Gray Morning -- Chapter ?? #2
So I continued from that chapter I finished writing yesterday... and ended up writing a whole chapter today? Somehow? And of course, I had meant for this to be responses for "I'll make you regret this!" and "I'll take you both on!" for the February Table of Doom, but I think I had to set it up, first, and that THAT sequence is next chapter. I think. Maybe. If Savin finishes putting the pieces together/Mitchel shows up, anyway...
Previous Chapter
It became almost a ritual for them. Ravi would be standing against the wall, cigarette dangling from his lips as Savin would then join him, his own cigarette held between his fingers. They’d share one single smoke, no words passing between them, until one of them finished, first, and then they’d head up the stairs leading towards Savin’s apartment.
Savin tried not to think that this man had been ordered to kill his ex-husband. He tried to think even less that this man obviously loved his ex-husband just as much as he did. Some nights, Ravi would tell him any new details he learned about the mysterious M, others Savin spent time reminding the other man that it was unlikely they’d figure anything out in time.
“You’re always such a downer, you know that?” Ravi would ask, a wry smile playing on his lips. Savin would smile back and offer Ravi a drink.
It was routine. Normal. Anything to make the situation feel less awkward between them. Two men who both loved the same man, who both couldn’t be with that one man, working together to save that one man’s life. And Ravi’s, of course. But Savin knew they were running out of time. Two weeks wasn’t a whole lot of time, after all.
That night, when Savin pulled his out his lighter and lit the end of his cigarette, he tried not to think that they had only a few days before another assassin was assigned to take care of the job Ravi refused to do. Ravi stood where he always did, one leg bent and foot resting against the wall behind him, head bowed but eyes searching the area all around them. Just as he spotted Savin, he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.
Savin frowned, his fingers tightening around his cigarette. He looked away from Ravi and kept moving forward, letting his own cigarette dangle from his lips as he put his hands in his pockets for a moment. Something was different about tonight. Something had changed.
Sighing, Savin finished off his cigarette quickly, squeezing it out with his fingertips and placing the butt of it inside the smoker’s post near the stairs. He didn’t stop to wait at the steps. He knew Ravi would be able to find his apartment just fine, now, and that he would come in when he thought it was safe to do so.
An hour passed as Savin waited inside his own apartment. He even showered, washing away the day’s surgeries, both failed and successful. His numbers were slipping, he knew, as a result of these nights where rest was hard to come by. That didn’t matter, though. Surgery wasn’t any more important than saving Jazz’s life was.
When he walked back out into the living room, he settled into his armchair and picked up one of his medical texts. Maybe Ravi wouldn’t be able to come, tonight. Just one more day, wasted as they tried, and likely failed, to figure out who this mysterious “M” was.
Savin didn’t know how much more time had passed before he heard the rapid series of knocks on his door, but he woke with a start, jumping up from his chair and rushing over to the door. He opened it, a wry smile on his face. “Took you long enough --”
“Expecting someone else, Dr. Bates?”
Savin’s heart stopped beating in his chest. He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “Councilor Foraker,” he said with a curt nod. “What brings you here?”
“The Guard has noticed a rather suspicious looking man trespassing on your apartment complex’s property, Dr. Bates,” Mitchel said, fingers moving to tweak the knot of his tie.
Savin’s frown deepened. Ravi had said he hadn’t seen any of the Imperial Guard hanging around his apartment for a long time, hadn’t he? “Oh?” he asked, taking a step outside of his apartment and letting the door close most of the way behind him. Like hell was he going to let Mitchel inside his apartment. “What about this ‘suspicious looking man’?”
“We were curious whether you knew anything about him,” Mitchel said, lifting his chin a little higher. He gestured towards Savin’s door. “May I come in?”
“No,” Savin answered, crossing his arms over his chest. “You can ask me your questions out here, or at the Palace, but you are not welcome inside of my apartment.”
Mitchel’s eyes trailed the length of Savin’s body, a disapproving look crossing his features. “And allow you to be seen in that?” he murmured, wrinkling his nose.
“They’re pajamas, Mitchel,” Savin said with a shrug of his shoulder. “Just because you probably sleep in your suits doesn’t mean everyone else does. Now -- out here, or the Palace?”
