Chapter Text
Wylan made it a habit to be punctual. Perhaps it was the professional and strict nature of his upbringing that had embedded the custom deep within him, but he always felt as though it were most polite to turn up to places at the right time. However, there were other factors to consider when concerning punctuality— faulty alarm clocks, heavy sleeping, and being unable to locate a pair of trousers— all things that would certainly leave their poor victim short on time, and all things that were currently making Wylan late for work.
The dim light on the train flickered, and Wylan gave his face a sharp slap to clear his head of the bleariness from being startled awake.
“ Mind the gap, ” reminded the voice from the speakers above the platform.
Wylan wasn’t minding the gap; he was booking it out of the platform and forcing himself through gaps in the crowd in a desperate attempt to get to work in time. This would all be so much easier if I had a car, he thought, nearly bowling over about three schoolchildren as he hurried down the street.
“Thank fuck,” he muttered. He’d reached the base of the broadcasting station, and barrelled through the glass doors. The receptionist raised her hand to ask for ID, but upon seeing his rushed demeanour, she changed her mind. The station for Crow Radio was still quite small, though Wylan knew Kaz had plans to expand the place soon, once viewing rates were up. Maybe then Wylan could afford a car and wouldn’t have to try and catch this stupid train.
“Wylan!” Nina called from down the corridor, waving her hand at him, “Where were you?”
Wylan hurriedly approached her and they began to trek up the stairwell. “Oh, god, I’m so sorry— I slept in, then I missed my train, I couldn’t find my trousers…”
“You’re here now, I guess.”
He raised a skeptical eyebrow in her direction. “And you sound so pleased about it.”
She opened the door of the first floor for him. “I’d hate for you to not turn up. I don’t trust Jesper to run your segment of the show by himself.”
“I wouldn’t trust him to pour water out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel.”
Nina snorted. “Don’t try and pretend that you don’t think he’s pretty.”
“Who’s pretty?” A new voice came from the break room doorway. Jesper Fahey. Crow Radio’s smooth-talking and lively host– well, one of the hosts. There were six of them in total. Kaz and Inej, who discussed the general news, Nina, who dished out celebrity gossip, along with a reluctant Matthias, as well as Wylan and Jesper, who dealt with everything in between— transitions, signing off, DJ-ing, and the general charm that made Crow Radio so special.
“Nobody,” Wylan replied. Nina opened her mouth, but thought better of it and slid past Jesper into the breakroom.
“What kept you?” Jesper asked, leaning in the doorframe. Wylan appreciated the concern, certainly, and it did something funny to his heart, but he really needed to get into this breakroom.
Wylan shuffled on his feet. “Oh, you know… things. I slept in.”
“Ooh… Someone keeping you busy ?” Jesper grinned.
Wylan tried to hit back with a witty response, but all he could come up with on short notice was, “N— no. I slept in… couldn’t find my trousers… missed the train…”
“I wouldn’t have minded if you’d come in without trousers, actually.”
“Not very professional,” Wylan muttered.
“Never claimed to be professional, Wylan, dear.” Jesper checked his watch. “And I’m not sure you’re one to talk, seeing as you’re fifteen minutes late, and we’re going live in… three minutes and twenty three seconds.”
“I’m sorry, alright?”
“Don’t apologise to me.” He giggled. “Kaz is gonna be pissed , though!”
“Then maybe,” emerged a drawl from the breakroom, “you should stop flirting and do the job you’re getting fucking paid for.” Kaz appeared behind Jesper, carrying a stack of papers in one hand and his usual cane in the other. “Hello, Wylan. I trust you’re well.”
“I’m fine— I’m sorry I was late, I—”
“Wylan, I don’t care. Get to the broadcast room now.”
Jesper put his hands on his hips, obscuring Wylan’s view of Kaz. “Yeah, Wylan, get—”
“And take Jesper with you.” Kaz glared and made a shooing motion. “Go on, then.”
“Going, going!” Jesper waved him off and seized Wylan’s wrist, dragging him down the corridor.
“I know where the broadcast room is, Jesper, I don’t need you to hold my hand.” Even if it was quite a nice sensation.
Jesper opened the glass door, and finally released Wylan’s wrist to sit down in his chair. He adjusted his microphone. “Ugh. Matthias always puts this mic up so high…”
Wylan took a seat and placed the headphones over his ears. “Do we do rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to open?”
“ Forty-five seconds ,” said the supervisor in Wylan’s ear.
“Fine,” Jesper said, bringing his hands up towards his chest. Wylan mirrored him. “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.”
Two rocks.
“Again,” Wylan said, “rock, paper, scissors, shoot.”
Two papers.
“ Twenty seconds, you guys. ”
“One last time. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.”
Jesper’s hand was outstretched. Paper. Wylan had curled his hand into a fist. Rock.
“ Ten. Nine. Eight… ”
“Ugh, fuck you, Jesper.”
“ Six, five… ”
Jesper pouted. “And here I was, thinking you were a ‘professional’.”
“ Two, one— and we’re live .”
He leaned into his mic. “Good morning, listeners! I’m Jesper Fahey.”
“And I’m Wylan Van Eck.”
“And welcome back to Crow Radio. Oh, have I got the story for you guys.” Jesper glanced at him over the mic, that familiar wicked smile making its way onto his face. “Everyone’s second favourite radio host was late for work!”
“Oh, Jes, I didn’t realise you arrived late,” Wylan cut in.
“Hey, watch it, or else I’ll tell them how you forgot to put on trousers.”
“I didn’t forget to put on trousers!”
