Work Text:
Max arrived at Vinh’s apartment in the early evening, easily finding the spare key hidden above the door, exactly where he’d said it would be. She walked in, balancing the package of mexican takeout food in one hand and closing the door behind her with the other, then set it on the kitchen counter.
She looked at the time on her phone, he would arrive at any moment. And ended up peeking at their last message they had sent.
Vinh: I'm going to be late by half an hour or so... See you in my place?
Max: I order us some food. The key is in the same spot?
Vinh: Yep.
They hadn't had the chance to see each other all day. First, she had to leave early for her class and then he canceled lunch because of some busy work his new boss imposed on him. But at least the evening was theirs and she was happy that they could spend it together.
Max ended up going back to some messages from earlier that day just to pass the time.
Max: Is it allowed to miss Yasmin yet?
Vinh: Is the new administrator making your life hell too?
Max: He came to one of my seminars today. I could feel him judging me through his glasses.
Max: I almost felt like in high school, giving a presentation. Tell me I'm not the only one struggling to stay in this man's good graces.
Vinh: Yeah. Don't worry. Others teachers are walking on their toes with him too. And as for me, he's really making me run for my money.
Vinh: Do you mind changing our lunch together to dinner?
Max: Our lovely new boss again?
Vinh: He told me to check all the most useless files. I figured I could use my lunch hour to get ahead on the job.
Max: Geez, good luck.
Vinh: I promise to make it up to you later.
Max: You better.
She was excited, but she was trying to convince herself that it wasn't just about his tempting promise, even though it was that too. The day had just been tough, their new boss was kind of a dick with an ego 5 times bigger than Lucas' and she needed some time with her favorite person to clear her head. Drinking, eating, laughing, kissing and forgetting about their adult lives for a few hours.
Max put away her phone and began to wander around the apartment. The last time she was here, they were too busy taking off their clothes to pay attention to anything else. It was a small but cozy space, too well kept and tidy for a man living alone, but somehow it felt just like Vinh and she loved it.
She picked up the picture frame from the shelf and looked at the family photo. Vinh was with his mother, father, brother, and the old lady in the middle looks like his grandmother, who she had heard had passed away a few years ago. They were all smiling, so Max smiled too. Even though he tries to hide it, never talking about his family or their scattered relationship, Max likes seeing this sweet side of Vinh, he still keeps them close even after all these years.
Max left the picture frame in place when she heard the sound of keys moving in the door. Her boyfriend is finally home.
"Hey, babe."
"Hey there," he smiled at her, but walked in a bit unsteadily, slowly, and at first Max thought he might be drunk, but then she noticed how pale his face was.
"Everything okay?"
"I'm fine. Just... tired."
Vinh tried to keep his cute smile, but he wasn't okay, and deep down, she knew it. Max stepped forward, her smile diluting into a grimace of concern and the world began to blur at the edges. Vinh took a deep breath and, as his hands began to shake, he try to steady himself.
"Vinh?"
He leaned against the wall beside him, hoping to regain his balance, barely able to hear the desperate tone of his girlfriend’s voice. The dizziness intensified, and his legs gave out beneath him, the world spinning.
He was suddenly falling, and Max took a long step forward to try to catch him. The horror growing as he crumpled bonelessly in her open arms.
“Vinh!”
Max’s mind was racing, her heart hammering against her chest as she guided Vinh to the couch. The man’s eyes were squeezed shut in concentration, as if he could force the strength back into his body. His feet moved haphazardly, but still good enough to support the weight of the rest of him. He was too heavy and Max could barely stand, but determination, adrenaline, love, or whatever, gave her the extra energy to keep him moving.
Finally Vinh collapsed onto the couch, sinking against the cushions, his chest rising and falling in shallow breaths, his eyes fluttering and unfocused, a silent battle within him.
It was scary, too much to put into words, even knowing what's going on, what he had. Especially because she knew. Low level of blood sugar, that's what it called, right.
They usually never talk about it. Vinh hates pity, so he excludes this part of his life from everyone, even from Max, pretends it's nothing and trying to deal with everything by himself...
Well, for the first time he can't do that on his own and she has no idea what she should be doing.
“Vinh, what do I do?" She touches his face softly, trying to keep her voice, her feelings, under control. "What do you need?”
“Glucose tablets. In the kitchen,” he managed to say.
Vinh barely noticed Max leave and she was already back with a bottle in her hand.
“Here, open your mouth.”
With a gentle nod, Vinh parted his lips, and Max placed the tablets on his tongue.
His eyes then close, his breathing still shallow, as he waited for the sugar to work its magic. And when the pills slowly dissolved enough, with a grimace, Vinh swallowed.
His eyes fluttered open and he tried to focus on Max's face, "It's okay. It's going to be okay." He told her, as if she was the one who needed care and support.
