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redhoodssweetheart · 5 years

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Oh Captain, My Captain

Genre: Police AU

Pairing: Police Captain!Carol x Police Officer!Reader

Word Count: 2.8K

Requested: Anon

Warnings: Fluff, swearing (nothing too bad), slight angst (if you squint), drinking, one-night stand

Description: You move to a new city after getting a job at the police station there. The night before you start your new job you meet Carol and spend the night with her only to find out that she’s your new Captain....

Taglists: Are open, please send an ask and see this post for more information.

New York wasn’t a place you had pictured yourself living before, but you had just been transferred to a new precinct and suddenly the idea of living there didn’t seem so bad after all. There were great restaurants, Broadway plays, and a bunch of attractions that you had always wanted to see, but never had a chance to go to.

You had just finished unloading all of your boxes from the moving truck with the help of your best friend Wanda and were now sitting on the couch in a tired heap. It was a good kind of tired though.

“Thanks for letting me crash here, Wan,” you told her as she brought you a glass of water from the kitchen.

“Hey what are best friends for?” She said as she sat down next to you. “Do you want to go out tonight and celebrate your first night in the city and your new job?”

“Sure!” You hopped up, “Let me go change real quick.” She said okay and watched you disappear down the hall.

When you were done the two of you caught a cab and went to a local bar that Wanda liked to go to on occasion. The two of you grabbed a spot at the bar and ordered your usual drinks. The first hour went by in a blur and then Wanda nudged you, “There’s a really hot blonde staring at you at your ten o’clock.”

You casually scanned the bar and noticed the blonde in question. She had short hair that was longer on top and she tilted her drink at you. You tipped your drink back and then turned to Wanda, “What do I do?”

“Um talk to her!” Wanda said as she practically shoved you out of your chair and in the direction of the blonde.

You shot a glare at Wanda as you managed to maneuver your way through the crowded bar toward the table where the blonde was sitting alone. “Hi,” you said as you slid into the seat across from her.

“Hi yourself,” she grinned at you. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before.”

“Oh, I just moved to the city, new job and all that jazz,” you told her. “You come here often I take it.”

She shrugged, “Enough that the bartenders know my order before I can tell them,” she shrugged and took another sip of her beer. “I’m Carol.”

“Y/N,” you told her.

The two of you continued to talk for the next two hours, you felt bad for ditching Wanda like that, but when you went to check on her you saw that she was talking to a man and she appeared to be having a good time.

It was another hour before Carol asked you if you wanted to go home with her. Feeling bold you agreed and went to tell Wanda what was going on. She wiggled her eyebrows and told you to have fun and call her later.

You and Carol stumbled out of the bar together and headed up the block to where her apartment was. Her lips were on yours the instant the elevator doors closed and she had you pressed against the wall. Your fingers dug into her hips as you dragged her closer, wanting to feel her body pressed against yours.

Somehow the of you managed to stumble into her apartment without any major injuries and back to her bedroom where you spent the remainder of the evening with the beautiful stranger.

You woke up later that night and slowly slipped out of bed and gathered your clothes. Carol was still asleep, lying on her stomach with the sheet covering the lower half of her body. You got dressed quickly and left her apartment, leaning against the cool metal of the elevator wall.

Wanda was awake for breakfast a few hours later when you got up once again and got ready for work. “How did last night go?” She asked as she passed you a mug to fill with your usual morning beverage.

“It was great, but I snuck out without saying goodbye,” you said as you slumped in your seat. “I’ll probably never see her again.”

“Well she did say that she frequents that bar often, maybe you’ll catch her there again,” Wanda suggested.

You shook your head and took a sip from your mug, “Nope, not happening. I’m not going back to that bar. I don’t want to run into my one night stand again, can you imagine how awkward that would be?”

“It’s only as awkward as you make it,” Wanda told you as she filled her to go mug with coffee. “I gotta run, but have a good first day!”

Shortly after Wanda left you left too, you wanted to be a little early and make a good impression with your new Captain. You didn’t know what they would be like and you at least wanted to start off on the right foot with them.

When you stepped into the precinct you stopped at the desk and asked the officer where Captain Danvers office was. “The second floor, you can’t miss it, the area is just a wide open space.”

“Thanks,” you told him as you made your way toward the elevator and got on with a few other offices. They smiled and introduced themselves. There was a man named Clint Barton, a woman named Natasha Romanoff, and then another man named Sam Wilson.