Mitchel scoffed in response, shaking his head for a moment as he let his hands hang loosely at his sides before slipping them inside his own pockets. “I suppose I really only have one question on behalf of the Guard -- have you seen this man?”
“I would have to know what this man looks like in order to answer the question -- there are a lot of people who hang out around outside the apartments. Not to mention there’ve been a few new tenants lately,” Savin answered, keeping his tone even.
Mitchel’s eyes seemed to narrow at that, but Savin thought it might have been a trick of the light. “New tenants?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are you certain about that?”
“I saw a moving truck just the other day,” Savin said with a nod. He was grateful his voice remained even as he spoke -- he had seen a moving truck the other day, but he was pretty sure that tenant was moving out, not moving in.
“Hm.” Mitchel looked away from him for a moment, pursing his lips together in thought. “I suppose that was a possibility the Guard hadn’t already considered,” he said quietly. He kept his hands in his pockets as he then turned on his heel. “I’m sure myself or one of the Guard will be back tomorrow to ask you more questions, Dr. Bates, but for now, enjoy your evening.”
Savin nodded. “Will do, Councilor,” he muttered, pushing his apartment door back open and slipping back inside it. As he shut the door behind him, he leaned against it and ran a hand down his face.
He stayed there for a moment before pushing himself away from the door. He had a feeling Ravi wouldn’t be coming tonight. Ravi might not even come tomorrow night, either.
They would have to find a new place to meet.
***
The next morning, Savin crawled out of his bed and tugged on a clean set of scrubs. His body ached, his joints creaking and protesting every single one of his movements. He flexed his fingers, trying to determine whether his hands would be steady enough to perform surgery in just another couple of hours. Satisfied with his fingers’ dexterity, he made his way out of his bedroom.
“I was beginnin’ to wonder when you’d wake up.”
Savin blinked, his already overtired brain whirring into overdrive as he tried to place the voice and glanced around his apartment. “Ravi?” he asked, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. “What’re you doing here?”
“Figured I’d crash here for the night,” Ravi said, sitting up right on the couch. He leaned over the back of it as he continued to speak, a wry smile on his face. “Didn’t wanna run the risk of being followed back to my place.”
“So you came up here. To my apartment,” Savin said, deadpan. He shook his head before rubbing his temples. “Ravi, if anything that’ll make them more suspicious --”
“I only spotted the one dude. He ain’t seem like a member of the Guard, and he definitely ain’t one of the Resistance,” Ravi said, giving a dismissive wave of his hand. “Though he hung out near your apartment for hours, last night, as if he were fucking waiting for you to get home,” he continued, a slight frown forming on his face. “Didn’t fucking trust him for a minute.”
“How do you know he wasn’t one of the Guard?” Savin asked, raising an eyebrow. He glanced at his phone, taking note of the time. “And how are you so sure there was only one guy?”
“The Guard don’t dress in suits when staking out a place,” Ravi said with a shrug of his shoulders. “And I only seen one guy, and he left his post ‘bout an hour after you got home last night, but -- I ain’t seen him leave the area, either. I moved when he moved.”
“Mitchel,” Savin said, his eyes widening as realization struck him. “You saw Mitchel.”
“Oh, so you know this guy, then?” Ravi asked, raising an eyebrow. “He someone we can trust?”
“Hell no,” Savin answered, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t trust that bastard as far as I could throw him. He’s an asshole, and --” Savin stopped mid-rant, his eyes growing wide yet again. “He came here, asking me about you, last night -- said that the Guard had spotted a suspicious looking man -- no offense -- but why would the Guard send him to ask me questions? That doesn’t make any fucking sense.”
“Took you how long to figure that out?” Ravi quipped, his lips quirking with a slight smile. Savin glared at him, which only made Ravi grin a little wider before his expression turned deadly serious again. “He ask you anything?”
“Only if I had seen you,” Savin said, moving around the edge of the couch and settling into his chair. He glanced at his phone again and frowned. “I gave him some bullshit line about not knowing whether I did or not -- and then told him we’ve had some new tenants lately.”
Ravi frowned to himself as he followed Savin’s every move. “I thought you said there ain’t been any new tenants?”
