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Agent Hawaii is a known party animal. Within a week of activity of Project Freelancer he has already done three kegstands, won ten games of armwrestling, hooked up with three agents and five crew members, made sure to touch the top every single door frame he walked through, and also to have the loudest laugh in the room.
He's a big guy with a surprisingly-allowed-in-this-miltary-organization-against-literally-all-odds bright red mohawk who is here to kick some ass and he knows it, then why does he suddenly lose confidence and feel like a shy schoolgirl everytime he sees him?
There he is, sitting alone at the table, with his pretty curls and deep black eyes: his codename is Agent Puerto Rico, but Hawaii is completely sure it's Oscar from eighth grade. They have some...History. Can it even be called history if they were in eighth grade?
Long story short, Hawaii was in a friend group of jocks and he was a popular kid, right, you following so far? And Rico was a loner that had this weird fixation with the occult who said he was a wizard, right?
Literally a loser, and since Rico had shown no interest in having a girlfriend he had to be gay, so Hawaii figured it would have been a fun prank to seduce him in order to prove it and make fun of him with his friends. Nothing weird about it.
The only weird part was that Rico didn't fall for it - his loss! - and claimed that he knew his plan because he saw it in one of his visions, was a complete asshole about it, and went to his friends to tell them that not only Hawaii had tried to seduce him, but also started crying when he got rejected, which wasn't even true!
It was a single manly tear, like the one of a warrior who lost a fight to a superior strategy, he doesn't cry about that shit.
Predictably, he got kicked out of that friend group and called many slurs, and Rico had the audacity to tell him 'Now that we are both outcasts, I know we are going to be friends.' and the infuriating part is that it happened for real! They became best friends, they went camping together the following summer, and they spent nights and nights making out under the stars without ever mentioning during the day only for Rico to move out and not keep in touch until...Well, until now.
"Hey...Are you, um, are you Oscar Velazquez?"
"Oh."
Rico raises his glance from what he was doing: he was...holding a cup of coffee upside down and spilling everything on the little plastic lid? Who knows.
"Yes it's me. I'm sorry, I don't remember you."
"It's...Come on, it's me, man! Andrés. From eighth grade."
Rico seem delighted and rushes to flip the cup and look inside of it, only to look disappointed.
"They lied to me, this is not Turkish coffee!" he complains, as if he wouldn't have needed a proper ceramic cup with a saucer for what he was doing.
"..."
"If it was, I would have foretold your arrival, I'm sure of it." he nods with a knowing smile, almost smug, he is chipper all of a sudden.
"Ah! That's cool."
"I have been getting messages about meeting someone from the past for a while now, look at my tarot spread!"
Hawaii looks down at the surface of table where there is a spread of...Cartoon themed? Tarot cards.
"So...What's a guy like you doing in the military?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" the warmth instantly drains from his face, a contained fury shows in his voice. Hawaii immediately panics.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-- I was just--"
"Kidding!" Rico smiles again "I know there isn't a high demand of mystics in this kind of place."
"Heh. Right."
"Well, you know I'm not the type to have a traditional job, I tried many times but it didn't work out for me, I dropped from high school, and since my family needed money they thought to send me to the military to help them and be a bit more useful."
"That's...Awful."
"Chill out, man, we're all gonna die at some point. What difference does it make?"
"You don't care if you live or die?!"
Now Rico seems embarrassed by the heavy vibes of the conversation.
"...That's not what I said. Ahem, so, what have you been doing after I left?"
"Lots of stuff! I partied all night every night, hooked up with a thousand chicks," well, not yet one thousand but it's on his list of goals "and check this out!"
He turns around: his tank top shows on his shoulder blade a tattoo of a T-Rex whose head moves when he flexes his arm. If that doesn't impress him, nothing will.
"That's pretty impressive."
Phew. Thank God.
"I know, right?"
Hawaii tries to boast, but it came to him that hey, that's pretty impressive! He impressed Oscar-- well, Rico! You know, the one who got away? Maybe they can hang out again and--
"How many chicks have you picked up with that?"
