Chapter Text
Jamie didn’t technically live with Roy. All of the things that really mattered to Jamie stayed at Roy’s house, in the guest room that was really just Jamie’s room at this point. his stupid stuffed shark stayed on the bed and the army man that Ted gave him sat on the windowsill. It wasn’t like Roy was keeping him hostage or anything, the muppet was free to go back to his own fucking house whenever he liked. Jamie just preferred to be around Roy, for whatever fucking reason. So, Jamie basically lived with Roy, and that was how the whole fucking mess started.
Because Jamie basically living with Roy meant that Roy picked up on a few things about Jamie. He didn’t like mint toothpaste, but he refused to use any other flavour despite Roy having plenty of strawberry spiderman toothpaste on hand thanks to Phoebe. He wouldn’t use the dishwasher, preferring to handwash all of his dishes because he “didn’t trust it to clean fuck all” in his own words. And, most relevant, Jamie barely fucking slept.
Roy is kind of old. Not as old as Jamie likes to crow about him being, he’s not got any grey hair or shit like that, but he’s self-aware enough to admit that he’s not the same knobhead 21-year-old he once was who stayed up until two in the morning just because he fucking could. He was older now and knew that doing that shit is stupid. Sleep was just as important as fucking eating. He wakes up early, he knows the importance of a good night’s rest, it’s common fucking sense. So maybe it shouldn’t surprise him that Jamie didn’t do any of that.
No, instead Jamie was up and about at all hours of the fucking night. clambering around in the kitchen quietly after a drink or snack, or watching shitty free to air tv programs. On the few occasions Roy wakes up at an ungodly hour for no reason at all and decides to go for a wander around his house, because it’s his house and he can do what he fucking likes in it, he would usually find Jamie awake in his room with the light still on, scrolling mindlessly through his phone.
It wouldn’t be a problem, except for the fact that Jamie kept falling asleep fucking everywhere. at home, in the car, on the bus to games and back, during team meditation or movie nights. If Jamie sat still for more than five fucking minutes, he’d be out. It was never a deep sleep, Roy would usually watch him shake himself out of whatever light doze he’d fallen into within minutes, but it wasn’t hard to tell that Jamie was fucking tired.
It was probably Roy’s fucking fault. You see, it was probably Roy’s fucking fault, because he had stupidly assumed that Jamie had enough common sense to realise that waking up at four in the morning meant he would need to be going to bed earlier in the night unless he wanted to be running on fumes. It was on him for thinking the little prick would behave in a normal or reasonable way about anything, he should’ve known better. So, now Roy had to fucking do something about it.
The obvious solution was to stop the four am training. Jamie clearly wasn’t able to keep up with it anymore, and it wasn’t like he needed it. There was no Zava to be better than, and Jamie was brilliant enough without any extra handholding, but Roy knew for a fucking fact Jamie would never go for it. Even if Roy stopped showing up to train him, Jamie would run the circuits by himself just to be spiteful. On top of that, Jamie would absolutely take Roy stopping training as a sign of rejection, which would be another, much more complicated mess for Roy to try and manage. Which led Roy to the other, just as obvious solution, which was that Jamie needed a fucking curfew.
The problem would be getting Jamie to actually adhere to it. Roy got away with bossing Jamie around in a lot of ways, either because Jamie simply didn’t care enough to protest or because it was something he didn’t want to make decisions about, but there were a few things that would raise Jamie’s hackles and have him hissing and spitting at Roy like a feral fucking cat. Most implications that he needed looking after fell into that category. It was a good thing that Roy had somehow become well versed in caring about Jamie whether the twat liked it or not in recent years.
“You’re going to bed at 9 o’clock from now on.” Roy said simply when they were sat on the couch together after training one day. Jamie was absorbed in a game on his switch, not paying any attention at all to Roy, who was sat beside him reading a book, while he kicked his feet mindlessly. Roy didn’t leave it up for the discussion, his tone brokering no room for argument as he made the announcement. That obviously didn’t stop Jamie, who snapped back to attention like a rubber band.
“No, the fuck I’m not.” he said incredulously, laughing like he thought Roy was just fucking with him and not being deadly serious as his switch feel to the wayside. When he took in Roy’s face and realised just how much Roy was not fucking with him, his brow was scrunched and his mouth twisted in outrage at the very idea of going to bed at a reasonable time.
