#kaithan

they met under really normal circumstances. * 🎶

"Do you think you can forgive me?"

Perched on the concrete divider, hands clasped between his knees, Kai glanced to his right, taking in Ethan's question. It had been a punch the solar plexus. Hearing Ethan's dad spill everything. He thought he'd read guilt and dismay on Ethan's face but again, he'd been pretty convincing already. How hard would outrage be?

He sighed and shrugged, going back to watching the river. "I don't know," he breathed. He spared another look and frowned to find Ethan grinning.

"Why are you so happy to hear that?" Dammit, don't smile at me you asshole, I'm supposed to be angry. But Ethan's blue eyes were bright and warm. Like that first day. And his heart hadn't forgotten that yet. Nor had it forgotten how fitting a smile was on that handsome face.

"You didn't say no," Ethan pointed out.

Kai snorted and immediately clapped his hand over his mouth, scowling at Ethan's even wider grin. He let it drop and warned, "I didn't say yes, either."

Ethan's grin remained in place but his eyes dimmed as he reached out and grabbed Kai's hand, lifting it to his lips. He watched Kai as he pressed a warm kiss to the knuckles. "I'll take it as a chance."

     Ethan's hands slid around Kai's waist and soon after, Ethan's chin rested on his left shoulder.  He sighed, leaning back into that warm, familiar chest.  

     The other man turned just enough to press a slow kiss to Kai's neck.  "Hi," he rumbled.

     Kai patted his hands.  "Hi," he replied.  "You're getting touchy-feely."  He shifted and craned his neck back to meet Ethan's eyes.  "You do realize I'm working, right?"

     Ethan dropped a quick kiss to the tip of Kai's nose.  "What?  I can't hug my boyfriend?"

     Kai's eyes narrowed.  "Hugging from you usually leads to other things," he pointed out.  Not that he was complaining.  But, if he had to deal with a Chaos pool tonight, getting ramped up before hand wasn't in his rulebook.  Better it happen after when Kai needed to be grounded and forget whatever poison raced through his mind.

     Ethan nudged Kai's temple with his nose.  "I promise," he purred, "that I won't molest you until after you do your dirty work."

     "Uh huh."  Kai reached up and patted Ethan's cheek somewhat harder than necessary.  "Since you've been given permission to molest me on the reg, you rarely do it when it's convenient and always when I'm busy."  He jumped when Ethan's hand moved to capture his, shivering when lips touched his fingertips.

     "Your fault," Ethan pointed out.  "I like the way you feel and sound; be worse at that and I'll leave you alone."

     Kai jerked on his hand, trying to break loose and sighed in irritation when Ethan only latched on tighter.  "You're like a horny teenager; how's that possible?"

     Ethan's chest vibrated with smothered laughter.  "Mm.  Can't help it."  Ethan's other arm dropped from Kai's waist, hand sliding along Kai's inner thigh as it did.  "If you saw what I did when I'm sliding into you, maybe you'd understand," Ethan hissed.  

     Kai's eyes went wide, a pleasant shiver skating down his spine.  He elbowed Ethan at that and spun around, clapping his hand over Ethan's mouth.  "None of that!"

     Ethan's eyes crinkled as he reached up and pushed Kai's hand away.  He took that same hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.  "There's that, too."

     Confused, Kai's brow furrowed.  "That what?"  

     He stiffened when Ethan leaned in and whispered, "You're adorable when you're angry."

     Kai decided, as he pulled into his driveway, that he hated all cars and wanted nothing more than to set fire to the next one he saw; which included the one he currently sat in.  He checked the dash clock:  two in the fucking morning.

     He yawned, his jaw popping, as he turned off the car.  Finally.  Xerynn wasn’t usually a stickler for Kai having to venture into the farther flung reaches of the Pacific Northwest but today, he’d been oddly adamant that Kai deal with some nonsense in Bellingham.  Which meant nearly twelve hours in the car round trip.

    I want to die, he thought, hauling himself out of the car.  He heard a brief beep of a horn and blinked. 

