#I apologise for any typos and other mistakes I've been suffering from insomnia

[frospino]

Paper Clip-Shaped

Pairing: Artem Wing x Reader

Summary: You're exhausted from working overtime. Artem calls you out on it. For some reason, there's a bruise on your forehead. Fluff.

Word count: 1.836

A/N: Uuh this somehow turned from (stares at blank page) to "Hmm I have an idea" to "huh 1.800 words?!" Look, Artem is Awkward and Adorable and Handsome and Capable. In short, my type. w Here's some hugging and awkward situations with our favourite senior partner.

You could hear the rustling of paper as you gripped the documents of your recent case just a little too hard. You sighed and tried to smooth over the edges. Artem would hate the mess you just made of his files; you were sure of that.

It had been a few weeks since the senior attorney had officially asked you to be his partner. You had been honoured, delighted even, and had accepted his offer. You caught a glimpse of yourself in the monitor of your laptop, its stand-by lamp idly blinking, and the circles under your eyes were visible even in the reflection on the black screen. Maybe I should have thought about it just a little bit before accepting.

You loved working with Artem—his knowledge of the law, paired with an incredibly observant and sharp mind, meant you learned something new just by being around him every day. And there was this strange sense of… excitement when you were close to him that had nothing to do with work whatsoever. You hesitated to call it love. Artem was so guarded, and it was hard to figure him out most of the time. So for now, you referred to it as a “spark of something” in your mind. Not that you had the time to talk to anyone about your blossoming feelings for your boss.

Even though you loved being a lawyer, more-than-liked your boss and had enough ambition to further your career, the recent workload was simply too much. You sighed again, more dramatically this time, and let your head fall onto the table with a loud thunk. “Ow,” you whined at the sharp pain on your forehead, just to underline how tired and stupid you felt in that moment.

“Is everything alright?” A deep voice called out to you from the direction of the office door. Of course Artem would choose this exact moment to appear. You shot up, tried to straighten your blouse and turned around with what you hoped was a bright smile. “I’m good! I just, uh, hit one of my toes against the desk when I rolled closer with my chair. I was just a little clumsy, that’s all!” You silently prayed to Themis that Artem would buy your lie. You had no desire to explain your thoughts to him.

Any other person would have thought that Artem Wing looked impeccable as he stood in your doorway. A plain white mug with steaming coffee in hand, dress shirt still looking as if it had just been pressed, the knot in his tie done with precision. But the fact that he wasn’t wearing his suit jacket and his hair looked as if he had ruffled it in frustration just moments before told a different story. Apparently, even the mighty Artem Wing wasn’t completely immune to overtime.

Your partner looked at you as if he was expecting something, but when you weren’t offering anything else, he motioned with his hand in the general direction of your desk. “May I come in?”

You rubbed your eyes and held back the urge to cuss as you saw a smudge of mascara on your index finger. “Uh—sure.” You turned towards your desk and pretended to be busy with the documents in front of you as you tried to fix the worst of the makeup smudges under your eyes.

“Would you look at me for a moment?” Artem’s voice was laced with concern. Why did he enter your office? Was something troubling him? You blinked at yourself in the laptop screen a couple of times, decided that there was no fixing the makeup mess on your face, and turned towards your partner again. “Artem? Is everything alright?”

He stared at you in silence for a moment that stretched longer and longer, and you felt yourself blush as his azure eyes fixated on your forehead. “As I thought.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“You have a bruise on your forehead.” He gave the lightest tap to it with the index finger of his free hand, and you could feel a slight pain at the contact. “It’s paper clip shaped. Care to explain?”

“Pa-paper clip shaped…!?” From the corner of your eye, you saw the paper clip that had previously held the case documents together sitting smack in the middle of your desk, approximately where your head had rested just minutes before. You felt the puzzle pieces fall together, almost as if in an animated sequence in a mobile game, and felt tears begin to gather in your eyes. Here you were, alone at night in an office with your boss whom you absolutely had something for, and you had to explain to him that you gave yourself a paper clip-shaped bruise on your forehead because you wanted to be dramatic, because you were exhausted, and your mascara was probably drawing Picasso paintings all over your face, and really you were so unprofessional and it would be no wonder if he let you go tonight—

“Hey. Hey. Look at me. What’s wrong? How can I help?” Upon seeing your tears, Artem put the coffee mug on your desk and slowly took one of your hands in his. His whole body was stiff, as if he was unsure of what to do, but you were surprised to see a faint blush grace his handsome face. You took a deep breath in and did your best to force the tears back into the depth behind your eyes. “It’s okay. I’m just tired—”

“I’m sorry for interrupting you,” Artem’s voice cut through your explanation, “but if I’ve learned anything from working with Vyn, it’s that tears signal not just mere tiredness, but exhaustion. Why didn’t you say anything?” Artem’s brows were furrowed, and his lips were pulled down in a hint of a pout. He’s disappointed, was the first thing that shot through your head. He probably expected more of me.