“Yes, the fuck you are.” Roy replied gruffly. Firm but not aggressive, because he wasn’t trying to set Jamie off. “If you want to keep doing extra training, you start going to bed at 9 o’clock.”
“look, Roy, I know you’re going senile in your old age, but I’m not Phoebe.” Jamie replied, gesturing broadly with his hands at himself as if to demonstrate that he truly wasn’t Roy’s 9-year-old niece. Considering Jamie was sat on Roy’s couch playing animal crossing, kicking his feet in mismatched socks, it wasn’t a very good point. “I don’t need an early fucking bedtime. What’s that even got to do with training?”
Roy took a deep breath and counted to ten in his head, because snapping at Jamie for being an idiot wasn’t the way to get through to him. Even if he was a massive fucking idiot.
“It’s got everything to do with fucking training you prick,” Roy replied, and as patiently as Roy was physically capable of being explained, “You wake up at 3:30 in the morning, if you go to bed at fucking midnight, you are barely getting three hours of sleep. You are supposed to be getting ten hours of sleep, because you’re a twenty-four-year-old idiot whose brain isn’t fully developed yet, the only reason I’m telling you 9pm instead of fucking 6pm is because I’m being nice.”
“so what? If I wanna keep training I gotta put myself to bed at 9pm like I’m a fucking primary schooler?” Jamie whined; lips pulled up in disgust at the thought.
“Yes, that is exactly what you’re going to do.” Roy confirmed, setting his book aside to look Jamie in the eyes and make it very fucking clear that he meant it. Jamie pulled a face, eyeing Roy sceptically.
“and if I don’t?” He asked, voice carefully flippant and Roy could see the gears turning in his mind, weighing the risk and the reward of not doing as he’s told the fucking twat.
“then we don’t train.” Roy said “and I make you go to fucking bed.”
Roy watched Jamie do the mental gymnastics, trying to figure out how serious Roy was about his threat. Whatever conclusion Jamie came too, it had him pulling yet another face and mumbling under his breath about everything being fucking stupid.
“You don’t have another choice.” Roy said evenly, the same way he’d tell Phoebe that she wasn’t getting any ice cream before bed or that she couldn’t try jumping into the pool from her trampoline because that was a stupid fucking idea. “You either go to bed on time, or we stop training. It’s your choice.”
Jamie looked mutinous about it, and for a second Roy thought he might throw a fit about it. It wouldn’t be the first time Jamie made a tit of himself to try and get his way. Instead, Jamie scowled at the ground for a while, arms crossed over his chest and radiating pissiness in droves while he refused to look at Roy.
“fucking fine,” he said eventually, drawing it out like it pained him to say, putting on a theatrical show of rolling his eyes and admitting defeat. “I’ll go to bed earlier and we’ll keep training.”
and Roy knew a lie when he fucking heard one.
The rest of the day passed lazily. Jamie focused on gathering resources on his island while Roy did whatever it was grumpy old twats did for fun. Read, mostly, from what Jamie could gather. At some point, Roy had stood up and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Jamie on his own in the living room to make dinner.
Jamie tried not to dwell much on the conversation they had. Jamie had never had a bedtime before in his life. Certainly not when he was growing up with his mummy, who was still a teenager when Jamie came along and had no idea what she was doing for the better part of his childhood. By the time his mum really got good at all that mum shit, Jamie had grown out of needing a bedtime, so it was just never something he had. Which was fine, because Jamie had always been a livewire of a person.
He hated sitting still, hated laying in the quiet dark of his room counting fake fucking sheep in his mind while he stared at the chipped paint of the ceiling, wide awake and alone, suffocating from the boredom of it all. He always stayed up as long as he could, just to avoid it, playing games under the covers or watching cartoons on the couch while he waited for his mummy to get back from a night shift so he could at least sleep in her room with her, instead of all alone in his.
Which is why Jamie thought Roy was overreacting with the whole 9pm bedtime shit. So what if he didn’t get a solid ten hours every night? he got enough to function just fine with a quick powernap here and there, and he always got enough sleep on match days. It wasn’t like he was going to pass out from exhaustion or anything, he was sleeping. But Roy had this look on his face, one that told Jamie he was going to be a stubborn twat about it all. So, Jamie had agreed just to get the hairy bastard off his back about it and promptly did his best to forget the entire conversation had taken place.
For the most part, he succeeded, laser focused on collecting a bunch of rocks so he could make a stone table for one of his villagers. He stays on the couch while Roy cooks, wriggling around from time to time just for the sake of moving until Roy re-enters the living room and takes his switch right from his hands.
