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Peter sat up in bed after the door softly shut. The other side of the bed was cold, and he gritted his teeth. He squeezed his eyes shut, fighting against the tears that threatened to fall. He berated himself. Stupid of him to get attached, stupid to stay this long in this city, on this planet, with that lady- He needed to go. He needed to start packing his things.
Instead, he stayed until the morning, hoping against hope that Juno would return.
Foolish Peter, with his heart that bled for mistakes he could never fix.
“Hello, Juno. It’s been a while.”
Peter knew how he looked. He knew that the keyhole shirt made of sheer satin clung to his shoulders and draped off him in elegant waves, knew that his sinfully tight pants would make Juno’s mouth water, knew just how to tease the lady and make his life as hard as he wanted it to be. He knew how to arch his back just right, knew which lipstain colors brought back such vivid memories. He also knew that Juno’s eye was on him as he slunk off the car and stalked his way into the belly of the ship.
Juno had had his chance to have Peter. And until he apologized (and, perhaps even after the fact- a man has to have a little fun here and there), he would make Juno regret that he missed his chance.
Peter sat in the living room with Buddy and Rita, allowing them to dress him up in his finest jewelry and clothes for a heist. Technically, it was just to gather information from one of Buddy’s old informants, but the club they were to be meeting at was rather high-end. Rita gleefully brushed on striking eyeshadow to Peter’s closed eyes while Buddy painted his nails a gleaming silver.
“Uh, N- Ransom, I’ve got your jewelry box-“ As soon as Juno walked into the room carrying the requested case, Peter checked his nails to ensure they wouldn’t scuff and took the box from Juno.
“Thank you, Juno.” Juno paused for a moment to take in the clothes draped over the back of the couch, and surveyed the scene in front of him. Rita was silent for a moment as she looked over her work with a critical eye. She took out an eyeliner pen before turning to Juno.
“Oooh, Mistah Steel, you should do Mistah Ransom’s eyeliner, you’re so good at it! You can even get those wing thingies, I can’t ever get them right but they look like Yessica’s in Dances on Mars, in that one scene where she gets to turn down three suitors who’ve been after her but she’s got eyes for the gal from Jupiter, and then she-“
“Sounds great, Rita,” Juno cut her off effortlessly, a skill developed over years of practice. “If it’s okay with Ransom, of course.”
“You’re more than welcome to try your hand,” Peter invited, letting himself lean forward and glance up at Juno through his lashes. Juno blinked hard, but then steadied Peter’s face with one hand on his cheek. Juno leaned down, studying Peter’s eyes. He raised his hand, ready to start drawing the line, and Peter locked eyes with him. Juno froze, and while it might have been a minute movement to the others around them, Peter could tell where the blush began to rise on Juno’s dark cheeks.
“On second thought, I can take care of that myself,” Peter said, batting Juno’s hand away from his face and snatching the eyeliner pen from his other hand in seconds. “Hold this,” Peter directed, pushing a small mirror into Juno’s hands. In a few seconds and quick, precise lines, he had on his usual flawless eyeliner. While Juno sputtered and stammered, Peter quickly turned and began rifling through his jewelry box, searching for his most diamond-encrusted pieces.
“Mistah Ransom, you’ve got so much pretty jewelry!” Rita, who watched the previous exchange with rapt and shrewd attention, had been distracted as soon as Peter pulled the first necklace out.
“Why thank you, Rita,” he said. “So many jewels,” Rita cooed. “Diamonds are just one of those things you need to have,” Peter said, putting in small pair of studs before digging for more. “When you’re on the run, sometimes it helps to have some expensive material things, in case you need some collateral or something shiny to throw the other way. It doesn’t hurt as much to get attached to a pretty little thing and have to leave it behind as much as it does a person.” He wrapped a lacy choker around his neck, a fancy thing with small bejeweled straps that draped their way over his collarbones. He very carefully didn’t look at Juno as he spoke, but in the mirrored lid of his jewelry box, he saw that Juno looked somewhere between a fish out of water and a deer in the headlights.
“That’s what’s nice about diamonds, Miss Rita,” he sighed, pulling a large ring out and slipping it on. He held it to the light, and watched it sparkle, shedding little teardrops of light around it.
