Work Text:
TORSDAG 10.38
Even’s day starts off just like any other day.
He’d gotten an anonymous tip two nights before that the identity thief he’d been chasing for the past several weeks was going to be turning over information to a buyer from Sweden tonight. It’s a particularly boring case and it had been going considerably slow, so Even showed up to work excited to put the entire thing to rest.
But, of course, at the back of his mind, what he wasn’t looking forward to was the fact that he was most likely going to be partnered with someone he really, really didn’t want to be partnered with.
He had tried to stay positive when he woke up, hoping that maybe since it wasn’t a super intense case, he’d be paired with Mikael instead. Hell, at this point he wouldn’t even mind being told to do the case alone. But when the entire department knows that the cases Isak and Even work on together are the ones that get solved the fastest, the safest and the smoothest, well, Even can’t really say he didn’t see it coming.
That didn’t make it any less… inconvenient, for a lack of a better word.
So — they were paired together. No big deal. Just like any other day.
Only ten times more awkward.
When Even goes to make his usual morning coffee in the break room, Isak’s there, heating up something in the microwave. He does his usual small wave when he sees Even and Even smiles at him as he moves towards the coffee maker.
He opens a cabinet, looking for the coffee filters. “Hey, if you’re busy or anything, I can just ask Mikael,” Even says to him, as nonchalantly as possible, shrugging. “I know this case gives you a headache.”
Take the offer, dammit.
“Why don’t you want me on this case?” Isak deadpans instead, to which Even almost cringes. He turns away from the coffee maker, filters discarded on the counter, and leans against the counter, his eyes landing on an Isak who has his arms crossed and looks mildly irritated — and, alright, a little hurt, Even supposes.
Even licks his lips, searching his brain for any answer that wouldn’t make this situation more awkward for both of them, but knowing that, that’s literally impossible at this point, he settles for the truth.
“It kinda feels weird between us, ever since, y’know…” Even trails off, hoping Isak would figure out the rest. But Isak just squints at him, obviously waiting for further clarification so Even sighs, “Ever since I asked you out.”
Isak’s no longer squinting. Instead he’s biting his lip, his eyes glued to the floor. “Oh.”
Even had asked Isak out exactly three weeks and four days ago (not that he was counting or anything), after Isak’s incessant complaining about a string of bad dates he’d been on. He and Mikael had gone out and Even vented for hours, mostly about how he was sick of hearing about Isak’s hook-ups (even if they were bad) because Even had been dropping hints for almost an entire year and Isak was painfully oblivious — or it looked like that to him anyway.
Mikael, on the other hand, was entirely convinced Isak just needed a little push and, of course, after some serious consideration, (and several drinks) Even managed to work up the courage to make a plan.
So Even cornered Isak in the kitchen the next morning at work, making sure no one was within earshot and he’d asked him out for dinner.
It still haunted Even, the fact that Isak hadn’t even directly said no — instead, he’d blabbered on about how he wasn’t sure, about how it wasn’t Even and he just didn’t want his dating life and work life to get mixed up, didn’t want to ruin any professionalism between them.
And Even understood. He really did. It was a valid reason and Isak was simply avoiding a very possible headache.
Still didn’t make it sting any less, though.
“Look, I’m sorry,” Even says, giving Isak a small yet apologetic smile. “That was shitty of me, really. Defeats the purpose of you turning me down. It’s just been messing with my head, that’s all.”
Isak frowns. “I don’t want you to feel weird about us. We can be professional.” He uncrosses his arms, putting them in his pockets instead. “It’s just a case. We’ve worked a ton of those.”
Even nods. “You’re right.” He smiles. “No more awkwardness. Promise.”
TORSDAG 19.30
Things got awkward.
Mikael and Jonas were told to tag along, driving the car with Isak and Even in the backseat as they followed their culprit for about an hour, until he stopped at a restaurant in the center of the city.
“Are we going to wait until he has dinner?” Jonas complains, putting the car in park as they watch him, and a woman they were all unfamiliar with, step out of his car. “We should just arrest him now.”
“We need the other guy,” Even reminds him, peering through his backseat window as the culprit disappears inside the restaurant. “We have to follow him in there.”
“We’ll wait here,” Mikael says, removing his seatbelt. “Bring us food when you're done. I’m starving.”
Even rolls his eyes, untucking his shirt and rolling up his sleeves to make himself look more casual. Then he turns to Isak, who’s busy combing his hair with his fingers — deliberately making it messier, Even realizes after a moment, and he swallows, trying very hard not to stare and definitely knowing he was failing.
“How do I look?” Isak asks him, once again, entirely oblivious of the effect he had on Even.
So Even smiles at him, reaching over and running a hand through his hair, keeping it there for a second longer than socially acceptable. “Perfect.”
They step out of the car and walk into the restaurant, heading straight for the hostess when they realize the culprit has already been helped to a table.
