Archive of Our Own ^beta

Cee, if anything, looked as if he hadn’t slept for seventy-two hours –and counting– and profoundly lacking the morning caffeine, which was why Aitch thought to buy the poor chap a big cup of coffee –one packet of sugar and two ounces of cream– before he paid a lovely visit to the newly appointed Head’s office.

After the Hive incident, Agent Oh had offered him the Head position of the UK branch. He knew she didn’t mean anything by it, but it was too soon. He hadn’t even let himself resister the ‘oh fuck he helped kill High Tea’ and the ‘High Tea is dead’ parts of his night. Not to mention that he would be a terrible choice for the job if everyone's complaints about his work ethics these past years said anything about it.

In the end, he turned the offer down and let his people decided who they think is right for the job. It wasn’t a surprise that everyone turned to look at Cee, who looked hilariously surprised and taken back with their choice. It was the best choice anyone could make.

So here they were, months later, with High Cee –it was still a thing to get used to– barely muttering thanks as he automatically reached for the coffee and took a large gulp out of it.

“Long week?” Aitch asked, dropping into the more comfortable chairs in the room.

“Absolutely fantastic.” Cee’s voice was dripping with false cheer, “You know how new recruits are nowadays. So fucking pleasant.”

Aitch raised a brow. There was hardly anyone –save for him– that gets under Cee’s skin and stay there, “Who’s the troublemaker? You know you can put them on probation if they’re acting up.” He tilted his head forward and tried to peer at the paperwork, stewed across Cee's desk.

But Cee was always a sticker and slapped a book over them, "No, not a troublemaker exactly. He does an outstanding enough of a job."

"Then what seems to be the problem here?"

Cee took a long sip of his coffee, downing the liquid as if it was wine, “The problem is that anyone I pair him up with doesn’t last for long. I've had complaints constantly knocking at my door, and I already have enough issues on my plate. I don't have time to listen to one person saying he's uncooperative and the other saying they lack intelligence.”

And then he smiled –false cheer literally oozing out of him– and threw out his hands, “And this is where you come in!”

Aitch blinked, startled at the shift in topic, “W-wait, hold on now–“

“You will be with Agent L on this particular mission.” Cee continued, sending Aitch a set of documents through his pad, because he is an absolute bastard of a friend, "It's a simple recon mission, or it should. There have been incidents of strange sightings of a figure roaming the streets of London. They’ve been calling it slenderman.” Cee muttered with a roll of his eyes.

He cleared his throat and scanned the documents, ignoring Aitch’s attempts to protest this, “Anyway, I want you to check it out, see if it’s true. Don’t exterminate until the target is proven hostile.”

Aitch pursed his lips, staring down at his pad and then looked back at Cee with a resigned expression, “Nothing I say will get me out of this, huh?”

“Nope.” Cee answered all too cheerfully, popping the ‘p.'

||||

Aitch flicked through documents after documents, biding his time before he went to meet his partner. Maybe he should head for an early lunch; he thought as he stood up. It was taco Tuesday.

When he looked up, he had to jerk his head up again to make sure he wasn't dreaming. In came the most beautiful person he had ever seen. The man glided effortlessly across the room, glowing like an angel. His black hair fluttered behind him as the imaginary wind swept through it.

Aitch felt the world stop when beautiful emerald eyes met his. The man turned his way and strolled his way, flashing a smile that made him weak in the knees. The man stopped before his desk, causing him to gape up at him.

“Excuse me.” The dream-like figure said, all silky, smooth, and far away.

“Excuse me.” The sharper tone made the record scratch in Aitch’s brain. He snapped out of his trance to see the irritation framing the man’s figures, the soft look from before was nowhere to be seen, if it even happened.

The man cleared his throat impatiently when Aitch failed to respond. Aitch aimlessly moved his things around his desk, "Uh, right– uh." He sat back down, trying to regain some sense of professionalism, “What can I do for you, sweetheart?”

