Evenfall (92 page)

Boyd shoved himself away from the wall and smirked in return. "Hey, c'mon," he drawled. "I'm always on my best behavior." He jerked his chin toward the door. "So hurry up, give me some show 'n' tell."

Sin grabbed Boyd's arm and yanked it abruptly, temporarily causing a startled Boyd to bump into his chest and their faces to be inches apart. He locked gazes with him for a moment before stepping away and tugging Boyd along behind him. He ignored the gazes of everyone standing in line, especially from the group of girls who constantly tried to get his attention, and walked up to Johnny, the doorman.

"Who's the kid?" Johnny asked, peering at Boyd with an arched eyebrow. "Finally decided you wanted some candy?"

Sin made a face at Johnny. "Put Kadin R. on the black list."

"Will do, Jase," Johnny replied, looking amused and more than a little impressed. It seemed like he wanted to give 'Jase' a high-five.

As they entered the club, Boyd felt a mixture of confusion, attraction, and amusement. Being so close to Sin was startling, his hand on his bare arm, his face so close. He was glad he hadn't had the chance to think about it too much before he was referred to as 'candy.' And hearing Sin's voice murmuring the name 'Kadin'...

He could not help a grin as he looked over at Sin. "What kinda candy am I, 'Jase'?" he asked teasingly.

"I don't know yet," Sin replied, not releasing Boyd's arm as he led him deep into the main floor and towards the spiral staircase. His booted feet pounded up the metal stairs as he automatically avoided the small crowds of people. It was still early by the clubs standards so it wasn't very full yet. It was the time when he usually didn't have to pay much attention; the rowdy drunks typically didn't come out until after ten.

He took Boyd to the second floor and over to the gallery; a small area to the side of the staircase which had a couple couches and the most amount of privacy. "I don't have to really be on point for a couple of hours," He said quietly, leaning against the railing.

Skin still tingling from Sin's touch, Boyd casually walked closer. He pulled the messenger bag off and dropped it nearby so it wasn't as awkward, then leaned his back against the railing next to him.

"So you're saying I have you all to myself?"

"You do," Sin replied in the same low voice. His eyes did not leave Boyd's face, even as he absently toyed with the radio that hung from one of his pockets. It caused his pants to dip down a bit on that side and expose the chunky, black sideways cross that was tattooed to that hip. "So... Kadin. Do you like the club?"

Boyd's gaze drifted down to his hip and he studied the cross before looking back up to study Sin's face. The atmosphere of the club was getting to him; muffled music that he couldn't hear the lyrics to but could still feel the beat resounding in his chest, the darkness accented by flashes of light, the susurration of many voices indistinctly heard at once. In his black clothes Sin was half lost in shadows but there was plenty of light to see his expression, the dark glint of his eyes, the flash of his lip ring as he spoke. Boyd felt drawn to him, unable to look away; with the barest of smirks, he pushed away from the railing and stood right in front of Sin, tugging him down by his shoulder just enough to whisper into his ear, "I like hearing you say that name more."

Sin's heartbeat began to quicken at the feel of Boyd's breath on his face and he sagged against the railing, pulling away just enough so that their faces were directly in front of each other. He knew that Boyd was just being in character, playing his role, but it was driving him crazy. He licked his lips nervously, concentrating on keeping his arms at his side and fighting the urge to put them on Boyd.

"Yeah? Why's that?"

Absently playing with the collar of Sin's sleeveless shirt, Boyd's eyes sparked a bit as he murmured too low for anyone but Sin to hear, "It's my middle name."

Sin's eyebrows shot up and he gripped the railing. "Are you serious?"

Boyd did not look away from Sin's eyes. "Yes," he said softly, drawing the word out slowly. "I nearly laughed before." He tilted his head just slightly, trying to get across without saying it aloud that he was referring to when they first got their assignments. He let his thumb brush the back of Sin's neck as he continued, watching Sin's lips, "There's a short story behind it but I won't get into it here."

