[ chapter 10 ]

Lucian had played his turn before a familiar voice stood up, turning his head to the direction of the sound he sees Ray ask a question directed to Gabriel, standing up he took a step behind the shorter man and snatched a cigarette out of the pack Ray had took out. "I could go for a smoke too." Lucian definitely didn't smoke he was more against it but it didnt matter because this was a mission, putting out a hand in front of Ray, he asked for a lighter. Gabriel watching their interaction stood up and shrugged. "I have nothing better to do, don't have a lighter though." He spoke as he stood up and reached into his pocket pulling out a pack of cigarettes that was already half empty. Lucian grinned as he agreed, he thought it was a lovely plan, he and Ray made eye contact, Lucian gave him a look before turning to the direction of outside to the smoking area. As he was handed the lighter this was a good time to mention he had never actually smoked before, hesitating he cursed himself before putting the cigarette at the edge of his lips and lighting it, he would deal with the consequences later on.

ray flinches when lucian is behind him and takes a cigarette. he is not startled but thought that he will be touched. he is afraid to be touched unexpectedly but to cover it up he leans against lucian for a short moment. he is glad that the plan works for now and goes with then to the smoking area. he passes his lighter around, it is made of metal and looks like cards, you activate it by pressing a card to the back, the detective likes lighters that are special. Ray takes a cigarette between his lips and would stand in front of the person who first has the lighter and touches the person in the back of the head and pull their head closer to him so that the cigarettes touch, he holds this position until the cigarette is lit and only then lets go. satisfied to finally have something in his lungs ray blows out the smoke. "that's great. all that's missing is some alcohol in your hand" the black-haired man laughs lightly and sighs immediately afterwards. he has already forgotten his action after his cigarette is lit.

Lucian feels the unexpected movement, staying still until the others cigarette is lit, a grin spreading across his face, handing the lighter to Gabriel he made his way out the casino. Lucian silently struggled with the cigarette, taking it out of his mouth and blowing out a hand full of smoke, he put a hand other his mouth and coughed shaking his head before taking another drag. "The things I do for work." He muttered to himself before a wave of fresh and cold air hit him, yawning he longed for some alcohol, agreeing with Ray. As all of them exited Lucian leaned his back against the wall as Gabriel lit his cigarette and but it in between his lips taking a drag. "I can agree with that, some alcohol sounds nice right now." Gabriel spoke with a chuckle and blowing in the smoke into his lungs looking out at the moon, he looked deep in thought for a second. "You guys don't look like a couple at all." He pointed out bluntly blowing out smoke. Lucian would have cared enough to bashed his head in if he wasn't having his own troubles.

the detective looks at the glow of the cigarette, lost in thought, he enjoys the cold fresh air. he seems to fade out everything for a moment and spaces out of the situation. as the two men agreed ray slowly comes back in thought, he looks back and forth between the two. when gabriel brings up the statement that the two don't look like a couple ray laughs lightly. "we hear this a lot" he waves this off with one hand, pulling his palm towards the brown haired man, quickly placing his thumb in his palm and then placing his other fingers over it, a typical hand sign for domestic violence, he held his hand so that lucian couldn't see it and to make it less noticeable he grabs his fire train away. he's not even sure if anyone understands the sign but it's worth a try to him. "our relationship is bound to deepen, some people need more time" the black haired man walks back and forth a few steps to keep warm. he stays calm inside, for him there is nothing that he can't control so he feels safe in this mission

Gabriels gaze shifts to his hands and the symbol he makes, looking back up at him in suprise he mouths something clearly knowing what the signs ment. As Ray took a few steps forward and back the other gave Lucian a death glare, Lucian catching this he tilted his head but ignored it and focused on the situation. "You won't believe how many times we get that." He shrugged with a dragged out chuckle. This was the perfect moment, apart from them it was quiet, no one in sight could be seen, and the man from what Lucian could tell wasn't all too suspicious so it was the perfect time. Lucian put off his cigarette and put it in the bin, waiting until Ray was close enough he pulled him slightly so they faced each other and grabbed his cigarette from his mouth placing in his, in between this he mouthed a couple of words. "Go on, show me what you got defective." Letting out a drag his gaze turned to Gabriel who took out his phone. "So Oliver, was it? You haven't told me what you do for work." He asked without bothering to look up. Lucian looked around as there was someone around with the answer, looking down at his hands which were bruised and hurt he answered. "I work with construction." Was all the managed.