“What are our names?” Isak nudges him on the way there, and the corner of Even’s lips turn up into a smile. It’s their thing — they’d always planned their fake identities before doing undercover work. Even—who’s a ‘film nerd’, as Isak puts it—had a lot of personas available at his disposal and although at the beginning of their partnership, Isak found it a bit tiresome, Even knows he’d begun enjoying it at some point.
“Adrian and Markus?”
Isak nods. Not their most creative night—they reached the hostess before Isak could say anything else and Even says, “Table for two.”
“I’m sorry, there’s none available tonight,” she immediately says with a note of regret.
Even frowns, but before he could open his mouth, Isak’s latched onto his arm, leaning in very close and Even tenses, furrowing his brows in confusion, turning to look at him when —
“Are you sure there isn’t anything you can do?” Isak says. “Markus and I are celebrating our engagement tonight. This is where he took me out for our first date.”
No. Fucking. Way.
Isak’s making eyes at Even, smiling at him flirtatiously and it takes Even a really long second to process what’s happening before he smiles back and wills himself to play along, for the sake of the case.
It seemed that whatever the hell Isak was doing had charmed the hostess because she’s smiling widely at them now as she excitedly says “Aww, that’s so sweet! You two are so cute. I’ll see if there’s anything I can do.”
“Thank you so much.” Even says. As she glanced down at the monitor in front of her to type, Even gives Isak a look, mouthing ‘what the fuck’ because, truly, what the fuck , and Isak steps on his foot, glaring at him.
“So when did you two meet?” The hostess asks, looking up from the screen.
“4 years ago.”
“High school.”
They answer at the same time and Isak’s grip on Even’s arm tightens and he forces out a laugh.
“We met in high school, yes,” Isak explains.
“But we really started getting to know each other four years ago,” Even finishes.
“He doesn’t count high school because we weren’t really friends but,” Isak looks at him again, giving him another smile. “It sounds more romantic that way.”
Oh my god .
“You guys are just the sweetest,” the hostess laughs, completely unaware of the silent argument Isak and Even are both having with their eyes. “A table for two just opened right by the window.”
They follow her to the table and take a seat and as soon as the hostess is out of earshot, Isak’s posture changes and he’s no longer looking at Even but surveying the area around him.
“He’s two tables behind you,” he says after a moment. Even’s still staring at him and he feels Isak kick him under the table. “Hey, we’re on a case. Remember?”
Oh, right.
Even clears his throat, picking up the menu. “What’s he doing?”
Isak places his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his hands. “Ordering food. Dammit. I think we just followed this guy to dinner.”
“And pretended to be a couple for no reason,” Even mutters, starting to pull out his phone to text Mikael but Isak gently kicks him under the table again and he looks up to see a woman approaching their table. Isak quickly works out that she’s the waitress and orders two glasses of water, telling her to come back for their order later but as she turns to leave, she looks back at them again, a shy smile on her face.
“I hope this isn’t nosy or anything but I just want to say I’m really happy for you two,” she says enthusiastically, clasping her hands together. “I heard you got engaged! You make an adorable couple.”
Even purses his lips. This time, he’s the quicker one to respond, reaching his hand over the table and taking a hold of one of Isak’s. “Thank you so much, that means the world to us.”
“No problem!” She smiles sweetly. “I’m just glad you’re both happy, you know, people can be so mean, but it’s always really good to see people out and proud.”
“Yeah, it hasn’t been easy but,” Isak turns to Even, squeezing his hand. “It’s worth it.”
They’re smiling at each other and Isak, making direct eye contact, lifts up their hands to his mouth and places a kiss on Even’s knuckles.
At this point, Even’s not even sure he’s processing what’s happening.
“Alright, I’ll get your water!” She walks off and Even notices that Isak’s hand lingers a little too long in Even’s. He pulls it away eventually, his eyes still fixed on presumably on the culprit behind Even’s shoulder but it definitely feels as though Isak’s now pointedly avoiding meeting Even’s gaze.
Good , Even thinks. At least he’s not the only one feeling awkward.
“Why is your hand so sweaty?” Isak asks suddenly and Even makes a face at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s moving. We gotta follow him.”
Isak stands up and Even follows close behind as they work their way past several tables all the way to the back of the restaurant, where the kitchen is located. The culprit had walked into it and was now conversing with two of the chefs.
“Is it the chef?” Even questions, stepping closer to take a better look when suddenly the culprit looks up, making direct eye-contact with Even and he panics and looks away.
“Shit. He saw us.”
Suddenly, Isak’s grabbing him and —
kissing him.
It all happens so fast. It’s one of the sloppiest kisses Even’s ever experienced, no doubt about that, he was in so much shock that his eyes were open for the majority of it. One of Isak’s hands makes its way to Even’s hair, the other one clutching his shirt to pull him closer and after a few long seconds, Even’s pretty sure this qualifies as taking the whole ‘undercover’ thing way too far — not to mention, just flat out teasing on Isak’s part, considering he knows how Even feels about him.
