Work Text:
One
The NXX base is quiet, the whirring of the roomba being the only sound keeping the psychiatrist company as he fixes his documents and files that are both NXX and psychiatry or research related. Halfway with looking through the documents, he hears the elevator swish, heightening his senses and alertness.
"Oh? It's only you around here, Dr. Richter?" Gem's voice relaxes the tensed muscles Vyn has (that he didn't even notice until later). The latter turns around to face Gem and nods. "Yes. I still have other NXX cases to complete. How about you? Anything you need to attend to?" "Just a few cases assigned to me." Gem said and sits down, opening her briefcase to take out files from the other NXX case files she needs to continue attending to. A comfortable silence looms in the air, both the rookie attorney and the psychiatrist focused on their individual tasks.
That is, until Gem glances at the focused and unbothered Vyn. She fondly smiles as she stands and walks up to him. Standing beside him, the psychiatrist acknowledges her presence by looking up, his face filled with expectancy and a fond smile (full of love, now that Gem is in here). "What is it, Gem?" She bends down, eye level with Vyn (who's smile didn't falter). Then, she suddenly leans in, and—
Chu.
The psychiatrist's expression shifts that into surprise, his cheeks dusting pink as he feels the soft, warm lips of the rookie attorney meet his lips. She pulls away and looks at Vyn with a smile. "Gem...?" Vyn whispered, still quite surprised. "A small kiss for you, Vyn. I love you." It is rare for Gem to call Vyn by his name, and not by the formal "Dr. Richter" title (that he oh so wants Gem to stop using, but for the sake of professionalism and respect, she must continue to use it). Vyn blinks for a while, surprised and a little flustered. It takes him a few seconds to process what just happened, and when he does, he averts his gaze somewhere else, embarrassment filling him a little bit.
"...Dr. Richter?" Gem asked, a little worried now that she might have stepped over a boundary. "Oh no, I'm so sorry if that move offended you." He notices and quickly composes himself before Gem could wallow in shame. "No, no. It's alright. It didn't offend me. I was just..." Vyn looks down for a bit, scrambling his mind for any words, and then looks back up to Gem with those tender and loving golden eyes and a gentle smile.
"I love you, too."
Two
It's raining the moment Artem and Gem are done with their overtime work at the firm. "Ah... I forgot my umbrella..." Gem frowns as she stares at the french windows, taking notice of the pitter patter of the rain. "It's raining, Mr. Wing..." The rookie attorney said, turning to look at her partner, who's busy arranging the documents in his briefcase. He looks up at Gem, then at the window. "We can borrow the umbrella from downstairs near the entrance of the building. I did not manage to bring my own umbrella either." Artem said, scratching the back of his neck in awkwardness. Gem smiles and nods, fixing her own set of documents into her briefcase. Once both attorneys are done, they head downstairs, with the senior attorney taking an umbrella from the umbrella rack by the entrance.
Artem opens the door first and opens the umbrella to block the rain from hitting him. Gem follows after, walking beside Artem. The two make their way to Artem's car, with Artem opening the door for Gem first and then getting inside the car himself afterwards. "Thank you, Mr. Wing." Gem said, smiling as she combs her hair out of habit. Artem smiles, putting the umbrella at the back before starting the car engine.
During the ride, the radio plays a familiar song. Gem softly sings to herself as she looks out of the car window, exhaustion catching up to her as she sings. Beside her is a smiling Artem, enjoying both her company and her singing voice, finding solace in this rainy night. The whole car ride is just Artem listening to Gem's singing, which, for him, is enough to relive him from the exhaustion and remaining stress he feels.
The rain starts to cease down by the time they near to a stop in front of Gem's apartment. "We're here." Artem's voice rings through Gem's ears. Gem pushes herself away from the car door and smiles at Artem, unbuckling her seat belt and taking her brief case. Before she could pull the car door handle, she looks back at Artem and brings herself near the senior attorney.
"Wait- Gem-"
Chu.
The rookie attorney silences the senior attorney with a soft kiss on the lips. At first, Artem stiffens a bit from the sudden action, but then melts into it. Gem pulls away first, giving the blushing attorney a soft smile. "Good night, Artem. I love you." Artem's surprised expression softens, giving Gem a small smile in return.
"Rest well tonight. I love you too."