ray is now sure that he has won the trust of his victim and is quite happy about it. when lucian spoke, the detective grumbles inwardly. he can't understand hiw someone can act like this in his own mission. after all, for ray it just seems as if he has to win this situation for two. when he was pulled over by the slightly taller man, ray looks him straight in the eye. he realizes that the situation is now perfect and even allows his cigarette to be stolen. when lucian lets go of him, he would slowly walk behind the man he is supposed to kill, ray looks like if he search for protection next to gabriel. when the attention is on lucian, ray would pull out his gun and point it at gabriel's head. when he perfectly aims to kill his opposite directly and there is no one around, raymond would shoot without showing any emotion or without changing his facial expression. his gaze seems cold, his inside is numb for the moment which is a protective reaction of the psyche. he doesn't care that he uses such a situation and even tricked gabriel to be a person with big problems in a relationship

He watches Ray carry out the whole thing, Gabriel watched the male slowly walks beside him all the attention on Lucian before a gun shoot was heard, the man fell to the ground with a loud thud and Lucian stared at it, putting off the unfinished cigarette. "Took you long enough, good work though." He admitted with a grin as he yawns and looked at the moon. "Can't go back inside now, I'll get my men to take care of the body or someone will find it eventually, let's get out of here, I need a drink." He makes sure he has everything, his keys, wallet and phone before getting ready to head out, in that moment he makes eye contact with Ray unsure of what to feel, there was a strange feeling in his heart he didn't know what was. "Are you going to the bar." He put his hands into his pockets. "I have drinks at home but if you're going I guess it would be better to drink with someone then by myself." He says more to himself then Ray but as they started to walk out of the area he yawned softly. "Oh and this doesn't mean you're in, I don't trust you fully yet, you'll have to prove your trust in many more ways." He points out with a grin.

despite the gloves ray's hands feel cold, he puts the gun away and looks at the body for a moment and the bullet hole which is more violent due to the proximity of where the shot came from. the death twitches give the detective more uncomfortable feelings than the fact that he killed someone and the sound of the air being pushed out of his lungs as the brown haired man falls to the ground gives the detective goosebumps. he looks to lucian and walks next to him. raymond walks next to the mafia boss and listens to him, only when the white haired man is done talking so much after the situation ray speaks again "i'm so ready for some drinks" in his head he talks the situation good, telling himself that everything is for the mission and that gabriel was a bad guy. on the remark that lucian doesn't trust him yet ray laughs lightly "because i can play my roles better than you ever will? don't you trust me because of that?" it's meant teasingly since lucian was so off track with the lying. ray is a bit exhausted from the whole situation

"Good, you're going to have to get used to it." He chuckles as he continues to walk when they reach outside of the casino and walk to Lucian car, Lucian smile fades out, looking offended. "Excuse you, I'm just not very good at lying. I played that role better then you." He rolled his eyes a grin hidden underneath the act, reaching his car Lucian unlocked it and got opened the car door. Normally Luci could hold his alcohol and even with large amounts he was still ok but once he did get really drunk he got out of hand, at this point though he didn't care. Waiting for Ray to get in he started the car and cracked his neck, opening the glove box he grabbed some gum to get rid of the taste of smoke, closing it he started the car and glanced over at Ray. "I forgot to ask you, have you quit yet?" He pointed out as he slowly drove out the car park waiting for an answer, he waited for another car to leave taking this time to quickly re-tie his hair so it wasn't all in his face then driving off before giving the black haired man one last glance, he didn't know what was up with him but he just wanted to keep looking at him.

ray walked quite quietly next to the mafia boss, he is quite hardened but still human, so it still takes him a bit to kill people. He talks it up in his head, putting himself more important than other people, even if he actually stands on the good side of society, like the police, his character doesn't quite fit in there. as ray now climbs into the car without listening to the other, he sighs so that it at least seems a bit like he's present. the black-haired man looks at lucian but more to his neck than in the face. "give me a little more time. i'll do it soon" the voice seems calmer and a little absent, but relaxing in a strange way. his normal manner comes out more and more and he slowly puts down the role of the lover. "by the way, the guy thought that i was in danger in our relationship, so it made sense that you were a bad liar, that's why he looked at you so strangely, so thank you for being bad" a faint cheeky grin can now be seen again. the self-healing in which he justifies everything is almost a therapy for himhim and brings him in a better mood

"I am not a bad liar-" He protested as he glared at Ray and his grin, rolling his eyes he put his eyes back on the road and started driving, he mutters to himself. "Why did I agree to this." He realises now how insane it was to let a detective join his mafia, if Dominic knew there was no doubt that Lucians head would be displayed in front of his house the next day. Shaking his head he cursed himself, there was a likely possibility he was going to betray him, kill him even but he just couldn't get himself to tell him off. He told himself he would keep an eye out on Ray, be extra careful whenever he's doing something or going on a mission, maybe he could manipulate him into staying, thoughts raced through his mind trying to keep them quiet. He drove threw the street quiet for the rest of the drive but it wasn't long until the building could be seen, driving into the parking lot he parked and sat quiet for a few seconds before unfastening his seat belt. He longed for some alcohol.

