Who: Jared & Ty What: A break Where: Ty's apartment, Haven Park When: Evening, Monday 10/23 Status: Complete
It had been 35 hours since Amelia Lucas was reported missing and Jared had barely slept a wink. He couldn't imagine what he'd feel like if it was his own child out there because just knowing there was a child missing was tearing him up inside. He had trudged through the woods with the search parties and at this point he knew they were most likely looking for a body. If Amelia Lucas was alive she wasn't going to be found outside, not after the cold spell the night before. Kids were resourceful, he tried to remind himself. Talking to her teachers and family it seemed like this little girl was smart too so there was hope but Jared wasn't really feeling it.
At some point he was told to go home and get some sleep. He'd argued but not for long since his body rudely reminded him that he needed to at least lie down for a few hours, even if he didn't actually sleep. Sadie had brought him food earlier and if not for those sandwiches he'd be starving by now and if he didn't take care of himself he wasn't going to be of any use to anyone else. He texted Ty after getting in the car and while he didn't really expect him to be home he didn't want to go to his own place and stare at the walls there. At least at Ty's place he'd smell him on the sheets and feel a little comforted whether Ty was there or not.
I'm using your key and sleeping at your place for a few. Think I'll see you?
It was a short message but he found it hard to keep going and ask all the things he wanted to ask. If Ty was coming home they'd talk in person, if not he probably felt too busy for an involved text-chat.
They’d done their best to take breaks in shifts, so everybody got some food and sleep, but of course things didn’t always work out that way. Missing people were always a big deal to the department, so many had been lost, but when it was a child? That turned it into a real crisis. Especially when the mother of said child was kind of a nightmare all on her own. The deputies had been leading search parties with the public through the daylight hours, and continuing to search at night. They’d knocked on doors -- especially those belonging to people with records of various kinds of child abuse -- and canvassed neighborhoods and been through so much of the woods. There were people continually checking the shorelines in case a body washed up. Everyone was on high alert and exhausted.
The boost from Ty’s little talk with Sadie at Moxie’s earlier had pretty much worn off by the time evening rolled around again. He was tired and achy as his group dispersed and Grady told him to go home for a while. The reserve deputies were out doing some more work, and he would have to keep his phone on and close by, of course, but a shower and a nap were both sorely needed. He saw Jared’s texts as he climbed into his car, and smiled faintly as he thumbed in an answer back. Headed that way too. Be there soon.
They'd kept in touch sporadically over the day and at moments it was the only thing that kept Jared above water. He had his phone mounted to the dashboard so he caught the gist of the text back and realized just how relieved that made him. He'd been trying to be strong and chill with being by himself but now Ty was on his way so he could acknowledge to himself just how much he didn't want to sleep without him. Not tonight. It made the drive back to Ty's place easier and he looked around for his car once he parked outside his apartment building.
It was hard to shake that search-mode he was currently stuck in so he looked around for the Lucas girl even as he walked up to the house, his brain still in overtime suggesting places for him to check. The key in his hand was like a little stress ball or at least it served a similar purpose. Clenching his hand around it was soothing.
He let himself in and made a beeline for the bathroom before heading straight to bed where he flopped down and hugged Ty's pillow to his face while he waited for him to join him.
Ty was feeling half starved, so he swung by a taco place with a drive through and got a bag of food, a mix of tacos and burritos just in case Jared was hungry too. It was strange to feel starving but not like he had much of appetite at the same time. Ty knew even if they weren’t hungry-hungry, they still had to eat. There was still so much to do. He made it home about ten minutes after Jared did, closing the door behind himself and shrugging out of his jacket as he set the food down on the little table near the door. Rubbing a hand over his head, Ty bent down to unlace his boots and tug them off with a little groan.
He grabbed the food and walked back toward the bedroom. On another night, he might’ve made a ‘honey, I’m home’ sort of joke, but Ty didn’t feel much like joking. He just felt like collapsing. He smiled faintly at Jared’s big form on the bed, still fully clothed and with his face hidden. “Hey babe,” he said, setting the bag down on his dresser. Ty padded to the end of the bed and pulled one of Jared’s feet closer to him to start undoing the boot laces.
Jared heard him coming but didn't feel inclined to move until he actually heard Ty speak. Just two words but they soothed him in ways he couldn't explain. "Hey," he murmured back though it was muffled by the pillow. He raised his head finally to look up at him, giving him a wan smile. It felt like forever since he last saw him though that wasn't reality at all. It had just been a very long day. "God it's good to see you," he whispered, moving his body a little to make it easier to get those boots off.
