Work Text:
“Daisuke.”
Lupin tilted Jigen’s jaw up to meet his own, pressing a kiss into his lips as casually as stamping a letter. For Jigen’s part, it hit him like an asteroid straight out of heaven; a deviation away from the usual coy mealtime choreography that took seconds to register in his brain. In every sense, it was a stolen kiss.
“Can I get a better look at you?” Lupin asked. Jigen, rendered speechless, gave the smallest of nods.
With a roll of his shoulder, he plucked away Jigen’s hat and nudged his bangs out of the way to steal even more: a look at a pair of wide eyes the color of polished mahogany, a playful stroke of his coarse beard, and a second kiss. The first had been boyish, the sort of half-there smoky kiss that Jigen associated with bars and barracks, but this one was committed and communicated enough for him to lean into it and finally close his eyes. He found his arms wound around Lupin’s slender waist, Lupin’s hand already playfully tugging at his tie. The kiss was only broken by Lupin’s laughter.
Was it still only a joke to him?
For months, Jigen had stamped out stray thoughts of close touch– all the better to keep idle fantasy out of his sights while he remained focused on the rush of the job. Working with Lupin, though, was worlds apart from being a hired gun. The reasons for that were countless, but in his mind the chief among them was having something to look forward to besides the routine itself. Dinners were rich and filling, evenings were a time to drink and argue about television, and nighttimes, well…
He’d never have admitted until now how much he valued waking up beside Lupin in the morning instead of alone in some dogshit motel in New York.
Jigen held Lupin by the cheeks, a fuzzy sideburn in each hand. Eye to eye.
“You look at me ,” he said, voice hard. Lupin’s grin somehow grew in spite of being squished between his grip. “I ain’t one of your girlfriends. You’re not gonna make me into something to use up and throw out. I can walk out of this partnership whenever I decide you’re not worth the trouble.”
“Buth you won’th.”
Jigen’s harsh grip loosened.
“But I won’t.”
Lupin barely held back another fit of laughter, chuckles squeezing out between the edges of his attempt (“attempt”) at respectful silence. Jigen could hear his words now– Like a dog, you are! Always looking for somebody big and strong to hold that leash!
But instead, through a pack of giggles, he said:
“So, how’s it feel to finally be free?”