Work Text:
This World in Arms
Series: Of Innocence and Empathy
by Frogg
Hrshellkw@aol.com
"Reid."
"Mmm."
Morgan nudged Reid with his elbow. "Reid."
"What?" Reid's normally smooth voice was gravelly with fatigue.
"Go to sleep."
"I'm reading," Reid muttered in quiet complaint.
"You've been on that same page for ten minutes. You should be finished with the whole book by now." Morgan sighed, smiling with rueful indulgence. "Go to sleep."
Pale, golden silk escaped from behind Reid's ears as he shook his head, hunching over his book. "I don't want to."
Surprised and concerned at the refusal to actually get some rest, Morgan finally turned from his own book to stare at his lover. "You were up all night last night, and almost the night before. We have at least another three hours in the air, and you don't want to sleep?"
Reid glanced up through the curtain of his hair. "Wanna sleep with you."
Morgan blinked, then mentally slapped himself. Reid was too exhausted to censor himself; he rarely said so much as 'hello' when he was anywhere near this tired. Years spent being ridiculed because of unintended innuendo had given Reid the habit of keeping his mouth shut except when around those few he trusted implicitly. Still...
Hand shaking, Reid turned the page. Apparently Morgan had woken him up just enough to at least seem aware.
Tilting his head first one way, then the other, Morgan tugged his earphones off, balling them up and shoving them in the carrying case beneath the seat. Then he reached over and snatched the book from Reid's grip, leaving Reid blinking in a numb stupor, hands closing on empty air. Both books - Reid's and his own - were stowed more carefully in that same case.
"I was reading that," Reid protested weakly.
"No, you weren't." Morgan pressed himself back against the couch, then glanced over at Reid, studying the logistics. "Here, you want to sleep, so..." Without further preamble, he handed Reid a pillow from the storage compartment next to him, then leaned sideways, using one long arm at the small of Reid's back to push him forward a few inches. "C'mon, Reid, lie down."
"It's too narrow."
"Not with me holding you, it's not. Now lie down."
Reid gave a wordless complaint, then put the pillow down on the end of the couch and followed orders. "If I fall off..."
"You can blame me."
"Mmph." Reid grunted as they hit the bench together, then squirmed, trying to align his body more comfortably with Morgan's. "Mmmh."
Morgan tightened his hold on Reid as the younger man stilled against him, feeling the slender body relax with a deep sigh. "Better?"
Reid didn't answer.
Raising his head to look down, Morgan frowned.
"Morgan?"
The stage whisper made him glance across the cabin, only to see JJ smiling at him, cameraphone in her hands. Morgan raised an eyebrow in skeptical irritation.
"He's asleep." JJ tilted her head towards Reid. "That was the point, wasn't it?"
Morgan grumbled under his breath, knowing JJ and Garcia would more than likely end up cooing over the photos being taken. "I better get copies of those."
JJ only laughed.
~~~the end~~~
Hrshellkw@aol.com