“You must be the transfer,” Natasha said as the four of you stepped off the elevator.

“I am,” you nodded. “I thought I should get here early and make a good impression with the new Captain. What’re they like?”

“Captain Danvers is great,” Sam said. “She’s really chill most of the time, but she’s not a pushover. Don’t be nervous, she’s a great person.”

“That’s a relief, my last Captain was a hardass,” you said as you all weaved your way through the desks. “It was nice meeting you all, maybe we could have lunch today and you guys could give me the low down on everything?”

“Sure,” Clint said. “Sounds great.”

You broke off from their group and headed for Captain Danver’s door. It was shut so you knocked and waited for her to invite you in. When she did the voice sounded strangely familiar like you had heard it before. As you pushed the door open you froze, you looked like a deer caught in the headlights as you stared at Carol, the woman you had hooked up with the night before.

She looked equally as startled as you did. She cleared her throat and stood, “Officer Y/L/N, please come in and have a seat.” You did as instructed and sat down stiffly in a chair in front of her desk. The two of you just stared at one another for a long moment before she said, “I had no idea you were my newest transfer.”

“Well, I certainly didn’t know you were my new Captain,” you squeaked out. You buried your face in your hands, “Oh God, this is such a disaster. Of course, I managed to sleep with my new boss!”

“This isn’t an ideal situation,” Carol mused thinking about how cute you looked when you were flustered, then she shook her head as if to rid herself of those thoughts. You were her employee, she shouldn’t be thinking of you like that.

“Can we pretend last night never happened?” You begged. “I was really happy when I was transferred here, and I just don’t want people thinking the worst if I was to put in for a transfer literally the first day I get here.”

“Understandable,” she replied. “We can pretend like nothing ever happened and just act as if we are boss and subordinate.”

“Thank you,” you slumped in your seat as relief washed over you.

Carol ran a hand through her hair, “Normally I would give you the tour of the precinct myself, but I feel that that may be a little too awkward right now. So I’ll get one of the other officers to do it. Take today to get settled in and used to everything. I’m partnering you with Romanoff, I think the two of you will work well together.”

“Great, should I tell her that you wanted her to give me the tour?”

“If you wouldn’t mind,” she said as if it were a relief.

You nodded and stood up, “Well, I’ll, uh, see you later then.” You practically fled the room to go find Natasha and tell her the news.

Weeks went by and you and Carol pretended like nothing had ever transpired between the two of you. Although there were a lot of awkward moments. You had been caught staring at her several times by Natasha, and she sometimes stuttered when she caught you walking by or laughing with Natasha.

She then berated herself for pairing you with Natasha. Why had she done that? Then she would shake her head and tell herself that she had no right to be jealous.

It took almost a month for Natasha to pull the truth out of you about what had been going on between you and Carol. “I’ve never seen her act like this before. She’s normally so cool and composed, but when you’re around it’s like she turns into an awkward teenager. Not going to lie it’s a little funny.”

You sighed and said, “Carol and I slept together.”

Natasha slapped your arm and said, “Shut up!”

“Yep, it was the day before I started. Neither of us knew we would be working together and we kinda hooked up. It was supposed to be this one and done kind of thing, we would never see one another again so what was the harm in a little night of fun?” You shook your head and bit your lip. “Imagine my surprise when she turns out to be my new boss.”

“That’s rough,” Natasha snorted. “I couldn’t imagine how that must have felt. Why didn’t you just put in for a transfer?”

“I didn’t think that would look good so we agreed to have a working relationship and that’s all,” you told her.

“I can tell you that Carol wants to have more than a working relationship with you, I’ve seen how she stares at you when she thinks no one is looking. The woman is clearly smitten with you.”

“No she’s not, she can’t be,” you insisted.

“Whatever you say, Y/L/N.”

One day when you were at the vending machine Carol appeared beside you. “Having trouble?” The sound of her voice made you jump and when you looked up you saw that she was blushing a little, “Sorry.”

You sighed and smacked the vending machine again, “It’s fine, this damn thing just ate my money is all.”

Carol held up a finger and walked away leaving you standing there looking kind of confused as to why she had walked away from you. When she returned she had a lock picking set in her hands and asked you to hold it. As she began to pick the lock you couldn’t help, but laugh. “What?” She glanced up at you, a smile tugging at her lips.

