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Enjin fiddles with the collar of his crisp white button-up, gaze flicking around the dimly lit room. It was warm inside, too warm to be wearing the three-piece suit Semiu had given to him with a knowing smirk. Dozens of people milled around dressed up in snazzy suits and dresses. Some were in pairs, swaying back and forth to the music, while others basked along the side lines, lazily nursing champagne flutes and cigars.
He hears a cough beside him and turns to regard his companion for the evening. “You alright?”
“Just fine,” Tamsy says dryly, sounding far from pleased. “Let’s just head in and get this over with. It smells like smoke in here.” With a sigh he starts forward, threading his arm around Enjin’s and pulling him along.
Tamsy is as modestly dressed as ever, with only his face and neck visible. But tonight his usual loose layers of clothing have been traded for a special look designed by August for this exact occasion. A shimmery, dark blue dress adorns his slender figure with long, flowing sleeves and a pleated skirt that flutters around his ankles. It seems especially impractical for fighting if it came down to it, but Enjin knows that tokushin is undoubtedly on his person somewhere and that Tamsy would put up a hell of a fight regardless.
Dressed in a complementary shade of navy blue, Enjin thinks he looks rather slick tonight as well. His dress shirt is a little tight, and his slacks a little loose, but he has faith that he would definitely be able to kick some ass in this suit — and look hella good doing it too.
But, he sighs under his breath, Semiu said tonight was strictly for information gathering. She had emphatically told him not to start a fight and give her “extra paperwork”. The event they were infiltrating tonight was a popular soirée among the upper class here on the Ground, which meant that the majority of people in attendance were regular, albeit important, people and so causing trouble with them meant the Boss would be getting a stern visit from the Hell Guard (again).
“Do you need help with your tie?” An arch voice asks. Enjin finds Tamsy looking at him from over his shoulder as he weaves them through the crowd.
“Ah,” the arm not linked with Tamsy’s comes up to grasp one loose end of the tie hanging around his neck. He smiles and throws in a wink for good measure, “What if I told you this was an intentional, stylistic choice?”
Tamsy huffs and looks away, pulling Enjin after him as they come to a stop at the back of the ballroom, beside a dwindling fireplace. “I highly doubt August intended for it to be worn like that. It’s sloppy, and August doesn’t do sloppy.”
Enjin grimaces slightly. He can't lie, he finds Tamsy very attractive. Even before this mission, he had always found his gaze being drawn to the other Giver whenever they happened to be in the same room at HQ. Every time their shoulders brushed in the hallway, Enjin would flush slightly and warble out a greeting which Tamsy would return as coolly as always. A couple of times Enjin had fallen asleep wondering how it would feel to run his fingers through long blonde and blue hair; how Tamsy would look with his hair down, or with his hair dishevelled and falling freely over his shoulders; how it would feel to brush his lips across delicate collarbones, to discover just how far his scars spread…
To put it simply, Enjin was down bad. And seeing Tamsy dressed to the nines tonight in a pretty dress with his hair out? It was like a dream come true!
But alas, when the two of them had met up in their costumes post-debrief, Tamsy had seemed as relaxed and nonchalant as always, so Enjin was doing his best to play the part too. So what if his coworker who he definitely had a crush on was dressed like one of Enjin’s wet dreams? He could handle it just fine! He could be completely normal!
He laughs weakly, “I guess you’re right… it’s just that I’ve never? Worn a real suit? I guess?” He rubs the back of his head awkwardly, “Haven’t exactly gone to many rich people parties like this.”
“Of course,” Tamsy gives him a gentle smile and gestures dismissively at the crowds of people around them, “this kind of luxury is new to people like us, isn’t it?” He eyes the tie discerningly before loosening their linked arms and bringing both hands up to grab each end of the tie. He tugs gently, pulling Enjin closer. “Luckily, I have some experience with this sort of thing.”
Enjin gulps and feels his cheeks flush at their proximity. He quickly diverts his gaze to look up at the high ceiling and resolutely traces the shape of the chandeliers hanging there. In his peripheral vision he sees Tamsy’s hands working expertly at his blue tie. Truth is, Enjin didn’t know anything about his fellow Cleaner’s past at all. He had even queried Delmon once, who had simply shrugged and said that he had never asked and didn’t want to pry.
“There we go!” Tamsy’s lilting voice breaks him from his thoughts, “All done.”
Enjin looks down and to his surprise finds a bowtie resting at the V of his shirt collar. “Woah!" He gapes, "You really are good at this!”
