Jonathan watched the words on the page blur together again, he'd been reading the same page for the better part of the hour. Every time he tried to refocus on the book his ears picked up on the sound of pacing behind him and he lost track of the book all over.
The pacing had been one thing, he could pretend not to hear Jervis wondering in and out of the rooms behind him in the small warehouse they were squatting in but as it morphed into nervous mumblings, it grew harder to ignore.
"Not there," Jervis whispered somewhere behind him looking for his hat, "Not here."
Jonathan closed his eyes sighed. Looking out the small window in front of the desk where he could see the city. The city really was disgusting. There was no point in pretending to read any longer. He knew he wouldn't be able to absorb anything while Jervis was like this, Jonathan thought, resting his head on his hand.
"Then where?" Jervis mused now elsewhere in the warehouse.
Jonathan didn't like to think of himself as a compassionate person but Jervis had broken some small part of his wall and wiggled his way in. He had to resign himself to the reality that Jervis meant something to him, that he cared about him in more than a friendly way, more than a sexual way.
As the pacing and mumbling turned into loud sobs Jonathan cracked. He slowly closed his book and stood. That stupid fucking hat had to be around here somewhere. Jonathan let his eyes wander around the grimy warehouse. Torn papers and empty boxes littered the floor, the entire building was covered in rust and dirt, a top hat should stick out like a sore thumb.
Jonathan left the main room they stayed in and right there in the center of the counter they used to store what few possessions they had sat Jervis' top hat. He sighed as he picked it, dusting it off slightly. Jonathan could still hear the sobs as he called out, "I've found it!" The loud sudden shuffling of feet in his direction was all the warning he had before two trembling arms wrapped around his middle, "It was right here."
"Thanks," came the meek reply.
And yeah, Jonathan isn't ready to put a name on this between them but he's more than willing to repeat this moment a million times.
