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Martin sighed heavily as they crossed the last of the Corpse Roots, passing into another neutral area and leaving the whispering, deathly domain behind. Jon glanced over at him.
"Everything alright?"
"Yeah, it's fine." Martin scuffed a shoe along the ground. He sounded rather despondent.
"Disappointed I didn't smite Oliver?" Jon teased.
A smile twitched at Martin's lips, and Jon could see that it was a struggle for him to bite it back. "Maybe a little."
Jon laughed, angling his steps to the side to shove Martin with his shoulder. Martin shoved back, and Jon grabbed his hand to keep him close as they continued walking.
After a few moments, though, Martin sighed again.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just..." His shoulders hunched slightly. "Sorry, I guess?"
Jon frowned. "What for?"
"For, well... being jealous, I suppose. It's- I mean, I know jealousy isn't- isn't a very good trait-"
"I don't mind it," Jon interrupted.
"What?"
"I don't- I mean, it's kind of nice, actually."
"What?" Martin glanced over at him, face etched in bafflement.
Jon shrugged. "Having someone be jealous over me, having- having you be jealous over me." He squeezed Martin's hand. "Knowing you- you want me enough to be jealous over it. It's nice."
"Oh." Martin paused. "Well, that's good, then."
Jon nodded.
"Because I get jealous a lot," Martin continued.
Jon hmmed.
"Because I can be kind of a bastard over it, is what I mean," Martin pushed, and Jon cracked.
"You, a bastard? Perish the thought. It's completely natural to want to brutally murder anyone who ever did anything nice for your partner when you weren't around. Ever."
Martin snorted, shoving Jon again, and Jon took advantage of the movement to latch a hand into his hair and drag him into a kiss.
Martin was grinning when he finally released him. "Seems like a pretty normal response to me."
"And is finding that endearing also a normal response? Because if not we may have a problem."
"No, no, I think you're good." Martin tugged on his hand, and they started walking again. "Though if you wanted to explain just how much you're endeared with my planned murder spree, I wouldn't object."
"Ah, it's a full spree now, is it?"
"Obviously."
Jon snorted, shaking his head. "I appreciate the forewarning."
They walked on for a bit in silence; then Jon glanced over again.
"In all seriousness though, you do realize there's nothing for you to be jealous over, right? I never even met the man, he left the hospital before I woke up."
"Yeah, I know..." Martin scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck, sighing. "It's just- I mean, like I said. It hurts, a bit, that I was there for all that time but you only woke up for him. I know it doesn't make sense..."
"Don't say that."
Martin glanced at him, frowning, and Jon hurried to explain.
"It doesn't have to make sense, Martin, and anyway, I-" he paused. "I mean, I understand where you're coming from. If the roles had been reversed, well... I'd probably be jealous too."
"Oh." Martin flushed slightly.
"And..." he trailed off.
"What?"
"Well, I... I wish it had been you there when I woke up. I wish I'd woken up earlier and..." he sighed. Martin squeezed his hand.
"Yeah. Me too."
Jon squeezed back. Then something occurred to him. "I think you might be framing this the wrong way, though."
Martin glanced at him, frowning. "Sorry?"
"I didn't wake up 'for Oliver,' he just... he showed me how to wake up. He was an- an instruction manual, not a reason."
Martin bit his lip. "A reason, huh?"
"Yes." Jon brushed his shoulder gently against Martin's. "I already had one of those."
"Right." Martin sounded a bit breathless. "S- so you were already trying to wake up?"
"On some level, yes. My memories of the coma are... hazy. I'm not sure how many of the choices I made were conscious and how many were just instinct, but... yes. I wanted to come back, to live. But I also didn't want to give in to the Beholding. Oliver just... made my options clear to me."
"Die a human, or live as an Archivist."
"Yes."
Martin looked at him. "I'm glad you came back."
Jon smiled. "I'm glad I had a reason to."
Martin smiled too, and looked away.
After a minute Jon chuckled.
"What?"
"Nothing, it's just- honestly, Martin, what did you think had happened? I'm not exactly Sleeping Beauty."
Martin went bright red. "I wasn't- I didn't- Jon!"
"What?" Jon laughed. "From the way you've been acting it's a fair assumption that that's where your mind went."
"I-" Martin glared at him. "Look, okay, it occured to me, I won't deny it, but- Jon." His voice turned stern as Jon kept laughing. The effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that his face was still flaming. "Would you just- look, Jon, come on-"
Jon grabbed him by the shoulders, dragging their already meandering walk to a halt. "You're adorable," he said, and kissed him soundly.
Martin was still glaring when he pulled back. "I'm glad you find my emotional distress funny."
"Martin," Jon kissed him again. "You know I'm yours. Heart and mind, body and soul. But if you don't stop giving me so many opportunities to tease you we'll never make it through to the next domain."
Martin placed a hand against his chest, shoving him back a step with a put-upon huff. "Like it's my fault you're delaying us."
"You don't seem to be objecting too strongly," Jon said, darting out a hand to brush a loose strand of hair back from Martin's face.
Martin's eyelids fluttered slightly, eyes drifting closed before snapping back open into another glare. It seemed to take a lot of effort. "Hard to object when you keep covering my mouth."
"Is that a request?"
Martin raised an eyebrow at him, challenging. "Depends. Might be a demand. Payment exacted for annoyances incurred."
"Well, I'll just have to pay my debt, then."
He kissed Martin again, stopping whatever comeback he may have had for that truly awful line. Martin leaned into it, smiling against his lips, and Jon pulled him closer, running a hand up his back until his fingers could thread through his hair.
When they parted, both were slightly out of breath.
"There," Jon said. "Does that settle the account?"
Martin laughed. "You're ridiculous." Jon affected a pout, and Martin shook his head. "But you're also forgiven, I suppose."
"Good." Jon grinned at him. "And the next time I find myself in a supernatural coma, I promise you can get to be the one that wakes me."
Martin's smile slipped. "Don't even joke about that."
"Sorry." Jon pressed another soft kiss to the corner of his mouth, smoothing away the frown. "Too soon?"
"Just a bit, yeah."
"Noted." Jon stepped back. "Speaking of things being too soon, we should probably keep moving."
"Yeah, okay," Martin sighed. They walked on in silence for a few minutes; then he spoke again. "You know what this whole thing tells me, though?"
Jon glanced over at him. "What's that?"
"Getting jealous is a good way to get kissed."
Jon paused, blinking a few times as he thought about that. "I may have made a mistake, here," he eventually said.
Martin threw back his head and laughed.