a/n: Anon asked: Promise me you'll come back! for Tom/Carl.

Disclaimer: Nope!

Title: now here, here now

Word Count: 317

Summary: It's time to get back to work. [tumblr prompt]


"I don't get it," said Carl after everything with the Pullulus. "We were technically released from duty. Right?'

Tom searched for another pen from somewhere inside his desk drawer – a vast black hole of a space full of crumpled receipts and half-chewed pen-caps and other office supplies. Much like his personal otherspace pocket these days, it appeared to have its own gravitational pull for trash.

He retrieved a sparkly gel pen. He shrugged. It would have to do.

The manuals had returned to their usual Senior-level size and the many companion copies were no longer massive fantasy books. Their living room was back to being their shared office, and now it meant dealing with more distractions than usual.

Heads bent over their respective copies with a nearly finished pot of coffee on the low table between them, their dogs slunk around the table and chair legs, grateful for the return of their owners.

Can we play now? Annie asked, head on Carl's knee.

"We're working," Carl told her. He scratched the top of her head. "Go keep Monty busy."

Monty looked up from Tom's feet. I'm not leaving.

"But I am to get more coffee." With the coffee pot in Tom's hands, he got to his feet and stretched his back. Carl made a face at the noises it made. He made a note in his manual for them to try the couple's yoga class at the nearby rec center. It was going to be hard for them to save the world with back pain. And hand cramps, he added, wincing at how stiff his fingers were.

Annie nudged her nose against Tom's knee, whimpering. Promise me you'll come back!

Carl sighed. Their dogs' new separation anxiety was going to become another issue.

He reached for Tom's hand as he walked by. "And when you do, come back in one piece."

"I'm surrounded by worrywarts," muttered Tom.