bets - unit bravo & unit alpha; adam du mortain x f!detective (twc)
day 12 – strength
author’s note: @kelseaaa and i brainstormed some wayhaven facility antics at the agency, so sorry in advance if this makes no sense. i have a series in the works for adam x regina that includes a little bit of tane x regina, so there’s a tiny hint of that in here. it is just pure self-indulgent fun, enjoy!
copyright: all characters, except my oc detective, are owned by mishka jenkins @seraphinitegames.
series/pairing: the wayhaven chronicles – platonic unit bravo & unit alpha; minor adam du mortain x f!detective (regina bishop) & hint of tane x f!detective
rating/warnings: 14+; arm wrestling stuff
word count: 1.8k
based on/prompt: day 12 – strength from #28dateswithunitbravo challenge by @wayhavenmonthly
summary: unit alpha and unit bravo have a rematch of an arm wrestling match.
bets
regina rubbed her eyes and tried to hide her yawn behind her hand. being at the facility sometimes felt like being at the casino or a strip club – no windows or clocks that would indicate how much time had passed. it was definitely late, but they hadn’t been dismissed yet.
she wished they could’ve at least been allowed to go back to their rooms. instead, they were crowded in a small conference room – mason skulking in a shadowed corner, adam standing with his arms crossed by the door, felix shifting positions every ten seconds, and nate sitting quietly next to her.
“i’m so bored,” felix groaned. the rest of the team didn’t even bother to react since felix did this every other minute.
this time, however, he sat up straight in the chair, eyes sparkling mischievously.
his eyes darted around the room before landing on regina. “the last time we were stuck in a room like this, do you know how we entertained ourselves?”
regina looked up curiously. “if you were involved, i’m sure it was hilarious.”
nate stiffened, as though he knew what felix was alluding to. felix leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “arm wrestling.”
mason and adam both swiveled their heads to glare at felix, who leaned back in his chair with a satisfied grin.
“how is that entertaining? adam and mason spar all the time,” regina shrugged.
“oh, because they went head-to-head with unit alpha,” felix said, tapping his fingers excitedly on the table.
regina glanced at mason and adam briefly, the latter stiffening and turning away to glare at the door when he sensed her gaze.
“i’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that… you lost?” she said, matching felix’s mischievous smirk.
mason scoffed. “losing a rigged match doesn’t count.”
“how would you rig an arm-wrestling match?” regina asked, resting her chin on one hand.
adam whipped his head around. “they insisted the match happen during the day, knowing that our abilities would be diminished.”
“okay… but couldn’t you just insist it be at night instead? or… i don’t know, just not accept the challenge?” regina pointed out, trying to suppress the laugh at the back of her throat by pressing her lips firmly together.
nate let out a soft chuckle. “i remember raising that point. but these two are just that competitive.”
“so, who did you go up against? i’m going to guess that nate and felix didn’t participate, so it would only have been two members of unit alpha,” regina asked.
felix leaned back over, bringing up a hand to shield his mouth conspiratorially, “that’s the best part. it was—”
a boisterous laugh echoed down the hallway that regina instantly recognized, which was immediately followed by the conference room door slamming open.
adam moved to position himself between regina and the door and the rest of unit bravo stood from their seats to face the interruption, shoulders and bodies tense except for felix.
all in the blink of an eye.
just as the members of unit alpha crowded into the room.
“look at that, the gang’s all here,” maaka jeered as he took the seat next to felix and propped his feet up on the table. tamiko followed suit and mimicked his posture, the two laughing conspiratorially.
tane slid over into the seat next to regina and leaned in close. “hello again, detective,” he murmured, his breath tickling her ear.
“hi there. what are you all doing here?” she asked, noticing adam seemed to tense even more out of the corner of her eye.
“we’ve been told to wait here for a mission brief. i suppose it’s the same one you all are waiting for,” lesedi said simply, clasping her hands in front of her as she stood opposite of adam.
regina exchanged confused glances with nate and felix. they had already been waiting an hour, so why would unit alpha show up now if they were going to be involved in the same mission?
“well this is boring,” maaka commented, leaning back in the chair so far that regina was worried he might fall backward. he exchanged knowing glances with tane, seeming to come to some sort of agreement.
“anyone up for arm wrestling? i’m sure you’ve been dying for a rematch,” tane said slyly, not-so-subtly looking at both mason and adam.
the tension in the room seemed to sizzle suddenly and regina felt goosebumps appear on her arms in nervous anticipation. everyone was already on edge and she really didn’t want things to escalate.
“hey, maybe you shouldn’t antagonize them right now. we’re all on edge about this mission,” she said, gently putting a hand on tane’s arm without realizing.
adam’s gaze snapped up from the floor as the movement of her hand caught his eye. his fists clenched as he stormed over to the table, glaring at the spot on tane’s arm that regina was currently resting her hand on.
“very well. a rematch,” he said through clenched teeth.
regina noticed his glare and slid her hand back into her lap. mason hadn’t said a word but moved to adam’s side, a determined glare on his face as well.
