Work Text:
1.
Rafael was a man of many, many habits. At any given time, one could bet his socks matched his tie. Sometimes, it matched his underwear, too. He thought it was very satisfying, leaving the house knowing his outfit was cohesive in every layer.
He also made a habit of having a glass of whiskey in bed whenever he won a tough case, but had two, alone in his office, when he lost. The extra glass was so he didn’t look as grumpy when he got home to his boyfriend.
Sonny, for his part, knew that Rafael had the habit of snacking nonstop. Rafael said that it helped him pace himself, it kept him better focused, but really he just wanted an excuse to munch on something between meals.
So his boyfriend, the absolute sweetheart that he was, picked up an habit himself; he always had a snack in his pocket for Rafael, to the point the ADA didn’t even wait for him to offer it anymore. He unceremoniously reached inside the Detective’s jacket or coat and fished out whatever he had for him.
Today it was a packet of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, and he pecked Sonny on the lips as a thanks, ripping the packaging immediately after.
Sonny shot him a fond look, then went back to discussing the case file he had in hands.
“So we need a warrant for the guy’s car, and fast, because I wouldn’t put it past him to have his car torched or thrown into a river,” Sonny said, windswept and rosy-cheeked.
Rafael popped one of the peanut butter cups in his mouth and chewed quickly. That gave Sonny time to catch his breath, and allowed him time to think. See? Pacing.
Once he swallowed, Rafael hummed. “I can’t get you a warrant based on he-said, she-said, you know that.”
“I do, which is why I have security footage of the girl leaving his car in front of a gas station,” he said, almost smug, as he wiped out his tablet and handed it to Rafael. “And look at the time stamp. It blows his supposed alibi.”
Rafael looked from the tablet to Sonny with a smirk. God, but his competence was attractive. “Should have led with that, but I appreciate the dramatics,” he couldn’t help but prod. “Good job. I can work with this. Give me an hour and I’ll have it ready and signed.”
Sonny beamed, and leaned down to peck him on the lips again. “Thank you, Counselor.”
2.
Rafael walked into the 16th with his usual swag, scanning the bullpen for Sonny as soon as he stepped his feet in. There was no sign of him, and his desk was clearly empty. He also noticed that none of the other Detectives were around, and the door to Olivia’s office was closed.
He peeped through the window and caught sight of her on the phone, her chair turned away from the door. Rafael considered putting himself in her line of sight and waving, but then decided against interrupting her and marched towards Sonny’s desk instead.
Rafael immediately saw the Detective’s coat, the one Rafael had gifted him, and started searching through his pockets. Anyone looking might think Rafael was a creep, but he hit jackpot before he could really grab someone’s attention.
He joyfully pulled out a packet of jelly beans, and sat down on Sonny’s chair to start eating them as he waited for his boyfriend to return, or for Olivia to open the door, whichever came first.
The ADA had already inhaled all the jelly beans by the time Sonny showed up, but the Detetive spotted the empty packet in his hand and chuckled.
“Hey,” he greeted with a small smile. “Hungry?”
Rafael shrugged. “Bored.”
“Not for long,” Sonny sighed, and Rafael noticed how tired he looked, the way his shoulders slumped. “This case… it’s all so complicated.”
“I know,” he said sympathetically, and reached for his hand. “You know, I was just thinking we could postpone our grocery shopping.”
Sonny tilted his head. “Raf, we barely have anything edible left.”
“We could do with takeout for a couple days,” he offered mildly. “And we could go on a dinner date.”
The Detective immediately perked up. “I like the way your mind works, Counselor. I’m sold.”
“Good,” Rafael smiled. “You need some rest, grocery shopping can wait.”
He saw realization dawn on Sonny. Rafael had played him a little, but sometimes he had to. Sonny was way too self-sacrificing for his own good, and he’d fall on the floor from exhaustion before he allowed their plans to be changed because of him.
“Are you sure--,” he started, already looking guilty.
“Yes,” Rafael stood up. “Today we’ll have leftovers and I’m going to make reservations for tomorrow.”
“Okay,” he said after a few seconds of hesitation. “If you’re sure.”
