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“Must you?” Locus straightened up, fixing his tie to bring it closer to his throat. Black tie. Black shirt. Black slacks. Black shoes. Telltale signs hidden for this mission.
Felix looked up from pulling on the carefully tailored suit, still needing the jacket. “What?”
“Play… that while you get ready.” Locus gestured to the upbeat bounce of the music escaping his earpiece, usually used for communication between points, now clearly, loudly, playing a catchy pop song that Locus only recognized from Felix listening to it for the upteenth time that day.
“Yes.” Felix secured the last cufflink.
“Fine.”
“I need to look the part too. Even if you’re meeting with Danvers, I have to be ready in case she tries to get her claws into you.”
Locus paused, watching Felix ripple with tension. Following their last meeting with their soon to be target, Felix had noticed that she was a particularly interesting individual who enjoyed her men tall. Dark. Handsome. Locus fit the bill in every form, and the ripple continued each time Hargrove had mentioned her before sending off this most recent mission. Locus could almost taste the hatred seething off Felix. It was palpable. It was tense. In a lot of ways, it aroused him more than he could describe, which surprised him. Few things got him going like that, but watching Felix bristle at the idea of this woman so much as looking at him made him feel something. He couldn’t exactly describe it. Though, running his finger under Felix’s chin to tilt his head up to look at him tended to melt away those pangs of jealousy.
“Calm down. I tend to leave seducing targets to you.” Slide the finger under his chin.
“You said you wouldn’t bring that up anymore.” Tilt his face up to face yours.
“No. But I can’t resist an opportunity to see indignance.”
Felix narrowed his eyes. “Go do your mission, asshole.”
A smile spread over Locus’ face. “There we go.” He snorted in amusement, leaving Felix to pout behind him. Locus stopped at the door, smile melted away, refocused on the mission at hand.
“Luca…”
Locus shook his head. “Later.”
---
The lack of information regarding Danvers and what was to be discussed didn’t sit well with him. It wasn’t like Felix not to keep him in the dark like this, but he had to have a good reason for it. He always said he had a good reason for everything. Locus spread his cloth napkin over his lap, red contrasting with the black of his slacks.
Having secured his pistol at his hip and strapped two more to the sides of his ribs, Locus was confident that he would have enough back up before Felix got there if everything went tits up. Even since Reynolds and subsequently Carter left him and Felix for dead, the two of them usually took more caution. Hargrove had been quite up front with them from the beginning, but time didn’t heal every wound. Time didn’t return the trust. Their new employer had been quiet for the last month, having been talking of a huge plan coming up that he wanted them to execute.
Don’t worry. I took care of that for now, Felix had assured, waving his hand. Taking a seat at the table left him feeling exposed. The room was entirely open. People everywhere. He might have been sat in a more secluded corner, wall separating him from a majority of the patrons, but that didn’t fill him with any kind of ease. He had been told what to look for with Danvers, but that didn’t substitute for a picture. Tall, blonde, gentle curls. Basically every woman that Felix hits on. Locus pursed his lips in annoyance, pausing the contemplate the wine selection when the waitress came to his table.
7:09. She was due to arrive at 7:15. Locus brought the glass to his lips. Drinking on the job tended to lead to more issues than not, but the lack of information made him want to look as casual as possible. His eye caught the gaze of a woman several tables away, raising an eyebrow when she pointed at his glass and pointedly slipped the ring off her finger. She raised an eyebrow in return, and Locus returned to the glass. I don’t need her interfering. Locus kept his eyes off her until the waiter returned to his table, leaving a bourbon, neat, on his table.
“From the lady.” The waiter disappeared without another word, and Locus looked back up at her, meeting her gaze and raising his glass with hers. Her description is close. The soft blonde curls made him wet his lips after taking a sip of the smooth alcohol.
Locus expected her to join him following sending him a drink, but he was confused when she got up and left the small alcove. He was puzzled.
“Do you always let your guard down around pretty blondes? I thought that was my job.” How Locus missed Felix sitting down at the table with him he didn’t know, but the reality of the situation slapped him in the face. Did I miss her?
“Why are you here?” Locus’ face heated up, hurriedly glancing over at the glass of bourbon, only two sips taken of it, and back up to Felix. He quickly took inventory of the situation. 7:15. He didn’t lose track of time. Danvers wasn’t here. Felix was. Something fucked up . Was there an accident? Were they found out? Did she--
“Yeah, I know you have the wine order from earlier. Yes I would like it brought out now.” Locus watched Felix from across the table, dumbfounded that he was still sitting here instead of waiting for Locus to signal him. The other table that had been occupied previously cleared, though it didn’t look like it was being filled just yet. It’s Friday night. What the hell.