    “What the fuck?” he muttered, squinting.

     Ethan’s car slid into its spot beside Kai and the detective unfolded himself from the vehicle.  He leaned over the hood and folded his arms atop its surface, groaning as he dropped his face down.  “You too?” he murmured.

     Kai snickered, blinking wearily.  Then sobered when he realized what that meant.  He rubbed his chin, watching Ethan slump away from his car and head toward the door.  “Bad one tonight?”

     Ethan looked at him briefly over his shoulder, keys hanging from his hand.  “Yeah.  Bad one.”

     Kai’s own exhaustion forgotten, he slipped up behind Ethan and wrapped his arms around the taller man, squeezing as tight as he could.  “Sorry,” he muttered, into the man’s jacket.

     Ethan’s free hand squeezed one of Kai’s, silent. 

     Once the door opened, a chorus of chirps and yowls greeted them. 

     Kai winced.  “Gotta feed the babies,” he sighed.  He scowled at Ethan’s laugh.  “What?  They have no thumbs, Ethan.”

     Ethan was still grinning as he shrugged out of his coat and reached for Kai’s.  “Thank god for that.  You’d be living at the grocery store.”

     Kai yawned and dug through the cupboards, pulling out two cans of wet food.  In her usual, bizarre way, Soot perched on Moxie’s back, the other cat seemingly unaware of her passenger.  “Stop that,” he hissed.  Soot’s silver eyes blinked out of sync, her legs growing in length until Moxie slipped out from beneath her.  Kai glared at Soot until the cat remembered to realign her form to normal cat standards.

     “Bad girl,” he muttered.  Having finally fed the cats, he tottered to the living room and sat on the couch, sighing.  “I love you, couch,” he murmured, eyes hardly staying open.  Christ, he was tired.  He was honestly surprised he hadn’t dozed off while behind the wheel.  He smiled sleepily as Ethan kissed his temple, his welcome weight settling against him.

     “Couch loves you too, I’m sure,” the other man teased.

     Mumbling nonsense, Kai turned and wrapped and arms around Ethan again, burrowing into that familiar chest.  Ethan grunted but fell back against the arm of the couch, pulling Kai with him.  His fingers stroked Kai’s neck, soft and slow, tangling occasionally with the waves of his hair.

     “Sleepy,” he mumbled.

     “Hmm.”

     “Bed?”

     “’s fine,” Ethan yawned.

     “Mmm.”

     The last thing Kai noted was the additional weight of two sets of cat paws; one perched on his butt, the other flopping over his neck and Ethan’s hand.  He wiggled slightly, hoping to dislodge one or the other but gave up when both began purring.

    “Look at him.”

    Ethan followed Chernov’s gesture to see Kai face-planted on the table.  He snorted and sipped from his champagne glass.  He didn’t think Kai had been drinking that much but by the way he was muttering into the table, it’s clear he’d done a number on himself.

    Ethan patted Kai on the back, chuckling when the other man lifted his head up wearily, squinting.

    “Wazzat?”

    “Having fun down there?” Ethan asked.

    Kai made a noise and planted his face back on the table.  “Spinny.”

    “Suppose I can’t blame him for wanting to be drunk; he does work for Xerynn,” Chernov stated.  He lifted his coffee cup.  “That’s probably been pent up for months,” he added.

    Ethan laughed at that.  When he’d first learned Kai worked for the that lawyer, Xerynn, he’d been shocked and fully expected to discover that Kai was as cutthroat and duplicitous as the black-eyed bastard.  Instead, he’d met a nervous man with no filter who spent most of his time bad-mouthing his own boss.  A welcome surprise, for sure.

    That even Chernov tolerated him and his antics spoke volumes. The lieutenant hated Xerynn and typically avoided anything to do with him.  Kai, however, managed to fracture that quite quickly, becoming an oddly common occurrence at the precinct.  Even now, celebrating Ethan’s promotion to Grade 2, Kai was a welcome addition to their little shindig.