But he’d be lying if he said didn’t enjoy it—God, he’d be lying if he didn’t feel fucking relieved the second their lips met.
Even’s well-aware that they take way too long to part—so long that their culprit’s already halfway out the door of the restaurant by the time they snap back to reality and Isak, once again, avoiding Even’s gaze, goes to follow him out of the restaurant.
But Even steps in front of him and Isak crossed his arms. “What?”
Even raises an eyebrow. “That was very professional of you.”
“I was just trying not to get our cover blown!” Isak argues. “And now he’s getting away while you stand here, arguing with me.”
“I’m not arguing with you.” Even holds both of his hands up in defense. At this point, he’s more amused than anything else, since Isak clearly is having a harder time dealing with all of this than Even.
“Come on then, we have to get back to the car,” Isak says, not waiting for an answer and walking past Even.
The moment they slide back into the backseat of the car, Mikael and Jonas can definitely feel a shift in their moods. Jonas, however, doesn’t comment (as usual), only giving Even a knowing smirk through the rearview mirror.
“Didn’t I ask you to bring food?” Mikael remembers.
“We’re on a case,” Isak says flatly.
He’s looking out of the window, sitting a little further away from Even than he was before the restaurant situation. Mikael shoots Even a look and Even looks at Isak.
“Did Even spill water on you or something?” Mikael jokes and when Isak doesn’t laugh — he normally laughs at most of Mikael’s jokes — Mikael raises his eyebrow, still looking at Even.
A beat passes and Even, mostly out of exhaustion, announces, “We kissed.”
“Oh my god!” Mikael exclaims, eyes widening, a grin spreading on his face. Jonas starts laughing from his seat but his eyes remain fixed on the road.
“We had to, they would’ve found out we were police,” Isak quickly explains, finally looking at Mikael.
“Yeah right,” Mikael snorts. “You two have been waiting for a chance to pounce on each other ever since you were assigned as partners—“
“Mikael—“
“You know I’m right!”
“C’mon, it’s just a kiss, people kiss all the time,” Jonas argues through his laughter, although he doesn’t sound entirely convinced himself.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation.” Isak puts his face into his hands and Even, out of sympathy and nothing else, reaches over and pats his shoulder.
“People do kiss all the time, but this is Isak and Even,” Mikael stresses. “Not just anybody.”
“Actually, it was Adrian and Markus,” Even says, a matter-of-fact. “They’ve been dating for four years and are happily engaged.”
“This is some role-play shit, I swear to god—“
“Shhh, he’s getting out of the car.”
Jonas pulls over a few cars behind their culprit's car, all four of them looking out the window now, eyes on him. Carrying what looked like a laptop bag, he walks over to a bench not too far from the car and leaves it there before heading back towards his car.
“He’s just leaving it there?” Mikael says in confusion.
“You guys follow him, we’ll stay with the bag,” Isak says.
Isak and Even wait until he gets back into his car before stepping out themselves but not before Mikael tells them to ‘try not to make out again,’ to which Isak proceeds to flip him the bird.
They find the largest tree, standing behind it to conceal them but keeping tabs on the bag, both of them a little too quiet before Even thinks fuck it, giving in with a sigh.
“I really don’t want things to be so weird between us,” he says. “Are we cool?”
Isak glances at him and even in the darkness of the night, Even could tell his expression is softening. “We’re good.” He pauses. “I—I’m sorry if I made you feel weirder tonight.”
“I don’t feel weird if you don’t feel weird,” Even says.
“I don’t feel weird.”
“Me either.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
Even sees Isak squint at something behind him again and before he can ask Isak what’s happening, Isak’s eyes widen and he’s looking at Even with a panicked expression on his face and Even’s stomach twists because he can already guess what’s coming.
“He saw us,” Isak says. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
Isak leans in and presses their lips together again, less sloppier than last time and a little softer. Even’s back hits the trunk of the tree and his hands instinctively go to rest on Isak’s waist but Isak’s lips are gone too soon and Even’s left missing the warmth for a split second before he reminds himself that he’s in the middle of a case.
“Police, put your hands up!”
FREDAG 09.21
The next morning, Even almost considers staying home.
He has absolutely no clue how he’s not supposed to act weird around Isak now. Hell, he doesn’t even know how he’s supposed to act around Isak, period. And although he hadn’t really interacted with him after they’d gotten their arrest done last night, he could already guess that Isak’s probably feeling the same, if not worse than him.
And if he’s being honest with himself, the whole thing stung. Just a little.
It was like getting a taste of what they could be, of what Even could have, and then having it ripped away from him just as fast as it was given. He almost wishes he’d walked into the stupid restaurant with Mikael instead.
