Work Text:
Javy stared at the wall, deep in his thoughts. He had come here to pee and since he currently was on a car trip, he had to stop at a public toilet. He didn't do something like that often but he couldn't wait any longer. As expected, the bathroom looked disastrous. It was filthy and more than disgusting. He was pretty sure someone had peed on the floor and rolled his eyes. And there in the mess was a phone number written on the wall with a heart behind it. He knew it was probably a stupid idea but to be honest he was pretty curious about what would happen if he texted the strange number. But first he had to pee urgently. Of course, he washed his hands afterwards and his eyes fell on the number again. Javy pulled out his phone from his jeans pocket. What could possibly go wrong when you text a random number you found in a public toiletstall?
'👋👋👋'
'Hello?'
'Hi😃'
'Who's this?'
'I found your number on a public bathroom wall'
'That's weird because I didn't write it there🤨'
Jake stared at his phone. His mind was racing. Who the hell just wrote down their number publicly? Was that illegal? He shook his head slightly. Even if it was illegal then it wouldn't be worth the time and stress to do something about it.
'Really? There was even a heart next to it.'
Jake frowned. This was getting weirder and weirder.
'I'm pretty sure it wasn't me. Can you do me a favor?'
'This is pretty early to ask me for anything😉'
'I don't know who you are but don't act like an idiot and destroy the number on the wall.'
'Say please first nicely'
Javy grinned widely. He didn't even know if he was texting with a woman, a man or even maybe a teenager, but the person already seemed wonderfully annoyed. That could be fun, especially since he still had to drive for 2 hours without anything to do. He wasn't the driver, so he decided to spend the next two hours annoying the stranger as long as he didn't block him.
'I'm definitely not going to say please.'
'Then I'll leave the number here.'
Jake sighed in annoyance and took a deep breath.
'Will you PLEASE destroy the number on the wall?'
'I don't have anything with me to do it'
There was no answer for a short time and then there was an extremely nice reaction from the stranger, which only made Javy grin even wider.
'🖕🏼🖕🏼🖕🏼'
'A little more respect please, after all you are talking to someone who is defending your country'
'Why should I have respect when I'm one of the best in the Navy.'
'What?'
Javy stared at his phone in surprise. This stranger probably just wanted to annoy him.
'How do you serve the country? Marines?'
'Navy.'
'Oh'
Both men stared at their phones. How weird was this coincidence? Could it be that they knew each other, had flown together before or something?
'What's your name? What's your rank?'
'My name is private, I'm not stupid and give strangers too much information about me. But I'm the only one of my generation with a confirmed air combat kill. My rank is Lieutenant. And how about you?'
Impressed, Javy looked at his phone, the other person had to be a damn good pilot. He was excited to find out more about this mysterious person.
'I'm Javy😌'
'Rank?
'Is that important?'
'Are you even really in the Navy Javy?'
Jake grinned a little. Navy Javy. As stupid as it was, it sounded funny in his head. He had never heard the name before.
'Of course I am. Lieutenant'
'Oh yes? And you're not just repeating after me because you have no idea about the Navy?'
'Believe me, I look great in my uniform'
'Jake'
'What?'
'My name is Jake'
'Very nice to text you Jake. What do you like about flying?'
'The adrenaline. To be better than the rest. This power and this freedom that I have in the air. I can do what most people can't"
'So you basically just show-off'
'I'm not showing off. I'm just damn good'
'You're definitely just showing off😉'
Javy left the bathroom with a big grin. That would be interesting.
It was 1am. Javy stared in disbelief at his phone, which had the name 'Jakey' on it, and slowly pressed the green button so that the ringing stopped. "Hello?" he asked slowly, rubbing his eyes. And when he heard Jake's voice for the first time he felt warm inside. Very warm.
“Ja-vy,” the man on the other end said slowly, as if he was trying out the name and deciding it was good. "Javy." Javy's breath hitched. The man had the voice of an angel. The voice was neither light nor dark. It was steady and firm and confident and somehow he found himself drawn to the voice. But there was something in his tone.
"Jake" he said just as slowly as he had said his name. "Did you drink?" He had never heard Jake's voice before and yet he could tell that the man might have had a few too many drinks. "Why are you calling?"
"Awwwwwwhhhh Javy. Your voice is fucking beautiful."
"Thanks?" Confused, Javy blinked and swiped over his phone with his finger. "But why are you calling? Have you looked at the clock?"
