Take-Two [ Tragictrees & Annyeong Bunny ]

"I'm actually not a party guy. I despise parties. I only do stuff like that with Evie." Austin corrected, comfortable enough where he was to relax and shut his eyes. He didn't have the intent to sleep; he knew it would probably happen, at this point, but he didn't plan to nod off in the middle of a conversation. "She's....doing better. She didn't believe me at first. Which, I don't blame her, she has every right now to. She does now, though. I think that made her feel a bit better. Then again, not really, she's now pestering me all the time to make sure I haven't been shanked."
 
"We honestly can't blame her at this point. Whoever it is is trying to harm you, so shanking lies in that category." Lee made a dry joke as he inspected his palm, feeling drowsier by the second. Sighing, he adjusted so that he was laying flat on the bed, putting both hands underneath his pillow as he scanned the ceiling. The detective seemed to contemplate a few things before turning his head to glance up at Austin. "You know, don't you find it weird that someone took the time to set something like that up while you were out of your office? Like, it must have really taken some strategy in order for it to go like the person planned." Lee began to ramble again as his detective side started taking over. However, he slowly trailed off as he glanced back to Austin, clearing his throat. Turning his eyes back to the ceiling, he pressed his lips together and refused to say anything else.

"Sorry, now's probably not the time to talk about it. We should probably try to get some sleep. You look like you need it the most out of the both of us." Lee quickly switched the topic as he kept his gaze upward, lifting a hand from behind his pillow to move some stray strands of hair from his face. Maybe he needed a haircut soon...
 
"You don't need to say sorry. I don't care." Austin replied, though laid down completely with a yawn, realizing how tired he actually was " 'S an observation, whatever, you're a detective. Not like I can expect you to not be detective-y." He then fell quiet, beginning to nod off. It really didn't take long from there, though he had planned to continue the conversation. Soon enough, he was fast asleep, and by morning, he was cuddling Lee like he had been during their Rochester excursion.

Of course, when he awoke, he removed himself carefully, though this time more calmly because he had expected it to happen. He went to his side of the bed, running his hands down his face, before gently patting around for his glasses. When he found them, he put them on, and sighed. While he felt rested, he wasn't exactly looking forwards to the day, so he didn't leave the bed right away
 
As Austin spoke, Lee fluttered his eyes closed and gave small grunts in response. He was falling asleep faster than he expected, but based on how quiet his partner became, he was sure the other was falling asleep as well. It only took seconds before he let himself completely fall to sleep.

The next morning, Lee didn't wake up at the feel of Austin moving from him. He was deep in sleep and his body was incredibly thankful for the opportunity. The detective's breathing was even throughout the night, which meant his brain wasn't plagued with nightmares. His position had switched to his usual fetal position on his side, facing Austin, one arm under his pillow. At the missing warmth, Lee's brow furrowed and a deep sound emanated from his throat, though it was quiet. Unconsciously, his body shifted closer to Austin, pressing his head against the other's shoulder and laying a hand against his arm. Still deep in sleep, Lee pressed his jaw together and was finally still, his breathing becoming even once more.
 
Austin tried to not move too much as Lee moved next to him again. He didn't want to wake the other up, especially when it was clear neither of them had been getting a lot of sleep. It wasn't like it was uncomfortable; it was just that this hadn't happened the last time they'd shared a bed, and so, it was a bit surprising. Actually, on one hand, it was surprising in a good way. On the other, this just brought up in his head the fact he'd kissed Lee, which made him feel worse. Not that kissing Lee was bad in itself; it was just bad because it meant literally nothing to one of them.

Awkwardly, he reached for his phone with the hand that wasn't near Lee, grabbing it and typing his pass code in with one hand. He figured that he'd like his partner get the rest while he could.
 
Basking in the blissfulness that was sleep, Lee was still unaware of his actions in pressing against Austin. However, after what seemed to be about 30 minutes later, Lee finally began to rouse, stretching the arm that had been laying on Austin's arm. He also kicked his feet out to stretch, his head lifting from the other's shoulder briefly to move the muscles in his neck. And then his eyes slowly opened. It took Lee a good few moments to process his position, and he closed his eyes once more to push away the remaining remnants of sleep.

And then he felt the warmth of Austin against him. He realized.

Lee quickly opened his eyes and stared at his arm that was draped across his partner, feeling the sturdy shoulder that his head was leaning against. Feeling his heartbeat begin to race at the contact, the detective slowly lifted onto his elbow, pulling his head upright. A look of slight confusion crossed his features as well as embarrassment. He had never 'cuddled' anybody like that before, and he was sure Austin was incredibly uncomfortable about the whole thing.

