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Still early in the morning, the household of V and Johnny was already awake and getting ready for the day. Johnny, as so often, sitting in the living room on the couch, his guitar in his lap and a cigarette dangling between his lips. He was just scribbling some notes to a song down, before he tried another riff on the guitar, crossing out the previous notes just to try it another way once more.
V was in the bathroom, styling himself up and deciding what he was gonna wear for today. It would probably, as so very often, end with him wearing his favorite red jacket, which was fitting so nicely to his bright yellow optics.
“It was at 8 pm, right?” V's voice echoed through the apartment, hoping his partner would hear or answer him, even when the rockerboy was busy on his guitar. And it only took a moment before the answer came.
“Yeah, that's what Kerry said.”
V nodded to himself, taking a short look into the mirror and brushing once more through his hair. 8 pm, at Afterlife. More than enough time to do a lot of stuff together. He left the bathroom, fully dressed in his usual gear, placing a soft kiss on Johnny’s bearded cheek as he passed him. Just as he wanted to say something else, his phone was ringing. Seeing that it was Regina who called, made V accept the call with a worried expression, while he started to pace through the room.
Johnny made only an unhappy grunt, watching his partner pace through their shared apartment, he could tell from his frown alone, that this was no ‘Merry christmas, enjoy the holidays’ call. After all, they were living in Night City, and Night City was always busy with Merc work, even just before christmas. Maybe also, because most of its citizens wouldn’t really celebrate this old holiday. In the end, it was Johnny’s fault that he and V would celebrate with the rest of their friends, there was still a somewhat nostalgic feeling towards Christmas at Johnny’s end and with that he invested all around him to spend the holidays together,letting work be just for a few days at the end of the year.
V was doing his best to shift all his work away from the next few days, but sometimes, things went different than planned, especially in Night City.
“A fucking what now, in City Center?”, Vs gaze shifted to Johnny for a moment, making a grimace, before he listened again to the caller. Whatever it was Johnny was really hoping V would decline this dumb gig and hold up to his promises. Slowly Johnny stood up from his place on the couch to get closer to V and may pick up one or two pieces from his call. Lazily he slung an arm around Vs waist and tried his best to understand what was going on.
“... a Cyberpsycho. Rambling through … stores.”
A deep sigh left the rockerboy, V wouldn’t deny that case at all. He would always take serious gigs like that, at any time of day or night. They discussed over and over again, that it never could be more important than his night sleep, or planned meetups with their friends, only to always end it with V being clear about it. Gigs like that always had top priority for V. Crossing his arms in front of his chest he watched V closely with an annoyed expression.
“Yeah sure, I am on my way, Regina. Give you a call once I get him down.”, V ended the call and looked over at Johnny, an apologetic smile on his face.
“Don’t look at me like this, J. It’s not a big thing for me, but maybe could save a bunch of people in his hood.”
“We were clear with this.”, Johnny turned his back to V, his arms still crossed and his voice showing far too well his annoyance “Not a single gig on the holidays. For once.”
“I know, Johnny. But come on. I cannot say no in a situation like this. I promise, it will go smoothly and I will be back right in time when we head out to the Christmas meetup.”
A deep sigh left the rockerboy again, as he looked over his shoulder at V. He couldn’t really voice what was making him so uneasy about this all, but the feeling just wouldn’t leave him. Still, he nodded it off.
“Fine. But I swear to god, if you are not on time, I'm gonna punch you in the dick.”
“Damn it, fine!”, in a playful attempt to surrender, V raised his hands and smiled at Johnny. As always he felt the concern from Johnny, but they wouldn’t talk about it, they never did.
“I promise I will be back in no time.”
Hours went by, and still not a single message or call from V. This wasn’t the usual way V handled stuff. But today pretty much nothing was really usual at all. Johnny's gaze was glued to the windows as he really couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was snowing. Here in Night City, just as if this was some cute little Christmas Wonder. But with all the years without snow, this unusual weather turned the city into even more chaos. Drivers weren’t used to handling their vehicles in this weather, nor did most people have anything good to wear for the sudden cold. A slow sigh left the rockerboy as he shifted his gaze from the window to his phone. Still no message, no call. Johnny was worried about V, but coped it with being angry, like he always did. V promised to make it in time and was already late, of course he was.
“Fucking snowfall. Bet that’s just some marketing gig from a Corp. Disgusting, they really use everything to make their sales go up. Fucking corpo rats.”
