24/7 mortumstep agenda

He watches Tegan walk a cool down lap around the edge of the roof, forcing himself not to be nervous, especially at the risk the other man might pick it up. Maybe it was a sort of morbid fascination for him, looking over the edge, staring your fear in the face until it can't hurt you anymore — Daniel could understand that. Tegan wouldn't slip, he had too good of balance for that and almost uncannily quick reflexes. He might jump though, an unhelpful voice says in the back of his head and he closes the distance between them, hovering just within reach. Just in case.

"Hey um," he starts, giving himself a mental kick for not actually having any idea what he wanted to say, just that he needed an excuse to be closer.

"What?" Tegan snaps, short and annoyed. It's probably the heat, Daniel reasons, if he's being optimistic.

"I just wanted to apologize for…" Daniel taps his cheekbone as Tegan raises his fingers to his own.

"Fuck, is it actually bruising?"

"Yeah," Daniel clamps down hard on the small bit of wounded pride at Tegan's incredulity. He could have hit harder, maybe even a lot harder, but he didn't want to hurt him and Tegan was his friend. The word doesn't sit right in Daniel's mind, if he's being honest. Tegan was certainly something, but friend didn't seem to cover the man that was his inspiration, his coach, his hero with all the false shine rubbed off. His crush. Daniel quickly put that thought back in the box. "I'm sorr-" He tries to finish but he's cut off.

"Stop."

"Stop what?" Daniel pulls his legs up, sitting cross legged though he's still floating around Tegan's eye level.

"Stop apologizing. Especially when you did something right." He doesn't add the for once but Daniel can still hear it in his tone. Asshole.

"Does it hurt?"

"No." Tegan lies.

Daniel opens his mouth to call him out on it but is interrupted by the beeping of his pager. A quick look down at the number displayed on the small device tells him its not an emergency and he ignores it.

"Why the hell do you have that ancient thing instead of a phone?" Tegan scoffs, rummaging in his pocket for a carton of cigarettes and a book of matches, lighting one and taking a drag. He holds out the carton and matches towards Daniel, who refuses for what must be the 100th time. Tegan only shrugs.

"Easier to ignore most days." Daniel laughs. And harder to track. He doesn't bother censoring that from his forethoughts. Sometimes he was jealous of Tegan's anonymity, even if he wondered if it made him lonely.

"That thing's gone off like ten fucking times today, you sure it's not important?"

"It's not." Daniel says too quickly, unable to ignore Tegan's small double take at the irritated tone in his voice. Maybe it was best to just come clean. "It's probably just people trying to get ahold of me on my birthday." He trails with a sigh.

The pause stretches on too long and Tegan is looking at him with an expression he can't read. Annoyed? Tegan's usually annoyed at something or another so that's no help. Maybe it was closer to confusion.

"I just didn't want to make a big deal of it," he continues. "Birthdays kind of lose their shine when you're no longer a kid, you know?" Even more so being a hero in the lime light. Despite Ortega's flashy smiles, Daniel could still see the stress around his eyes and it wasn't lost on him that Ortega left earlier and earlier from the big, flashy parties every year he had known him. The Marshal flat out refused to have public birthday and Daniel was keen to take a leaf from Wei's book when it came to that. The Ranger's media team had different opinions.

"Yeah. Sure." Tegan takes another drag from his cigarette.

Daniel gives himself another mental kick, he knows there are things in Tegan's past he wants to forget. Maybe reminders of childhood were painful. Daniel could understand that better than most. And the importance of moving past it. And if he's honest, he was more than a little curious.

"So when's-"

"Nope."

"I didn't even get to ask." Daniel laughs helplessly.

"I don't do birthdays. Period." Tegan flicks his spent cigarette over the edge of the rooftop.