((thx!))

the detective is silent as well and takes out his cell phone, on which he goes through the news and enjoys the silence, he would prefer to be lonely together in a relationship, just sit together and just let everyone do what he wants. he is the classic introvert in people, even if he can cover it up well for a certain time. unlike luci, ray thinks of nothing, his thoughts are empty. for a moment he even forgets what situation they are in, only when he sees the familiar building he comes back to reality and puts his cell phone away. when lucian parks the car ray gets out and looks at the taller one "i hope you have enough alcohol, i need to get drunk now" he speaks directly and honestly. ray goes ahead, he is so confident about it that it looks like he belongs here

Lucian being drunk was one thing but if both of them planned to get black out drunk then they were definitely in for an interesting night, Lucian grinned as his response and opened the car door, grabbing his keys out the engine he got out as cold wind hit his skin almost making him shiver, waiting for Ray to get out of the car he closed the door and started to walk towards the buildings entrance with Ray. "Just don't pass out I don't want to carry you home." He remarked sarcastically as the building doors open and they both walked in, it was like there were here a minute ago, the same atmosphere lay the building even the same people looked like they were there, letting the door close he looked around for a place to sit. "Where shall we sit?" He asked himself more then Ray as he looked around at the half empty seats, there were a lot of seats to choose from. Luci ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Ray for a second.

when they were in the warmth of the house, ray takes off his coat and looks around, everything seems exactly the same. the black-haired man looks around carefully and has to grin very slightly. it seems so monotonous although there is so much going on, well his apartment is not better but there he hardly notices it. "i don't get drunk that fast" he is convinced of the statement even though it is not true. the low alcohol level has already made him antsy but the detective ignores that. when it comes to a seat, the black-haired man would just sit down on a chair, he doesn't care if lucian wants to sit there or not, before he sat down ray hung his coat over lucian's shoulder, the more he had to do with lucian the more he starts to allow himself everything. somehow he likes the man quite a bit and even though they are still strangers ray feels a strange connection and security even though they are enemies "i'll have just what you're having" with this statement he wants to stop lucian from saying anything about the coat and grins at him, it seems like he has the upper hand right now

Lucian feels a weight been put over his shoulder noticing Rays mischievous grin, he pulls the coat down and folds it in half, glaring at Ray like he was a kid, putting the coat over the seat he sat across from Ray and rolled his eyes at his immature behavior, about to say something most likely a comment about Ray the bartender came up to them with a smile and asked them their drinks, Lucian responded first. "Ah shit I don't remember the name of it, bring me the one I had first two days ago. He'll have the same as me." The bartender immediately understood and hurried away to make their drinks. Lucian turning his head back to Ray glared playfully at him. "You know, you really act like a child sometimes." He sighed as to show he was disappointed, hiding a grin beneath the act as he made eye contact, intriguied at Ray, there wasn't something about him that made Lucian feel unsure, he made him feel crazy.

the man's blue eyes meet lucian's, ray takes off his shoes and drags his feet onto the armchair, finally he takes off the fake glasses and lays them away on the next best platform. the black-haired man leans back and makes himself comfortable, he can never sit normally on a chair when he's not on a mission. "tell me more about yourself, i want to get to know you and not that weird mafia boss" an honest statement, he knows he won't get any answers but it's worth a try, especially if they fall into alcohol later. ray himself seems to just accept his way even if it can be annoying and immature sometimes, despite that he seems independent and mature, his inner child is still dominant from time to time when he feels comfortable. the black haired man looks at his opposite, somehow he could do this forever even if it might seem strange, he doesn't care right now, after all he is the one who seems crazy and reckless in this situation as detective sitting in the house from a mafia boss. He also doesn't care inside what others think about him.

