Chapter Text
Part 2 - Venue (Cont.)
The venue started becoming increasingly lively, with atmosphere-setting music playing in the background. Jake had already set everything planned into its place, with the assistance of his friend Charles. So far, everything had been going smoothly, although something itched at the back of everyone's heads.
"Where's the captain?" Rosa quizzically asked. "It's unusual for the host not to be at the event they're hosting themselves."
"Hold that thought," Jake jumps to save the day, or so he assumed. "Gina, why don't you help us all out and look for the captain?"
Linetti looked at him, squinting. "Now why should I do that? New York's best detective?" She teased. Obviously, she wouldn't do such a favor for Jake of all people unless she got something out of it.
"Come on Gina, just this once? Please?" Peralta pleaded. He'd pulled out all the stops, *including* the puppy eyes.
She sighed lengthily, rolled her eyes, and got up from her seat. "Fine." Gina sternly responded. "But this won't look good for your rep with the captain!"
Linetti headed off in the direction she estimated where Holt might have gone, according to what Amy saw. Jake had said something before Gina left, but she didn't bother to pay any attention.
As the sound of the music got fainter and fainter, the nearer she gets to her destination. The lady brushed and brushed away at the various flora surrounding the tunnel.
"God, why are there so many plants?" Gina groaned. "I hate nature now."
Eventually, on her journey through the "forest", she managed to finally find the road Holt and Kevin must've taken, for she could see two figures in the distance, both sitting next to each other on a platform. She squints, but could barely make it out as anybody because of how bright the sun shone on that particular day. So instead, she decided that was enough of that and made her way over to the bridge.
Her heels clicked onto the bridge's wooden material, making sounds loud enough to alert Holt, whose husband was supposedly taking a nap in his arms. Gina made her way to the captain, as he turned around to greet her.
"Gina, you've made it." He spoke in a soft, low tone.
"Don't 'Gina, you've made it' me, captain," Gina grunted, disapproving of his absence from the group. "We were all looking for you! It's been like, what, half an hour? Get back over there you goof!"
Raymond slightly looks away from her, sitting in silence for a few moments as he thinks about everything that must've happened while the two were away. He sighs, thinking over what decisions he had made. He frowns, finally coming to a conclusion.
"I understand your concerns. I'm terribly sorry, Gina." Holt carefully raises Kevin's head, "Come, dear. We have to return."
Waking up from his short-lived nap, he rose, "Oh, sorry. I'll be up now," Kevin hastily fixes his shirt as he clears his throat, readjusting his collar and his cuffs. He turns to look at Raymond.
"Shall we head off?" he smiled. Holt held his gaze for a moment. He put his hand on his face, he could feel his temperature rise. Clearing his throat, he finally responded,
"Yes, we shall." Kevin gives his husband a kiss on the forehead as he rose up from his seat, not in a hurry at all.
Gina stood back as Kevin made his way back to the large venue. She notices Holt waiting for her, so she took it upon herself to make him leave with Kevin. She goes behind Raymond and pats his shoulders.
"Move it, teenage mutant ninja turtle! Your husband is literally miles ahead of you!" Linetti teasingly poked at him. Raymond smiled, rolling his eyes sarcastically.
"Yes, yes. I'll go," He put his hands up in surrender. Gina makes her way over to his side, walking beside him across the bridge as they followed Kevin.
Charles grunted as he hoisted quite a heavy bag onto his shoulders. Rosa is seen coming out from behind the car, with twice as many and heavy bags compared to that of Charles'. He looked at her stunned, struggling to consistently maintain his balance before his surprise could do it first. Rosa glanced back at him, not impressed with his reaction.
"Wake up Charles. Your tiny legs could give up if you keep standing, and I'm not paying your hospital bills." Diaz carried over the heavy bags with such ease, Charles wondered what kind of ballet classes she used to take to make her that strong.
He shook his head. Now is not the time, Charles, he thought to himself. He started walking forwards, but a familiar face had just appeared right in front of him.
"Hey Charles! What's that you're carrying?" said Peralta.
Boyle straightened his posture to greet his friend. "Oh, hi Jake--" Immediately, he collapsed to the ground in pain, dropping the bag behind him. He groaned in agonizing pain, holding onto the spot he'd been hurt with his hands.
"Oh my God, that hurt like a butt cheek on a stick! I pulled a muscle," Charles slightly rolled side to side, attempting to dissipate the pain from his injury. Jake grimaced and knelt down.
"Wait, what did you just say?"
Charles looked up at him, expecting Jake to do something else instead of looking at him and kneeling down to his position. Peralta catches onto this, "Ohhhh. Right, you're hurt. Okay, hold on Charles!"
The rustling of grass could be heard from a distance away, as a group of 3 people return from seemingly out of nowhere. Terry Jeffords, who was conversing with Santiago, turns around to see what the noise was about.
"Hello, friends." Raymond made his way towards the group of people, holding hands with Kevin, and Gina followed right after. "I sincerely apologize for leaving for a long duration. Gina told me you were all worried."
"All? Worried?" Amy scoffs, "I knew you'd come back," she lets out a forced laugh, grinning as if everyone else was supposed to laugh with her. The silence was deafening, so Kevin decided to break it up.
"Ah, Mr. Jeffords. Seems like you've arrived." He greeted the seated man, firmly shaking his hand. "I hope everything has been adequate enough for everybody present."
"Of course, sir. You and Captain Holt have done exceptionally good jobs at decorating this place. Terry likes decorating." Jeffords placed his hands together, nodding in approval. "I think we'll all have fun today, especially since the captain did say he wanted something to take his mind off of work."
Raymond grunted, "I agree." He points towards a long table of assorted food, "Let us feast. We have a lot of... relaxing to do today."
