Investigating with Steve was always an experience lately, one that he wouldn't give up for anything. After five years of investigating with the guy, he thought he'd be used to everything that the guy did by now, but he still got amazed each place they went. Either he would do something that made him proud to call him his partner in investigating or he would teach him something that, even after five years together, he had never picked up on… or he would do something that made him just want to slap the guy. Tonight? Well, he wanted to slap him more than every before.
Things had been strange at first, hiding their relationship from everyone at TAPS, from the film crews and while they were on the road. Every night they stayed in the same bed, but when others were around or the cameras, they made sure to act no different than they had been for years. He had almost slipped up a few times, letting his hand drift towards the tech managers, trying to grab it and just hold onto it, before the other would cough, or give him a look that made him remember they weren't alone.
It was slowly getting better, though. He didn't think anyone had an idea, and it had been five months so far. They joked around like normal, made bets and pushed each other just like they always had, but behind closed doors, the masks fell. They weren't the guys they showed on camera. They could be gentle with each other, they could each other like they wanted to, and they could show a much gentler side to the other.
Tonight was one of those nights where things were hard to keep hidden, though. It had been storming all day, and while he could handle the rain, the thunder made his skin crawl. He had never cared much for thunderstorms, they always made him want to just curl up and stay in bed all day, with music blaring so he couldn't hear that damned thunder. Though the storm had passed earlier, that feeling was still in the air. Jay and Grant had sent them out onto the lawns while it was clear, trying to get the spirit that could be seen walking through the trees on the thermal. All Tango wanted to do was reach out and hold his hand, dammit.
Maybe that was why he was so out of it. His eyes stayed up, looking through the trees around him, his hands holding onto the clam of the thermal, Steve running the main part like normal. He knew how to use the thermal, he had used it often, but he didn't even notice that they were basically wasting time right then. Not only had Tango failed to notice that Steve had been walking behind him with the thermal instead of in front of him, where he belonged, he also seemed to be completely unaware that he had been staring at his own ass onscreen for the last fifteen minutes. If he had been aware, his eyes only darting down to the clam every minute or so even if he didn't pay attention to what he was seeing, he would have seen his ass staring back up at him. He would have been aware that Steve obviously wasn't in the mood tonight for ghost hunting. Neither of them could feel that haunted feeling.
If he had been aware and his eyes had been down on the clam at all during those fifteen minutes, he would have been ready to see his ass on screen during evidence review.
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"Tango, how about you go with the digital recorders to start out with, and I'll pick up the thermal. Sound good?"
He gave Steve a nod, aware of the camera's on them at the moment. The cameras wouldn't be there for the entire reviewing process, they would be here for another two days straight, but they always taped the first hour or so, and then they would come back at the end and we would replay all of the evidence that they had found. Reaching out, he grabbed a hold of two of the recorders that were on the table, his other hand falling down into his lap. On it's way down, he let his fingers linger on Steve's leg for a moment, shooting him a look under the brim of his hat. The grin he got in response was only the only response that he got, but that was fine. It was that grin that let him know the touch was felt and nice.
They had been sitting there for fifty minutes or so when he finally looked up from the spot he had been staring at on the table. The Camera crew would be leaving in ten minutes or so, and he was thankful. He needed to take a break, to get up and stretch his body and to let his ears rest. His eyes, which he finally let move from the table, shifted over to the male beside him, his brow furrowing when he saw the grin on his face. Almost instantly, he let his eyes move, going to the screen the guy was staring at. His eyes widened instantly as he took in what he was looking at. Why the hell was his ass on the screen?
"Steve.." He kept his eyes narrowed lightly, his gaze darting to the male as he spoke, only to see him snicker. Oh, how he couldn't wait till the camera crew left. Letting his fingers move, he pressed the pause on the recorder, knowing that until he took his break it was pointless to keep listening to it. His eyes instead went to the clock, watching each minute tick by.
The moment the hand hit the Twelve, signaling the hour the camera had been watching them, the crew stood, waving as they made their way to the door. His eyes followed them, and the moment the door swung closed, he let his hand snap out, feeling it connect with Steve's shoulder with a satisfying thud. "Dude! Why the fuck were you watching a fifteen minute thermal clip of my ass?"
"Because I had video taped your ass for fifteen minutes? Have to watch every second of footage, my friend."
His eyes narrowed at the smart-ass response he got. Oh, how he should have been expecting an answer like that. "Why did you video tape my ass for fifteen minutes, then?"
"Because I wanted to video tape your ass, Tango. What can I say, your ass gets me ready to go poking around in things."
"Steve!"
"Hey, you asked, dude. I'm not going to lie. Besides, if you were watching the Clam like you should have been, you would have known and stopped me."
