That time Kirk thinks it's Spock giving him a back massage on the bridge feels like a perfect encapsulation of all the ways they're not quite on the same page at this point in the show.
Kirk would apparently love for Spock to give him a back massage when he's stressed, but Spock instead tries to help by pushing Kirk into taking shore leave, which Kirk just finds frustrating.
Sometimes Kirk finds Spock's concern helpful, but he just as often loses patience with it. And meanwhile, Spock sometimes responds in kind to Kirk's flirting and sometimes doesn't know what to do with it.
Im about to go to bed so im not gonna chat about them too much rn but I did finish all 10 of my phantom thieves. So im dumping them all here so u can see them, and I'll chat about them later 😂
Yup ❤️ there sure are 10 of them ❤️
Not all of them are entirely accurate to canon, but i did my best to at least capture the vibes. Yeah ❤️
diabolik brain worms inspired whatever this is enjoy
there is now more to this au!
[you are here (prologue)] [part one] [part two] [part three]
The window slides open with a creak, and Joe smiles without turning around. “We have a door, you know,” he says over his shoulder.
“Just keeping you on your toes,” Nicky responds. “I could've been anyone. You're getting careless, amore.” He closes the window behind him.
It's not true, and they both know it: there's a knife in his hand that he's using to cut vegetables for dinner and two more hidden in the kitchen, within easy reach, that Joe could have used if he thought Nicky was a threat. In the earliest days of their acquaintance, he would have. But he trusts Nicky now, and besides, Joe was expecting him.
Joe still doesn't turn around, but he hears Nicky pull off his mask with his usual muttered complaints about how uncomfortable it is and laughs.
“It's less funny when you're the one who has to wear it,” Nicky grumbles, but he's not really annoyed. Joe can hear him smiling.
Joe's missed him.
With the mask off and tossed idly onto the kitchen table - Joe will complain later about Nicky not bothering to hide it well enough, but right now he's still too happy that Nicky's home to be bothered - Nicky crosses the room to stand behind Joe, wrapping his arms around Joe's waist from behind, his hand flat against Joe's stomach, nuzzling into Joe's neck. “Hi,” he murmurs.
Joe leans back into the familiar warmth, setting down his knife and closing his eyes. Nicky always gets like this after a job, especially one that requires them to be apart for a while - it's been six days since they saw each other last to go over the plan one last time, and then parted ways to maintain their cover, and Joe's missed him like a lost limb. So he's not complaining. “Hi. How'd it go?”
“Perfectly.” He feels Nicky smile against his neck as he sways them both back and forth. “They didn't suspect a thing, and you were right about the security system. You're a genius, my heart.”
Joe's smile widens. “You're beginning to make me wonder how you ever got by without me.”
“I managed not to get caught.”
“Not true,” Joe says. "Remember Milan?”
“I thought we agreed not to mention that,” Nicky says.
Joe laughs at him, but lets it go. Truth be told, he doesn't like to think about Milan much, doesn't want to think about how close he'd come to losing Nicky for good.
He turns in Nicky's arms instead of continuing with that train of thought, looping his own around Nicky's neck. Nicky smiles at him, soft.
“Do you have it with you?”
Nicky shakes his head. “I met with Andy before coming here. She'll drop the information off with Copley, Quynh will sell everything else. Booker's already working on making sure we didn't leave any traces behind. But I did bring you something.” He slides a silver ring off of his finger and holds it out between them.
Joe takes it and holds it up to the light, tilting it back and forth, studying the delicate geometric engravings on its surface, before slipping it onto his own finger. “It's beautiful, Nico. Thank you.”
Nicky smiles again. “I missed you.”
Joe (finally, he's been wanting to since he heard Nicky open the window, or scratch that, since Nicky left for Rome) kisses him.
They've come so far to be here, now, and Joe wouldn't trade any of it for the world. The close calls, the constant moving around, the time Nicky almost died in Milan - Joe thinks they were all worth it for this, for the way Nicky's hand skims over his back and comes to rest between his shoulder blades, pressing them closer.
“I talked to Andy,” Nicky says when they part. “She and Quynh will take the next job, so all we’ll need to do is be backup. And even then, that won’t be for a few months. But it’s just you and me until then.”
“Malta?” Joe asks. That carries much better memories for both of them.
Nicky grins. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
Joe leans in to kiss him again. And tomorrow they’ll need to face reality - they’ll need to leave this apartment soon, probably won’t be able to come back to Italy for a while, just to be safe, and maybe they’ll start taking jobs in a few other countries, because Copley will be able to find them something no matter where they go, but it’ll take time to get their affairs in order and the money from this job sent off to people who need it, and they’ll need to get to work soon, because law enforcement will be looking out for them and they’ll need to be careful - but for now, Joe doesn’t think about any of it. Just pulls Nicky closer.
