Leon Vance had no idea what he was doing, he had gone completely insane. He had never considered having a relationship with a subordinate or even a colleague before. He had certainly never thought of having a relationship with a man before. Not that it was a proper relationship, they didn't go on dates or anything, the closest they had ever got to having coffee together was the time that Hetty made tea for everyone in Ops.
As far as he was aware they really didn't have anything in common other than both working for NCIS. They didn't speak much when they were together, most of their words were directions of harder, faster or to request a change of position. Eric didn't even call him by his first name, it was always Vance or Director. After he had heard Eric scream Director as he climaxed video calls with Los Angeles were very different. Every time that Eric called him Director his mind brought up the image of the younger man's face as he rode him to completion.
He felt like something was changing though, they had been meeting for six months now and Leon wasn't sure that their arrangement was working anymore. The sex was as good as it had been at the beginning, but he was missing the intimacy of an actual relationship. He had liked being able to talk to Jackie about his day, and to ask about hers. He could ask the kids about their days sure, but he couldn't really tell them about his. He enjoyed having random conversations about anything and everything before he fell asleep, but with Eric there was none of that. After sex one of them would leave almost straight away, leaving no time for conversation or falling asleep together.
Leon had considered that it was time to end their arrangement and start dating again, but whenever he thought about picking up the phone to call Eric to end things he found that he couldn't do it. Instead his mind would fill with thoughts and images of him and Eric together in bed, just holding each other as they talked. He realised that he wanted an actual relationship with Eric, not just a couple of rounds of fantastic sex whenever they were around each other. He knew that it wouldn't be an easy relationship, even if Eric did agree to it. There was the fact that they lived in different states and that Leon was Eric's boss, but those things could be worked round if they were willing to try.
The distance thing was an issue, but thousands of people had managed to sustain long distance relationships. In fact he and Eric would have it a lot easier than some, they would be able to phone or videocall each other, something a lot of their servicemaen were unable to do. As for being his boss it wasn't as if Eric reported straight to him or that he had any real input on the mans salary or working conditions. As she often liked to remind him, the Los Angeles office was under Henrietta's purview.
Leon knew that this was something that would need to be discussed in person, but there was no reason for Eric to be back in DC so soon and he was sure that Henrietta was getting annoyed with his visits to OSP. Checking his calendar he noticed that he had no meetings or pressing engagements for the next few days. That would give him enough time to fly to LA and speak with Eric, and hopefully convince him to enter a proper relationship or end their arrangement. He didn't want to end their association, but he needed more from their relationship. Hopefully Eric would be receptive to the idea of a relationship between them, but if he wasn't he wouldn't hold it against him. They were both adults, working together wouldn't be a problem.
Booking a flight he cleared his schedule and made arrangements for the kids before heading home to pack before leaving to catch his flight. The flight was the longest he had taken for a while, mainly because he knew that he would have to wait to see Eric even once he got off the flight. He had looked up Eric's address before he left the office, having not known where the other man lived. Once he had checked into his hotel he intended to go straight to Eric's to await him getting home, reasoning that the other man was more likely to stay and talk to him if it was his house than if they were at Leon's hotel.
He didn't actually have to wait too long, he had contacted Henrietta about some general issues and enquired about the progress of the days business. Once he was sure that Eric would be home at a decent hour he had headed to the man's apartment, picking up a bottle of wine on the way. To say that Eric was confused to find him outside his apartment was an understatement. Leon would be lying if he said that he hadn't found the confusion and the way that Eric had tripped over his words adorable.
Eric had invited him inside and it was Leon's turn to be nervous and flustered. The idea of having this conversation over the phone had seemed like the wrong thing to do, but now that he was faced with Eric he wished he had. He hadn't even been this nervous when they had started their sexual arrangement. He practically stuttered through the conversation, as he tried to explain exactly what he wanted and was hoping for from their relationship.
He could tell that Eric seemed flattered by his attention, but he also appeared to be mostly in shock He stood up from where he was sat and moved to the kitchen on autopilot, grabbing two glasses and a corkscrew. Leon obviously wasn't being thrown out just yet if Eric was bringing him a glass as well. They talked about their situation as the bottle emptied, and by time the wine was finished Leon had heard all of Eric's concerns regarding a relationship between them, but he was still unsure about what Eric's response would be.
When Eric stood and started walking to his bedroom, stripping as he went, Leon was unsure if he should follow or not. Was this Eric's way of showing he wanted a relationship with him, or was it just a goodbye fuck. Leon followed anyway, hoping for the best and was pleasantly surprised by the evenings outcome. Their relationship wouldn't be easy, but Leon didn't care, it was a proper relationship now even if it was a long distance one, it was no longer just an arrangement based on their baser needs. The best thing so far about their relationship wasn't the sex, or the talking they had done after they had finished with sex for the evening, but the way that Eric had said his first name.