“I’m sorry Artem, I—I’ll do better. I haven’t slept well these past days, but I will buy lots of “Rest Well”-tea this weekend, and I’ll perform better next week! I promise!”

Now it was Artem’s turn to sigh, and he pulled over one of the chairs in front of your desk to sit down next to you. “I’m not disappointed in you.” As always, he managed to see right through you. It felt as if in his work with Vyn, he had somehow developed mind-reading abilities, sometimes. “I’m disappointed in myself for not realising how exhausted you are.”

“But—but you don’t have to! I can take care of myself!”

“If you could, there would be no paper clip on your forehead right now, don’t you think?” He gave you a small smile, and in that moment, you wanted nothing more than to crawl into his arms and fall asleep right there. Even if the paper clip thing was incredibly embarrassing.

“As your senior, and your partner, it’s my duty to notice things like this. I should’ve known you’re overworking yourself. Instead, I gave you all these documents without setting a clear deadline. You probably thought I wanted these worked through by tomorrow, right?” Unsure of what to say, you just gave a nod as an answer. “Then it’s my fault. It’s fine if you take another day or two to prepare these. I know you have other cases as well. I apologise.”

You were stunned into silence at his words. You hadn’t ever heard Artem apologise like this before—probably because Artem usually didn’t make mistakes, and the only other person he was close to in the office appeared to be Celestine. Artem’s eyes were still on yours, and you noticed that he kept shifting his posture as he was waiting for you to speak. He was still holding your hand, and a warm feeling spread through your entire body. Finally, your brain remembered how to speak. “You have nothing to apologise for. I just… I just wanted to impress you.”

At your confession, his eyes widened, and the blush on his face intensified. “Y-you do. You impress me every day. I wouldn’t have asked you to be my partner otherwise.”

Both of you continued to look at each other, a tired but sincere smile on your faces. You were glad that Kiki wasn’t there to witness this moment, or the gossip wheels of Themis surely would start working on their highest settings…

“Artem, this might be a weird request, but. Can I hug you? I could really use a hug right now.” Before you even registered what you were saying, the words had left your mouth. As you were still scrambling your brain for an apology, trying to find a way to blame it on your exhaustion, you felt a pair of strong arms wrap around your body. Artem’s heartbeat was palpable against your body, and you could swear your hearts synchronised for a moment. His warm breath caressed your cheek as he whispered, “I wanted to offer before, but I didn’t know how to say it without overstepping boundaries…” It was all the confirmation you needed. You hugged him back, inhaling deeply, trying to memorise his scent. Who knew if you’d get another moment like this? Maybe tomorrow, you would both wake up and wonder how this could have happened. But for now, you felt safe and secure in Artem Wing’s arms, and tried to stretch the moment for as long as you could.

When you both eventually pulled back, you saw Artem’s eyes linger on your lips for the briefest moment—but before you could react, he stood up straight and cleared his throat. “A-anyway. You should really go to sleep now. If you can arrange it, I give you permission to come in later tomorrow too, so make sure to get eight hours of sleep. Do you need a ride home?”

As he gave his little speech, Artem’s eyes remained fixed on the floor in front of you, and he kept sliding his watch up and down his wrist.

“If you have time, that would be wonderful. I’ll just quickly make sure these documents are locked away…?” You let your sentence trail off, trying to give Artem an out if he wanted to take it.

“Yes. Of course. The least I can do is make sure to get you home safely.”

You thanked him and quickly put the files into a secure drawer. You scanned your desk one more time, but decided you would clean up the mess tomorrow. Artem, always the gentleman, held up your office door for you, and the both of you walked towards his car, silent and seemingly lost in your own thoughts.

(The next day, Celestine was surprised to find a screenshot of security camera footage on her desk. She couldn’t remember requesting it for any of her cases. As she took a closer look, she smiled to herself. There is hope for him yet, she thought, as she destroyed all evidence of the previous night.)