The man’s eyebrow twitched but kept his face blank, “I’m Agent L. The one you’re partnered with on the recon mission?”

“Right, right.” Aitch nodded. He stood up, buttoning his jacket and held out his hand, “I’m Agent–“

“I know who you are, Agent H.” L cut in, giving off the impression that he wasn’t all that impressed with Aitch's recent achievements, “Anyway, I suggest that we leave to the scene early and look around.”

“Uh, um–“ Aitch cleared his throat, raising a confused eyebrow, “Why do we have to leave now?”

L’s look suggested that he wasn’t impressed with Aitch’s intelligence either, “Because,” He said slowly, "We might find something worthwhile, and there's a higher chance of catching whatever is behind this off-guard.”

"Hm, that may be so," Aitch flashed L one of his charming smile, "But no one has concrete evidence that this isn't just some children story. I don't see the need to go right away."

L jerked his chin up and spun on his heels, his hair whipping along with him, “I am going, with or without you.”

Ah, he got why Cee was having trouble with pairing this guy up with others, “Alright, wait! Wait!” L halted in his tracks and tilted his head to look at Aitch out the corners of his eye, “Alright, we can go, but we need a plan.”

L looked as if he was ready to object the suggestion, but then he turned around and with a flick of his noticeably long and elegant fingers, he pulled up a map, “Most of the sightings happens here.” He pointed at an area and then added as an afterthought, “And then some here, but these over here are the most recent.”

Aitch hummed, considering the area, “So we’re starting there.”

“No.” L pointed at another area, a bit further than the other two, “We’re starting here.”

“Here? Why here?” Aitch asked incredulously.

"Light pollution and crowded places." L replied as if it explained everything, "Here is where it's going to be busy all day and night.”

“Huh.” Was all Aitch said, shrugging. They could always go back to the area later. He certainly didn’t think anything was going to show. Pretty his partner may be, he rather not piss the guy off by brushing his theories aside.

Cee did give him Agent L's papers that Aitch barely took a glance over. Maybe he should go over them to make sure he wasn’t missing anything.

“Oh, oh.” Aitch beamed like a lightbulb as something resister in his head, “You’re a frost giant. Minus the giant. And… the frost.” His eyes gave L a quick look over before going back to beaming, “You’re shapeshifters.”

L looked extremely displeased, “Yes, I’m a jotunn.” He nearly hissed, shoulder pulling up to his ears like he expected to be attacked, “Is there a problem?”

Aitch shrugged, "Nope." He said, popping the ‘p.' And then he rubbed his neck, trying not to look sheepish, "Although, I heard your kind is, uh…” He swayed, hands moving to ease the discomfort in the air, “You go both ways, so how do you like to be addressed?”

“He,” L snipped, “Is fine at the moment, thank you.”

Aitch leaned forward, placing his chin on his hands, “So, L, since we’re going there early, what do you say about heading to one of the diners for a quick lunch?”

L narrowed his eyes before he sighed, “Fine.”

“Great!” Aitch leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up onto his desk. L’s nose adorably scrunched up at the sight, “It’s a date.”

L stiffened, eyes half-lidded like Aitch was nothing more than dust on the toe of L’s shoes, “Apparently, High C has given me another inept fool to deal with.”

And ouch, didn’t that hurt. But Aitch smiled and shrugged, “Who can blame me when you’re gorgeous.”

At that, L spluttered, cheeks going amusingly pink, “You’re mad!” He strangled out.

“For you? Certainly.” He pulled his arms back and stretched slow and long, letting his partly unbuttoned shirt show more of his chest because he lacked the shame, “So, that’s a yes?”

“Absolutely not!” L snapped back too quickly. His eyes were definitely focused on his chest. It was hard to tell if he was flushed because of anger or because of something else, but Aitch grinned all the same.

“A date.” He concluded cheerfully.

“It is not a date.” L pressed, eyes still on his chest.