    Jess had already called it quits an hour earlier and Lisa, a few hours before that.  Now, it was simply he, Chernov, and the drunken Kai at the bar.  Ethan, honestly, wouldn’t have complained if it ended up just being him and Kai.  Both of them had opted to get a room at the hotel so as not to worry about their drive home.  And Ethan might have entertained some steamy fantasies earlier in the night. Fantasies now firmly squashed given how out of it Kai appeared.

    He’d been surprised by plenty in relation to Kai over the year.  Kai had a tendency to speak his mind, accidentally, which had been only one of the many charming things Ethan discovered about the other man.  He was clever and more than once, he’d found information that helped out the squad on several occasions.  He had the oddest roommate and he still hadn’t quite figured out what he did for Xerynn.  Kai himself only stated he collected things; so, a messenger?  Not that it made sense and Ethan was aware enough to know that Kai was keeping something back.  

    As he sipped his glass, he watched Kai as he mumbled into the bar top.  As a cop, he knew better than to rely on face value.  The fact that he knew Kai kept things back should have been a warning sign.  Should have kept him firmly on the side of acquaintance.  There were times when he felt he’d nearly seen beyond whatever barrier Kai kept up but he never was able to fully rationalize what he thought he was seeing.  But, Kai himself had wormed his squirrely way into Ethan’s resolve and at this point, he didn’t quite know where he stood.

    Chernov yawned and set his mug down.  “You should get him up to his room.”

    Given Kai was now singing a mumbled, off-key version of “Evacuate the Dance Floor” to the bar top, Ethan had to agree.  He set down his glass and patted Kai on the shoulder.  “C’mon, Hot Stuff; time for bed.”

    Kai propped his chin on the bar, blinking slow at Ethan. And then smiled.

    “Okay.  You know, you’re too pretty to be a cop.”  He blinked and shot Ethan a set of finger guns.  “Pretty Cop Man.”

    Chernov barked a sharp laugh.  “Confirmed: he’s smashed.”  He pulled out his wallet, fishing for his credit card.  “Get him to his room before he does something really stupid.”  He wagged his card.  “I’ll settle the tab and call it a night.”  He rose and patted Ethan on the shoulder.  “Well done, Ethan.  You deserve it.”

    Ethan smiled weakly at the thanks before turning back to Kai who still blinked at him, deep in his drunkenness.  

   Pretty Cop Man.  That had to be the worst part of all of this.  Kai was . . . downright adorable on a good day.  He’d been fully prepared to distrust Kai when he’d learned of his connection to Xerynn.  Instead, as he’d gotten to know the other man, he’d developed more than bit of a crush on him.  Kai was shorter than he was, with shaggy brown hair and wide brown eyes.  And for as much as he grumbled about his job, he was quick to laugh and joke, often pulling Ethan along into his misadventures. Which meant he spent a lot of time with Kai and spent a lot of time thinking about Kai.  

    Years of work as a police detective had given him fine skills at maintaining a poker face.  And while Ethan was typically able to keep such thoughts to himself given their odd working relationship, that didn’t mean he didn’t ponder things.  A lot.  Possibly more than was healthy.  And while he’d never asked, he’d always assumed Kai was straight.  Possibly less straight when drunk?

   “That sucks,” he muttered, getting off his stool.  He tugged on Kai’s arm, coaxing the same.  “C’mon.  Pretty Cop Man wants you to go to bed.”

    Kai blew a raspberry in response but complied.  Sort of.  Mostly he fell off the stool, colliding with Ethan in the process.

    “Easy there,” Ethan murmured, righting him.  “Just got to get you upstairs and let you sleep it off.”

    Grumbling and rubbing his forehead, Kai stumbled along beside him, frequently colliding with Ethan in the process.  Eventually, in an effort to save himself from further bruising, Ethan latched a hand to Kai’s collar, attempting to keep him walking a fairly straight line.

    They made it to the elevator and Kai leaned against the back, staring up at the lighted panels above.  “Hey, Ethan?”

    No more Pretty Cop Man, I guess.  He turned slightly.  Kai was still leaning his head against the elevator wall but he’d angled his head enough to meet Ethan’s gaze.

