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“You ever think so hard you wonder if a wall will collapse or a glass will shatter somewhere in the room?”
Elias’ thoughts were broken by the question as he slowly turned his head and let his gaze fall on Anthony. The other man stood a few feet away, dressed in warm leather. He looked like winter, smelled like it too as he brought with him the breeze from outside. It reminded him that winter would soon be upon his city and would bring with it challenges. Elias dipped his head slightly in a silent greeting and turned his gaze back to the sliding glass doors which opened onto a balcony. It overlooked the city, alive and awake, lights shimmering below.
Life went on day after day for so many and he wondered what it was like to be so oblivious of what went on just beneath the surface.
He swirled the whiskey in his glass and then took a sip, savoring the heavy flavor and warmth it provided. Anthony was correct, he was thinking. Perhaps too much, but his conversation with Harold on the subway had troubled him. The copy of The Invisible Man he’d been given lay on the couch cushion beside him. It brought with it a warning he wasn’t exactly ready to heed.
“Boss,” there was a note of concern to Anthony’s voice then. He knew it well. It was the same tone he used whenever Elias took a bullet, a punch, or when a deal went south.
“I’m fine, Anthony.” The way the other man’s posture shifted when Elias spoke his name brought him a measure of pride. He had the ability to change the mood with a few simple words and enjoyed the power.
“You aren’t,” Anthony answered and Elias listened to measured steps as he approached. A gloved hand came to rest against the back of his neck and he couldn’t help but tilt his head forward slightly. Skilled fingers dug into the muscles at the base of his neck and when a second hand joined the first, he made a pleased sound.
They stayed like that for a while. It was easier than actually talking about it. Of course it was yet another thing Elias appreciated about his partner. Elias would not have to speak until he had found the right words.
The whiskey glass was removed from his hand and gently set aside before the hands returned to working on his neck. Strong hands shifted from neck to shoulders, working at the knotted muscles. With every firm press some of the tension of the day eased out. The implications of Harold’s gift and words still troubled him, but it was easier to forget under Anthony’s touch. Soon the massage turned into still weight as Anthony’s hands remained firmly planted on his shoulders while the other man bent down to brush a kiss to his temple.
“If you want to talk about it,” Anthony said but fell silent after, left it open even as he nuzzled slyly at Elias’ cheek. His lips then trailed down to Elias’ jaw. There he pressed an open mouthed kiss, then another, until Elias tilted his head back. One of the other man’s hands moved to his throat and rested over it, thumb stroking his pulse. He felt teeth against the side of his neck and couldn’t hold back the groan the gentle bite drew out of him.
“How am I supposed to talk about anything when you insist on this?”
“Mm,” Anthony hummed against his skin and worried a mark into it, “interrogation technique.”
“I certainly hope you don’t give everyone you interrogate this treatment.”
“Just you, boss.”
Elias smiled and turned his head in order to catch Anthony’s lips in a warm kiss. They lingered there, sharing soft presses of lips, long enough to let all other thoughts slip from his mind.
“Lay low for a little while, Anthony,” Elias whispered against his partner’s lips, eyes opened to meet the warm brown ones that peered back at him.
“Boss?”
“Lay low with me,” Elias added and stole another kiss. “For the weekend at least. We’ll go somewhere, get out of the city.” Get away from whatever it was they would eventually have to face. Whatever it was that Harold seemed so worried about.
“What about the city?”
“It will manage itself, I think.”
There was a long pause and Elias believed for a moment that Anthony would turn him down. He didn’t enjoy the uneasy sensation that brought.
“Maine, then.” Anthony broke the silence with a faint upward quirk of his lips. “It is beautiful this time of year and I know a place.”
“Where ever you want.”
They’d be invisible men, if only for the weekend.