“Felix,” Locus hissed, grabbing his napkin from his lap, “what in the hell are you doing here? You’re going to bl---”
Felix held his finger up to silence him, smiling as the waiter brought the chilled bottle. Locus stayed quiet until glasses were full of the waiter left. Felix raised a glass. “Do you know how long it’s been?”
“What?” Yeah it’s been an hour since we parted ways and it’s another two before we’re supposed to meet up after I spoke with Danvers. What in the hell. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s been six years this month since we met. Six years since we started patching each other up. Six years since… Reynolds. Now we’re opening up to another six. Did you think we would be here now?” Felix swirled the glass, smelling it before taking a sip.
“I thought I would be having dinner with a woman and you would be watching over my shoulder.”
“Danvers isn’t coming.” Felix watched, eyes lidded over the top of his glass. “I made her up.”
“What.”
“I didn’t think I would be able to convince you to take a night off to have dinner without making your realize it was happening. I also knew I wouldn’t be able to expense it to Hargrove without having a valid excuse. So, here we are. Do you want the lobster tonight? Steak Tartar? Both? We gotta make sure we get our mileage out of this dinner.” Felix flipped open the menu, leaving Locus to stare at him from across the table.
“Hold on a moment.” Locus pinched the bridge of his nose, taking into account the lack of onlookers. “This. You. What?” The waiter set a basket of bread on the table, a small plate of olive oil and garlic next to it. Felix reached over, tearing off a hunk of bread, while Locus thought over everything. This was planned. “So you planned this?”
“No, I did it to psych you out for the sake of you not trusting me. Yes I fucking planned it.” Felix chewed his bread carefully, eyes on Locus. “I got the wine you liked and took you to the place you enjoyed three years ago when you had to come here with Reynolds. I didn’t miss a detail.” Felix took a drink of his wine, rolling his eyes for effect. “Sheeesh, you would think I don’t care about you.”
“No. You do.”
Felix froze at Locus’ words, meeting his eyes.
“Which is exactly why you did this, Felix. You planned out all the little details like I would on a mission and you did it, for me.” Locus considered his words carefully, reaching across the table to hold his hand out to Felix.
“That’s fucking gay dude.” Felix looked around them, still surprised at the reaction. He reached across the table anyway, taking Locus’ hand in his.
“Jin.” Locus tilted his head to the side, running his thumb over the back to Felix’s hand. Felix moved the wine glass out of the way to grasp it, lingering with Locus’ touches if only for a moment.
“Luca,” Felix replied in the same tone, eyes on the entryway where the waiter returned, bringing another basket of bread after the first inexplicably disappeared.
Locus nodded to the waiter, pointing out his order after Felix finished his, and settled his hand mirroring Felix’s on the opposite side of the table.
---
The two finished dinner hours, indulging in the night off more than they had done in years. Hargrove kept the two busy and with their upcoming mission, the two of them would need clear minds.
“What made you decide to plan this?” Locus asked, breath visible in the crisp December evening.
“I don’t know how often I’m going to see you during next mission so I figured we should take advantage of Hargrove’s hospitality.” Felix bumped his hand against Locus’ as they walked, hooking a finger with Locus’ as they rounded a corner. Locus followed along, squeezing the finger nonchalantly. He followed Felix’s lead, leading out to the small frozen over pond in a nearby park. Felix released his finger from Locus’ running out onto the ice in his dress shoes as his long winter coat trailed after him.
“Come on!” Felix called. Locus looked around for any signs of being watched, with old habits dying hard, before following his partner onto the ice.
Locus almost fell on his way out onto the ice to meet Felix, as his dress shoes afforded him little grip on the slippery surface. Felix laughed when Locus lost his balance again, before his own feel slipped out from under him.
Locus shuffled his feet over to Felix and offered a gloved hand out to help him up. Felix accepted with a grump, pulling himself up, somehow, on the ice. The brightness of the moon shone all around them, bathing them in light.
“The moon looks different down here,” Felix stated, breath coming out in hot puffs. Locus nodded in agreement, eyes focused on Felix.
“Indeed.” Locus wound his arm around Felix’s back, the two of them holding each other up as they shuffled along the ice in an attempt to skate around. Locus nearly tripped on a jut of ice, causing him to rely heavily on Felix for balance. His breath was hot against Felix’s face as he steadied himself, trying to suppress the panting he wanted to do from the jolt. Felix leaned forward, their faces inches from each other and brushed his lips against Locus’ in a chaste kiss. The gesture, so simple and sweet, raced down Locus’ spine at the contact.
“It’s cold,” Felix stated when he pulled away from the kiss. “Let’s go home.” Felix reached for Locus’ hand, threading his fingers. With a short tug, Locus followed along, soon catching up once they shuffled off the ice and onto the bank.
“Thanks for not storming off,” Felix whispered, pulling to drop his hand from Locus’ after Locus hailed the cab to take them back to their hotel room. Locus squeezed Felix’s hand in response, refusing to let go.