DISCLAIMER: I do not own Heavy Rain or any of its characters.
A/N: Hello Heavy Rain fans! Some of you may know me from the other boards and fandoms, if not, my name is Malley and I shall be your writer today :) So, I'm a little late to the whole Heavy Rain fandom, as my sister and I just bought/played/beat the game this year. It was a game I'd been wanting to play for a while after seeing some clips and game play online but never got around to buying because being an adult doesn't leave much time for gaming :( So, when the game store had a '4 games for $20 deal,' my sister and I made sure to pick up Heavy Rain!
The result is a love of terrible Boston accents, analyzing the true feelings of a gruff and angry police lieutenant waaaay too deeply, and making origami figures :)
Anyhoo, enough rambling from me! Here is some Blayden fluff because I can't help myself :) Not sure how active this board is but, if you're reading this, enjoy!
THE STAKEOUT
It couldn't have been more awkward if he showed up to the FBI Headquarters in Quantico with nothing but his underwear on after a night long Triptocaine binge. Agent Norman Jayden sat in the passenger's seat of the police car, arm resting on the window sill, cheek against his hand as he stared out at the rain collecting in a puddle on the sidewalk a few feet away. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his partner, Lieutenant Carter Blake, sitting in the driver's seat, practically mirror image to him, except for the seemingly always present scowl on his face. They were on a stakeout, watching and waiting for a new suspect whose psychological profile matched that of the Origami Killer's so they could question him. Much to the annoyance of both cops, the stakeout had been about as exciting as watching paint dry.
Jayden's stomach growled, a reminder that he really hadn't had much to eat or drink all day, save for the toxic sludge the police department tried to pass off as coffee. The hunger was a welcomed feeling, though, as the Triptocaine withdrawal could sometimes leave him feeling nauseous and not wanting to eat. Jayden would take hunger over nausea any day.
If it wasn't a monsoon outside, I'd run to that store over there and grab some snacks, Jayden thought as he looked at a convenience store a little ways down the street from where the car was parked. Goddamn rain...does it ever stop? Just thinking about going outside into the cold, wet rain made the agent shiver and feel like sneezing.
Kitten sneezes, Blake called them. The edges of Jayden's lips curled up in a small smile as he recalled Blake's reaction the previous day when the veteran cop discovered Jayden was the source of the sneezes. They were in the cold storage unit at the grocery store after Jayden had successfully chased down and fended off Korda, one of their Origami Killer suspects.
"Is there a fucking kitten in here or something?" Blake snapped as he knelt down to handcuff the unconscious Korda.
Jayden, still winded from the run and subsequent fight, didn't bother to answer the cop as he stood near the wall, hands on his knees, his heavy breaths coming out in white puffs of smoke. Plus, he felt another sneeze coming on, courtesy of being cold and wet and standing in a freezer.
"Ah-ah-choo!"
Blake's head whipped up and he stared directly at Jayden.
"Christ; that was you?" he remarked. "I thought there was an animal on the loose somewhere but, no, it's just your damn kitten sneezes!"
Jayden started to chuckle at the memory, quickly masking his laughter with a cough when Blake turned from the window to look at him.
"Something you'd like to share with the rest of the class, Norman?" the older cop asked.
"Nah," Jayden said.
"Good," Blake said as he turned back to the window.
Jayden exhaled slowly as he turned his attention back to the window as well. He swore sometimes that Blake had only one mood: grumpy. Letting his mind wander a bit, the agent began to imagine the lieutenant's face on that viral Grumpy Cat image. Despite his best efforts to keep his expression stoic and professional, Jayden found himself smirking and felt some laughter bubbling up in his throat. Maybe he could do some photoshop magic and put Blake's face on the cat's body; now that would be an amazing background for his cell phone. That thought in itself caused Jayden's laughter to escape.
"Christ, Jayden!" Blake grumbled, sounding annoyed. "I think those fancy glasses of yours are frying your brain."
Jayden turned from the window to look at Blake, the lieutenant's focus still somewhere out the window.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said in a sarcastic tone, similar to the one he used the previous day when Blake had been giving him hell about not shooting the religious nut Nathaniel. "I forgot you don't have a sense of humor."
"'I forgot you don't have a sense of humor,'" Blake repeated in a falsetto voice in an attempt to mock the agent. "Yeah, and you're a regular ol' comedic genius."
