The scent of black tea hung loosely in the air as the cup on the desk no longer wafted any steam upward. It had sat there for sometime now; mostly forgotten as the man working at the desk let it escape his mind. He'd gotten up and made it for the sake of keeping himself moving. Anything beyond sitting at this desk and playing nice.
There were probably better things to do. A thousand better things in fact. Hazama sank back into his seat and watched the unrelenting piles of paperwork refuse to move themselves. There was plenty to read. Not a lot of it was news, but some of it was useful. He usually shuffled it about enough to make himself appear useful and kept whatever he needed to know for later.
The office was more comfortable when it was quiet and no one was around anyway. Hazama's gaze fixed on the untouched cup of tea cooled at the corner of his desk. It was definitely better this way.
He tipped his hat forward, leaned back all the way and relaxed in his chair. A few quiet minutes passed and that was enough to put him to sleep. There were no knocks at the door, no interruptions for once—at least enough for a short nap.
That time did not last long however. It seemed like only when he was on the very edge of an enjoyable little dream did a knock hit his door and wake him. He only had a chance to tip his hat back out of the way before Colonel Relius let himself into the office. The door was shut behind him and he said nothing at first. Even through the mask Hazama could feel his gaze drilling into him.
"Working hard, I can assume," the colonel began; clearing the distance from door to desk in a few brisk strides.
A grin spread across the captain's face. "When have you ever known me to slack off? I'm hurt, Relius. Really. Making assumptions when you know the answer."
Relius stopped aside the desk, observing the tea, the desk and lastly Hazama. "You've been sleeping often. I'm curious if there's something wrong with you."
"Nothing but waiting at this point. Waiting for pieces to fall into place I can't exactly force in just yet. Excuse me if I'm not excited enough for you, Colonel. Did you want me to entertain you?"
"Not entirely. But I do have better things to do."
Hazama remained quiet for a moment as he watched Relius' back. He wasn't sure what the colonel was watching outside; it must have been more interesting than himself hanging out of his chair. "Then go do them, Colonel. Oh, unless..." He began as the thought struck him. He sat up and gave Relius a glowing smile. "You were just dying for my company? I'm touched. You missed me. What has it been? A few days?"
The captain's cackling didn't really stop Relius from simply answering in his own way. "It's been a week, Hazama."
"That long? No wonder you came. You aren't going to ask me anything though?"
A short silence fell before Relius finally looked over his shoulder the other man's way. Another step back and he nearly came to face him. "You would expect me to ask you? It sounds like you have something in mind. You won't have me making assumptions about you after all. Do tell."
Hazama stood abruptly giving Relius a particular look as he did. "You have so much to do, right?" He takes Relius' silence as a "yes." He shifts to lean on the edge of desk facing Relius. The amusement in his voice picks up. "So busy, but you came here for essentially no reason. Meaning you're bored too. You didn't go find some new subject. No, no. You're here."
"I'm doing you a favor and not assuming you have a point yet either," Relius butts in. And yet there was just the hint of a smirk on his face.
Hazama's hand snapped out and caught a fistful of Relius' cloak. The puppeteer remained steady in place as if waiting for Hazama to make his decision. His grasp tightened as he pulled. The yank was only enough to cause Relius to lean a touch closer.
The tea on the desk tipped and spilled as Hazama pushed off.
The two stayed quiet and too close, one grinning at the other as neither backed down. Relius slipped in closer by a single step. At first Hazama was certain he was making a move, but instead the colonel leaned over Hazama's shoulder and reached out to upright the tea cup behind him.
"I believe you have work left here. And a bit of a mess. I suppose we can find a better time later," he said as he stalled near Hazama's ear as he pulled away. Hazama's grip loosened on Relius' cloak and he eventually set his hand on his hat.
"I can take a hint. You just leave it to me," he grumbled in response; more irked than he would have liked to have been.
The colonel grinned once more—that slight touch of amusement carrying in his voice. "Then I'll await your arrival, captain. Do keep yourself together until then. I don't know if I'll want to spend the time on a check up."
The captain did not move or do much to acknowledge the request beyond something of an agreement. He watched Relius leave and only picked himself up after the door was shut.
"Goddamn tease," he muttered.
The breath he felt wash by seemed especially hot. His lips curved up into a grin against Relius' skin as a low, amused laugh got away from him. "So busy, Colonel. Don't have a moment to spare," he said teasingly between rougher presses of his lips to the small portion of Relius' neck he'd gotten free of any collar in the way. He was still in the process of getting his fingers around the rest of it.
"I don't especially...I could get back to it if that's your preference..." Relius answered in a lowered voice; shifting slightly against the wall. It wasn't exactly where he expected to end up, but he got the feeling Hazama had not exactly planned this either.
"Oh no no no. You're good. You stay put. Behave. Or don't," Hazama was quick to correct him, his focus dropped toward the hem of Relius' shirt where his fingers snaked under and up. "Whatever. Until I'm done with you," he muttered.