Jesper tilted his head into the mic again. “Disclaimer to our audience: Wylan is fully clothed.”
“Mhm.”
“Unfortunately.”
Wylan’s face flushed pink, though he stood his ground. “I thought Kaz told you to stop flirting with me.”
“Yeah, and when have I ever listened to Kaz? ”
“Can’t argue with that,” Wylan conceded.
“Though he never said anything about you flirting with me. ”
Wylan shook his head. “Listeners, you’ll be disappointed to know that Jesper and I literally just had a conversation about professionalism.”
Jesper scoffed loudly. “While I’d love to argue with you back and forth in front of about twelve thousand people, we’re running out of time.”
He laughed into the mic. “For now, here are this week’s top artists. We’ll see you after our favourite newlyweds deliver you the news.”
“They’ve been married for two years, Jes!”
“Same difference! Signing off for now, it’s Jesper and Wylan.”
“ And we’re off-air. Wylan, you can breathe now,” said the headphone voice.
——
Wylan had worked for Crow Radio for nearly three years. The station had started with two college dropouts, Kaz Brekker and Jesper Fahey. In Jesper’s father’s house, they’d slowly built up their radio station from nothing, quickly recruiting Kaz’s girlfriend, and eventually, wife, Inej Ghafa, successful college athlete and all-round angel. Jesper had gotten his friends involved, too— the bold and ever-recognisable Nina Zenik starred in Crow Radio’s celebrity gossip segment. Matthias had gotten dragged into it too, in order to impress Nina when they were actually in a committed relationship, and not the on-and-off game they had going on nowadays. Wylan’s entrance onto the scene had been… bumpy, certainly, but he found his way just fine.
He liked his job. He liked his routine. He liked his coworkers and he liked the friends he’d made. He especially liked Jesper, though. By the time he’d arrived at Crow Radio, everyone else seemed to have paired off; Kaz and Inej into their marriage, Nina and Matthias into… whatever sexually-charged, pent-up tension they shared.
Wylan had fit in with Jesper quite naturally. They already lived near one another— they got the same train on the way to and from work, that was, if a lack of trousers didn’t keep one of them occupied. Sometimes they’d meet up with the others after work, or on the days when Crow Radio didn’t broadcast. And yet, Wylan couldn’t help but feel more than a friendly affection for Jesper. It was an embarrassing feeling, and most certainly unreciprocated. In order to keep everything smooth and steady, Wylan had made what he thought was the wisest decision, and kept all of his messy feelings tucked somewhere in a cramped gap behind his heart.
The train shot off just as Jesper and Wylan stepped onto the platform. “Shit,” Jesper breathed.
“This is the second time today I’ve missed my fucking train,” groaned Wylan. He threw his head to the left, then the right. Every other train-goer had gotten the other train.
Jesper limply dropped onto the bench lining the station wall. He pressed a hand to his forehead like a feeble maiden consumed with fever. “And I’m hungry. This is awful.”
Wylan peered to his right. A vending machine cast a bluish pallor on the ground of the platform. He pointed at it. “Vending machine.”
Jesper already had his hands in position. “Rock-paper-scissors? Loser buys?”
“Fine.”
He grinned. “Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.”
Wylan’s fingers formed the shape of a pair of scissors. Jesper’s hand was laid out flat. Paper. Jesper swore loudly and rummaged in his jacket for change. He marched over to the vending machine, Wylan walking smugly behind.
“Which one do you want?”
Wylan let his finger hover before tapping the glass, taking a little bit of joy as Jesper tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. “This one.”
Jesper slotted the coins into the machine, and pressed A4. Then, he repeated the process and chose D2. He picked up the two granola bars and tossed one at Wylan. As he did so, the next train bulleted past them.
“Double shit,” Wylan muttered. Jesper cursed again and maliciously tore into his granola bar. “We’ll get the next one.”
“Someday,” raged Jesper, “someday I’m going to buy a huge fucking car, and I won’t have to worry about catching the train on time.”
“Can I hitch a ride in your huge fucking car?”
Jesper bit off another chunk of his granola bar. “Won’t you have your own car by then?”
“Maybe.” Wylan tucked the bar into his pocket for later. “But I’d miss travelling with you.”
The other man hummed thoughtfully. “I think if you travel with me, I get to pick the music.”
Wylan nudged him. “We can rock-paper-scissors on that.”
——
Although he complained a lot, Wylan didn’t mind the train. On sleepy work nights like this, the air was stuffy; the only noises were the rattling of the train against the rails. The lights were a sterile white, and had a habit of buzzing, flickering for a few seconds. Sometimes, the train jumped on the railway, snapping Wylan awake or making his shoulder bump into Jesper’s, who gave him a routine smile, or a wink, if he was in the notion to do so.
“I think my Da’s calling tonight,” Jesper mumbled, apparently to himself more than anything. Wylan decided to answer anyway.
He hesitated as the train jolted. “Oh?”
“Yeah.” Jesper drummed his fingers on his knee.
“You don’t sound so happy about it.”
“I am. I am. I just always think I’m always worrying him, you know? He always asks me if I’m still sober, and I always tell him yes, and… I don’t want him to think of me as his addict son or something.”
Wylan pursed his lips thoughtfully. “I think he only worries because he loves you. Like, a lot.”
“Do you think so?”
“I know so, Fahey.”
That earned a rare, quiet smile from Jesper. The train screeched to a halt. “ Mind the gap… Mind the gap… ”
“Want me to walk you home?” Jesper meant it as a joke, though he almost always walked Wylan to the door of his building.
He sighed, feigning resignation. “How could I refuse?”