No Roots |Virgato|

"I like standing still, but that's just a wishful plan"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Joel muttered as he flung his legs off the side of his bed, his feet meeting the cold carpet as he slammed his phone down on the bedside table.

"What?" Chris mumbled, rustling under the duvet as he heard Joel continue to mutter under his breath, grabbing a white button up shirt while spritzing deodorant in every direction.

"I'm late for work," Joel whimpered in response. "And I can't fucking find my tie!" he scorned, puling on his navy blue slacks and hobbling around looking for some socks that vaguely match.

"It's on the couch," Chris responded, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in the bed, squinting as he adjusted to the 8 AM bustle of the New York streets below him. "I'll grab it, you go and brush your teeth. You smell like a camel's ass," he continued, padding out of the bedroom as Joel grumbled something about it being weird that Chris even knows what a camel's ass smells like.

Chris wandered over to the old leather sofa, sitting down and twiddling with Joel's red tie as he yawned and grabbed the remote, pressing the buttons and hoping some sort of morning news would grace the screen despite his aimless button pressing. Eight in the morning was far too early to be awake, in Christopher's opinion, but he supposed that if you have a 'real' job, you actually need to do it during the day rather than at 3 AM. He gazed gormlessly at the weather girl, her tight yellow dress being a far too obnoxious color for Christopher's sleep deprived eyes.

"Did you find - oh, thanks, Chris," Joel mused as he gently took the tie off the older boy, sticking his tongue out slightly between his lips as he fitted it around his shirt collar, "That dress is a disgusting color," he continued, indicating to the weather girl as Chris chuckled slightly.

"I was thinking exactly the same thing," Chris smiled, standing up off the couch to run his hand through Joel's hair to push it into it's normal state. "Nobody should be allowed to wear yellow at this time in the morning."

"Nobody should be allowed to wear yellow period. It reminds me of my abuelita," Joel mumbled, fixing his hair again despite Christopher's attempt to tame it. "She wore a horrible yellow pantsuit to my brother's wedding. It was genuinely horrific," he continued, pulling his navy suit jacket on as he was finally happy with the condition of his hair.

"Anyways, I really need to fucking go," Joel rambled before pressing a firm kiss to Christopher's lips. "Stay for as long as you'd like - there's a spare set of keys and a pack of smokes by the balcony."

"Thanks," Chris hummed, pressing another kiss to the other boy's cheek. "I've got work tonight, but I can catch you later if you're still awake?" Chris pondered, knowing full well that he wants to have another 3 AM session with the younger boy.

"I'm always awake," Joel grumbled as he pulled away from Chris, their hands lingering together despite the black haired boy being in a rush. "I have so much work that sleep is something that I rarely get nowadays," he continued, grabbing his car keys from the coffee table after finally breaking his touch with Chris.

"Take it easy, yeah?" Chris said genuinely, following Joel so that he could see him out the front door. "Probably easier said than done, but don't break yourself, Joel."

"I'll try," the black haired boy sighed, opening the front door and looking back at Chris leaning against the door frame. "See you later, Chris," he finished, offering him a tired smile as he stepped into the elevator, the brunette yawning as he waved goodbye.

_

Joel parked his car around the back of his work building, grabbing his briefcase off the passenger seat and slamming the door shut, locking his car remotely as he paced towards the exit. He had a meeting with his line manager in less than ten minutes and she would know for a fact that Joel wasn't in the office yet, meaning that he really needed to get a move on and sit at his desk for at least thirty seconds before she came looking for him.