Tamsy's cheeks dimple slightly as he smiles, “Like I said, I do have experience with this kind of thing.”
Ah, I almost forgot that he wears a tie to work everyday, Enjin mentally facepalms. I should have asked him to teach me before we left but… Well, the truth was that he had been way too distracted sneaking glances at Tamsy ever since they’d met up that he had completely forgotten about the whole tie situation.
“Thanks,” Enjin says, gaze lifting from the bowtie back to Tamsy. Now that they were scant inches away from each other, he found himself ogling Tamsy with much less decorum and secrecy than before. “Is that… lipstick?” He blabs, eyes flicking between Tamsy’s pale eyes and pink lips.
“It’s lipgloss,” Tamsy quips, one dark brow quirking.
“What’s the difference?”
“It’s flavoured.”
“…Like what?”
“Why don’t you find out?”
Enjin’s brain short circuits, leaving him slack jawed and blinking profusely. He’s broken out of his stupor as Tamsy leans impossibly closer; heat bleeding through where their chests touch. Before he knows it, he’s nose to nose with Tamsy Caines who looks up at him through thick pale lashes almost salaciously.
Why don’t you find out?
Enjin’s hands come to rest snugly above Tamsy’s sharp hips as he closes his eyes and feels the ghost of a breath on his face, until finally, their lips meet in a gentle, chaste kiss.
It only lasts a split second, but, Sphere above—
Tamsy pulls back, only just, and Enjin opens his eyes again. The man before him looks even more radiant with his cheeks flushed red and a mischievous smile tugging on his plush, pink lips.
“So? What did you think?” Tamsy’s teasing voice breaks him from his whirlwind of thoughts. Tamsy tilts his head slightly, causing loose blonde hair to slip over his shoulder and obscure the scarred portion of his face. As though in a trance, Enjin mindlessly raises a hand and brushes the strands aside, neatly tucking them behind Tamsy’s ear.
“That was— great,” he breathes. “You’re, uh, really beautiful. I mean it.”
Tamsy huffs, bringing up a long sleeve to cover his lips. Lips Enjin would really like to ravish. Properly. “That’s very sweet of you, dear Enjin.” His eyes curve, the tell-tale sign of his signature playful grin. “…But, that’s now what I was asking!”
The hand resting on his nape withdraws and instead suddenly pinches at his cheek.
“Ack!” Enjin grimaces and then pouts. “Then what..?”
“So, what did you think of my lip gloss? How did it taste?”
Enjin blanches. I forgot we were even talking about lip gloss! Ah shit, now this is embarrassing! “Ohh! Yes! The flavour!” He hums thoughtfully. Truth be told, all he could think about during the kiss was HOLY SHIT TAMSY IS KISSING ME? I’M KISSING TAMSY CAINES? on repeat, over and over. He runs his tongue over his lips, tasting… Was that, strawberry? Or cherry?
Fruits were a rare delicacy on the Ground, what with the lack of clean, fertile soil. Most people had never had the experience of savouring a piece of fresh fruit. Personally, Enjin’s fine palate for fruit had been refined through years of eating sickly sweet candies. His favourite was undoubtedly the cherry-flavoured gummies he had often pickpocketed as a child on the streets. He was sure a flavoured candy couldn’t possibly compare to the taste of a real, freshly picked fruit, but hey, what did he know?
“Cherry,” he decides. “You taste like cherry.” My favourite.
Tamsy’s thumb and forefinger pinch Enjin’s chin this time. “Bingo!” He singsongs, gently tugging the taller man down. “Very good, Enjin.”
A wave of warmth floods through him upon hearing Tamsy’s teasing words. A sleeved hand strokes the side of his cheek, down the delicate tendons in his throat, past his clavicle, before finally coming to rest on his clothed chest. Enjin slides his own hand past the voluminous fabric of Tamsy’s delicate blue sleeve and wraps his tattooed fingers around the bare, supple wrist beneath.
Tamsy feels somewhat fragile, like this, with Enjin’s fingers easily hugging the circumference of his thin wrist. But one look at his face tells another story. Tamsy’s pale eyes are heavily lidded with thinly concealed amusement and his long, thick eyelashes blink languidly. Firelight washes his face in a warm orange and within those enigmatic beige irises, Enjin sees a glint of frigid coldness. A shiver runs down Enjin’s spine, otherwise at odds with the burning heat prickling through his body.
