Work Text:
At first, it was just for the standard procedure. He’d gotten a hold of all of Sebastian’s records, a list of everything he had been up to in his life, every little detail of it. Also, a tracker on his phone and even on his motorbike (which he didn’t use for work purposes, but alright, anyway, Jim just wanted to be extra careful with this one).
The camera in his flat was a consequence, he decided. It was installed a week after Sebastian had started working for him, for the solely purpose of Jim analysing him better, to make sure he was really the man he was looking for that job. It did stay after the contract was signed, though, and after the ‘quarantine’ Jim had estipulated, and Jim kept telling himself (and Sebastian, just one time) that it was a security procedure, that he wanted to be sure. He taped Sebastian’s activities and had it synced to his laptop, so he could both watch him live or go through the recordings whenever he wanted, and Jim would make a routine out of it — he’d watch a bit while he was having breakfast or lunch or any variation thereof, always on fast-forward unless he found something that really caught his interest, and sometimes, when he was bored enough, he’d turn it on and watch Sebastian pace around his tiny apartment live, go to the bathroom, watch telly, lie in bed, and all those other stupidly ordinary activities that he couldn’t help but find himself absorbed in.
It wasn’t until a little more than a year after, though, that Sebastian actually took the courage and confronted Jim about it (“Honestly, boss? I’m past the point where I could’ve turned against you now”), but he just shrugged and waved him off (“You never actually could have turned against me, Tiger, you do know that. It’s a standard security procedure, stop asking about it. I hardly pay attention to it now”), and if he did sound a bit too defensive, Sebastian thought it wiser to pretend not to notice at first, but then he caught Jim’s eye and something inside him stirred. He said, “Yeah, like fuck you don’t. You have it on your phone, now, Jim.” And he was fucking smirking, the prick, with his eyes glinting in a way Jim hadn’t ever seen in any of his employees that were still alive. “Admit you just can’t spend a minute without knowing what I’m up to,” he said, sounding just slightly provocative, but it was enough to make the hairs on the back of Jim’s neck shoot up.
“Yeah, well, you can get off your high horse now, Moran,” he said after a moment too long in silence, trying to recollect himself and assume that bored expression Sebastian had seen work on clients a thousand times. He continued to be at ease, though, and that maybe was what irked Jim so much, causing him to glare. “And pack your goddamned bags,” he then added, regaining a bit of his confidence when Sebastian’s brow furrowed. “You’re moving in with me. I haven’t got time to be watching you pacing around your flat on tape anymore.”
The slightly wide-eyed, amused look Sebastian gave him next was ignored, but the sniper didn’t really mind. He grinned up at his boss and nodded (conceited little shit, Jim thought, but didn’t comment on it), said “Yeah, whatever you say, boss.”