“let’s make this even more interesting,” felix said slyly. “anyone want to wager a bet?”
nate and adam sighed simultaneously as maaka and tamiko pulled felix to the side to discuss betting odds. regina contemplated whether or not to join them, wondering if it would be worth riling up adam even further.
regina and nate stood up and moved to the side so they could reconfigure the table and chairs accordingly. lesedi and tane slid into the seats on one side, their backs to regina, while adam and mason sat across from them respectively before they each placed their elbows on the table and flexed their fingers. adam glared pointedly at tane, in a way that made regina wonder if he was trying to avoid looking at her.
rebecca poked her head in the room and if she cared about the top two commanding agents in the facility facing off with an arm-wrestling match, she certainly didn’t show it.
“regina, i need to talk to you alone,” was all she said before disappearing behind the door.
“record it for me,” she whispered to felix, neither of them realizing that the agency phones were not up-to-date and no one in the room knew how to record video. “also, put me down for adam and tane.”
“what?!” mason growled, having obviously heard that she thought tane would beat him. adam, on the other hand, had the tiniest of smirks on his face as he puffed out his chest slightly.
she gave mason a sheepish wave as tane laughed loudly. “sorry! it’s not personal, i swear!” she said quickly, before running out of the room.
the commanding agents stared each other down for a brief second before locking hands, adam’s face stoic and determined while lesedi had a teasing and relaxed smile on her face. mason let out a low growl, at which tane’s grin only widened, before the two of them followed suit.
felix let out a whoop as maaka and tamiko started simultaneously cheering their team members on and trash-talking adam and mason.
the grin on tane’s faded into a determined line as he realized mason was a lot stronger than last time; both men’s biceps stretching the thin fabric of their shirts. mason smirked, cigarette dangling off his lip, once he realized tane was actually concerned about losing. he grit his teeth as he focused his strength in his forearm and hand, gripping tane’s tightly as he pushed. the vein in his arm bulged as he pressed tane’s back, while the wood surface under his other fist began to splinter under the pressure.
a loud thud sounded on the table as tane’s arm gave out and mason grinned, flexing his hand once before leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head.
everyone else quickly turned their attention to the two commanding agents, seemingly evenly matched and deadlocked, determination inked onto their faces.
regina nodded along with whatever rebecca was saying, her mind focused on how much of the match she was missing and who was winning. when the conversation was finally over, she quickly stepped back toward the conference room door, seeing through the glass window that mason had won but adam and lesedi were still locked in the middle.
she threw the door open and made her way over to felix as quietly as possible. it wouldn’t have mattered though, the moment she entered the room, adam’s back stiffened and the veins in his left fist on the table seemed to bulge even more. regina held her breath, gaze focused on adam’s face, or what she could see of it from behind lesedi.
from her vantage point, the two commanding agents were pretty evenly matched. adam looked like he could edge lesedi out as he was able to push her arm back slightly. regina stepped to the side to get a better angle and adam’s eyes snapped to her at the movement, time slowing down as his gaze locked onto hers. the split-second shift in adam’s focus gave lesedi the opening she needed to slam adam’s arm back.
but that wasn’t the most shocking part. adam’s fist had crashed through the table the moment he lost the match. her jaw dropped at the sizable chunk of the table adam tore through, the wood falling to the floor in a cloud of sawdust.
“ouch, he is oh-for-two,” felix whispered loudly.
regina was surprised that felix didn’t whither under the team leader’s stormy gaze before he stormed out of the room. they all got up and followed, heading back to their assigned rooms and leaving behind the taunting laughter of unit alpha.
felix chuckled and nudged regina with his shoulder as they walked side-by-side. “you better stick around, detective. i’m going to win a lot more bets against adam with you around.”
“don’t let him hear you say that,” she warned, glancing over at adam who was several feet ahead of them and nearly at his room. “besides, i’m going to take it as a compliment.”
“as you should,” felix whispered in her ear before sprinting ahead towards his room.
he slowed down a bit to pat adam on the shoulder as he walked by, giving him a knowing look. she could see adam’s fists tighten and shoulders tense further and was surprised he didn’t rip the door off before entering his room.
♚: Head scratches for riona/tane (i’m not sorry for choosing this one 😂)
It comes about quite by accident.
They are watching a shitty romance film on TV. Tane sits on the plush carpet between Riona’s legs as she cards her fingers through his hair, marvelling at how soft it is even though he insists he uses 3-in-1 (for the first time, she thinks that her new boyfriend might actually be a liar, and wouldn’t that be ironic?).
And then it happens. She accidentally brushes manicured nails over the shaved sides of his head, and he moans.
Not the way he usually moans, low and throaty and entreating. This is quiet and calm and apparently involuntary – he doesn’t seem to realise he has done it until he shifts a little under her hands, which have stilled on him.