“Diamonds don’t leave you. They’re so open, and as impenetrable as they are, they hide no malice in their depths. They’re forever, and you can count on their worth for as long as you have them. And you can keep them for quite a long, long time.”
At that, Peter slid his glasses back on and allowed himself to level a glance at Juno. He looked visibly flustered, and he handed the mirror back to a spellbound Rita and fled the living room.
“I woulda just said that they’re a girl’s best friend, but that was so poetic, Mistah Ransom!”
“Very nice speech, darling, but can you just go get dressed now?” Buddy was tapping her nails on the small side table where the makeup was piled, and Peter allowed himself to grin.
“Certainly, Captain.” From further down the hall, he could hear Juno’s door slam shut.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” Peter purred, taking the hand of the debutant he had been directed to distract for the evening. Of course, he himself wasn’t doing the job, Victor Spade was his new alias for the job. Victor was an heir to a major entertainment company on Venus- a disgraced heir (not that anybody needed to know Victor’s dirty little secret).
All he had to do was charm the debutant for the night until he could slip a hand into their gown pockets and find their comm unit, at which point it would be handed off to the other member of the team who would hand it off to Rita to decode bank passcodes and other vital information. Then it would be passed right back along down the line until Peter could return it to its proper place and they could leave completely unnoticed.
“Victor Spade, charmed to meet you Mx. Smithe.” He pulled their knuckles up to his mouth for a quick kiss. Old fashioned, definitely with too much ham for what was necessary, but he’d done his research. Blanche Smithe had a fondness for Old Earth films, and while the gesture had fallen out of place with all but the extremely rich, it did the intended effect of charming young Mx. Smithe.
They giggled and shyly drew back their hand.
“Oh, please, call me Blanche,” they said, tucking a lock of hair behind their ear.
Peter took their arm and gestured towards the nearby bar. “Care for a drink? I think I’m quite lucky to get a chance to talk with the host of such a spectacular soiree, I’d love a chance to get to know you a little more.” Smithe allowed themself to be guided towards the bar, tucking themself closer to Peter as they weaved through the crowd, Peter’s hand resting on the small of their back.
They finally pulled up alongside the bar, ignoring the lone figure in a red floral suit just this side of tacky leaning on the bar, sipping a glass of something dark.
Peter swept around Smithe, pulling out a stool for them to sit on, and then leaning on their other side so Smithe’s back was to Juno and Peter was facing the both of them. Aside from a minute raise of his eyebrow and just the slightest shift closer, Juno didn’t acknowledge them, looking every part the tired socialite taking a break to nurse a drink.
“So, Mr. Spade, what’s a man like you doing on this half of the galaxy? What brings you to my party?” As their drinks arrived, Smithe took a long sip, looking at him over the edge of their glass with a twinkle in their eye. “Is it not enough for me to simply want to meet the gorgeous new debutant as they make their introduction to the world?” Peter waved a hand airily. “No, unfortunately, I’m here on business purposes. Father and Pop said, ‘Victor, you simply must go to Charon in our stead, we have too much to do here on Venus and you need to make a good impression for Sola Streaming Inc.’, and you know how it goes from there.” He stopped to catch Smithe’s eye and smiled coquettishly. “I just had no idea I’d get this lucky at what was supposed to be- on my end, at least- a business meeting.”
Smithe flushed, giggling and tucking that same piece of hair back. It fell loose again immediately, and Peter pushed it behind their ear for them. Smithe paused, eyes wide and a smile beginning to stretch across their face.
Over their shoulder, Peter caught sight of Juno, staring daggers at the scene in front of him. He was white-knuckling his glass, and he pounded back the last few swallows of his drink before moodily signaling for the overworked bartender.
Peter bit back his smirk before returning his attention to Smithe, who was looking at him with adoration. Peter allowed his knuckles to brush their cheek before clearing his throat self-consciously and returning his hand to his glass, forcing himself to blush. Victor Spade was a smooth talker, but casual acts of intimacy unnerved him.