"With this tattoo? Zero chicks." he chuckles, a tiny bit of self deprecation will somehow make him look confident, he concludes through some obscure calculation in his silly brain that has replaced every emotion including the emergency ones with horniness "I impressed a few guys, though."
"Well, it's a fun tattoo."
"Thinking of getting one too?"
"Oh, no, I'm not rebellious at all. Imagine me with a tattoo!"
"What do you mean, you'd look great!"
Rico tilts his head like a dog. That's so cute.
"Really?"
Fuck. Was that too gay? Rico looks surprised, but not angry. Then again, he's always been a moody son of a bitch.
"Yeah, I mean, you could make it work."
"Thanks."
Seeing him start to collect his cards and not knowing how to keep the conversation going, Hawaii thinks to join in and collect them as well.
"Let me help you."
"Thanks man, I only brought two decks with me, I wouldn't want to lose these."
"Yeah, these look expensive. Are they are a limited edition?"
Hawaii doesn't know shit and doesn't even believe what he's saying, but he wants to show some interest and approval.
"Nah, they're mass produced. Industrial shit. But that doesn't make them any less precious, tarot is tarot."
"Right. So...Wanna read my cards on something?"
"Sure, that would be cool. I can give you a nice extended reading later if you want."
"Yeah, that sounds good."
"We got plenty of time to do that, though. Wouldn't it be fun to just...Hang out in the rec room and watch a movie while we catch up?"
Oooh. Catch up, he says? Yeah, it would be about time. Rico has grown to be so handsome and if he wants it too, why not catch up?
"Oh! Like Netflix and chill?"
"Yeah."
"Oh yeah, that-- that sounds nice."
"Well, I gotta go now." Rico neatly puts all the cards in their little box "See you later, then!"
"Later!"
When Hawaii watches Rico walk out, he can't help but stare at his ass. Look, he's never said he wasn't into dudes, he's not the most vocal about it yet - strangely enough - but he has accepted it. Well, by the time the moment he's been waiting for finally comes - tonight! - he'll definitely have less problems admitting it. It's like a test, you know, some kind of milestone, though he's not sure why.
He brings a few snacks with him at the...Holy shit, is this a date? Maybe sleepover is more correct, it's more of a chill vibe. He's got a tank top on - obviously, to show off the cool tattoo - and a pair of sweatpants, and he didn't put any gel on his hair to keep the mohawk up. Just nice long hair that is bright red, held in a ponytail. If you were drunk enough you could mistake him for Carolina, except Carolina would not like hearing you say that and would fuck your shit up.
"Andrés! Uh, I mean, Hawaii! Come in!"
Rico is happy to see him and pats the spot next to him on the couch. Then starts browsing through the channels with the remote.
"How long did you reserve this room for?"
"Three hours, just in case. But the sooner we get out, the better, I'm sure people will be pissed off if we stay longer. Better pick a shorter movie."
Damn, he's in a hurry? Not a problem! Hawaii can be fast. Wait, no, pause, don't take it the wrong way, okay? He's a sex god, he's not 'fast'. He will go for a quicky if that's what the situation calls for, that's what he meant! Why is he even explaining this to you? Who are you?!
"Maybe a comedy would work, then."
"Good idea."
After an unnecessary quarter hour long process, they manage to choose which movie in particular. It might be the dumbest movie ever, not in a so-bad-it's-good-way à la Sharknado, just a plain boring unfunny comedy, which is convenient because they get to chit chat about nothing in the meantime.
They are having a good time, and look at that, Rico shifts his position to lay his head on Hawaii's chest. Finally getting to the 'chill' part. Hawaii wraps an arm around him, giving a light caress. Everything is cozy and they both radiate contentment, so he figures it's a good moment to take things to the next level and brings a hand to his butt to give it a firm squeeze. He can't tell if the gasp that follows is pleased or not.
"What are you doing...?!"
Probably not. Rico sits up, confirming that yes, he fucked up.
"Nothing, I was just...Sorry, man."
"Hmph." and with that angry huff Rico just...Lays his head on his chest again, and emits an unmistakably pleased hum once he gathers the courage to attempt caresses again, so what does it mean? "I miss cuddling with you."
