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There were certain things that even someone like Kosei was willing to overlook and forgive. Not without grievances and barely suppressed sass, but he could still go without making a massive stink over it. Enzo somehow managed to tick every box, making it nearly impossible for him to forgive and forget. Truly, the bastard had a skill. Not in doing his job and doing it clean, but in managing to single-handedly fuck things up. In a way, Kosei could even overlook. However, it was the blatant fucking nonchalance, smarmy and shit-eating, that Kosei couldn't overlook. And that was, unfortunately, Enzo's specialty.
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It might have been a small pleasure that the other had managed to take a beating, if he too wasn't sporting and ugly bruise and busted lip from having to jump in to save his sorry ass. His hands had blood on them, dry and peeling flakes that seemed to stain every calloused line of his palms. It wasn't like he was opposed to getting dirty in jobs, but only when it was necessary. This, wasn't fucking necessary.
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Being sloppy wasn't acceptable for him, never had been and likely never would be. Even if his life was debatably a goddamn trashcan of bad decisions. Even if part of him wondered every goddamn day if he'd made a mistake by leaving the family, which was undoubtedly true. He'd fucked up and this was the cost, clearly. This was karma and he was stuck with the worst goddamn person imaginable because of it.
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Of course, Enzo thought he could slip away. He'd given him no reason to think otherwise. The silence was as much a weapon as any loud noise, he knew that from brutal experience. Unlike himself, however, Enzo had no shame.
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He reacted without thinking, hauling the other back by his collar. Enzo liked to play his games, call him a dog, but the real shit-eating dog in this situation was none other than Enzo himself. "The fuck do you think you're going?"
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Maybe he'd should have reacted earlier, when the wound was fresh. Instead, he'd let it fester.
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"What the hell was that?"

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[attr="class","text"] Of course Kosei wasn’t going to let him slink away to lick his wounds alone. Of course. Enzo had been foolish to have even entertained it. The force that curled around his shirt collar and yanked pulled at his shoulder and embarrassingly, a wheeze of pain slipped free before he could stifle the sound. It was enough to make a bright burst of light ache behind his eyes. “Do you mind?” he groused as he spun back toward his work partner.[break][break]
“Obviously I’m going to take a shower and deal with this, okay? Reasonable enough. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Violet eyes burned with thinly veiled annoyance as Kosei pressed the question. “It was work, obviously. We had a job, it got done.”[break][break]
He was understanding his own fumbles, of course. But Enzo would insist that the stupid hound had no need to get so wound up. Enzo had improvised, and even if Kosei had been caught in the crosshairs a little bit, Enzo was still the one to take the most hits for his spontaneous acts of violence. “How was I supposed to know the guy was apparently a part-time Houdini?”[break][break]
His cuts and bruises ached. His shoulder was on fire. The adrenaline and thrill that had come with upending the structure and order of their assignment had worn off, as most of his whims typically did, and now he was tired. He could sleep for days, probably. Something simmered under the surface as he watched Kosei with darkened eyes. The silent invitation to try him. May it was wrong for him to be growing as irate as Kosei, who had just wanted to do things with clinical precision.[break][break]
But that was so damn boring. [break][break]
So in Enzo’s pain addled mind, he decided that if Kosei had just played along then maybe it wouldn’t have been as much of a mess as it turned out to be. Not that Enzo considered it all that much of a mess so much as organized chaos, because, well— “Look the job is still taken care of, even if it didn’t go off without a hitch like you seem to be anal retentive as hell about. We’ll submit the report, and there’ll be nothing left to do about it.” [break][break]
His mouth hitched upward, but the crooked grin wasn’t a kind thing, nor was it reassuring or placating. “So chill out, hound dog. Heel.”

