diversified | Heat in your heart. [ psl ]

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Heat in your heart. [ psl ]

ᴡʜᴏ Shannon Vaughn (

privatematter), Eli Delacroix (

aspectional), Javier Vasquez and Matheus Rocha.
ᴡʜᴀᴛ Pictured: Shannon Vaughn. Seriously.
ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ Chicago PD.
ᴡʜᴇɴ 1990, about five months after Eli returned from his Jumpscapades.

It was an average day at work. Busy enough with paperwork piling up after the department's big case getting cracked open a few days prior, but nothing especially noteworthy now that all the ne'er do wells and their accomplices had been rounded up. Perhaps the most miraculous thing was that only one officer had ended up in the hospital with injuries. Everyone was abuzz with it, but life went on regardless of what they had all accomplished.

Mostly, it meant Shannon didn't have time to go meet with Eli for lunch as had become the norm over the last few weeks. Ever since they had gotten through the barrier of Eli's social ineptitude and admitted, yes, they were dating and, yes, it was okay to see each other every day or however often they liked, they had met up for one reason or another away from the rest of their friends and family. Just them. But, no, Shannon was stuck in the hum drum of paperwork and was quite focused on his task enough that calling hadn't even jumped to mind; he was sliding along the slipstream of thoughts to keep him on his toes, anything to not get locked up on some tiny detail no one else cared about.

Either Eli would get mad and eventually forgive him, or initiate the call to ask what had happened. Shannon wasn't too terribly worried, considering that Eli actually trusted him after all the shit the alternate versions of himself had put the poor guy through. Shannon was easy to sidetrack, but his loyalty and attention were second to none.

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Even after five months of being home, Eli didn't feel like he was fitting back into his life pre-Jumping at all. The people he worked with at the paper felt like strangers to him even though he had been close to them before he left. He knew it would take time to fit back, but he was impatient for things to get back to normal. It was a good thing that sense had been knocked into him and he and Shannon had started dating. While it wasn't normalcy from the past, it was still something close to normal that Eli could cling onto until the rest of his life settled as well.

So when Eli waited for Shannon so they could have lunch and never arrived, instead of getting mad or calling him, he did something that was more his style. He bought a couple sandwiches and sides from a good deli close to work and headed down to the precinct to go deliver lunch to his boyfriend and see if he was waylaid by work like he thought he was.

When he got there, he was immediately aware of the fact that everyone was busy working instead of the normal half-lazing, half-working mood that the precinct was usually in. Nobody really gave Eli much of a second glance as he walked by, everybody on duty knowing who he was in some way or another. He quickly went over to where Shannon's desk was and found a spot not covered with paperwork to sit on.

"So I see you were eaten by the great paperwork monster. I brought lunch, if you can escape from it long enough to eat."

Shannon tilted his head when Eli sat down. He had been about to make a comment, but then his boyfriend spoke up and the unspoken question was answered. Javier and Matheus had stepped away for lunch, he presumed, because their seats had started to go cold from his partners' absence. They would probably be back soon, actually.

Lifting his hand from the papers in front of him, Shannon crossed his arms across the tabletop and managed a half-bashful smile. The other half was general cheer at Eli coming to see him at work despite Shannon's own absentmindedness. Lacey had shifted from her place halfway under the desk and placed her head along Eli's calf in greeting, tail thumping against the floor lightly. They were both happy to see him and it was entirely obvious.

"Lunch sounds great," he said. "Sorry about that. We finally broke through on that case I was telling you about, so while everyone's out mobilizing and getting everything into order..." He motioned wordlessly to everything strewn about the shared desk. "I'm not sure how far I would get if we went somewhere else to eat, though."

Eli smiled and reached out to squeeze Shannon's shoulder gently before reaching down to rub Lacey's ear in hello. Even though he was a naturally touchy person and would have loved to just drape himself over Shannon, he wasn't fond of being affectionate in public. This would have to do for now.

"I thought it was something like that, thus me being your own personal food delivery service," he said with a soft shake of the bag that he had their lunch in. "Though you might have to make it up to me with dinner."

Lacey gave Eli's hand a few friendly licks. Even when she was on the job, such affection was sometimes allowed at least in greeting. Especially when it was Eli, and even more especially as of late. Shannon, too, appreciated Eli's presence and his generally touchy nature. He wouldn't have minded the touches lingering for longer, but he understood worries about how persons unknown might react.