“Oi, I was playing that!” Jamie cried, trying to snatch it back, but Roy was already shutting the game off and putting the console away next to Phoebes on the dock.
“You’re going to rot your fucking eyes if you keep looking at that shit all night.” Roy said, giving Jamie that furrowed eyebrow unimpressed look he always used when he thought Jamie was being a brat about something. Jamie stuck his tongue out at him in response, receiving an eyeroll and grumbled “get up, dinners ready.”
Jamie huffed, rolling off the couch and following Roy out of the living room and into the kitchen where the table was indeed already set for dinner, two plates of spaghetti sat at their respective spots. This was another thing Jamie never had growing up.
His mum would always cook dinner but they never got to eat together. More often than not Jamie would be left with instructions on how to reheat whatever his mum had made in the microwave and would eat by himself in front of the telly while she was off at work. Even more often than that, Jamie would get distracted playing football in the street and forget to eat entirely.
The first time Jamie had stayed for dinner with Roy, he hadn’t really known what to do with himself. It wasn’t the first time he’d ever eaten with Roy, far from it, but it was a quiet, domestic kind of feeling that Jamie had never been privy to before, and it had made him fidgety and nervous until Roy had snapped at him to calm the fuck down and eat his risotto. It had become a common enough occurrence that it no longer felt surreal to him, to sit at a table with Roy and eat dinner together while they talked about their day or a show or fucking anything really.
After dinner, Jamie washed the dishes. It was their little routine, Roy would cook and Jamie would wash up, and Roy would grumble about how he had a fucking dishwasher and Jamie would complain that the dishwasher wouldn’t clean it right. Once Jamie was finsihed washing up, they’d both return to the living room to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the night. In Jamie’s case, it was trying to beat Sam’s wordle score on his phone while Roy watched bake-off.
Jamie, truthfully, didn’t even notice when 9 o’clock came around at first. It wasn’t like he paid much attention to time when he didn’t have things to be doing. His obliviousness was short lived of course, because Roy was a fucking asshole and took Jamie’s phoen right from his hands, again.
“Roy, mate, we’ve gotta have a talk about your snatching problem,” Jamie huffed, sitting up to try and take his phone back. Roy was messing with it, doing something in his setting that Jamie wasn’t paying much attention too because he was more focused on getting his fucking phone back.
“You don’t need it; you’re going to bed.” Roy told him simply, not looking up from whatever he was doing as he moved out of Jamie’s reach. That was when Jamie realised the time, and also realised just how fucking early 9 o’clock really was.
“Roy, this is insane you know that right?” Jamie asked. He didn’t want to go to fucking bed now, they’d only had dinner a couple of hours ago for fucks sake. “it’s barely night time!”
“There’s nothing insane about taking care of yourself you fucking muppet.” Roy replied with an exasperated roll of his eyes, seemingly done with Jamie’s phone as he dropped it back on the couch cushion. Jamie huffed, picking it back up and shoving it in his hoodie pocket.
“I’m not doing it.” Jamie mumbled, folding his arms over his chest and sinking further into the couch. He knew he was pouting, but it wasn’t fucking fair. He bet Sam or Colin or fucking Dani didn’t have to go to bed at 9 o’clock like fucking children. Then suddenly Roy was in front of Jamie, hands on either side of his face and forcing him to look the other man in the eye as he explained, slowly and seriously.
“Jamie, you need to sleep. What you’re doing right now isn’t sustainable, and it’s going to hurt you in the long run, so for the love of god, go upstairs, put your fucking pyjamas on, brush your fucking teeth, and go to fucking sleep or I will make you.”
Roy was earnestly concerned, in his own vaguely aggressive way and Jamie heaved a put-upon sigh. No one had warned Jamie that people caring about him could be so fucking annoying sometimes.
“this is so fucking stupid,” Jamie grumbled, but he extracted himself from Roy’s hands and headed towards the stairs. Roy grunted in response from his place on the couch, a little noise of approval at Jamie for doing as he was told. Which didn’t make Jamie feel warm or something at all, thank you very much.
Jamie got ready for bed the same way one might go about getting ready for their own execution. He really did hate going to sleep. It was always such a fucking hassle; it was much easier to just stay up until he couldn’t physically keep his eyes open anymore. At least then his mind wouldn’t have time to race and he wouldn’t have to sit eerie, unending silence counting made up fucking sheep to pass the time.
