✦ summary : you share cigarettes with Ashveil
✦ content warnings : smoking, written pre-release (likely ooc). ~800 words. is it gap moe if it's inexperience? no beta we die like the destruction this 4.0.
“I didn't take you for a smoker.” His voice swallowed the silence of the alleyway. “What are you doing in a place like this anyway?” Ashveil questioned, it was clear he didn't expect an answer.
After a tiring case, you didn't have the energy to push him away.
“Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought.” You responded with a heavy drag.
His nose scrunched up. You could practically see him hold himself back from swatting the smoke out of the air.
“Well, I have very good intuition." Ashveil drawled, leaning against the wall opposite to you.
You took the cigarette out of your mouth, blowing the building smoke to the side. You raised your gaze to his, only meeting the brim of his hat.
“What do you want?” You got straight to the point.
“I'm sorry?” He tilted his head, but a smirk still rested on his face. Like a dog pretending to not hear his owner. He pretended to not hear your subtext.
“You're not the type to do things that don't serve you.” You flicked your cigarette to the ground. The burn of tobacco wafted through the alleyway. It fit nicely with the scattered trash on the floor and the yowling of alleycats.
Ashveil let out a dry laugh. “Oh, you know me well, investigator.” He spoke with a grating charm. A cadence you've heard many times during your reluctant cooperation with him.
“I have a good intuition.”
His smirk fractured into a humored smile. He sucked in a breath. “Since when were you this fun?”
You ignored him with a roll of your eyes and reached in your pocket to grab the almost empty pack.
You noticed how Ashveil's eyes followed your movement.
“Want one?” You teased monotonously. “It's been a long case.”
He raised his head, and you saw that blank expression you now associated with panic.
You hummed with the satisfaction of momentarily flustering him.
“Sure, why not.” Your eyes snapped back to the detective.
He was not the type to smoke. You could tell.
Even so, you flicked open the lid where 5 lonesome cigarettes stood. You held one out to him, the dim yellow just visible enough.
He leaned forward to rest the filter between his lips while the cigarette was still in your hands.
You stared at him, unimpressed.
Before he got the chance to pull away, you slotted a cigarette between your lips.
Ashveil didn't back away from the close proximity, as you pulled out your lighter in a fluid motion.
His gray eyes skimmed your face, visually tracing the slopes and curves till he reached your lips.
The rolling flick of the lighter cued the sparks to burst into a flame. Catching the butts of your cigarettes at the same time.
You took a quick drag, barely letting the smoke simmer in your lungs.
Ashveil followed your motions. You looked relaxed, as if filling your lungs with the vapor of nicotine was soothing.
He rested two fingers around the width of the cig, and breathed in...
Ashveil sputtered out a cough, smoke following suit.
The smoke took out his balance and he fell into an awkward lean against the grimy wall.
“Oh shit.” You exclaimed, watching the suave mask of this renowned detective crumble with a drag.
You awkwardly patted his back as he wheezed out the soot in his lungs.
“What the hell…” He gritted out.
You responded with a lilt. “Smoking isn't meant for everyone.”
“How is it meant for anyone? This… god, what the hell?”
You shrugged “It draws its own crowd.” Smoking after you closed a case was a ritual for you. It felt good to blow off steam after the intense push and pull of any investigation.
Especially with this one. Working on it for a few months, only for your chief to bring in this guy to ‘help’? Ashveil, whoever he was, is efficient. In three weeks he found leads in unlikely places, leading you to where you are now.
You wonder… how much time he put into this, even when he wasn't clocked in.
“I could even teach you how not to cough up your lungs.” You offered. That surprised you. You could've sworn that just a day ago you were glad to not have to see his face around your office again. “It'll add to your mystique.”
He sucked in his teeth. “I don't need to kill my lungs to do that.” But watching the confident Ashveil sputter like a first-timer was oddly charming.
“Ah, so that's your view.” You hummed “Never mind then. Just pay me back for that cig.”
Ashveil looked at you incredulously. If you were him, you'd probably be just as bewildered.
“What? it's not like you're going to finish it.” You reasoned.
His bottom lip curled upwards, almost like he was pouting. No. You must be seeing things.“I will.”
Stubborn. But that makes a good detective.
“Is that you being bold or a cheapskate?”
Ashveil clicked his tongue. “I'll let you draw your own conclusions, investigator.”
He raised the burning cigarette back to his lips. Hovering the filter before his mouth. “Now, how do I finish this thing?”
You smiled, amused. “Just follow my lead, detective.”
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