Well, he tried. Guillermo did at least, but Noah seemed to skid right past the request with practiced ease, as if ogling the older manâs ass and joking about whether or not he was being propositioned was enough to grease his way. Probably got away with a lot with a smile like that too. A handsome face, all that jazz, but despite the flush that rose to his cheeks at the very idea that he would proposition Noah, a roll of his eyes came right afterwards. âThe only places open at this hour serve shit on a plate, so no. I have food at home better than youâd get out there anyway.â He opened the car door for Noah, then gestured for him to get in. âMove it, Birthday Boy. If you donât steal anything in my apartment, Iâll send you home with extra food too.â If he had learned anything about Noah over these past several months, the man was like a human garbage pit when it came to food. Guillermo had grown up poor enough to understand that impetus to hoard food, he had done the same whenever offered extra food at birthday parties or at school. Pain in the ass though he was, Noah WrightâŠwell, he cared what happened to him. Liked him, he supposed.
Had to if he was willing to let him into his apartment, Guillermo reflected while he was driving home. Who had been there since he came to CARMA? The plumber once, Manny a few times, and Ellie the most of all, but that was about it. Which was why he went silent on the drive over, let Noah burble and be his frenetic self all the way up to his apartment. Guillermo opened the front door, then half shoved Noah inside before any of his coworkers could see. It wasnât the fraternizing with a criminal part that bothered him, not really. But if one of them with a gossipy bent saw tight assed Agent Ortega with someone in the wee hours of the morning heâd have rumors swirling by lunch. âBy the way, I think youâve got it backwards. Someone who looks like you wouldnât be propositioning middle aged Mexican dads who look like me. I mean, in my opinion.â Guillermo said as he led Noah to the kitchen, then immediately regretted it. This was precisely why he didnât stay up this late, it was roughly on par with how a couple of glasses of sangria loosened his tongue. With that in mind, he turned his attention to the fridge and looked into its depths as if searching for the meaning of life. âNo shellfish, but do you eat Mexican food? Like real Mexican food? I can make white boy tamales, but I thought Iâd check. Iâm just boring enough to meal prep, so I have stuff ready.â
If the request had been framed more seriously--more âyouâre making me uncomfortableâ and less âtry not to be so youâ--Noah might have tried harder to honor it. It was not his intention to make Ortega uncomfortable--he was, much to Noahâs annoyance, a decent man, if a very serious one, and while Noah considered terrorizing law enforcement an honorable and extremely entertaining pastime, that was not what he was doing here.
The truth was that the flirtation was a protection. The nature of the work theyâd been doing together meant that Ortega had seen Noah vulnerable more than he liked. Noah did not know what to do with that, where to put it--it was easiest to distract from it with comments about the manâs ass which was, for the record, every bit as excellent as Noah said.
âI would never steal from you, darlinâ,â Noah said solemnly as he got into the car, though he had a feeling they both knew that was a lie. Bribery was as good a way as any to convince him to keep his sticky fingers to himself though, so Ortegaâs possessions would be safe this time.Â
Noah chattered as they drove, pointing out a spot where heâd slept sometimes when he and Leigh first came to Pansaw, a bar where he swore heâd sung karaoke with a movie star, only he couldnât remember her name. It was hard to say which of these stories were true, and this, too, was a protection.Â
Heâd been to CARMA housing before, to visit Rowan, though that felt different than being escorted in by Agent Ortega, with his careful walk and his straight, upright shoulders. Noah felt a little like he was being escorted to the principalâs office, and maybe that was why he let out a little indignant squawk at being rushed into the apartment, said, âPushy,â over his shoulder as he dusted himself off and immediately set to quietly looking around, cataloguing the apartment--though he was quickly distracted when Guillermo spoke.
âSomeone who looks like me, huh?â he said, standing a little straighter and flipping loose curls out of his eyes as he followed Ortega into the kitchen. âWhat do I look like, in your opinion, Agent Ortega?â he asked, and went up on his toes to peer over Ortegaâs shoulder into the fridge, slipped around him and began cheerfully rifling through his cabinets in search of glasses.Â
âOf course you meal prep,â he said a moment later, when heâd found a glass, filled it from the sink, and made himself comfortable on Ortegaâs kitchen counter to drink it, and if he sounded just a little bit charmed by it, well, that was his business. âI donât mind spicy, if thatâs what youâre askinâ. Not a big fan of liver, tried tongue one time and didnât like that, and I fuckinâ hate creamed corn unless itâs in pancakes. Other than that, and the shellfish, I ainât picky. No white boy tamales necessary. Do you have ice? For the water.âÂ