Work yourself into a panic, bent out of shape

[sergius]

Who| Sergius & Valerius
What| BF BFF reunion.
Where| Val's rooms on D1's floor.
When| Just after Val returns to the Capitol.
Warnings/Notes| Um.

Once he hung up his communicator, Sergius more or less sprinted out of the Training Center, through the lobby and into one of the elevators to intercept Val as quickly as he could. His behavior was bad, and it was too telling, but he couldn't stop himself and he didn't really care to. He needed to see Val. He needed to make sure this all wasn't some crazy, huge cosmic prank.

He burst into the District One suites like a hurricane hitting a Waffle House and blew past anyone who might've been unfortunate enough to get in his way. His footsteps were heavy, thunderous as he made his way toward the old rooms which had belonged to Val years ago. His rooms, now, if he had any say in the matter, which he totally did.

While he had a copy of the keys in his possession, he decided he'd make nice and knock on the door. Unfortunately, he was mostly incapable of that and wound up banging on it a bit too loudly.

"Hey. It's me. Lemme in."

Comments

[putamadre]

Valerius had half a mind to time him, really - the rooms were close enough that if he started now he probably wouldn't make it out of the thirties - or he could try to move around something so his rooms no longer looked like a tornado got into a brawl with a hurricane. Sergius had barely been here a week. Incredible.

Of course, "cleaning up" usually meant "kicking shit into slightly nicer looking piles." If Sergius was going to get here as quickly as Val thought, it wasn't like there'd even be time for anything else. He'd barely gotten started when there was an unholy noise coming from the general direction of the suite's front door. Good thing the day's not over.

He only opened the door a crack; he didn't feel like (accidentally) getting punched in the face today.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over that barrage. Were you saying something?"

[sergius]

A crack was all the invitation Sergius needed. He leaned against the door, first forcing an arm inside, then a shoulder, slowly trying to wedge the rest of his torso into the room. It was difficult, to say the least, with Val playfully opposing his every move.

"Val." He was insistent, demanding, aka his usual self, and he'd had enough of fucking around already. He felt around with his hand, to grab Valerius by the collar. "Open up. I'm stuck."

[putamadre]

What with Sergius putting all his weight against the door, it was far too tempting for Val to just stand back, and let gravity work. But no, that would be mean. He's quick enough to evade Sergius' hand, though also keeping the door where it is? Harder than it sounds, really.

He laughs. "Yes, put all your weight on a slightly open door. Brilliant. Well done." Step back, you idiot.

[sergius]

"I'm not playing," Sergius said, frown evident in his voice. "Let me in. Ass."

He gave the door another sharp shove, this one hard enough to force it open enough that he could at last squeeze inside, but only barely. Finally face to face with Val, he spared no time attacking the man in the form of a hug. Forget that they'd argued the last time they'd been face to face. That hardly mattered, and besides, they could resume their grudge again in a minute. Sergius was far too glad to see him to want to fight just then.

"I can't believe you came."

[putamadre]

He'd missed this, missed him, more than he wanted to admit. Gettinhg close is dangerous; it's been years; he should have been able to shake it by now but he hasn't. Does he stay a second too long before he pulls away? What's normal for this?

But when he pulls away, he's all smirk. "Capitol says jump, I say how hi."

[sergius]

For Sergius' part, he was all excitement and smiles, embracing Val roughly, protectively. Maybe it wasn't normal to act this way, but it was normal for them, wasn't it? After years at his side, couldn't they just fucking accept that the relationship they've forged is just kind of... normal for them?

Of course, that didn't change that he was still kind of pissed at Val. But whatever, he could get over it and just be happy to see him. His best friend. His partner. His... yeah.

"So that's it? You're mentoring again?" Stepping back, Sergius made a show of assessing him. Inspecting him. It'd only been a couple days, how much could Val have changed, really?

[putamadre]

"Unfortunately." Obviously, or he wouldn't be here. He just lets Sergius do as he pleases. If he's going to catch anything, Val would think it would be how shitty he's been sleeping. A normal person wouldn't catch it, but Sergius is Sergius, like a hawk when it comes to him.

"How's escorting going?" Val would rather not talk about this, not now, but after the argument they'd had right before Sergius left, anything else would just be awkward coming from him.

[sergius]

"It's good. Great. I think I'm really getting through to them. So, yeah, it's going awesome." Yeah, it really wasn't, not that he was going to say as much just yet. It was probably obvious from the way Sergius let his shoulders slump ever so slightly that things hadn't exactly gotten off on the right foot. He was trying though, and that was what mattered, right? Someone obviously had faith in his ability to do the job, otherwise he'd be back to playing poolboy or whatever.

There was a moment of silence. It wasn't exactly awkward, per se, but it did feel pregnant with anticipation. There was a lot to be said between them. There always was. But there was also never really a need to fill that space with chatter. Sergius tended to do that a lot, but it wasn't necessary. Sometimes it was nice to just shut up and appreciate one another.

After sufficient silence and contemplation of his tired looking friend, Sergius was satisfied enough to move toward the bed which he'd claimed for his own in Val's absence. He flopped onto it, back first, belly up, an invitation to relax. To join him. "You look like shit, by the way. Come here."

[putamadre]

Val's lips twitch at that first answer; Sergius is so full of shit but he's always been so full of shit. Has he been too mean about it? Probably. It happens more than Val would like. Stress isn't an excuse to be a dick, and right now stress isn't unique to him.

But he can worry about that later. "Move over," he says, before heading over there and flopping down himself.

[sergius]

For a few seconds, Sergius seemed as though he was considering putting up some sort of fight, just because he could and because he liked to get a rise out of Val whenever he could. After all, it felt nice to be the center of attention, even if it wasn't always positive. But instead of picking a fight, he gave into the little voice inside which insisted that he behave (a voice which sounded a lot like Val's anyway) and he scooted over just a half an inch or two to make sure his companion had enough room to actually fit on the bed beside him.

"It's good you're here. The Tributes could probably use someone like you bossing 'em around." He rolled onto his side, propping himself up on an elbow so that he was facing Val. In an instant it was like things were back to normal between them, at least on Segius' end, and at least for that moment. He was with his favorite person in the world. What more did he need to feel a burst of confidence again? "You're good at guilting people into behaving, you know that. I'm sure they're all gonna love you."