“I- I’m quite sorry,” he said, rushing his words. “I really do need to be making some rounds, I do have things to attend to before the night is over-“ He backed away and around, heading slowly towards where Juno lay in wait, fiddling with his glass as he went. “But if you would like, I would be happy to- that is, unless you don’t want me to return to- I mean, if- if you wanted-“ Smithe’s hand reached out and caught his wrist, pulling him in closer. He let himself be pulled in, stumbling a little, placing a hand on their hip to catch himself. Once he made contact, he made quick work of pulling Smithe’s comm out of their pocket and into his.
“I would like that very much, Mr. Spade,” they said earnestly. They released him after one last simpering smile. Peter allowed himself to play the smitten fool, taking a few steps backwards, grinning, right until he crashed into Juno, spilling his drink all over the petulant detective.
“Oh no, I am so sorry madame, let me help-“ he made a show of swiping at Juno’s dark dress shirt, taking the moment to slip the the comm into his pocket.
“Get off me,” Juno hissed, batting Peter’s hands away. He examined his shirt, pulling it away from where it clung wetly to his chest and stomach. He glared at Peter and stomped out of the main ballroom, muttering to himself as he went.
“Package en route,” he muttered into his comm as soon as he cleared the main room and entered a small service hallway. He sidled up against a door to a supply closet and knocked twice. The door cracked open slightly, and Juno stepped inside. Sitting on a crate of cleaning supplies with a portable monitor on her lap sat Rita. Juno handed her Smithe’s comm and began to strip off his suit jacket and dress shirt, eager to rid himself of the sodden shirt.
“You seem awfully worked up, Mistah Steel,” Rita observed from where she was busy typing away. “Is everything going okay out there?”
“Ugghhh,” Juno groaned from where he was shrugging on an identical but otherwise clean shirt.
“That bad, huh?”
“UGGGGGHHHH,” came the reply.
Rita reached around her monitor to absently pat Juno in sympathy but instead only succeeded in swatting his arm. A beep from the comm sounded, and she unplugged it and handed it back to Juno. Or, at least, she would have if she hadn’t yanked it back at the last possible second.
“You can get this back when you tell me what’s going on out there.” Juno sighed, rubbing his temples. “Rita, just give it back, please. We don’t have time for this.” She shook her head. “Nu-uh, boss, you’ve gotta tell me.” “No, I don’t have to tell you anything because this-“ he pointed a finger at Rita from where she still held the comm behind her, away from Juno. “This is wasting time we don’t have.”
Rita didn’t budge, and Juno had the unpleasant reminder that while he was the most stubborn person on Mars, Rita was the most patient. She could out-wait him for hours, and that was time they didn’t have.
Juno groaned and threw his head back. “Fine! Fine, it’s just- he keeps flirting with Smithe and he keeps looking at me while he does it and it’s driving me nuts, and I knew that I blew it but it’s like he’s tormenting me and if I wasn’t so sure that I broke his fucking heart and any chance I would have had at getting back together with him, I’d say that he’s doing this on purpose!”
Rita’s eyes lit up, and she began to make a squealing sound at a pitch only animals could hear, but Juno didn’t hang around to hear the rest of it, turning and walking out.
The handoff back to Peter and back to Smithe went just fine, and if Peter kissed Smithe in front of Juno on the transfer back to them at the end of the night, Juno didn’t comment even though he nearly left cracks in the fine crystal of his glass.
Juno also didn’t say anything when Smithe led Peter out of the ballroom by his wrist at the end of the night, and Juno certainly didn’t grit his teeth when Peter sauntered up to breakfast the next day with a grin that allowed his sharp teeth to peek past his lips and his neck covered in hickeys. Instead, Juno just bit his tongue and walked past, eyes down.
Not that it mattered much, as he could feel Peter’s gaze burning at the back of his head.
Juno stumbled awake at 0630, half an hour before Buddy expected everyone to be awake and present for morning debriefing. He rolled out of bed and tugged a ratty shirt over his head before hauling himself out of his room and into the hallway.