Everyone made their way to the table, surrounding it with a small crowd of people, each picking out foods they wish to eat. Charles had Jake take his food for him as he rested his body from his muscle injury, Rosa, Amy, Gina and Terry sat and shared stories with one another, while Holt and Kevin sat slightly seperate from the crowd.
At the center of the main area sat a large campfire, for when night would approach, and the temperature outdoors would start decreasing. It was almost winter, after all, and the weather was starting to pick up. Although inactive, it didn't stop the groups of friends from sitting and surrounding the campfire wherever it seemed possible.
The couple sat near a pond, right underneath a tree, close enough the others could call to them if they needed anything, but far enough it wouldn't be too noisy for their ears. Kevin rested his head onto Holt's lap, as they sat under the tree's shade. Raymond caresses his husband's soft, short hair, as the two of them shared a moment of silence between each other.
Kevin held onto Raymond's free hand, brushing his fingertips against his own. "I am quite enjoying what moments we have together right now," he spoke. "I hope what happens afterwards during the night wouldn't bother you too much, with all the noise and whatnot." His words hinted at a slight but clear tone of concern.
"Kevin," he chuckled softly, "I know you know that I don't like noise. But it's okay, I promise you I'll enjoy it."
Holt briefly shut his eyes, slowly reopening them. He was tired, but he also didn't want to leave Kevin awake by himself. Cozner notices this, placing his hands on Raymond's cheeks.
"You're tired, aren't you? I can see it in your..." The both of them stared into each other's soft, piercing eyes. Kevin pauses for a moment. "...your eyes." He smiled.
"Yes," he readjusted his posture, "I am tired. I'm sorry, I didn't want to leave you awake alone." Holt's facial expression shifts very slightly to a frown as he got closer to his lover, "I'm trying really hard to keep myself awake, for you."
Kevin sighed, disapproving of his actions. "Oh, Raymond, please don't apologize. I love you, even if you'd fallen asleep now, I would stay with you until you'd gotten up."
Their hands wandered each other until they finally meet on Kevin's chest. They held onto each other's hands, Holt slowly leaning forwards by very small increments. Hands still together, Kevin raises his head up enough for their lips to meet each other as they entered into a brief kiss. Raymond pulls out and releases his hands, readjusting his position from sitting to lying next to Kevin. Cozner extended his arm to accommodate Holt's head, like a cushion of some sorts. He snuggles his head up to Kevin's as the warm, fuzzy feeling of complete comfort covers the two like a blanket, shielding them from the cold, harsh weather.
Raymond kisses Kevin's beard from underneath, placing his hand around him. "I hope staying like this won't be... much of a bother to you."
"Nonsense," responded Kevin. "You're never a bother to me." He caresses Holt's shoulder, feeling on the material of his top clothing. He looks back at his husband, and notices he'd already been fast asleep. Kevin thought, maybe I should sleep as well. That nap wasn't enough. He closed his eyes, embracing the soft atmosphere of both the natural surroundings and his husband, steadily sleeping in his arms.
The soft sounds of a streaming river return, following the group as they all collectively head over to the platform suspended in the middle of water. For some, it's the first time they've seen such a vast variety of flora in their lives. For others, like Raymond, this is not anything new, but it is a welcome experience to be had. It was a good time into the night, clouds having mostly escaped the vicinity of the area, and the mouth-watering, delicious aroma of steak being cooked on the grill filling up the air like it had no other business. Which it didn't, but that's besides the point.
Everyone was enjoying a drink or two, or possibly multiple, amongst themselves, having a nice night next to nature, which was certainly boosting the atmosphere.
"How's your muscles, Charles?" Amy approaches Boyle, pointing at his hip region. "Don't force it next time, you should ask Jake or Rosa for help."
"Don't drag me into this," Rosa corrected her, with words so sharp it cut through the air standing between them. She immediately explodes into a fit of laughter, having drunk excess amounts of alcohol. It seemed Rosa also had her own bag of problems to throw out with the help of a couple drinks.
Terry decided he would check up on the captain and see how he was doing. "Give me a moment, I wanna talk to the captain. See what's up, you know?" He raised his glass slightly, dismissing himself from his conversation with Gina. Terry makes his way to Raymond, who was standing by himself, watching over the mostly quiet natural scenery that stood before his eyes.
"Hey, captain. The place you set up here is amazing, I love it!" Terry cheerfully emotes as he leans onto the railing.
"Thank you, Terrence." Holt moves his head to face Jeffords. "You should be thanking Kevin though. His special ability in decorating and design is astounding, especially when he writes." He takes a sip of his drink. "I love his writing. His decorating skills are definitely something to take note of, but he does especially well in writing."
"Seems like someone's got a case of the 'honeymoon hee-hees'."
"What's that mean?" Raymond tilted his head in confusion.
Terry shook his head profusely, realizing what he'd said made completely zero sense. "Nevermind." Jake and Charles are getting in all over my head, he thought to himself. How frustrating.
"That reminds me," Terry puts one of his hands into his pocket as he shifts his posture to a more casual stance. "How was the steak? Is it... adequate?"
Raymond chuckles, slightly a little louder than he'd intended. "Oh, sorry. I had too much to drink." He pats himself in the chest. "I can tell you're being sarcastic with me. But yes, I did quite enjoy your cooking."
Jeffords smiled, feeling great having the captain appreciate his skills in cuisine. "Thank you."
He approaches Holt, and whispers to him, "By the way, did anything happen here while I was on my way?" Terry points at Kevin's neck, then to Raymond's neck. A couple unknown markings, of which look suspiciously like hickeys, were visible to Jeffords.
Holt hesitated, but nodded anyways. "Yes, something did happen here."