“There haven’t been. And he didn’t seem to know that -- otherwise he would have called me out on it,” Savin said. He frowned to himself, furrowing his brow in thought. “He did say something about the Guard not considering that -- and that he’d be back, today, to ask more questions.”
“Did he say what time today?” Ravi asked, his expression remaining unchanged. “I can make myself scarce.”
“That’d probably be a good idea,” Savin said. He raked his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes. He even reached to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose before remembering he was wearing contacts. Sighing, Savin leaned back against his seat and turned his eyes towards the ceiling. “Damnit, I’d rather be dealing with the Guard. At least then I could go to Jazz and ask him to stop following me around. But Mitchel...”
“He’s one of the Council, ain’t he?” Ravi pressed. “Think I remember Blue mentioning someone with that name.”
“Mitchel Foraker,” Savin muttered. “He was our Emperor while Jazz was missing, so yeah, he’s one of the Council. He’s the Council, really. Jazz almost never questions a goddamn thing he says,” he continued, bitterness creeping into tone. Ravi quirked an eyebrow at Savin’s words, but otherwise said nothing and looked away from him.
“You don’t think Blue should trust him?”
“Fuck no, I don’t,” Savin spat, getting up from his seat. “He’s a lying manipulative asshole, and if it weren’t for him --”
He finally caught Ravi’s eye and clamped his mouth shut. That look. He had seen that look before on Jazz’s face, the one of understanding mixed with pity. “Look, I have to go to work. I’m already running late. Make sure you lock the door when you leave.”
Ravi nodded, watching as Savin stalked towards his front door and grabbed his keys and his jacket off their hooks by the door. Savin willed away the anger rising in his chest as he thought back to those last few days before Jazz left the Palace. How Mitchel had manipulated them both into doing exactly as he wanted.
As Savin opened the front door to his apartment, he paused and turned back to Ravi. “How the hell did you get in here, anyway?” he asked, the reality of the past ten minutes finally hitting him.
“You left the door unlocked,” Ravi said simply, giving Savin a quiet smile.
Savin scoffed to himself and shook his head. “Just -- get the hell out of my apartment,” he said goodnaturedly, rolling his eyes. “And leave me a way to get in contact with you, will you?”
“Sure thing,” Ravi said, stretching himself back out on the couch. “Later, Doc.”
“Later.”
Next Chapter
Previous Chapter
It became almost a ritual for them. Ravi would be standing against the wall, cigarette dangling from his lips as Savin would then join him, his own cigarette held between his fingers. They’d share one single smoke, no words passing between them, until one of them finished, first, and then they’d head up the stairs leading towards Savin’s apartment.
Savin tried not to think that this man had been ordered to kill his ex-husband. He tried to think even less that this man obviously loved his ex-husband just as much as he did. Some nights, Ravi would tell him any new details he learned about the mysterious M, others Savin spent time reminding the other man that it was unlikely they’d figure anything out in time.
“You’re always such a downer, you know that?” Ravi would ask, a wry smile playing on his lips. Savin would smile back and offer Ravi a drink.
It was routine. Normal. Anything to make the situation feel less awkward between them. Two men who both loved the same man, who both couldn’t be with that one man, working together to save that one man’s life. And Ravi’s, of course. But Savin knew they were running out of time. Two weeks wasn’t a whole lot of time, after all.
That night, when Savin pulled his out his lighter and lit the end of his cigarette, he tried not to think that they had only a few days before another assassin was assigned to take care of the job Ravi refused to do. Ravi stood where he always did, one leg bent and foot resting against the wall behind him, head bowed but eyes searching the area all around them. Just as he spotted Savin, he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.
Savin frowned, his fingers tightening around his cigarette. He looked away from Ravi and kept moving forward, letting his own cigarette dangle from his lips as he put his hands in his pockets for a moment. Something was different about tonight. Something had changed.
Sighing, Savin finished off his cigarette quickly, squeezing it out with his fingertips and placing the butt of it inside the smoker’s post near the stairs. He didn’t stop to wait at the steps. He knew Ravi would be able to find his apartment just fine, now, and that he would come in when he thought it was safe to do so.
