Their routine, however mundane, had been mastered through years of repetition to the point of perfection.
Lukas always woke first. He'd put the kettle on with bleary eyes as he tried to locate his stethoscope and hospital ID from wherever it'd been stranded the night before. With a mug of coffee in front of him and a slice of buttered toast in hand, he'd nearly always be skimming through one of Emil's novel manuscripts (he was always the first to read them - even before Emil's editor) or a medical journal. Regardless of which it was, he'd have his eyebrows furrowed as he either crossed out and corrected typos, or made amendments to suggested Amoxicillin dosages.
Almost twenty minutes later, ten minutes or so before Lukas had to catch his train, Mathias would stumble out of their bedroom, a grin on his face as he smelt the coffee. He insisted that, before Lukas go, he needed to have at least three kisses. Something about how it 'helped him to cope with hyperactive thirteen year old students'.
"Honestly," Lukas muttered, pushing his glasses up absentmindedly, "I don't know how you teach. Your students have the same mental age as you." To this, Mathias simply smiled to himself and hummed as he dumped spoonful after spoonful of sugar into his Legoland mug.
It would be exactly thirteen minutes later that Lukas swore, leaping to his feet as the chair skittered back, racing to plant a kiss on Matthias' cheek, before dashing out of the door to get his train. As a Registrar, his time was stretched thin and even being a few minutes late would mean missing the start of board rounds. Mathias would snicker as he dashed off, thanking his lucky stars that he didn't need to be in for work at seven thirty in the morning. Lukas criticised the teaching profession, but at least Mathias could understand what was going on in his student's History homework and get a lay in.
Within half an hour, Mathias would've downed two mugs of sugary coffee, sent several texts to Lukas (Love you Lu! Stay safe, don't lose any kidneys!), and received several in return (Endocrinology doesn't involve surgery, Mat. Love you too.), before getting dressed, leaving some treats out for Cthulhu the cat, and locking the front door to drive to Greengrove Academy. Last time he hadn't left food out for Cthulhu, the evil little albino creature had torn up one of his ties, peed on his paperwork and trailed wet paw prints over one of his student's books. Needless to say, Mathias wasn't impressed (although Lukas had found it hilarious).
"Can anyone define 'nationalism'?" Mathias asked his class. Thirty two blank faces stared back at him.
"It looks more like a problem for ENT now," Lukas snapped, "so send it to them. Alfred! Go pick up the file from Radiology." Alfred, of course, whinged to no end at that, and Kiku's eyebrows were furrowed as he took the patient files to ENT, but Lukas was certain that he'd made the right call.
During their lunch breaks, Lukas multitasked to no end. While typing up one of the discharge reports, he absentmindedly ate a bowl of cold, rubbery pasta that Alfred, the junior doctor, had picked up for him, and texted Mathias. The Dane would sit at his desk, firing paper aeroplanes back at students with a laugh, eating chilli con carne from the school canteen while messaging Lukas back.
Hows it goin? :D
Read: 12:37
I literally hate everyone here. You?
Read: 12:38
Not too bad! :] Are you eating somethin?
Read: 12:38
Yes, although I'm not sure that this shit is actually edible.
Read: 12:38
Good coz you forget to eat! :( glad you are though :D how annoying are the staff?
Read: 12:39
Rather... Although that's to be expected. How's the homework grading? Don't forget that meeting later.
Read: 12:41
They think Imperialism is something to do with Star Wars + thx for reminding me!
Read: 12:41
At this point, Mathias usually received no response - Lukas often got whisked away to radiology, cardiology or something else-ology. Slipping his phone into his shirt pocket and pushing his glasses back up, he would return to the staff room to wash up his plate.
"It vaguely disgusts me that you have history department 'banter'," Arthur sniffed as he cradled his mug of tea, legs tucked up underneath him.
"Are you telling me that the English department doesn't make weird references to Macbeth or shit in their spare time?" Mathias retorted, grinning. He, Professor Kirkland and Doctor Beilschmidt had a vast amount of inside jokes - the rest of the teaching body had given up on trying to understand what went on in their minds. Professor Kirkland spluttered at that - a clear sign that the English department did indeed have banter. Unceremoniously dumping Arthur's books on the coffee table to clear the other half of the sofa, he plopped down beside him.
