It's taken a while, months since he's joined his father on his mission, of putting the pieces together for Nikko to come to the conclusion that Vincent's dedication to his father is more than just duty and friendship.
He's seen the way Vincent's eyes track his father all the time, like they're unavoidably, magnetically drawn to him. And he's seen the way his father watches Vincent without watching, from the corner of his eye, in his peripheral vision. In the beginning, he'd thought it was because his father didn't trust Vincent, but after Vincent used Dorna to smuggle the Sphere of Archimedes to America, he realised that wasn't it at all.
His father is not watching again as Vincent treats a cut to his shoulder, obtained protecting them all from danger, again. It not that Nikko doesn't know Vincent has an impressive physique, especially when he's stripped out of his shirt, but all Nikko sees is someone who could beat the crap out of him without breaking a sweat. His father looks at Vincent like he can't see enough.
"He's totally into you, you know," he tells his father. The idea of his father dating anyone, the idea of him being with anyone after his mother, being with Vincent of all people, still creeps him out on some instinctive level, but Nikko wants him to be happy, too. And it's not like Vincent's going to make the first move, not when he clearly respects Nikko's father so much and would rather keep his silence and their friendship than nothing at all. Vincent's way too good at keeping his silence.
"What?" his father asks, looking at Nikko with slack-jawed, wide-eyed surprise.
"Vincent," Nikko says, nodding to where Vincent is sitting, watching them with narrowed eyes.
"I don't know what you're talking about," his father says, looking away from them both.
"Sure," Nikko says, injecting every ounce of teenage defiance into the word as he can. He father casts a glare at him, but it's rather undercut by a faint blush creeping up his neck.
"Don't you have homework to finish?" his father asks in a transparent bid to get Nikko onto some other topic of conversation.
"Seriously," Nikko tells him, "who else would put up with you?"
He struggles to keep the smile on his face as he thinks of his mother, but it's been 10 years and that's a long time to be alone.
"And you'd be okay with it?" his father asks, staring at him intently. "If..."
Nikko thinks it's just as well his father doesn't finish that thought. He's not sure he's ready for that mental image.
"Maybe it'll keep you off my back a bit," Nikko says instead. His father looks at him a beat longer, judging his honesty, before he nods almost absently, eyes on Vincent again.
He watches his father walk over to Vincent, hesitant like he's never seen his father before, and talk to him in hushed voices. Nikko can't hear what they're saying, but Vincent's never been one to mince words. His father cups Vincent's face in his hands and leans in to kiss him. It's light and tentative, but Nikko figures it's progress. Too fast to track the movement, Vincent has his father perched on the edge of the desk while he leans over him, bodily trapping him in place. His father doesn't seem to mind at all if the breathless laugh he gives is any indication.
Nikko decides that it's the perfect time to beat a retreat before he's scarred for life. He thinks it might even be too late.