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.
NEON!!!! thank you so much for the prompt, i hope you like this silly little thing!! 💕💕
(As per your other ask lmao) Fluff 3 “Have you seen my hoodie?” “Noo.” “You’re wearing it, aren’t you?”
*
Nicky is convinced Nile would be proud that the first thing he thinks upon seeing Joe’s abandoned hoodie on the floor is: ‘It’s free real estate’. And he’s so proud of himself for making her proud that he takes a picture of himself in the hoodie like she has taught him (a ‘selfpic’ or something she called it), and sends it to her with exactly that caption.
As usual, Joe is still sprawled in the bed, lost in the land of dreams. After a fond, lingering look, Nicky slips out of the room.
One coffee and some small chores later, Nicky is snuggled up on the couch, surrounded by Joe’s scent and engrossed in a book. But not so engrossed he doesn’t hear Joe wake up and stumble sleepily through their bedroom. He smiles inwardly, but keeps reading.
“Nicky?” Joe asks after five minutes of rummaging, walking into the living room. “Have you seen my hoodie?”
Nicky doesn’t even look up from his book. “No.”
A pause. Then, “You’re wearing it, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Joe comes to stand right in front of him, tugging on the hood Nicky has pulled over his head.
“This. That’s my hoodie.”
“Well, I found it on the floor, so now it’s mine.” Nicky loves the way the corners of Joe’s mouth twitch in a disbelieving but also very delighted smile. He can tell Joe likes the view.
“Would you let me shiver to death like this?” Joe asks, pulling his mouth into a pout now and rubbing his bare arms for good measure.
“I thought I was the warmth when you shiver in cold, not this hoodie.”
Joe’s eyes turn positively mischievous and suddenly he’s climbing onto Nicky and crawling along into the hoodie.
“Yusuf, love of my life and center of my universe, what in God’s name are you doing?” Nicky asks and can’t help but laugh as Joe squirms on his belly. He can’t get further in than his head, though.
“Reclaiming what’s rightfully mine! And now stop laughing, you’re making it tighter.”
“I can’t help it, it’s your beard. It tickles!”
Nicky can feel Joe grin against his skin and he knows something bad will happen exactly one second before Joe blows a raspberry right above his navel. If it was supposed to stop Nicky’s laughter, then Joe has done a very poor job.
But Joe is laughing as well, and after a soft kiss to Nicky’s skin, he comes out of the hoodie.
“Okay, you can keep the hoodie.” Joe tries to sound irritated but the twinkle in his eyes gives him away. “But under one condition.”
“Anything,” Nicky says, wiping the tears from his eyes in the aftershocks of his laughter.
“You’ll have to hold me every time I get cold.”
“Oh come here you,” Nicky says and pulls Joe into his arms, kissing his laughter onto Joe’s lips.
