Work Text:
There was a nice feeling of coziness when Tyrell heard the raindrops rhythmically hit the house’s roof, knowing that he was safe from the cold while tucked in bed. It was nice, like a lullaby slowly luring him to a good night’s rest.
It would be better if the left side of the bed wasn’t empty, though.
Together with the water, the man could hear the faint sound of a keyboard coming from the nearby room, a repetitive symphony that has been going on for hours now, non-stop. He was getting tired of this, and when his patience finally reached its limit, he forced himself to get up, shivering instantly as his body felt the lack of warmth from the blankets and now experienced the chilly air. Better be quick , he thought as he slowly opened the door to the hallway, careful to not make noise.
It was pitch black already - of course, it was 4 am and almost everyone was deeply submerged in their dreams.
Everyone but one person.
Tyrell started walking, not bothering to turn the lights on and instead guiding himself by following the walls, gently touching them so he could find his way towards his destiny. His eyes were still slightly closed, as they were pretty much useless right now, and he started regretting not putting on some slippers before leaving, because the wooden floor was a bit too cold for his liking.
His hands felt the texture of the wall suddenly change to one of a door as he reached Miles’ room. Of course, it was dead quiet as the kid quietly hummed during his sleep, and upon opening the door a bit, he didn’t see anything thanks to the lack of lighting. Recently the kid has been trying to sleep without a lamp turned on, in the attempt of becoming a bit less afraid of the dark - he would deny it, saying that the only reason he was doing it was because he was growing up, so it was natural for him to let go of such a silly habit, and that he was never afraid of it to begin with, but both Tyrell and Gregory knew better.
He was growing up alright. Even though Badd only knew the kid for a few months now, he couldn’t help but feel pride for every new achievement in Miles’ life. He never imagined he could become such a sap in such a short amount of time, but that’s what being with Gregory does to you.
He kept walking, taking even more careful steps as he reached the door beside Miles’ room, noticing the faint glow under the office’s door, which indicated someone was there. The keyboard noises became louder as he got closer, and now he could also hear the sound of paper shuffling and the chair quietly squeaking as the person sitting on it shifted their position a few times. Badd sighed, opening the door with caution to not alert the person inside and quickly regretting as his eyes burned with the sudden intense light that hit his irises. He waited until he finally grew accustomed to it to finally make a move and enter the office, glaring at the man he was looking for.
Gregory hasn’t noticed the visitor yet, way too focused on the workload he was trying to get rid off to look away from the computer’s screen. His fingers only ever separated from the keyboard to reach a document, then right after he checked the information he needed, they would go back to its rightful place and start the noisy cycle again. He didn’t even know how late it was, he never checked the clock and knew that if he did, he would lose all his concentration worrying about having to wake up early the next- well, that same day.
Although, the consequences of ignoring his own body’s necessities were all there for everyone to see. His face was ghostly pale and the eyes were sunken and surrounded by dark eyebags. He was slightly hunched, trying his hardest to not give in to the tiredness and sleep right there, and his spelling mistakes were embarrassingly increasing as time went on, which was rather shameful as he actually enjoyed writing quite a bit.
He only stopped when he felt a warm hand being placed on his right shoulder, concerningly shaking him a little as if he was in a trance. Looking up, the ebony eyes met Tyrell’s dark brown ones, as tired as his’ and clearly not happy about it.
How late was it again?
“It’s 4 am”, he spoke, as if he heard Gregory’s internal questioning, “what do you think you’re doing?”
“Working. Don’t worry I’m almost finished, I’ll go to bed soon.”
“You said that an hour ago.”
“Well it was true then, but I had to take care of another matter. Sorry.”
Tyrell glared harder at him.
“Let’s go to bed, you can finish this tomorrow.”
He could see that Gregory wanted to argue and stay there, but any argument he had was automatically refuted by a yawn. It was amusing how stubborn that man could be, but Badd couldn't deny that it was part of the reason he was so infatuated with him to begin with. His stubbornness was the exact reason he never gave up on Jeffrey Master’s defense, nor to find the truth, the actual truth, despite the seemingly hopeless nature of the case. It was as admirable as it was annoying, solid evidence of the man's unending empathy and dedication.
But Tyrell would never say it out loud, he didn't need to anyway.
He waited as his partner turned off the computer, grabbing the documents and organizing them well enough so he could remember what he was doing the next day. With a concerning sound coming from the man’s back, he got up, stretching his body a few times and sighing in relief.
“Oh, I’m getting old,” he commented, laughing a bit, “looking at me you would never guess I’m only 35.”
“You’re not that bad, not compared to me at least.”
“Hey, this is not a competition,” Badd felt his cheeks get slightly warmer as the other man approached him, gently touching his chest, “I think you’re very handsome.”
“Stop being cheesy, Attorney.”
“I’m being sincere, Tyrell. I’m not one to sugarcoat my words,” he let a cheeky smile escape, stretching his lips as he raised his gaze and locked their eyes together once again, ”although, you like sweet things, don’t you?”
He was pathetic. Badd tried to not laugh, with little to no success.
