The light is too bright.

      Blaise let out an annoyed huff at that. “Do you ever shut up?” he questioned finally, eyes narrowing a little at that. However, he didn’t allow the other to answer –– already able to guess what Isra would have of answered either way. Instead he moves his lips upon the other’s, pulling him in for a bruising and aggressive kiss, showing how frustrated and turned on he was at the same time. Biting at the other’s bottom lip, he then pulls back and licks his lips. “I’m not interested in men, no, but apparently my body is interested in yours.” Because of course their bodies would have great compatibility. It just served as an extra smack to the face.

Isra knew it wouldn’t last.

Especially now, as he held his hand to his side, crimson blooming in the snow behind him.  He hated walking.  Especially when it was so cold.  It wasn’t like him to get stabbed, either, but some version of the drug that fucked with his powers had started to become popular.  He’s been an idiot to let his guard down, even a little. And he paid in blood.

Home seemed so far away, but he could rest when he got there, take care of the deep slash that traced along his ribs.  It could have been worse, he reckons.  At least an organ hadn’t gotten nicked.

A thought finally occured to him, and he fumbled to grab his phone, the slim electronic slick in his hand before the blood grows colder and tacky. His thumb is quick to type a message, having to pause a couple of times to just focus.

‘heylove, just leetingyou know I got in a bit of analtercation, poweers are out, walkinghomw to give stiches, see you for dinner byexoxox’ 

Gumshoe regretted the words the moment Isra began to flinch. The hand on his back remained gently rubbing, up and down soothingly, even as his other hand set aside the information and wrapped around him. “Isra, I know. You remade yourself. I fully support you. I told you ages ago, never, ever will that name cross my lips without permission. Or any other name I read in those files. I don’t even mention those first names when talking about coworkers that have them.” 

He pulled Isra close, his voice very soft. “You need to know where she was. What happened. It will be good closure at least. Maybe something will come of it.. I dunno. But… if I’m gonna be interrogating her about things I’m probably going to need to say those names, provide her with enough information to show I’m knowledgeable about the case, especially if she knows about the ending of that story. I won’t give away what really happened, or that you sent me, without permission. I’ll.. invent a scenario, say that I’m investigating that case because there’s parallels and she was the only name I could find still around.”

Isra took deep breaths, leaning his head against Gumshoe, just focusing on remaining calm.  “Thank you.  Just...hold me for a bit.”  He curls against the other, his eyes squeezed shut.  “You’re wonderful, have I told you that recently?  Just amazing.  More than I ever thought I could deserve.”

Gumshoe chuckled and pressed a kiss to Isra’s cheek to soften his next words. “Figured you did, but didn’t want to out and out say it.” A cursory glance over the sheet revealed notes ranging from contact information for her and a few people that were probably her acquaintances or friends, and her work schedule. Gumshoe didn’t doubt this was a ‘cleaned up’ version of Isra’s information. He probably knew her dress and shoe sizes, food preferences, which sock she tended to put on first, and whether she lied to her dentist about flossing daily but those sheets would never appear before the detective. It was easier on his nerves (and likely better for their relationship) to leave the depth of Isra’s stalking a mystery. 

Dick could work with the information he was given, though.

“I’m going to have to use your original name, you know.” Isra was aware the detective had gone over the cold case files for the incident years ago. “And talk about what happened. You might.. not want to listen in. I know it’s hard for you.”

The smile on his face looks a little weary, and he leans against the detective. “I’m not...I’m still not really used to someone knowing me that well.  It’s still weird...But I like it, don’t get me wrong.”  It was just odd, not having his secrets to hide behind any more. And he had definitely cleaned up the information he handed the detective.  He didn’t want to put any strain on the happiness he had now, and revealing more of his flaws to the detective was unappealing.

Gumshoe kept up the affection since it seemed to be doing some good. Just rubbing Isra’s back as they continued to watch, touching another kiss to his head and then settling into silence for a long moment. “Well, I… well, you’ve been watching for days, I bet. Do you have her address or a phone number for her? I can …come up with some reason to set up an appointment to talk to her. Or the name and location for the diner, I could get that number and call that instead, when her shift ends.”

He chuckled, a warm laugh deep in his chest. “I think you want to like her. I think… You want to meet her. But the trouble is that you have years of resentment and fear of being rejected or that the worst is true. Which is why I’m gonna talk to her first.” Gumshoe patted Isra softly. It said a lot that Isra was reacting so strongly to finding her. In fact… “How.. did you find her, anyway?”

Tension melted form his shoulders with the continued affection, tired eyes  sliding shut for a moment.  He huffs a laugh, smile crawling on his face. “You know me too well.  If I wasn’t keeping an eye on her, I was thinking.  And you’ve seen how I get when I think.  I’m still sorry for being such a mess.”  Isra laughs, looking up at the detective.  “Darling, you know better.  I know too much about her, probably.  I couldn’t really stop myself.  I wanted to know everything.”  A sheet of paper is pushed from a shadow, and Isra hands it to Gumshoe.  “All the information you’d want.  Numbers, addresses.  I could tell you her favorite brand of cigarettes, too.  She rarely smokes, though.”

The detective was surprisingly difficult to read in that moment. His thoughts and mood were usually so plainly on display, but when given a reason he could be rather good at hiding what was going on in his head. Isra, having more exposure than most as his boyfriend, could read subtle cues and see his concern and shock.

Which melted into first indignation and then a scoffing laugh at her way of handling the situation. “Holy crap.” The detective hugged Isra, one armed, for a moment. “Chou, you last saw her when you were a little kid. You are already guaranteed to have changed all over.” He gently rubbed his back and said, quieter, “Given your dad being how he was isn’t it possible he misrepresented her to you? Lied about her to make you hate her?” 

Gumshoe paused for a long while, but smiled. “You want to meet her. Or at least have me meet her for you. If nothing else, if she’s a horrible person, you can close this chapter and move on entirely. If not, and if you choose to, maybe you could get to know her and vice versa.” A kiss would be pressed to his head. “So far I tentatively like her. That was like something you’d do if you didn’t have powers and got unwanted attention.”

Isra worried his lip as he watched Gumshoe’s face became nearly unreadable, finding himself relying completely on the detective’s judgement.  He took Gumshoe’s hand and squeezed, waiting for his judgement.

He huddled into the hug, a smirk on his face at the detective’s reaction.  Isra frowns, hiding his face in Gumshoe’s chest, preferring to not think about his father.  “Of course it’s possible.  It’s probably what happened.  But...Either way, she abandoned me.  Why would she even want to see me?”

I can’t specify. Just that the thing being investigated is illegal, and at least one of the ideas being thrown about to help it would be considered illegal because of reasons and it would also impede investigation.

But I can’t specify, or if someone does the thing I could get in trouble.

So I shouldn’t do a bunch of illegal stuff until I guess which one you may have been referencing?