Take-Two [ Tragictrees & Annyeong Bunny ]

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Text From: Evelyn
Text To: Lee

Hey, wait, do you think this is because of you? No look Austin has a lot of issues and one of them is being a certified idiot. He told me that you hated him and that's why. I was wondering if he talked it out with you or not. Sorry for being the one to tell you.
 
Lee looked down at his phone and rolled his eyes. He didn't want anything to do with Austin or anybody anymore. He had gone solo before, and he wasn't afraid of doing it again. Deciding to respond he began to text back to Evelyn.

Text From: Lee
Text To: Evelyn

Whether or not it's because of me, I could care less. He made the mistake of making choices on his own, so I don't feel the need to talk about it. If he thought I hated him, then he should've been an adult and talked with me. He might have been wrong about me hating him before, but not so much now. I'm done with this, you can make other opinions to him.

And with that. Lee shut off his phone and pulled out the murder file. However, just as he was about to get into it, he realized that he needed to look at this from a legal approach. Turning on his computer, his searched the closest law firm, looking through the directory of lawyers. There, he saw someone who looked professional enough. Someone named Daniel Walsh...
 
The last few weeks had been awful.

Not at first. At first, things were fine. Evelyn came up- though she seemed a bit cagey for some reason -and he had slightly warmed up to his partner. Slightly. By slightly, they'd gone on one or two or three dates. Which was actually great. Things only started to go down hill when Austin was given the honor of listening in on what the rumor and gossip mill was churning out. That, of course, wouldn't be so bad. Austin was partial to listening to gossip; it was always interesting and exaggerated, which was better than trying to follow along to Kevin's reasoning, which was frankly.....bad. It was bad. He was extremely bad at working his way through things, and it wasn't even endearing.

The problems started when he heard that Lee didn't have a partner.

Of course, that led to him feeling bad. So, he spoke up about it when on a date with Kevin. Then, a few things were tossed around- Austin didn't remember the specifics, but he remembered that they had to do with how he apparently shouldn't feel bad and that Lee was 'fine' and not part of the date. Then, something about his dad was brought up, which got Austin even more pissed off, and one last comment about Lee had Austin jumping the table and punching Kevin.

That had ended the date, obviously, and Austin found himself at a CVS with a black eye, completely smashed glasses in his pocket, and a scratch on his cheek that was bleeding and causing him to get looks. It was either that, or the fact he looked like he had been crying. He ignored them in favor of squinting at the various hot chocolate choices presented to him on the shelving unit, trying to decipher them though he practically couldn't see. He ended up grabbing a random one and hoping for the best.

And then he found himself at Lee's door, or what he thought was his door, at least. He couldn't read the number well. Which sucked, because he wasn't sure what he was doing, and he looked like shit. But, he was there anyway, and he figured that he had to knock at this point, because he was an impulsive asshole, and he needed to live up to that. So, he hesitated, before lifting a hand and knocking on the door three times.
 
Two weeks. It felt like eternity with how Lee was trying to solve the murder case. However, his mind wouldn't focus. He felt like everything was too quiet, and like he was nothing. While he didn't necessarily care for Austin, he had grown to bear with the other's behavior and personality. The part that annoyed him the most was the fact that he was just thrown off to the side without so much as a word. Lee wasn't the type of person to be enraged over talking things out and coming to a consensus, but this had happened without him knowing, and he felt aggravated by that fact.

Over the course of the two weeks, he had heard things. of course. He had ears, unfortunately. There was talk about how Austin had been rather close to his new partner, and how Lee himself must have done something in order to warrant the partner switch. As per usual, he had kept his mouth shut to focus on himself. Often times he told himself 'good riddance', but he had never had a partner before. Having to put up with someone for about a month, right when you were getting used to them, was something he had never done before. Not that he had any say in the past partnerships either. They all turned out the same way: "He's crazy", "Why would you pair me with a psychopath?", or, the best one, "I hope you know he's the next murderer you need to watch out for, guarantee it."

So. Lee sat in his study, two lamps lighting the otherwise dark room, pouring over a book on criminology. One he had read before, yes, but he felt in need to touch up on his studies. He heard three knocks, faint, from his front door. Furrowing his brow, he stood and set the book down, pulling at his shirt, a loose striped longsleeve. His black hair was disheveled, and he was wearing grey sweatpants. Needless to say, he wasn't dressed up to greet people, especially during the night. Nobody ever visited him at night, unless they were unwanted company. Opening the front door, Lee looked and saw... Austin. And he looked beat to shit. However, even though his mind at first registered confusion as to why he was beaten up, it completely switched to irritation.