Three
"You're improving, miss!"
Marius' voice fills the quiet art studio. Gem shyly smiles as she puts the paintbrush. "Am I? It still looks a little wonky for me.." "Yeah! Trust me, you're doing well." Marius said, snaking his arms around Gem's waist. "You praise me too much. But thank you." The attorney responds, leaning back on Marius' chest as she looks at the small painting she did for today.
Today's visit with Marius consists of painting lessons from yours truly, and according to Marius, Gem has been improving. It makes her happy to know that her art skills are starting to improve. "Want to rest?" Marius asked from behind. The attorney nods. "My hands are a little tired from painting." Gem's stomach growls, and she sinks a little in embarrassment. "And maybe hungry..."
Marius laughs and swiftly lifts Gem up bridal style, making the latter yelp in surprise. "Marius! von! Hagen! Warn me next time if you're going to pick me up like that!" Gem exclaimed, instinctively wrapping her arms around the taller man. Marius smirks as they both exit the art studio and down to the kitchen. "Well it's better this way. You can rest in my arms, miss~." He says in a sing-along manner. Once they arrive at the kitchen, he puts Gem down.
While the younger goes through the fridge to find anything he can simply make, Gem finds herself staring at some snacks on the table, one of which is pocky. "Hey Marius, I want to try something with you." Gem said, getting off the chair and taking the pocky box from the container. Marius hums and looks at Gem, the fridge door now closed as he holds two eggs. "Yeah? What is it?"
"Let's try the pocky challenge." Gem turns around, showing Marius the box of pocky. Instead of blushing like most people would react in that certain situation, Marius smirks and walks up to Gem, the eggs left on the table. "Miss, if you want a kiss, you can just ask me, you know?" Gem pouts. "But I want to try doing it like this." The artist laughs and opens the box for her. "Okay, okay."
Once the wrapper's opened, Gem takes a stick and puts the tip in her mouth. Marius occupies the other end of the stick. Gem bites first, and then Marius. Then Gem bites a huge portion, their small distance becoming even smaller. Marius smirks and bites a little, clearly letting Gem take the win. Gem bites, and—
Chu.
Gem can taste the strawberry flavor from Marius' lips. How sweet, she thinks as she wraps her arms around Marius' neck to deepen the kiss. It was Gem that pulled away first, and Marius licks his lips in satisfaction, his smirk not leaving one bit. "I love you." Gem whispers, smiling at Marius. Marius' smirk softens into a gentle smile, returning Gem's own.
"I love you too, babe."
Four and Five
Gem pants for breath, exhausted as she slumps down on the floor.
"I'm beat..." She sighed, wiping off her sweat. For today, the detective and his Watson decided to have a little bit of an exercise regimen through dancing to songs while following the dance presented (since, well, Gem and Luke have a thing for dancing; pretty good at dancing actually). And now, Gem's already tired from the third dance video, while Luke's still has more stamina to burn. "Come on, the next video's about to play!" "How are you not running out of stamina???" Gem says in exasperation, looking at Luke in confusion. The detective laughs. "I exercise daily, of course I don't run out of energy. And besides, being in the NSB means having no time for breaks during missions."
"...I'm starting to feel inferior with my physique and stamina." Gem said, deadpanned.
The next video plays, and Gem stands up, sighing. "Well it's for my own good to exercise anyway, might as well do less complaining..."
The dance is more of a partner dance than a solo, and it is quite intimate with its moves. However, Gem clearly didn't register the dance's intimacy with how tired she is from the exercise, meanwhile Luke's all red. The end result of the dance is such a close move that it took until the end of the video to realize just how close their bodies are to each other, and how their faces are merely inches away from contact.
"Uh... um..." Luke stammers out, embarrassed with how close they both are. Gem remains silent, all red as she averts her gaze somewhere else. Somewhere other than Luke Pearce who is literally holding her by the waist and is close to her.
Luke clears his throat and gently lets Gem go, freeing themselves from the last dance position (and awkward situation). But just before the next video starts, Gem looks at Luke and wraps her hands around Luke's neck, pulling him down to a kiss.
Chu.
Luke flinches in surprise, but quickly melts into the kiss. It didn't quite last for long due to their exhaustion, though. Gem pulls away first, leaving Luke slightly disappointed. The attorney giggles at the disappointment Luke showed. "If we rest, I can kiss you more." Gem smiles, pulling away and sitting on the couch.
