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Connor had never been one for parties. His life consisted of waking up, heading to work and going back home. Heck sometimes he didn’t even go home. Working in the DPD meant that he had to stay overnight when cases got too tough. Not that he minded, he had always loved his job and working with Hank as a partner was an added bonus, but that meant that there was no time for his social life to see the light of day, something that Connor had already gotten used to at this point.
So when Hank suggested to Connor to use the time after their early shift that day to “have some fun for once”, Connor didn’t know how to react. He had plans to stay at home and watch TV or maybe even review notes to plan for the next day but being anywhere other than his own apartment was nowhere near to what Hank had in mind. Still, he couldn’t say no to the gruff man and so he was whisked away to wherever Hank had deemed to be ‘fun’, which needless to say was his favourite haunt - a bar.
Connor never really understood the attraction of bars. With bright lights, loud music and drunk people, a bar was a recipe for disasters and his few experiences at bars never really panned out well. Well, at least he’s hanging with Hank so that shouldn’t be too bad.
Connor was heavily mistaken for thinking that this time would’ve been different from his previous experiences and that it would actually be of any ‘fun’. Sure, the bar was having a pretty slow night so Connor didn’t have to worry about unappreciated body contact, but after spending a little over 2 hours in the bar, Hank was already snoring loudly in a corner booth. Connor was trying to keep an eye on him while he sat at the bar counter, sipping on what he thought was his fourth drink that night. He really should be stopping soon, call a cab and get both Hank and him home before he gets too drunk to think straight. But he found his arm rising up, calling the bartender for another drink.
When the bartender finally came over after dealing with some other customers, what Connor expected to be the blond haired bartender that had been serving him the whole night was instead replaced with the most handsome face he had ever seen.
His slightly blurred vision didn’t stop him from taking a good look at the dark-skinned man that was now standing in front of him. He was dressed in the standard-issue uniform but it fit him perfectly. The tag on his chest read ‘Markus” and as his eyes scanned upwards, he was met with the most beautiful pair of eyes he had ever seen. The heterochromatic eyes looked at him quizzically, probably thinking if he should be holding off his drinks.
“Um Sir? Are you feeling alright? Should I call you a cab home?” The smooth voice almost made Connor’s already jelly legs even weaker and he was sure that the redness on his face was more than simply having too many drinks.
“No... I...um…” Connor, the ever calm and collected negotiator Connor, was finding difficulty in making conversation? He didn’t think he’d see the day. But here he was, completely at the mercy of the man in front of him whom he had literally just met. Granted, he was drunk and not in his best state of mind, but something in Connor knew that his stomach would still being doing flips even if he had been sober.
Markus chuckled lowly and that did something to Connor that his sober mind would have probably slapped himself for. Just when Connor didn’t think it could get any worse, or maybe better, Markus had placed a gentle hand on Connor’s shoulder while his other took the empty glass easily from Connor’s weak hold.
Markus’ hand withdrew a little too quickly for Connor’s liking, leaving a tingling sensation on his shoulder where Markus had touched him. Connor would do anything to feel those hands on him again.
“Sir, I think you’ve had too many drinks tonight. Let me help you out.” Markus moved out of Connor’s line of sight and he could hear some voices saying something that Connor could just barely make out.
“Hey, I’m gonna be calling a cab for him so I won’t be back for a few. Can I trust things to run smoothly until I get back?” Markus said.
“Taking care of dream boy?” A female voice replied with a teasing tone.
“Cut him some slack,” Connor recognised the voice to be the blond bartender that had been serving him earlier. “We can take care of things here while you’re gone, there aren’t many customers anyways.”
Connor heard a “Thanks, man” and a soft squeak before he felt the same pair of hands grabbing hold of him and lifting him from his seat. Connor could practically feel his heart pounding and his face flushing as his body involuntarily leaned onto the slightly taller man.
“Did you come alone? Or with company?” Markus asked as Connor tried to steady himself.
Oh crap. Hank.
How could Connor have forgotten Hank? Oh god, Connor had only taken his eyes of him for a few minutes but he was already afraid of what he could be up to in the little time he had his guard down. Connor quickly whipped his head around, almost losing the balance he just gained, searching for the man in the booth where he had last saw him.
Connor sighed in relief when he spotted the familiar grey hair and beard, the man still snoozing. Connor smiled a little to himself, glad that he hadn’t lost Hank while he was busy crushing hard on the man who was now looking more confused than ever.