"Weird?" He repeats in a rather offended tone, glaring at him, he was not weird. Watching him take off his glasses he made eye contact with the male and stayed quiet before looking around to answer the question as if someone had the answer in front of him. "I uh.." He bit his tongue trying to think of something remotely interesting, tapping his finger on the table repeatedly. Now that he thought about it there was nothing worth telling Ray that he already didn't know, the little facts about him didn't matter so there wasn't anything he could think of. "Well I don't know what you want me to say, I'm lactose intolerant and as stupid as it sounds I hate spiders." He almost shivers at the thought if it. "Their disgusting and partly terrifying." He admits before raising an eyebrow. "What about you? You're turn." He grins as he notices someone heading their way. The bartender set their drinks down and thanked them, telling them to call him over if they needed anything before leaving, Lucian picked his drink up and immediately took a drink.

ray enjoys watching lucian how he is always looking for answers, this behavior is a certain peculiarity that makes the mafia boss unique. it's usually the little things he likes about people and with lucian it's probably this little thing so far. the slightly smaller one laughs a little at the facts, lucian could have told anything and comes up with something like this. "well, at least you're not a mutant, only mutant humans can tolerate lactose" ray smirks, he likes to bring up useless facts, but the information about spiders makes him laugh "someone like you? afraid of spiders? no, right?" he doubles over laughing, he hasn't laughed so heartily in a long time. "so all i need as a weapon is a tarantula" the black-haired man grins. when the drinks are brought, he nods his thanks and takes a satisfied sip. now it's his turn to talk about himself, but just like lucian, he doesn't know what to say. "hm, i hate the color light green, it hurts my eyes" with a short pause and a glance at his glasses he remembers another rather stupid fact "and the glasses are fake, my eyes are completely healthy" ray looks at the drink and finishes it, shaking and having to breathe into his sleeve. he is uncomfortable talking about his fear because it seems even more stupid than a mafia boss who is afraid of spiders. so he hopes that lucian is satisfied with these facts.

He knew Ray was going to use the two facts against him but he couldn't help but chuckle, staring into his eyes he pretends the be offended and rolls his eyes. "You're on my team now, no need for spiders." He answers as he crosses his arms almost for getting about the drink in front of him which was weird, he never forgot he had a drink in front of him, spacing out for a split second he grabbed his drink up before tuning in and listening back to Ray with now a grin. "Light green, really?" He chuckled and shook his head. "I've never met a more picky person." He remarks as he repeats the colour. "Light green." He stares back at his cup and then makes a remark about the glasses. "They look cute on you." About to take a drink he realises what he'd just said, he wasn't thinking. "Not like that, I-" He shook his head trying to forget about it. "What about you? What are you afraid of?"

((hey hey! thats fine!))

the black-haired man laughs contentedly "but you never know, if you're ever bratty I can get a spider" he grins and puts the empty glass down. on the remark of the color which ray can't stand, he purses his lips a bit playfully "you can't even compensate for something with the color, it's just there and burns your eyes away, especially when the sun shines on it! how can people think thay it is a good color for clothes?" he tries to remain serious but has to smile slightly himself because it sounds really funny and also quite unnecessary. when lucian looks at the glasses, ray follows his gaze briefly, but when the compliment falls he stares directly back at the mafia boss and raises an eyebrow skeptically. he has to process the words first, he would never have expected such words from lucian, especially not thought of ray. "you- how do you mean it then?" he turns his head sideways a little. his cheeks turn a little red from the alcohol and the current situation, but raymond himself doesn't notice. he's so upset by the statement that he only comes back with a shake of his head and lucian's question. "my fear?" he rolls his eyes and grumbles "you can guess, maybe you'll get something as a prize if it's right" the voice is a little quieter and not quite on the point.

"Excuse you? Bratty? I am not a 9 year old I am a grown man." He defends as his hand on the glass lifts up and he takes a sip. "It's literally just a colour." He rolled eyes at the pickiness of Ray, chuckling a bit as to how much emphasis he put on, his hatred for the colour was not a lie, about to forget and move on with another topic Ray mentioned it, he bit his tongue and glared at the other, he watched him try to process what he just said making him feel even more embarrassed, what he said he believed but he didn't mean to say it out loud. "I didn't mean it in any way I just didn't mean to say it outloud." His voice gets louder, not as he was mad but as if Ray couldn't hear him. "You weren't supposed to hear that." He answers as he rolls his eyes and sighs he heard him talk again. "Oh I love surprises, it better be a good one." He tries to think. "Well uhm.. Are you afraid of the colour green?" He jokes chuckling.

ray is amused at how the two adults are still so childish despite their status. he can't explain where the hatred for the color came from, but he shrugs it off. when lucian gets louder and mentions that ray shouldn't have heard that, he shows with his hand that he understood by waving up and down "that's fine, then i didn't hear anything" the black haired man pushes his lglass to the white haired indicate that he would like to have something else to drink, hoping to end the topic completely, he even stops to think about it. to be honest ray has no price, it was just meant as a joke to build this up like a quiz, but when lucian answers with 'green' ray would grab something like a pillow and throw it against lucian "haha, very funny" he can't suppress a laugh. he hasn't had such fun in a long time, raymond doesn't understand why he has such a good relationship with a mafia boss directly

