Author's note: As promised, the next part.
Disclaimer: And as previously stated, they're not mine.
"Hey, Liv, you wanna hurry up in there? This mud is gonna cement my clothes to my body, and I'll need a crowbar to get 'em off."
"Alright, already," she called out from the shower.
Elliot stood right outside the bathroom door when he heard Olivia turn off the faucet. A moment later, the door swung open and he was greeted by the sight of his partner, dripping wet and wrapped only in a towel.
Elliot's eyebrows shot up as he glanced down at her long legs.
"See anything interesting?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah. Very interesting," he replied, chewing his lower lip and winking at her.
She reached out and pinched his side before moving towards the ringing of their room phone.
He rubbed the spot and grinned, walking into the bathroom and closing the door.
He quickly showered, then stepped out and wrapped a towel around his waist. He opened the bathroom door and peered around the room. He saw Olivia standing in front of the closet, looking through the garments hanging there.
"Nice bra," he said nonchalantly, walking to the dresser and pulling out his pajamas. "No looking."
Her shoulders slumped and she rolled her eyes. "I can't find my blue button-down shirt," she said. "And no pj's. We're going out," she added, turning her head towards him.
"Hey!" Elliot exclaimed, pulling his towel tightly around his middle. "What part of 'No looking' didn't you get?"
"Chill, princess. If you're that shy, go change in the bathroom."
He threw his wet towel at her.
"So where are we going?" he asked, moving back toward the dresser.
"Out," she replied, chancing a glance in his direction. He was wearing boxer shorts.
"Yeah, I got that part," he said sarcastically. "Where? And with who?"
"It's whom. Curry and Reynolds. And we're going to a local bar."
Elliot nodded, pulling a shirt out of the dresser drawer and tossing it to Olivia.
"You didn't bring your blue one," he said. "This one looks fine."
She held up the grey fitted tee with "New York" emblazoned across the chest, then pulled it over her head.
Ten minutes later they were knocking on Reynolds and Curry's door. Curry opened it.
"Lookin' good, detectives," he said, looking at Olivia's shirt.
Elliot mouthed 'Told you' to Olivia before saying, "You guys ready to go?"
"Absolutely," Reynolds said, pushing past Curry out the door. "Let's go."
The bar was a five-minute walk from the hotel. It had a welcoming atmosphere, and not too many people. The four of them made their way to a booth, and a waitress soon came and took their orders.
"Okay, so give us the 411 on Smith," Elliot said.
"Well," Reynolds began, "he's an ex-Marine, so that accounts for some of his behavior."
Olivia nudged Elliot and smirked into her beer.
"Uh-huh…" Elliot answered, peering at her out of the corner of his eye. "And what accounts for the rest?"
"Bad childhood, maybe?" Curry said, shrugging. "I dunno. Nobody knows much about him. He's not married."
"Gee, that's a shocker," Liv said.
They talked a little more about Smith, but soon ran out of things to say.
So they decided to learn a little more about each other.
"Okay, okay, I've got one!" Curry announced. "Never have I ever fantasized about a coworker."
Olivia and Elliot each took a huge gulp of their beers. Curry and Reynolds, who hadn't taken a sip, both stared inquiringly at the pair.
They glanced at each other, and Elliot said, "Revealing isn't in the rules unless it's one person."
The two FBI agents looked knowingly at each other.
"Okay, my turn," Olivia quickly said. "Never have I ever fantasized about killing a coworker."
All four of them drained their glasses.
"That's game," Elliot gloated. "Rack 'em up, we'll play again."
"I'm gonna get more drinks," Olivia said, handing her pool cue to her partner and walking to the bar.
As she stood waiting for their drink order, a man sidled up to her. "Hi," he said.
Olivia glanced at him and said, "Hi," then turned back to the bar.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"What's yours?"
"Stephen."
She paused, then answered, "Olivia."
She continued to gaze at the mirror on the wall. If she moved a little to the left, she could just see her partner bending over to take a shot.
"So…my girlfriend calls me Stevie Wonder," he persisted. When she didn't reply, he said, "Do you wanna know why?"
She finally turned to him, said, "Because she constantly wonders why she's dating you?" and turned back to the bar and grabbed the drinks that the barkeep had just placed there.
"Who's your friend?" Elliot asked when she got back to the pool table.
"Stevie Wonder. Are we stripes or solids?"
Two rounds of drinks later, the pool game had been completely forgotten. They were all just hanging around the table laughing and talking about nothing.
As Elliot had turned to make a remark to Curry and Reynolds, a man walked up beside Olivia and whispered something next to her ear. She ignored him and took a sip of her drink. He was not easy to get rid of.
Finally, she tugged Elliot's arm. He turned towards her, and she pulled his head down and kissed him. His left hand went up to caress her cheek as his right arm snaked around her waist.
Curry and Reynolds fell speechless, and the guy hitting on Olivia disappeared quickly. Olivia broke the kiss and turned back to the bar.
Elliot paused before also turning back to the bar and taking a swig of his drink, acting as though things like that happen all the time.
Curry finally recovered from his shock and said, "So, Stabler, wanna switch seats?"
To be continued…
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