Odi Et Amo | CORIOLANUS SNOW

10 | each breath you take

WORD COUNT: 3520

TW: Description of a panic attack. If you wish to skip it, read until "Understanding, then pain, then guilt, then panic" and from "decided to try something. Anything."

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HOURS OF WORK passed by unnoticed, keeping Kyra distracted from the undeniable awkwardness of being in Sejanus's room with Coriolanus. Spending time with the man she hated in the place where she had spent so much time with the man she loved was perhaps the most guilt-ridden she had ever felt, but focusing on the work helped. Slightly.

Unfortunately, now late into the evening, Kyra found herself struggling to stay focused as the tiredness crept upon her, despite how desperately she wished to finish her script tonight. Once it was done, all that was left would be practising the presentation, and then she could go back to pretending Coriolanus didn't exist. Something her body didn't seem to understand as it continued to betray her through loud yawns and fluttering eyes.

After the sixth or seventh yawn, Coriolanus dropped his pen and swivelled his chair towards the tired woman lounging on his bed, teasing, "Hopefully Dr Gaul doesn't yawn this much when she hears your script."

Kyra opened her mouth to respond, before being interrupted by another yawn.

Coriolanus chuckled as he turned back to his desk, picking up his pen and teasing, "Perhaps you should head home."

"No, no, I'm fine. I want to get this done tonight." Kyra insisted, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head in an attempt to shake away the fatigue.

"It's completely fine if you can't keep up, Tanwen." Coriolanus spoke nonchalantly, but Kyra could hear the taunting in his voice. Challenging her to keep up with him. Motivating her to keep working.

"Funny. I just need to take my eyes off the page for a moment, I've been staring at it too long. Can you read through what I've got so far? I want to make sure it flows with what you've written." Kyra asked as she held out the notepad.

"Hopefully you didn't put any cake related puns in this..." Coriolanus mumbled playfully, accepting the notepad and turning towards it, while eyeing Kyra knowingly.

"If someone had helped fill the awkward silence, I wouldn't have had to resort to bad jokes." Kyra protested with a roll of her eyes, laying down on the bed and staring up at the ceiling as she waited for Coriolanus to finish reading.

The amused man elected not to respond, instead letting his eyes scan over the lengthy script. He took his time reading her carefully crafted words, comparing them to his own, and was wonderfully surprised by how well their scripts flowed together. They had not communicated that much during the hours of work, so it was impressive to see how easily their minds had wandered down the same path. Mindlessly, as he read, Coriolanus's hand that had been resting on his desk slipped to Kyra's thigh, gently rubbing her bare skin in a subconscious attempt to keep his hands busy.

When Coriolanus finished, he turned back to Kyra once again, "This is per-"

He cut himself off at the sight of the soundly sleeping girl. With nothing to occupy her mind and Coriolanus's strangely soothing touch, it had been impossible not to drift off, now asleep atop Coriolanus's bed with her blouse slightly unbuttoned and skirt hitched up her thighs, pen still dangling from her limp fingers.