Lucian sighs in relief mentally as Ray drops the topic, listening to his voice it was almost enchanting, cursing himself for even thinking that he spoke back trying to forget about it. "So is it right? I want my prize." He chuckles with a wide grin as Ray attacks him, watching him put the glass in front of him he calls over the waiter and orders a couple of more drinks that were stronger then the ones they had currently, chugging the rest of his and waiting for the waiter to come back he focused his attention back to Ray, he found it weird how he could talk so freely with a detective of all people, it annoyed and confused him he didn't know why he felt like this, his best option was to shrug it off. "That doesn't count though. The colour light green isn't something you can die from." He rolls his eyes. "You're so dramatic." He remarks before saying something else but getting cut off by the bartender putting down a good couple of drinks on their table before leaving, Lucian immediately picked one glass up and took a swig, putting it down on the table a bit too hard he forgot his strong this one really was, maybe getting piss drunk with Ray around wasn't a very good idea.

a slight cough comes from ray to be more serious again, also when he wanted to say something he was also interrupted by the bartender. he watches how the drinks are putted down on the table and how luci takes one and drinks it. when the glass comes quite strong on the table rays also takes a glass and drinks it directly, it seems as if he wants to prove something, but because the drink is too strong for him he has to cough and slightly distorts his face. raymond wants to drink away the strange feeling he has about the mafia boss, why does the other one take him like that? he gently puts the glass down, he is kinda interested how strong lucian is but he doesn't want to feel it on his body. Raymond looks lucian in the eyes "mr. strong, i'm not afraid of the color green, so you don't deserve your prize" slowly he notices how the alcohol makes him feel a little weird and warm, his cheeks get redder and his postur more chilled. his cheeks always glow red when he slowly gets drunk, so he can never hide the fact that he's drunk. "besides, you're not likely to die from spiders, what are the odds of finding a poisonous one?" he wants to make the same argument as lucian, even though it doesn't make sense and doesn't contribute to anything.

He watches Ray grab a glass and take a drink, chuckling at his struggles and coughs, picking the glass up again he took a swig and placed it down this time so it didn't make a loud thud. He turned his head to the side to try cope with how strong it was before furrowing his eyebrows, he wasn't near drunk but somehow he could already notice Rays flushed cheeks and his poster relaxing, it was clear he couldn't hold his alcohol, he was curious to see how drunk he could really get Ray, he wondered how he acted when he was drunk, grinning he spoke. "Spiders don't count, they can kill you a colour can't Ray." He shook his head and then tilted it. "Well I guess I'll try again." He tried to really think, what would the detective in front of him be scared of, everyone was scared of something. He finally came up with a sarcastic answer. "Are you scared that I'll find out you don't really want to work for me?" He asked sounding serious but couldn't help and hide a grin, he grabbed the rest of his drink as he continued to stare at the other.

ray slowly realizes that he probably shouldn't drink any more and sits down even more comfortably to show that he's done drinking, he's uncomfortable showing weakness in front of the other even if it's just alcohol. it especially annoys him that lucian doesn't show any effects of alcohol. when the deep voice says his name he gets warm inside, his head is spinning. raymond blames it on the alcohol and averts his gaze "yes yes.... go ahead, you have time, but we'll leave the stupid discussion" he mumbles something and now looks at luci again, as he continues guessing ray rolls his eyes "why should i be afraid of that? you haven't given me a reason to be afraid yet, i'm not like noah, even if you could kill me i don't see a problem" the black haired man puts his thumb lightly to his own lips and bites gently on it to be able to think better without being distracted by lucians presence. "should i reveal my fear or do you want to try again? without a price then" he continues to act as if he has a price even though this is not true.

"Is giving the prize to me and revealing your fear an option?" He asks with a grin, tilting his head slightly before chugging another drink slowly he notices Ray finished drinking, shaking his head he slid a glass full of whiskey to the other. "Don't be like that, I know you're a light weight but no reason not to drink." He protests as he waits for him to pick up the glass, drinking his own drink, he tried to think of what the man in front of him could possibly be scared of, what could possibly keep him up and night, he groaned as he rolled his eyes. "It's literally impossible to tell what a detective is afraid of, it might as well be the most random thing like dogs or hell you can be afraid of people touching you." He shakes his head in disappointment but can't help but chuckle. "Detectives man, I won't ever get them." He says out loud as he finds himself gulping down another round of alcohol, it was more or less starting to get to him, he didn't have alcohol immunity he still had limits.