standsonhigh | High school AU open post

Barty allowed Koschei to pull away, looking at the plastic bag and grinning already at the sight of the cake. He took the bag as he listened to Koschei's explanation, nodded and reached out to run his fingers through his boyfriend's hair, hoping that perhaps finally he'd be able to find some quiet.

"I didn't want to tell you to go see one. I figured you'd get mad if I did." He pulled Koschei back into his arms and hugged him a bit too tight, because it was as if he actually had him back and it was almost impossible to believe.

"Thank you, Koschei."

"I want to shave. And shower better. And remove a few locks," Koschei said, pulling a face of dismay. Being crazy was okay sometimes but he'd gone too far, he knew that, and the medicine helped. Already he was feeling more clear, more aware. He still felt off but he was assured it'd get better. He had to adjust to the pills, be careful not to overdo them and stop taking them if horrible sickness started.

Letting himself be hugged, he laughed slightly and nuzzled against his boyfriend.

"Are you done being mad at me? Cause I fucked up but it'll be okay. I'll be better, I promise. We'll even go outside and shop together... soon. Give me a week. I still don't like all those people."

"Shower better? Last I checked showering wasn't exactly an art. At least if you do it alone. Showering more regularly might be an idea, though." Barty leaned down to rub his cheeks against Koschei's, since it was just about the easiest way to demonstrate that he didn't mind how unshaved he was, not as long as he could be close to him.

"You're still gorgeous. Also, I wasn't ever mad. I just. I want you to be better for your own sake. And for our sake, too. I'm not going to rush you."

Barty pulled back enough to shrug. "'side, I still can't stand people, either."

"I got to be honest, lately I haven't really bothered to wash," Koschei admitted, he mostly just stood under the hot water and waited the right amount of time before leaving. Though what he once thought was normal was now very wonky. With an amused grin, he let Barty nuzzle him, aware he had an impressive amount of stubble these days.

"I don't want to be the person I was," Koschei insisted as he moved further into the apartment, setting his bag down on the counter. "I wanted to be better so we could be happy. Because being who I was just made he feel awful all the time."

And besides, a lack of headaches was wonderful. "Good to know you haven't changed either."

"Then I might have to help you some time," Barty suggested, not that he felt as sure or seductive about that as he tried to make it sound. He failed anyway. "Have you eaten? Drank enough?"

So the instinct to take care of Koschei wasn't likely to vanish any time soon, but then, Koschei might still need it for some time to come, too, so it might not be an entirely bad thing.

"I haven't changed much, really. Got used to sleeping without a blanket though."

It wasn't a bad thing to take care of Koschei, he'd entirely forgotten to do it himself lately. He didn't really consider the trivial things worth going any more. Food, drink, sleep. They were all odd concepts. "I skipped breakfast and I didn't feel hungry the night before so I left it. Besides, I didn't feel like cooking."

The most he'd had since Barty had left was three bowls of cereal. And they were just because the hunger had gotten very horrible.

"We'll share the bed tonight, scouts honour. If I don't, just slap me one."

"That'd just be not so nicely ironic if I started slapping you." Barty looked around the kitchen and ran a hand through his hair. "I can cook something, I reckon. Or we can order in, but I guess that might be taking too many steps at once?"

He really didn't want to overwhelm Koschei, after all. Not that he could entirely help it that he looked forward to a future where he might not have to cook. maybe they had frozen pizzas or something.

"Order something," Koschei insisted, knowing how much Barty hated doing household things. He'd been making him do them for so long that he deserved to give him a break. Even if Koschei didn't overly enjoy the idea. Actually, it made him very uncomfortable. But hey, he couldn't stay at this level of crazy forever.

"I'll go sit in the bedroom when they come and pretend they didn't come," Koschei insisted, smiling playfully at Barty. "This way, you can skip cooking."

"No, it's alright. I think we still have some frozen food, so I won't have to cook and we won't have to order, that's a good middle ground, right?" Barty took Koschei's hand and pulled him with him to the freezer, kissing his hair.

"Besides, it also means that you can make dinner. Lunch. Whatever you want to call it. Because you're a genius, you can put pizza into an oven."

Wait, hang on, he was cooking? He pulled a face for a minute before remembering that he really did owe Barty. And so, with a slight frown, he nodded and started to rummage in the freeze for that pizza. And once he retrieved it, he set to work making dinner. Like a normal person might.

Normal people were oddly dull. Why didn't people just call for pizza?

"After tonight, I'm hiring a maid," Koschei insisted as he stared to depackage the pizza. "One that won't bother us much and just comes to make food and tidy."

"If I knew all it took to get you around to that kind of thinking was taking a pizza out of the freezer by yourself, we might have been able to resolve this situation sooner. Watch me making you unload the dishwasher next." Barty turned on the oven, smiling at Koschei and honestly amused. That was his unique snob of a boyfriend. It was good to have him back.

"Though we can hold off on the maid for now. Until you're sure you're ready." He took the pizza from Koschei and put it into the oven. "I can do stuff. Wouldn't want you to overdo it."

"Well it's hard You have to remove the packaging then get a tray and put it on," And even explaining it was very dull. With a dismayed face, Koschei took a seat on the counter and started to watch the oven so he could be the one to remove it. Oh yes, he was committed to trying to be a good person here. Because he wanted to make up for it, he really did.

"Barty, I'm not -- well, actually, I can't even argue that I'm not crazy, can I?" koschei was clearly crazy, he just didn't want to be fussed over. He'd screwed up and now he had a clear head, he felt like shit. But he wasn't much better at being good, honestly. And he was still struggling to move past everything. "Trust me, I'll be okay."

"I hope you'll be. And I want to help you any way you can. But you've not lost me through all the bullshit and you won't be losing me now, either, so if you don't want to get pizza out of the packaging, just don't bother." Barty shrugged and got a tray as he was talking, setting it down on the counter.

"I just don't want you to overdo it." He ran a hand through his face and shrugged. "I don't want you to trigger a relapse or whatever to call that."

"I think the medication helps for the most part. It's like everything in my brain is suppressed and sort of -- gooey," Koschei described the best he could, not sure how to best put the idea across. It did feel like goo, like everything had melted into a healthy but sticky river of thoughts and feelings. And it completely covered over the drums to stop them from making too much noise.

"When I can't hear them, I just hear you," Koschei admitted with a small shrug, watching the pizza being made. "You're a much nicer sound."

"I should hope so. Less repetitive, at least."

There was the barest amount of hesitation before Barty wrapped his arms around Koschei from behind, closing his eyes as he buried his face against his neck and just silently breathed in. He'd missed him so much, it still hurt.

"In my mind, it was never you doing it. Y'know. Punishing me. I don't know. The drums or whatever, but not really you. Not my Koschei." He shrugged. "I'm crazy too."

High school AU open post

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