You shook your head, biting your lip struggling to stop laughing, “I just never imagined the Captain would be picking the lock to a vending machine.”

“Hey, it owes you food, and you’re gonna get it,” she said as she yanked the door open. “Have at it.”

You grabbed your treat and backed away, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” she said as she shut the door. “Anything else I can help you with?”

“Uh, no, not right now….” You trailed off not really wanting the conversation to be over, but also not knowing what to say next.

“You haven’t been back to McGinty's,” Carol said next surprising you. “I’ve, uh, been watching for you.”

“I just… I didn’t think it was a good idea to go back after, you know,” you told her. “I’m trying to avoid any and all awkward conversations with you.”

“Like this one?” Causing both of you to chuckle. “Look I spent that entire morning thinking about you and hoping I’d see you again, and then you walk in here and you’re my new transfer. I was flabbergasted, to say the least. But I was hoping to see you again so I could ask you on a proper date… and to be honest I still want that. But if you don’t I’ll completely understand.”

You stood frozen to the spot not sure what to say to her. You were saved when Sam and Clint came through and you ducked away from Carol, your heart pounding incredibly fast.

You avoided Carol for the rest of your shift and quickly rushed home to talk to Wanda about this. You had no idea what you should do. You liked Carol, you liked her a lot. But would it make things awkward at work if the two of you moved forward with this?

Wanda listened as you talked through everything and when you were done she said, “I would go for it. You clearly like one another and she’s a good person. You said that she was waiting for you to show up at McGinty’s well then go meet her there. It’s neutral territory, and if you need me I’ll be on standby.”

“Okay, okay I’m going to do this,” you said as you stood and headed back to your room to change out of your uniform. You reemerged moments later half dressed with a worried expression on your face, “Wanda, I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can! I have faith in you. Now go get the girl!”

You finished getting dressed and then headed to the bar. When you entered it was already crowded with the usual Friday night goers, most people were going out to unwind after a long week at work. You scanned the crowd and spotted Carol sitting at the bar nursing a beer. She hadn’t seen you yet.

Squaring your shoulders you picked your way through the crowd and took the stool next to hers. You told the bartender your order as Carol stared at you, her beer bottle halfway to her lips. You looked over and smiled, “You come here often?”

Carol busted out laughing, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “That has got to be the cheesiest thing anyone has ever said to me in a bar.”

“Oh come on,” you scoffed. “That can’t be the cheesiest thing. I’ve had cheesier said to me before.”

“Like what?” Carol challenged.

“For some reason, I was feeling a little off today. But when you came along, you definitely turned me on.” She began laughing harder. “Or my personal favorite: Are you a parking ticket? ‘Cause you’ve got fine written all over you.”

She continued to laugh and you joined her. When she calmed down she said, “Okay, okay those were definitely cheesy.”

“I told you I had worse,” you said smugly.

Carol’s smile slowly slipped, “I looked for you after you disappeared on me today. Why’d you run?”

You sighed, you had figured that this was going to come up. “I wasn’t ready to tell you my answer.”

“And now?” She prompted.

You met her gaze and said, “I want to give us a shot.” Carol’s smile returned and butterflies erupted in your stomach.

“So I don’t have to use a cheesy pickup line on you now?” She teased.

“Oh no, I gotta hear this,” you chuckled.

“Was your father a thief? ‘Cause someone stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes,” she said before hiding her face. “Ugh, I can’t believe you made me say that!”

You turned her head to face you and said, “I now have a new favorite pick up line.”

“Yeah?” She whispered loud enough for you to hear.

“Yeah,” you responded before kissing her.

You heard cheering and the two of you turned to see Wanda, Natasha, Sam, Clint, and several of the other officers from the precinct standing there cheering. “You’re all fired!” Carol said jokingly as the two of slipped off your bar stools and walked over to them. Carol let them know that if they teased either of you about this that they would have desk duty for a week.

“You can’t give all of us desk duty, Cap,” Sam said with a sly smile. “Then who would protect the citizens of our fair city?”

“Oh I’ll make sure to stretch out the punishments so not everyone has desk duty at the same time, Wilson,” Carol told him with her own sly smile. “Mark my words you’ll regret teasing me.”

You chuckled and let her drape her arm over your shoulder as the two of you continued to share a night out with your co-workers and friends.

