The day had already been going slowly as is, but fuck, was Charlie tired.

He had just been dealing with this awful customer, and he got it of course—in this business all his customers, or well most of them, were grieving. He didn't fault them for that. But some of them? God they just got on Charlie’s nerves.

It would all be worth it when he could end for the day and get his friend from the back room morgue and they could drive home. Well Charlie would drive, his friend couldn't, and while Charlie had thought about giving lessons, last time he'd tried, his friend had gotten so nervous that Charlie decided it wasn't worth the stress.

Charlie finished at the front desk and went into the back room. His friend was there, putting makeup on the cadaver to make it look alive. They didn't even look up, just appeared tired. So Charlie helped put the cadaver away.

"Ready to go home, love?" Charlie softly asked, leaning in close to their neck as he pulled them near, his hands resting gently on their stomach. They'd both changed into their street clothing by now. Charlie used pet names constantly, which only fueled everyone's assumptions that they were dating. But they weren't, not yet. Their relationship was complicated.

Charlie softly kissed the top of their head. "Let's go to the car, sweet boy, hm?" He said as he laced their fingers together, leading them toward the exit.