In spite of everything being shitty, it was unspeakably good to come home to his boyfriend in his bed, even if he was way overdressed. Ty didn’t even care about boots on his comforter at the moment. Things like what they’d been doing for so many hours put things into a better perspective. “Good to see you too,” he murmured as he pulled the first of Jared’s boots off. Ty let it thunk to the floor and then moved to do the same to the other one. Once he was done, he gripped Jared’s feet to give them both a very brief thumb massage, aware of just how good that felt after a long day on them. “I brought tacos if you’re hungry,” he added.
After the amount of walking Jared had been doing that little massage felt painfully good in a near orgasmic way and he groaned softly as he rested his head on his arm and gazed over at Ty tiredly. "You're a fucking angel descended from heaven to deliver me from darkness, aren't you. God that feels good." He was willing to bet Ty felt just as shitty and he made a mental note of returning the favor when he'd regained some of his energy.
Since it got such a nice reaction, Ty kept doing it, not even minding that Jared’s socks definitely smelled like they’d been stuffed in hot boots for a very long time. That was what love was about. He gave a soft laugh at the glowing compliment, firmly rubbing the tight muscles with his thumbs. “Damn, you finally caught on, that’s exactly what I am,” he told him with a faint grin. “Keep your mouth shut and don’t blow my cover.” He rubbed Jared’s feet for another couple of minutes and then patted him before he straightened up to shuffle toward the bathroom. He was so ready to get his gear off and stuff some food in his face.
"Yeah I ain't tellin' a soul," Jared all but purred at him. "I'm too selfish, want you all to myself and not out there performing miracles." He fell silent then, save for a few happy little sounds that escaped his throat and by the time Ty got up he was feeling a lot better. Not all the way good, but a lot closer than he had been. He sat up and looked over at the bag Ty had brought in, remember they had tacos. Ty was definitely an angel, at least tonight. "Can we just eat these in bed?" he called after Ty. "I'll change the sheets tomorrow."
Ty was stripping in the bathroom, throwing the filthy layers into the laundry basket until he was down to his boxer briefs. “That was my plan,” he answered Jared as he moved to the toilet to relieve his bladder. “Go nuts.” He went to the sink to wash his hands and face. A full shower could wait until the morning. Ty knew it was going to be another early one, but he just didn’t have the energy tonight. He left the bathroom and went back to the bed, circling around to the side that had ended up as ‘his’ side and crawling onto the mattress with a groan.
Jared had to wonder why Ty put the bag so far away but he managed to crawl out of bed and go get it while Ty was in the bathroom. The massage had helped, even if it wasn't a particularly long one. He went and got them something to drink while he was at it then undressed and flopped down on the bed in just his boxers with the food within reach on the nightstand. It felt weirdly decadent to be chowing down in bed but if not on a night like this then when? When Ty finally joined him he was sprawled out with a bottle of beer in hand, the other touching Ty as soon as he could reach him.
There was a boyfriend, food, and a beer waiting for Ty when he flopped onto the bed, and he couldn’t really ask for anything more. He grabbed the beer for him and sat cross-legged on the bed, leaning over to kiss the back of Jared’s hand where it had landed on his knee. “Pass that over here,” he murmured, gesturing toward the taco bag. Ty dug into it as soon as he could, pulling a couple of things out and half-unwrapping one of the tacos to take a bite, his beer cradled in his crotch. He gave a little groan and shook his head. “I’m a goddamn genius,” he murmured with appreciation.
"I keep telling you," Jared drawled as he pulled the bag closer to get some for himself. He hadn't realized he was hungry but watching Ty eat just drove the point home and his stomach rumbled a little needily. "I didn't know how much I needed this until I had it, which in hindsight is probably a good thing." He unwrapped his taco and took a bite, groaning happily. He might not get a lot of sleep but this was a good start to the evening.
“That’s what I’m here for,” Ty said between bites. He took a swig of beer. “To give you stuff you didn’t know you wanted. Like tacos. And dick. I’m the patron angel of tacos and dick.” He flashed Jared a grin and crunched off another hunk of taco. It was a dumb joke, but he had the feeling they needed those right then. There was only so much heaviness a person could take, and there had been a lot of that on their shoulders for the past couple days.
That made Jared laugh, probably more than it should have. Emotions were weird that way, sometimes they came out all backwards. Today had been hard and he still felt a little sad so that intensely dumb joke was an oasis in the desert. "I love it," he tittered. "My very own patron angel of tacos and dick. What more can I ask for?" He took another bite, eyes still crinkled with amusement as he watched his boyfriend.
Ty grinned, pleased that he’d made him laugh, even if he could hear the tired, wrung-out edge to it. Their job was often hard, but since Sunday it had been pretty hellish. Ty hated to imagine trying to deal with this shit alone. Even if they’d just been friends he would’ve insisted on having a few beers somewhere. This was better though. “Anything more would be totally greedy, you’ve already got the two best things,” he continued, shooting Jared a warm look that meant more than his words did. He ate some more, washing it down with beer and reaching for the bag to pull out a burrito to wolf down too.