Almost.
But he goes to work anyway, knowing it would be pointless, if not a little immature, to not show up. Regardless, he’d have to confront Isak eventually and the whole thing is unavoidable and there’s no need to prolong it. Mostly, he wanted to get there before Mikael’s big mouth walked into the department to ensure that he didn’t bring up a word of this to anyone for the sake of whatever shrew of professionalism Isak and Even could still cling onto.
The first couple hours of his work day pass without incident, just the occasional teasing from Mikael (who promised he would keep it to a minimum and would only discuss it with Jonas — who also smirked at Even whenever he passed by him now).
Isak seemed to have occupied himself somehow because Even rarely saw him at his desk at first. He isn’t sure if Isak’s busied himself on purpose or if he actually had work to do.
Regardless, Even’s a little thankful but also a little disappointed, although he isn’t exactly sure what’s disappointed him. It’s as if he suddenly expected more interaction from Isak after their — whatever that was. But he knew he had no right to do that. He had no right to expect anything more from him.
Isak doesn’t want his dating life and his work life to get mixed up. And that was the end of that. It shouldn’t bother or preoccupy Even as much as it did.
So why did it?
At noon, Even has to go to the evidence room to find a file and that’s when he unexpectedly bumps into Isak. By himself.
“Oh. Hey,” Even greets him, making effort to make his voice sound as normal as possible. Isak does his usual little wave, standing by one of the shelves, drinking out of a mug on his hand. As Even searches for the file, he notices that Isak’s standing there doing nothing, which basically confirms Even’s previous suspicion that Isak’s been busying himself on purpose, mostly to avoid Even and he frowns, suddenly not wanting to be in that room at all.
“How was your, uh — “ Isak breaks the silence, clearing his throat, coughing a little. “—how was your night?”
“Good,” Even answers, finally finding the file he’s looking for, “Ordered pizza, watched a movie.”
“What, uh, what movie?”
“It was a Star Wars night. Empire Strikes Back.”
“That’s the best one,” Isak hums.
That makes Even smile. “Yeah, it really is.”
They’re quiet and Even waits to see if Isak has anything else to say. Then the silence turns from comfortable to awkward again so Even picks up his file from the desk and goes to walk out the room but then —
“Hey.”
Even stops and turns around.
“Last night was weird,” Isak says, as if it wasn’t the most obvious thing ever. “I feel kinda bad. Like I might’ve unintentionally made things worse, or something.”
Even chews on his lip for a moment, putting down the file on the desk again. “You were just doing your job, I don’t want you to feel bad.”
“Yeah but—“ He steps closer, putting down his mug by Even’s file. He runs a hand through his hair, sighing heavily. “You’re not mad at me? For—leading you on or whatever?”
“You were just doing your job,” Even repeats. “How’s that leading me on?”
Isak sighs again, seeming like he was having a hard time getting something out and Even remains patient.
“It’s just — I wanted to kiss you.”
Even hadn’t really known what he was expecting to hear but it certainly wasn’t that .
Isak’s staring at him, his eyes searching and when they flicker to his lips, Even steps forward and crushes their lips together — this time not as Adrian and Markus but as Isak and Even. At first, Isak freezes and it sends a jolt of worry through Even but it dissipates quickly as Isak’s soon kissing him back, his hand resting behind Even’s neck, pressing their lips harder against each other. Isak lets out a small moan and it goes straight to Even’s pants so he (rather unwillingly) pulls away, knowing they need to talk first, but keeps his forehead leaned on Isak’s, a small smile on both of their faces.
“Fuck.” Isak laughs a little. “I feel ridiculous.”
“If it helps, I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a long time, too,” Even offers. “Just, uh, wasn’t sure the feeling was mutual.”
Isak takes a step back, giving him a look of disbelief. “I stuttered at least eighty times when you asked me out.”
“I thought you were just nervous while turning me down.”
“Turn you down?” Isak gapes at him. “Even—the reason my dates were so bad were because I couldn’t stop thinking about you .”
The confession makes Even raise his eyebrows and he points at his own chest. “Me? Are you sure you’re talking to me?”
Isak rolls his eyes. “Oh my god. This feels like high school.”
Even laughs, pressing his lips to Isak’s once more, this time just a small peck, but their faces stay close when they pull apart.
“I just didn’t want to complicate anything,” Isak admits, then says softer, “But I really like you.”
Even smiles, the warm feeling in his chest that he usually got whenever he spoke to Isak returning. “I like you, too.” He takes one of Isak’s hands in his own. “Can’t we just.. see where this goes?”
“See where it goes,” Isak repeats, smiling.
“No complications,” Even promises.
“That’s chill,” Isak says, tilting his head up slightly, his eyes flickering to Even’s lips again.
“That’s chill,” Even replies before pressing their lips together.