His gaze trails down to Tamsy’s delicate-looking hands... Sharp, manicured nails. Unblemished pale skin. The stub of his pinky. Enjin turns a hand to trace Tamsy’s palm, running his own blunt nails over the harsh callouses he finds there.
Who were you? Before all of this? He wonders. Oh, how he wonders, but he won’t ever ask. They all have secrets, and Enjin is not at all keen to spill his own guts, so he wouldn’t dare ask it of another. All information has a price, and his own story is not something he’s willing to share. Not yet.
But as he threads his fingers with Tamsy’s and looks up from their joined hands to meet the other’s amused gaze, he ponders. He thinks of Tamsy’s lips brushing his, the flick of his wrist as he summons tokushin to defend their team, the way he magics sweets out of his sleeve to give to Enjin’s rotten kids… Tamsy Caines was a dream too good to be true, wrapped up in layers of secrets and slow smiles.
Enjin grins cheekily and squeezes their hands together. “Care for a dance, partner?” And without waiting for a reply, he pulls Tamsy after him into the hustle and bustle of the ballroom dance floor. Tamsy snorts as he’s whisked into an overenthusiastic spin, the undignified sound so at odds with the delicate appearance he adorns tonight.
The long pleats of his shimmery dress sparkle under the chandeliers as the pair sway back and forth. The blonde of his hair shines a warm gold where it tumbles down his back, mixing with the deep, dark blue strands beneath. Heeled boots clack against the hardwood panels in a solid, steady rhythm in sync with Enjin’s freshly polished dress shoes.
“Don’t forget we’re here for a reason,” Tamsy murmurs, tightening his grip on Enjin’s shoulders.
“We blend in better like this!” Enjin says, “Maybe our target will bring his date out for a dance?”
Tamsy gives a light hearted sigh and Enjin squeezes his waist just the tiniest bit more. “Since when do you know how to dance anyway?”
Enjin feels his face heat up again under Tamsy’s appraising gaze, “I’ll have you know that I’ve taken many ladies, and gents, for a dance!”
“Drunk, at a bar you mean?”
“A dance is a dance,” Enjin shrugs a shoulder. “Besides, all my dates have found me very skilled!”
“Indeed, you’re definitely much better than I expected.”
“What, like you think you’re better than me?”
“Not at all,” Tamsy’s wry reply is punctuated by a sudden sharp pain stabbing into Enjin’s foot. “Oops,” he says with wide, mischievous eyes.
“Hey, that was on purpose, wasn’t it?”
Tamsy gives him a small, and clearly faux, apologetic smile. “I’m not used to playing the woman’s part, that’s all. Maybe we should swap?”
“Hell no!”
Enjin feels his breath catch as he hears Tamsy laugh against his shoulder and he can’t help but chuckle as well. The pressing reminder at the back of his head to keep an eye out for their target fades away for a moment, until the world narrows down to just the two of them. I would very much like to kiss him again, he thinks. Maybe after this mission, we could go out, just the two of us. For real. Enjin’s heart races at just the thought.
Here, in his arms, bathed in warm, golden light, Tamsy looks positively angelic. Soft and gentle and pure. But, Enjin knows that’s not really the case; he’s seen that icy glint in his eyes, the callous confidence with which way he carries himself. There was something sharp and dangerous about Tamsy Caines, but Enjin has never been known to back away from danger. He was much better at throwing himself into trouble; he loved the exhilaration, the adrenaline it gave him.
It was addictive, like nicotine on his tongue.
Besides, Tamsy wasn’t a trash beast or a Raider, he was his teammate — trusted by his Boss, by Semiu, and the rest of the Cleaners. It’s not like anything seriously bad could happen between them. Best case, they go on a date, maybe have a little “fun”. Worst case? He says no. Or maybe Enjin gets shit-faced drunk and embarrasses himself. So what? Wouldn’t be the first time.
Whatever might happen with Tamsy, he can handle it.
Having someone’s heart in your hands truly was the best feeling, Tamsy mused. Such power, such influence; it made him feel giddy with excitement. What fun! Who knew a pretty dress and some lip gloss was all it would take to catch such a vital pawn in his web? He really should gift Semiu with some more magazines as a thank you for sending him on this mission with Enjin. He hadn’t predicted ensnaring Enjin so early on in his plans, yet here he was.
Ah, the possibilities! How should he break him? When? In what manner?
Oh, Enjin. I wonder what face Rudo will make when you die?
Mmmm, this is going to be so much fun!