asphaltcowgrrl: (Bran Castle)
[personal profile] asphaltcowgrrl
Title: Rumor Has It Part 1
Fandom: Romani Detective Original Fiction
Pairing: Andrej Zeklos + Elias
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,519
Summary: Andrej’s having a day and goes to visit Elias for some non-romantic company.
Author’s Note: Written for the 5+1 challenge at 1_million_words. The prompt I chose was: Five assumptions that turned out to be false and one that turned out to be true. These are more kinda rumors than assumptions, but eh.

“What’s wrong, papi,” Elias asked, spotting Andrej sitting at the bar alone.

“Why does anything have to be wrong,” Andrej asked, giving Elias a questioning look.

“You never come to see me anymore,” he said with a flirty wink. “Not since you wrangled your cowboy and reeled in the redhead.”

Andrej gave the bartender a bit of side-eye for that comment. “That is not true, Eli. I stopped coming because…”

“Because of what I said to you,” Elias finished. “I know, and I can’t blame you for that. Which gives me even more reason to wonder why you are here tonight. Can I get you a drink?”

“Please,” he said, grateful that Elias wasn’t going to push the point. “Just a glass of wine for now, however. Your choice.”

“I love it when you let me choose,” Eli purred.

Andrej laughed despite himself. “Don’t,” he begged. “I cannot handle it when you are like this.”

Elias smiled, knowing what Andrej meant by the comment. The detective had always been fun to tease. He chose a bottle of California red and poured a glass for Andrej. “Here, this is something new we’re carrying and it’s rich and fruity.”

“Thank you,” Andrej said. He took a tentative sip before setting the glass down. “That is very good. I will have to make sure to get the name from you before I leave.”

“Think your ginger boyfriend will like it,” Elias teased.

“Yes, and Zayne as well, I think.”

“That one likes anything,” Elias laughed. “Seriously though, is he or the other one the reason why you’re here?”

“No,” Andrej said, taking another sip of his wine. “Or, more specifically, not just Zayne or Jay. It’s… everyone.”

“What do you mean?”

Andrej looked around the bar, worried that Eli was ignoring customers for his sake. Seeing that there was only one other person in the bar, he relaxed a bit. “I feel like no one understands me.”

“It’s the accent,” Elias said, ratcheting his own up a few notches for emphasis. “My English is better than most of the people born in this country and yet customers act like they can’t understand me.” He shrugged. “Your accent is sexy and alluring but it can be difficult to cut through sometimes.”

He took another drinking, emptying the glass. “While you are not incorrect, that is not what I mean either.”

Elias refilled Andrej’s glass without asking, he knew the man well enough to know that in order to be completely transparent about his feelings, more alcohol was necessary. “Tell me, Andrej.”

A smile ticked up one corner of Andrej’s mouth. “No one calls me by my name you know. It’s either my surname, or a shortened version of it or my first name.” He shook his head. “I am Andy or I am Zek or I am baby if I am talking to Zayne. It does not matter, not really but…”

“It is nice to hear the name your mama gave you,” Elias suggested. “I understand completely. However, you are changing the subject. What did you mean by no one understands you?”

“People make assumptions about me,” Andrej finally admitted. “Most are not even close to the truth and yet, they believe them without question.”

“Give me an example,” Elias said. He leaned his forearms onto the bar, interested.

“When I tell someone I am from Romania, they immediately ask if I am from Transylvania.” He made a face. “Even when I tell them I am from the other side of the country, they persist. Ask if I am vampire.”

Elias chuckled. “You do have a habit of biting people’s necks, mi amor. Ask me how I know.”

Andrej blushed. “Only because you have such a bitable neck, dragă.” He contemplated his wine glass for a moment before picking it up again. “Most of the time, they are joking about me being un vampir,” he used the Romanian words for effect and it made Elias grin, “but sometimes, I am not sure that it is a joke.”

**

“That’s him.”

Andrej ignored the voices floating around him. It was always noisy in the bullpen and today wasn’t any different. Plus, if he stopped to listen to the looky-loos, he’d remember that Zayne was late – again – and that would just piss him off.

“He’s the vampire,” a second voice asked.

“Yeah, crazy, huh?”