"I can not sleep."
"So that's why you're calling me?" Javy asked amused, sitting up in bed. He and Jake had texted almost every day for 3 weeks now. He had discovered that, although Jake would never admit it, he had a small obsession with memes. It had become a ritual for both of them to talk about their days. In the evenings, Javy was always happy to be able to read what Jake had achieved, even if he was a bit arrogant. This was the first time they had spoken on the phone and he had to admit he could listen to Jake's voice all day.
"Mhmmmmmm."
"Why are you calling me of all people Jakey?" He tried not to let his amusement show in his voice and got up and went into the kitchen. This was going to be an interesting night and he made himself some tea. There was a brief silence. "Jake?"
"Javy." he just replied again. He felt his face automatically warm up, which was crazy. He barely knew Jake, didn't know what he looked like and of course had never met him before.
"Yes Jake?" he said his name extra slow.
"I just coughed. Google says I don't have much time left." Javy blinked a few times. Jake wasn't serious. He couldn't be. There was just no way that Jake would seriously think that.
"What?"
"Google says I have a rare disease and I only have a few months left."
"Jake what the-" the man had definitely drunk too much that day. "Where are you?"
"Mhhhh. Texas."
"I would have said I would come and take care of you but that's way too far away. Sorry Jakey but you need to put your phone away and go to sleep now so you can feel better in the morning."
"Tell me about something."
"What?"
"Tell me about anything." the man repeated.
"Are you serious?" Silence. "Alright. What do you want to hear?"
"Where did you grow up?" And just like Javy had guessed it would be a very interesting night.
When Jake woke up, he first stretched extensively. He reached for his phone and paused. It was 10 o'clock but that wasn't what horrified him. A call had been going on for 9 whole hours. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He got up and drank some water first. Then he picked up his phone and slowly put it to his ear. "Javy?"
"Good morning sleepyhead!" Jake narrowed his eyes. That was unexpected. "Did you sleep well?" Jake hung up. That couldn't be true.
'Jake?'
'This message could not be received by the contact.'
'Oh please Jakey, I'm not stupid.'
'It was worth a try.😉'
'Make your coffee and let me know afterwards. I'll call you.'
'Why?'
'Why not?'
There was no answer to that, Javy had a good point. Jake made his coffee and watched his phone thinking about the past night. Why hadn't the idiot just hung up when Jake fell asleep?
Javy waited for the call from the other pilot 3 weeks later in the evening. It was crazy how life could change because of this stranger, but in the evening he had called Jake to annoy him and they had spoken every single evening since that one day. Mostly just on the side. When Jake folded laundry. When Javy packed his things. When Jake cooked dinner. When Javy cleaned. When Jake was outside and took a walk. When Javy missed him. Friendship with the stranger was so easy. The calls quickly became the highlight of Javy's days and he could swear that Jake felt the same way.
'Hey Jakey. We should really meet up sometime.'
'I guess we should.'
...
'Javy?' texted Jake the next day. Why hadn't Javy answered him yet?
Jake looked around and eyed the assembled pilots suspiciously. He knew most of them except for a man with glasses and a tall dark-skinned man with a quite attractive face he had to admit. But he wouldn't allow himself to be distracted and so he sat back and concentrated. He wasn't too confident about the selection of pilots for this mission but hopefully they would surprise him in a positive way. The callsigns were called. "Bonbon" and Hangman couldn't help but snort in amusement. What kind of stupid call sign was that? The man with glasses confidently replied, "Yes." Hangman looked around the room and the other pilot he didn't know also had an amused grin on his lips. His eyes fell on Jake and for a moment both men stared intensely at each other. Jake noticed even more how good the stranger looked and judging by the way the other man looked at him, he thought the same way about him. He winked as his phone vibrated in his pocket and he immediately looked away and pulled out his phone. He stared at it with a glimpse of hope. Rooster had texted him something that wasn't really important. He rolled his eyes in annoyance.
Why has Javy been ignoring him for 16 days? Why didn't he read his messages anymore? Had something happened? He had regularly scrolled through social media and even googled it but no one had posted anything about a certain Javy's death so he assumed that Javy was just ignoring him. He simply couldn't explain why Javy was behaving like that and his mood immediately sank again and he ignored the other man, who looked at him confused and tilted his head slightly. "Coyote." The man in front said and a voice far too familiar to Jake answered "Yes." He stared at the man in horror, his mouth opening slightly as he shivered and his breathing stopped for a second. It wasn't cold in the room but it felt terribly icy inside him and he kneaded his hands. Now the stranger looked at him even more confused and he swallowed hard. Well, that man wasn't a stranger. He was more than sure of that.
