that next morning

[wildrover]

Ryan fell asleep quickly after letting Esposito crash in the bed with him, their brief banter wearing him out once again. Like he had admitted to Javier, the day had been long and hard, their current case exacting a toll on Kevin mentally if not quite so much physically. A lot of shifting through useless data and trying to find the useful. At least they'd put this one behind them already, solving it through a fluke of luck and rendering most of Ryan's work obsolete. But it was done and for that Ryan was thankful. Now he just wanted to sleep.

So he did, and heavily too. He didn't shift often in his sleep at least and neither did he snore. And if Esposito did either of those two things then Ryan didn't notice them, not tonight.

Morning came and sun started to peek through the window. One bad thing about having an apartment on the eastern side of the building: the sun always got to the window early in the morning. Ryan shifted slightly but he still wasn't ready to get up just yet. The bed was comfortable, and the body pillow he'd snuggled into was warm and compliant to his needs. He was blissfully content to just stay where he was all morning until the afternoon. Maybe longer.

If only.

Comments

[specialforces]

Javi sat and grabbed his remote with one hand, and took a bite of pizza with the other.

"Whatever, man, I'll smoke you anyway."

[wildrover]

Ryan set up the perfect balance of plate of pizza on one leg and controller off to the opposite side before switching the TV to the right AUX. "In your dreams, maybe."

He started the game up, choose his team quickly, and then sat on the team set-up screen for a moment while he ate a slice of pizza. He finished it off with a swig of the Bailey's mix before making the only few adjustments to his team that he ever made and clicked ready.

[specialforces]

He went through the same steps just about as quickly, taking another bite of pizza before hitting ready himself.

[wildrover]

A few exciting games later and Esposito had won a majority of the set. Ryan called quits before he could take another beating.

"And I had felt so lucky earlier," Ryan commented idly as he got up to put his plate away. Most of the pizza was demolished by this point. As an after-thought, Ryan grabbed one last piece before putting it away for leftovers tomorrow.

[specialforces]

"Day's not over yet." He grinned and got up to put his own plate up too. "Never know."

[wildrover]

Ryan cocked his head at Esposito. "It sounds like you know something I don't," he replied. He opened the fridge to see if there was any Bailey's left. He figured one more drink couldn't hurt either at this point.

[specialforces]

"Can't get anything past you. Great detective and all."

[wildrover]

Ryan flashed his partner a feral smirk for that line and then dug out the last bottle of Bailey's from the fridge. He didn't bother to ask Espo to make the mix for him again nor tried it for himself; he simply poured it into his glass to drink straight.

He grabbed the glass and leaned up against the counter while he eyed Espo carefully. "Yeah, so. What's that?"

[specialforces]

"While you were out? I had a project." He grinned. "A successful project." He leaned against the refrigerator door. "And don't worry. You'll definitely notice it once you see it."

[wildrover]

The look on Ryan's face was one of genuine surprise. It took him a second to recall the conversation from early that morning. "No. You didn't." Beat. "You did?"

[specialforces]

He grinned and shrugged. "Didn't have anything else to do."

[wildrover]

"Javi..." Ryan's tone was caught somewhere between fondly admonishing and grateful. "Are you serious?"

[specialforces]

Javi's own tone was kept light. "Feel free to take a look for yourself."

[wildrover]

Ryan already looked like he was ready to do just that. He set his glass down on the counter and headed to the bedroom. He stopped just inside to admire the handiwork from afar as if were he to get too close it would disappear--or worse, fall down and ruin Esposito's thoughtful craftsmanship.

[specialforces]

He followed, stopping in the doorway. "There. Now you don't have to deal with light in the morning any earlier than you want to."

[wildrover]

"Thanks bro." He hadn't really meant for it to go this far. He certainly hadn't expected Esposito to do it on his own. Ryan was uncertain of the protocol here; did he offer to pay Espo back or would that be an insult? Ryan decided on the latter and kept his mouth shut. He would just have to do something above and beyond for his partner later.

[specialforces]

"Don't mention it." He nudged Ryan with a shoulder. "Got a good deal, anyway. I know a guy."

[wildrover]

Kevin smiled at Javier. It was warm and sincere.

Until it began to shift into something a little more devious. "I guess you've earned another night in my bed. Lucky you."

[specialforces]

He let out a little huff of laughter. "Oh, yeah. Luckiest man on Earth."

[wildrover]

"And don't you forget it."

[specialforces]

"Don't worry. I'll be sure to keep it in mind." He grinned. "Especially now that I can avoid early morning sunlight."

[wildrover]

"Yeah, be nice to take advantage of it while we can." Ryan touched Espo briefly on the arm as he walked back on his way to the kitchen. A small gesture of fondness, as much as the boys ever gave to one another. He really was appreciative of the work put in by his partner.

In the meantime, he had a drink to finish before the night was over.

[specialforces]

Javi smiled a little and followed behind. "Hey, if it gets me extra sleep on a day I can actually use it, I'm so in favor."

[wildrover]

"And an amen to that, bro." Ryan reached for his glass and raised it in toast to those simple but beautiful words. He took a long drink and then went back to the couch to finish the night off with a movie.

[specialforces]

Javi stretched out on the couch as best he could without draping himself over Ryan. "What're we watching now?"