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asphaltcowgrrlTitle: The First Time
Fandom: Romani Detective Original Fiction
Pairing: Gen
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,208
Summary: He hasn’t been in Las Vegas long, but he’s about to decide whether the desert is where he belongs or not.
Author’s Note: I saw a prompt that was something along the lines of ‘the night they met’ and I went to this immediately. And until I saved this I’d forgotten I’d written about James and Zayne randomly meeting one day. Hahaha. And yes, I know, this directly contradicts something Andy once told James, but eh, whatever.
He looked at the sign beside the door that read ‘homicide’ and sighed. Beyond the glass doors, he could see detectives of all ages and sexes going about their daily business of finding justice for those who had been wronged. Detectives that, after today, would be his new co-workers, for better or for worse.
To the left, he spotted a tall, attractive brunette talking animatedly with a handsome, dark-haired man. A shorter, redheaded woman sat on the edge of a desk, watching them with a small smile on her face. He wondered for a moment what they were discussing and why the redhead was so amused by it all.
“Stop stalling,” he muttered, his native language spilling out instead of the English he should be using. Admonishing himself in the correct language, he pulled open the door and stepped inside. A sandy-haired young man greeted him more happily than he’d have expected for the homicide division of a major city, but he didn’t question it. The kid was probably a volunteer earing points for a college application or something similar.
“What can I do for you this morning?”
“I am supposed to be meeting Captain Amherst this morning,” he said, cringing at how thick his accent sounded in comparison to the boy’s.
His two years in New York had made him believe that his accent wasn’t as bad as it was since everyone in New York had a thick accent of some kind. But here, in the southwest, where everyone sounded the same, it really stood out. He made a mental note to find a way to smooth it out if he could.
“Your name,” the kid asked, still way too happy for so early in the morning. “So, I can let the captain know?”
“Andrej Zeklos,” he replied.
Glancing around the homicide bullpen again, he spotted that same trio of detectives he’d noticed before. They were still engaged in an enthusiastic conversation about something, the difference being that the redhead was now involved. His eyes kept drifting towards that tall drink of water sandwiched between the women, hands shoved in his front pockets as he listened. He was everything that Andrej liked in a man – built but not bulky, raven-haired, caramel skin. And the swagger, he could feel it all the way on the other side of the room. If he could only see the man’s eyes…
“Oh, you’re our new detective,” the kid said, making the connection and startling Andrej out of his guilty observations. He peeled his eyes off the gorgeous detective and tried to focus on the person in front of him. “One minute, I’ll be right back.”
Andrej watched him disappear into an office near the back of the area reserved for homicide. The door to what he assumed was the captain’s office shut behind the kid, causing Andrej’s heart to kick up a notch with worry.
“You are more than qualified for this job,” he reminded himself, speaking his native tongue again, worried that someone might overhear his self-talk and judge him for it. “You have two degrees and experience with the NYPD,” he reminded the floor.
“You don’t say,” a sexy as sin voice drawled. “Although I can’t say I understood a damn word of any of that.”
Andrej’s head snapped up, a quick apology on his lips. One that stalled the second his eyes landed on the attractive detective he’d been ogling a few minutes prior. God help him, he was even more gorgeous up close like this, those eyes of his – deep, sparkling green – enough to make Andrej weak in the knees. Not to mention that sweet, southern drawl. Working in the same department as this cowboy was going to be his undoing.
“Reyes,” a gravely voice called out. “Stop frightening your new partner.”
His blood went cold. This was his new partner? He shook his head, trying to refocus, calm his racing heart. “You are hiring me? No interview first?”
“Why would I waste time on an interview,” Amherst asked, stepping up and holding out his hand. Andrej hesitated for a moment before accepting the offer and giving a solid shake. “You have all the qualifications plus a few. Your captain back in New York spoke very highly of you and told me I’d be crazy not to hire someone with a resume like yours.”
“Thank you,” he said, grateful that he wasn’t going to have to sit through another tedious interview only to be turned down in the end. “I am eager to get back to work.”
“Then let me introduce you to your new best friend,” Amherst said with a laugh. “Andrej, meet Zayne Reyes. He’s one of our longest running detectives here in homicide. He’s also the biggest pain in my ass, but he’s good at what he does so we keep him around.”
“That makes one of us,” the redhead from earlier scoffed. She was grinning at him while taking note of every detail, he realized. “Trish Rollins,” she added. “Welcome to the madhouse.”