"What do you want?" Lee asked icily, narrowing his eyes as his face set quickly into a stone cold expression. His humorless smirk pulled his lip and he felt his pettiness start to build up. "Did you have a fight with the new guy and decide to come running back to old baggage?" Lee added mockingly. His broken tone broke through for a moment before he wiped it away, leaning on the door frame with a raised eyebrow.
 
Austin stood there awkwardly. He couldn't make Lee out, but he had a pretty good idea of how pissed off or annoyed he might look. He supposed it was warranted. He deserved it. "I just--" He cut himself off, irritated at how bad he was at what he was doing. He wasn't even sure what he was doing. He did, however, avoid saying anything about why he looked like shit, not wanting to admit what happened out loud. "I wanted...to apologize. For....for, you know." He fidgeted, falling silent, before holding up the bag, staring at the ground "It's hot chocolate mix. I think. I've seen you drink it around the station before. I don't...I'm not sure of the brand, it was sort of luck of the draw. So...yea. I guess I just wanted to give this. And say that. And also sorry for looking up your address, invasion of privacy or whatever."

He couldn't bring himself to look up from the carpet, even though he couldn't make anything out. His energy was pretty dead at the moment; usually, he'd be bouncing his knee, tapping something, or pacing and talking with his hands; right now, he was just tired, emotionally. He felt ready to just hide away in his office until the end of time, but instead, he was here, trying to right a wrong like an emotionally stable person. What a joke. He doubted Lee would even take it.
 
Lee narrowed his eyes in a calculating manner as he watched Austin try to explain why he was there at his door a little before midnight. With his arms crossed over his chest, he tapped one of his fingers against his left arm, listening. Austin looked like a mess, to put it lightly. And even though Lee could be difficult at times, he knew that in the position the other male was in, he probably wouldn't make it back to his office conscious. Sighing audibly, as if he could have a million other things to do, Lee rolled his eyes and grabbed the bag from Austin moving to walk back inside.

"Close the door behind you, and go clean yourself off. You look like shit." Lee spoke in a bore tone as he walked to the stove. He knew that Austin was in the wrong, but he wasn't so cruel and heartless to leave his old partner outside in the middle of the night, beaten to the heavens. "I'll make some for the both of us, and I'll only give you one chance to explain yourself. In detail, or else I'm kicking you out." Lee added, keeping his gaze on the hot chocolate box as he opened it. Most people never went back to Lee a second time, or bothered to explain why they left... so, they never got the chance to see that Lee could be understanding or begrudgingly accepting.

Without bothering to turn and look at Austin, Lee took the milk from his fridge and started to heat it in a pot. He then reached into the cupboard above and grabbed a milk chocolate bar, the best thing to add to hot chocolate. As he stirred the mix into the milk, along with the pieces of chocolate, he exhaled slowly, using his other hand to wipe at his face. He told himself that he wouldn't let himself go back to anything, yet there he was. Then again, it was a first time that anybody had bothered coming back to him...

Filling two cups, he topped them with whipped cream and walked to the living room to wait for Austin. On the way, he grabbed an old pair of glasses, noticing that Austin didn't have his on, as they were most likely broken. Lee didn't know if they would work for him, but he wanted Austin to see so that the other could focus on the conversation they were about to have.
 
Austin paused a moment, baffled, before walking in and doing as he was told. He shut the door, and took off his shoes, not wanting to track anything in, before making his way to the nearest sink. He used his hand to feel the wall so he didn't topple over, and then, when reaching the sink, put on the cold water. He splashed it on his face, and washed away the blood. He wasn't sure how he looked, exactly, but it was probably bad. He sighed, taking one more moment to steel himself, before shutting the water off and heading into the living room.

He took a seat across from Lee, carefully, as if he didn't want to touch any part of the room more than he had to. He felt out of place, which he supposed was fair. He was. This hadn't been what he planned to do with his night. "So...uh....what parts do you want explained in detail? Like, the.....the thing, why I'm here, so on, so forth...? Just so I don't ramble your ear off with bullshit."
 
