Just a warning, this chapter contains some light sexual content. Nothing major or graphic. Hope you enjoy~!

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Down Time

The phone rang right around eight, just as Lily was getting in to bed, so rather than listen to a bedtime story she spoke on the phone with Ryuuji until she drifted off to sleep. She relayed her first day at school and he peppered her with questions. Did she have fun? Did she remember to share during recess? Did she like her teacher?

They went around and around like that until Lily's yawns made it hard for her to talk and before they knew it Rin was pulling the phone from her limp hand and tucking her in. He kissed her forehead, turned off the light, and slipped out of the room.

"You still there?" he asked, holding the phone up to his ear.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Ryuuji's voice came softly over the line, "How was your day?"

"Not bad. Lily was almost late for school, but-"

"Rin…" It was one syllable, just his name drawn out, but Ryuuji's displeasure was audible.

"Hey, I said almost. Geez, give me some credit."

Ryuuji snorted. "Did she have any homework?"

"What kind of evil teacher gives homework on the first day?"

"I take it that's a 'no'?"

Rin scoffed even as he raced to the front of their apartment where he'd dropped Lily's backpack the moment they got home.

"Ch'yeah, that's a no," he said, clicking his tongue as he flipped the bag open and dumped the contents on to the floor. Her favorite stuffed animal, a pack of crayons, the remnants of her lunch, and a piece of paper all fell out. Rin snatched up the piece of paper, smoothing out the creases as his eyes darted over it.

"There was just something for us… about… About the kinds of things Lily will be learning and how we can help her at home," he said as he finished skimming it. "As if you didn't already have that figured out."

Ryuuji grunted, a noncommittal sound of acknowledgment that had Rin breathing a sigh of relief. Looks like he was off the hook for that lapse in parental attention. Well, he was the "fun" parent anyway. Ryuuji could worry about the boring shit like homework, since he actually enjoyed it.

"So that was Lily's day. How about yours? How's the mission going?"

Another grunt came through the phone, but this one sounded decidedly less pleased.

"There's been a bunch of fires in the city. More than natural, but the fire marshals couldn't find signs of accelerant."

"Oh?"

"Yeah… Most of the evidence was destroyed by the fires, but someone finally found a torn summoning circle at one of the scenes."

"Shit…" Rin cursed, his voice low, "Someone's using demons to start the fires?"

"Seems like it," Ryuuji said, his voice carrying a hard edge. "Hopefully whoever it was learned a hard lesson about summoning demons they can't control, but under the assumption that they're doing it on purpose we're trying to figure out what their next target could be in the hopes of heading them off; looking for connections between the different locations and trying to piece together a motive."

"Sounds boring."

"You would think so," Ryuuji said with a laugh, "But… it's not bad. Just tense. We need to catch this fucker before someone gets hurt."

"Yeah, well if anyone can do that smart detective shit, it's you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Ryuuji said dryly, and Rin laughed. A comfortable silence passed between them, spent just listening to the sound of each other breathing as Rin made his way to the bedroom, closing the door securely behind him.

"I can think of something more fun to talk about though," Rin said as he undid his pants and kicked them off to lie in a pile on the floor. He then thought better of leaving them there and promptly put them in the laundry hamper. Ryuuji might not have been due back until after the mission was completed, but if Rin didn't do it now he'd forget to do it at all and catch an earful about it later.

"Yeah?" Ryuuji asked when Rin didn't continue, "What's that?"

"What are you wearing?"

"A-Are you serious?!" Ryuuji choked, sputtering in to the phone, "I'm in the hotel lobby!"

"Mmm, kinky." Rin laughed as he dug around in Ryuuji's dresser, pulling out one of his old oversized shirts and exchanging it for the shirt he'd been wearing.

"I'm serious, Rin. I'm sharing a room. I didn't even feel comfortable taking this call where they could listen in, so I came down here before I called."

"Does that mean you're still in uniform?"

"…Rin."

"You know I love a man in uniform," Rin purred, "Use that tie to drag you down like a dog on a leash."

"Rin!"

"Hey," Rin laughed, "You don't have to talk. Just listen."

The line was silent for a moment, heavy with the audible pause before Ryuuji gave his answer.

"…Fine."

Rin chuckled breathlessly. "Just in case you were wondering, I'm not wearing any pants."

Ryuuji snorted. After a short pause he added, "What else?"

The fact that his voice was audibly lower, audibly huskier, did not escape Rin as he crawled in to bed, still cradling the phone against his ear.

"I'm also wearing one of your old shirts."

"…Why?"

"Because it smells like you," Rin said softly, laughing as Ryuuji sputtered in indignation.

"It does not! I wash my clothes unlike someone."

"Maybe," Rin laughed, "But I can still smell it."

He lifted the collar of the shirt and held it to his nose, inhaling deeply and trying not to laugh as Ryuuji clicked his tongue in annoyance, muttering under his breath.

It was a little weird, but in hindsight Rin had never actually lived alone. Those first few nights where Ryuuji had gone away on a mission while he'd stayed home had left Rin feeling strangely more alone than he had in a long time. The smell of the other man, lingering on his old well-worn clothes was a simple comfort that helped Rin get through the night. He no longer needed it, but it had become a comfortable habit. Like a good luck charm.

Rin lay back against the bed, groaning lightly as he stretched out against the cool sheets, arching his back before falling slack. Time to get down to business. He licked his lips as he dipped his fingers under the waistband of his boxers, teasing them through the hair that trailed down between his legs.

"What would you do if you were here, I wonder?" Rin asked. It was rhetorical though. He knew Ryuuji wouldn't answer, not in any way that would be interesting while he was sitting in the public hotel lobby.

"Would you touch me?"

Ryuuji laughed, low and throaty, but still playful. "Of course."

"I bet you'd- ah, tease me, not q-quite giving me what I want," Rin said, his voice catching slightly as he finally touched himself, his fingers grazing along his length. Ryuuji was silent, but his breathing grew heavy.

"I bet you'd-"

"Rin, sorry. Stop," Ryuuji interrupted. What sounded like muffled conversation came over the line, then Ryuuji returned. "Something's happening. I've got to go," he said.

The line went dead with a click before Rin had a chance to respond, leaving him sitting there silently with his dick in hand, his arousal turning very quickly to frustration.

He groaned in irritation and abandoned the phone against the pillow, before quickly finishing himself off. No point in wasting a good erection. Even an angry wank was better than nothing.

It was quarter after three when the phone next rang and Rin jolted awake, fumbling for it in the dark, his mind still groggy with sleep. The number showed it was a work call. He glanced at the time, cursing under his breath before he answered the phone.

"I'm not on call when Ryuuji's working," he mumbled, his voice hard. He was about to hang up when he realized it was Shura on the line and something in her voice had him hesitating.

"Rin! We need ya'!" she said urgently, "The mission- Suguro is- Tha' whole city's on fire!"

The next half hour passed in a blur of motion, obscured under a mind numbing mix of lack of sleep, adrenaline, and cold hard dread as Rin roused Lily from bed and quickly gathered up everything both of them would need before dropping her off at her grandmother's.

Lily would be fine; the exorcist supply shop was covered in wards and in a location only exorcists could even get to. Ryuuji was the one who was in danger.

He'd failed to make it to his extraction point and hadn't been heard from in over an hour. Rin tried not to think about what that meant, to keep his racing thoughts under control as he made his way to the rendezvous point to receive his orders.