    “What’s on your mind?”

    “Thanks for inviting me,” he murmured.  He shut his eyes, rolling his head back.  “And good job, Detective Policeman!” he added, holding up a thumb.  He dropped his hand and pushed away from the wall.  He stood for about a second before teetering forward.

    Ethan lunged and caught him, pushing him upright.  “You don’t drink this much that often, do you?” he asked with a laugh.

    Kai squinched his eyes shut.  “No,” he moaned.  “My head hurts.”

    Ethan looked at the elevator dial.  He and Kai both had rooms on the twelfth floor.  Five more to go.  He let go of Kai and immediately grabbed him a second time when he nearly crumpled.  “Okay, gonna do this the hard way.”  He turned around and squatted down a bit, sliding his hands under Kai’s thighs.  “I don’t trust you not the end up on the floor.”

    Kai flopped against his back, his arms draped over Ethan’s shoulders and down his chest.  

    “M’yank you,” he mumbled into Ethan’s hair.  “It’s all spinny,” he whined.

    Ethan hiked him up a bit, settling Kai a bit more comfortably against his back.  “I’ll bet. Maybe don’t try to drink an entire bottle of rum?”

    “Not rum, tequila,” Kai corrected.  He sighed, blowing air against Ethan’s neck, which unfortunately left Ethan shivering.  “Tequila, tequila, tequila,” he babbled, soon singing the word over and over until it slurred into nonsense.

    “I have to admit, you’re pretty entertaining when drunk,” Ethan stated as the elevator arrived to their floor.  He stepped out, grunting under Kai’s weight.  

    Kai’s singing faded and he sighed, wrapping his arms loose around Ethan’s neck, and nuzzling him.  “Comfy,” he murmured.

    Ethan swallowed, his face reddening.  “So, uh, Kai?” he prodded as the headed down the hall.  “Question for you.”  He took the babbled noise in response as an affirmative.  “You, uh, you seeing anyone?”

    “Nuhuh.”  He hummed a new song for a few steps and then sighed.  “I wanna though.”

    What am I doing?  Ethan licked his lips as he rounded the corner to the corridor where their rooms sat.  “What’s your choice?  Women?” He cleared his throat.  “Men?”

    Kai shifted and propped his chin on Ethan’s shoulder.  “Women are pretty,” he sighed.

    Well, that answered that.

    “Men are prettier.”

    Or not?  He considered.  “So, you’re bi?”

    “Bi, bi, bi!” Kai sang, mimicking N’SYNC this time.

    Ethan rolled his eyes, mouth quirking.  “I think that’s an answer then.”  And so damn heartening that Ethan nearly whooped.  Until the last second when he recalled he was carting a drunken man on his back.  That would probably not have earned me points, he thought.

    He reached Kai’s room and halted, letting him slide off his back.  Kai wobbled again and Ethan held him up by the shoulder before digging into Kai’s back pocket.

    “That’s . . . my ass,” Kai intoned.

    Ethan snorted, coming up with Kai’s wallet.  “Sure is.”  He plucked Kai’s room key from its confines.  “And this is your key.”

    “Key!” Kai exclaimed.  He took back his wallet and beamed at Ethan.  “My knight in shining armor.”  He tried to tuck his wallet back in his pocket but it thumped to the floor instead.  He turned clumsily, staring down at it.  “Aww.”

    Ethan burst out laughing.  When Kai turned to look at him, he shook his head.  “Sorry, Kai.  You’re a bit of a mess right now.”

    Kai yawned and shrugged.  “I’m a bit of a mess most of the time,” he said.  He rubbed his eyes.  “I am sorry to have thrust my mess on you,” he stated, holding his arms out. “It travels.”  He leaned in, cupping a hand around his mouth even though his volume didn’t change.  “Blame Xerynn; he started it.”