The living quarters on the Carte Blanche were arranged in a single hallway, with three rooms on each side, with each end of the hallway bookended by a communal bathroom and the kitchen. Rita’s room was closest to the kitchen, much to her delight. Then came Juno’s room, next to Rita. Across from Juno was Jet’s room, and on Juno’s other side was Buddy and Vespa’s shared room. Across from Rita was an empty room that would presumably belong to Vespa if she wasn’t living with Buddy. Across from the two them was Peter’s room.
Juno, whenever he was awake and in control of his facilities, would usually hurry past Nureyev’s room, not wanting to be caught lingering outside the door. It didn’t help that his room was right next to the communal bathroom, but Juno did his best. Most mornings, Juno would shuffle past, squinting against the bright hallway lights in his bid to get to the limited hot water before anyone else.
However, that was not to be the case this morning.
As Juno plodded down the hall, Peter’s open door revealed the thief working out, doing pull-ups on a bar attached to the wall on the inside of his room above the door.
Juno damn near stopped in his tracks. He felt heat rise in his face, and he scolded himself for blushing like a schoolgirl. He’d known from… past experience that Peter was lithe and toned, with wiry muscles and a slim frame that betrayed the strength he possessed. Juno had seen him in action on heists and in fights, but during those times he’d never had the chance to really admire Nureyev.
Peter’s muscles flexed and his breath came out in short, sharp gasps as he repeatedly hauled himself up and smoothly dropped down again. He was shirtless, except for a pair of skintight leggings and a pair of gloves meant to protect his hands from the bar he was hanging from. Sweat dripped down his tight abdomen, and he glistened in the ship’s lights.
He paused, and seemed to notice Juno.
“Good morning, detective!” He was too cheery, Juno decided, for someone who woke up this early just to work out.
“Morning, Ransom,” Juno muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He was suddenly aware of the fact that his boxers were dotted with little dogs in wiener buns and his shirt was from a half-hearted attempt at advertising for one of Mick’s schemes.
“I’m gonna…” Juno pointed towards the bathroom, taking a step towards it, edging away from Peter. Peter dropped to the ground silently, like a cat.
“I hope you aren’t going to take all the hot water,” Peter teased as he stripped off his gloves and threw them somewhere inside his room. He padded into the bathroom ahead of Juno and stepped into one of the shower cubicles, grabbing his towel from the hook by the door and tossing it over the curtain rod. A moment later his pants followed suit and the shower started.
Juno brushed his teeth slowly, trying hard to not to eye the occupied shower stall in the mirror. He heard the telltale squeak of the shower handle cranking towards “hot”, and heard Nureyev sigh in pleasure as the room grew steamier.
Juno fled the bathroom after another sigh echoed out of the shower. He could take a cold shower after breakfast.
The mission was simple: Peter and Juno would go with Buddy to a Neptunian club. They were after a mark who would be able to tell them the person they needed to reach next in their search for the Curemother. Buddy would handle the actual meat of the mission, she would be the one to make contact and talk their mark out of all the information they needed. Peter and Juno would simply be in the background as security. They would blend into the club atmosphere, and would hopefully never need to be seen.
For the first second after they stepped into the club, Juno was sure that he was back in Hyperion City for a moment. The entire club was soaked in neon lights that reflected off of mirrored walls that surrounded the dance floor, and the writhing mass of people dancing to heavy bass that rattled the walls and thundered in Juno’s chest.
“Darling, are you alright?” Buddy’s voice in his comm startled him.
“Uh- Yeah! Sorry, I got a bit distracted there.” He went to rub his face, but remembered the makeup that Rita had painstakingly applied there before he left, so instead he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Buddy gracefully taking a seat at the bar, three seats away from the mark.
“Why don’t you head out to the dance floor? Ransom is already out there, and you know the signal if I need help,” Buddy suggested, flagging the bartender as she did.
Juno studied the mass of people for a long moment before he picked out Peter in the throng. The lithe man was already dancing carelessly, but with an elegance that Juno envied.
Juno made his way to the edge of the crowd, raising his arms and swaying to the beat the way that Rita tight him. He might be able to dance in a formal setting- the ballroom, a little bit of ballet, some old dances that only came up in certain times and places, all thanks to Benten- but as soon as it was freeform, Juno was out. He’d never had much time for dancing, that was Ben’s thing, and the idea of his brother laughing at his clumsy attempts at club dancing pushed a genuine smile to his lips.
