Chapter Text
“Y-you really should stop wearing those gloves, Norton… they kind of hurt when you grab me.”
Norton nodded hastily in nonverbal acknowledgement, the grip on Andrew’s shoulder all but letting up. It was normal for his partner to get grabby with him, but whatever he was blabbering about on the phone must be really exciting.
“You’re not even in y-your adventuring garb, why do you keep those claws on anyw-”
“Deal, deal and DEAL! Man, that's amazing! I'll ask Andrew about it!” Andrew flinched as Norton yelled into the phone, clawed gloves sinking further into unfortunate flesh. The prospector bid his excited goodbyes to the person on the end of the line and shut off his phone, turning to flash a toothy smile at his partner. At least Andrew got to admire that pretty golden fang. “You’ll never believe what Naib just told me,” Norton grinned.
“I p-probably will…”
“Hey, that’s not the point! This is such a good deal that our dear Naib has got us, man i'm so happy I met him… could ya imagine some other pair of adventurers out there getting THAT opportunity instead of US? Seriously, this has got to be the best job we’re going to get!”
Andrew rolled his eyes, really just hoping Norton would not draw blood with his claws. Every single time they found work, the prospector would call it “the best job” and it turns out to be the worst experience Andrew has ever undergone. “You haven't even told me what the j-job is… oh god, please don't tell me it's another h-heist..” he shuddered at the last operation they had carried out. Really, they were lucky to still be alive. The Blood Queen was not happy about her jewels being stolen.
“Don’t worry, I think this will be somethin’ more of yer style, Andrew. And we’re gonna be furtherin’ Dr Desaulniers’ research and helping out a tribe in the jungle, so… think of it a-as social enterprise.” “We’re working with Professor Desaulniers?” Norton’s grip on Andrew finally subsided, and he finally got to rub the sore spot on his arm. “Sorry ‘bout the claws, just got a little excited, heheh..”
Andrew just glared at him.
“Anyway, ya know how Desaulniers’ a filthy rich bastard, yeah? He's actually paying us to help him on an expedition into the jungles of south america. It’s extra dangerous and requires our expertise, ‘pparently,'' Norton's face only brightened while Andrew looked on in fear. In Norton’s magpie eyes, more danger meant more pay. If he was this excited about the trip, then…
“And we’re gonna be raiding a fuckin’ jungle temple! The best part is, ol’ Desaulniers said we could keep half money we get from whatever we haul from in there, isn’t that fantastic?'' The prospector was already opening his calendar on his phone to mark the date.
“N-no, that sounds like we’re going to g-get cursed for life, a-and I'm going to get cursed t-to death! I-I’ve already been hexed from raiding that pyramid, Norton I c-can't do it again!”
“Andrew, Andy… ya ain't getting cursed, darling.” Norton rubbed his friend’s back. He knew that pet name always calmed him down. “We’re not desecratin’ any sacred ground in this situation, okay? Naib told me the temple isn't a place of holiness, and a poor tribeswoman has her people locked up in there by a malicious force. If yer worried about morality, we’ve got that on our side this time…”
The albino could almost laugh. Funny words coming from a guy like Norton. The amount of morally questionable things this man had done...
“You p-promise you won't run off by yourself, right? i-i don't want to be left in there alone!”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”
“I h-have to die??”
“No, no! It means I promise really hard.” Norton flashed him another smile. This one was softer, and Andrew couldn’t help but blush a little.
“F-fine, but if I don't make it out I’ll um... I’ll be the one cursing y-you…” he glared at the prospector again. Really, he would have eventually agreed to whatever Norton suggested, anyway.
The bastard had the audacity to wink at him.
---
-POV switch to Norton-
Professor Desaulniers' office was just as Norton remembered.
It was a cozy room, for sure. It was big enough to fit his whole research crew and some, but small and cluttered enough to feel homey and lived in. The first time Norton was led into the office, he’d almost forgotten that Joseph was a wealthy snob who loved spending copious amounts of money on research expeditions. Still, he liked being back here, although he could tell Andrew was feeling a bit uncomfortable from the meeting a whole bunch of new people. He wasn't here with him the last time Norton visited the office.
“Norton!” a gruff voice sounded from beside him. The prospector turned to see the smiling face of Naib, arms already outstretched for a hug. He gladly returned it, patting his good friend on the back a few times.
“Nice to see ya, Hummingbird.” Norton grinned.
“Whatever, babe. Eli told me he thinks it’s a cute name, y’know.” his voice lowered to a gleeful whisper.
“Y- what?? Shut up, he might hear you!” Naib’s face went red as he lightly punched his taller friend’s arm. Norton snickered. He missed embarrassing his friend like this. He came to find out that naib was immune to literally everything except the topic of his crush, Eli.
Wait, where was Andrew?