Gilbert ran in not too long after, lab coat disintegrating with every step. Arthur and Mat exchanged a look, before bursting into laughter. The German would later explain that he'd tried to wipe up a Hydrochloric acid spill with his lab coat, and the whole thing had corroded.
Sorry for not replying. You have a meeting now.
Read: 12:59
Mathias swore, setting his mug down and dashing off, to the confusion of Arthur and Gilbert, who were in the midst of arranging a night of drinks - something Mat was always up for.
Lukas looked down at his phone, a small smile on his face, as he imagined just what was happening at the other end. It was then that he remembered that he had a blood test to pick up and, begrudgingly, headed down to A&E to collect it.
"Looks like your potassium levels are back to baseline, so you're medically fit for discharge." He snapped the file shut and returned it to the plastic holder by the young lady's bedside. The Hungarian girl cheered, packing up her bags and grabbing her suitcase.
"Thanks for getting this sorted so fast," she said, "I would've missed my flight otherwise." There was a horrible moment when he thought she might try to hug him, but he dashed off before she could make any attempt. Returning to the team room (a stupid name), he almost jumped when Peter Kirkland, the work experience boy, was spinning around on one of the chairs. The only reason he'd begrudgingly allowed him to be there was because his older brother was friends with Mathias.
"Hey Dr K-B!" he said, far too happy for two thirty in the afternoon. "What's hypernaetremia?"
"High sodium," he replied, returning to his seat. The boy scrawled down the response in his little notebook of illegible chicken scratch. Lukas was halfway through another report when the barrage of questions began.
"So how about hypovolemia? What does MFFD mean?"
"Why don't you ask Doctor Braginski if you can observe his clinic?" Lukas said quickly. "Go ask at the ward reception, I'm sure he won't mind."
Day goin well? :D
Read: 3:02
Probably not as well as you, considering you've finished teaching.
Read: 3:03
How was your meeting?
Read: 3:03
Boring! Thanks tho. What time u finishing? I'll pick u up?
Read: 3:04
About six, I hope. Tell Arthur his brother is annoying.
Read: 3:05
He knows.. trust me :D see u 6
Read: 3:07
At about quarter past six, Lukas would hurry out of the hospital double doors, coat flapping behind him - Mat always noted when he'd forgotten to do it up in what was, presumably, his haste to get the hell out of there.
"Sorry I'm late," he muttered once he was in the passenger seat. "I got lumbered with Alfred's work. He doesn't have the attention span for this." Mat snorted - Alfred had been scatterbrained since they were in school; he was a few years below Mat and Lukas and they both knew that Al was infamous for the heists he pulled, which varied from painting the school red, white and blue, to bubblewrapping a classroom.
The drive home was mostly quiet, although Lukas bought Chinese takeout as a 'treat', which happened far too often for it to be considered so, but neither of them complained, for neither of them could actually cook; takeout, dining out and being invited to friend's was the only reason they hadn't starved. They would eat it in front of the TV with a rerun of 'Breaking Bad' or 'Family Guy' on, which neither of them would actually watch. Lukas' feet in Mathias' lap, they would take it in turns to complain about their day - Mathias would grumble on occasion about having to mark essays, while Lukas would, if prompted, slate Alfred for a good half an hour, or find flaws in someone else's work if Alfred weren't in that day.
Reasonably often, their day would come to an end with Mathias initiating sex or, as he liked to call it, 'making love'. The phrase made Lukas cringe slightly ('it isn't the thought of it Mat, don't look so offended.') so, wherever possible, Mathias would make a point of using it. Once the night drew in, however, Lukas certainly didn't complain.
"You know I love you, right?" Lukas mumbled into Mat's chest once they'd showered and returned to their slightly chilly bedroom.
"Yeah," Mathias replied, arms around Lukas' waist as he rested his chin on the Norwegian's head, Cthulhu traumatising him slightly when he'd jumped onto their bed. "Night Lu."
"Goodnight Mat."
This is just a short drabble I've been contemplating for a while; it's hardly a story but have it anyway. There's always room for more DenNor in the world. Sorry that the ending is a bit shit; its past midnight and I just wanted it done! This will also be posted on my Wattpad account, galaxygirl2012. Sorry if the formatting is off!