“E ipo?” Riona knows that Tane worries about her watching romance films, worries that they will bring back bad memories (since Bobby had clearly modelled himself on the leading men from these films, with his charming smile and extravagant gestures hiding something rotten) and she feels guilty for a brief moment, before running her nails over the skin above his left ear to try and cover her hesitation.
A shiver ripples through him, and now he has stilled, calm and unmoving as a statue underneath her, between her thighs.
The thought of him between her thighs hardly helps matters. Nor does it help when he turns to face her, takes her chin in between his finger and thumb and guides their lips together, moving in a rhythm that only they understand and that steals her breath away, and—
And it certainly does not help when he turns back around to watch the rest of the film, a smile playing on his lips.
When the news dropped, Adam could be heard breaking several surely important things. Nate ran after him, trying to limit the destruction, but he wasn't very successful.
The Agency had concluded that for her next longterm mission, she was better accompanied by Unit Alpha than Unit Bravo, despite her pretty much being a member of the latter. Kira herself found it insanely funny, but the crashes coming from the living room made her wince. Nate was a chill guy, and it was unnecessary of Adam to take out his frustrations this way.
It was hilarious, though. He would say stuff like "yes, colleague, that's what you are, Detective, nothing except the job matters" and all that jazz, and then he turned around and threw a fit as soon as she got paired with his rivals. Subtle.
Felix was torn between laughing with her and moping about the fact that he wouldn't see her for a month. Mason didn't voice any such feelings, but she liked to think that he would miss her too.
The day that she would leave approached, and soon she was packing her things in her room. She had just zipped up her suitcase when Adam walked in through the door, giving her a stiff nod. "Detective."
She rolled her eyes. "Commanding Agent. Adam. There's no need to be so formal."
He frowned. "It's better that way. Easier." Somehow, she didn't think he'd meant for her to hear the words, mumbled under his breath.
"Right. Anyway... I'm kinda trying to get ready here."
"Yes." He hesitated, not meeting her eyes. "I just wanted to say...." he trailed off and she suppressed a frustrated sigh.
"Yeah?" Please, tell me what I hope you will. Her hopes were, predictably, crushed.
"I... take care of yourself, Kira." It wasn't exactly what she was looking for, but her name in his voice made her smile. Maybe they were finally getting somewhere. Probably not. Getting all excited over him using your literal name? That's just pathetic.
Her smile disappeared, and she tried to seem more indifferent than she felt. "I can't promise anything. But I'll try." He nodded, and then left as if nothing happened.
He'll come around someday. Right? She straightened and headed out towards the entrance to the warehouse, suitcase rolling behind her.
Somehow, Unit Alpha had gotten a car with an extra high roof and lots of leg room that Tane leaned against the side of. "Hey, Kira. Looking forward to hanging out with us?" His tone made it clear what he was talking about, and though she wasn't really interested in him (how could she, when--) she decided to play along.
"I'm sure we'll get to know each other... intimately." The words were almost lazy, casual. But Tane frowned slightly and looked over her shoulder. She didn't bother checking; it had to be Adam. Well, guess what? You can't both deny your feelings and keep me to yourself.
She inched closer to Tane, reaching out a hand to rest it on the car door just an inch from his body, and murmured, "He doesn't have any claim on me. Ignore him." Low enough for Adam not to hear, but Tane could pick it up.
He raised an eyebrow, but smirked. "If you say so. Then he won't mind if I do this, right?" He slung an arm around her shoulders, and though Adam's glare burned into the back of their heads when they got into the car's backseat together, she smiled.
Maybe it's time to get over Adam and find someone who will accept loving you. You've pined over him for long enough.
---
Over the weeks, she and Tane hung out almost every day, and the feelings growing in her chest had to be something more than friendship. She certainly caught him looking at her more than a few times.
One evening, they were sitting on a cliff's edge side by side when Tane suddenly spoke, making her turn towards him. "What have you thought about this mission? It must have been rather different from hanging out with the vampires."
"Yeah, it was. But I've enjoyed it. You are nice company."
His large hand moved to cover hers. "All of us... or just me?" He leaned closer to her and she drew in a breath from surprise. But with a few inches between them, he stopped and gazed into her eyes. "Do you still yearn for him? Do you wish it was him in this moment?"
"What?" Why did he bring that up now?
He frowned. "Just answer the question, please. Do you still think about Adam, right now?"
Her heart sank. "I'm sorry, I just--"
He pressed a finger to her lips. "It's fine. I knew from the start I could never compete with the man you love, however stubborn and idiotic he might be." She giggled, the tense moment lightening.
She wasn't particularly disappointed that he didn't kiss her; it was almost a relief. Try as she might, Tane was more like a good friend to her at this point. But still... "I wish you were the one I loved, though. You wouldn't push me away so much."
He laughed. "Tell me if he hurts you again, and I'll beat him up for you."
"Violence is bad."
"You literally shot him the first time you met."
"He deserved it."
"I'm sure he did." The grin he gave her was wholly friendly, without awkwardness.
