Eduard had noticed that something had been off throughout the day. Although he couldn't quite tell what. It had been quiet like every other day, the work piled on as usual and no one was absent in the staff. The Estonian sipped at the bitter coffee that was almost too hot, and sifted through the permission slips that needed registering. At the first break he'd had peace and quiet; the Greek hadn't sauntered in for one of his common visits today. Good riddance was all that came to mind. He hadn't come in at lunch either to force Eduard to eat something. Usually the blonde would work straight through without so much as a rest for a sandwich, which apparently worried Heracles enough to make him pout and prod away until it was agreed they'd share whatever the lazy man had brought in himself. Where was he now then? The final bell would go soon and Eduard had seen nothing of him all day. Perhaps that was why it had been so quiet. Still it was a good opportunity to get what needed to be done finished on time for once. With a smile Ivan had shoved more papers about bills onto the desk and wandered back to his office with no comment. That wasn't even work that concerned the school but that wasn't anything new. Eduard had to take care of the Russian's finances as well. The alarm for the end of the day sounded, and soon it became noisy again as the students started to leave their classes and head for the buses, or made their own way home. One student lingered in the office, waiting for a lift to the seafront. Peter was his name, if Eduard recalled correctly. He was probably waiting for his uncle again. The door opened and the sound of footsteps made the Estonian glance up expectantly. That was probably Heracles, come to convince him to take a break and go home early or something. But it was just another of the children, coming to sit and wait for their bus to come. Just keep working, Eduard. The scribble of the pen was loud and he shuffled the papers again, all of the time subconsciously waiting for when the obnoxious man would enter and interrupt. But he didn't.
The office slowly cleared, becoming more and more silent until it was only Eduard and little Raivis working there. Heracles had signed in this morning so he wasn't ill. Finally the blonde stood, brushing off his shoulders and left, leaving only a few of the papers blank and he walked out into the fresh and surprisingly cold air, practically marching towards the Animal Care sheds.
"Alright, why are you still here?" scowling, Eduard pulled open the door to the surprisingly warm and humid room where the Greek was lounging around, a few fuzzy creatures gathered around him along with the odd tortoise that lived in this particular room. Heracles gave a brief glance in the blonde's direction before staring down at the straw covered floor again, petting one of the cats a little stiffly.
"Oh…Eduard. Why not? Is there somewhere else I'm supposed to be?" as usual his words were soft, but it only managed to make the other more frustrated.
"No, but you know exactly what I mean! Usually I get bothered by you at least twice a day, but I haven't even seen or heard anything from you today." Arms were folded, a stern expression offered. "Not that it's a bad thing you left me alone today, I was just wondering why since you always insist on being in the office." Heracles sighed quietly, still rhythmically stroking the animal's back causing it to mewl. Already Eduard's allergies were acting up, his eyes and nose beginning to itch. Why did the one obsessed with cats have to be the one poking his nose in? Just the Estonian's luck.
"Well I wanted to stay here today, is that such a bad thing? And you always tell me to leave anyway so it makes no difference." had he really upset the Greek? No, it must have been something else, since usually Heracles ignored what was said to him and continued to lurk in the office and disrupt the blonde. After a few moments of hesitation Eduard shooed away some of the cats so he could perch himself besides the other, wincing at the scruffy hay that had already started to cling to his suit.
"Okay, what's the matter with you?" he clutched his knees, leaning away from the feline that scrambled into his lap and tried to climb up to sniff his face. Still looking distant, the Greek leant his head back against the wall and let out a little hum.
"Eros was missing today when I went to feed the cats… Apparently he was on the roadside when Mr Braginski came in this morning." Heracles breathed. It was slightly unsettling to hear the usually so calm man's voice sounding so shaky. Eros was a god, wasn't it? That was the first thought but of course Eduard realised he was talking about one of his many furry companions. Did he name all of them? That was hard to believe because of the number of them. "Hit by a car or something. The cleaners took care of it apparently…" that's what it was? He was upset because one of his cats died? The blonde found it slightly confusing but also…Kind of sweet that he got so down over one when he had so many.
"…Oh. Well…I'm sorry." Feeling slightly awkward Eduard gingerly patted the other's shoulder, not sure what he could do. He wasn't supposed to comfort, that was never something he'd been able to do. And it was wrong. The Greek wasn't supposed to be the one who was upset. He should have been relaxed, concerned and happy as always. It felt strange to have the roles reversed. Although of course Eduard would rather have suffocated than admit that the irritating Heracles was a comfort to him.
"Why apologise? You had nothing to do with it. That's why I've been inside outside of lessons. Yes, I know. It's stupid. But he was one of my favourites." It was almost a pout fixed on the Greek's face as he sulked. He was more like a child when upset, but instead of tantrums he'd sit and look and feel sorry for himself. But it took a decent reason to get him to that point, as he was an ever patient man. Eduard knew this well. With a sigh the Estonian leant in, the hand that had patted the shoulder curved around it and embraced him quietly.
"I-it's alright. It's not stupid." he muttered next to Heracles' ear, although the squeeze didn't seem to have much effect, as the brunette continued to look a little forlorn. But his head dropped and Eduard realised that suddenly the other was leaning onto him, his face nuzzling into the blonde's neck under the collar. This was utterly embarrassing. Some was bound to come past at any moment and see them like this. What if Ivan did? That wouldn't end well for either of them, he was certain. So he only allowed it for a moment. He only gave himself a few minutes to enjoy the Greek's warmth pressed up to him and the small breaths that brushed along his skin before he stood up, brushing away the grass.
"Well you'd better go home instead of sitting here all day. Damned lazy Greek…" still picking cat hairs from his shirt he left, turning to close the door in time to see Heracles gazing lazily and smiling faintly. If anyone questioned how flushed he was he could easily blame the cat allgeriies.