He chucked his phone on the bed, got changed into his pyjamas at a snail’s pace, took extra time to brush his teeth, making sure he got each individual one in a way he’s sure would make a dentist weep with joy. All the while he could hear Roy downstairs, bake-off still playing because of course he got to stay awake, the hypocritical twat. Jamie didn’t see how that was fucking fair, Roy bossing Jamie to bed when he woke up just as early. Why did he get to stay up watching fucking bake-off?
Well fuck him, Jamie decided flopping onto his bed and snatching his phone up. Roy wouldn’t know if Jamie was actually sleeping or not as long as he stayed up in his room. He could play wordle all he liked and Roy would be none the wiser. Except apparently Roy had anticipated Jamie’s little fit about having to go to sleep, because when Jamie opened his phone it was all locked with parental fucking controls.
Jamie was up and out of his room before he could even think about it, racing down the stairs to where Roy was still sat on the couch looking like a smug bastard.
“You are such a fucking arsehole!” Jamie exclaimed, with half a mind to chuck his useless fucking phone at the twat’s head.
“You’re supposed to be in bed.” was all Roy said in response, turning to raise an unimpressed eyebrow at Jamie like he was the one in trouble here.
“why’d you put fucking parental locks on my phone you twat,” Jamie demanded, outraged as he shoved his phone into Roy’s hand to show him the damage he’d done. Roy rolled his eyes at him, as if Jamie were a little kid throwing a tantrum.
“because I don’t trust you to leave it the fuck alone and go to sleep.” Roy replied, setting the phone aside “You wouldn’t have noticed them if you’d done as you were told and just gone to fucking bed.”
“I don’t want too,” Jamie whined. “it’s too fucking early to go to bed Roy!”
“no, it’s not.” Roy replied, standing up and brushing some invisible dirt off of his clothes. He left Jamie’s phone on the couch cushions, not that it fucking mattered since it were useless to Jamie with the stupid locks on it anyway. For one hopeful moment, Jamie thought Roy might’ve changed his mind about this bedtime shit, but then Roy was leading Jamie back up the stairs to his room with a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“why do you get to stay up?” Jamie griped “you wake up just as early as I do!”
“I’m not,” Roy replied, and Jamie could hear the amusement in his voice, because of course Jamie being put out was amusing to Roy “I was finishing that episode and then I was coming up to bed.”
“how come I didn’t get to finish the episode?” Jamie asked petulantly, he briefly entertained the idea of just stopping in the middle of the hallway and refusing to move, but he suspected Roy would pick him up and carry him if he really decided to be obstinate.
“because you go to bed at 9 o’clock, like we fucking agreed this morning.” Roy retorted.
“I didn’t agree to shit.” Jamie grumbled, even though he absolutely had agreed to it.
“Yes, you fucking did you absolute dickhead.” Roy said, bemused as he steered Jamie through the doorway of his room. Once they were past the threshold, Roy stepped away from Jamie to pull back the comforter on the bed before snapping his fingers and pointing at the mattress like Jamie was a fucking dog. When Jamie didn’t move, Roy scowled at him all serious and stern “I’m serious Jamie, if you want to keep doing extra training, you have to start taking care of yourself. get in the fucking bed.”
“this is fucking stupid.” Jamie complained, reluctantly getting in the fucking bed just like he was asked. Roy grunted, rolling his eyes as he pulled the covers back over Jamie. Jamie’s face burned, when he realised Roy was tucking him in.
“You’ve said that.” Roy grumbled as he passed Jamie blahaj from where the stuffed shark was half buried amongst the pillows. “go to fucking sleep.”
“I’m not tired,” Jamie said, but Roy didn’t grant him a response as he left the room, flicking the lights off and shutting the door softly behind him, leaving Jamie alone in the quiet darkness of the room. Jamie listened as Roy’s footsteps retreated back down the steps, and as fucking bake-off started playing again. Jamie covered his face with Blahaj and quietly screamed into the shark’s soft fur. He fucking hated bedtime.
Roy expects it when Jamie marches back down the stairs for a second time, this time with his shark in hand. It wasn’t anything Roy wasn’t used too. Phoebe had gone through a phase of refusing to stay in bed for a while too, insisting that she was simply not tired enough to sleep and coming up with any excuse to crawl out of bed. Jamie, despite his insistence that he wasn’t Phoebe, acted just fucking like her.