Lee eyed Austin as the other sat in front of him awkwardly. For good reason, of course. Taking a cup of the hot chocolate, he motioned to the other cup for Austin to take as well before sliding the pair of old glasses toward him. At the question, Lee pressed his lips together and looked at his old partner from over the rim of the cup. His eyes narrowed slightly before sipping, feeling his irritation bubbling in his stomach. Sighing, he put the cup down and sat back against the couch, crossing his arms.

"Why don't you first start with why you didn't have the decency to let me know about your 'plan'? I heard it from everyone else at the station, so I figured it would be your turn to explain why you felt the sudden urge to take matters into your own hands without thinking of both parties. Hm?" Lee spoke nonchalantly, though his humorless smirk said otherwise. The corner of his mouth flinched and he watched Austin carefully, tapping his arm once more in order to not explode. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

"We can get to why you're beat to hell afterward. Trust me, I've got all night." Lee added more bitterly as he sat forward and grabbed his cup once more, never taking his eyes from Austin.
 
"We don't have to get to why I'm 'beat to hell', that's fine." Austin said, wincing a bit at the reminder. Out of all the things to talk over, that one might have been his least favorite. Not that what he was about to talk about was any better. It was just something he'd rehearsed in his head a bit, and so he had a better grip on it. He cradled the cup, not bothering to take the glasses. He knew they probably weren't his prescription, and he remembered something about damaging his eyes further that he didn't want to test.

"Anyway, I have...issues." He began, after a deep breath "Not that that's an excuse. It's not. Like, super not an excuse. But, uh, I have spirals, I guess. Of anxiety and stuff. So, like, everything was alright, and then you just had to go and be a decent person! Like, a cool, decent person!" He paused briefly, grimacing at his own wording "Sorry. Still my fault. Not yours. Uh, but anyway, so it was going....too well, and when things go too, my brain kinda just...short circuits a lot. I just started to overthink it and you know, you mentioned that partners share things, and like, at the time it was fine, because yea, that's logical. Then it kind of stuck with me two hours later and I had a breakdown because I have an inability to function like a person. It ended with me figuring that you hated me and would be better off with someone else who didn't have a mental block against saying stuff." He set down the drink, though he hadn't had any yet "Because, uh, I also have an issue where I play out an entire conversation with another person in my head and kinda just go off of that. Like, I'll get pre-angry, or pre-stressed, so I just figured you'd agree with me that I'm and idiot and so I just....asked chief to make the switch, because I figured you'd get a partner. Then you...didn't. Which was, um, weird. Since you're better than me. And that's what happened."
 
Lee intended to listen carefully, so he did. Turns out, Austin just tended to overthink things. A lot. The detective took a long drink from his cup and let his brain run its cogs for a bit. He was confused about why the other thought those things when he didn't seem like he hated him. The entire anxiety and spiral thing made sense, since Lee had majored in psychology. Anything to do with science or criminology he could understand in seconds, but the whole reasoning on his decision was still iffy.

"If that's the case, then I can just be rude and obnoxiously arrogant again, if it bothers you that much." Lee muttered into his cup as he sipped some whipped cream. He could see why Austin had despised him in the first place, as the detective's personality was hard to be around. He just had to accept, though, that some people just thought differently, and Austin was just one of them. "I only said that we needed to share things because it's part of the job. If it bothered you that much, then you should make it clear next time."

Lee adjusted his back and scratched his neck, keeping his eyes on Austin, analyzing him. "You were the only person in the station that hadn't been partnered with me yet. Everybody else already ditched me, so of course I wouldn't have a partner once you switched." the detective spoke as if that bit of information should have been known already. "And from what I heard around, you had no problems with your new partner..." Lee paused, looking up and down Austin, "Until now, I'm assuming. Spill. If you would've cared about not telling me what happened, you would've cleaned yourself up before trying to find me."
 
Ah, yes. What DID happen there? Austin knew the answer, obviously, but the question was, did he really want to say? On one hand, no. He got beat up. It was embarrassing. He had enough embarrassment for one night. On the other hand, explaining it would probably be better than not. Lee would appreciate being told, if this conversation was anything to go by. It was still hard to articulate it, though, while continuing to act like it didn't bother him, because thats what he did. If he didn't let on that it bothered him, then it wouldn't bother him.

