Chapter Text
As the days slid by, Jackal and Mozzie's...what would you call it? Friendship? It felt a little closer than a friendship, but not quite a romantic relationship. So what was it then? Mozzie had no idea. He was confused on his status with the Spaniard, but even so, their bond grew as he continued to spend nights with the taller man; cuddled under the blankets as a single comfortable mass.
Jackal commented on how much better he had been sleeping since Mozzie decided to give him nightly visits, which only further encouraged the Aussie to stay with him. If he was sleeping better, that meant he didn't suffer from the effects of insomnia, which also meant that he could perform better on his mission. Which he did indeed.
Mozzie and Jackal had gone on more missions as partners (along with other ops, of course) and they had been successful on every single one of them so far. No bombs detonating, no wounded teammates, no dead hostages. Mozzie noticed as time passed that Jackal had become even more happy and affectionate, if that were even possible. He smiled at everything everyone said--especially if that someone was Mozzie--and laughed at the stupidest jokes hi teammates had to offer. As for the affection, Jackal always seemed to find some excuse to drape his arm around Mozzie, or put his hand on his shoulder, or occasionally even swallow the Aussie in a hug. At first Mozzie didn't know how to react to it, normally laughing awkwardly and standing still until Jackal stopped touching him. Or other times he did his best to ignore the physical contact by talking to someone nearby or play on his phone. But after a while, he grew used to it and even anticipated when Jackal was going in for a hug. In fact, he had started to hug back most of the time, too.
As for today, it was early in the morning and Mozzie has decided he wanted a big breakfast right that second, so he peeled himself out from under the Spaniard who was still snoring away into his pillow. Luckily, Mozzie slept in a white tank top and his underwear so all he had to do was put on sweats over his boxers to get his food. He glanced over at Jackal once he had dressed to see if he was still asleep, which he was.
The Spaniard liked to sleep in sweats and no shirt and Mozzie found himself staring at Jackal's bare chest as it rose and fell. He tilted his head slightly to the side as his eyes slid down to the part of Jackal's stomach that was exposed from under the covers. He watched the toned muscles move ever so slightly with his breathing and Mozzie shook his head to make him focus on the task at hand; breakfast was calling his name.
He made his way out into the messhall to find only a couple operators there. Vigil, Thatcher, Ash, and Finka were strewed across the several tables quietly eating their breakfasts. Mozzie shuffled his way over to the counter and picked out his meal: two portions of oatmeal, toast with jam, an orange, complete with a tea with added honey.
After scarfing down his food he put away his tray and made his way back to Jackal's room, wanting to see if he was awake yet since he didn't come out for breakfast. He quietly opened the door, without so much of a knock, to find the Spaniard still completely asleep. He had shifted positions and how laid facing toward Mozzie with his pillow over his head, but his snores still very much audible.
Mozzie chuckled and shook his head as he approached the bed. Luckily it was a day off for the two of them so Jackal could sleep in this late. Mozzie sat at the edge of the bed by Jackal and stared down at the pillow where his face should be. He poked the pillow, hoping it reached the other man's face. Jackal didn't react. Unsatisfied, Mozzie poked again, this time harder, which led to Jackal's snoring to stop. Mozzie poked again and finally Jackal lifted an arm to move the pillow off his head.
His sleepy eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room and wandered over the surroundings until finally settling on Mozzie. A smile instantly bloomed on his face as he saw the other man and he reached his arm out to poke Mozzie back. Mozzie smiled in return and scoffed as Jackal poked his arm instead of his face since he couldn't reach it laying down.
"Why are you up so early, amigo?" Jackal asked.
"I really wanted breakfast; just a huge fuckin' meal for some reason. And now that I have, I'm fat and happy." Mozzie replied, grinning.
Jackal grinned back and without warning, sat up and reached out for Mozzie, grabbing his arms and forcing him to flop down on top of the Spaniard. "What the--hey!" Mozzie barked a little too late. "Dammit, don't surprise attack me like that." The small man hissed as he glared at Jackal.
Jackal giggled and shifted to make himself more comfortable with the added weight on him, "sorry, sorry. I just wanted to cuddle you before getting up for the day. I want to be a little lazy since it's our day off."
"Hmph, fine, alright. I'll stay for a few minutes but then I want to go be productive." Mozzie stated.
"I suppose we should be, yes." Jackal grumbled, sounding none too happy about getting to work.