"Then I'll take a break, so I can keep getting kisses from my Watson."
A chirp interrupts their conversation, and they both see Peanut fly from the window, and on Luke's bird nest hair. Peanut chirps for a while, and Luke laughs. "Looks like Peanut wants a little kiss, too." Gem stifles a giggle as she opens her hands for Peanut to stand on. When the myna bird lands on her hands, she gives the little bird a kiss.
"Chirp, chirp!" Peanut chirps, softly pecking Gem's hands. The attorney giggles at the sensation of the pecks. "That tickles, Peanut!" "Looks like it's returning the kiss you gave." Luke stated, giving Peanut a soft stroke on its body and wings.
"It's cute to see you two wanting kisses." Luke pouts at that statement. "But that's because it's you... Having a kiss from you is forever a nice feeling." "Ah geez, you're so cute, Luke!" Gem exclaimed, reaching out to ruffle Luke's already messy hair. "Hey!" After the little banter, Gem smiles, love evident in her green eyes.
"I love you, Luke."
"I love you too, Gem."
+ One
"What the hell, Luke! I thought we had something together!" Marius exclaimed, angry eyes flashing at Luke's direction. Luke returns the glare with his very own icy cold stare. "What do you mean? You cheated your way out, so it's only natural I return the favor, no?" Marius stands up, furious, his knuckles turning white from his strong grip. "Do you think this is funny, Luke?! Did you never once take me seriously?!" Luke, naturally from the rage, stands up as well. "Well, answer me this, von Hagen. Do you ever take things seriously? Because I'll have you know that I do take things seriously, especially with what we had. Yes, had. Because we will never get that bond back."
"The drama seems quite nice today." Vyn said, sipping from his teacup, his hand having no UNO cards due to winning first. Artem sweats at the drama unfolding before his eyes, and Gem can only awkwardly witness this. During UNO sessions (held by Marius von Hagen, obviously), the two attorneys and the psychiatrist have the privilege to witness free drama between the two actors; Luke and Marius. And what makes it even more convenient is the fact that both of them are willing to act out without even feeling embarrassment, and that they enjoy it.
After Marius takes four cards, it is Artem's turn. He drops a 2 of the same color. "UNO! I'm sorry, Luke!" Gem shouts, dropping a +4 card.
Oh.
Marius snickers from beside Luke. "Looks like karma bit you back in the ass. Does it hurt? Because yeah, that's how I feel from putting up with you for so long, Lukie." Luke grimaces at the nickname and glares at Marius, who is mockingly smirking at him. "Shut up, von Hagen." "How are these two able to act without feeling bad for each other..." Artem mumbles. Gem could only shrug as Marius drops his own card.
The session lasts for a while, and the end result is Gem winning, followed by Artem, then Luke, and then Marius. And of course, with this result, you can only guess the aftermath; more drama from Luke and Marius.
But Gem is happy that the atmosphere is lively in the base. She lets out a hearty laugh, causing all four men to look at her direction. "What's so funny, Gem?" Vyn asked, setting his teacup down. Gem smiles at Vyn's direction, her eyes full of love and fondness. "I think it's nice that the base is lively and full of energy today. I love you, guys."
They all melt at the sight of a happy Gem. "We love you too, Gem." Luke replies, breaking the silence. The other three nod, eyes full of love, and smiles gentle and soft like clouds. Luke moves first and gives Gem a light kiss on the cheek, making Gem surprised. Marius' jaw drops and he huffs. "Hey! You're not the only one that can do that!" He walks up to Gem, shoving Luke aside (no, more like it was Luke that moved aside, chuckling at Marius' eagerness), and giving Gem a kiss on the same cheek. By now, Gem giggles at the mannerism of the two.
"Geez, are you all going to give me a kiss, now?" Gem asked, her face not stopping from blushing. "Of course." Vyn nods and stands up, walking over to Gem. He leans in and plants a kiss on her forehead. Artem scoots closer to the rookie attorney, giving her a kiss on the forehead as well. Gem giggles from the overflowing love the four men gave. "You four are the best thing that happened to me." She said, her loving smile not faltering one bit.
"And you, too, are the best thing that happened to us."