@youthsblood, mafia au kissy kiss.
Okay, global warming is most definitely real, and Ash can attest to it. This summer has been incredibly, unbelievably sweltering. The sun has burnt his light skin and then darkened it after he peeled off the first layer, and he’s taken to getting to a job at four in the morning just so he can get in a couple blissful hours of work before the sun starts beating down on him and the rest of the crew. Then he finds a tree to hang out under and sleep a couple hours off before getting back to work. He’s really just incredibly lucky that most of his clients know and trust him. They don’t mind looking out their windows at the crack of ass in the morning and seeing him laying mulch. Ash has been working this gig long enough that people no longer suspect he’s going to sneak into their houses with a shovel and wreak havoc...or track mud places it’s not supposed to be.
Needless to say, Ash knows just how fucking awful this summer is, so when Rose called him to finally admit that the air conditioning in their apartment had broken down, Ash had made it a point to clear a day to go figure it out. Honestly, he could use a day inside anyway.
He’s sort of flattered that Rose called him over and then left. Like...obviously she trusts him in her apartment, but now it’s official. Work, she had claimed, but promised to bring Ash home dinner in return for the work after he turned down actual money. The Navarros aren’t...dirt poor, as far as Ash can tell. They work at a nice club, but a lot of the ‘nice things’ they have are just courtesy of some clients that are hoping to get luckier than usual. And hell, living in an apartment complex that’s actually safe (let alone one that’s clean too) is expensive in this part of town, so he’s not going to charge his friends for a few hours worth of tinkering.
Of course it’s got to be the hottest day of the year, though, so even inside is awful, especially without any sort of actual air circulation. About an hour in and elbow deep in the air conditioning unit, Ash swears and peels the sweat-soaked tank off his back because honestly he’s the grossest thing in the world right now.
Naturally, that’s how Jace finds Ash, half naked and sprawled across his floor to get a better look at the underside of the unit. “Hey!” Ash exclaims, sitting up so fast he hits his fucking head on the thing like an idiot. For a second, he’s seeing stars, and Jace looks worried and maybe like he’s trying not to laugh.
“You okay, buddy?” Jace asks, dropping down on his haunches next to Ash and putting gentle fingers through his hair to look for some sign of blood. But Ash is tough and totally...not loving being pet, so he’s probably just looking at a bump forming in the next few hours. No big deal.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Ash agrees with a wide, goofy grin.
“Rose was not supposed to bother you with this. We would have paid someone.”
“And they would have charged you way too much, and then probably told you to replace the whole thing. But don’t worry about it, okay? I’’m gonna finish it up in like...ten minutes or something. But I gotta take a shower after, because I’m disgusting.”
“Disgusting,” Jace repeats, and Ash is like...ninety percent sure his shoulders are being stared at. But he can’t be sure before Jace stands back up. “You look thirsty. You know you could have gotten yourself something from the fridge,” he chastises.
“Aw, you mean after all these years I have fridge privileges?” Ash asks, going back to tinkering with the air conditioning. He’s actually a little surprised when he moves a hose and the thing starts spluttering back to life. Huh, maybe it’s easier than he thought. He gets out some electrical tape to fasten the hose back in place. “Listen, this might not hold for very long. It’s a really old unit, but this’ll put a bandaid on the situation until you guys can replace it. But if it goes out again, just call me,” he adds, taking the glass of water from Jace gratefully.
“You’re really owning that All American Fix-It Man Vibe, aren’t you?”
“You bet, Jay. About that shower, though…”
Ash picks himself up off the floor once he finishes his water and goes for the little bathroom while Jace goes to rummage up a pair of pants he seems convinced Ash left here last time he crashed on the couch while Jackie...entertained a gentleman caller.
Ten minutes later and like....all of the hot water they have, Ash emerges from the bathroom squeaky clean and the apartment has already cooled down considerably. There are sweatpants but no shirt in this whole place that fits him other than the one he came in. Ash doesn’t hate himself enough to put back on a sweaty, disgusting shirt just yet, so he decides to wait for it when he’ll leave.
He sits down on the designated Ash couch but catches Jace’s wrist gently when he goes to sit on the other seat, tugging until he’s sitting on the couch next to Ash. Amazingly, it’s taken him exactly to this moment to notice what Jace is wearing. Jace totally pulled the ‘let me slip into something more comfortable’ thing while Ash was in the shower. The robe is jewel toned and so smooth that Ash is sort of worried that the callouses on his hands are going to catch on it.
Jace looks so...golden in it that Ash feels immediately embarrassed, and he can’t even let himself wonder how much this sort of thing cost someone. It’s fine, though. Hopeful clients can buy Jace whatever gifts they want, so long as Ash gets to…
Jace’s eyes dart between where Ash’s hand is still on the sleeve of his robe and his face, and Ash isn’t crazy for thinking his gaze might linger on his mouth for a second too long, right? He leans forward a little experimentally, wondering if Jace is going to back away. Which...dumb. Ash has nearly kissed Jace about a hundred times, and it’s never because of Jace that he chickened out.
Jace is so fucking weird. He’s just so weird, but Ash laughs anyway. “You always think that,” Ash points out, moving in a little closer still. And Jace is still...letting it happen. Okay, cool. Ash is going to do it; he’s totally going to do it. He puts a light hand under Jace’s chin, tilting his head up a little so he can lean in. And accidentally miss, kissing just the corner of his mouth instead of an actual thing. God, Ash wants to die.
Jace laughs, good natured as always, and God Ash loves --- likes him a lot. There’s a very gentle tug on Ash’s hair that repositions their angle a little better, and Jace actually has mercy and gives him a proper kiss.
Does Jace know he’s a really, really good kisser? Ash is going to have to tell him as soon as he’s willing to stop kissing him. Ash drops his hands to Jace’s hips gently, tugging him closer. He’s not sure why today of all days is when Ash decides actually going for it is a good idea, but it might be in part due to the way Jace looked at him. It might be that; it might be because Ash knows he looks really good right now. It might be that Jace looks like the best he’s ever looked.
With a teeny, tiny bit of hesitation, Ash pulls Jace up and into his lap, grinning into the kiss when Jace settles a knee on either side of Ash’s hips. Ash likes to think that he’s a gentleman, so he’s not planning on pushing it too far, but it’s everything he has not to try and slip a hand under Jace’s robe, just to touch at the smooth skin of his leg.
“So...uh,” Ash begins, looking at Jace. He’s got Jace like...actually in his lap, and one of his hands is on Ash’s shoulder, the other on his chest. What’s to even be said after a kiss that feels like it’s been ten years in the making? Ash is completely, totally lost.
“Am I only going to get kissed when the air conditioning breaks?” Jace asks, the almost-sly tone ruined by the too genuine smile on his face.
“It’s part of the Handy Man Premium Package,” Ash agrees, laughing delightedly and running his fingers through the tuft of hair just behind Jace’s ear where it sticks out. “But I could probably work out a special rate for friends. If you go to dinner with me.”