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Maybe he should have just dropped it. In hindsight, nothing would get solved this way. They were simply too incompatible, clearly. There was obviously a huge mistake in them working together and he should just drop ship and either work by himself or with someone like him. They say that opposites attract, but Kosei couldn't possibly imagine that with an idiot like De Luca.
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That pain point didn't escape him. Admittedly, it felt good. Violence wasn't necessarily a natural thing for him, or at least he didn't think it was, but he wouldn't deny that it felt good. "If you really believed that then we wouldn't have had an issue." He couldn't keep the snarl out of his tone. Enzo just had this effect on him, in more ways than one.
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"The point is that if you hadn't been a goddamn idiot that wouldn't have mattered. Instead, things could have gone much worse." Just because it had worked out meant very little to Kosei. Many routine lessons had taught him that. There had been a time he might have said the same, but it hadn't been good enough. There was only one way to get things done and that was doing it right without relying on circumstance.
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This might have been gratuitous, but he wouldn't deny it felt good. He was petty and vengeful, in the end. He could play the good soldier, but he didn't forgive easily.
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"If that is all it takes to meet your standards, then you're a filthy fucking slob. I'm sick of it and I'm sick of you." He might have been a bit of a buzzkill, maybe an anal bastard that never let anything go, but at least he had standards. Had it gone worse and he'd been killed? Enzo wouldn't have have blinked twice before kicking his body aside, it was that simple. So why the hell should he give a shit about what happened to him?
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Then Enzo had to push back, of course. His teeth grit and that tenuous temper of his snapped.
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Without thinking, he took ahold of Enzo's collar and shoved him back into the wall behind him. His forearm pressed to the other man's throat, just enough to threaten the oxygen supply. "Here, let me help you with that." Taking the flat of his hand, he rammed it into Enzo's shoulder until there was a deafening pop.

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He was arguing for the sake of arguing. To see what the other might do. Granted he was sore and tired and in pain. Irritated by the fact that Kosei felt the need to yank him around like a weightless pool noodle. But it was a part of the provocation. The game.[break][break]

“Do you even listen to yourself?” he hissed back. “You’re so pedantic, you have no flexibility whatsoever.” There was no way that Enzo would admit to any fault. And as far as he was concerned, there wasn’t anything wrong. He’d never been raised under a strict hand or an obsessive demand for order and routine. It definitely showed.[break][break]

But liberating Kosei from any of that didn’t seem possible. It must’ve been a futile effort. Or maybe it was worth it to provoke the spark of fury that seemed to light dark eyes. Even under the snap of his own temper, the violet of his own eyes flared with satisfaction. The edge of a manic smile pulling the corners of his mouth.[break][break]

Yes, he liked this. He liked letting his temper loose, and Enzo enjoyed spurring it.[break][break]

Still, though, his own lip curled in a snarl. “Well maybe I’m sick of you,” he bit back, nose wrinkling in put upon distaste. “You’re a bore. Maybe I’m a slob, but at least I don’t need to fulfill each and every order to a spotless t.” Regardless of what Kosei might’ve thought, though, Enzo wouldn’t have ditched him either, had the rolls been reversed or the other had been impaired too greatly. He was selfish, sure, but not entirely cold toward his partner.[break][break]

But there was little use in trying to reason with Kosei when his temper finally pitched. Not that Enzo was really wanting to placate him anyway. He might’ve had some regrets, though, right about when the heel of Kosei’s hand pressed roughly against his dislocated shoulder.[break][break]

“What? Nonononono—“ His refusal didn’t matter, interrupted by the sharp POP that filled his ears, before a wordless howl from Enzo followed. His stomach heaved, instant nausea rolling over him as his vision tunneled and blackened at the edges.[break][break]

Despite being effectively pinned against the wall by Kosei’s forearm, his knees buckled. That was likely the only thing that kept him upright as the stream of pained sound rapidly devolved into a flurry of curses. His opposite hand reached up to push back at Kosei regardless. “The hell’s wrong with you?” It was a halfhearted growl, though, as adrenaline kicked in again. Eyes narrowed in challenge, but also…not.