Eventually Juno made his way to Peter, who was near the middle of the mass. Sharp eyes picked Juno out as soon as the lady pushed his way into the crowd, and it didn’t take long for Peter to sweep up behind his chosen target.
“May I have this dance?” He was loud, for the benefit of the ruse and those around them.
“Maybe if I see something I like,” Juno teased, a smile on his painted lips.
“I can do better than that,” Peter replied, and spun Juno around. His hands found Juno’s hips and pulled him in close until they were pressed together, encouraging them to move together to the beat that thumped through Juno’s body, rattling his teeth and buzzing out of his fingertips.
Peter whispered in his ear, and it took a moment too long for Juno to reply.
“Juno, are you listening to me?”
Another grind of their hips sent static through Juno’s brain. “Uh, no? I can’t hear anything in here.”
“I said,” Peter dropped his mouth to Juno’s neck, speaking just below his ear. To any other person in the club, they would look like just another amorous couple. “Buddy has made contact. We need to be ready for the signal if it’s needed.”
Peter spun Juno around again and pulled him close, his hands traveling from his hips to grab lightly at his ass. Juno’s breath hitched. Above them, the song changed, a woman’s voice crooning about retail therapy. As the tempo within the song changed from the chorus to the verses, their combined movements switching from a quick sway to a deep grind that felt too filthy to be allowed in public.
They danced like this for the next three songs until Peter’s heavy pants against Juno’s neck grew too much to bear. Juno pulled himself away, peeking up at Peter through his eyelashes.
“Why don’t we go to the bar, get a drink?” Peter nodded, taking a moment to catch his breath.
“Excellent call. Ladies first,” he gestured for Juno to take the lead. As Juno weaved through the crowd, Peter took advantage of watching Juno’s hips sway as he walked, admiring his calves in his heels and the sway of his skirt around his thighs.
They leaned up against the bar a short ways from Buddy and the mark, who was engaged in an animated conversation with their captain and ordered drinks. Juno grimaced at the price, so Peter paid the tab with a smile.
“It’s on me,” he said, allowing his sharp teeth to flash out from under his lips.
The drinks were certainly worth the price. Juno’s simple whiskey was served on fire and was absolutely massive, while Peter’s bright concoction came with a long strip of frozen fruit on a stick, supposedly imported from Earth.
“What is that, anyways?” Juno, ever curious, peered at Peter’s drink.
“It’s a pineapple,” Peter said, amused. “Have you never had any?” Juno took a long sip of his whiskey. “Oldtown was a food desert,” he mused. “Earth fruits were hard to find unless you could find a way to the center of the city, and whenever they came to the corner stores, they were way too expensive for us.”
Peter offered the pineapple to Juno, but he waved the offer away. “I’m good, but thanks. You bought that, and I’m not hungry.” Peter shrugged. “Suit yourself,” and with that, he slid the entire strip of fruit between his lips, carelessly holding eye contact with Juno the entire time.
Juno choked on his whiskey.
Peter watched, satisfied, as Juno shifted where he stood.
Not long after, Buddy stood up and made her way out of the club. Once she disappeared out of the doors, Juno heard her voice in his ear from his comm.
“We’ve got it. We can debrief in the morning. I suggest you two make your way back to the ship before too long.”
“We should act like we’re leaving together, it’ll throw off any suspicion,” Peter murmured lowly, just for Juno to hear.
Juno smiled and nodded. “Good idea,” he said, grinning widely and slipping his arm around Peter’s waist. Peter dipped his head low to whisper in Juno’s ear as they began to head for the door. “I must say, you looked… incredible tonight,” he said, voice low. Juno shivered at the hunger in Nureyev’s voice. “Like a goddess.”
Juno shivered, and saw Nureyev smile that fox’s grin out of the corner of his eye.
The cab ride back to the ship was quiet, and as soon as they were back on board, Juno whirled around on Peter.
“Why do you keep doing this?” He demanded, his brows furrowed. “Doing what?” Peter kept his tone light and airy. If he gave any indication that he was on the defensive, he’d be done for.
