Work Text:
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME
Josef answered the phone distractedly when it rang, eyes on the report in front of him. “Kostan.”
“Wanna hang out tonight?” Shane’s voice came over the line.
Josef abandoned the papers and leaned back in his office chair. “Hang out?” he inquired mildly.
“Yeah. We don’t have a gig tonight, and Beth’s coming over to spend a girl’s night with Sara, so…”
“You’re fleeing for your life?” Josef finished in amusement.
“Something like that,” Shane agreed, although there was something in his voice that belied the response.
“Okay.”
“I’ll meet you at your place in an hour,” Shane told him and hung up.
Josef laced his fingers behind his head, rocking a bit in the chair as he contemplated the unexpected phone call. His gaze dropped to the calendar on the desk, and a smirk formed on his face. Generally, it didn’t do to try and be sneaky around Josef; being the expert in it he was rarely fooled. Nor did he believe in coincidence. That Shane picked this particular day out of all others to want to “hang out” didn’t seem likely. Of course, he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it not being a coincidence. Even after six months, they were still sorting out the changes in their relationship, but so far so good.
Pushing the thoughts aside, Josef got up and left to meet Shane.
XXX
When Josef arrived home he found Shane in his den, sitting on his pool table.
Josef paused in the doorway, shaking his head at the sight. “You have absolutely no manners, do you? Believe it or not, chairs are for sitting on.” The banter was meaningless though, he wasn’t really annoyed and they both knew it.
Shane snorted. “Like you haven’t done worse things on this pool table?” was his comeback.
“True,” Josef conceded, moving forward. He didn’t stop until he was in front of Shane, standing between the legs that moved further apart to accommodate him. “So, what are we going to do tonight?” he asked with a half smile.
“Well, there’s the thing…” Shane began, casually lacing the fingers of one hand through Josef’s. “You and I have such diametrically opposed tastes, I found myself at a loss for ideas,” he admitted. “Going to dinner is out, seeing as how we’re vampires and all. We could go to Crimson… but that’s more of a pick-up place and doesn’t quite fit tonight. Any other, more traditional ideas aren’t our style, either.”
“Why should tonight be any different?” Josef asked with a knowing grin.
“I don’t know, it’s not like it’s a special day or anything,” Shane returned.
Josef gave him a hard smack upside the head with his free hand.
“Ow!” Shane complained, rubbing the offended area with his free hand.
Josef was only teasing; he wasn’t inclined to make things tough on Shane tonight. He was very touched that the other vamp would choose to mark this particular date as one worthy of special notice. Starting on that day six months ago, when the words he’d desperately wanted had been said, Shane had pleasantly surprised him more than once. His efforts at being there for Josef, more than he’d been in the past, were appreciated. Especially at a time when he had other things on his mind, things that even Josef agreed were a priority right now.
“Well, okay,” Shane admitted, “it um, might be that exactly six months ago, uh…”
Josef found his awkward stuttering rather endearing. “Six months, zero days, four hours and,” with a glance at his watch, “fifteen minutes.”
“Fuck,” Shane said; his typical response to something that left him speechless. Josef was caught by his intense blue eyes, but only for a second as they came closer, and then, he was being kissed.
When they separated again, Josef looked down at their joined hands, rubbing a finger over the ring on Shane’s. “You know,” he mused aloud, “I actually find the look of this wedding ring on you very sexy for some reason.”
“You’ve been really great about everything,” Shane told him in a quiet voice. “Tonight I’m all yours; whatever you want to do.”
I guess you can teach old dogs new tricks. They were both trying, and it showed. “Well, let’s see…” Josef began, dropping the hand finally to wrap arms around Shane’s waist. “Why don’t we just grab a jug of Randy’s Best, put some music on, watch the lights of L.A. and just…hang out. Together.”
“And just how did you get a hold of Randy’s shine?” Shane asked with a grin as he hopped down off the table.
“A vamp never gives up all his secrets,” Josef responded.
“Life would be boring,” Shane agreed, as they left the room.
XXX
Over the past few months, Shane had found that he enjoyed making Josef happy. The little things, it really didn’t take too much. He wouldn’t tell Josef now, save it for another surprise later. But someday, some time in the future, years? Decades? Maybe even centuries, he didn’t know. But one thing he knew was that one day he’d wear two rings on that finger.
The end.
7/18/09