“Am I ever not sure?,” Rafael smirked, and half-resented how fast he’d finished his jelly beans because right now would have been the perfect moment to pop one in his mouth and wink at Sonny.
So much for pacing himself.
3.
Rafael all but ran out of the courtroom, his shoulders tight and tense, a deep frown on his face. Olivia and Sonny were already out in the hallway waiting for him, and a part of him wanted to do a 180º and just leave.
The other part, however, walked with heavy steps towards Sonny and immediately started groping him, frisking him, running his hands up and down his torso in the search for his snack. He found it in the front pocket of his coat, and pulled out a bag of M&Ms.
Rafael’s frown deepened, and he looked up at Sonny with what he was sure was an extremely pissed off look.
“I don’t like M&Ms,” he said shortly, irritated. Sonny knew this, he’d told him how much he disliked M&Ms every time Sonny dared to eat it in front of him.
But the Detective only gave him a sympathetic look and reached inside his other pocket. “I know. Those were for me, I thought I might need something to eat if we had to stay longer,” he then pulled out a packet with three Ferrero Rocher bombons. “These are yours.”
Rafael could have kissed him right there if they weren’t under Olivia’s almost annoyed gaze. Sonny seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he offered her a shy smile and his bag of M&Ms.
“M&Ms, Captain?,” he said softly, and Olivia shook her head.
“Thank you, Carisi,” she said mildly, then turned to Rafael. “What happened?”
Rafael placed a whole bombom in his mouth, and he didn’t care that he probably looked like a squirrel with stuffed cheeks, he needed a moment to process the shitshow that had just gone down inside the courtroom before he answered Olivia.
When he swallowed, however, the sweet taste turned bitter with the realization that he was going to lose this one.
Thankfully, he had a bottle of whiskey in his office, and a boyfriend that would cuddle him to sleep despite any not guilty verdicts.
4.
“Where is it?,” Rafael asked Sonny, his hand deep inside his coat pocket, his arm twisted in a weird way as they walked down the sidewalk towards the courthouse. “I know you have it.”
“What are you talking about?,” Sonny asked, unfazed.
“That caramel toffee thing, I saw it,” he said, shoving his hand deeper into Sonny’s pocket.
“Can you say please?,” Sonny teased with an exaggerated pout.
“No, I’m not 5, Detective,” Rafael pulled his hand out roughly. “Just give it to me.”
“I ate it,” Sonny said, deadpan.
“You’re lying,” Rafael frowned, and went for his other pocket.
“Wanna kiss me and find out?,” he asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
“That’s a cheap line, Sonny,” he said, but chuckled anyway.
“Well, you’ve been groping and pulling at me for five minutes straight now, you want me to pretend it doesn’t do anything to me?”
“I thought you had better control of your libido.”
“Not ever since we started dating,” Sonny said slyly, pulling Rafael to his side by the waist. “Let’s make a deal. Let me kiss your lips raw and then I’ll tell you where the toffee is.”
Rafael smiled knowingly at him. “From where I’m standing, it sounds like I win two times in that scenario, and you know I love making deals which I win.”
“I do know,” Sonny nuzzled his neck even though they were still walking, and Rafael was amazed by the fact that he didn’t trip. “So how about you find us an empty meeting room?”
“Leave it to me,” he said, a man on a mission, hot kisses and sweet toffee on his mind.
When he eventually did find the candy in Sonny’s jacket pocket, he was too dazed and too thoroughly kissed to complain about his boyfriend being cheeky. In fact, he felt twice rewarded for waiting for it.
Maybe Sonny was onto his pacing strategy after all.
5.
The SVU Detectives were all waiting for Rafael in the briefing room when he arrived, and immediately got down to business when he approached the group. Olivia and Amanda were pointing at pictures at the boards as Dodds slipped him their respective files.
Rafael watched the pictures with narrowed eyes, and gathered the case files in front of him as he connected the names to the faces he saw.
He nodded along as Olivia started talking strategies, and while the Detectives argued either in favor or against it, Rafael stepped beside Sonny, who was standing with a wide stance by the end of the table, and reached inside his outer pocket.