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He should slow down, back up. Rethink whatever the hell he was doing. Maybe if he could push the fury aside and clear his thoughts, he'd realize that none of this mattered. It was just like any other job. It wasn't the first and it likely wouldn't be the last time that Enzo did something brash and Kosei got pissed off about it.
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It wasn't like he was perfect, far from it. That was the thing he wished he could be, perfect. He strived for it so much that oftentimes it consumed him. Clearly, the two couldn't be any more different, but that didn't mean it was impossible. It should have leveled them out, but it only proved to be gas on the flame.
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"I don't need to be flexible, I just need to be precise." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. Kosei could tell that none of this was working. It wasn't like he was going to suddenly pull Enzo's head out of his ass. He wasn't going to change the other man. This was pointless bickering, but there was an inexplicable pull in that. Enzo was like a flame, a conflagration. It felt a little good to burn sometimes.
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"I'm a bore?" His lip peeled back into a snarl, a sour humor had slipped into his tone. "Okay, we're done talking."
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In hindsight, this was wholly unnecessary, yet the pain of it... Admittedly, it felt good. Kosei wasn't a sadistic bastard, but that howl matched with the shake of his limbs had a certain effect on him. His hand continued to grip at fabric, keeping the other steady as his eyes soaked in every trembling twist of pain that wracked the other's body. It wasn't right. It wasn't healthy and the weird twist in his gut wasn't either. "You, you're my problem." He pushed, just enough hold his steady. The glint in those eyes, sharp as knives, it translated into something off. He wasn't sure what he was doing, only that his other hand snatched the man's jaw with a bruising grip as he leaned forward and kissed him.

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Even now, Kosei was committed to the practicality of his arguments. But Enzo was rapidly losing the capability to keep up with verbal sparring. His thoughts had scattered with the jarring pain in his shoulder, the split in his eyebrow. It felt like a ringing between his ears might start at any moment.[break][break]

“Well maybe you’re my problem,” he spit back. In more ways than the obvious. In more ways than Enzo could really even acknowledge or admit to himself.[break][break]

His mouth was fixed in a wordless snarl right back at the other, inexplicable heat licking under the surface of the skin on his face. Furious, pained violet bored into dark eyes. And then in the next moment, fingers clamped to his jaw with enough force to draw an agitated hiss through his teeth. But it was soon swallowed by Kosei’s mouth within a breath as it crashed against Enzo’s. Something in his brain short-circuited with the unexpectedness of it. And then he was responding, angry and pressing. Teeth dragging on a bottom lip with no pretense at gentleness.[break][break]

Adrenaline burned through some of the throbbing pain in his shoulder, dulling it. But every shuffled and nudge drew the sting to the surface so that it mingled with the craving that bloomed in the wake of whatever… this was. The outletting of their frustrations with one another in a purely physical way. A battle of tongues and teeth instead of what probably should’ve been busted knuckles and blackened eyes.[break][break]

Yes. That was what he would call it, as though the lingering memory of that night in Lavaridge hadn’t crept out every once in a while. Something long forgotten to the recesses of Kosei’s blackout, but annoying stuck in Enzo’s as a resilient what if?[break][break]

Another flare of pain from his shoulder rolled through him, twisting to mingle with a shiver as Kosei’s mouth moved against his and a muffled curse tumbled from his mouth. Breathier than the furious litany of them he’d spouted before. Eventually his head rolled back, resting against the wall behind him as he eyed the other. His bad arm cradled itself close to his chest, but the other hand had crumpled around Kosei’s shirt collar. “Much more emphatic than the last time,” he wheezed, voice thinned and husky between the hurt and the satisfaction. The corner of his mouth hooked upward, knowing and clever.[break][break]

Even if his mind was scrambling. Even if he didn’t know anything at all. Just that he wanted to pull Kosei back under. He shouldn’t have liked the way it felt. To have that force exerted over him when he maintained such a firm edge of control over himself despite the flippancy he appeared to act with. Or maybe it was just the way it felt to be the focus point that Kosei fixated on when his own restraint untethered.

