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Spade didn’t know how the fuck Karios managed to talk him into making a gingerbread house.
It was a waste of time, really. It almost never worked out and it ended up being a stiff block of crusty globs of frosting and crumbling gingerbread. But here he was, crowded over their shared apartment’s kitchen island with an unstable looking gingerbread house being held together with his boyfriend’s hands.
“Karios,” He scoffed fondly, shaking his head with a small giggle before adding more frosting to the walls that looked like they needed it. They took turns holding together the small house, allowing the other to decorate it with scattered candies. Slowly, Kairos took his hands off of it, a proud beam adorning his face as the house remained standing up.
“We did it! Look! Look at it! It’s standing up!” He said excitedly, waving his hands around. Spade noted that there was more frosting in Karios’ hair than there was on the house alone. He reached a hang out, scooping out a bit of the extra frosting with a wrinkled nose.
“Dude..” He said incredulously, his eyes widening in amusement. “I’m not even going to ask how you managed to do this.”
Kairos shrugged, still wearing a giddy expression as he continued to eat frosting straight out of the piping bag. Spade weighed his options before smearing the frosting on Karios’ face. Karios let out an indignant squawk, jumping back and out of Spade’s reach.
“Hey! That was uncalled for!” He whined, though his happy expression betrayed him. “You got white shit all over my face.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Spade teased, waggling his eyebrows before skidding backwards to avoid Karios swatting him.
“Shut up!” He tried again, aiming to hit Spade but instead wacking his hand on the counter, hissing in pain as he cradled his hand. “Ow. Fuck. That hurt,”
Spade rolled his eyes, then realizing in horror that the gingerbread house they had worked so very hard on was shifting slightly. He didn’t even get to say anything before the entirety of it fell, walls caving in on themself dramatically as the mounds of frosting they had put on it did nothing. Spade groaned.
“Welp,” Karios offered, his tone slightly disappointed. “That was about as stable as your mental health.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Another face off. How many times has this happened? How many times had Karios had to bicker with his rival? It must have been the third time this week. It had begun to suspect that Spade was doing this on purpose. His thoughts were snapped back to the present when Spade finished one of his many rants, posed dramatically as he waited for Karios' response. Karios let out a little puff of air.“Don’t act like we’re friends, Spade.” He said tiredly, his eyes darting over to look vaguely over the villain’s shoulder. He could see Spade’s expression change, his lower lip jutting out as his dark wings twitched.“Are we not?” Spade prodded. “I say you give up all this hero shit and take that stick out of your ass. You know me, Karios. You know I’d never kill you. Why do you treat me like you’d treat any other villain?” Karios let out a frustrated huff of air, crossing his arms defensively as he finally looked Spade in the eye.“Because you are any other villain, Spade! Just because you like to pride yourself in being my number one nuisance doesn’t make you fucking special!” His tone had gotten louder, but he couldn’t find it in himself to try and quiet down. Who would even care, anyways? Bullshit like this happens nearly every day. People have learned how to tune it out.Kairos watched with a bit of satisfaction as Spade’s expression dropped. He looked a bit hurt. (He could suck it up. Kairos had gone home on many occasions with pounding headaches from stand-offs like these.)“Awh, I’m not your favorite villain?” He pressed. Karios wanted to scream at him.“No. No, you are not.” His voice was firm.If only Spade would take a hint and back off. Kairos felt a small kindling of rage, and he decided to continue.“If I had it my way, you’d be gone and out of this fucking town. Out of my fucking life!” Spade tilted his head, waiting for Kairos to continue. “I could make your life a living hell, do you know that, Spade? I could tell the agency about all of this. I could tell them everything you’ve said to me. Would you like that? Would you like them to become one step closer to finding out whoever the fuck you are? Would you like me to make your sad little life a living hell?” His tone was cold as he spat, his jaw clenched in fury.At some point in that rant he had found himself face to face with his rival, looking down on him. Spade’s hand wandered up, tightly gripping the collar of Karios’ hoodie to tug him down to his eye level. He grinned smugly, his wings flared out as he opened his mouth to speak.“You want to make my life a living hell? Fine, then. Give me hell, darling!”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was a cute cafe, honestly. A small, local place run by a family. It wasn’t a chain, surprisingly, and it always was warm whenever Spade walked in, which was nice. Especially in the middle of winter.
And so, in the present, Spade let out a content hum as he strode into the familiar cafe. The warm air washed over him and he wasted no time, strolling over to the booth in which his boyfriend was seated. He slid into the booth across from him, smiling when Karios noticed him and perked up.
“Hey!” Kairos said softly, setting his phone down to better speak to Spade. Spade grinned.
“Hey yourself. You’re here early. Am I late?” A bit of worry crept into his tone as he glanced at the clock on the wall. No, he wasn’t late, but Karios was funny with time.
“No. I was just hungry. Croissant?” Karios slid a half-eaten croissant across the table, offering it to Spade. Spade looked at it with slight disgust.