Mozzie sighed and stared at the door as he rested his head against the taller man. After a moment of spacing out, he remembered the name Jackal had mumbled to him on their failed hostage mission. He debated if now was really the right time to bring it up, but decided to take the leap anyway, "so who is Faisal?"
Mozzie felt Jackal tense under him as he cleared his throat, "oh. He is my brother. I mean, was." He said quietly.
Mozzie sat up, "oh shit mate, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked." He apologized quickly, now wanting to leave the room.
Jackal wrapped his arms around the smaller man in response, "it's okay, my bug, you didn't know." He replied, smiling gently.
Mozzie sighed and slowly lowered back against the Spaniard, "how long has he been gone?"
"too long," he replied. Mozzie felt Jackal dig his fingers into his shirt, not enough to dig into his skin but enough to cause the fabric to start to bundle under his grip.
The Aussie cleared his throat, "Jackal?"
Jackal came back to his senses and released his curling grip as he flicked his gaze to Mozzie's face, "oh. Sorry, mi amor."
"Mi amor?" Mozzie tried to repeat, "what's it mean?"
Jackal blinked then smiled wide and laughed, "oh, nothing, it's just a term of endearment."
"Oh, okay." Mozzie smiled, confused why the Spaniard laughed. The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, saying nothing and just watching each other's faces.
Jackal was the one to finally break the silence, "Ah, you know what? Since today is one of the rare days we have off, why don't we go to a nice restaurant in town, hm?"
"A nice restaurant, eh? You taking me on a date or somethin'?" Mozzie teased.
"Well, yes, in fact. I will pay for you, you can have whatever you want. Even dessert!" The Spaniard replied excitedly.
Mozzie's eyes widened in surprise. He was joking about it being a date, but now that he knew Jackal was serious he felt butterflies in his stomach. Him on a date with Jackal. Had he secretly been wanting this all along? He still didn't know how he felt about Jackal; his feelings were so mixed up. Even so, he decided he was excited for this date.
"Even dessert? Well fuck me, sign me up!" He grinned.
Jackal smirked, "fuck you, hm? Maybe after a few more dates." He laughed at his own joke and rolled onto his side so he could get off the bed.
Mozzie allowed himself to be rolled over to the side as Jackal got up, now in shock from Jackal's lewd joke. He felt his cheeks heat up in his embarrassment and decided to bury his face in Jackal's pillow to hide it. As he did, he mentally noted that Jackal's pillow smelled of spice and a hint of cologne.
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Later that day, the two split off into their rooms to change for their date. Mozzie decided to dress in nice clothes for out on the town but avoided dressing too fancy like he would if he were heading to a wedding or something.
He settled on an orange formal button-up shirt with a simple black tie along with the cleanest and newest-looking blue jeans he owned. He did a quick check in the mirror before heading out the door to meet Jackal.
Jackal, meanwhile, was still in his room pacing back and forth in front of the mirror. He was dressed in a purple dress shirt with a black vest over top of it, finished with a white tie. He also put on black khakis that he saved for special occasions but now he was worried it was too much. Did he look too fancy? Would Mozzie make fun of him for dressing like this? Or on the flip side, he didn't want Mozzie to feel embarrassed about himself if he happened to dresse more casual than Jackal.
As he was debating, there was a knock on his door. He jumped slightly and sighed in relief after realizing it was just the door, walking over to open it. Mozzie was standing in the doorway, grinning excitedly, "damn, look at you!"
Jackal blushed and coughed awkwardly, "you don't think it's too much? Too fancy?"
"Hell no, you look fucking great!" Mozzie said, then stopped and looked away, "I mean, uh, yeah."
Jackal smiled, relieved that Mozzie liked his outfit--loved it, even. "Well then, the Mozzie has spoken. Ready to go?" Mozzie nodded in response and the two left the base.
-----
Jackal had the perfect restaurant in mind as the two walked down the busy street. "I know of this amazing Italian restaurant just up the street here. Let's hope it's not too busy." The two men approached the restaurant to see that there was no long line to wait in, in fact they were able to get seats right away.
Mozzie sat down in on the booth and purposely did a little bounce on the cushion in his excitement. He had never been to this place before so he was eager to try it out. Jackal slipped in on the opposite side and chuckled at Mozzie's childish enthusiasm.