    “That, I can believe,” he replied.  But he sobered quickly.  “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re a mess, Kai.  Far from it.”  He bent down and picked up Kai’s wallet before returning to the door and swiping the key card.  Not risking a glance back, he added, “And if you are a mess, I like your mess.”  He pushed the door open after the beep, holding it for Kai to walk through.

    After a second’s hesitation, his eyes unfocused but direct, Kai shuffled his way in, swatting at the wall to flick on the light.  “Bed!” he exclaimed.  “Oh, bed; I love you.”  He trotted forward and flopped face-first onto the neatly made bed.  “Bed!” he repeated, voice muffled.

    Ethan dropped Kai’s key and wallet on the dresser and leaned against it.  He couldn’t stop grinning.  Even though Kai was about a second from passing out, he lay prostrate, his legs kicking behind him as he repeated “bed” over and over again.

    Shit, I never stood a chance, did I?  He cleared his throat and stood.  “Kai, get some sleep.  I’ll see you in the morning.”  He reached out and grabbed one flailing foot, shaking it once.  “Try not to overdo it next time.”

    Kai stopped kicking and turned his head, cheek against the pale blue quilt, hair a complete mess and eyes bloodshot.  He smiled at Ethan.  “Thank you, Sir Knight,” he mumbled.  He yawned again, eyes drooping shut.  He burrowed into his bed before adding, “I like your mess, too,” he mumbled.

    He’d nearly missed the words, honestly.  But Kai had cracked open one eye, once again direct, if bloodshot.  “Good night,” Ethan husked, turning to go.

    He stepped out into the hall, letting out a sharp breath. He didn’t know if Kai was so drunk that he’d forget their conversation but Ethan, at least, wasn’t about to.  If anything, it gave him a bit of encouragement that maybe there was something more there.  That, friendship aside, Kai might see a bit more between them like Ethan was beginning to.

    He paced to the end of the corridor and swiped the key to his room.  It had been a long day and an even longer night.  He’d received a promotion, free dinner and drinks, and a hint that he had a chance at something with a man he was fast falling for.  

I’m drawing a blank on Xerac.  D:  Mostly because Xerynn doesn’t sleep.  :p

ALSO, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOOKER.

Kai woke up with a crick in his neck, face planted in the pillow.  He yawned and rolled over, facing an amused Ethan.  He squawked and scrambled back, nearly falling from the bed.

“Shit!  Holy crap; let me wake up first,” he muttered.

Ethan merely stared at him, snickering and barely hiding a smile.

Kai stared back.  “You okay?”  He patted Ethan’s forehead.  “You sick?”

Ethan laughed this time, shaking his head.  “You talk in your sleep; you know that?”

“No I don’t!”

Ethan rolled on his back, pillowing his arms behind his head.  “You do.  And in some detail.”

Kai sat up, glaring.  “The hell I do.  I’ve never talked in my sleep!”

Ethan reached up and tweaked his nose.  “You do.  Well, you did.”

Kai sat cross-legged and scratched his lower back.  “Well . . . say I did talk in my sleep.  What might I have said?”  Not that he did.  He’d never done that!  Ethan had to be making it up.

Ethan’s fingers drummed warm on his knee.  “You said, ‘Honey, the badgers got into cake batter again.’”

“You’re totally making that up!”

Shoulders shaking, Ethan grinned up at him.  “Nope!  When I asked you what you meant, you patted my face and said, ‘I love you, badger.’”

“Aw, man!  That wasn’t how I wanted to say that!”  Kai buried his face in his hands.  Of course he had to be nonsensical when he told Ethan he loved him.  Wouldn’t be him if he didn’t.

Ethan’s fingers stroked his wrist, pulling his hands down.  “I love you, too . . . cake batter.”

“Oh, you think you’re so funny,” Kai groused, a grudging smile forming as Ethan pulled him down.

“Naw, I just want some of that cake batter,” he smirked, slapping Kai’s ass.  

“You’re such a dick,” Kai laughed, curling into Ethan’s arms.

The other man kissed him, holding him tight.  His gaze softened.  “I love you,” he murmured.

Kai’s heart thudded.  “I love you, too.”  