#Carol Danvers x Reader #Carol Danvers x Reader fluff #Carol Danvers x Reader AU #Carol Danvers #Carol Danvers fanfic #Carol Danvers fanfiction #Carol Danvers AU #Requested

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ayalaatreides · 5 years

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Inori Does Something Reckless (Again)

Fandom: Nanbaka Rating: T Characters: Samon Gokuu, Inori Hakkai, Kiji Mitsuba, Kokoriki Daisen Pairing: Samon/Inori

It's late night at Nanba Prison, and Inori Hakkai is on his way to retrieve Samon Gokuu from a celebratory dinner at the Warden's tower. He figures it'll be a quiet trip back to Building 5. Just a nice, peaceful monorail ride across the prison, just him and his supervisor. Quiet, unremarkable, uneventful...

Yeah, right!

(Based on manga canon, takes place after the Enki jailbreak arc. So, if you haven't read the manga past where Season 2 of the anime ended, this proooobably isn't going to make a whole lot of sense :'D If you have not read the manga and you would like to do so, please visit when-will-i-sleep on tumblr for information on where to read it!)

Anyway, welcome to rarepair hell :3 Tagging @pinktatertots99 because I KNOW she ships it. Also @deirdre-relatable: not sure if you still ship this, but I’m tagging ya anyway :P

The call came in from Central at exactly 2:30am: a summons for someone, anyone, from Building 5 to come and collect one Supervisor Samon Gokuu from a certain celebratory function. Secretly, Inori Hakkai was a little relieved; with Samon out for the evening, he'd been left in charge of Building 5. Inori, being a simple man of simple ambitions which did not include real actual leadership duties, had been all too happy to hand things over to the Daisens.

"Keep an eye on the place, will ya? Hate to bail like this, but I gotta go bring the Supervisor back from Central. Can't be helped, ya know? Sorry!" Inori said, not remotely sorry at all.

"B-but, wouldn't it make more sense for one of us to go?" Kokoriki asked anxiously.

"Nah, you guys'll do fine! Good experience for ya, right?" Inori said, not missing a beat. Kokoriki uttered a whine but Inori was already out the office door and striding away down the hall. Tall as he was, his long steps took him quickly away from Kokoriki's protests, already fading to inaudibility behind him.

He wasn't wrong about that- the Daisens could use the solo experience if they wanted to move up the ranks someday. It wasn't his fault if letting them get a taste of leadership experience meant he got to slack off for a while, right?

Besides, from Central back to Building 5 was a monorail ride of at least thirty minutes, plus the time it'd take to get from the officers' dining room to the monorail station. Like hell was he going to hand over all that time with a certain someone to one of the Daisens.

Granted, he was on his way to retrieve one very tired and sleepy Supervisor. Booze had been involved, too, but the Supervisor was graced with an ironclad constitution and a rocket-like metabolism. Alcohol didn't stand a chance against the genetics of the Gokuu clan. He never stayed drunk for long, but he did get awfully tired. When removed from irritants, such as bald gorillas named Hajime, the Supervisor tended to conk out pretty quickly after drinking. The return trip across the prison was probably going to be a quiet and uneventful one. That was fine. That was enough.

It always was.

Inori watched Nanba's lights flash by in the dark as the monorail hummed along. His left shoulder ached a little where the prosthetic joined it, and the right shoulder ached from where that poor bastard Houzuki had impaled him. The scars and lost arm were a small price to pay. He'd done what he'd needed to do, even though his plan had failed. He couldn't have lived with himself if he hadn't at least tried. And it had all been worth it when he'd seen that confident look back where it belonged on the Supervisor's face.

It was Kiji, swaying on his feet and squinting blearily, who answered his knock when he arrived.

"Heya, Big Sis Kiji," Inori said with a wave. "I'm here to collect my supervisor."

"Ooh, good," Kiji sighed unsteadily, hand pressed daintily to contoured cheek. "He's been quite the troublemaker tonight!"

As he followed Kiji into the hall, there was a decidedly awkward air hanging over the place. The rest of the supervisors were all there, sitting around amidst scattered bottles and cups, the remnants of their celebratory dinner still on the table. A few of them were talking quietly amongst themselves, but most looked like they were ready to call it a night. The place had the tense air of a party that had stopped being fun very abruptly.

Kiji led him to a couch across the room. "He got into it with Hajime again and then he just... fell asleep right on his feet," he said, as delicately as he could muster in his inebriated state.