He searched through their wardrobe, picking up a few sweaters and jackets that look somewhat warm, but neither he nor V had much clothes against the cold, as it was pretty unusual by now. In the end he picked a black sweater without much on it and a fur-lined leather jacket he found deep down behind all the summery clothing. Another quick gaze on his phone, still no message from V, and he headed out to meet up with the others at Afterlife. Hopefully V will join him soon. If not, he would have to search for him. A sudden wave of negative thoughts, what may have happened to V hitted Johnny, as an especially cold wind gust blew into his face, making him feel the freezing cold far too well. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the bad thoughts. As he was slowly walking through the city, watching the snow settle on everything and lulling the city in a certain kind of silence. Johnny could remember his childhood days, before all this chaos emerged in his life. Just playing in the snow, throwing snowballs with his friends or building a snowman with the most goofy design. After a short walk, that was surprisingly refreshing, Johnny reached the Afterlife. Without much problem he got inside and already could spot their friends at one of the big corner tables, sitting together and talking about whatever. Johnny took a deep breath before he slowly headed towards them.
“Hee Johnny, you finally arrived. Where’s your better half?” Kerry asked towards him in a mocking tone and made room for Johnny to sit down next to him. From Rogue he got a mug with steaming hot cocoa, he took a long sip and noticed the sudden silence around him.
“What?”
“Is V.. not coming?” Misty’s voice already showed deep concern. It wasn’t usual that one would appear without the other.
Johnny made an annoyed huff, placing the mug back on the table.
“Dumbass is just late, like always. What else do you expect from him?”, his voice was snarky and angry, hiding far too well his own concern for V and his well being.
“Did you hear from him? The kid will absolutely not be used to this weather.”
“Nah. And not gonna call after him, not his babysitter.”, Johnny fumbled for his pack of cigarettes and lit one up, taking a long deep breath from the cigarette. He never asked for permission for doing so, and got angry gazes for it. But his mind was filled with concern for V.
An hour. V was an hour over the time, and with every passing minute Johnny got more agitated. He couldn’t really follow the conversation anymore, his leg twitching nervously up and down. Only Kerry seemed to notice his behavior, but also kept his mouth shut about it.
Still not a single message from V. Johnny only picked up several accidents and problems the news were talking about in the background, more than usual, because this weather was pure mayhem for Night City. Finally the door swung open, echoing against the wall with a deep thud and made once more fall everyone silent. Without any word V came to the table of his friends and partner and sat down next to Johnny. He looked exhausted and like shit, here and there stains of the works he just did.
“Where the fuck have you been?”Johnny lowered his voice but the anger was clear in it.
“Eh. After the Psycho, there were a bunch of problems because of this… this white shit. People are going crazy in the city. Trying to eat it, sell it, telling stories how this is a sign that the world is ending. You know the drill. I helped to get a few hoods back under control.”, V gladly took the hot cocoa from the table and took a few thirsty sips, before he looked at the faces of his friends. A small, tired smile grew on his face.
“You dumbass had your friends worried! And that's all you say? Could have called, you know?” Johnny flicked against Vs head, looking at him, but all the anger from his voice wasn't visible in his gaze, there were a bunch of other emotions.
“Sorry to let you wait. Somehow all my calls or messages couldn’t connect through. I guess another problem with this fucked up weather.”
Johnny was dumbfounded and for a rare moment felt silent. The thought that the weather may be the reason for V not texting or calling him never occurred to his brain. Of course, the net as it was by now, would have problems with stuff alike. He sighed and nodded it off, deep down happy that V was finally here. V took another long sip from the cocoa, breathing out the hot steam with a content demeanor. Now after they got this out of their systems, he scooted closer to Johnny, leaning his head on the rockerboys shoulder. Johnny gulped down the urge to say something nasty and was deep down really glad that his partner finally was here at his side, in one piece, without bad injuries.
“You are a fucking idiot V.”
“And you are an asshole.”
An amused huff left the rockerboy as he slung his arm around Vs back, pulling him a bit closer and sharing the warmth with him. With a raised brow, Johnny noticed how very calm and silent V got, taking the cup of hot cocoa out of his hand and placing it back on the table. He only got an approving hum with his Merc, who cuddled deeper against the rockerboy, fully ignoring that they were in public and both Rogue and Kerry were watching this scene with puzzled emotions. A small smile played around Johnny's lips, watching his Merc dozing off in his arms. He would never say it openly, but this was exactly what he was always craving, just a moment of peace with his beloved. Johnny’s hand rose up to carefully brush through V’s hair, while his gaze shifted back to Rogue and Kerry, picking up the conversation with them again.