“You- you keep acting all… flirty, or you do it to someone else and you make sure I can see, and you keep acting like you still want me or something!” Juno was nearly up in his face, and Peter’s smirk grew into a grin. He took Juno’s chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilted his head up slightly.
“I do it because,” he leaned in close enough to whisper in Juno’s ear. “I like to watch you squirm.”
With that he released Juno and stalked away down the hall, a sly smile on his face as he heard Juno’s flat “What” echo around the loading bay.
Juno stared at Nureyev’s retreating back, annoyed, a little angry, and more than a little turned on. Damn him.
After a few days of Juno pointedly ignoring him around the ship, Peter decided that his little game had gone too far. In the beginning, it was fun to watch Juno try and reconcile his past actions with the new reality of their lives together, but it soon became clear that the Juno that had left him in the night was no longer the Juno that lived on the Carte Blanche. So, the nature of his game had changed, but he had clearly taken it too far. Peter supposed that if he wanted a chance at still having Juno in his life in the way that the both of them so clearly wanted, then they needed to actually sit down and talk about their troubles.
Peter knocked on Juno’s door late one night, after everybody else had gone to bed. When Juno answered it, he had clearly been on his way to sleep. His hair was mussed, with his eyepatch clearly hastily put on, the bands holding it in place crooked and wonky.
“Nureyev,” he greeted, his voice groggy and raspy. “What are you doing?”
“May I come in? I think it’s time we had a talk.”
Juno shrugged, already looking more awake that he had previously. “Sure, but couldn’t this wait until morning? Instead of-“ he squinted at the clock on the wall. “One in the morning?”
Peter pulled out the desk chair and sat in that while Juno perched on the bed. “I-“ he began, suddenly unable to speak the words that he had been rehearsing all night long.
“I’m sorry, Nureyev.” Juno cut him off, earnestly looking him in the eye. “I can’t take back what I did, and I know I hurt you really badly, and I could talk for days about how I had other things to do and any other excuse I could possibly think of, but I need you to know how sorry I am.”
“Juno, it’s alright.” Peter looked at him fondly. “I pushed you too hard, too far. I gave you an ultimatum, however unwittingly, but an ultimatum nonetheless. I shouldn’t have expected you to just give up your entire life so abruptly.”
Juno sat perfectly still, hands fisted in his sweatpants. He didn’t look like he was going to speak, so Peter carried on. “I understand that you’ve made progress on yourself recently, and I know you’re not the same lady you were before you left. So that’s why I’m choosing to forgive you.”
At that, Juno’s head jerked sharply upwards. “What? You’re just going to forgive me, just like that? What about everything you’ve been doing and saying recently?”
Peter allowed himself a small smile. “I told you, you’ve changed. You’re doing better. You’re in a place right now where allowing each other in our lives isn’t a drain on you, but a way to build yourself up. As for my behavior recently, I owe you an apology. When I first started, I thought you were the same person you used to be, but as my understanding changed, I thought that altering the game I was playing would be a good idea-“ Juno cut him off.
“What, changing it from guilt tripping me to just teasing me at every opportunity?”
“Petty, I know,” Peter sniffed. “I thought I could get some sort of… revenge, get some form of satisfaction from watching you around me.”
Juno laughed. It was a real laugh, not just the derisive snorts that Peter used to hear out of him. It bubbled up from his chest, slipping out of his mouth like he was surprised to hear it. Peter felt his face warm, and his chest felt tight. He’d never heard Juno laugh like that before. He came to the sudden conclusion that he would burn the entire galaxy to hear that sound again, and the fierceness of the emotion almost startled him.
“You can be an idiot, Nureyev.” There was no bite in the words, just Juno’s smile. “You could have just talked to me.” Peter smiled back, a genuine grin. “I should have. I’m terribly sorry, Juno.”
Juno leaned forward, a smirk on his lips. “I can think of a few ways you can make it up to me.”
“Is that so? Then please, enlighten me.” Juno stood from where he sat on the bed and crossed the few feet between them until he stood in front of Peter. He slid onto Peter’s lap, one hand cupping the back of his neck.
“Just shut up,” he murmured, kissing him.