An hour passed as Savin waited inside his own apartment. He even showered, washing away the day’s surgeries, both failed and successful. His numbers were slipping, he knew, as a result of these nights where rest was hard to come by. That didn’t matter, though. Surgery wasn’t any more important than saving Jazz’s life was.
When he walked back out into the living room, he settled into his armchair and picked up one of his medical texts. Maybe Ravi wouldn’t be able to come, tonight. Just one more day, wasted as they tried, and likely failed, to figure out who this mysterious “M” was.
Savin didn’t know how much more time had passed before he heard the rapid series of knocks on his door, but he woke with a start, jumping up from his chair and rushing over to the door. He opened it, a wry smile on his face. “Took you long enough --”
“Expecting someone else, Dr. Bates?”
Savin’s heart stopped beating in his chest. He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. “Councilor Foraker,” he said with a curt nod. “What brings you here?”
“The Guard has noticed a rather suspicious looking man trespassing on your apartment complex’s property, Dr. Bates,” Mitchel said, fingers moving to tweak the knot of his tie.
Savin’s frown deepened. Ravi had said he hadn’t seen any of the Imperial Guard hanging around his apartment for a long time, hadn’t he? “Oh?” he asked, taking a step outside of his apartment and letting the door close most of the way behind him. Like hell was he going to let Mitchel inside his apartment. “What about this ‘suspicious looking man’?”
“We were curious whether you knew anything about him,” Mitchel said, lifting his chin a little higher. He gestured towards Savin’s door. “May I come in?”
“No,” Savin answered, crossing his arms over his chest. “You can ask me your questions out here, or at the Palace, but you are not welcome inside of my apartment.”
Mitchel’s eyes trailed the length of Savin’s body, a disapproving look crossing his features. “And allow you to be seen in that?” he murmured, wrinkling his nose.
“They’re pajamas, Mitchel,” Savin said with a shrug of his shoulder. “Just because you probably sleep in your suits doesn’t mean everyone else does. Now -- out here, or the Palace?”
Mitchel scoffed in response, shaking his head for a moment as he let his hands hang loosely at his sides before slipping them inside his own pockets. “I suppose I really only have one question on behalf of the Guard -- have you seen this man?”
“I would have to know what this man looks like in order to answer the question -- there are a lot of people who hang out around outside the apartments. Not to mention there’ve been a few new tenants lately,” Savin answered, keeping his tone even.
Mitchel’s eyes seemed to narrow at that, but Savin thought it might have been a trick of the light. “New tenants?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are you certain about that?”
“I saw a moving truck just the other day,” Savin said with a nod. He was grateful his voice remained even as he spoke -- he had seen a moving truck the other day, but he was pretty sure that tenant was moving out, not moving in.
“Hm.” Mitchel looked away from him for a moment, pursing his lips together in thought. “I suppose that was a possibility the Guard hadn’t already considered,” he said quietly. He kept his hands in his pockets as he then turned on his heel. “I’m sure myself or one of the Guard will be back tomorrow to ask you more questions, Dr. Bates, but for now, enjoy your evening.”
Savin nodded. “Will do, Councilor,” he muttered, pushing his apartment door back open and slipping back inside it. As he shut the door behind him, he leaned against it and ran a hand down his face.
He stayed there for a moment before pushing himself away from the door. He had a feeling Ravi wouldn’t be coming tonight. Ravi might not even come tomorrow night, either.
They would have to find a new place to meet.
***
The next morning, Savin crawled out of his bed and tugged on a clean set of scrubs. His body ached, his joints creaking and protesting every single one of his movements. He flexed his fingers, trying to determine whether his hands would be steady enough to perform surgery in just another couple of hours. Satisfied with his fingers’ dexterity, he made his way out of his bedroom.
“I was beginnin’ to wonder when you’d wake up.”
Savin blinked, his already overtired brain whirring into overdrive as he tried to place the voice and glanced around his apartment. “Ravi?” he asked, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. “What’re you doing here?”
“Figured I’d crash here for the night,” Ravi said, sitting up right on the couch. He leaned over the back of it as he continued to speak, a wry smile on his face. “Didn’t wanna run the risk of being followed back to my place.”