"I mean, it's not really that big a deal." He said finally, shrugging his shoulders "We were having dinner, and, uh, he....happened to mention my dad and how I must've gotten mentally fucked up because of that. And then he said some shit about you. So I...uh....jumped the table and decked him." He flashed a hesitant smile "And then got beat up because I lost my glasses in the process and couldn't see shit. Would've gotten cleaned up, but CVS was closer, so...."
 
Lee sipped at his drink and had his complete focus on Austin. So. It was worse than he expected. The detective sighed and put his cup down, leaning his elbows on his knees. He raised an eyebrow in a more gentler look and cocked his head a bit at the other male.

"I would do the same thing, to be honest. There's nothing to be embarrassed about." Lee commented, trying his best to seem... nice? More like sympathetic. It was new for him, but he knew that Austin was having a hard time, no matter how irritating or aggravating he was. So, leaning forward, Lee reached out and flicked Austin's forehead, furrowing his brow at the said man.

"You think too much, but at least you have a sense of morals. I can at least respect that." Lee spoke awkwardly, giving a curt nod as he looked away and cleared his throat. Then, moving to stand, the detective walked to a closet in the hall and pulled out a spare pair of sweats. Walking back to Austin, he tossed them at him, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. His sense of awkward sympathy had by then faded and he hid a yawn with his hand.

"There's a spare room down the hall. Feel free to use the bathroom for a shower too. After an embarrassing day, you probably just want to get to bed like me." Lee spoke with a sigh as he once more eyed Austin.
 
Austin caught them, fumbling a bit out of surprise. This whole thing was rather unexpected. Actually, he had expected to get kicked out by this point. But, no, Lee was being nice to him, and he was probably about to ruin it by crying. Great. Super. Honestly, the perfect way to end the night: sobbing in the room of the guy you just apologized to.

"...Thanks." He said, voice a bit wobbly, though he managed to not shed any tears "Yea. Sleeping sounds nice. I probably shouldn't drive anymore either. I'm, uh....I think I'm considered a hazard. Like, by law. So, uh....yea. Thanks." He repeated, getting up, still unsure of the boundaries of this whole situation "Goodnight. I think. I'm assuming you're going to bed, annnddd I'm going to stop talking now."
 
Lee watched as Austin seemed to fumble for words. The sight amused him a bit and he felt the corner of his mouth turn up in a ghost of a smile. He rolled his eyes and motioned to Austin's room with his head.

"Don't get soppy on me. Your room's right there, and let me know if you need anything. I'll probably still be up." Lee smirked as he lightly made fun of the other male. It was his way of trying to lighten the mood, even if it was the exact opposite of him. Turning on his heel, he walked toward his room at the end of the hall. Before stepping into his room, he turned once more to Austin. "Expect to be up relatively early so you can get breakfast before work. You still have to deal with your partner, don't you?" Lee questioned, one hand on the doorknob. Then, without waiting for an answer, and with a knowing look on his face, Lee stepped into his room, closing the door behind him.

Once alone, Lee groaned and grabbed his head, grimacing. He was not used to this kind of socializing, and it made him feel weird. Thankfully, however, he was able to sleep alone and recharge. Maybe the feeling would be gone in the morning. Checking to make sure his windows were closed and locked, Lee then crawled into his bed and pulled the blankets over his head. It was a safe position, and he didn't know why. It at least got him through the night, if he didn't have nightmares...
 
Getting to sleep wasn't easy. It never was. However, this was especially difficult, because it was a normal bed. It wasn't a couch, or the floor, or a chair; it was an actual mattress. Austin thought it might've been easier because of it, but it turned out that he'd gotten used to the couch after years of it, and now, anything else felt wrong. When he did eventually get to sleep, though, it was relatively dreamless, which was better than most other nights. He certainly wasn't going to complain.

He did, however, panic slightly when he woke up the next morning and noticed he wasn't in his office. It was subdued, obviously, when he remembered the night before, but came back with a vengeance when he remembered he would have to go out and talk to Lee. Again. After last night. He sighed, getting up and making the bed best he could, and changing back into his own clothes. He also had to face Kevin, which was going to be....interesting, to say the least. Maybe if the other spilled what happened to the chief, Austin would be given permission to just work alone.

When he was done getting ready- folding the sweatpants and placing them on the bed -he cautiously walked out of the room, approaching the living room. God, he would really need to grab his glasses when next possible. He wasn't sure he'd be able to work like this.
 
