It had been three months since Prentiss’s attack on the archive and Martin was getting back to the point where he could pretend he was normal. His scale for what was normal had been thrown off and he wasn’t sure he’d ever get it back to true normal. At least he was sleeping in his actual bed and was hunting for a new flat like someone with normal problems.
It was Friday night, logging out of his computer when he decided that he wanted to shoot for even more normal. “Tim,” he said, looking up at Tim who was pulling on his coat to leave.
“Martin,” Tim said with an intensity and a grin that made Martin realize that he may have been a little more forceful with his tone than he’d intended. He’d been hyping himself up for this for hours so it made sense that his delivery might have been a little off.
“Would you like to get dinner?”
Tim looked genuinely baffled. “Now?”
“Yes? How late do you usually eat dinner?” Martin asked, standing up and getting his jacket on too. “If you have other plans…”
But Tim cut him off. “No plans. Anywhere in particular in mind?”
“Uh yes, actually,” Martin said, feeling a little bubble of happiness in his chest. He may have spent two hours searching for restaurants near the office that would be good for a first date, gauging the atmosphere off of pictures and reviewing the menu to see that there were things that both of them would like. Let it never be said that Martin wasn’t a considerate date planner.
“Lead the way,” Tim said with a dramatic flair of his arm towards the door. Martin rolled his eyes a little but was still smiling as he walked out the door, holding it for Tim for a moment before leading them through the crowded streets of people just trying to get home.
“It’s a little bit of a walk, I hope that’s okay,” Martin said, it was about fifteen minutes but after months in the recycled air of the archives, he found that he liked the fresh air.
“Better than the Tube at this hour,” Tim said with a shrug.
Martin gave him a smile that Tim returned easily. Things were tense at the office and with Jon’s not-so-slow descent into paranoia things were only getting more so. It was nice to see that Tim was still light-hearted Tim outside of the archives, though leaving the trauma behind was probably what helped the most.
“Why are we going to dinner, Martin?” Tim asked and Martin felt a momentary feeling of guilt for all the police officers that they sent Tim to get information he wasn’t supposed to have. They never stood a chance.
“I like you and I want to spend more time with you. Does it have to be more complicated than that?” Martin asked, hoping that he wasn’t blushing. He was a grown man who had commited fraud in order to get his job, he shouldn’t be blushing like a school girl because the person he was on a date with wanted to talk about it.
“It's just that usually when friends want to hang out after work they don’t go to a preplanned restaurant unless there’s a reason,” Tim said with a laugh. “You’re not about to confess to killing Gertrude over appetizers are you?”
Martin felt his eyes go comically wide. “I didn’t kill Gertrude!”
Tim laughed, patting his arm. “I know.” He was still laughing a little. “Because I did it.”
Now Martin laughed. “That’s not funny.”
“You’re right. Not funny but the thought of you killing a little old lady in her study is laughable,” Tim said, still smiling. Martin spotted the restaurant ahead and looked at Tim from the corner of his eye before stealing himself again.
“You said when friends hang out after work they don’t go to a pre picked restaurant.”
“Yeah?”
“Tim, I asked you on a date. We can go as friends if you want but…”
Tim looked shocked enough that he might have stopped walking if it wasn’t for the fact that they were in the middle of the sidewalk during rush hour and that would get them trampled. “I thought you were into Jon.”
“What?! No! Why does everyone assume that?” Martin said, feeling his embarrassment fade in the rush of indignation. They stepped out of the stream of people a few feet from the front of the restaurant.
“No one would be that nice to someone who’s that much of a dick for no reason,” Tim said, shrugging.
“I’m gonna make him like me,” Martin said, obviously determined. “Anyway, do you still want dinner?”
“Of course. And now that it’s a date I can make you pay,” Tim said with a shit eating grin and continued the walk. Martin had to grab his arm and pull him back when he nearly walked right past the restaurant.