Sure enough, there was Samon, now stretched out facedown on the couch. Inori tsked and squatted down, patting the back of the orange-and-green hair.

"Ah, man... and this party was for him, too. Hey, Supervisor! You awake?" he asked. A muffled grumble answered him. Inori didn't let on that he was relieved; he'd been worried he'd have to carry Samon out of there. Not that he was opposed to such a plan in theory, but he wasn't interested in adding to Samon's current state of self-inflicted indignity. Not in front of his colleagues.

"C'mon, Supervisor, time to go," Inori said, shaking Samon's shoulder lightly. The grumbling got louder and grouchier as Samon pushed himself up on his elbows. He craned his head around and blinked owlishly at Inori, then mumbled something incoherent but vaguely questioning. Inori chuckled and said, "Yep, it's me. C'mon, now."

Inori got Samon to his feet and kept him upright with a hand around his bicep- he made sure that Samon was on his right side, away from the hard metal arm.

"Try to keep him out of trouble for a while, Inori," Kiji said amusedly.

"Hey now, Big Sis Kiji, you know I can't promise that," Inori jibed back. "I can make sure he sleeps this off, though."

"Good enough for now, I suppose," Kiji sighed.

Inori saluted with his free hand and shuffled Samon to the door. On his way out, he spotted Hajime slouched in an armchair. Their eyes met, and Hajime nodded once. Inori nodded back. He wasn't entirely sure where his Supervisor stood now with Building 13's infamous gorilla, but he was hopeful it'd sort itself out in time. Not that Building 5 needed Hajime's approval, of course, but it'd be nice for Samon to settle this grudge for good.

After a few minutes of slow and silent shuffling, Samon came to his senses a bit. "Where're we goin'?" he mumbled through a yawn.

"Back to Building 5, obviously!" Inori told him, clucking his tongue chidingly. "Jeez, Supervisor, they had this little party for your sake, you know? It was a welcome back party and all!"

"Didn't want it," Samon grumbled. "Not right. Aniki... should'a been here too... Inori, he's... Aniki is..." He stumbled and leaned heavily into Inori's side, grasping at his jacket. Inori glanced down at the top of Samon's bowed head, his good mood sobering. The Supervisor had been in a better state since that recent incident, but the pain of that day was still there. How could it not be? With everything that Samon had lost, with what he had seen in that hospital room...

Inori stopped walking.

"Why we stoppin'?" Samon slurred, head swinging from side to side as he looked around.

"The Central food court's not far from here. There's some places that're open all night," Inori said, an idea taking shape. "Let's go get you shaped up a little before we go back. It's already this late, right? Might as well stay up a little later." Plus, there was no need for their underlings to see the Supervisor in this state.

Since Samon was in no condition to pick anything, Inori hauled him to a 24-hour coffeeshop and ordered a decaf for each of them, along with a bunch of small scones. The cute girl at the register shot a concerned look at the slumped supervisor, then hurried off to make their coffees. She was nice enough to bring their coffee and scones to the booth where Inori had deposited Samon, scurrying away again after another worried glance.

Samon was slowly chewing through his second scone before he spoke up. "Got tired of being in charge tonight, Inori?" he said wryly, his voice a little hoarse.

Inori laughed. "Now what makes you say that, huh?"

"You could've sent someone else to get me," Samon pointed out.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Inori said. "Besides, I don't need to be in charge. Those Daisens, though, they're probably gonna move up the ranks someday. Gotta start learning sometime, right?"

"A deputy supervisor who hates supervising," Samon remarked. He sipped his coffee, then smirked slightly and added, "Sometimes I wonder why you're here, if it's that boring to you."

"I blame it on you, Supervisor. You're too much of a good influence," he remarked, giving a teasing salute with his coffee.

He wasn't entirely kidding; even he didn't quite know how he'd ended up as a deputy supervisor. His only goal had been to follow Samon as his subordinate; but Samon kept rising up the ranks, and Inori's choices had been to keep pace with him or be left behind and wind up someone else's subordinate. Obviously the second option wasn't acceptable so he'd managed to do the first, and he had no idea how he'd done it. He could only attribute it to Samon's uncanny ability to inspire people without even trying.

And now here he was, second in command of an entire building at the most advanced and highly classified maximum-security prison in the world. It was kind of ridiculous.