“Go back to bed,” Roy groused, when Jamie’s feet hit the floor after the final step.
“relax grandad, I’m just getting some water,” Jamie grumbled, rubbing at his eyes despite the fact he had previously been complaining about not being tired. He moved about the kitchen slowly, rifling through Roy’s cabinets and pouring himself a glass of water from the chug in the fridge as if he were possessed by a particularly slow snail. Roy, of course, knew what he was doing.
“put it in a water bottle and go back upstairs.” Roy ordered, standing from the couch and switching off the tv to join Jamie in the kitchen. Jamie crinkled his nose, put out that Roy had caught onto his trick.
“I’m not doing nothing,” he whined, setting the mostly full glass down on the island. one hand was twisting at the fabric of his shirt, the other stroking absently at the shark’s fur.
“you’re wasting fucking time because you don’t want to go to sleep.” Roy said, arms folded across his chest.
“told you already ‘m not tired,” Jamie replied petulantly. Roy sighed. Jamie was tired, he was shuffling his feet when he walked and taking slow, deliberate blinks like he was trying to keep his eyes open, but Roy wouldn’t be surprised if the twat didn’t realise it.
“I don’t care,” Roy replied, taking the glass and opening a different cabinet where he kept the myriad of spare water bottles, he’d collected over the years. He tipped Jamie’s water into the first one he grabbed. It used to be Phoebe’s, and they had gotten in from an aquarium so it was decorated with dolphins and whales and shit like that. It was obviously for kids, but Jamie was going to have to get the fuck over it because Roy was not patient enough to go digging through the cupboards for a Tartt-Approved water bottle. “you’re going to bed.”
“I’m not sleeping.” Jamie said, crossing his own arms and glaring at Roy. It was about as effective as having a puppy glare at you, Jamie’s eyes too earnest and wide to be anything close to intimidating.
“then you can just fucking lay there.” Roy told him, passing him the water bottle and sending him back on his way at the stairs, Jamie making irritated little noises at his failed attempt of getting out of sleeping the entire way. Roy waited to hear the door shut again before he decided to start tidying up and getting ready for bed himself.
Roy had a system to going to sleep. A routine he’d perfected and adjusted as years came and went. He would go tidy up any mess downstairs, clean up stray dishes and make sure any left overs were put away, closing the blinds, making sure all the lights were off and doors were locked. Then, he’d go upstairs and do the same thing. Close the blinds and turn the lights out, tidy up Phoebes room if she’d been there that day and left it in a state. Once that was all done, he’d shower if he hadn’t already that day, clean his teeth, and get into bed. Sometimes, if he wasn’t feeling particularly tired, he’d read a book for a bit.
Routine was important to Roy, it always had been. He liked to do things certain ways, found it made the unbearable act of being alive slightly less unbearable. Jamie did well on routines as well, despite the pricks inabiltiy to recognise this fact. Jamie liked knowing what he was supposed to do and when he was supposed to do it. It was why Jamie thrived under Roy’s coaching, it was why he was so insistent that they continue 4am training when he hadn’t needed it for months. Getting Jamie to sleep would be the same.
All Roy needed to do was get him into some kind of routine and it wouldn’t be such a hassle to get the fucking twat to sleep. It would just take time, to settle Jamie into a routine he didn’t think he needed. So Roy wasn’t surprised when he made his way upstairs after finsihing his usual tasks and found Jamie up again, wandering down the hallway mindlessly.
“Get back in your fucking room.” Roy said, startling Jamie out of the blank faced pacing he had been doing. Immediatley, his brow furrowed and he started to pout.
“I’m not tired!” He whined, tilting his head to the side and leveling Roy with a kicked puppy look like that was going to save him. Roy was immune to that look. Between his sister, Phoebe and Jamie, he’d gotten used to having doe eyes weaponised against him. It didn’t stop Jamie from trying. “Laying there’s fucking boring.”
“if you’re that bored, just go to sleep like your supposed too.” Roy countered, gesturing to Jamie’s room pointedly. Jamie huffed in response, crossing his arms like a little kid. For a moment, Roy thought he was going to stomp his socked foot against the ground to show his displeasure the same way Phoebe used too.
“so fucking unfair,” Jamie grumbled, turning on his heel and marching back into his room. Roy watched him fall face first onto the mattress, not bothering to close the door behind him as he continued swearing colourfully into the sheets. He was lucky Phoebe wasn’t around to hear it, or he’d be sent into debt.