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The kiss tasted like static electricity, like blood between his teeth and fury and angry and need that he never would have entertained before. Part of him was still reeling at his own actions, wondering if he could recover from this. Of course, there was no more saving face. He had been the one to act on them, which wasn't like him. Every thought was a mix of 'why the hell not' and the realization that he had so many reasons not to. Enzo wouldn't just forget this, he'd handed him a concealed weapon to use against him. Was this not the boldest example of need, which he had spent so long denying. From up on his high horse, feeling all noble and shit. Now, what was he? A fucking hyprocrite, but what else was new?
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Consequences aside, he was a shit liar. There was no way to convey falsely that he didn't enjoy this. Clearly, he was enjoying himself otherwise he would have shoved him away and told him this was a big fucking mistake. It was a mistake, but that was besides the point.
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To make matters worse, Enzo was the first to break it and he chased him. The reaction felt like lacquered honey, sweet and candied on his tongue. He scowled at that, "Shut up, I don't know what you're talking about." That night on Lavaridge, to be entirely honest he still couldn't remember what they had done. Though, just like that time, he showed his cards.
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As fucked up as it was, he enjoyed Enzo's pain. He liked the way he hissed under contact, skin flinching despite every attempt to hide the reactivity. Had he been a true sadist, he might have pushed his luck. Instead, he felt like he was a wave, crashing against him again as the wall braced their bodies.
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What he didn't ask was the most obvious question: Where the fuck did they go from there? The most amenable end would be to stop right then, maybe terminate their partnership entirely. This made their business messy and they had no room for making things messier. Regardless, he didn't stop as his hands slipped up beneath the hem of Enzo's shirt, drawing across lean muscle and seeking out bruised bone. "You're the fucking worst."

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A somewhat delirious laugh followed the retort, low and passed through a wid, thin lipped smile. Only a hint of teeth. Enzo’s darted, scouring Kosei’s expression that fluctuated between anger and resentment and confusion. “No, but I do,” he trilled back in singsong, “you were very expressive. Don’t worry, though, it was only a teensy kiss.” It was the truth, of course, but his words were still meant to goad the other.[break][break]

More, he said without actually saying, give me more. He thought, just then, he might like to devour him whole. Pick his teeth with the bones. He wasn’t romantic, this wasn’t love. Only need.[break][break]

Only need, he emphasized to himself before his thoughts scattered like the light that erupted in his field of vision. Bright, white star bursts.[break][break]

His breath hitched unexpectedly as the insult fell from Kosei’s mouth, in tandem with hands that carved their way up along tender, aching skin. He shivered and almost infuriatingly, a low whine crawled up his throat before he could cut it off. Enzo should have been smarter, should have shoved him off at that point.[break][break]

But instead he was curving into the contact, “I’m the best thing that’s happened to you,” he hissed back, eyes narrowed to violet slivers. It was more for the sake of arguing, breathless and wanting for a means to outlet the frustration pent up in the center of his chest. He didn’t mean it, not really. Even with his inflated sense of self.[break][break]

Both hands rose— a fierce grip that clawed at Kosei’s shirt, then dropped to his hips as Enzo tried to push himself away from the wall where he was pinned. Just to show he could do it, and that he would not be so easily subdued. It wasn’t a means to put space between them, though, as their mouths crashed together again. One of his hands left its perch to clamp firmly against the back of Kosei’s neck.[break][break]

Every movement, each pull of his arm earned the flinch that came from the pain of his sorely abused shoulder joint, and when fingers pressed down on it, Enzo involuntarily bit down on the other’s lip. But he didn’t retreat again, letting every pained noise be swallowed up between them until his breath shook, and his vision blurred. Even then, he didn’t peel himself away[break][break]

It was a foolish idea, this. It was no more than a whim he was chasing (or so he would claim.) Especially when he knew the wayward glances Kosei tried to cover up. When he knew the things Kosei had said that drunken night, and how stupidly earnest his first kiss had been. But this was its own sort of drunkenness— fury and frustration and pain and desire. A cocktail that couldn’t be unsipped.[break][break]

The taste was in his mouth now, and he wouldn’t be able to wash it out.[break][break]

“Bravo ragazzo.” A smug croon, huffed against reddened, bruised lips. For now, Enzo made little effort to even try his hand at that.

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