"Me too..."
Oh, now Hawaii gets it! He just wants it sweeter. That's fine, he'll give it to him sweet, come here. There, eyes squeezed closed, and a small peck. Oh, his lips are so soft, and he tastes like chocolate. Another pleased noise, yes, that's a good sign. An attempt to put a hand under his shirt is however interrupted by the flattest tone ever.
"Seriously, dude. What the hell are you doing?"
Hawaii opens his eyes again. Okay, now he's confused. These are some serious mixed signals.
"What...What do you want me to do?"
"You said we were gonna chill."
"Yeah."
"This is not chilling."
"It's not?"
"Since when is this chilling?!"
"Since the dawn of all time?! Why are you acting like you've never had sex before?"
Hawaii immediately covers his mouth because, from Rico's outraged look, he can tell he said something stupid. He says stupid shit all the time, but usually the people he hangs out with don't care and stick around him anyway, so this is wild. He hates walking on eggshells.
"God, no, why would I have sex?!"
"Uhhh..."
This is awkward.
"I'm sorry, I don't do these things."
These things? What's wrong with sex now? Come on, man, what a buzzkill. What is Hawaii supposed to do with this horniness now?
"But...Why?"
"What do you mean why?! It's gross! And it messes up my power, I have to stay away from drugs and alcohol, limit drinks like tea, coffee, and chocolate, you know, not get distracted by stimulant shit."
"And that includes sex."
Hawaii is genuinely trying to understand in a non-judgemental way, but clearly Rico isn't buying it. That's what happens when you bully people, but seriously, have you listened to the shit he says? No wonder he got bullied. Obviously Hawaii won't voice that thought, he knows better than to say at least that one.
"I need to learn how control my visions, I can't afford to let this thing unleashed like nothing, don't you understand? Even the Counselor agrees I have this superpower!"
Now, here is the thing. Rico's visions, when expressed in a way that made sense (which was rare), have always come true ever since Hawaii has been aware of them, but he seems to get so...Carried away with them, and so paranoid that sometimes he becomes concerning, to put it lightly.
"Really? What did he say about it?"
"He recruited me personally because he heard that I predicted exactly how everyone in my entire old squad died and I did a high score on a telepathy test, you know the ones with the little cards?"
"Wait wait wait, your entire old squad died?!"
"Yeah, the general wasn't happy when he learned he should have listened to me."
"Fuck...That's heavy."
"Yeah. He sold me here because he thinks I bring bad luck, but freelancer sees me as an opportunity, so who knows. What about you?"
Bad luck? Yeah, that's not reassuring.
"Uhh, I got here...Normally, I guess? I'm an action guy, signed up, and then got recruited here because I did good. That's pretty much it."
"That's cool."
The conversation inevitably dies and they keep on eating snacks and watching the movie.
"...Did you ever get visions about meeting me again?"
Rico immediately gets flustered, his face is all red. That means yes. Holy shit!
"I...I have but I don't remember them. They were kind of hazy."
Yeah, right, nice save. Hawaii sees him tip-toeing around the question!
"Well, then maybe we can just go with the flow and see what happens."
A more mischievous smile appears on his face now, he knows that that was smooth as fuck. Will he acknowledge it?
"I'd love that."
Ohohoh, now we're talking, thinks Hawaii. Look at him, he's all cuddly and getting closer, eyes half-lidded, is he leaning in for a kiss?
"Hey, I--"
"Andrés, do you mind if I take a nap? I'm tired from training."
...Ah. So that's what it was.
"Sure, go ahead."
"You can finish the movie by yourself if you want."
"Okay. Do you, uh, do you want me to tell you how it ends when you wake up?"
"I already know how it ends."
"Because you already watched it or you had a vision?"
Wait. He's not moving anymore.
"...Hello?"
Great, he fell asleep. This is not the date Hawaii was expecting! It's okay, though, he will watch the rest of the movie and he'll have an excuse to talk to him again. Whatever happens, he'll try to make the best out of that occasion.