Work Text:
Luckily, their target was of the suspicious type, who kept turning around constantly to check if he was being followed. It gave them plenty of time to plan how to catch their target without people noticing it. Suddenly, their target disappeared into a museum.
Nicky: "I'll go around and see if there's a backdoor."
Joe: "Be careful. We got dinner plans later."
Nicky nodded before disappearing down an alleyway while Joe and Nile followed the target into the museum.
Joe: "Let me pay this time."
Joe bought two tickets before they started searching the museum for their target. It wasn't the biggest museum in the world, but suddenly Nile noticed that Joe was gone. It didn't take long before Nile found Joe, who was looking at a classic statue.
Nile: "Joe, why aren't you moving? We got a target to catch."
Nile noticed that Joe looked irritated.
Nile: "What's wrong?"
Joe: "They have assembled that statue in the wrong way."
Nile looked at the statue and then at Joe.
Nile: "You stopped walking because of a statue?"
Joe nodded.
Joe: "Yes, and don't worry. Nicky has our target."
Joe walked around the statue with an even more irritated look on his face.
Nile: "How do you know that Nicky has the target?"
Joe: "Because I know my man, so go help him, Nile. You can easily handle the target on your own."
Nile: "And what are you going to do?"
Joe: "I have a mission of my own, and that is to have a talk with the idiot who has assembled that statue because he should be fired."
Joe walked towards the nearest curator while Nile walked outside, where Nicky had caught their target. When Nicky saw Nile all alone, he smiled.
Nicky: "Let me guess: Joe has found something to complain about?"
Nile: "Yeah, I don't know how you can live with that he always has an opinion about art?"
Nicky: "I'll give you an answer to that when we have gotten this rat to jail."
A couple of hours later, when they were back at the safe house, Nicky handed Nile a cup of tea before he sat down on the other side of the table.
Nicky: "You wanted to know how I can live with Joe and his opinions about art?"
Nile: "I didn't mean it like that when I said it. I just don't get it."
Nicky: "Let me try to explain it."
Nicky added some honey to his tea.
Nicky: "The reason why Joe is so, well, let's call it possessed with art has to do with the fact that we all have seen over and over again what happens when people misrepresent art and the damage it can have to people and the world."
Nicky took a sip of his tea.
Nicky: "Joe just wants the art to speak the truth, nothing more or less."
Nile: "I haven't thought about it that way."
Nicky: "Not many do that."
Nicky drank the rest of his tea before he stood up.
Nile: "Where are you going?"
Nicky: "To save the poor curator who has been listening to Joe's lecture for the last couple of hours. And remind him about our dinner plans."
Nile knew what the poor curator was going through because she still remembered the last art speak from Joe.
Nile: "Have fun. I'm going to a concert."
Nicky: "Be careful, okay? Call if there's anything."
Nile: "I promise."
Nicky found Joe pointing at the statue while a young curator took notes. Nicky walked over to them.
Nicky: "Sorry for asking, but is there something wrong with the statue?"
Joe tried to hide his smile. He was happy to see Nicky again.
Curator: "We made a small mistake when assembling the statue - something our estimate collouge from Egypt pointed out."
Joe: "It's a common mistake if you don't know about it."
Curator: "But we're correcting it now, so there shouldn't be any more problems in the future."
Nicky: "That's good to know. Well, I better find my husband. He promised me dinner."
Because of the statue, Nicky could tell that Joe had forgotten all about the dinner. It wasn't the first time something like that had happened.
Nicky: "He loves his art, and that's more than okay. I love him for his passion."
It was Nicky's way of telling Joe not to feel guilty about the dinner and to concentrate on the statute for as long as it would take. And Joe absolutely loved how understanding Nicky was.
Joe: "For you as a sorry for it took so long."
Nicky had found a book cafe after leaving the museum.
Nicky: "Yellow roses. My favourite. Thanks, Joe."
Nicky kissed Joe before taking the roses. The roses smelled divine. Then Nicky noticed the darkness outside.
Nicky: "Don't think about how long it took because what you were doing was important."
Joe pulled Nicky into his embrace before kissing him.
Joe: "Thanks for being the world's best husband and for being so understanding."
Nicky: "It's hard work, you know - being all that, but I have a lot of practice."
Joe laughed before kissing Nicky.
Joe: "Please don't ever change, my Nicolò."
Nicky: "I promise. And please don't ever change, my Yusuf."
Joe: "I promise. Now, I did promise you dinner, but the restaurant is closed, so how does a midnight burger sound like?"
Nicky looked down at his stomach before rubbing it.
Nicky: "My stomach says it sounds good, and it can eat four burgers."
Joe laughed before kissing Nicky again.
Joe: "My silly husband, I love him so much; in fact, I love all versions of you..."
Nicky placed a finger on Joe's lips to stop him from speaking.
Nicky: "I would love to hear that poetry after we have eaten the midnight burgers."
Joe kissed Nicky's finger.
Joe: "Deal. Come."
Joe threw some dollars on the table Nicky had sat at before they left. When they got outside, Joe placed an arm around Nicky's shoulder and pulled him closer. Quickly, Nicky wrapped his arm around Joe's waist, and they walked down the street like that. They both enjoyed that they could walk down the streets of Oslo without fearing for their life for showing and being in love in this part of the world.