“Go to fucking bed.” Roy said from the doorway, reciving a vitrolic glare in response. Roy rolled his eyes, shutting the door and heading for his own room. He wondered if he’d actually have to keep his word about not doing 4am training, and hoped it didn’t come to that. He didn’t want to deal with Jamie throwing a bitch fit about not being allowed to train on top of him throwing a bitch fit about having to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Roy was in the middle of brushing his teeth when he hears the door to Jamie’s room open again. Stubborn fucking twat.
Jamie’s plan was simple. He was going to sneak downstairs and get his laptop, and then he’d be home free to fuck around on Netflix until he was actually tired, and Roy, the dusty old fart, would be nonethewiser since he was in his room going to bed like the geriatric he was. He waited for Roy’s bedroom door the shut, and for the sound of the faucet running to slip back out of bed and into the hallway.
The house was dark now, because Roy turned all the lights off when he’d come up to bed, so Jamie keeps his hand on the wall as he makes his way down the stairs slowly. He was quiet as he went, tiptoeing across the hardwood floors. The last thing he needed was for Roy to catch on to his plan, because then he’d probably put fucking parental locks on Jamie’s laptop too and then he’d really be fucked.
He didn’t understand how Roy could do it really, just pack everything up and go to sleep the second he decided he wanted too. It was always such a chore for Jamie to try and get himself to sleep, especially if he wasn’t already on the verge of passing out where he stood. It was, in part, why he liked football so much as a kid. Running around on the grass until his lungs burnt and his legs felt like jelly was a good way to soften the hard edges of his energy. Jamie’s only method of getting himself to fall asleep was to run until he dropped.
His laptop was in the kitchen, sat innocently on the island counter where Jamie had left it hours ago. Truthfully, Jamie barely ever used his laptop. Unlike Keeley or Roy who had important work things on theirs like emails and shit, Jamie’s functioned essentially as a portable tv and a way to occasionally play Minecraft with Phoebe. He didn’t even bring it home with him, on the few occasions he ventured back to his own place. It lived permanently at Roy’s, and stayed mostly untouched on the kitchen counter.
Which is why it was the perfect plan. Half the time, Jamie forgot he even had it, Roy probably did too. He’d never suspect Jamie of sneaking out of his room to go down and grab it so he could shrike the stupid bedtime rule. All he had to do was get down the stairs and into the kitchen without getting caught, which Jamie assumed would be easy with Roy off in his own room. Jamie should’ve known better than to fucking think that.
He’s halfway down the stairs when the hallway light flicks back on, scaring the fuck out of Jamie as well as momentarily blinding him as his eyes adjust.
“Jesus fucking- what the hell man?” Jamie bristled, slapping a hand over his eyes to block out the light and thanking whatever powers that be that he had been holding the wall to keep himself from falling down the fucking stairs.
“where do you think your fucking going?” Roy asked, standing at the top of the stairs all frowny with his arms crossed. He was in his pyjamas now, boxers and a ratty old shirt. It was all very domestic in a way that felt foreign to Jamie, to have Roy staring him down all stern like for escaping his room. He never got in trouble this way, the normal way kids did where they’d test their parent’s patience and get a proper scolding for it. His mum wasn’t one for rules and his dad wasn’t one for patience. Jamie never felt safe, breaking rules as a kid. He felt safe now, even with Roy frowning at him all grumpy and serious.
“nowhere.” Jamie grumbled, caught red fucking handed. The least he could do was keep his mouth shut about the laptop, because at least that kept his options open for a second attempt after Roy herded him back to his room again.
“right,” Roy said with the air of someone who absolutely knew he had Jamie cornered, coming down the stairs to stand in front of Jamie, looking at him all appraisingly. Despite the fact Roy had every reason to be annoyed with Jamie, who had gone against a pretty simple instruction four times in less than an hour, he looked nothing but fond if slightly bemused.
He stood in front of Jamie for a bit, pinning him in place with this look. fond exasperation was the best word for it, the same look Roy got when Phoebe would dock him for swearing or go on a longwinded triad about the importance of earthworms to the ecosystem. Jamie squirmed under the gaze, looking anywhere but Roy’s face as he shuffled from foot to foot. Knowing he was safe and seeing it were different.
Eventually, Roy reached a hand out and scratched it through Jamie’s hair gently, which was a dirty fucking trick and Jamie was going to be having words with Keeley about spilling that particular secret. Roy sighed quietly, still giving Jamie that look as he said “what am I gonna do with you?”
