"Why don't we begin with why you're here Mercutio," said Dr. Moore, pushing her thin framed glasses up the bridge of her nose.
Looking contemplative, Mercutio tapped a finger on his jaw. "Well isn't that a difficult question? Did it start with my parents meeting at work? Or was it when they got married? Of course, I didn't come into play until later, but was it truly me or-"
"I meant why you are here. In my office."
"Ah. That may be an equally difficult question. I am paying you to listen to me talk though," he smiled and gave a light shrug. "I'll start at the very beginning. My first time meeting Benvolio was at a hospital. I had been shot. Most fortunate for me, the man who did so was better with a knife than he was with a gun. When I came to, it was to a most handsome nurse. I didn't and still don't believe in any nonsense like love at first sight, so there was none of that. However, after I was released, I convinced him to go out with me, just to a small Italian place. I had quite the fantastic time, and we agreed to meet up again," Mercutio paused for a moment, seemingly caught up in his own past.
"After about two years, we moved in together. It's a horrendous apartment, looks like it belongs in the Dark Ages, if not for the appliances. A few weeks later, once we were settled in, we decided to cook dinner. Cook being a matter of opinion really. We dumped some canned soup in a pot, heated it up, and sliced some bread. Later, we went up to the roof together. The view from there is one of the few redeeming factors of the place. We sat and talked of nothing, and in the soft silence, he began to hum. It was one of those songs I'd always thought no one knew of but me. The night was clear and quiet except for his humming. It was then, right then, that I knew that I loved him. I had known it before, but at that moment, I was aware that I wanted to spend my life with him, humming on the roof. I asked him recently if he remembered that night. He gave me this blank look, and I suddenly wondered if I had conjured the whole thing up in my head."
Dr. Moore nodded, sympathy alight in her eyes. "So are you here for couples' therapy? I didn't see anyone else in the waiting room. Also, I don't really do that, as I'm not trained in it."
Shrugging grandly, Mercutio leaned back in his chair. "No, no. He doesn't know that I am here. I told him I am picking up an extra shift at work. I don't believe in couples' therapy. If we have a problem, we'll work it out. Honestly, I'm not sure exactly why I am here. I suppose I thought that it would be best to talk to someone who wouldn't tell Benvolio."
"There was one curious thing you just stated. You said that if Benvolio and you had a problem, you two would work it out. Then why not tell him this?"
Slumping a bit, Mercutio passed a hand through his hair. "I don't want to worry him. His cousin just tried to commit suicide and I do not want to place more pressure and anxiety on him. I may have a fear that our relationship was merely some fantasy I dressed up to make it prettier that it was, but I do love him. Plus, how do you suggest I bring that up? Casually ask if our relationship has not meant much to him? He is calm, and I have rarely seen him upset. However, I doubt he'd take my accusation lying down."
Jotting down a few unseen things onto a pad of paper, Dr. Moore looked Mercutio straight on. "You appear to wonder if you love him more than he loves you."
Mercutio smiled fleetingly. "It's a bit pathetic. If he doesn't love me anymore, then I believe I must move on. Something in me doesn't want to give up quite yet though."
"Then don't."
Grimacing as the call button rang yet again; Benvolio quickly stretched the kinks out of his back and hurried down the hallway to room 217. The patient was in for some stitches after falling down the stairs, but one would have thought that they were dying based off the number of times they requested assistance.
"What can I do for you ma'am?" Benvolio asked, silently gritting his teeth. He knew it was part of a nurse's job to be polite and caring, and usually he managed that just fine. But if patient #4920 hit on him one more time, he was requesting a wing change.
After taking her sweet time applying some lip balm, patient #4920 looked at Benvolio, likely in an attempt to be sexy. Sadly, she ended up looking a bit nauseated. "So, I'm going to be released today. How about you and me meet up for some one-on-one nursing, if you know what I mean?" She raised an eyebrow and smiled. A slight feeling of terror washed over Benvolio and he took a cautious step backwards.
"Not that you aren't a lovely woman, but I'm gay. And in a relationship." He felt a bit bad lying; he was actually bi, but she didn't need any form of encouragement.
"Maybe you just haven't met the right woman yet. I could be that woman."
"If you do not have any legitimate requests, I will be leaving," After loitering for an undeniably awkward minute, Benvolio turned and left. All most as soon as he returned to the nurse's station, the call button lit up again, indicating that he was needed in room 220. The patient there rarely called for help, and as they were in for internal bleeding, they probably actually needed something. Glancing at his watch briefly, Benvolio frowned. There was still six hours left in his shift.