“Hilary Maxwell,” the brunette said, also holding out her hand. Andrej took it and shook, admiring her strong, firm grip. “I’m Rollins’ partner as well as this idiot’s girlfriend,” she said, winking at Amherst, “although that’s not exactly supposed to be public knowledge.”
He tried to keep the disappointment off his face. Over the years, he’d learned the hard way to never assume, even if all the facts were in evidence. There wasn’t any way a man this smoking hot was anything but straight, but still, he’d hoped. Andrej wasn’t worried, he’d get over this initial bout of lust soon enough.
“It is a pleasure to meet you all,” he said, looking each one of them in the eye. “I hope that I am happier here than I was in New York. You are already more welcoming than they were there. And it is much warmer here, too.”
His new partner, Reyes, laughed. “You sound like you’re from fucking Russia, honey. How is New York too cold?”
Andrej smiled and shook his head. “Romania,” he said, clarifying. “I am from Romania, but that is not too far off from Russia, no?”
Reyes snorted. “Makes sense since you do sort of sound like Dracula now that I think about it.”
“I’d bare my teeth at him if I were you,” Trish stage whispered at him, causing Hilary to burst into laughter.
“Oh, this is going to be a fun few weeks until you settle in,” she said. Slipping her arm through his, Hilary gave a little tug. “Our desks are over here, let me show you.”
“Now,” he heard Trish say to Zayne, “try not to make this one quit in a week, mmkay?”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he drawled. “But I kinda like him already, so I’ll try and behave.”
“As if that will ever happen,” Hilary laughed. “But don’t worry, Zeklos, he’ll grow on you.”
“Sort of like a fungus,” Trish added to much laughter from everyone.
Yeah, Andrej acknowledged, amending his previous thought, working with this man – this Zayne Reyes – was not just going to be his undoing, it was likely going to be the death of him. What the hell, challenge accepted.
Fandom: Romani Detective Original Fiction
Pairing: Gen
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,208
Summary: He hasn’t been in Las Vegas long, but he’s about to decide whether the desert is where he belongs or not.
Author’s Note: I saw a prompt that was something along the lines of ‘the night they met’ and I went to this immediately. And until I saved this I’d forgotten I’d written about James and Zayne randomly meeting one day. Hahaha. And yes, I know, this directly contradicts something Andy once told James, but eh, whatever.
He looked at the sign beside the door that read ‘homicide’ and sighed. Beyond the glass doors, he could see detectives of all ages and sexes going about their daily business of finding justice for those who had been wronged. Detectives that, after today, would be his new co-workers, for better or for worse.
To the left, he spotted a tall, attractive brunette talking animatedly with a handsome, dark-haired man. A shorter, redheaded woman sat on the edge of a desk, watching them with a small smile on her face. He wondered for a moment what they were discussing and why the redhead was so amused by it all.
“Stop stalling,” he muttered, his native language spilling out instead of the English he should be using. Admonishing himself in the correct language, he pulled open the door and stepped inside. A sandy-haired young man greeted him more happily than he’d have expected for the homicide division of a major city, but he didn’t question it. The kid was probably a volunteer earing points for a college application or something similar.
“What can I do for you this morning?”
“I am supposed to be meeting Captain Amherst this morning,” he said, cringing at how thick his accent sounded in comparison to the boy’s.
His two years in New York had made him believe that his accent wasn’t as bad as it was since everyone in New York had a thick accent of some kind. But here, in the southwest, where everyone sounded the same, it really stood out. He made a mental note to find a way to smooth it out if he could.
“Your name,” the kid asked, still way too happy for so early in the morning. “So, I can let the captain know?”
“Andrej Zeklos,” he replied.
Glancing around the homicide bullpen again, he spotted that same trio of detectives he’d noticed before. They were still engaged in an enthusiastic conversation about something, the difference being that the redhead was now involved. His eyes kept drifting towards that tall drink of water sandwiched between the women, hands shoved in his front pockets as he listened. He was everything that Andrej liked in a man – built but not bulky, raven-haired, caramel skin. And the swagger, he could feel it all the way on the other side of the room. If he could only see the man’s eyes…
“Oh, you’re our new detective,” the kid said, making the connection and startling Andrej out of his guilty observations. He peeled his eyes off the gorgeous detective and tried to focus on the person in front of him. “One minute, I’ll be right back.”
Andrej watched him disappear into an office near the back of the area reserved for homicide. The door to what he assumed was the captain’s office shut behind the kid, causing Andrej’s heart to kick up a notch with worry.
“You are more than qualified for this job,” he reminded himself, speaking his native tongue again, worried that someone might overhear his self-talk and judge him for it. “You have two degrees and experience with the NYPD,” he reminded the floor.
