(no subject)

[lupintrois]

It was Lupin's third theft in as many weeks. After his conversation with Sunshine he'd gone off and gotten himself properly drunk, just to get a third perspective on the matter, and then struck out twice with two increasingly annoyed women and gone home alone.

The question was never 'is Zenigata worth it'. Obviously, Zenigata was great, but Zenigata was not the treasure he was trying to hunt down here. The question was 'is trying to get a relationship with Zenigata that's more than occasional drinking buddies and sworn rivals worth it'. Was it worth it to disrupt the status quo, and would the treasure he got by disrupting it be worth the loss?

Klaus had, unfortunately, been incredibly unforthcoming about whether the sex was any good and Sunshine hadn't had as much perspective on romancing him as he'd hoped. (Boy, he'd read that one totally wrong.) He'd poked Fujiko about it a little but she'd assumed he was jealous and played up Zenigata's prowess and romantic charms just to needle him, only to find him storming out on her.

The next week, a diamond quietly went missing in Sweden. After that, a gold-plated vintage car in Australia vanished from a mob boss's personal collection. It wasn't quite the same without Pops but it also wasn't boring...losing Pops as a rival wouldn't shatter what made theft worth it. He'd had to convince himself of that before he could escalate to the next step.

(Of course he hadn't bugged the apartment. That would just be rude. But he had hidden a camera next to the door, just so he could see when Pops started residing in it again.)

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[lupintrois]

“And if I did?”

Tell him it’d be worth it. Tell him you’d want it. He’s halfway over the table by now.

[zenigatcha]

"I dunno, Lupin," Zenigata put one elbow on the table, leaning over his cups a little bit. "Are you going to ask because you want to take something from Klaus, or are you going to ask because you want to start something with me?"

Tell him he's wanted because he's the partner that Lupin wants, n0ot the object Lupin desires to take from someone else. Tell him he's desired because he's Zenigata. Tell him the risk is worth it, as he leans over the other half of the table, eyes wide and pupils blown.

[lupintrois]

That hungry look intensifies. "Not the first one," he mutters, leaning in a little closer. "But....might be the second one."

That's all the commitment he'll give before he goes in for the kiss.

[zenigatcha]

It'll do; so long as he's not a thing to steal from another -- those treasures get spent or put aside. Zenigata's in it for the long haul -- he always has been.

One hand comes back to the back of Lupin's head, fingers carding through his hair. He doesn't want to rush, he doesn't want it frantic lust, so he exerts some control as best he can, focusing instead on the mouth he's thought about too many times the last few night, the brilliant green of Klaus' dress invoking memories of a younger Lupin in an emerald blazer.

So he takes his time, getting the feel of him, the shape of his lips, snagging the lower one to suck on for a moment before he tilts his head to deepen the kiss.

[lupintrois]

The kiss was what had worried him. Lupin had stressed over whether that moment would be when he finally found himself disgusted and pulled away, when he'd finally realized he had only been after the chase and never the quarry. That this would be the moment when all of Zenigata's concerns would be validated.

Instead he shoves the cups to the side so he can climb right over that table and keep on kissing.

[zenigatcha]

Zenigata makes a little sound, but it's lost in the clatter of the cups and the spilling of sake all over the floor. He should have known that if one gives Lupin an inch, he would greedily race for the mile.

So Zenigata does what he has to: grab him, pull him into his lap and roll to press him back. He doesn't stop kissing him, but he reaches for control, for leverage, for something. All thoughts of he's not good enough for you goes out the window, all caution tossed to the wind.

He'll remember himself in a minute or two, when he comes up for air, lips kiss-swollen. "L--Lupin--"

[lupintrois]

So much for 'no, I have too much self-respect for you'. Lupin grins and cuts off the protests with another kiss, tongue slipping between his lips and lanky legs curling around his hips.

[zenigatcha]

A lot of things are being reconsidered. Zenigat's got Lupin's tongue in his mouth and the thief's legs locked around his waist. Scrabbling a little, he finally gets one hand to a wrist, and pulls it down, and then the other.

Flush faced, he hoisted himself up, trying to keep Lupin's hands in his control; pinned above his head, preferably, but the thief was like an eel and keeping up with his movements was actually bloody difficult, even for an expert in joint locks.

"Lupin! S-- slow down."

[lupintrois]

"Why?" asks Lupin, slipping out of the holds as easily as he's put in them, his grin growing to manic levels. Why wait, he's already been so good and had to wait so long and they have so much lost time to make up for.

[zenigatcha]

"Because--" he said, though laughter is warring with something deeper, welling up his chest. "Because-- I--"

There's a lot of voices now, banging around his head. Talking about being a fraud, being better than this, being... what? He's just got so much feeling welling up inside him that his eyes start to leak even as he laughs, tears beading up on his lashes.

"God, you stupid monkey," he finally blurts, disheveled as his robp hangs open and his face flushes. "Just let me have this."

[lupintrois]

Well, which is it, Koichi? Are you too good for this, or are you not good enough for him? Either pick one or throw them all out the window and let Lupin steal his treasure.

Lupin's thumb comes up and wipes one of those tears away, his smile going soft now. "You've got it," he says quietly, and shifts to a slower, calmer kiss.