Fiddling with his keys while juggling his heavy bag, Benvolio managed to unlock the door with two tries. Dumping his bag next to the door, he slid off his shoes and went to go lie down on the couch. Mercutio beamed at him from his perch on the foot stool near the couch. He was unusually dressed up, wearing black dress pants, a white button down, and a dark blue bow tie. His hair appeared to actually be combed. Exhaustion making him uncaring, Benvolio followed through with his original plan to lie down and ramped it up, closing his eyes and curling up a bit.
"Come, get up! We're going out tonight, to a most wonderful venue. Ask me no questions about it, for I may give you no answers until we are there. Hurry now, quickly to your feet," Mercutio said with his usual maniac energy. With a noise like sleepy dog, Benvolio rolled over to face him.
They made eye contact for a moment; Mercutio's dancing blue eyes to Benvolio's partially open brown ones. "'M not going anywhere tonight. Much too tired." Only from having spent so many months with him was Benvolio able to catch the small slump of Mercutio's shoulders and the spark of disappointment in his eyes. "…I am going to go get ready for bed. Please, Mercutio, get changed and join me," Benvolio sighed quietly and made his way to their bedroom.
Taking a moment to swear, Mercutio got up and followed him, untying his bow tie as he went. Stripping off his pants and shirt and dropping them near the laundry basket. Grabbing a pair of fetching argyle pyjama pants that a friend had given to him for his birthday and quickly tugging them on, Mercutio joined Benvolio in the bathroom. Giving a slight smile around his tooth brush, Benvolio turned his attention from the newcomer back to brushing his teeth. Reaching around Benvolio, who was rather in the way of the sink, Mercutio squeezed some blue, hideously minty gel onto his tooth brush and began to vigorously wash his teeth, crazy facial expressions included. Having spit out his toothpaste foam when Mercutio was distracted, Benvolio began to wash his face, relishing the feeling of cleanliness. It always made his day even worse when questionable fluids managed to reach his skin at the hospital. That tended to lead to him scrubbing at his face with a paper towel in the men's bathroom, hoping that whatever was wrong with patient wasn't contagious.
After rinsing out his mouth, Mercutio casually leaned over and dropped a kiss on Benvolio's cheek, merely because he could. "Not tonight," was his only response before turning and heading to their bedroom.
Flicking the bathroom light off, Mercutio smirked. "Whatever do you mean? Are you trying to insinuate something?"
Benvolio tossed him a tired look and climbed into bed. He had managed to take off his scrubs and had placed them on top of Mercutio's discarded clothes. Yawning, he patted the bed next to him. "You know what I mean. I'm sorry I was too tired to go out tonight, but please don't be upset. Just get into bed with me. How did you put it yesterday? It is time we go join the fairy queen her domain," he trailed off at the end, speaking more to himself than Mercutio.
Clambering into bed next to Benvolio and pulling the covers up to just underneath his chin, Mercutio flicked off the lamp on his bedside table, plunging the room into darkness. With a small petulant scowl, Mercutio whispered, "That wasn't why I was upset."
Barely holding a frustrated groan in, Benvolio faced where he could sense Mercutio was. "Then pray tell why you are upset." He didn't voice how close he was to just falling asleep, and how little he was really listening.
"No, no, it's fine. I'm being stupid, honestly. I don't want to bother you, and I'll be over it by morning. Just being a tad… insecure I suppose," he sighed and shifted, the bed sheets rustling. "Shouldn't have mentioned it. Just go to sleep love," Benvolio was able to tell that Mercutio was being truthful, but it still bothered him.
Benvolio internally debated the merits of actually listening to Mercutio and falling asleep or trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Neither seemed to be particularly favourable. His sleep deprived mind alighted on the brilliant idea of trying to comfort Mercutio without knowing why he was upset. Physical comfort was out. What usually helped was sharing good memories. Perhaps it made him focus on something better; Benvolio didn't really know and didn't really care at the moment. Searching through his mind for something suitable, Benvolio began to talk.
"Hey, do you remember that time we went on a picnic with Romeo and Juliet because it was their one week anniversary or something ridiculous like that? And you brought a kite, and when I told you I'd never flown one, you became dead set on teaching me. Of course, that day there was literally no wind, so you ended up just throwing it in the air over and over again and I'd run every time, though it would crash almost instantly. God, that was a fun day," Benvolio said quietly into the artificial night, a smile soft on his face.
There was silence for a moment. "I cannot say that that is a memory I am able to recall."
Benvolio semi-shrugged and curled into Mercutio's side, closing his eyes yet again. "Eh, we all remember different things. G'night, love you."
Laying an arm over Benvolio, Mercutio, too, closed his eyes. Funny how Benvolio managed to say what Mercutio needed, even if he didn't know it. "Love you too. And thanks."