Once they'd finished their scones and coffee, Inori guided a more stable but still wobbling Samon to the monorail station. Every few steps, Inori heard another stifled yawn. Yep, that's the Supervisor, he thought bemusedly.

"Feeling better, Supervisor?" he asked as they waited.

"Yeah, a little... guess I needed that coffee, after all," Samon said. Even as he said it, he was swaying on his feet and squinting against the fluorescent lights of the station.

Inori chortled. "Maybe I should've gotten you another coffee, huh?"

"'m fine!" Samon protested, but a traitorous yawn tried to force its way through even as he said it.

They waited in silence for a moment, and then, so quietly that he almost didn't hear it: "Thanks for coming to get me."

Inori stared at the opposite wall of the station for a second, waiting for his lungs to remember how to breathe again. Well, shit, what was he supposed to say to that? None of the things he wanted to say, obviously. So he settled for, "Hey, it's my job to keep an eye on my supervisor, right?"

The monorail glided into the station, and Samon plunked himself onto the nearest bench seat and slouched down with his hand over his eyes. "Too bright in here," he groaned.

"Kinda brought that on yourself, Supervisor," Inori told him.

He settled into the seat next to Samon, arms stretched out across the backs of the seats- partly because it was comfortable, and partly because it put his right arm in a convenient location. The monorail hummed to life and glided smoothly out of the station, and its lights blinked into semi-darkness. Samon muttered in relief and laid his head back with his eyes closed, very nearly resting against Inori's arm. Convenient, indeed.

From the corner of his eye, Inori watched the passing lights reflect against Samon's hair. It was almost embarrassing, how warm and fuzzy the sight made him feel. When, he wondered, had he gotten so damn sentimental? When had he started feeling like this? It was improbable enough that Samon had managed to turn a reprobate mafia enforcer into a prison guard of more or less reputable character. Then again, maybe that was the secret behind it all. This was someone who had believed in him at his worst, and someone he could trust enough to believe in and follow loyally.

At some point, this sappy feeling had added itself to the mix, arriving so naturally and smoothly that he couldn't even pinpoint when it had happened. Obviously, he had no intention of doing anything about it. Just being there was enough.

"How's the arm?" Samon asked after a few minutes, apparently not having dozed off as Inori had assumed. His head was craned back to look up at Inori, eyes open- although, judging by his heavy eyelids, it looked like he was struggling a little in that department.

"You asked me that this morning, Supervisor. Still a little out of it, huh?" Inori said, bemused.

"I'm asking again, then."

"Well, now that it's healing up, I gotta say that it's pretty great," Inori said with a grin. He lifted his left arm off the seat back and wiggled his fingers, his glove and sleeve hiding the titanium-plated miracle of modern science beneath it.

Samon squinted blearily at it. After a pause, he said, "Can... can you... feel anything with it?"

"Sure can! A little, anyway. Doc Kazari called it, uh, biofeedback? Pretty fancy word, huh?" Inori said proudly.

"Biofeedback," Samon muttered. He stared at the hand for a few more seconds, then pulled his right glove off and held up his hand, fingers spread. "So, you could feel my hand with that?"

"Let's find out!" Inori said cheerfully. It was as good an excuse as any for physical contact. He didn't want to move his right arm from its premium location, so he tugged off his left glove with his teeth and let it fall into his lap, then reached over. He pressed the titanium fingertips against Samon's and, sure enough, he could feel it a little.

"'S not cold. I thought it'd feel cold," Samon mumbled. "Since it's metal and all..."

"The doc says it's like a cell phone, the parts inside heat it up or something like that," Inori said.

"What do you feel?" Samon asked, his eyes fixed on their fingertips.

"Not a whole lot. It's kinda like wearing a glove," he remarked. "Ah, well, better than nothing at all, right?"

"That doctor really is clever, I guess," Samon muttered. He kept his hand there for a few seconds longer before withdrawing it.

Inori sat back and flexed his new metal bicep. "Kinda makes me a cyborg now, right? Almost makes it worth losing the real one, huh?"

"The hell are you talking about? Obviously a real arm's better than a metal one," Samon retorted.

"Yeah, but this one'll sure make an impressive story to tell the ladies," Inori shot back with a grin. "Heroically sacrificing my arm to protect my building and my supervisor, huh? Not bad, right?"

Samon stared blankly at him. "You're gonna tell women about your arm getting cut off?" he asked, nose crinkling.