“You don’t say,” a sexy as sin voice drawled. “Although I can’t say I understood a damn word of any of that.”
Andrej’s head snapped up, a quick apology on his lips. One that stalled the second his eyes landed on the attractive detective he’d been ogling a few minutes prior. God help him, he was even more gorgeous up close like this, those eyes of his – deep, sparkling green – enough to make Andrej weak in the knees. Not to mention that sweet, southern drawl. Working in the same department as this cowboy was going to be his undoing.
“Reyes,” a gravely voice called out. “Stop frightening your new partner.”
His blood went cold. This was his new partner? He shook his head, trying to refocus, calm his racing heart. “You are hiring me? No interview first?”
“Why would I waste time on an interview,” Amherst asked, stepping up and holding out his hand. Andrej hesitated for a moment before accepting the offer and giving a solid shake. “You have all the qualifications plus a few. Your captain back in New York spoke very highly of you and told me I’d be crazy not to hire someone with a resume like yours.”
“Thank you,” he said, grateful that he wasn’t going to have to sit through another tedious interview only to be turned down in the end. “I am eager to get back to work.”
“Then let me introduce you to your new best friend,” Amherst said with a laugh. “Andrej, meet Zayne Reyes. He’s one of our longest running detectives here in homicide. He’s also the biggest pain in my ass, but he’s good at what he does so we keep him around.”
“That makes one of us,” the redhead from earlier scoffed. She was grinning at him while taking note of every detail, he realized. “Trish Rollins,” she added. “Welcome to the madhouse.”
“Hilary Maxwell,” the brunette said, also holding out her hand. Andrej took it and shook, admiring her strong, firm grip. “I’m Rollins’ partner as well as this idiot’s girlfriend,” she said, winking at Amherst, “although that’s not exactly supposed to be public knowledge.”
He tried to keep the disappointment off his face. Over the years, he’d learned the hard way to never assume, even if all the facts were in evidence. There wasn’t any way a man this smoking hot was anything but straight, but still, he’d hoped. Andrej wasn’t worried, he’d get over this initial bout of lust soon enough.
“It is a pleasure to meet you all,” he said, looking each one of them in the eye. “I hope that I am happier here than I was in New York. You are already more welcoming than they were there. And it is much warmer here, too.”
His new partner, Reyes, laughed. “You sound like you’re from fucking Russia, honey. How is New York too cold?”
Andrej smiled and shook his head. “Romania,” he said, clarifying. “I am from Romania, but that is not too far off from Russia, no?”
Reyes snorted. “Makes sense since you do sort of sound like Dracula now that I think about it.”
“I’d bare my teeth at him if I were you,” Trish stage whispered at him, causing Hilary to burst into laughter.
“Oh, this is going to be a fun few weeks until you settle in,” she said. Slipping her arm through his, Hilary gave a little tug. “Our desks are over here, let me show you.”
“Now,” he heard Trish say to Zayne, “try not to make this one quit in a week, mmkay?”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” he drawled. “But I kinda like him already, so I’ll try and behave.”
“As if that will ever happen,” Hilary laughed. “But don’t worry, Zeklos, he’ll grow on you.”
“Sort of like a fungus,” Trish added to much laughter from everyone.
Yeah, Andrej acknowledged, amending his previous thought, working with this man – this Zayne Reyes – was not just going to be his undoing, it was likely going to be the death of him. What the hell, challenge accepted.
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no subject
Date: 2020-11-16 11:46 pm (UTC)Poor Andy. He was screwed from the get go.
The terrible trio is lucky he likes challenges and decided to stick around.
Everybody kinda rewrites their history, so it's okay if Andy didn't exactly tell Jay the truth about his first day in Homicide.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-17 03:49 am (UTC)Right? But we knew that. :)
Oh absolutely, considering how much they all rely on him for so many things.
True. And he really didn't lie... I mean, it wasn't Zayne's ass he noticed first after all. Hahaha!
Seriously though, happy you liked this! These little things usually turn out to be a bit dopey.
no subject
Date: 2020-11-17 01:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-17 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-17 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-17 08:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-17 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-17 10:25 pm (UTC)Any, any, teaming up to egg someone's house after a breakup
And suddenly I have sixteen-year-old Hilary and Trish egging Zayne's house... LOL
no subject
Date: 2020-11-18 12:40 am (UTC)And he would deserve it too...lol
no subject
Date: 2020-11-18 02:28 am (UTC)