“This is it,” Martin said, pulling him inside, his hand still gently holding Tim’s wrist.
“Smells great,” Tim whispered to him, leaning close into Martin’s personal space, but then again they were practically holding hands and that was Martin’s fault for not letting go.
They were sat at a small table in a line with others that were quickly filling up. Tim ordered them a bottle of wine to share. “I didn’t know you liked wine,” Martin said.
“I used to have all sorts of hobbies that didn’t involve fighting the forces of evil. One of them was learning about wine to impress cute dates,” Tim said with a wink.
Martin felt warm all over and started reading the menu, even though he had decided what he would want the night before. A part of him couldn't believe he’d actually made it this far.
Tim seemed to make a decision and set the menu aside and Martin spent a few more seconds with his head bent down before he set his aside as well. The waiter brought their wine and took their orders and they’d have a while to talk before there were more interruptions. This was the part that Martin had been concerned about, the first few minutes of talking.
“Is it really just you being stubborn that makes you be nice to him?” Tim asked, looking amused but also baffled.
“He’s also our boss,” Martin said with a shrug.
Tim laughed and under the table he rested his foot against Martin’s. He’d always known that Tim was good at this but to be under the scrutiny himself was more intense than he’d imagined. He also loved it. “He suspects us of murder and hasn’t fired us. I don’t think not refilling his tea is going to push him over the edge.”
“We can’t know that,” Martin said with a smile. “What made you think I would want to...date him? Is it just the tea and being nice because I make tea for you and Sasha too.”
“You take care of him and you seem to like doing it,” Tim said with a shrug.
“I like taking care of people, but I don’t want to date someone if they can’t remember that sleep is a necessary human function. I would like to think I have higher standards than that,” Martin said with a shrug. He reminded himself regularly that helping people was well and good but sometimes they had to help themselves too. Not that it was easy to leave them too it, and most of the time he didn’t manage to leave them alone, but not dating someone was easier than watching them fall apart.
“So my main selling feature is that you didn’t have to tell me to take a vacation after we were attacked by an eldritch horror?”
“You also have great hair.”
“Finally! Someone notices the effort I put into my hair.”
Martin laughed easily and with Tim looking at him like he was the only good thing in the world he found it hard to stop. Dinner passed easily, talking and chatting, Tim bumping his foot into Martin’s every time he wanted his attention. It was like for a moment they hadn’t been attacked and there had been no corpse and that Tim wasn’t covered in scars that were still healing. For a while they were just two normal men on a normal date having a good normal time. It made Martin so happy he could giggle.
Once dinner was over Martin and Tim made their way to the station together. “You could take the train to my place,” Tim offered as they stood on the platform waiting for Tim’s train. Martin’s was on a different platform but he hadn’t told Tim that, he’d said that it would come after Tim’s.
“Uh. Not tonight. I’d love to but,” Martin started feeling the start of a ramble coming.
“You don't have to say anything. You can just say no.”
“Right, yes, I know that but I don’t want you to think that I’m not interested i just…”
Tim was still smiling at him but was shaking his head. “You’re cute when you ramble.”
“Thanks?”
“You’re welcome. Can I kiss you good night?” Tim asked.
Martin nodded once and started to lean down, Tim met him and it was brief and chaste but held a promise of something more, later, when they were both ready. When they broke apart Tim looked up at him for a long time in silence until they felt the rush of air that meant the train was coming. “Can I talk you into a second date?”
“I could be convinced,” Martin said with a grin.
Tim stepped back but kissed the back of Martin’s hand as he walked backwards towards the train that had just stopped. “Good to hear it. I’ll text you tomorrow. I’ve gotta make a plan to pay you back for such a good first date.” Tim winked at him and Martin just grinned like an idiot back. They were too far away to actually finish the conversation and a few seconds later the doors closed and the train pulled away.
Martin made his way to his platform so that he could go home, giddiness pressing on his chest so hard he couldn't stop himself from smiling.