Chapter 3
Martin knew he needed to get a new phone, it had almost been a week and the stress of not being able to be contacted in an emergency was starting to get to him, so after he got his paycheck he suggested to Jon that since he wanted to get some new clothes and He needed a new phone, the could just kill two birds with one stone. Jon had asked though if Georgie could come along though, He would have to ask her first but this was his first step in rekindling their friendship and Martin wasn't going to get between that. He was also very curious about who this Georgie was, he'd only heard about her from Jon and never got a chance to meet her in their first time round with everything.
So Jon had texted Georgie who was really excited about the whole thing however also slightly scolding him in the ways to arrange a proper friend reunion, Martin liked her already from what he saw in texts and heard over call she and Jon were close, but in a way a younger sister would be. Jon had mentioned beforehand that they used to date but after a while the mutual friendship they had was more for them, dating wasn't really something that they seemed was something they needed. So close friends, practically family, is what they remained.
So the morning had arrived, they had agreed to meet up with Georgie at the station in Camden before exploring the area while also agreeing to get something to eat, catch up and for Martin and Georgie to get to know one another.
"Okay but what if i say something stupid and she just hates me! Martin, i couldn't deal with that" He panicked just as the were about to leave.
"Jon i need you to calm down" Martin suggested.
"But what if! What if i waited to long and she can't forgive me and she doesn't like me now that all of what's happened at the institute has happened!" Jon's breathing had picked up a lot and so Martin decided to try his best to calm him down and make him think i little more rationally.
"Jon is it okay if i touch you?" He asked, slowly reaching a hand out for Jon to take when he was ready. After a few moments Jon did and Martin led him over to the sofa before holding both of his hands and rubbing them in his own. "Now let me just talk for a second, okay?"
Jon had nodded in response looking down at his hands.
"You Jon have all the right to be scared but also i know for a fact from what you've told me about Georgie that everything is going to be fine. What you've old me so far is that she cares so much about you and i bet she wouldn't let something like a lack of contact get between this long friendship the two of you have had. You also said she's a very forgiving person and so i have no doubt that she'll forgive you even if she is slightly angry" He reached and grabbed the side of Jon's face, gently directing it to face himself."You've changed Jon, you're also someone who deserves a break and o go out and have fun! are you okay? we don't have to go if you are really stressed about it"
Now old Jon would've just ignored everything that he was told, have a huge panic attack and than probably end up cancelling but when it came to Martin he pt things in a way that made things slightly better. He trusted Martin and Martin trusted him, as long as that trust was there they could rely on each other to save the other. Jon slowly grabbed the hand on his cheek and held it for a few seconds before taking a deep breath in and thanking Martin, he didn't know what he would've done without him.
"Aw, you sap. I'm here to help you when you need it, I know for a fact you'd do the same for me" Martin smiled, Jon couldn't help but to lean in and plant a kiss on his lovers lips. It was nice but didn't last to long.
"I think I'm ready to go now" Jon looked martin in the eyes with a confidence that he now had, Martin grinned in response.
The two had than headed out, to Georgie, for some new clothes, and for a new phone.
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As soon as they exited the station and turned the corner Jon suddenly fell back when a force came right in contact with him, Thanks to Martin's quick reflexes though he had managed to stop Jon and his captor from falling square on the ground.
"You big idiot! I missed you!!" The girl had wrapped her legs around Jon's waist while staring right into his eyes with a look of fake anger but falling when she cracked a smile and began to laugh.
Jon had hugged back, "I missed you too".
She unwrapped her legs and let herself fall back to the ground before straightening herself out a bit. Honestly if it had been any other day Martin would've probably been asking a ton of questions but he knew for a fact this must've been Georgie. Her blue hair in goddess braids tied behind her, she wore a sleeveless hoodie with a print that looked to be from he podcast she hosted that Jon had mentioned a few times. He also noticed she was about an inch taller than Jon in height which was funny considering how much he already complained about how tall Martin was.
"Oh you must be Martin, come here!" She said happily as she jumped up to hug Martin who happily leaned down to stop her from possibly hurting Martin or herself if he didn't manage to catch the arms she threw around his neck." It's nice to know that Jon has 'friends' from work" She smirked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked playfully defensive.