"Hangman."
"Yup." he popped the p a little.
Coyote's eyes widened slightly and Jake could see a thousand questions on his face, questions he had himself. Jake had to keep himself from getting up and punching Javy. He looked fine, there wasn't anything wrong why he couldn't reply. He raised an eyebrow and looked away from Javy. When they were allowed to get up, Jake immediately went towards the exit, but was held firmly by the shoulder. "Yes?" he turned around.
"Jake."
"Hangman." He corrected and had to admit Javy's looks matched his voice perfectly.
"My phone fell into the water."
"What?"
"My phone fell into the water while I was on the ship."
Javy remembered the day. He tried to pull his stupid phone out of his pocket, tripped over absolutely nothing and fell, dropping the phone into the water. He had been terribly nervous all day, wanting to know what Jake had answered. It would pass time until he could buy a new phone and he wondered what Jake was thinking now that he wasn't answering anymore. When he returned to land a few days later and bought a new phone, he drove to the public bathroom again, only to stare in horror at the blank wall where the number was no longer there. He felt sick. He requested data on all Jake's but firstly there were an awful lot of them in the Navy and secondly he wasn't allowed to have that data because it was private information. This situation just had to be a bad dream. He felt terrible.
“Please say something.” Javy begged, becoming more uncertain and insecure with every second of silence.
"I need time."
Javy nodded disappointedly. "You look really good, by the way, Jake."
"Not the first time I've heard that."
That didn't surprise Javy. Now that he looked at Jake he had the urge to pin him against the wall and watch him- wait what? He blinked in surprise. Where did these thoughts come from?
"So I guess you're actually in the Navy." Jake tilted his head.
"You didn't believe me after everything we went through?" Javy asked in mock outrage. Jake gave him a playful punch and Javy grinned. And then Javy just pulled the other man into a tight hug. Hangman gasped in shock and didn't move. “So Jakey. Now that I finally have you, I won't let you go."
Jake snorted. "And who allows you to do that?"
"Myself. Now give me your number."
After a moment's hesitation, Jake gave it to him. It was a relief that Javy hadn't just ignored him.
Both men stared at each other again for a moment before Javy slowly let go of the green-eyed man. “Do you have anything planned this afternoon?”
"No why?"
"Then you have plans now!"
"Come on Jakey, just 2 more times!" Javy shouted even though Jake was right next to him.
"You don't have to scream like that, I'm only an armlength away from you." Jake hissed, but rolled his eyes in amusement. When he was donr he put the weights down and Javy grinned and gave him a high five. "New best performance!" It had been 4 years. 4 damn years since they met. They got to know each other well, became friends, became best friends and in the end they were downright inseparable.
Javy followed him like a puppy and Jake accepted his fate whenever Javy pulled him into his strong arms. They went to the gym together twice a week and helped each other improve. Neither would admit that they just enjoyed watching the other, and Javy would be lying if he said certain parts of his body had never reacted to Jake while he was exercising. His brain was sometimes a real traitor with the thoughts he had when Jake looked so good. And the worst part was that Jake had been telling the truth from the start. He was very good, in fact he was good at everything. Javy liked to pretend it bothered him but it didn't. Just like Jake enjoyed the attention, Javy enjoyed watching Jake.
"Hey Jake?" He said casually while pressing weights with his legs.
"Hm?"
"You should be my boyfriend."
Javy had put a lot of thought into this decision. They just clicked right from the beginning and since they spent so much time with each other it was worth a try, wasn't it?
Jake choked on air. "What?" Probably he had heard the wrong thing because there was no way Javy actually-
"You should be my boyfriend." Javy repeated still very casually even though his heart raced but that wasn't something the other had to know.
"And why?"
"It just makes sense. We're a great team. And you can't tell me you don't feel anything because I'm not blind."
"You're so strange Machado." Jake mumbled and shook his head slightly, mostly because Javy was not wrong.
"Thank you, thank you. But seriously, be my boyfriend."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay."
And there it was. Jake was really uncomplicated. Javy grinned and stood up, pulling the other man close to him. "So can I kiss you now?"
"You can try."