Big Book Of Parvill One Shots

Dead Silence (S)

TW: Mild Angst

Sleep has a funny way of sneaking up on him. Typically he stays awake for somewhere around 30 to 40 hours before he dozes off, sat against a wall, leaning against machinery, or asleep at his desk. It's not like he doesn't feel tired after being awake for 20 or so hours, it's just that he powers through it, until his exhaustion overcomes him. He works like a machine, noticing his proverbial batteries are low when his yawns became more frequent or he starts to rub his eyes. He simply adjusts though, double-checking and triple-checking his work when he's tired. It takes longer to get things done, but he has time. He prefers accuracy, no mistakes, he doesn't like coming back to what's supposed to be a finished project.

The inconvenient parts of quite literally passing out during work are just that though, when he wakes again he has to pick up the pieces. Unfinished machinery is accident prone, and more than that Strife has to recall what exactly he'd been doing, after 6 or so hours of sleep. He loathes to sleep. There's nothing more frustrating than losing control of his own person, being unable to finish the projects he's been working on.

He doesn't quite mean to, but he befriends Parvis, who's a handful, to say the least. He's reckless and immature and can be a huge idiot, but Strife knows he's not as stupid as he seems. Parv's manipulative, cunning, and surprisingly capable. It's these traits that Will pretends not to notice, pretends that they don't remind him a little of himself.

It's not really a "friendship" but more of a comfortable symbiosis, they use each other for their own benefit. Strife needs time off from his projects, and Parv needs someone to build things for him and clean up after him. It's kind of like how bacteria in your gut helps you digest food, and in return gets an all they can eat buffet.

Parv's like intestinal bacteria.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

And while it's generally a mutually beneficial arrangement, Strife has never really expected Parv to do anything even in the realm of friendly. Parv invites him over to clean up after that bloody pickaxe, makes sure Will's not dead so he can have someone fight off hordes of creepy mer-people or whatever, but it's always because Parv needs him, and, even then, it doesn't seem like he's willing to put too much effort into it.

So when Strife falls asleep against a crafting station, copper wiring and other tech still clutched in his hands, and he wakes up to Parv's obnoxious voice shouting at him, he's more than a little confused.

"What are you doing here?" He manages as he rubs his eyes into wakefulness. "Did the witches get loose or something?"

"No!" Parv says indignantly, "I –"

"Parvis, I told you to get rid of that fucking pickaxe, you're not supposed to use –"

"I didn't break anything!" Parv shouts at him. Then amends, "Recently."

"Then, what are you doing here?"

There's a moment of silence as Parvis stares at him, Will only feeling increasingly confused. Concern touches Parv's face, drawing his eyebrows together and the corners of his mouth down. It's not really an emotion he's seen on Parv, the closest thing to it might be annoyance or frustration when rituals and tech don't work 'right' because he's failed to research them. Seeing this now, on him, Will's not sure how to feel about it.

Finally, Parv disturbs the silence. He has his arms crossed and his eyes are wandering around the room. "Where have you been?"

Will gently put his things down, and stands. His clothes are mussed and wrinkled, he's in desperate need of shower, and he's baffled that Parv is here. Without any idea of how to respond, he doesn't. Where has he been? It seems like such a strange question. He's been here, at Parv's too, he's been working hard on his tower and occasionally taking time to help Parv dig himself a grave with blood magic. That's where he's been.