back to my game of Call of Duty. 

"Well Mianite is in an hour after all. Figured I should get something to eat before that starts" Tucker shrugged, taking a seat next to me. "Where's the girly friend? Did she go out or something?" 

"Nah. She's still asleep" I glanced at the clock on the wall, frowning at the time. "It's like 1 in the afternoon already?"

"Yeah, man" He nodded. "I figured Ash would be awake and griping at you to be on time by now" 

"She doesn't usually sleep late" I shrugged, pausing the game. "Honestly I haven't seen her get up later than 9 AM. Sleeping in the afternoon is weird for her" 

"Is she sick?" Tucker asked as he leaned down, feeding the crusts of his sandwich to Grizz. The dog lapped them up greedily as I checked my phone. If she was going out Ashley would have told me, or at least texted me before sneaking out the door. "She did have that headache yesterday" 

"Yeah she's been getting them a lot more lately. It's probably because of the whole deal with Emma" I tossed my phone onto the stand. "Seen twitter lately?" 

"Team Trinity drama" He nodded. "Emma can be a real bitch when she wants to be" 

"You don't have to tell me twice" I scoffed, getting up and heading for the doorway". "I'm going to go check on her. She's supposed to be streaming today too." 

"Take her a bottle of water and some aspirin just in case" Tucker said, grabbing the controller and continuing my match. 

I jogged up the stairs, ignoring the mess at the landing. Sonja was a bit of a neat freak when she was here, and Tucker was still in the process of turning everything back into it's usual organized chaos. My door had been left slightly open, allowing the thinnest line of light to fall across the black coverlet. Ashley was barely a small bump under it, only the very top of her head visible over the edge of the blanket. 

"Ashley?" I asked, stepping into the room. 

She groaned in response, pulling the covers tightly around her. 

"Come on sweetheart. It's time to get up. We're streaming in an hour" I flipped the light on, hoping to encourage her to wake up more. 

I was expecting a snappy response. Instead I got a sharp whine and the sound of blankets being moved. "Turn it off please. It hurts" 

"Hurts?" I frowned, flipping off the light again. "The light hurts? Ash, do you have a headache again?" 

"Yes. And it's making it impossible to sleep" She said, her tone clearly indicating she was grumpy and tired. 

"I'm sorry" I closed the door softly, careful not to make too much noise. "Have you had this headache since this morning?" 

Ashley didn't respond as I crossed the room, only stopping to grab her water bottle from the dresser. She didn't even move when I sat down on the edge of the bed. I reached out to touch her arm gently. Her skin was hot to the touch, and radiated the heat even when I moved away. She was definitely sick. 

"Hold on" I grabbed my phone, unlocking it and silently tweeting out that I would be missing stream. "There. Now we have free time" I set my phone on the table and moved the blankets, sliding under them.

"No. Do your stream thing. I'm okay" Ashley muttered as I got situated. 

I wrapped my arm around her waist, tugging her towards me. She turned, giving me a half-assed glare through squinted eyes. Despite what she'd said, she didn't argue when I wrapped my arm fully around her and pulled her to my chest. 

"You really need to see someone about these headaches, Ash" I said, running my fingers through her hair. 

"I'm fine" She said, despite nuzzling against my neck. 

"Sure you are." I rolled my eyes. "You're starting to scare me Ash. This is getting too serious to ignore." 

"It's alright, Tom. I've always gotten these" Ashley sounded distant, as if she wasn't completely awake. 

"Hush. Just go to sleep sweetheart" I said, adjusting myself to be more comfortable. 

"Promise me you won't leave me?" 

"I promise"