“No.. I’m fine. I can order something.” Karios nodded in understanding, chewing on its bottom lip subconsciously. “So, fill me in. Did anything interesting happen?”
“Spade.. I literally spoke to you an hour ago.”
“A lot can happen in an hour! Like, what if-”
He was cut off by a loud bang, accompanied by a thud. He turned his head around, raising his eyebrows at the sight before him. The guy sitting a couple booths away from them had shot a hole in the wall.. Who fucking brought a gun to a cafe? What a weirdo.
“This is a robbery! I want everyone on the floor!” Their voice shook. They must have been an amateur.
Spade could do so much better, but he played along. Soon enough, everyone was on the floor.
Karios slowly rose from his spot next to Spade, careful to not attract the person's attention yet, cocking his own gun and aiming at the person as it cleared its throat. “I’m a police officer. Put the fucking gun down.” Karios’ voice was firm. Hot damn.
When the other person didn’t budge, Karios tightened his grip on the gun and walked closer to them. “Don’t make me repeat myself.” An eternity seemed to tick by before the other person reluctantly dropped their gun.
As if he had been doing it his whole life, Karios strode towards him and handcuffed him. Karios carried handcuffs around too? Kinky. He held their arms behind their back routinely.
“
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.” And with that, they were led out.
The air was a bit tense in the cafe after that, but hesitantly everyone returned to what they were doing. A couple people left. Spade simply ordered his food, even if his boyfriend wasn’t there.
-
It was an hour or so later and Spade was on the couch, finishing the coffee he had ordered to go from earlier, when Karios finally got him. He stood up to greet it at the door, wrapping him in a quick hug.
“You’re home! That was fucking crazy. They sucked at that! They didn’t even prepare anything to begin with AND they didn’t even have any demands. It was pointless, really. I could do so much better. What a fucking rookie!” Karios shook his head.
“Babe. Cop. I’m a cop, remember? Maybe don’t share your villain tendencies with me.” Karios pointed out fondly. Spade gave a sheepish smile.
“But on a very different topic, do you carry a gun and handcuffs around every time you’re off duty?” He mused, his eyes twinkling teasingly. Karios reddened slightly.
“Yes, I do. Hey, fuck you, it’s not like that! And they proved helpful today. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“You owe me another date, officer. I had to order my shit to go like a fuckin’ loser. I almost wish they shot me to spare me of the embarrassment of leaving my date alone. I looked so stupid!”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Triumph. Pure triumph. That’s what Karios felt as he knocked the villain to the ground, holding back a wince as Spade’s skull cracked lightly against the street, the signature clanging of a dagger of sorts accompanying it. The setting was awfully appropriate. A dark night, rain pouring steadily and drenching everything around them as the city's neon lights pricked through the gloomy fog. It could have almost been considered peaceful.
But then Spade groaned, and Karios was harshly jerked back into the present—an awful reminder of what he was planning on doing. A nimble hand reached out, grasping the dagger that had been dropped earlier and holding it gingerly in its palms. It shone wickedly in the low light, and slowly Karios looked down to get a better look at his rival.
He had a leg thrown on either side of Spade, firmly straddling him in order to prevent him from getting back up. Spade’s dark wings were sprawled out behind him. He looked up at Karios, opening his mouth to speak.
“I must say,” Spade said, his voice a bit strained and raspy as the corners of his mouth tilted up slightly. “Being straddled by a pretty boy has been a lifelong fantasy of mine.” Clever bastard. It only fueled Karios' fire, as he adjusted his grip on the blade and aimed it at Spade. Spade caught on, his eyebrows raising ever so slightly. Anybody else wouldn’t have noticed the change in expression. Karios did. Karios knew him too well to ignore it.
“You mean you’re actually gonna kill me?” It was an innocent question. Far too innocent to be coming out of Spade’s mouth. But yet here they were, with Spade’s tone as soft as his wings. Karios wasn’t sure how to respond. It simply tightened its hold on the sharp dagger, hating how his hands trembled. Spade tilted his head.
“I am.” His tone was firm, even though his hands trembled from their grip on the weapon.
“Well.. Do it then.” Said Spade. No hesitation, no traces of fear. His voice was steady and he looked up at Karios with an unreadable expression. “Stab me through my villain heart, Karios.” To emphasize his point, his hands reached up to loosely clasp over the hero’s hands. He aimed the dagger towards his heart. For a guy who wore a blindfold to protect his identity, it was pretty easy to tell that his eyes held a challenge.
“I’ll.. I’ll do it on my own terms, Spade.” Karios made no move to harm Spade, merely looking down at him with a conflicted expression.
“You won’t do it.” Spade turned his head so his cheek lay on the rough street, a grin tugging at his scarred lips. “You can’t kill me, Karios.” He wanted to punch him for sounding so sure.
“And why is that?” He prodded, tilting his nose up indignantly and taking in a shaky breath.
“You can’t kill me because you
love me
.”