Once again, Lee wasn't able to get a lick of sleep. He had felt a strange paranoia and anxiety, like many times before, and it freaked him out. He had no idea where this reaction was coming from, but over the years, he had learned to accept it. So, with that being said, he was up at the crack of dawn, in the kitchen making breakfast. Living alone at least gave him the benefit of cooking for himself, and it was weird making two portions.

Filling two plates with hashbrowns, eggs, and bacon, Lee turned to see Austin walking into the living room. He grimaced slightly and rolled his eyes, pushing the man's plate across the counter for him.

"Eat up. You might as well have energy before you leave." Lee spoke, nodding to the plate before grabbing his own. Grabbing the ketchup, he put it in his hashbrowns and began to eat. He was still a bit snappy with Austin, but he at least felt a little better knowing that the other man switched partners because of his own mind, and not because of Lee himself. God, was he sick of that by now. "How are you guys doing with the murder case? Does the new guy know how to do his job?" Lee questioned as he took another bite of food, raising a curious eyebrow at Austin.
 
Austin stared at the food, before quickly having a seat and beginning to eat. He hadn't had actual food- food that had been cooked at home by a person that wasn't a hired chef at like, a McDonalds or some other restaurant -in ages. It was depressing to think about, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from enjoying a perfectly good and free meal, even if it had been slightly awkward to begin with. Once he had eaten a good portion in a short amount of time, he took a pause to answer the question, rolling his eyes at it slightly.

"He wouldn't be able to solve a case if I knifed someone, cut them up, and stuffed them in a trash can directly in front of him." Austin complained, seeming more relaxed than he had been the night before "He thought that the murder was one of passion. Like, that this guy had an affair or something and that's why he got killed. Which makes no sense, considering the spear is from another case, and his body was obviously meant to be found. And he called me an idiot for suggesting otherwise! I felt like I was presenting a case in court." The last part was grumbled, and he took another bite of food "Also, thank you for the food. I haven't had real food in years, so I have nothing to really compare it to, but...it's amazing."
 
Lee couldn't help but scoff at how bad Austin's partner had to be. He shook his head and a humorless smirk pulled his lips. How was it that guys like that were allowed to be detectives? Just great. Yet another reason for him to lose faith in humanity, one step at a time. And at the compliment to the food, Lee nodded, accepting it.

"He must be an idiot. Not every case is like a soap drama where there's a malicious affair and so on. One look at the evidence would have said otherwise, so perhaps he can't bother to read correctly either." Lee drawled as he more or less sided with Austin. Oddly enough, it felt a lot less awkward than the night before, and almost felt like it was before they were switched. Almost. Lee was still cautious.

"So, what are you going to do with him? After last night, I doubt you want to take him around on more case work." Lee asked, staring at Austin once more as he went to the sink to rinse his plate.
 
Austin grimaced. He really hadn't thought about it; he'd been busy with other emotional drama, and had wanted avoid thinking about what he was going to do. He couldn't just ask for another partner switch, so if Kevin didn't, he was stuck. It would be awkward and uncomfortable, which wasn't ideal for any situation, but especially not when working cases. He had no doubts he'd end up being as miserable as he had been with all his other short-lived partnerships, only this was long-term.

"Yea, I really don't know. Haven't thought about it. I'm just gonna go to my office, grab my glasses, go to the station and just see what happens. Can't ask to switch partners, unless I want the chief to kill me." He replied, shrugging "So, uh, who knows, really? Maybe he'll ask to switch partners and I'll be free. Or I'll just be thrown to someone else again and start the process over. It's really a toss up."
 
Nodding slightly, Lee grabbed a water bottle and took a small sip from it. He was thankful for the fast that he was pretty much antisocial and didn't have to deal with these things. As he grabbed Austin's plate, rinsing it, Lee glanced at the said male and exhaled.

"At least you're right about that. Chief would have your head on a stick if you tried switching again." Lee pondered out loud before looking at the clock on his phone. It as a little after 9:30, and he was sure he needed to be at the station by 11. Meaning, he had to take a shower and get dressed. Walking from the kitchen, the detective looked back to Austin.

"I have to get ready, so you can just leave whenever. I'll be pretty busy with the murder case, so I doubt we'll talk again soon." Lee spoke as if he was bored, crossing his arms and rolling his head to the side. "Try not to die, at least." he added as a farewell as he turned to walk into the bathroom, waving a lazy hand in the air to emphasize.
 
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