His friend was currently being stared down by a short man with light chestnut hair and piercing blue eyes. Norton hadn’t seen this man before, but he certainly didn't look like he was cut out for a dangerous expedition. Then again, even someone like Tracy Reznik had a place on the research team.
“H-hey, Mr ponytail… whaddya botherin’ my poor associate for?” Norton walked to stand behind Andrew, who seemed ready to sink fully into the couch he was cornered on. The man kept on staring with his icy blue eyes.
“Hmm...Albino…” the man murmured, and Andrew let out a startled yelp from hearing the term that he had used to be beaten up over.
“Wh-what do you want, you b-bastard, I…” Andrew’s feathery voice fell flat as the man simply hummed and away.
“It's Edgar Valden, just so you know. I simply thought you looked interesting, albino,” Edgar rolled his eyes. “No need to be a pissy little brat about it. You should be glad I even considered painting you. It’s not every day I see someone with your complexion.”
Andrew sputtered in surprise, unsure of what to say. “Norton, was that a c-compliment?”
“I hope it is, or I'm gonna beat his pretty little face in.”
The chestnut haired man groaned. “Ugh, I can't believe Joseph wants me to work with some boorish guys… I thought a trip into a humid jungle would be bad, but I have men who want to beat me as thanks for saying something nice!” Norton was all but ready to sock Edgar in the face, but he was cut off by a certain hooded man running in to defuse the situation.
“Edgar, you’re already picking fights with the visitors?!” Eli scolded as he gently pried the artist from the situation. He then flashed a friendly smile at the pair of treasure hunters, and Norton once again remembered why Naib was so in love. He could almost feel the amount of relief washing over Andrew. If he could get along well with any of the people in Desaulniers’ group, it would be Eli. Too bad the seer wouldn’t be joining them on the trip this time.
“Sorry about Eddy, he really takes after Professor Desaulniers as you can see!" Eli laughed, leading a protesting Edgar out of the room.
"Oh, he's related to Desaulniers? It aaaall makes sense now." Norton rolled his eyes. Another snobby rich boy to listen too.
"Yep, and he's an artist! He wanted to find inspiration for his artworks, you know.. and I'm sure the jungle temple must be very beautiful, yes? Ah… I wish I could join you guys." Naib frowned and put a hand on Eli's shoulder. "It's gonna be a really dangerous trip, Eli. Supporting us through intercoms is a lot of help already." He suddenly got flustered and waved his hands in front of his face. "N-not that you aren't good enough to take care of yourself! It's just, ah.."
Eli simply gave him a smile that could light up a room. "I get it! I'll do my best to direct you through the ruins, Hummingbird!"
Snickering at Naib's poorly concealed blushing, Norton turned his attention back to Andrew, who was kind of flustered at seeing such blatant romantic tension.
"Are they um, d-dating?" The albino whispered softly.
"Naib wishes they were, I'm sure."
"Oh. I see..." Andrew went back to staring at his fingers, pink eyes swirling with some kind of deliberation. Sometimes, Norton wondered if he should ask his friend what he thought about love. He'd never talked about it with him all these years because he knew the man was uncomfortable with intimate topics like that. But he really did want to know. it had been a long time since he kicked the homophobia out of the church devotee, and honestly… Norton just wondered a lot of things about his shy friend.
Maybe I'll start showing him romantic movies first… hold on, would he see that as flirting?
"How are my dear associates- My goodness Edgar, why are you sulking outside my office?" The muffled voice of Professor Desaulniers sounded from beyond the wooden door, announcing his arrival. The door swung open a second later, a very fresh looking Joseph Desaulniers appearing as he pushed his annoyed nephew in with him, followed by two familiar faces: William and Tracy.
"Hey, man!" William greeted him excitedly with a big bear hug. Norton smiled as he returned the motion. He missed William's big warm embraces. Looking over his friend's shoulder, he and Tracy shared a small wave.
Before he could catch up with the couple, Joseph was already getting down to business. "So, everyone!" His warm French accent spilled into the room. He adjusted his glasses and motioned for everyone to squeeze together on the couch. "I see our two guests are here already! Welcome back, Mr. Campbell. Dear Kreiss, have you met everyone yet?"
The albino shrunk further into the couch. "K-kind of, Eli and E-Edgar talked to me, and I know Naib, but the two-"
"William and Tracy! Tracy is our dear mechanic and William is her boyfriend. they won't be joining you and Norton, though," Joseph clapped his hands together and smiled, ignoring William's protests of being relegated to simply being 'her boyfriend' and asserting himself as a capable adventurer.