"Oh i never reveal my secrets Jonny boy!" She grinned, "Now you said you had a fashion emergency and i am here to help so Lets go!"
She grabbed the two's arms and decided to start their search for clothing, Camden had a range of places to visit and so they began to look in mainly some of the small but fairly sized booths there. So much range Jon was so lucky that he had the other two with him, he wouldn't admit it to either (well Georgie probably already knew) but he had horrible impulse control, half the stuff he probably would've bought alone he wouldn't probably ever wear or use. So they searched, Jon couldn't keep his eyes off of a lot of the steampunk sellers though and Georgie knew she had a story to tell Martin later about that, After hunting there had been a frequent occurrence of Jon's piping interest directed at a lot of clothing that involved a sort of Victorian like look to it, That was something both Martin and Georgie noticed and would not let him live down until they decide to get lunch.
They had found an Indian food stand inside so they decided to order some and take it to eat outside on the food benches, it was nice.
"So Jon" Georgie glared cheekily, don't think I didn't notice you eyeing those steampunk shops we passed".
Jon choked slightly on the food he was eating which Martin retaliated but patting his back, trying to help him calm down a little from the choking.
"I have no idea what you're talking about" Jon wheezed as he eyed her.
"Oh! so a Mr Jonny De'ville doesn't ring a bell? Must just be me than" She teased and Martin gave him a look of confusion.
"Um...Jon what is she talking about?" Martin looked at him confused but interested.
"Yeah Jon, what am i talking about?" She teased.
"Oh no I'm sorry miss Georgie 'I didn't mean to hit him' Baker" Jon refuted which sent Georgie and him into a staring contest.
"I am very uncomfortable with the energy we've created in the studio today" Martin quoted Jokingly which made the other two burst out laughing.
The three continued their banter for a while before returning back to their quest of finding clothes and eventually a phone for Martin, that day had been one full of bonding, laughter and relief. It was one of the best days they'd had in a long time. Eventually it got late and they all decided to hop on their respective trains and go home. Georgie's arriving first said her goodbyes, hugging both men and telling Jon that he better stay in contact with her this time.
"Oh and you two!" They perked up a little as she got on her train, "You're cute together" She blew a kiss before the train doors closed and her train was off. The two stood their in awe for a second before laughing slightly.
"We're that obvious hugh?" Martin asked.
"Nah, i think that's just Georgie using her advantage of forbidden knowledge about me against my own will" Jon smiled.
"Oh? When will i get to know this 'forbidden knowledge'" Martin enquired.
"Hopefully never"
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They'd arrived back at Jon's flat and headed up to put their stuff away, the two had practically moved in together at this point. Martin hadn't cancelled his tenancy on his last flat but he was hoping that soon they would have to talk about it and Jon would just tell him to cancel it and move in with his, he would obviously help to pay the bills and for other needed essentials when they needed them. Jon had left to go and put away his clothing whilst Martin had told him that he was going to get started on cooking their dinner, he'd decided on spag bowl and Jon, not being able to resist Martin's cooking, had agreed.
The dinner was nice obviously, they'd put on a Disney movie since Jon had admitted to not seeing any of them fully through and Martin knew he had to change that right away. So far they had came to the conclusion that The Aristocats was Jon's favourite and with his deep love for cats who could blame him. Eventually though the movie ended and Martin had gotten out the phone he had bought and decided to set it up, he managed to find his old one destroyed when they visited his flat but luckily the sim was still in tact and worked well. When it's set up had finally finished Martin had unlocked the phone and was flooded with a bunch of messages.
His first instinct though was to enter the old group chat that Tim had stupidly made about a year ago.
'A'wesome 'A'rchival 'S'quad
STOKED : Martin!!!
STOKED : You haven't been in the cha in so long!!!
STOKED : We were so worried
STOKED SENT AN IMAGE
Sashaverse : Calm down Babe you'll scare him off again
Sashaverse : Also i agree, you talk to us at work and not over the phone
Sashaverse : Betrayal 101
MAHTIN>:D : Ah i forgot i didn't tell you both
MAHTIN>:D : I haven't had a phone since i was gone
MAHTIN>:D : I think i lost it before i took the sick time and i just didn't have the money to buy i new phone till today
MAHTIN>:D : But honestly, you guys aren't mad at me
STOKED : Okay we'll forgive you for that but DUUUDDDEEEE
STOKED : We need another drinks night
Sashaverse : YEAH! do you think Jon would join since he's chilled out a lot
MAHTIN>:D : I could ask him, He'd probably say yes.