The waitress flashed a smile as she handed them their menus, making sure to take a few seconds longer to give one to Jackal so she could ogle at him. Jackal either didn't notice or didn't mind as he smiled back innocently and took the menu from her.
Mozzie raised an eyebrow but said nothing and instead began to flip through the menu. The two settled on what they wanted and called the waitress to take their order.
"Okay! Good choice." The waitress replied, looking right at Jackal as she flashed a smile, fully ignoring Mozzie's presence.
Jackal smiled weakly, "ah, thank you, I suppose. He helped me choose it." He said, looking over at Mozzie.
The waitress glanced over at the Aussie and flicked an eyebrow up for a split second before smiling once again, "then you have good taste." She said in a fake friendly way before walking away.
Mozzie looked at Jackal with raised brows. Jackal merely shrugged in response.
The two men chatted as they waited for their food, talking about this and that; the weather, sports, what super power they would have, and anything else in between.
The waitress then returned with their plates of food and as she set Jackal's in front of him, she grinned and placed a small salad bowl by his plate, "another side salad for you; complementary from the, uh, chef!"
"Oh, thank you." Jackal smiled and gave her a small nod, "give him my thanks." The waitress grinned even more--if that was possible--and trotted away.
Mozzie scoffed, "complimentary from the chef, my arse. That girl is fucking desperate."
Jackal chuckled and jabbed his fork into his free salad, "yes she is, poor thing. I feel bad for not being interested."
"Not that she would understand that anyway." Mozzie replied.
"Hm, you're right." Jackal mumbled, staring off at the waitress who was now across the room. He smirked to himself and began to dig into his food as a sudden plan hatched in the back of his mind.
After the pair was finished, the waitress came to retrieve the plates, "so, anything for dessert?" She asked Jackal directly. Mozzie rolled his eyes and rested his chin on his hand with his arm propped up on the table.
Jackal nodded, "yes, actually. Today is me and my boyfriend's anniversary, so we'd like to share a slice of your finest chocolate cake. I've heard it's amazing." He grinned innocently up at the waitress.
Mozzie watched as the waitress's shoulders dropped and as her mouth hung open an inch before she forcefully closed it again, "o-oh! Congratulations, you two! I'll go get that cake slice for you." Her voice quivered ever so slightly as she spoke, clearly shocked after learning Jackal was in fact gay. The woman scurried off as quickly as she could without breaking into a run in order to hide her growing embarrassment.
Mozzie sputtered as he tried to hold back a laugh, but failed at doing so. He braced himself against the table with his hands and laughed so hard his stomach began to ache. Jackal smiled as he watched the other man lose control of his laughter then crossed his arms, "I still feel bad for her, but at least now she knows where my feelings lie."
Mozzie sniffed and wiped the tears from laugh off his face, "my god that was amazing. She looked like she was about to drop the plates from how shocked she was. Fucking hell, I'm crying."
Jackal chuckled, "I can see that. Are you alright?"
"Oh yeah, yeah, just grand." The Aussie sniffed one more time then gave Jackal a thumbs up.
The waitress returned again with their cake, this time saying absolutley nothing as she sat the cake down in front of them and left. The two eagerly dug into the decadent dessert and playfully fought over the last tiny pieces before it was all gone. Mozzie leaned back and wiped his mouth with his napkin, now feeling content. Jackal was right, the cake here was amazing.
"Mozzie?"
"Yeah?"
"You have..." Jackal trailed off.
"I have what?"
"Hold on." Jackal licked his thumb and leaned over the table to wipe off a small piece of chocolate Mozzie had missed on his face. "Saving it for later?" The Spaniard teased.
Mozzie suddenly grabbed Jackal's hand and licked the end of his thumb to wipe off the chocolate, "as a matter of fact I was." He smirked and let go of the taller man's hand, who was now frozen and utterly speechless. He stared at Mozzie as he slowly moved his hand back down to his side.
Luckily, the waitress came to drop off their check and saved Jackal from the heavy air that was settling around the two men. The Spaniard put the exact amount due for the check into the little money holder then stood and motioned for Mozzie to follow after him.
They left the restaurant and fell in step beside each other on their way back toward the base. The sky was beginning to turn darker shades in a silent warning that night was on its way. Luckily, it was still a comfortable temperature outside to be without a jacket. The two talked and laughed on their walk before Jackal grew strangely quiet.