“I’ve seen people getting flirty when they’re drunk, but it’s my first time seeing someone flirting when they’re almost passing out,” Gregory chuckled, shaking his head a little in amusement, “let’s go to bed, you’re clearly delirious.”
“Alright, alright, let’s go before you start glaring at me again.”
The thin lips pressed the corner of Tyrell’s mouth, a gentle touch that ignited an embarrassed reaction from the other man, cheeks getting a bit more red over the simple action. He felt like a teenager, acting like that because of a simple kiss.
Following him, Tyrell felt his hand being grabbed as he turned off the switch and the hallway became a completely dark space. He figured it would be wiser to just follow Gregory as he knew the house better than him and was used to walking around the place, being able to see or not. His fingers adjusted themselves against the cold of his partner's palm, sharing the heat of his own warm, rather shaky hands - he didn't know for sure if it was the weather or his nervousness.
It made him wonder how easy it was for Gregory to love someone, at times. Badd never allowed himself to get attached to someone this much before. The risks were too high for someone in his field, yet the danger meant nothing for the attorney - or that's what he wanted others to think, at least.
Whenever Tyrell is shirtless, exposing all his scars and imperfections to the world, he feels the burning sight of those ebony eyes on his back, wondering, and sometimes accompanied by a gentle touch, a feather light kiss against the sensitive skin, a reminder that he survived. A reminder that he was alive. Not in the literal, biological sense, but in a more meaningful way. Alive to experience love in a way he didn't think was possible for someone like him.
He felt like a damn idiot.
Well, logically, he knew it was complicated for the other man as well. He expressed many times before his hesitance of starting a new relationship after losing his fiancee, and the emotional inexperience that came with the grief. Tyrell never asked about the woman, figuring it would be too much of a torture to force him to remember, and Gregory never shared much information about her and the nature of their relationship as well; it would be awkward and utterly unnecessary to reminiscence the ephemerality of life when the two were aware of the constant risks they were taking in their partnership - in both their work and their personal lives.
He felt a hand shake his shoulder gently, taking him out of his own mind and noticing that they had reached Gregory’s - not ‘ their’ , yet - room, and Badd was standing at the doorway like a dumbass, staring at the wall. There was concern in the other man’s eyes as he finally got the attention he was asking for. Tyrell just silently shook his head as if he was telling him everything was alright, and after a few seconds of more awkward silence and eyes suspiciously squinted eyes, the attorney finally decided to let go, moving near the bed and striping himself of his work attire.
For the sake of his own sanity, the detective decided to just reclaim his soon-to-be side of the bed and stare on the opposite direction, feeling his cheeks burn. He could hear the shuffling noise of cloth hitting the ground, the glasses being set aside and the bed squeaking as the other man finally laid down, quickly covering himself with the blankets and moving near his partner. He felt himself being tightly hugged from behind and a lazy kiss against his neck.
“Are you naked?” way to go, Tyrell.
“Not completely, just... too tired to get the pajamas.”
“It's cold tonight, though.”
“I’m okay.”
Silence fell over them, only being interrupted by their breathing and his own increased heartbeat. Tyrell could feel his body finally start to give in and his eyelids to get heavier as time went on, relaxing against Gregory’s own unmoving body - already asleep, probably.
“Hm, hey.”
Well, he was wrong.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
The detective took a few seconds to process what he said before speaking again.
“Sorry... for what?”
“For putting you in this much trouble because of the Master case. I appreciate your help, of course, but sometimes I think I’m pushing it too far.”
“You’re not,” he turned around, staring at his partner despite the almost complete lack of illumination, “I’m glad to help, besides, you wouldn’t go too far alone.”
“I guess you’re right,” an awkward, low laugh accompanied by a sigh could be heard, and only now Tyrell noticed he was holding back his breath, “...it’s been months, I’m getting tired of this game. I can’t bear looking at Mrs. Hall without feeling guilty and this back and forth is only serving to torture both her and Master more... I just hope we can put an end to this soon.”
“I do as well,” his hand instinctively went up to cup his partner’s face, gently caressing the gelid cheeks with his thumb. Tangible proof that he was, in fact, not alone, “but you’re straining yourself too thin. I'm worried about you.”
He couldn’t see clearly, but he could feel the skin under his fingertips stretch as his lover smiled.
“Oh Tyrell,” Gregory said, in the most honey-coated voice he could, saying his name with such care it made its owner’s heart skip a beat, “what did I do to deserve someone like you?”
“I’m the one who should ask,” the other man chuckled, scooting as close as he could and resting his now warm hands onto the detective’s chest, “I love you.”
"Cheesy."
"You're one to talk."
His hands shifted place, moving from Tyrell's chest to his face, scratching his beard gently before pulling him closer, stealing a quick kiss. The detective was sure that his face was colored in a fiery shade of red by now, his only savior being the lack of lights in the room. Again, he felt his breath being taken away as he felt his partner’s lips gently touching his neck this time, featherly yet passionate.
Without thinking, he let a sigh escape. And then a yawn. And his eyelids felt heavy, fighting to stay open as his mind drifted slowly into slumber. He heard Gregory mumble something before getting interrupted by a yawn himself.
And the world became dark, though now it was much warmer.