Well, when he put it like that... "N-not with all the gory details..." He paused, clearing his throat. "A-anyway, everyone knows battle scars are hot. Besides, the arm's super cool!"

"Ah, yeah, the arm really is an impressive piece of engineering," Samon agreed. Then he smirked and added, "Too bad about the boar attached to the other end of it-!"

"Hey," Inori chided, elbowing him lightly. Samon jabbed an elbow right back, chittering. Well, the supervisor wasn't the only one who could be a smartass! Smirking, Inori added, "Anyway, what're you talking about? They don't usually mind the rest of this."

"Oh? No? I guess you don't usually talk to them like you did to the Warden that one time," Samon jibed.

"Hmmm..." Inori tapped his fingertip against his chin, pretending to consider it, then shrugged and said, "Ya know, I might've been off my game that day. Guess I'm outta practice from hanging around a buzzkill like you, Supervisor-"

Samon made an indignant sound. "Who're you calling a buzzkill?!"

"And too bad, looks like it's contagious. Like I said, you're too much of a good influence on me!" Inori teased. "Anyway, you're not really one to talk, Supervisor. I don't see you going around charming anyone, especially with that temper of yours!"

That was a lie, he'd managed to charm at least one person with that ridiculous temper.

Samon flushed. "I could if I wanted to!" he protested.

"Funny, I don't remember ever seeing you take a night off for a date," Inori said, pretending to contemplate the matter carefully.

Samon slouched down in his seat, arms crossed. "I'm just focused on my job, that's all," he grumbled. "B-besides, where are all these ladies you're gonna chat up, anyway? It's not like there's a lot of women around here."

"Like I said, that's what I get for teaming up with a buzzkill. Moving to an isolated island didn't help, either," Inori said cheerfully. Of course, he didn't mind the absence of women now as much as he had when they'd first arrived at Nanba, because of various reasons that he was never going to discuss aloud.

Samon snickered. "What, did you have tons of girlfriends back on the mainland?"

"You might be surprised, Supervisor! I used to do pretty well for myself," Inori bragged. "See, unlike you, I know how to be charming when it counts!"

"I told you, I could too if I wanted to!" Samon protested.

"I don't think challenging someone to spar counts as charming," Inori teased.

Samon flushed. "It could be. Besides, you haven't known me forever, maybe you'd be surprised too!"

Well, this roasting match was quickly heading into perilous territory. Time to steer back to safety.

"Yeah, well, give it a shot with somebody and let me know how that works out for ya," Inori jibed.

Samon sulked a bit. "If there's s-someone I feel like trying it with." Then he smirked and said, "Like I'm gonna be shown up by someone who's only got empty boasts, anyway."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Supervisor," Inori chuckled.

Samon paused, and then his smirk grew into a sly grin. "Can you even kiss anyone with those tusks in the way?"

Well, that certainly threw the brakes on Inori's train of thought. Coming from anyone else, it'd sound like an innuendo. Coming from anyone else... except, was he seeing things in the dimly lit monorail car, or was the Supervisor's face a little flushed? It was probably the lingering alcohol. Inori had always been a lucky bastard, but he wasn't that lucky. No one had that much luck. However, just maybe...

Recovering, Inori chuckled. "Is that a challenge?" he taunted right back. Samon just crossed his arms, an aggravatingly smug look on his face. He hadn't denied it.

Inori did a quick mental tally of his options: on the one hand, this was probably just the Supervisor being a smartass, as usual. On the other hand, what if it was something else?

A smart guy would laugh it off and change the subject. A smart guy would not wonder if he was maybe being offered a chance. A smart guy would not let his thoughts wander into dangerously optimistic territory. However, Inori was in fact an idiot, and he'd be the first to admit it.

Well, there was only one way to find out; he'd just have to do a little provoking of his own, and see where it went. Sighing dramatically and shaking his head, he said, "Always the smartass, huh, Supervisor? Watch it with the challenges, you might get proven wrong one of these days!"

"Oh? You think so?" Samon said, with a level of smugness that honestly seemed disproportionate to his compact body size. It wasn't his imagination; Samon's face really was reddening. It could still be from the lingering alcohol; but on the other hand, there was a non-zero and slowly increasing chance that it wasn't. And that prospect was enough to make Inori's head spin like he was the one who'd been drinking.

"Like I said, I used to do pretty well, usually," Inori said smugly.