"Ah, damn. Sorry about that, I guess I was really out." Lee excused his actions to Austin as he moved to sit up completely, trying his best to hide the red flush against his neck that began to rise to his ears. His voice was a bit crackly from sleep and his hair was definitely messy. With a hand, he rubbed at one of his eyes, suddenly finding the blanket pattern to be very interesting.
 
Austin looked up from his phone, where he had been reading a news article, to look at Lee. "Good morning to you too." He said, smiling hesitantly, before adding rather sincerely- though still a bit awkwardly -"It's fine, dude, I can't act like I'm not a guilty party since I was spooning you like 30 minutes ago before I woke up. Honestly, I was just scared I'd wake you up." He pushed himself up, yawning a bit, before slipping out of the bed. He stretched out, before checking the time.

"Uhh, well, I'm gonna....go get dressed and stuff. Ready for the day and all that." He said, glancing over at Lee quickly, before looking at the flooring "Yea. Sure we have something to do today. I'll be in the living room in like, 10 minutes tops." With that, he meandered out of the room, and into the guest room to get his things. He was very aware of how red his face was, but hoped that his lack of acknowledgement about it would have Lee not mention it.
 
The whole situation was... awkward, to say the least. Lee had taken note of how red Austin way, and how skittish he was acting. He barely had time to respond when the other rushed out to get ready for the day. With confusion crossing his features, Lee pulled the blankets from his body and stood up, walking over to his closet. Since his mind was occupied on other things, some of them being Austin's behavior and his own actions, Lee grabbed a royal purple satin dress shirt and black slacks. Slipping his bed shirt from his body, the detective then paused to look in the closet mirror.

To say he was littered with scars would be an understatement. Along his skin, especially his back, were scars of criss-crossing patterns, large and small. They had been there ever since Lee could remember, and he never thought too much about them. The scars continued down his arms, the most being on his shoulders before thinning out at his forearms. A reason he never really wore short-sleeves, he supposed. Having enough of staring at his body, and with a grimace on his face, Lee quickly pulled the dress shirt on, buttoning it up routinely, leaving the top button undone. Then, after slipping on his slacks and socks, he made his way into the bathroom to do his hair.

Finally, he was in the living room standing by the door where his shoes were. While waiting for Austin, he slipped on his coat to prepare for the cool weather that he had a feeling would be outside.
 
Austin didn't take 10 minutes. In all honesty, he already had clothes laid out, so it wasn't that big of a hassle to get ready. So, about 7 minutes later, he walked out into the living room, his glasses traded out for his usual shades, and his sweaters and leggings replaced with a button up and nicer black pants. He fully intended to get right back to work, though hoped that his office wouldn't be a part of the investigation. He was sure this was a useless thing to hope for, but all the same, he aimed for it anyway. What could he say? He was optimistic about particular things.

"Hey." He greeted, grinned "So, what's the plan for today? Not that I need to be with you the whole day, I'm just figuring we have partner stuff that needs to get done since I've been out of commission."
 
As Austin approached, Lee looked over the other's appearance and stared a bit longer than he probably meant to. He opened the door and walked out, being sure to hold it open for his partner. Then, at being asked the question, the detective tilted his head to the side a bit and thought for a moment. He knew that Austin's office hadn't been investigated since the whole incident, more out of respect from the department than anything.

"You said that you saw some suspicious things before blacking out, right? I think it's smart to at least look around your office to say we did." Lee responded as he walked outside, headed for his car. "And I have a feeling we're going to be stuck together all day since we need to look over the last victim's house on the murder case. If we manage to even get to it today." he added before getting in and starting the engine.

Once back at the department, Lee inhaled and looked over the building, feeling like he had been away for years. His heart began to pound in his chest as he realized he did miss his job, even if it was emotionally taxing on him. Pulling his coat closer against his body against the bitter wind, the detective motioned to Austin to follow him into the building. And soon enough, they were in front of Austin's door.

"Only go in if you're ready. You had a stressful event here, and I don't want your brain to possibly go into shock from PTSD or something." Lee warned seriously as he turned to his partner, giving him a sincere look. Now wasn't the time for jokes; Lee had studied a lot on PTSD and other symptoms that could be caused by triggering memories, and he didn't want to see that happen with Austin.
 
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