Captain Candor

Damian nodded. “Okay.” It felt domestic, the two of them. Sitting together, making plans for shopping. “You need to be here more often.” He scolded gently, reaching out and placing his hand on Franklin’s lower back. “You need to do a lot of things.” Damian smirked, removing it and taking a bite of his food. 

Franklin looked down at his hands. “I probably should.” This felt normal. This felt like it should be an everyday thing. This felt like it should have been Franklin’s life all along. He wished that this had been their life since graduation, like he had planned. “Oh... Like what?”

Damian got the water and slid it in front of Franklin. “I’ll go shopping tomorrow.” He shrugged. Franklin was obviously working too much if he couldn’t even keep his house stocked properly. Did that mean that Franks hadn’t been eating when he went home? Damo chewed his lip, taking the seat next to his ex-boyfriend. “Thank you for this.”

Franklin smiled as Damian sat down next to him. “I’ll leave a little money on the counter. You don’t have to use it all if you don’t want.” He would probably leave around 300. That had to be enough for whatever Damian wanted to stock the apartment with. Franklin never had the time to eat at home. He always ate at the office, and even then it was one or two meals a day. Nothing like he was supposed to. “It’s no trouble. I don’t get much use out of it.” Franklin was only ever home to eat and shower, even though he wished he was home more. Maybe if he had something or someone to come home to he would, but at the moment, there was no reason for him not to be at the office 24/7.

Damo smirked to himself, trying not to feel too proud of himself. "At least we agree on something.” He mumbled. They agreed on a lot, though they didn’t talk about it often. They hadn’t been able to talk about their similarities for years. “Want something to drink?” He asked gently, glancing over at the faction leader. 

Franklin smiled to himself. He was happy that he could make his ex-boyfriend smile, no smirk. It was something he hadn’t really done in a long time, and it shouldn’t have made Franklin as happy as it did. “Some water will be fine.” Honestly, water was probably all Franklin had in the house, except maybe some milk, but he wasn’t even sure if he had that. “Feel free to get yourself something too.”

Damian nodded. While he’d grown up in Dauntless and had family and friends there, over the years he’d seen them change. They were more power-thirsty now. More like how they had been before the academy, but they weren’t teaming up with Erudite this time, at least. Candor were usually able to see through what they wanted, but Dauntless had gotten more frustrating as of late. “Don’t let them boss you around or intimidate you.” Damo reminded him, starting on their dinner.

Franklin followed Damian to the kitchen and sat at the breakfast bar with paperwork in hand. “With you around, I don’t think that will be much of a problem.” He knew how to read people, but with the Dauntless trying to intimidate him, Franklin had to admit that he needed someone there to make sure he was reading the signs right. Damian always fit the bill, seeing as he had grown up in Dauntless.

Damian smiled, soft. He liked this. Once upon time, this would’ve been their regular life. If he got home from work, he’d make dinner for Franklin, organize his papers, maybe kiss him when he walked through the door. But, unfortunately for them both, that wasn’t their life. “Well, you look over these so you just have to do your meetings tomorrow and I’ll start on something edible.” He smirked. “We have our own system, Dauntless needs to stop trying to dictate all the factions.” He commented, feeling his heart swell with pride; Franklin was good at this job.

This would be a long month. Franklin couldn’t get used to seeing Damian every day when he walked through the door. It almost felt like nothing had changed, and that hurt Franklin more than he would ever admit. He couldn’t believe how badly he had fucked things up between the two of them. It was his fault that they weren’t married. It was his fault that they were only living together permanently. Franklin couldn’t do it for too long. “Just because they control the fence, doesn’t mean they control the entire city.” He kind of rolled his eyes and went to thumb through the paperwork.

Damian looked up when Franklin walked through the door. He’d definitely need to move out soon. If he got used to this, to seeing him walk through the door and just be there with Damo, then. It would hurt. He needed to go soon. Damian dropped his gaze back down to his work – their work. “I did. I didn’t make anything, I felt… I didn’t want to eat your food.” He explained, tossing the newly organized pile to the edge of the table closest to Franklin. “Dauntless want to patrol here.”

“I don’t care what you eat, as long as you buy some food here and there, and if it’s a big dinner, make enough for me too.” Franklin was a terrible cook. He knew that; his family knew that; Damian knew that; everyone knew that. If Franklin was able to eat something that he didn’t make on his own, and that actually tasted good, he didn’t care if it was made from the staple foods he bought for himself. “That’s one thing I won’t give them, unless crime rates rise, which I don’t see happening around here any time soon.”

It was much earlier than normal when Franklin came home. Damian had taken much of the work that Franklin needed to go over with him when he went home. Well, to Franklin’s apartment. Originally, he had wanted him and Damian to move into the apartment together after graduation, but it didn’t really work out that way, as much as he wanted it to. When he walked in the door, he saw his ex-boyfriend on the couch, going through the paperwork, definitely freshly showered. “I assume you found the shower on your own then. Did you make dinner for yourself? Or do you want me to make extra, when I cook my own?”

Damian didn’t think it was a good idea, staying with Franklin. He was head over heels for his ex and Franklin was… moving on. It was unbalanced, their relationship. And unfair. “… Thank you, Franks.” He sighed anyway, taking the key. “… I’ll try to be out by the end of the month.” They’d need to set ground rules.

Franklin didn’t think about what this would mean for them. He didn’t think about what this would remind him of. Franklin didn’t think about anything, except the fact that he didn’t want his exboyfriend living in his car. “I don’t care how long you stay as long as you pay half of the rent.” He was kidding. Franklin could pay the entirety of his rent 3 times over and still be living comfortably. He was just trying to lighten the mood a little bit.

Damian rolled his eyes, hiding the flush on his cheeks. “Whatever.” He didn’t want to make his ex-boyfriend feel trapped into helping him. Franklin and him were… Connected, no matter what. Telling him meant getting help and Damian had tried to avoid it. “… My car.” He sighed.

Franklin didn't feel like he had to help Damian. He wanted to, more than anything. He hated seeing his envoy friend struggling with anything. "Exactly. You're not staying in a car. That's just ridiculous. You have to be hurting all over. I'm giving you a choice. But at least go shower during your lunch break. I'll lengthen it." Franklin took out his keys and placed the apartment key in front of Damian. "You can keep it if you choose to stay."