Sin's lips parted slightly but no sound came out. He let go of the railing, placing a hand on one of Boyd's narrow hips. His fingers tightened slightly and he closed his eyes briefly, as he asked, "Does Kadin like men?"

The question made Boyd pull back just slightly. In truth, while he knew Kadin was bisexual he didn't know how much he was breaking character. He shouldn't be acting like this; Kadin was flirtatious from what he saw, but would he be in Sin's face in public? Would he be whispering in his ear? He just couldn't help it; seeing Sin in that outfit, watching him in a room full of people who weren't turning to stare in fear or disgust...

Opening his mouth to respond, Boyd didn't get to speak before loud static erupted from the radio at Sin's hip. They both looked down at it immediately as a woman's voice crackled, "Jason, what the fuck! There's a brawl on three, get over there!"

Boyd stepped back from him completely, looking to the side and feeling a little guilty for possibly jeopardizing Sin's cover. "You should probably get that," he said with a slight, unreadable smile.

Sin growled softly and snatched up the radio. "On it," he snapped, annoyance obvious in his voice.

He pushed himself away from the railing and stood up straight, staring down at Boyd. His face was unreadable for the moment despite the way his eyes seemed to burn in the dim light. "We'll talk later," he mumbled and stepped around Boyd, brushing against him as he headed to the staircase.

Watching Sin until he disappeared up the staircase, Boyd leaned against the railing and pensively turned his attention to the people he could see milling around the room below. He didn't quite know what he was doing, or even if he was glad or disappointed that they were interrupted. He stayed there for a few minutes before he pushed away from the rail, grabbed his bag off the ground, and strolled out of the club. Johnny gave him a knowing smirk as he walked past and Boyd just looked at him silently with an enigmatic smile pulling at one edge of his lips.

For the entire walk back to the studio, Boyd went over those few minutes in the club; every time Sin's eyes passed over him, the feel of his hand on his bare arm, on his hip, the heat of his body so near him. But then he thought about Sin's whisper,
"Does Kadin like men?"
, and Boyd... just could not believe himself.

What the hell was his problem? He kept thinking he needed to give Sin a chance to be normal, he wanted him to be accepted by society, he wanted him to just be happy. But he showed up at his work and anyone who was watching very well could have thought Jason was gay. If that proved to be a problem in Sin's future interactions, it would be entirely Boyd's fault.

The worst part was that he completely had not intended that. He honestly meant to just go say hi, maybe walk around with him for a bit, act like a normal friend or just a roommate. But Sin touching his arm, Sin pulling him with and just being near him, by him, was enough to make the logic slip from Boyd's mind completely. He lost track of things like the mission, their cover, even the fact that Sin may not be interested. He became so self-involved, so obsessed with the idea of being around Sin, so taken by what he made him feel and the way his body responded, that he ended up being an idiot. The fact that he was acting like this showed how much constantly being alone with Sin and away from negative influence was affecting him. It showed what Sin could do to him.

Shaking his head to rid his mind of the thoughts as best he could, Boyd shoved their door open (they really needed to fix that) and dropped the bag onto the little coffee table nearby. Once the door was locked and he was able to pull out his drawing pad and a charcoal pencil, Boyd collapsed onto the couch and pensively drew for hours.

===

The rest of the night seemed to take an eternity to pass and Sin found himself being unnecessarily rough with the drunken patrons just because he desperately needed to take some of his frustration out on something. Cravings that had been stifled and snuffed out for years were boiling over inside of him and Boyd's strange behavior around him wasn't helping at all. It had to be his cover, it had to be him playing the part of Kadin Reed, it was the only thing that would explain it. It was the only thing that would make sense to him. Why else would Boyd touch him that way? Why else would he talk to him like that?

It was like Boyd didn't even realize that he was teasing him, it was like he was doing it without even knowing it; and despite the fact that Sin thoroughly enjoyed the brief touches, it frustrated him beyond belief and that frustration made him hostile, aggressive. He was thankful when his shift finally ended, thankful that he was no longer in danger of losing his temper completely and breaking someone's neck.