Setting his pen down on his desk, he snuck a peek over his shoulder trying to locate the owners of the voices.

“They’re near the doorway,” Trish whispered. “Fuckers spreading rumors again. Stupid rookies.”

Andrej hid his face in his hands and sighed.

“What was that,” Hilary asked. She dragged Zayne’s chair over beside him and sat down. “If you’re going to bitch them out, do it in English please.”

“What did I do in my last life to deserve this,” he muttered in English.

“Oh, poor baby,” Hilary said, patting him on the back. “I’d be more worried about what you did to deserve Zayne.”

“Shit,” Trish grumbled, straightening in her chair. “They’re coming this way. Brace yourself, Andy.”

He looked over his shoulder at the approaching uniforms and they grinned.

“Hey, Nosferatu,” the first one called. “Bite any good necks lately?”

The second one snickered. “More like Dracula,” he said. “I vant to drink your blood,” he quoted in a really bad accent.

“Oh no,” Hilary said, rolling away from Andrej before he exploded. He really, really hated it when people called him Dracula.

“Let the show begin,” Trish snorted.

“Aw, come on, detective,” the first guy wheedled. He was tall and thin, with wispy blond hair that would be receding by the time he was thirty-five. “Show us your fangs!”

Slamming both hands down on his desk, Andrej shot to his feet and started shouting in Romanian. Both rookies flinched, the younger, shorter one immediately looking for an escape route.

“Oh shit,” Zayne said, finally arriving in the bullpen, over an hour late. “You two have done it now. If I were you, I’d get the hell out of here before he turns into a bat and chases you out.”

“Yeah, I think we need to report for roll call anyway,” the first said.

“We’re going to be late,” the second added before turning tail and practically running out of the bullpen.

Cackling at the rookies’ hasty retreat, Zayne sat down on this desk. “What a couple of idiots.”

Andrej flashed him a look. “That was not funny, Zayne. It is only going to start more rumors!”

“Nah,” Zayne said, waving Andrej’s worries away. “The minute you started screaming at them in Romanian they had a distinct change of heart. I could see it on their faces.”

“He’s right,” Trish said. “They looked scared as hell when you started yelling.”

“Can’t blame them,” Hilary said. “Andy never yells, it scared me, too.”

“I am sorry, I did not mean to frighten you, Hilary.”

“It’s fine,” she said, rolling back over beside him. “I knew you wouldn’t hurt us.”

He returned to his seat and allowed Hilary to rub small circles into his back. “Thank you.”

“What were you yelling at them,” Zayne asked.

“Only venting my frustrations about people believing that everyone from Romania is a vampire,” he replied, looking sheepish.

“I guess we ought to be thankful that they didn’t know you’re a – um, well that you’re Romani.”

Andrej glared at Zayne for a moment before softening. “You are very correct about that, Zayne.”

“No shit,” Trish said. “You’d have everyone in this place looking for palm readings and asking about your crystal ball.”

“Please, do not even say that,” Andrej said, laughing. “Can we please get back to work?”

“Now that Zayne’s here, maybe,” Hilary said. She stood and pushed Zayne’s chair back towards him. “Nice of you to show up, Reyes.”

Zayne stuck his tongue out at her. He slid off the edge of the desk and returned his chair to its spot. “Okay, I’m sorry I’m late. What are we working on today?”

With a sigh, Andrej started detailing the case for him.

**

“I can’t believe two honest to god police officers thought you were really a vampire,” Elias said, shaking his head. “That is more than I can believe.”

“It was not the first not the last time either,” Andrej said, finishing off his wine. “It happens more often than I care to think about.”

“Do you yell at them all in Romanian or just those two idiots?”

“I only do that if I cannot get them to leave me alone,” he admitted. “Trish was correct, it is very effective.”

“At least you know it works,” Elias pointed out. “So, what else is bothering you? That can’t possibly be it.”

Andrej looked at him sideways. “How much time do you have?”

“My shift ends in ten minutes,” Elias said. “You want to go grab a booth and wait for me? Then we’ll have all the time in the world.”

“You have a deal,” Andrej said. “One more glass of wine?”

“I’ll bring the rest of the bottle,” Elias said with a wink.

Continues here.

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