fandomtownies | The Emporium -- Monday morning

The Emporium -- Monday morning

Michael yawned as he flipped the sign from "closed" to "open." Ben had had another night of tossing and turning, meaning neither one of them slept well. Not that the run-in with the brothers at the festival had helped matters, but Michael suspected the sleep deprivation would continue until Ben's test results came back. Michael wanted very badly to do something for his husband, but he didn't know what he could do to help.

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Making a good faith effort to be a little more diligent in coming in to work, Chihaya bounces in to the Emporium. He really liked working here with Michael and thinks he and Ben are simply the best.

He put his bag under the counter and grabs his apron. "Hi Michael!"

"Hey, Chihaya. How's it going?" Michael rested his chin on his hand. He hoped he wasn't going to fall asleep at the counter, like he had a couple of weeks ago.

"Looking like I'm doing better than you," Chihaya leans on the counter next to Michael. "Up late last night?"

Michael shook his head. "Not really. Ben's been having some trouble sleeping, and it's sort of hard for me to get rest when the bed keeps moving from his tossing and turning. I hate to do it, but if this keeps up, I'm going to sleep in the guest room for a while."

Looking toward the back room, Chihaya makes a wavy motion. "If you want to go rest in back, I can look after the shop for a while."

"If I sleep now, I'll never get to sleep tonight. Thanks, though." He smiles. "So how are classes going? Things going all right in school?"

"Oh. Hard to say about classes. I've been putting off talking to my instructors about classes missed." Chihaya grins sadly. "I just don't know if it's worth trying to stay in school."

"Oh? Things that bad?" A look of concern crosses Michael's face. "You know you can come to us, if there's anything you need."

"Thanks, Michael." He sighs and flaps his hand around. "It's not that things are bad, just that I'm not happy." Trying to brighten, he nods. "Maybe four days off and away is what I need. I haven't been home in a month."

Michael smiles. "So you get to be with family for the holiday? That's good. Hopefully that will pick you up." He nods. "As much as we like this place, we're looking forward to seeing Hunter and all our old friends."

"Well, I'll be with Kagetsuya. We don't have any other family," Chihaya shrugs. "He's enough for me."

Michael glances at the stairs up to the apartment, where Ben is. "Family includes whoever you love. And quantity isn't as important as quality."

That brings a genuine smile to Chihaya's face and he nods in agreement. "I think so. It's lonely here without him but he's never really very far."

"And you're part of our family too, you know." Michael gives a wry smile. "We've picked up our share of 'strays' here. I'd invite you along with us, but I know Hunter's going to be at capacity at his place. Still, if you feel like making a trek out to Pittsburgh, I'm sure we could figure out a way to squeeze you in somewhere."

"Aw, Michael," Chihaya's expression melts and he feels all wiggly inside. "Thank you, I appreciate the offer. I wouldn't want to put Hunter out. I'll be ok, I promise."

"Good. When I see you next week, I expect to hear you had a nice, relaxing weekend, you hear me?" Michael's stern look is negated by the laughter in his voice and sparkle in his eye.

"Yes, sir," Chihaya laughs. "I should get to work before my boss docks my pay for slacking around."

"Oh yeah. Wouldn't want him to catch you slackin'." Michael laughed.

Chihaya was still laughing. He heads toward the back of the store and stops. "Thanks, Michael."

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The Emporium -- Monday morning

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