“Next time, pick a better pet name than ‘badger’, okay?”

“How’s ‘asshole’?”

“Well, I do like yours so I guess that works.”

“Pervert.”

“Not as fun.”

Kai didn't know when it happened but over a year after Adam tried to blow a hole through Old Town, Chernov appeared to relent to Kai's presence. As a result, he often ducked into the precinct in order to avoid Xerynn's recent bizarre obsession with the person who may or may not be trying to kill him.

I almost feel bad for the guy, he thought, feet up on an empty desk while he flipped through his next set of Chaos targets.  At least he had the police and a random list of addresses.  He frowned, staring sightless at the notebook in his hand.  I sound like a serial killer.

He yelped and nearly fell out of his chair when someone pinched his foot.

Ethan grinned at him, squeezing his foot again. "You had lunch yet?"

Kai scrambled upright and dropped his feet to the floor. He glanced at his watch, startled to see it was nearly two. Followed quickly by an uncomfortable rumble in his stomach.  "Uh, crap. No?"

Ethan leaned against the desk, arms folded. He tilted his head toward the front of the precinct and said, "My treat."

Not that Kai would pass up such an offer. They were both quiet as they left, Kai snuggled deep in his hoodie as he paced alongside the detective. Another bright side to Chernov's hospitality was Kai's chance to better his friendship with Ethan. Which, unfortunately, had led Kai down a road he would never see to the end.

And my streak of bad luck enters a new round, he mused.

"Hey, been thinking of something," Ethan said, voice uncharacteristically cautious.

Kai half-turned, brow furrowed. "Please don't ask me about Xerynn."  Chernov did his best to dig anything out of Kai but none of the other detectives had bothered.  He’d hate for Ethan to follow in Chernov’s steps now.

Ethan blinked and then laughed, head thrown back.

Dammit. Things like that had doomed Kai from the start. Handsome bearded man with a personality? Handsome bearded man who looked even more handsome when smiling with those stupidly adorable crinkles at the corner of his eyes and mouth?  Stupid adorable handsome man.  In the first wave of his crush on Ethan, Kai had briefly pondered asking Xerynn to mar Ethan in some small way but knowing Kai's luck, it would backfire and turn the man into more of an Adonis.

"Chernov's the one who'll drill you; long as he stays on his side of the courtroom, I'm good." He stopped walking, forcing Kai to match and face him. "Got a question for you."

"Oh. Okay." Cold wind snaked past his hood and he stamped his feet. "Go for it."

Ethan took a breath, again appearing uncertain. "Here's the thing. I like you, Kai. And...I need to do something about that."

"I'm sorry!" Kai blurted.  He smacked himself in the face in reflex.  Hole.  Where is a hole.  Where is Dek’s stupid Chaos hole when I need it?

Ethan blinked and then broke out into a grin. "And that's why."

"I'm so confused," Kai admitted, dropping his hand, brow furrowed. "Are you annoyed you like me or not?"

"Hardly." Ethan shifted Kai's hoodie back, nearly tumbling it from his head. "I like you, Kai. And I want to have a chance for more."  Ethan was still doing that lovely adorable smile of his but Kai could read some hesitation in the gaze.

"More what?" Kai stared at Ethan until understanding dawned and his eyes widened. The blush followed on the heels of another deep Ethan-laugh.

"Are you...did you just ask me out?"

"I did."

Face still warm, Kai fidgeted. "You do realize I'm a horrible wreck of a human being, yeah?" He pointed at Ethan. "You will literally kill Chernov if you commit to that."  He poked Ethan in the chest.  Oh, right; he had muscle, too.  Kai’s brain shorted as he stood there, finger jabbed in the detective’s handsome chest.

Ethan captured his gesturing hand, holding it loose. Kai's heart thudded at how wonderful it felt.

"Kai." Ethan's voice crossed the air between them, soft and familiar. And carrying everything Kai had feared and fervently wished for. "I think you're anything but."

Kai swallowed, staring at his hand in Ethan's. "Would...would you think less of me if...I screamed in relief?"