Mozzie turned his head and looked up at the taller man, "Jackal? You alright?"
"Hm? Yes, I am, why?"
"You stopped talking. And you're not smiling, you're always smiling." Mozzie teased him.
Jackal let out a dry laugh, "yes, well, I guess I'm just thinking back to the waitress."
"What, you want to go ask her out now?" Mozzie joked.
Jackal stopped walking and shook his head, "no, I don't. I mean I was thinking about the lie I used about us being a couple to show her I wasn't interested."
"Oh that! Yeah, that was a good one!" Mozzie laughed and held his stomach but stopped when he noticed Jackal wasn't laughing along with him. "Do you feel bad about shutting her down?" Mozzie questioned.
Again, Jackal shook his head, "no." Was all he said.
"Then I have no fucking idea why you're upset." Mozzie admitted, scratching his head.
Jackal took a step closer to the Aussie, closing the space between them, "what if it didn't have to be just a lie?"
"Just a--wait what? You mean about us being together?" Mozzie sputtered, feeling his face heating up.
"Yes, Mozzie." He put his hands on the shorter man's shoulders, "I think I need to finally tell you that I," he hesitated, "I like you. And I mean this in a romantic way. I've never felt this way about anyone before, so I'm not exactly sure if I'm doing this right." He chuckled awkwardly and took his hands off the smaller man to shove them in his pockets.
Mozzie stood there in shock, unsure of what to do now. As he did, Jackal quickly added, "I understand if you don't feel the same way. This is very, well, sudden, to say the least."
That was the question to be answered then: did Mozzie like Jackal in that way? He reflected back on their time spent together; training, talking on the roof, him being locked in a bear hug by Jackal as the two slept. He realized that he never spent this much time with anyone other than Gridlock and never had they been intimate as he was with the Spaniard. He was best friends with Gridlock, but he knew it was something more with Jackal.
Mozzie glanced up to see Jackal watching him intently. He looked nervous and eager at the same time, wanting to hear Mozzie's response. After a moment longer, the smaller man sighed, "ah shit mate, I'm pretty sure I like you that way too."
Jackal stepped closer, "really? You're being serious?"
Mozzie nodded, "yeah I'm serious. I don't joke around with my feelings. It's the only thing I make an acception to joking about." He grinned.
Jackal let out a laugh that mixed with a sigh of relief before pulling Mozzie into his arms. He clutched him tight against his chest, resting his chin on the top of Mozzie's head.
Meanwhile, Mozzie's face was smothered into the fabric of the Spaniard's jacket. He tried to laugh at the other man's reaction but found he couldn't open his mouth enough so instead was forced to giggle like a little kid.
Jackal then let Mozzie lean back but didn't unwrap his arms. He smiled down at the Aussie then turned to the side and moved to keep one arm wrapped around the Aussie so they could continue to walk, "This was not the way I expected tonight would go, but, you know, I'm okay with that." He admitted.
"Yeah me fuckin' too, mate, me fuckin' too." Mozzie responded.
----
The two made it back to the base just as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Most of the other operators were already in bed and they decided to head that way too.
"I suppose this means you will be permanently staying in my room, yes?" Jackal grinned deviously at Mozzie.
Mozzie shrugged, "I thought I already was but, just to feed your ego, I'll answer yes." He slipped a white tanktop over his head and walked over to the Spaniard.
"Good." Jackal purred, grabbing Mozzie by the waist and shoving him onto the bed. He flopped down next to the Australian and instantly snaked his arms around the other man in a cuddle. Mozzie huffed and accepted his fate, staring up at the ceiling.
Jackal raised an eyebrow and leaned his face closer to Mozzie, "what're you looking at? Aren't we a couple now, why are you embarrassed?" He teased.
"I'm not embarrassed, I just--" Mozzie wasn't able to finish as Jackal pressed his lips against the other's. Mozzie grunted in surprise as his mind raced but after a moment passed, he relaxed his shoulders and melted into the kiss as he closed his eyes.
Jackal rolled over so he was on top of Mozzie, resting a hand on either side of his head. He pulled back to catch his breath and the two stared at each other with only their heavy breathing keeping the room from being completely quiet.
"I wonder what the others will think about us." Mozzie said as he grinned.
Jackal leaned down and kissed him again, "eh, let's leave that for tomorrow." He mumbled against his lips.