It was empty, so he moved to the other side, still nodding at what Olivia was saying, then rolling his eyes mildly when Dodds said his father wouldn’t approve. He smirked, however, when Rollins told Dodds she didn’t care about that.
When Rafael still came up empty-handed, he opened one flap of Sonny’s jacket and shoved his hand down his inside pocket. Sonny wasn’t fazed, discussing strategies with his squad. Maybe Rafael was biased, but so far Sonny’s idea sounded like their best option, so he nodded his agreement as he spoke.
Rafael had just hit the jackpot when Olivia cleared her throat.
“Are we interrupting something?,” she asked with a raise eyebrow at him. “Would you two like a moment?”
“Nah, I’m good,” Sonny dismissed her, hands on his hips, still looking all business.
Rafael pulled out a bag of salted pretzels from his boyfriend’s inner pocket and turned to look at the squad with a half-annoyed glare.
“Continue, please. I’m on a time-crunch,” he said as he opened the bag and popped two little pretzels on his tongue.
There was a prolonged silence, Rollins, Dodds and Olivia looking at them in almost comical disbelief, Sonny and Rafael staring back with neutral expressions - well, Sonny’s was neutral, Rafael was frowning at their inability to keep their focus on the matter at hand.
“Olivia,” Rafael called out when the stare-down continued. “You were saying?”
“Yes,” Olivia looked at Sonny, then down to his suit jacket, then at the bag in Rafael’s hand, then shook her head slightly, and went back to the board.
+1
It was Friday and Sonny came into Rafael’s office earlier than normal. Neither ever left their respective jobs at 5, like your regular folk would, so Rafael was surprised to see him there at just 10 past 5.
They were going out to dinner, though, so maybe Rafael should have anticipated Sonny’s eagerness and planned his day better, because he had a pile of work to go through still.
Of course he still greeted Sonny with a smile and a kiss. “Are you hungry or can you wait a little longer?”
“I’m fine,” Sonny pecked him again. “You swamped?”
“A little,” Rafael sighed.
“I can help,” he offered, ever so sweet, and started moving Rafael work from his desk to his coffee table so they could sit on the couch.
“Thank you,” he said, pausing to pull Sonny to him before he could sit down. “Did you make reservations for dinner?”
“Yes, but the place is a surprise,” he winked, and checked his watch. “You think we can be out of here by 9?”
“I should hope so,” Rafael shrugged, then reached inside Sonny’s jacket pocket. If he had a snack beforehand, he could probably make to 9pm without much trouble.
His fingers closed around a box, and he guessed it was chocolate before he pulled it out and opened his hand to see a ring box. Before he could even properly react to what he was seeing, Sonny was down on one knee, looking up at him with a smile.
“Truth is, there are no reservations, Raf. I just knew you’d reach for my pockets if I told you we’d only eat much later,” Sonny shook his head fondly. “Rafael, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have snacks in every single one of my coats and jackets, forever. I promise I’ll do my best to never disappoint you, and to keep M&Ms as far away from you as I can, if you’d give me the honor of being your husband. Rafael Barba, will you marry me?”
Rafael’s eyes were so wide they were burning - or maybe it was just the slight sting of tears -, but he was nodding before he could get a word out. “Yes,” he whispered eventually, then looked at the velvet box in his hand. “Yes, of course. Yes.”
Sonny jumped up, laughing, pulling Rafael into a long kiss that had him swooning. “You didn’t even look at the ring,” Sonny laughed again, opening the box in Rafael’s hand.
“As long as it’s not a Ring Pop, I know I’ll love it,” he teased, but it was weak given the wetness in his eyes.
“Well,” Sonny chuckled, and reached inside his other pocket, from which he produced a red Ring Pop. “In case you checked in the other pocket…”
“This proposal would have gone differently, then,” Rafael chuckled, shaking his head, looking at the amazing man in front of him with disbelief.
“Would you still have said yes, though?”
“I’d say yes every time, Sonny,” he said fiercely, then let Sonny put the silver ring around his finger before he pulled him into another kiss. This one was sweeter than any snack he could ever find in Sonny’s pockets.