“So you came up here. To my apartment,” Savin said, deadpan. He shook his head before rubbing his temples. “Ravi, if anything that’ll make them more suspicious --”
“I only spotted the one dude. He ain’t seem like a member of the Guard, and he definitely ain’t one of the Resistance,” Ravi said, giving a dismissive wave of his hand. “Though he hung out near your apartment for hours, last night, as if he were fucking waiting for you to get home,” he continued, a slight frown forming on his face. “Didn’t fucking trust him for a minute.”
“How do you know he wasn’t one of the Guard?” Savin asked, raising an eyebrow. He glanced at his phone, taking note of the time. “And how are you so sure there was only one guy?”
“The Guard don’t dress in suits when staking out a place,” Ravi said with a shrug of his shoulders. “And I only seen one guy, and he left his post ‘bout an hour after you got home last night, but -- I ain’t seen him leave the area, either. I moved when he moved.”
“Mitchel,” Savin said, his eyes widening as realization struck him. “You saw Mitchel.”
“Oh, so you know this guy, then?” Ravi asked, raising an eyebrow. “He someone we can trust?”
“Hell no,” Savin answered, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t trust that bastard as far as I could throw him. He’s an asshole, and --” Savin stopped mid-rant, his eyes growing wide yet again. “He came here, asking me about you, last night -- said that the Guard had spotted a suspicious looking man -- no offense -- but why would the Guard send him to ask me questions? That doesn’t make any fucking sense.”
“Took you how long to figure that out?” Ravi quipped, his lips quirking with a slight smile. Savin glared at him, which only made Ravi grin a little wider before his expression turned deadly serious again. “He ask you anything?”
“Only if I had seen you,” Savin said, moving around the edge of the couch and settling into his chair. He glanced at his phone again and frowned. “I gave him some bullshit line about not knowing whether I did or not -- and then told him we’ve had some new tenants lately.”
Ravi frowned to himself as he followed Savin’s every move. “I thought you said there ain’t been any new tenants?”
“There haven’t been. And he didn’t seem to know that -- otherwise he would have called me out on it,” Savin said. He frowned to himself, furrowing his brow in thought. “He did say something about the Guard not considering that -- and that he’d be back, today, to ask more questions.”
“Did he say what time today?” Ravi asked, his expression remaining unchanged. “I can make myself scarce.”
“That’d probably be a good idea,” Savin said. He raked his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes. He even reached to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose before remembering he was wearing contacts. Sighing, Savin leaned back against his seat and turned his eyes towards the ceiling. “Damnit, I’d rather be dealing with the Guard. At least then I could go to Jazz and ask him to stop following me around. But Mitchel...”
“He’s one of the Council, ain’t he?” Ravi pressed. “Think I remember Blue mentioning someone with that name.”
“Mitchel Foraker,” Savin muttered. “He was our Emperor while Jazz was missing, so yeah, he’s one of the Council. He’s the Council, really. Jazz almost never questions a goddamn thing he says,” he continued, bitterness creeping into tone. Ravi quirked an eyebrow at Savin’s words, but otherwise said nothing and looked away from him.
“You don’t think Blue should trust him?”
“Fuck no, I don’t,” Savin spat, getting up from his seat. “He’s a lying manipulative asshole, and if it weren’t for him --”
He finally caught Ravi’s eye and clamped his mouth shut. That look. He had seen that look before on Jazz’s face, the one of understanding mixed with pity. “Look, I have to go to work. I’m already running late. Make sure you lock the door when you leave.”
Ravi nodded, watching as Savin stalked towards his front door and grabbed his keys and his jacket off their hooks by the door. Savin willed away the anger rising in his chest as he thought back to those last few days before Jazz left the Palace. How Mitchel had manipulated them both into doing exactly as he wanted.
As Savin opened the front door to his apartment, he paused and turned back to Ravi. “How the hell did you get in here, anyway?” he asked, the reality of the past ten minutes finally hitting him.
“You left the door unlocked,” Ravi said simply, giving Savin a quiet smile.
Savin scoffed to himself and shook his head. “Just -- get the hell out of my apartment,” he said goodnaturedly, rolling his eyes. “And leave me a way to get in contact with you, will you?”
“Sure thing,” Ravi said, stretching himself back out on the couch. “Later, Doc.”
“Later.”
Next Chapter