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There was an awful lot of noise over the comms, and for once Felix wasn’t the one who was making them. No, that was all Locus’ doing. He gritted his teeth as he heard his partner clear his throat for the millionth time that hour, followed by a pained little groan. Although he could understand the pain he was in, colds were the worst after all, Felix was running on the last bits of his patience.
He tapped his foot against the snow covered ground anxiously, doing his best to distract himself so that he wouldn’t open his mouth and say something. Sam was...doing his best in this unsatisfactory bitch of a situation. Their target was getting better at avoiding them, and with it their employer got even more pissy than what he already was. It had been Locus’ idea to go out and do recon, and Felix hadn’t exactly had anything better to do.
Although Felix hadn’t expected Locus to be sick. In his defense, his partner was very good at hiding it, and it’d been such a long time since the last time it’d happened that Felix had forgotten which signs to look for. But now that it was here it was just as annoying as he remembered it. He supposed he’d have to be the one to do something about it, else Locus would most likely die.
Giving a long suffering sigh Felix glanced up at the rooftop Locus was on, hoping that the bastard could see his exact facial expression. It would serve him right to see him being at the end of his line.
”Hey Locus? I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how exactly are you doing?” Felix asked on his most sugar sweet voice, the one that meant Locus was in a world of trouble. Through the comm he heard yet another grunt and the rustling of the wind. For a while he didn’t expect an answer, which he supposed was fine. Locus being difficult wasn’t his problem, he couldn’t be blamed if things turned out for the worse. But then, his partner had a knack for surprising him.
”I haven’t spotted anything of interest yet, and I’m beginning to think that staying will be useless.”
Felix snorted.
"This job is useless, but that wasn’t what I asked you about. I was more curious about that nasty cough you’ve got. Oh, and if you have a deathwish or something. You’re such a hypocrite, dammit! Always lecturing me about dressing properly and staying healthy and then not doing it yourself.”
"Your concern for me is neither cute nor endearing. I’m fine if you must know. The cold is just a small inconvenience.”
”Oh really?!” Felix exclaimed incredelously, sending an angry look to where he guessed Locus could see him through the scope of his rifle. He’d lost the fear of the risk of getting his head blown off many years ago. ”Then how about you get down from there before it becomes a big inconvenience? Or you know what, I don’t care about this job anymore. I’m leaving in five minutes, either with or without you. But if I were big, smart Sam I’d definitely consider the fact that I’m carrying your winter clothes, and if I go they go too.”
Now Felix definitely wasn’t surprised by the fact that the only answer he got was an angry growl. It even made him smile. No matter what time it was, putting pressure on Sam would always be fun. Because he wasn’t about to admit anytime soon that he actually cared. Oh no, why would he? Sure they made an amazing team, and Sam was one of few people he could stand. Scrap that, the only person he really liked. But that didn’t have anything to do with why they stuck together. It was because of the bare necessities, without each other they wouldn’t have been nearly as successful.
No, caring has nothing to do with it, Felix thought as he plucked the small earpiece out, and after a brief moment of mental debating he decided to dump it in the snow. At an alarming speed it became covered in a fresh layer of snow, but he still made sure to step on it to make sure it wouldn’t work. Sam would have his head once he found out about how he mistreated their technology, but that was a problem that could wait. He fished his phone out of his pocket to check the time. Three minutes had passed, two remained. He was just about to do something else when a shadow fell on him. Isaac looked up, feeling how his face immediately lit up in a grin.
”Oh. You came. See, I knew you weren’t as stupid as you like to make yourself out to be.”
Sam rolled his eyes, holding his hand out expectantly. ”Chatty as always,” Isaac remarked before handing him the bag of warm clothes. In his opinion his partner was stupid for not wearing them all the time, jobs included, but Sam had insisted that they would just complicate his job. Still he felt some strange kind of satisfaction at seeing him burrow into the warmth of his coat, then wrapping the long, knitted green scarf that Meg had made for him securely around his neck. All bundled up in thick clothing Sam looked even bulkier than usual, and to complete the image he had a pout on his face. The whole scene reminded Isaac of a stubborn child, a thought that didn’t fail to make him giggle. When his partner gave him a strange look he just waved his hand dismissively, before reaching out to grab his hand. The sudden action surprised the both of them, but when it became clear that Sam wasn’t going to pull his hand away Isaac decided that he didn’t mind this new development.
”So what do you need to stay healthy? There should be a couple of shops still open,” Isaac murmured, tugging insistently at Sam’s hand until the other got the clue to start walking. This time the silence between them was comfortable enough, he knew his partner well enough to know when he was thinking. The snow crunched pleasantly underneath their feet and the wind was biting, Isaac really hoped the other would answer anytime soon. Maybe a warm shop could warm up his numb fingers.
"Nothing. Let’s just go home.” Sam replied eventually, and only then did Isaac recognize the path he was being lead down. It was the same road as a couple of hours ago when they’d gone out, only covered in white. Felix cursed, whipping his head around to glare at the other. Of course, how could he forget about Sam being in a difficult mood?
”Ortez please, this is not the time to be shy. In case you hadn’t noticed we can’t exactly afford to be sick, so just tell me what you need. If you’re going to be so fucking shy about it I can get it for you.”
Sam raised a brow, and if Isaac didn’t know better he would’ve said that the bastard was smiling at him. ”Are you saying that you would pay for something that I need? My condition must be worse than what I thought, surely you being generous is just a fever hallucination.”
Isaac bristled, shaking his head despite knowing that he was right.
”Shut up. It’s only Christmas once a year, right? The time for disgusting, random acts of kindne-”
Much further than that he didn’t get, because suddenly he was hyper aware of Sam’s long fingers cupping his chin, tilting it up. Confusion, and inevietably fear, overtook him. Was this how he was going to go? Man, he’d hoped that his death would’ve been at least a little cooler. Strangled like a bitch in a dark alley did not count as it. Still he glared fiercly at Locus, opening his mouth to spit out some last words of defiance. Only that instead of an increased pressure on his trachea, ice cold, chapped lips pressed lightly against his own.
Isaac knew that his eyes were most likely larger than plates in surprise, hands fisted uselessly in Sam’s coat. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to push away, because heaven knew that he was curious now. He even liked it. Soon he was moving with newfound confidence, pressing his body flush against Sam’s, responding to the kiss without a care of his inexperience. But the biggest surprise of them all was how right it felt, like they were made for each other. Ugh, the very cliche thought made him shudder in distaste. Yet he smiles when Sam pulled away, although what came out of his mouth couldn’t be considered sweet.
”You motherfucker. Now I’ve got your gross pathogens too.”
And almost like Isaac had expected, Sam managed to give him a full smile for once.
”Well, perhaps you’ll stay quiet if you get sick.”