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“You Maxwells- never on time.”
The drag of an old rusty axe against the wooden floor was almost enough to drown the sound of HABIT’s voice as it rang through the attic. And though he addressed the silence directly, his words fell on deaf ears. Noah’s limp body laid curled up beside HABIT’s feet unconscious and small looking despite the man's height. If HABIT didn’t know any better, he’d almost say that Noah looked peaceful.
His plan was simple. Get the boy, keep him for a while, and hope that his friend would come looking when the time came. But the longer HABIT waited the more it seemed like he’d be having dinner alone that night. He huffed a frustrated warm breath and tossed the axe across the attic, the impact making a small dent in the wood as the metal hit the floor with a thud. He never had been a very patient man, that his friend knew. He might even consider tardiness to be one of his greatest pet peeves. So it irked him that he was
still
waiting. Three days-
Three
days! And there had been no. sign. of-
“You could’ve given him a blanket- a pillow, at least.” Ah, there he was. HABIT rocked on his heels as he felt the temperature in the room shift, a sudden warmth spreading around the cool attic.
“Bad rabbits don’t get blankets.” HABIT hummed as he tilted his head to the side, his body leaning back as his gaze flicked towards the doorway.
Firebrand stood tall, almost as tall as the doorway, leaning against it like he owned the house. HABIT found the beings' casualness almost comical- refreshing, compared to the people he was surrounded with now. Weak, pathetic excuses for people. At least in his opinion. A low noise akin to a hum filled the room as soft footsteps reached his ears and Firebrand came closer. A smirk tugged at HABIT’s lips, and he snickered.
“I was starting to wonder if I had taken the wrong Noah!” HABIT purred, his body swaying as he spun around to face his friend.
“You know other Noah’s?” Firebrand’s brow quirked.
“Why, ya’ jealous Brandy?” HABIT cooed in reply. He got an eye-roll for that comment, an action that made him grin.
“Y’know, it took you three days to get here. I missed ya’.” HABIT’s tone lowered as he spoke once more and began to pace. He hated sitting still and he never understood why humans took it so personally when all he wanted to do was wander. His eyes fell to the floor, gaze dragging along the lines and cracks in between the wooden floorboards.
“You flatter me. I had things to do.” Firebrand's words were sharp- but not unkind.
“More important than me?”
“A certain observer had his hand in my ass.”
“Literally, or figuratively? Cause I'll be real’ upset if i didn’t get an invite.”
“Like I’d ever let you within fisting distance.” Firebrand chuckled dryly, the sound making HABIT forget about the fact the being had ever been late. Despite his apathy, HABIT had always held a fondness for Firebrand that he rarely held for anything else. Perhaps it was their situations, or their shared sense of humor. He didn’t care to dig deeper than he had to.
“You’re not the brightest, y’know. Practically walked right into my chokehold.” HABIT’s foot met Noah’s side as he delivered a light kick into the mans’ ribs. Noah’s unconscious body whimpered in discomfort as the blow rocked him slightly and caused him to roll over. HABIT found it funny that even in Noah’s sleep the man still found ways to sound pitiful.
“If you plan on keeping my respect, I implore you to refer to Noah as he is now.” Firebrand’s arms crossed over his chest as he watched his past self fall victim to his friend's torment. “But I am acutely aware of his.. lack of self preservation.”
“Look at you- gettin’ all self lovey over there. He’s an idiot and you know it.” HABIT growled as he spun back towards Firebrand. His arm swung out, gesturing towards Noah’s curled up body on the floor. Unfortunately his fondness didn’t extend to his friends’ past self. It had been weeks, and even with the help of both Firebrand and himself, Noah still couldn’t seem to pick his balls off the floor and do something with that help. It made HABIT mad-
pissed
, to sit down and watch the sad videos that Noah posted to his channel where all the man did was
sit
, and
whine
, and
wallow
..
“He’s getting there. He has the journal, give him time.” Firebrand's voice was soft like velvet as he spoke, seemingly unfazed by HABIT’s sudden switch in attitude.
“We don’t
have
time!” HABIT barked, lifting his hat as he ran a hand through his hair. “If this little shit-faced brat doesn’t get his ass up and-”
HABIT’s body tensed as hands landed on his shoulders, fingers digging into the meat of muscles and warmth spreading through his upper body. His head lulled forward as Firebrand began to massage his shoulders and he took in a deep breath as his body was forced into relaxation.
“I call foul play.” HABIT grumbled as he leaned back into Firebrand’s chest, the soothing action dulling his anger.
“Objection.” Firebrand hummed, his touch firm- like he knew HABIT liked it. The beings hands were hot on HABIT’s shoulders, the heat seeping right through his shirt and into his skin like boiling water. HABIT never understood how Firebrand got his body temperature so warm, but he wasn’t going to complain about it.
“Just- get the rabbit on it. I’m sick of watching him run in circles.” HABIT grumbled as his gaze danced across Noah’s crumpled body. While he relished in how stupid Noah could really be, he knew that one wrong move from the man could result in the loss of the only person he considered a friend. He never was one to worry, but that thought made him antsy. Silence settled around the two for a moment as the sounds of soft breathing filled the attic.
“Anything for you.” And with that, HABIT was satisfied.