Connor tried to speak but his words came out a little more jumbled than he had expected so he instead opted to point at Hank’s general direction. Markus looked at where Connor had pointed and furrowed his brows slightly.
“He’s your…” Markus let his sentence trail off, hoping that Connor would finish it.
“My co-worker.” He replied. At that instant, Connor swore he could feel the tension in Markus’ shoulders relax for reasons unknown.
“I could call separate cabs for the both of you. Neither of you look sober enough to get home safe.” Markus chuckled again, but now with the close proximity of their bodies, Connor could practically feel the rumble of Markus’ chest.
Connor nodded groggily. Although he felt bad that he would be leaving without Hank, he knew that he was barely in any state to help himself, much less help Hank who was basically unconscious by now. Connor decided he would send Hank an apology text the next morning, when both of them were more sober and Connor wasn’t supported by what he thought were the sexiest arms in the universe.
When Markus finally managed to get Connor out of the door, he let Connor lean onto the wall as he fished out his phone, probably calling for a cab. It had barely been a minute, but Connor already missed the warmth.
When Markus was finished with the call, he walked back over to Connor, who at some point had slid down against the wall, and passed him a water bottle that Connor didn’t realise he had but gratefully accepted it. At some point when Connor was emptying the bottle, Markus had knelt down in front of him and Connor was now face to face with the extremely good-looking man.
Connor could feel the blood rushing to his face as he tried to back away from the closeness but his back was only met with the coolness of the wall.
As if sensing Connor’s discomfort, Markus backed up a little but he was still close enough that Connor could feel his warmth.
“If I knew you would get this hammered so easily I probably would’ve approached you sooner. Maybe I could’ve gotten to know you better.” Markus seemed to be talking to himself, his voice laced with a hint of remorse.
Markus’ words were probably not meant to be heard by Connor but drinking the water had cleared his head and Connor had heard every word he said. Was Markus also interested in him?
“Do you have a pen?” Connor asked abruptly, snapping Markus out from his thoughts. Connor was pretty sure if he was sober enough, his mind would probably be screaming to back out right now, but drunk Connor was ten times braver and was decided.
“Uh yeah… I do, but what do you need a pen for?” Markus asked, pulling out a pen from his pants pocket. Connor took the pen from Markus’ hands maybe a little too quickly then he had liked, but he was sure that if he didn’t do it fast, the rational side of him would have him running away in less than a second.
“Give me your hand.” Connor almost demanded but his tone still soft enough that it didn’t scare Markus.
“My hand? Are you going to stab me to death?” Markus seemed a little suspicious of Connor’s intentions now and Connor hoped he hadn’t made it seem like he was about to murder him.
Markus laughed softly but still extended his hand to Connor which Connor gratefully took. Removing the pen’s cap with his mouth, Connor could feel Markus’ eyes on him. Or more specifically on his lips which Connor replied with a smirk.
Beep! Beep!
Shit, that must be Connor’s ride. Frantically, Connor scribbled his number onto the palm of Markus’ hand and quickly stood up, wobbling as the world spun a little. Connor was more sober now which meant that he could walk over to the cab himself but that also meant that he was now realising what he had just done. Connor had never walked faster in his life and was so ready to just head home and scream into a pillow for doing something so ridiculous.
When Connor climbed into the cab, he thought that he was finally safe and could no longer embarrass himself, then he felt the familiar figure leaning over the cab’s window, that just so happened to be wound down.
“I didn’t think I would’ve gotten your number tonight, especially after seeing you drunk out of your mind.” Connor has unknowingly held his breath when Markus started talking, his velvety voice doing things Connor would rather not talk about.
“Call you tomorrow?” Markus asked hopefully, showing Connor his palm where his digits were scrawled on with black ink, barely visible in the dark.
Connor nodded quickly, his once calmed heart was starting to beat rapidly again simply from the thought of being able to hear Markus’ voice again.
When the window finally wound up and the car drove off, Connor could see Markus walking back into the bar from the reflection of the window. Connor could feel the red on his face disappearing but the butterflies in his stomach wouldn’t leave.
As the cab rounded the last corner, and Connor was somewhat coming down from the high, he managed to safely stumble into his apartment and immediately fell into the comfort of his bed. He could practically feel the hangover he was going to have tomorrow and was already dreading having so many drinks.
Almost as if sensing his dread, his phone lit up and a text message from an unknown number was displayed.
“Looking forward to knowing the sober you ;P”
Connor couldn’t help but smile to himself at the text. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.