"Hard to argue with that," Jared said and his amusement was replaced with something warm but a little painful when Ty looked at him like that. He managed to smother the painful part some, watching Ty eat and eating a little more as well. He reached over to rub Ty's knee gently once he'd finished his taco, giving him a little smile. "I would have hated to be by myself tonight," he admitted. "I'm really glad you came home."
Ty swigged from his beer bottle again before he reached over to settle his hand gently over Jared’s. “Me too,” he murmured. “For both.” Ty had gotten through half the burrito, and he wrapped the rest of it up again and tucked it back into the bag. He fluffed some pillows and settled back against them and the headboard, stretching his legs out and motioning for Jared to come in closer for snuggles. Now that the bodily needs were more or less taken care of, emotional needs came next.
Jared finished his beer and then moved to snuggle up against Ty, resting his head on his shoulder and draping one arm over his middle. "I met Sadie," he murmured. "She said you guys talked some." There was something a little vulnerable like knowing his ex and current bf were chatting but he wanted nothing more but for them to get along and it seemed like they were.
Ty settled his arm comfortably around Jared’s broad shoulders, dropping his cheek against his hair for the moment. He curled his fingers idly against the skin on his boyfriend’s arm, then smiled faintly. “Yeah, I ran into her at Moxie’s,” he murmured, though Sadie had probably already told Jared that. The day had been so long, it felt like it had happened last week. “We had a nice little chat. First once since we came out. She was really cool about it.”
It wasn't often that Jared allowed himself to feel small and it wasn't only because of the sheer size of him. Tonight he felt a bit small and it was comforting to curl up against a strong body and let himself feel that way for a while. "I'm glad you get along," he murmured. "Even if you end up making fun of my dick or something." He knew that wasn't the case but he still felt the need to try to lighten the mood a little. It had been a hard couple of days and he was exhausted.
He snorted a laugh at that and gave Jared a tighter squeeze. “Can you make fun of something for being too perfect?” he murmured back, grinning. “I don’t think that’s a thing.” Ty was pretty sure that Sadie would never ever want to talk about Jared’s dick with him, and he was more than okay with that. He turned his head to kiss Jared’s head, breathing in his hair. He wasn’t clean, but he still smelled good. Like himself. “I’m glad we do too though,” Ty added softly. “We got enough problems without ex-wife drama.”
Jared preened, it was easy to think of a lot of flaws an ex of his could discuss with his boyfriend so it had been safer and funnier to just say his dick, but it didn't hurt to hear it was perfect. "Maybe you should make fun of things for being too perfect," he speculated before laughing. "No making fun of my perfect dick though, I'll get all weird and self conscious about it."
Ty grinned again and gave Jared a little headbutt. “I’m super disappointed, but okay, I promise,” he teased. “I’ll do nothing but sing the praises of your perfect dick.” He moved his hand to slide his fingers slowly through Jared’s hair. They were ridiculous pretty often, but he knew tonight it was mostly about bringing them both up out of a darker place, reminding each other that there was more to their lives than work and other people’s tragedy.
"I expect a sonnet," Jared murmured. "By sunset tomorrow, no later." He did an okay job of compartmentalizing most of the time but it was harder when kids were involved, kids or anyone helpless, really. He was intensely grateful for the way Ty allowed him to let go and just be silly for a while and so he gave into the urge to hug him more tightly, with far more emotion than their current topic really invited. "Thanks," he whispered and he knew Ty would understand exactly what he meant.
Ty did understand. They’d been through things like this before, really heavy things, and while they’d been friends at the time, they could provide one another with a whole different level of support now. Ty wrapped his other arm around Jared too from the front, hugging him tightly right back. There were some things that couldn’t even be talked about, they were so awful. The two of them knew very well what might’ve happened to that girl, and none of it was good. “I got you, baby,” he murmured softly, pressing his lips to Jared’s head again.
Jared inhaled deeply and then relaxed against him some more. It was a strange inbetween place he found himself in, between the worry and sadness and then this deep, warm sense of love and happiness. He was a man who thrived in relationships and wilted without them but this felt different with Ty because he knew exactly where Jared was at and he didn't need him to talk about it. A small part of him felt like he should be comforting Ty just as much but sometimes giving comfort was as necessary as receiving it, he just hoped Ty was getting his.
There was a balance being struck that Ty wasn’t even consciously aware of. It was just easier to be strong and comforting because it seemed like Jared needed it right then. Ty knew he couldn't fix anything that was happening, but he could be there and hold his man and pet his hair and let the good stuff seep back in. Life was dark and terrifying, especially in this godforsaken town, but they had a little light between them, and when they huddled together it got brighter. Ty just relaxed with Jared, fingers stroking slowly, not feeling the need to talk. It soothed him too, and he knew already they wouldn’t be spending any nights apart for a while.