The blond's next breath came out hard and turned soon to a short laugh. "Full of orders suddenly. Don't I outrank you in this little game?"
"Funny how that doesn't seem to matter to you until right now," Hazama shot back; his hands working up Relius' skin with no particular path in mind just yet. He held his stance that kept the colonel mostly trapped up against the wall. Not that he couldn't push out. Or could have deterred him in the first place.
No, Relius was just especially difficult.
Contrary for the sake of watching Hazama squirm maybe.
"Suddenly pushing a superior officer into the wall and behaving so crassly? I'm sure we could get you put away for such an offense," Relius continued just above a whisper.
Hazama's lips paused over Relius' neck. "You'd enjoy every second of it."
"I do not doubt that."
His lips parted and rather than the feeling of a kiss Relius expected he instead received a sharp bite. Hazama carried on with open mouthed kisses on his flesh around the toothy marks he'd left behind as if he'd not done it at all. It worked better than anything he could have answered with.
The shift in Relius' voice was slight, but noticeable this close. The pick up was small—one Hazama recognized as just a little more heat.
"If you're trying to make a point with that you might want to be more clear."
The stillness between Relius' suggestion and Hazama was only a matter of seconds. Three seconds at the very most.
The thinner man pressed up against him at the hip; a sharper look in his eyes as he grinned. "I'll spell it out for you, nice and slow. You can wait."
Relius grinned back. One hand moved from his side to reach up for Hazama's tie, loosening it casually. "Take your time."
When he approached there was a slight shift below and a dry laugh. The laughter turned to coughing and an amused little grumble. Barely, he heard his name.
"Relius, decided to show up… At least before I'm dead this time."
Relius stepped over closer to Hazama sprawled out on the floor, bleeding all over himself. He did not get too close, but enough so to stand over him and look down at the mess.
He was a pitiful thing.
"You? You won't die. Not like this anyway," Relius said as he gave him a slight grin. "I'm surprised you're still here though. Not that you have much choice I suppose."
There came a particularly awful cough and spattering of blood as Hazama tried to sit up. "You gonna rub this in or are you gonna help me out here?"
Relius seemed to consider it a moment before summoning Ignis to his side. "Perhaps, but I'm curious how much more you can handle. You might want to get up."
The captain sputtered for a second before pulling himself up. "You're not serious, are you?" Arms hung loosely at his sides as he shot a sharp look Relius' way. "If you're really doing this I'm not gonna hold back."
That was all that was left needed to be said before they clashed. It was embarrassingly short from there. They traded blows certainly; however, Relius' advantage was so great it was only a matter of a few minutes before Hazama was left dangling in Ignis' grip.
One hand clasped at her arm at first—a fruitless struggle that only served to further aggravate his wounds. Eventually he seemed to work out his situation and let go as he laughed. Relius couldn't say the wounds were going to his head especially. It was hard to tell against the usual with him.
"Would it have killed you to go a little easier?" he said at first through a deranged grin. "Look at me. Me...here like this."
Relius stepped in closer from behind Ignis while grinning right back at him. "How could I look anywhere else given the opportunity?"
"Yeah? Burn it into your eyes...Gonna be the last you see. I swear I'm going to make him bleed out of every goddamn pore when I get to him next."
"Provided you get there."
"You do your damn part and we won't have any problems."
Relius was quiet a moment before reaching out and setting his hand on Hazama's wound at his side gently until he seemed to change his mind and instead pressed his hand against it. When he withdrew his white glove was soaked red. The miserable sound out of Hazama was particularly pathetic.
"You don't need to tell me. It's under control, isn't it? The timing is nearly there I assume," Relius answered matter of factly, his gaze on his hand.
"Don't fuck with me. Get it over with," Hazama snapped back at him with whatever energy he had left.
"You put this in my hands and you've no request for how it's done? I suppose if we were patient enough maybe it would be done by itself," Relius answered in his usual tone—not especially turned by threats at this point. They were fairly empty. "You could at least ask politely."
The look on Hazama's face twisted into something between shock and amusement. "Relius you goddamn bastard. The second I get back you're paying for this a hundred times over. Hope you know that."
"Politely, I said."
There was a few seconds pause before Hazama laughed loudly; at least as much as his body could stand until it devolved to coughing. Maybe he was now finally starting to crack open. With blood flecked over his lips he grinned and answered. "Please then Relius, finish the damn job."
The colonel stepped in closer to Hazama just barely held up off the ground. He leaned in closer still and Hazama could not say for sure how long his lips lingered. It seemed too short. The look on his face after was hard to read.
"A little better. Then I'll see it done." With a few sure strides Relius put some distance between himself and the captain. Surprisingly, there was no response from Hazama. There would be no better time then.
"Ignis, if you would please."
With nothing else to hold her back Ignis sank her bladed fingers into Hazama's throat and soon let his figure drop—a sick, but pleased grin still frozen over his features.