"First of all, thank you everyone for gathering for this expedition! We're going to be leaving for Mexico tomorrow night, so I'm going to be briefing everyone on the situation beforehand. But we will be meeting Ms Dorval - she's the person who needs our help with the temple - when we arrive at the airport, so feel free to ask her about the details later. And yes William, I know you are a fantastic adventurer, I just decided Naib would go this time because he's small and nimble." He paused to glare at William. "And I'm sure you don't want Tracy to be lonely, right?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Good. Anyways, the situation. A friend of mine met a lone tribeswoman seeking help in exploring a jungle temple in South America. She said her tribespeople had gone missing a long time ago and all signs point to the cause lying in the ancient temple. Apparently she has been searching for four years! Everyone she has asked either refused, or were ill equipped to take on the temple. So my friend referred Patricia Dorval to me! And I thought it would be an absolutely delightful experience. I've been so eager to study Mesopotamian civilizations recently, and I'm so excited that you all will be helping me further my research as well as helping Miss Patricia save her people!"
"F-four years?" Norton heard the terrified whisper of Andrew next to him. He was clearly scared of taking on a feat that had gone unachieved for that long.
"Don't worry, Andy. We can tough it out," Norton told him soothingly.
"I know it's going to be one difficult mission, so I had Naib find Mr Campbell due to his experience with these things. Imagine my absolute delight when Mr Kreiss agreed to it as well," Joseph explained happily. "It's not too complex a task, really. Follow Patricia and another one of my associates into the temple and find out what secrets it holds, and get out. Tracy's drone will follow you all with live feed and take pictures, and Eli will support you all with his premonitions over intercoms. Oh, you should also try to secure any artifacts you stumble across, I'm sure the Mexican government will pay us good money for the precious relics we recover for them, and I've already worked all of the bureaucracy regarding that out. So, all of that, and do not let Edgar get hurt under any circumstances."
Norton did his best not to roll his eyes as he joined the others in saying a resounding "Yes, sir."
"Excellent, my dears!" The menacing tone that laced his last command dissipated like thin mist. "I've already discussed the pay with you, Mr Campbell? 75,000 USD for you and Mr. Kreiss as a pair, as well as half of whatever we get from the recovered artifacts. Is that okay with you two?"
"Yeah, but you better be watching that live feed, Professor. Depending on how it goes, I might consider raising that number," Norton grinned.
"I'm sure you and I can have a lengthy discussion about it after the fact, darling. For now, feel free to stay for a while before returning to your hotel rooms. Unless you have any questions, of course!" Joseph clapped his hands together once more to dismiss them, and walked to sit behind his desk, seemingly switching to Overworked Joseph Mode as he fussed over the stacks of research papers strewn over the table.
Ah… they were going to get such good pay after this.
"Boooy I'm gonna be workin' my tongue off afterwards," Norton mused as he stretched, before going limp to flop onto Andrew's shoulder.
"He's only going to give us the money if we do the t-task successfully," Andrew murmured nervously, fiddling with his fingers with a concerned frown on his face. "Hey, how… how dangerous do you think it's going to be?"
The prospector shrugged. "Sounds pretty bad. Ask Prof. 'saulniers over there."
"I-I can't, he's um.. he's scary."
"Got spooked by the Edgar thing? Don't worry about it, old man's probably just really protective of his nephew or whatever." Norton flicked his wrist at the artist, who was currently arguing with Eli about Naib's ability to keep his capelet unscathed.
Seeing Andrew continue to look at him with hesitant eyes, Norton sighed and got up to help him off the couch. "Here, I'll help ya out, ya big baby."
"Th-thank you…"
Joseph looked very busy hunched at his desk, crystal blue eyes darting across a sea of black and white as his fingers sank themselves into his white hair. But as soon as he saw the pair approaching , he quickly straightened up and fixed his glasses, a bright smile on his lips.
"Yes dears, have any queries?"
"A-ah… Dr. Desaulniers, how dangerous d-do you think the expedition will be? are we going to be in there for a long t-time?" Andrew nervously asked, Norton's hand on his shoulder.
"Hmm.. to be honest, I can't give you an estimate on it. As far as Ms Dorval has told me, there is a malicious force within the temple, and many others have failed before us, so you can take what you will from that," Joseph answered, tapping his chin with the end of his pen. Norton could hear Andrew gulp in fear. "But you have Mr Campbell at your side, and he is very capable! I know you are too. Do your best, and everything will work out well, alright?"
As much as Norton disliked the 'rich scholar' part of Joseph, he had to admit the frenchman could be genuinely kind and fatherly sometimes. At least, his words were really what Andrew needed to hear.
The crease between Andrew's eyebrows had softened. He seemed calmer. "Yes… I will try not to d-disappoint."
The silver haired man smiled at them before waving them off. "If you could pardon me, I need to look through these papers my colleagues sent me. I'm always the one they look to for editing..."
"Then we'll be off, Professor," Norton bid his farewell as Andrew offered a little wave.
