Work Text:
Jesse sighed, closing the door and sitting down on the couch.
He'd been in that room for what felt like forever, and yet he still hadn't made any progress. He had thought interrogating everyone would maybe get him somewhere, but it just seemed to be dead end after dead end.
Every time someone would say something promising, the next person he interviewed would either say something that contradicted it or throw a new piece of information in that made him question his previous theory.
He needed to figure this out. He needed to figure this out. How many more people would they be okay with letting die? He rested his chin on his palm, thinking. Was there any way he could get more information out of them?
It seemed like they were all just telling him about petty drama and rumors. It was completely useless information.
And to make it all worse, he was absolutely freezing. The mansion wasn't very warm, and they had all left their armor in the portal hallway for fear of losing it in the new world. It was probably for the best, but he was really missing it a lot. Without it he got pretty cold.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Cassie shoved Lukas through it. She said something about 'interrogating every suspect'. Of course.
Jesse sighed and rolled his eyes before standing up and walking over to stand in front of the fireplace. Lukas joined him shortly after.
"Hi, Jesse." He nodded.
"Ah, my final suspect," Jesse sighed, staring at the fire, "Here to point more fingers and blame more people, I'm sure." He folded his arms, glancing up at Lukas and his stupid (beautiful, really) eyes for a second before quickly looking back down at the fireplace.
Not the time. Not the fucking time.
He was again wishing he had his armor right then. Even in front of that fire, he was freezing!
But, he had no way of going back for it now. He just had to tough it out for now.
Lukas stared at him. He looked tired. "I didn't push the button, y'know." He spoke a bit softer this time. He hoped it was comforting or at least eased his tension a little bit.
He knew how stressed he was about not just this particular realm, but also the situation of being lost in the portal hallway as a whole, stuck in between dimensions.
It seemed to be taking a toll on him now especially, with the challenge of solving multiple murders in one night.
Jesse sighed and looked back up from the fire to face Lukas. "I figured." He nodded, "But thanks though." He smiled gently, and Lukas smiled back.
"So, how have things been going in here?" He paused, observing Jesse for a second. Even though they were in front of a fire, he looked freezing.
He supposed that he'd gotten used to wearing his armor by now. Without it he would be pretty chilly. The only reason Lukas wasn't was because he was basically a human furnace. You could drop a porkchop on his face and it would end up cooked faster then if you put it in an actual furnace.
"You good? You look pretty cold." His eyebrows drew closer together. If Jesse got sick, that would be really bad. They were still nowhere near finding their way back home. He was actually shivering, too. Jeez.
Jesse broke eye contact, opting to instead look at one of the paintings on the wall. He hadn't thought Lukas would notice. Nobody else had. But, he was shivering, and Lukas… well, Lukas was Lukas. He always seemed to notice when something was off about him. Of course he did.
He wanted to lie and say no to him (it would be a lot easier), but looking back up and seeing his pretty eyes and concerned face, he just couldn't really find it in himself to lie to him at the moment.
"I'm… alright, I guess. It's just that everyone's just blaming eachother for everything, and I can't even tell who it might actually be because they all seem guilty. Like, they're just spreading rumors they've heard and complaining!"
He sighed and paused for a second, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling, arms folded across his chest, "And, yeah, I am cold." He looked back down, turning his gaze to Lukas and offering him a small smile. He chuckled. "Like, freezing."
Lukas nodded. He knew it. Jesse couldn't act to save his life. He was shivering and standing so close to the fireplace that Lukas was honestly a bit afraid he might fall right into it.
But what could he do about it? Oh, wait, he had an idea. He started removing his jacket, sliding his arms out of the sleeves. This would for sure work.
Jesse watched as he took his ocelots jacket off. He wasn't really sure what he was doing, but fuck, if he wasn't paying attention.
Lukas held his jacket out to him. "Here. Take it. It'll serve you better than me right now." He smiled, stepping closer when Jesse didn't move.
He wrapped the jacket around the other man's shoulders.
They wore basically the same size shirt, so he had to be careful to make sure it didn't fall. He also pulled Jesse a little bit further away from the fire, grabbing one of his hands with his own two instead as he did.
"Is, uh… Is that better?"
Jesse knew his face was at least a little bit red. He was sure of it. There was no way in the nether that Lukas just gave him his jacket to wear and was holding his hand.
He definitely wasn't cold anymore, but he also didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell him that he was amazing and he loved him dearly, but they were definitely just friends.
He blinked a couple of times before responding, stumbling over his words when he did.
"Uh- I… um," He swallowed. "Y… Yeah, man. Thanks. Love you." He paused, breathing. Fuck. He was not supposed to say that. Deep breaths.
Lukas nodded, smiling and running his thumb over Jesse's knuckles. Holy shit. Holy shit! "I- Yeah, I love you too, dude." He was going to die. Fuck. What the hell? 'Dude'? Really? But obviously, Jesse didn't mean it like that. Not the way Lukas did.
Jesse nodded, not fully processing what Lukas had said until a second later. He grinned. Fuck yes! Holy shit. Holy shit. "For real? Like, you're serious? You mean it?"
Lukas nodded in response, still smiling. No way. This was incredible. "Yeah. Yeah…! Yeah, I do mean it." He laughed. "Like, for real."
"Wow… Thanks, dude." He removed his hand from Lukas's for a second to get the jacket on properly before grabbing his hand again.
"I meant it for real too. Just… y'know. By the way." He gave Lukas a small kiss on the cheek, smiling softly.
"Come on, suspect. It's time to return to the others."
They continued holding hands even as they left the room.
Jesse thought that the investigation went pretty well.