#little snippet ​from a road trip au thats been sitting around in my gdocs for a few months :]

[ahautism]

It’s probably two in the morning, one of those nights when they decided to just keep driving. Ren’s not sure exactly. Renchanting’s clock broke sometime last week, and it hasn’t been important to fix it: they all have phones. But he’s keeping his eyes on the road, so he’s got no clue what time it is. Not that it matters. They have all the time in the world, don’t have an itinerary, or an ETA, or even a destination. That was the point of the trip, spontaneity. Doing something new. He would still kind of like to know what time it is though. So he turns to Martyn, the only other person still awake.

“Martyn? What time is it, dude?”

Martyn looks over at him, taking a second to process the question, then pulling out his phone to check.

“2:46 AM, whatever timezone we're in, I’ve honestly lost track.” He chuckles a little, and Ren joins in. They go quiet again. Ren yawns a little, shifts in his seat, keeps his eyes fixed to the road. Martyn glances over at him.

“Staying awake over there?”

He nods. “I’m hangin’ in there.”

Martyn hesitates a second, a question on the tip of his tongue.

“Want me to talk to you? Help keep you awake, tell a story or something?”

Ren doesn’t look at Martyn. Keeps his eyes on the road still. Safety, and all. (He pointedly doesn’t think about all the times he’s moved his eyes from the road while driving, to change the song or roll a die, or give a wounded look to defend his honor.) He nods again. “Yeah. That’d be great. If you don’t mind.”

Martyn smiles at him. “I mean, I’m awake anyways. Keeps us both entertained. ‘S not a big deal. Even if it were, I wouldn't mind.” He goes a little pink, clears his throat, and starts talking. Talking about old campaigns, which devolves into stories about Jimmy’s ill fated game nights.

“And, get this. He had a seven! And he started this off saying he’s the best UNO player ever. Honestly, the audacity Tim has, it never ceases to amaze me.” Ren laughs. “So that’s why Grian’s eye twitched when you brought up UNO nights?”

“Yep! He swore he’d never play uno with Timmy again, but he still comes back every time. He always shows up late with some ridiculous excuse to pretend like he doesn’t care, but we all know he loves him.”

He laughs a little, and moves on, but Ren is still thinking about it. About all the ways you can say I love you without saying I love you. He thinks of seeing some silly little souvenir that reminded him of Martyn, and buying it for him. He thinks of Martyn climbing on top of him without hesitation when he admits he can’t sleep without the pressure. He thinks of just… tonight. Of how Martyn would do something for him, even if it were a big deal, even if it weren’t convenient for him too. He thinks about suggesting this absolutely insane plan, if you can even call it that, out of the blue, and his friends trusting him enough to agree. They may have all the time in the world, but they’re choosing to spend it with him. And he knows, in this moment, that they love him, and he loves them. And if he weren’t driving (two hands on the wheel - he’s a professional, after all) he would reach out, and hold Martyn’s hand. Just to let him know. He thinks Martyn would get it.

Ren listens to Martyn’s voice, and resolves to continue all the little ways they tell each other I love you.