Samon chittered. "Oh? How, by talking forever till she got bored?"

No way. There's no way, Inori thought to himself. But, on the other hand...

"See, that's the problem with meatheads like you who just jump into things without thinking," Inori said, shaking his head. "There's no sense of subtlety with your type! You gotta ease into it, do it right."

"Do it right? How's that?" Samon echoed, the corners of his mouth curling in an expression that was more cat than monkey.

I might get punched for this, he told himself, and then he decided to do it anyway.

"Well, if you need an explanation..." He slid his right arm off the seat back and settled it casually around Samon's shoulders. Convenient, indeed! "See, first of all, you gotta draw 'em in real close... like this, maybe!" He curled his hand around Samon's shoulder and slid him closer on the bench seat, till their knees touched. Samon glanced sideways at the hand on his shoulder.

Inori did not get punched. Well, there was no sense in backing down when things were getting interesting.

"Then, you catch their eye, and make sure they're looking only at you. You gotta make sure they're paying attention, after all. Liiiike... this." He reached over with his left hand, mindful of its hard metal. Gently, ever so carefully, he hooked one fingertip under Samon's chin and tilted his head up. Samon met his eyes with a direct, intent gaze.

And there was still no punching going on. He felt like he was wandering off the edge of the map into strange, uncharted waters. Here might be monsters, but also maybe not.

"And?" Samon prompted quietly.

Inori almost froze up. Almost. His mouth suddenly felt dry, his pulse hammering in his ears. He couldn't possibly be this lucky. He'd been lucky enough surviving the incident in the underground cells and not getting fired or locked up for his involvement; surely he'd already used up a lifetime's worth of luck? There was no way anyone ought to have this much luck...

Well, this was definitely not the time to back down. "And then... you... you do somethin' to let 'em know you're serious about it. Like... this," he said, and he lightly brushed his thumb over Samon's lower lip. "Or... or this..." He traced his fingertips back along Samon's jaw and brushed a lock of hair back behind his ear. He was very proud of how steady his voice was.

Inori had to give credit to that doctor: this metal hand she'd given him had an impressive degree of delicacy to it.

Samon was leaning in now, eyes heavy-lidded. And Inori realized, all at once, that this really was happening. The one thing he'd always assumed to be impossible. Suddenly, the moment felt a lot more serious. Inori's breath caught as the weight of the situation hit him. He stared down at Samon's upturned face, wanting to commit the moment to memory: the flush across his cheeks, the slightly parted lips, the softness of his hair even against the barely-feeling metal hand...

"And?" Samon persisted, his voice low. "What's next?"

Inori snapped out of his thoughts, and grinned widely. "What's next, huh?" He slipped his right hand from Samon's shoulder, sliding it up the back of his neck and into his hair, cradling the back of his head. "That's obvious, isn't it?"

Inori leaned down, and their lips met softly. Samon inhaled sharply through his nose, then he scooted himself even closer. Inori held Samon's face gently and kissed him slowly, but his Supervisor was never one to do things at less than one hundred percent. Without breaking contact, Samon scrambled up onto his knees on the seat and leaned deeper into the kiss, arms flung firmly around Inori's neck, hands grasping fervently at his collar and then twisting his fingers into his hair.

Well, then, if his Supervisor insisted... Inori wrapped his arms around Samon's back, clutching him tightly, holding him as close as he could, letting out the feelings he'd hidden away even from himself.

His tusks were most certainly not in the way.

Inori was just about to pull Samon onto his lap and go in for a neck kiss, when the lights blinked into life and a calm mechanical voice announced the next monorail station. The two of them pulled back, startled by the interruption that they really should've seen coming.

Samon cleared his throat and sat back down, breathing hard. Inori let out a slow exhale and combed his fingers through his hair to straighten it. Someone could board at the next stop, after all, and Building 5 had a reputation to maintain.

The monorail hummed into the station; as luck would have it, the platform was deserted. They sat in silence till the lights blinked out and the monorail glided off once more.

Samon was smirking again. He lounged in his seat, crossing his arms with a smug, chittering cackle.

"Ya know, you could've just asked, Supervisor," Inori told him, lacing his fingers behind his head.

"Yeah," Samon agreed. Then he looked up with an ear-to-ear smile. "But where's the fun in that?"

#nanbaka #samon gokuu #inori hakkai #nanbaka the numbers #samon x inori

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