[zenigatcha]

It's easy to boil a frog if you start out slow and heat the water up slowly, rather than just drop him into a boiling pot. He does not, however, stop kissing the thief. He just wants to drink him all in, learn the contours of his mouth.

He rolls back, bringing Lupin up atop him -- showing his belly in surrender as he catches Lupin's face in his hands.

"It's always--" he murmurs, his tongue gluing to the roof of his mouth before he swallows hard. "It's always been you. Wherefore-- Hah. Do you remember? Wherefore art thou Zenigata? Blood called to blood. Because it couldn't be anybody else."

He lays there looking up at Lupin, realizing just how deep down the hole he's been with his feelings when he can look up into the thief's face and see that radiant, stupid, monkey-lipped smile.

[lupintrois]

"Look at you, all sappy over me. It's cute." Lupin streches out on top of him, legs on top of legs, chest to chest, nibbling on his ear. "Hey, how much time you had to explore this place, huh? You checked all the drawers?"

[zenigatcha]

There's a little harrumphing, while the original tsundere turns his head and says, "It's not like that!" Except he just said that it was, so best to move on to an entirely different topic whatsoever.

"Lupin, I went straight to the office when my plane hit the tarmac," Zenigata said, though he's stroking a hand along the other man's back, feeling the slick leather blazer under his fingertips in a whole new way. "I didn't get here until-- a few minutes before you showed up, probably. I haven't even unpacked except to shower. I just found the robe in the bathroom, so I used it."

[lupintrois]

Lupin reaches to one of the nearby bookshelves and does a little twisting of his fingers, opening a false bottom. When his hand comes back he's got two condoms and a little lube packet. Coyly, he puts one of the condoms in his teeth.

"I got plenty more things you can use here."

[zenigatcha]

A red flush races from Zenigata's chest to his brow. He looks at Lupin. Then, he looks at the bookshelf. For a moment, his detective's brain engages and wonders how it works, why THERE of all places, why--

--but then he looks back at Lupin and the condom packet hanging from his teeth.

"...you randy son of a bitch." He's in awe. Truly.

[lupintrois]

"I figured, y'know, either I got lucky or you did. Either way, it'd be useful." He winks, settling in to straddle the man's hips.

"Chasing you instead of getting chased isn't my favorite thing, but it was nice to mix things up a bit."

[zenigatcha]

Settling back, Zenigata's eyes rake over Lupin as he shifts position, and then bites his lip on all the things he could say or the thoughts he could express. He doesn't have to, they're all over his broad, blushing face.

Then he cuts his gaze to the side, and said, "After we got back from the Jin dungeon, I just kept-- feeling good. Not just because we got Wen Qing out, but... because we got Wen Qing out and we'd just taken her. Without anyone knowing or being able to stop us." For a hot second, he was a thief and he loved it.

"So maybe keep chasing, okay? Sometimes -- change is nice."

[lupintrois]

"Ooh, so you're saying you like being a naughty criminal?" Now that does send Lupin into a fit of smug giggling, because he knows exactly how good a criminal Zenigata could be if he put his mind to it. That's the real shame of the whole thing - but then again, Lupin would probably be a decent cop if he cared to be. His hands try to get that robe off Zenigata's shoulders, to see more of what he's 'stolen'.

"We should take you on a few shifts, let you get that energy off robbing millionaires."

[zenigatcha]

"I didn't say that," Zenigata replies, burying himself in gruffness as Lupin tugs at his clothes. He eventually pushes himself up straight, robe slopping off one shoulder. "I said I liked stealing from bad people. Very different. But maybe next time they need a thief, I'll just do things myself."

The way the padlock gave under his hands was downright amazing, knowing it was coming off and that they'd walk out with Wen Qing scot free... He could see why Lupin enjoyed it. Didn't approve (no never!) but... he could at least understand it.

Upright, Zenigata hides his face in the crook of Lupin's neck; the scent of pickles and champagne is there, leather under that, the musky smell of money, mineral spirits of gun oil, and the scent of gin as a sharp edge. He is still teetering on the brink, on the edge of falling, brought this far by everything that's happened with them in the last year or two, Millways providing the largest push.

To think, once, he wanted to kill this man. Zenigata would laugh at the absurdity of who they were versus who they are now. Still...

"I'm going to still beat you, you know," he murmurs, just so he's clear. "Just so we're clear. Every innocent person you rob, every goddamn treasure you pluck from the public -- I'm going to be on your ass like I stole it, you got it?"

[lupintrois]

"I look forward to watching you try," Lupin purrs, and goes in for another kiss. Oh, thank god. There's nothing more romantic he could have said than "This won't ruin the chase for us".

[zenigatcha]

One hand comes up to the back of Lupin's neck, as Zenigata's other hand slides to the small of his back. He savors the kiss, and then pulls him back down.

The right things will change, and the needed constants will remain. Maybe this isn't the best idea, and maybe this will shake thing up in too many ways... but Zenigata's done denying it.

He plucks all the packets from Lupin's hands, and then has to really think about the final plunge. When he looks up, with those eyes that no longer hide their adoration, he asks, "So you going to show me what you hid in the bedroom, Lupin?"