"How long does it take to kick in?"
"10, maybe 15 minutes."
Max sits on the couch and Vinh rests his head on her lap. She caresses his face and hair, feeling a strange mix of emotions. Relief that Vinh is starting to breathe a little better. Fear for this episode they had just - and still - experiencing. And sadness for not knowing what else to do for him.
"Is your nose bleeding?" he mumbled suddenly, his voice little more than a whisper.
"Uh? Shit." Max wipes her nose with one hand, she hadn't even noticed that before. "I, uh, I froze time, to find your pills..."
"What?" His confused voice made her look back at her boyfriend, but when their eyes met, despite the weakness, a genuine smile appeared on his face. "That's cool."
Max smiles and nods softly, then goes back to smoothing his hair as Vinh's eyes remained closed for a moment, but the color was slowly returning to his cheeks.
Max didn't even notice the time passing as she took care of him and twenty minutes go by before Vinh's hands reached out to her, strong enough to touch her face, wiping a stray tear trapped in the corner of her eye.
The tension in the room seemed to ease a little, the weight of what happened settling in amidst feelings of love and care.
"For disclaimer..." Vinh suddenly said, his voice much steady than before. "This isn't how I planned to make it up to you tonight."
"You sure know how to make a girl's heart flutter."
Vinh chuckled softly at the joke and she smiled too, a little bit of normality returning to them.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, Max’s eyes searched his now that it feel more focused.
"Better."
"Do you need anything?"
"To increase my sugar levels? Maybe a few of your sweet kisses will be enough."
She leaned down to give him a quick peck on the lips, so quick and soft he could barely feel it. Vinh pouted, clearly waiting for more.
"I'm serious, Vinh. This is all new for me. I need to know how to actually help you."
He hesitated, not used to having someone taking care of him at times like these. But something in Max’s eyes made him relax, and he allowed himself to be hers this time around.
"I need to eat soon," he sighed. "But I really don't feel like it right now."
"But you need it, right."
"Yeah."
Vinh suddenly decided to sit up, struggling to do so, and Max moved to help him. He seemed reluctant at first, but soon allowed her to. They worked together to move him then, with Vinh still weak, they ended up hugging each other, him resting his head on her shoulder for a second.
"Sorry."
"It's okay."
They looked at each other, and Max gave him another peck on the lips. Simple but enough to make him smile.
"So what do you usually feel like eating? Not the Mexican food I bought for us I assume." Max gets up and goes to the kitchen.
"Not yet, no. Maybe later. Let's start easy," he said. "There's juice in the fridge that should be good."
When Max came back with a full glass for him, Vinh was already making himself comfortable on the couch. She sat down and helped him with each sip. At the half of it she let him drink the rest on it own.
When he finished, Vinh looked to the side to notice her still looking at him and their eyes met for a second before Max looked away, but he couldn't help but see the worried expression still on her face.
"Max, you can talk, you know."
"I just... What would even happen if I wasn't here?"
"I'd drag myself to the kitchen, take my glucose tablets, grab the first thing I could find in the fridge, and sit on the floor until it passed. It works every time."
"Uh, your pills weren't in the kitchen. They were in the bathroom. I had to search the whole apartment to find them."
"Oh..."
"Yeah."
“So I didn’t know you could 'freeze time'.” Vinh tried to start a normal conversation, or as normal as possible when it comes to super powers as a subject.
“I don’t have much control over it. This only really happens when I’m freaking out.”
"And has it happened a lot in the past?"
"Only two other times." She replied, and then she peeked over and noticed his expression, questioning with his eyes, she sighed. "Two of my friends almost dying."
Vinh's smile fade, almost as if she had called him out, "Hey, you sound like I'm falling into my grave already."
"Surely that's what it felt like for a moment."
He took her hand in his, stroking it with confidence, showing that he was better. And Max looked at him again, almost with puppy eyes.
"Come on, that only happened because I skipped lunch and I had a hell of a day." he said. "Everything is under control, I promise."
“I just... never thought I’d see you like this,” she confesses. "And we never really talked about it. So, it hit hard."
"But I'm fine," he brings his hand to her face, his thumb stroking her cheek softly. "I'll pay attention to my glucose levels, eat very well, get some rest, cuddle with you all night, and tomorrow it'll be like nothing ever happened."
"You better."
Max gently pull him towards her. Lips on his with desire, thirsty and dedicated, soft with all the care. He hurriedly returned it and matched her pace, one hand still cradling her cheek while the other hugged her and brought her closer.
When they broke the kiss, she couldn't take her loving eyes off of him while his were still closed in daze and he let out a sigh with a smile.
"That's it. So sweet that it could heal anything."
Max smiled too, letting herself be carried away by Vinh's flirting and the relief of seeing him okay, and then, gently, pulled him back for one more sweet kiss.