Jayden gave the lieutenant a smirk.
"I'm glad you think so," he said.
He couldn't deny the fact that he loved pushing the other man's button, just as much as Blake enjoyed pushing his. The lieutenant looked away from the window to glare at Jayden.
"Two things, Norman," Blake said.
He usually only emphasized the agent's first name when he was either pissed off/irritated or just wanted to act like a complete jackass.
"One, shut. Two, up."
There was something dangerously fun about getting Blake riled up, but Jayden decided to ease up on the old cop before the bantering went from dangerously fun to just dangerous with the potential for threats of violence or a gun shoved in his face.
"Well, ya got anything to eat, Carter?" Jayden asked. "I haven't eaten all day. If ya got any snacks to munch on, that'll shut me up for a bit."
Blake appeared to jump at the opportunity, leaning over the center console between them to grab a small blue cooler bag from the floor of the backseat. He dropped the bag in Jayden's lap.
"Eat up and shut up," Blake said, turning his attention to the window once again.
"Thanks," Jayden replied as he unzipped the bag.
The cooler opened, the agent peered into the bag and was surprised by its contents.
"Carrots, celery and cucumbers?" Jayden asked, a hint of amusement in his tone. "Really, Carter, vegetables? You brought vegetables for a snack?"
"Yeah, so what?" Blake grumbled. "You got a problem with that, Norman?"
Jayden held his hands up in mock surrender.
"Not at all," he said. "I'm just surprised, is all. I would have pegged you for a slim jim or beef jerky kind of guy. You know, 'manly foods' that are full of protein or for 'meat lovers.'"
"Did you figure that out with your prissy psychology degree?"
Despite Blake's face turned away from him, Jayden could see the reflection of the lieutenant's smirk in the window.
"Didn't have to; that's just the kind of vibe you give off. A macho man type thing," Jayden said. "I could psychoanalyze you if you really want, though-"
"No," Blake snapped before the agent could even finish speaking.
Jayden just smirked to himself as he opened the baggy full of carrots, pulling one out to nibble on it. It was silent for a few moments until Blake began muttering.
"Just you wait 'til you reach my age, Jayden," the lieutenant said. "Even looking at a slim jim or a candy bar will cause you to gain ten pounds."
"You, Carter, self-conscious, really?" Jayden's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I figured you'd be more of a 'I don't give a shit what people think of me' type of guy."
"Are you sure you didn't get your 'psycho' degree from a cracker jack box or something?" Blake countered. "Because right now, you're batting 0 for 2."
"But am I really?" Jayden pulled another carrot from the bag. "You technically haven't denied what I've said I've determined about you. Deflected my thoughts, sure, but nothing to tell me flat out that I'm wrong."
The lieutenant opened his mouth to retort, but ultimately said nothing, instead turning back toward the window, grumbling to himself as he did so. Jayden smirked triumphantly before popping another carrot in his mouth. What entered his head as a comeback, Jayden figured, was probably akin to poking a sleeping bear (or a homicidal maniac), but he decided he would say it anyway. Blake had grabbed his cup of coffee from the cup holder and brought the mug up to his lips when the agent spoke.
"Gee, Carter," Jayden began to say. "I'm flattered you feel like you need to impress me, but you don't have to do that; I think you're handsome just like you are."
As Jayden figured, the statement caused a dramatic reaction in Blake, as the lieutenant spit out his coffee, causing the liquid to spray forward on to the windshield. Blake coughed and sputtered as Jayden continued munching on his veggies.
"What the fuck, Jayden?!" the lieutenant gasped.
"Hey, I calls 'em as I sees 'em," the agent replied. "It's okay; no need to be embarrassed about your feelings for me."
"I swear, Jayden, if you ever say anything like that again, I will fucking kill you myself, got it?" Blake pointed a finger of warning at Jayden.
"Got it,"
Pulling another carrot out of the bag, the veggie feel from his fingers when the agent noticed something very crucial in his exchange with the lieutenant.
Wait a minute...Blake never denied it...does that mean what I said...was true?
Any musings into the lieutenant's feelings were pushed aside when Blake noticed their suspect emerging from a building across the way.
"There he is," Blake said, opening his car door.
Tossing the bag of vegetables on to the passenger's side floor, Jayden followed his partner. He was certainly going to have something to think about when he returned to his hotel room later that night...