"Jase! Drinking tonight?"

Sin looked up at Estella and started to bark out an annoyed 'no' before he remembered Boyd's advice. He wasn't here to agonize over his pathetically adolescent hormones— he was here on assignment.

"I guess," he replied moodily and wandered over to where they were sitting in the break room.

"Yeah!" Estella cheered and poured him a shot of something golden. "Drink up, party boy!"

Sin sat down next to Johnny, who was apparently on break, and a couple other people. He didn't particularly want to talk to them, didn't want to be around them, but he ignored that and lingered there for over an hour. He answered their questions when they asked and tried to paste a neutral expression on his face so that he appeared somewhat welcoming. He didn't know if it worked, frankly didn't give a shit, and knocked back a few shots without even thinking about it.

By the time Johnny was going back to work and Estella was gathering her stuff to leave, Sin was regretting his decision to drink so much when he hadn't eaten all day. He reminded himself of the idiotic way he'd acted the first and last time he'd had anything to drink. "I'm going," He muttered and got to his feet, ignoring the way the world tilted strangely when he stood.

"Going to go have fun with that sweet little piece?" Johnny teased.

"Shut the fuck up," Sin muttered and headed for the door, ignoring Johnny's amused laugh.

He was confused enough about Boyd, he didn't need some random nobody making bullshit comments about it too. He took his radio off and started to drop it off with the others when it suddenly blared to life and Jess' voice demanded that he come to her office. Sin glared at the contraption and switched it off, feeling incredibly annoyed as he left the break room and walked down the hallway towards her office. He didn't know what she wanted from him and if it wasn't for the fact that he'd possibly jeopardize his job, he probably would have ignored her and went on his way. Since that wasn't the case, he stalked into her office with a thoroughly annoyed expression on his face.

She was sitting in the middle of her desk as usual, posing just enough to show maximum leg and cleavage but the expression on her face was strange. Although her wide blue eyes wandered up and down his body in the usual way they did, there was something about her posture that made her seem angry, defensive. Her slender arms were crossed over her chest, lips pursed slightly into a frown.

"Finally decided to stay and hang out?"

"Yeah, so?" Sin asked, voice anything but friendly. He didn't move closer to her and didn't say anything more. He narrowed his eyes slightly, wishing she'd get on with whatever the hell her point in calling him in here was even though he knew she probably didn't even have a real reason.

"So—" She hopped off the desk and crossed the distance between them. "So I was hoping you'd actually accept during a time when I would be involved." Her eyes narrowed slightly and it seemed as if she was almost accusing him of something but he had no idea what that was.

"Sorry," he said flatly, eyes burning into her impatiently, making it obvious that he was anything but genuine.

She looked away and took a long time to speak, as if she were fighting with herself on what she wanted to say.

"Jason…" She trailed off and shook her head as she watched him, expression growing in hurt and frustration. "Don't you realize— Don't you care how much it bothers me when you act like such a fucking ass?" She glared angrily, although it was unclear as to who exactly she was angry with at that moment: him for being so callous to her, or herself for actually caring.

"Why should I care about that?" he retorted, not changing his tone or expression. He knew he was probably being stupid— he was probably going to get himself fired— but the alcohol was making his tongue loose once again and he couldn't control it. And at that moment he was too annoyed, sexually frustrated and impatient to deal with her annoying and emotional rants.

Jess stared at him incredulously, the anger in her expression only heightened by the hurt.

"Because I like you, you fucking asshole!" she blurted, raising her hand suddenly to slap him in the face. Before it could connect with his cheek, he grabbed her arm violently, his furious, impatient glare merciless as his fingers dug into her skin.

She tried to yank her hand away but his grip was like a vice that she couldn't escape. She tried pulling harder but with her momentum and the fact that he didn't budge at all, she ended up rebounding against him. Her wide blue eyes stared into his angry brown ones with a sort of sick desperation and before he could back away, she was leaning forward and pressing her mouth against his.