Title: Start with a Kiss
Author: Merci
Pairing: Giovanni/Badou
Source: Dogs: Bullets & Carnage
Wordcount: 681
Warnings: Light yaoi (a kiss!)
Disclaimer: I do not own Dogs, Badou or Giovanni. The story itself *does* belong to me. I am making no profit from this endeavour.
Summary: It's New Year's Eve and Badou is looking for some time to himself. Luckily for him, Giovanni knows how to kill time until midnight.
Notes: Written up for spikeygal on lj to cheer her up. I hope it's nice and fluffy and you enjoy it. I've been writing Giovanni has this aggressive, sadistic bastard, so I thought it would be fun to have him as a more sane person that can have a real relationship with someone else.
Start with a Kiss
Badou stepped over a puddle of slush as he crossed the street. The air had lost its chill from the previous days and was warm enough to go outside without the standard shivering and cursing. Smoke trailed up from the redhead as he stepped over another puddle of melting snow and hunched his shoulders to begin the short walk down random streets. He felt stupid turning down random streets, since the New Year's party he'd left had actually been kinda fun. That was, until he found a moment to sit and think and invite a wave of melancholy to come up and ruin his mood. He looked around and saw his friends smiling and saying happy things to each other and he didn't feel any of it. He made an excuse, saying he needed to buy more smokes and left. The last thing he wanted was to pretend he was excited and happy when midnight came around.
He looked up and over the buildings until he saw the glowing golden numbers of the clock tower, ticking down to the next year. Further up the street a door banged open as some drunks stumbled outside. They were singing something familiar and were swaying with their arms around one another. Someone followed and fell into a puddle of slush and everyone laughed. Badou sighed and lit another smoke. He crossed the street again to avoid walking past the inebriated people just in case he knew one of them. He'd just left a party, he didn't feel like being pulled into another. He just was not in the mood for crowds right then. One of the drunks called to him by name, but the redhead pretended not to hear and turned down the first side-street he could find.
His feet sped up, slipping in the melting snow, only slowing down when he reached the opening to the next major street. He stopped moving, lingering in the alley and listening to the noise coming from the street beyond. He could hear the voices of hundreds of people, peeking around the corner he saw there was some sort of festival with a stage and too many balloons to count. The clock tower stood behind the stage with its golden numbers ticking closer and there was a band performing on stage. Badou squinted to see them, but gave up and withdrew to the quiet alleyway and slouched against the brick wall. He folded his arms over his chest, trying to decide where he could go, too distracted to notice the man that had followed him.
He turned, red hair flipping out from under his hat as his pale-green eye widened in recognition. The surprise lasted a second and he lowered his gaze to take in the others' appearance. The man's usual lush suit was missing and he was instead wearing jeans. He had his hands loosely tucked into the pockets of his leather jacket and a bright, yellow scarf peeked out around his neck. "Not celebrating?" he asked with a thin-lipped smile. His large sunglasses reflected the redhead's flat expression.
"Not in the mood," he replied, lighting a cigarette. The taste of tobacco slid across his tongue and he smiled wanly as the people in the street beyond started to count down the seconds until midnight.
"You're tough to track down," Giovanni moved close, pressing the palm of his hand to Badou's chest.
"Hmmm, you still found me, though," Badou tried smiling.
"I was almost too late, too…" Giovanni mumbled.
Badou opened his mouth, but his questions of 'what the hell are you talking about?' were swallowed up as the blond moved forward and swiftly captured his mouth in a kiss. Their lips pressed together in a sweet touch; firm and needy.
From around the corner came the dim shouts and cheers as the clock struck midnight. Giovanni's lip curled up, smiling as he tried to draw back and the redhead pulled him closer. Badou's fingers curled into the soft leather jacket, pulling the other man closer, his forgotten cigarette dying in the snow by their feet.