“Let me stay up and stop wasting your time?” Jamie suggested with a faux innocent smile, earning an amused scoff from Roy, who tugged lightly on one of the strands of Jamie’s hair. It didn’t hurt or nothing, didn’t even jolt his head. Just a light pressure against his skull the same way squeezing might’ve done.
“Not fucking likely.” Roy grumbled, moving his hand from Jamie’s head to instead take his hand, leading him back up the stairs “you need to sleep. If you would just fucking sit still, you’d be out in five fucking minutes.”
“I would not,” Jamie said indignantly as he was pulled back into his room and man handled back into his bed for Roy to tuck him in for the second time that night. His face was burning, and the entire ordeal was fucking embarrassing but not in a bad way. Embarrassing the same way it was to have everyone sing you happy birthday in a crowded restaurant.
“Yes, you fucking would,” Roy replied with a roll of his eyes “I’ll fucking prove it to you.”
Jamie isn’t actually sure how Roy planned to prove it, but he clearly had something in mind as he left Jamie’s room only to return less than a minute later with a book in hand.
“Move.” Roy demanded quietly, nudging Jamie to the side. Obediently, and mostly because Jamie was really fucking confused about where this was going, he did. Shuffling to the side of the bed and making for room for Roy who made himself comfortable on top of the covers.
“What are you doing?” Jamie questioned as Roy opened the book. It was that one Ted gave him, A Wrinkle in Time. It was clearly a well-loved book, the spine cracked and the cover faded from use.
“I’m going to read to you.” Roy said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world and Jamie was daft for not putting that together “and if you manage to stay awake for more than a chapter, I’ll let you up and you can do whatever the fuck you want for the rest of the night.”
“really?” Jamie asked sceptically. It seemed too easy. Jamie would be able to stay up for a chapter without any problem, especially of a kid’s book. They only had short chapters, from what Jamie understood, to keep munchkins with short attention spans entertained.
“Yes, really.” Roy confirmed, raising a bushy fucking caterpillar eyebrow at Jamie. “now lay down and shut the fuck up.”
and look, Jamie wasn’t one to look horse gifts in the mouth or however the fuck the saying went. So, he laid down without a fuss. Roy didn’t begin reading right away, instead he adjusted the blanket over Jamie’s shoulders and he flicked on the lamp so the room was bathed in soft yellow light. It was still dark, the lamp only bright enough to illuminate the pages as Roy began reading from the pages.
Not many people would describe Roy’s voice as soothing. It was all gravelly, like he’d swallowed glass or something, but Jamie liked it. It reminded him vaguely of smoke, a chaser to the comfort of warmth. Maybe it was because not many people were privy to what Roy sounded like when he was trying to be gentle, rather than growly and intimidating. Jamie was one of those people.
That was strange, but it was nice. He still thought Roy’s bedtime rule was fucking stupid, but being read too was nice. His mum never read to him growing up, too busy and it wasn’t like Jamie was going to be sitting still as a little lad to hear about some made up story when he could’ve been running around with a ball in the yard. He laid still now, listening to Roy tell him about Meg and Charles Wallace. He barely even noticed, when his eyes slipped closed.
Predictably, Jamie fell asleep in less than a fucking minute, once Roy finally managed to corral him into sitting fucking still. The muppet didn’t even notice, when between one blink and the next his breathing evened out and the loose grip he had on the comforter released. Roy stayed where he was, reading on just to make sure Jamie was really asleep before he stood quietly.
Jamie was out like a fucking light, mouth parted a touch as he snored quietly, his stuffed shark squished between his chest and the mattress. It was cute, which was an unfortunate thought for Roy to have. His past self would have a fucking conniption, if he could somehow look forward into the future and see Roy reading Jamie fucking Tartt to sleep and being disgustingly endeared by the twat.
Roy found that he didn’t mind much, because his past self was also a fucking twat and he was better off as he was now, caring about people and shit even if it was mortifying. Jamie was better off for it too.
Casting a final appraising look over Jamie’s sleeping form, to ensure he really was asleep and Roy wouldn’t have to be dragging his stubborn arse back to bed again anytime soon, Roy flicked the lamp off and made his way to the door bidding a quiet “goodnight, you muppet” into the darkness of the room, despite the fact Jamie probably couldn’t hear him.
Now that Jamie was sorted, Roy’s was free to go to sleep. Fucking finally.