"Let's get back ta our hotel, yeah? I'm sure yer tired-"
"Hoi, Norton!" The prospector felt a hearty slap on his back. Naib. "Leavin' already?"
"Yeah, I thought Andrew might be worn out from ol' prof's lecture."
"Too bad, then. I was gonna ask if you wanted to get shitfaced with William and I at Demi's. It's been too long since I met up with you, y'know?" A cheshire grin split Naib's lips. "That is, if Andrew wants to come with us too."
Norton's face lit up. Nothing better to punctuate a night like hanging out with his friends over drinks.
"A-Andrew, wanna come with? You can go back and sleep if ya want. But it would be awesome if ya could talk to William before we set off tomorrow," He patted the albino's shoulder in reassurance.
Andrew nodded carefully, looking hesitant yet curious. "I haven't had alcohol in y-years… But I don't mind trying it again…"
Norton grinned at him, and they left the Desaulniers office.
---
Wow. Norton did not expect his friend to be this bad holding his alcohol.
The usually quiet man was a blabbering mess by the time the third shot rolled around, spouting random bible verses and complaining about Edgar and scolding William, Naib and Norton while they laughed at his uncharacteristic chatter.
"N-Norton Campbell, you stop giggling right n-now!" the albino groaned as he buried his face in his arms, slumped over the table. "Y-you're going to be the one doing the dishes for a whole month wh-when we get back! I'll lock you in the k-kitchen!"
Now, it was Norton's first time seeing Andrew drunk, but it was quite cute knowing that his stutter remained even under the influence of alcohol.
"What are ya, my mom?" Norton laughed as he clung onto William, who was red in the face from laughing as well.
"D'ya even wash your dishes properly, man?" he giggled. "Can't have poor Andrew doing all the work, y'know. He ain't ya wife!"
"Oh please, I know you'd declare yourself a strict househusband the moment Trace becomes your wife, William." Naib cut in.
"Hey, if she needs the time to work on her robots, I'd condemn myself to eternal dish duty, sir."
"Alright Andy~ just for ya, I'll do all the chores ya want," Norton cooed, trying not to take too much enjoyment in how pink his friend's face was becoming. Was it because of his low tolerance to alcohol, or because of his unabashed flirting? He couldn't tell. "Y-you're silly, stupid stupid Norton…" Andrew shoved the prospector lightly. He leaned his head on his friend's shoulder, an angry pout on his lips, pink eyes downcast and brows furrowed.
Hah. Cute.
It was a few more shots and a couple more hours before Norton took a very drunk Andrew back to the hotel in a cab. In Norton's defence, he didn't expect Andrew to be that bad at handling alcohol. It was very funny, honestly. It wasn't like it was a bad thing. There were times that he felt like Andrew had to loosen up and let his thoughts out. Alcohol doesn't make you a different person, Norton thought. It just brings a different part of you to the surface.
"Hey, Andrew?" The midnight air felt cold on his face as he stepped into the yellow glow of the hotel's light. He was thankful for the warmth of Andrew's arm slung around his neck.
"mmmh.. yyeah?" the albino's speech was noticeably slurred.
"What do you think about… love?"
Norton gulped, nervous. He turned to look at Andrew, but his expression was hard to make out with the curtain of hair covering half his face. "Ah… L-love?" He sounded thoughtful.
"Yeah… whaddya think about it? I've been wondering for so long."
"I… I don't know, Norty," Andrew mused. Norton let out a small gasp. It was the first time he called him that. "I thiink about it sometimes. but I kn-know that it would probably be wwonderful to have a g-girlfriend… you always show me mmusic that makes it s-sound so nice, Norton…"
The prospector held his breath.
"B-but who… I don't know, I don't really know so many people, haha." Andrew wasn't done. "You're the c-closest thing I have to a girlfriend, Norty. if yyou wanna put it that waay, mmmh..." Together, they stepped out of the elevator and Norton had to guide his inebriated friend back to their hotel room. Better they hit the sack soon as possible, because Norton knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep for a while.
"You would call me yer girlfriend, Andrew?" Norton mumbled absentmindedly.
Being sat down on the bed by Norton, Andrew flopped onto his back to look up at his friend with a lazy smile. "Mmm, I guess I m-might, haha," The albino let out a bubbly laugh. "You're my g-girlfriend, Norty…"
Screw the temple mission. He wasn't going to make it past tonight.
The next time Norton looked down beside him, Andrew was already out cold, curled up and eyes shut in blissful sleep. Poor man was going to have a hell of a hangover the next day. Quietly, Norton shut off the lights, threw a blanket on his friend and slid on the bed beside the one Andrew was curled up on.
"G'night, Andy," Norton murmured softly, closing his eyes and trying not to let the tape recorder in his mind run itself raw as it repeated Andrew's words. As he listened to his friend's soft snores, he really did not sleep for a long time that night.