Work Text:
Jesper laid across the couch, hands clasped together and lips sealed shut in an attempt to stop himself from talking or fidgeting too much. The only sound in the room was that of Wylan humming softly, his pen scratching his paper as he worked.
Jesper turned his head to look over his shoulder and stared at his boyfriend, hunched over his desk, hair hanging low, covering his face. Jesper almost laughed, wanting to ask Wylan if he could even see like that, but he snapped his lips shut again the second they opened. Nope, no talking he reminded himself, he had to make sure he didn’t distract Wylan.
Saints, Jesper, do you ever shut up?
You can just talk forever, can’t you?
You’ve already said that, Jes.
Can you just be quiet for two seconds?
He hated the silence, but he hated the idea of Wylan saying any of those things to him more , so he suffered through it instead. His eyes wandered to the shelf above him, filled with hundreds of little knick knacks and objects from around the world.
Jesper reached up and grabbed something, some sort of ornate bowl, and turned it around in his hands while he stared at all the little patterns. He ran his fingers over the ceramic, loving the way the paint had left bumps of texture all over it.
“Jan had never let me touch any of those,” a voice said from behind him. He turned around, worried he might’ve done something wrong, but all he saw was Wylan smiling at him softly from his desk. “He was always convinced I would break something.”
Jesper slowly put it back on the shelf, tucking his hands back to his chest,
“I definitely would break something,” he tried to laugh lightheartedly, utterly humiliated that he had broken his promise to himself to not distract Wylan.
“It’s okay, all that stuff is just collecting dust up there,” Wylan assured. “I’ve always wanted to just spend a day taking down all his stupid puzzle games and trying to solve them myself.”
“Why haven’t you?” Jesper asked.
Wylan shrugged,
“I guess old habits die hard. Just the thought of touching anything up there fills me with dread, I still fear what would happen to me if he found out.”
Jesper wanted to hug him, comfort him , tell him that his father was gone and that he was safe within his arms.
Just go away, Jesper.
I don’t want your help.
I’m fine , all you’re doing is annoying me.
Saints, you’re so clingy, just leave me alone.
But maybe Wylan wouldn’t want that. Maybe all Jesper would be doing was annoying him. He tried to settle back into the couch, trapping his ever moving hands beneath his legs.
The sound of pen on paper returned and the room was once again filled with a crushing silence.
Until Wylan spoke again,
“You’re quiet today.”
Jesper moved to sit on the couch normally, feet planted on the ground, hands uncomfortably still in his lap. He twisted his neck to look at Wylan who was still trying to do the numbers for his wares.
“Well you’re working so…” he answered, “I just didn’t want to distract you.”
Jesper, I’m trying to work. Go annoy someone else.
Not right now, Jes, I’m busy.
Oh saints, just shut up, will you? I’m trying to think.
Jes, you’re being too loud. It’s distracting me.
“Oh,” Wylan said quietly, almost disappointedly.
“What’s wrong?” Jesper asked, completely confused, mind running in circles trying to figure out what happened to make Wylan upset.
“Nothing, it’s just,” he paused before sighing. “My dad would stand over me in this very room, his silence cold and hostile as I tried to read or write and for a long time this house was devoid of any laughter. Until you came along.” Wylan’s gaze, as blue and as clear as the sea, met Jesper’s, calming every fear or doubt in his mind. “I invited you in here because you make me feel safe in the places my father made me feel scared. And having you being so quiet is… it’s unnerving.”
Jesper stood from the couch, walking over to Wylan’s desk,
“You don’t mind me talking?” he asked.
Wylan smiled, scooching over as far left as he could
“Tell me anything, Jes, I just want to hear your voice.”
Jesper grinned, scooting around the desk to sit on the arm of Wylan’s chair,
“Can I sit here? Or is that too close?”
Wylan rolled his eyes,
“Jes, I’ve wanted you to kiss me since you first walked into this room. Saints, this work is so horrendously boring I’ve been waiting for the last half an hour for you to come and distract me.”
Jesper felt his face heat up, something that didn’t happen very often. With the light touch of his fingertips he raised Wylan’s chin and leaned down to place a kiss upon his lips. Wylan kissed him back with fiery passion and desire, his hands coming up to cup Jesper’s cheeks. Heat crackled between them, sending sparks through Jesper’s entire body. Jesper grinned against Wylan’s lips, realising that this is what he’d needed his whole life.
Wylan continued to work but this time, Jesper stayed sat by his side. He told him about Novyi Zem, about the farm and his mother, while holding his hand tightly. He ran his fingers through his hair, delighting in the way it made him blush, while explaining the mechanisms in his guns, getting more and more excited as Wylan asked more questions. Not once was he told to shut up, or that he was being too loud.
He read out papers, fingers tapping against the desk to a tune that Wylan began to hum to and Jesper found himself falling harder for the boy. It was refreshing, having a person he could just talk to. Someone who would listen to his rants, someone who wouldn’t care about his constantly moving hands.
They were such small things, the bare minimum maybe, but Jesper had spent so much of his life being told he was too much. He really appreciated that Wylan was willing to let him be his “too much”.
Saints, he was falling hard for him, wasn’t he?