He had a point, and Tango knew that, but that didn't stop him from reaching out, smacking his arm once more. Not only did they have a fifteen minute clip of his ass now, but that 'poking around' comment? Yeah, that wasn't helping his concentration on the evidence right now. "You go back and delete that, right now. What if Jason or Grant decide to go through it all and see that?"
"I can't do that, every piece of footage is saved and archived, you know that. Besides, if they do, they can watch it, and they can marvel at the heat that is your ass. Which, just so you know, if you didn't see it on screen, was pretty hot."
He could feel his cheeks darken about ten shades of red as he stood up, stretching his arms above his head. He was used to Steve making comments towards him, but doing it here in the office, cameras or no cameras, made his stomach flutter. Anyone could walk in, though when it was review days, he knew no one would. "You aren't allowed to make ass comments today. Leave my ass out of this."
Oh, how he could have only wished his words were taken seriously.
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After the long time reviewing all of the evidence, it was time to sit down with the boss men. Jay and Grant were already sitting down, joking about something when the two of them walked into the room. Tango knew they were a few seconds late, but the computer had been slow with burning all of the evidence to the DVD. Steve had decided to do it this time, taking the job away from him, and while he didn't complain, using the time to get something to eat from the gas station just across the street, he should have questioned it. Steve never did that, burned the evidence. It was his job, as the "Minion of the Devil" as he had jokingly said so many times before. As soon as they sat down, Steve leaned forward, getting right to business as usual.
"Alright, we watched all of the camera's, listened to all the recorders, watched the thermals, and I have to say, I think we got some pretty good stuff to play for you. We have about three things from the Recorders to play, and one on the Thermal. Let's start with the Thermal."
He shot a look to the male, eyes widened slightly. They had gotten a hit on the thermal? He was sure the other would have said something, they always ran evidence by each other, but he hadn't been shown anything on the thermal. The only thing out of the ordinary he was aware of was… "Steve, tell me you didn't." His words were low, hissed almost, towards the male sitting beside him. He was ignored though as the screen came up.
"What the… Steve, why are we watching a clip of Tango's ass?"
Hearing Grant laugh, questioning the clip, he felt his cheeks once more heat up. He would get Steve back for this. He kept his eyes down as both of the older men watched the clip, as he heard Grant laugh once more as Steve spoke, and even as he heard Jason let out his own surprising laugh.
"I was bored, and Tango had said something earlier that night about his ass feeling cold. So, I figured while he had the thermal I'd see if it still was or if there was anything following him around. As you can see, it wasn't cold. In fact, and Tango, don't take this wrong, but his ass is surprisingly hot. I just wanted to run it by you, get your opinions."
Oh, Steve was so dead when they got back to his place.
"Well, it's the hottest thing on the screen, but you were outside, so that isn't surprising. Can we skip watching Tango walk, though? Damn, Steve, don't you get enough of that around here?"
His eyes shot up as Grant laughed at Jason's words, his cheeks darkening once more, and he could swear that even his neck was red. Had they guessed? Just by a stupid clip of him walking? No way. No way in hell, it wasn't possible. His eyes darted back down as Grant looked at him, and he winced slighty at the laugh he heard slip through the man's lips.
"Tango, you're as red as a tomato, dude. You gotta learn to take a joke, my friend. I get how being checked out by Steve would be embarrassing though, the pervert"
How Steve could laugh, moving onto the EVP's, and ignore the situation was beyond him. During the rest of the reveal, he kept his mouth shut, only talking long enough once to explain one of the voices the heard, before he went quiet once more. Damn that ass clip. He'd sneak in one day and delete it, he didn't care the Tech Manager said.
Even during break-down, putting away the screens they used and putting away the equipment they had left out in the basement, he kept his mouth shut, earning him several looks from Steve. By the time they were walking towards their separate cars, everyone else was gone. That was the only thing that kept him from yanking his arm away when he felt the fingers curl around his wrist, pulling him to a stop.
"Tango, you aren't still mad about me watching your ass, are you? Come on, dude."
He looked up at Steve, and groaned at the puppy dog eyes he was being given. Even when he wanted to stay pissed, he couldn't. Yanking his hand away from his boyfriend, grinning to himself as the word passed through his mind since he couldn't say it out loud he took a step back. "I'm not mad about you watching my ass, I'm mad that you showed Jay and Grant your watching of my ass. Now…" Turning, he crossed his arms over his chest, pulling his keys from his pocket, calling over his shoulder as he moved towards his car. "…Watch my ass get into my car, because you don't get to touch it for the next week, even at my place!"
"DUDE!"
He laughed to himself as he scooted into his car, ignoring the grummbling he heard though his open window. It served Steve right for recording his ass for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes of thermal footage caught of it, one week with no touching. Yep, sounded right to him.