STOKED : SASH!
STOKED : DID YOU HEAR THAT!!!
Sashaverse : oh i totally did
MAHTIN>:D : Guys!!!
STOKED : Our boy has grown up!
MAHTIN>:D changed their user name to : MAHTIN>:C
MAHTIN>:C : I hope you all are happy now!
STOKED : MARTIN NOOOOO!!!
STOKED : but okaaayyyyyyy, you can ask him.
Martin looked up from his phone with a smile and Jon noticed this.
"What's got you so happy?" He smiled.
"Tim and Sasha wanted to know if you wanna join us for drinks next Friday, it used to be a tradition every other week but I couldn't show up last week. They say now you're cool and probably wont scold them for being irresponsible you can come along" He informed.
"Ah don't worry" Martin kissed the top of his head, "I always rooted for them to add you but Tim always denied it".
"Ah yes, the end of out love affair" He joked and Martin playfully pushed his arm while laughing.
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Eventually the infamous Thursday had come, the one where Sasha was supposed to meet Michael, the two hadn't worked out a proper plan but Martin had suggested a sleepover. It would stop her from going home for sure and running into them but for the time being that was a plan B, that would also kind of reveal that the two had basically been living together for a while and the two would be bombarded with questions and teasing. The two had been contemplating what they were going to do when Jon's office phone rang, this only usually happened when Rosie needed and this had not happened last time, they had changed little things though so this couldn't have been that bad, right? Well that was an understatement of the year.
"Hello?" Jon asked as he picked up the phone.
"Hiya Jon, It's Rosie from the office. Someone here is claiming to have a live statement booking for you down there so i just sent them down" She responded with her usual cheery voice however it was slightly off this time.
"Thank you Rosie, Did you get their name perhaps" He asked trying not to panic a little.
"I'm sorry i didn't" She apologised before Jon thanked her one more time and hung up.
"What is it?" Martin asked from the other side of the desk.
"Rosie said we have a live statement giver" Jon's look of confusion remained, "I haven't even started those yet, how did-"
There was a small knock that rang out through the room, they both looked at the door for a second before Jon noticed the slight yellow tint to it. This couldn't be good.
Jon looked at Martin with a slight gaze of fear before Martin shrugged and spoke.
"Oh, we're in here. Just come right in" Fast thinking, even if there wasn't anything particularly wrong with the door it was better safe than sorry.
That's when they had stepped in. It was hard to forget the smile that had been burned into their memories for so long, the sharp fingers used to harm harm them as well as the long blonde hair that at the time had got them so paranoid about. The humanoid creature in front of the was the distortion yes but not the distortion the they had known for the past two years. This was Michael Shelley, Gertrude's former assistant.
"Now hello there! Oh no need for such a scared look, I'm only here out of my own curiosity" They smiled eyeing the both of them before turning their full gaze to Jon. " Dear Archivist can i inquire to you of a strange thing i have experienced?"
Jon gulped before answering, "What would that be?"
The thing smiled back," I find it quite curious how we have never met before yet a part of me still feels an odd familiarity with you and your assistants" He pointed at Martin while he stated that last part letting out an echoing laugh that dizzied the two slightly.
"Is that why you came here? To be cryptic?" Jon asked, trying his best to avoid direct questions as best as he could. It hadn't ended up well for him last time.
"Oh on the contrary Archivist! I actually came to inform you both of some things!" That shocked the two men.
"So what did want to inform us of?" Martin asked slowly and confused.
"Oh that i can't answer yet but when the time is right i will return! Right now their are to many eyes, including your own Archivist" Their mood seemed to drop slightly at the mention of eyes. "However if you're ever feeling up to a talk, my doors are always open" He let out one more crazy echoed laughed that messed with their heads, by the time the had recovered Michael was gone. The doors yellow tint had returned back to normal and the two sat their in silence for a few moments.
Jon finally spoke.
"Shit"