Curiously, Shannon reached out for the bag to feel around it and perhaps take a sniff in case they weren't ziplocked. Hiding things away in plastic bags was no fun when smell was one of the best senses to preview his food by. "Dinner is absolutely on me," he agreed easily. "Might even be feeling generous enough to take requests, too. Is this from that place you mentioned last week?"

Thankfully for Shannon, the bag itself was paper and the sandwiches were wrapped in paper as well, the only true mystery being what was in the styrofoam containers with their plastic lids. And Eli's not planning on telling what's inside one of them until they eat.

"You're truly a gentleman of the ages, Mister Vaughn." He grinned broadly as he watched Shannon examine the bag and food inside. "Yep, that's exactly where I got it from. They make damn good pierogi too, but I figured sandwiches were good for takeout and still incredibly delicious."

Shannon didn't seem very inclined to waiting, considering he had everything he needed right here to start eating. He set some of his paperwork aside very specifically, aware of where it was going and what it was being set on top of in the mass of documents and other things to be looked at. It would still be on hand, just enough out of the way that Shannon could start laying the sandwiches and containers out between himself and Eli.

"Smells fantastic," Shannon said after a few quick sniffs of the sandwiches. He took one for himself and set the other next to Eli's leg for him. Some would probably say it was ridiculous they could already pinpoint the others' food preferences, and Shannon would have agreed if they had only met recently. But, no, they'd known each other for the last six years and this sort of thing had been figured out quite a long time ago. It was a best friend thing, not a boyfriend one. "We'll check out the pierogis later. Should we go grab some sodas out of the machine first?"

Eli didn't think that there was going to be much in the way of waiting when food was involved. If Shannon didn't meet up with him for lunch, then it meant that he didn't eat yet and was therefore hungry. He didn't even double check whether or not Shannon gave him the right sandwich or not. They both knew each other well enough, plus Eli was well aware that Shannon knew what sandwich was which.

"I try to go for the good stuff. And we can always go there together another day. It'll still be there." He reached into the bag himself and pulled out the napkins and utensils, placing the napkins between them and the fork and spoon by his sandwich. "Don't go snuffling at the containers. One's a surprise. And yeah, I forgot to grab drinks."

"Now you know exactly what I want to do," Shannon said pointedly. He felt out the placement of the items real quick, then shifted his chair to stand. It was a bit awkward with both Eli and Lacey right there now, but never let it be said that Shannon let himself be stifled by odd arrangements. If that were true, he never would have considered Eli in the first place.

Taking hold of Lacey's harness, he held his other hand out for Eli's arm. "Come on, you can tell me about work. Anything interesting happen today? That new guy still brown-nosing?"

"Well, if that's how you're going to be, then I might have to eat it instead," Eli replied easily, his tone revealing that he's kidding and honestly wouldn't do that. It's almost instinctive that Eli moves out of the way for Shannon by hopping off the desk and taking a few steps away, making sure that he's not underfoot so Shannon and Lacey can get up without issue.

He takes up position besides Shannon opposite Lacey, giving him his arm to hold. At the mention of the new guy, he let out a groan. "The new guy should be thankful I don't like killing people because he wouldn't still be breathing by this point. The paper wants me to take a break on the investigative side of journalism and do an article on what all of the unrest in eastern Europe means for the future of the Soviet Union. Which is kind of out of my league because I didn't even know the Berlin Wall had fallen until an hour ago."

"Maybe they're looking for a fresh pair of eyes," Shannon said reasonably. He took Eli's arm, opting for that instead of holding his hand in the office, and let Lacey guide them toward the soda machine. This was a walk Shannon could easily have made even in an active precinct like today, but it was made better by having Eli there and he didn't want to leave him or be left at the desk.

"Not that they'd get why you didn't know," he allowed after a moment, "but it could do you good. You'll have the perspective on this that everyone who's watched it live will be lacking. If you want, we can catch up on world politics over lunch or dinner or something." Not that it was the most exciting of subjects. It was something to talk about, however, and probably something Eli could use. Normalization in the face of everything he had missed during his extradimensional venture. To give Eli an out, he added, "Did the new guy do anything specific or is he just being the general bloodsucker that he is?"

"I think my editor just has it out for me. Disappear for a couple years and then return expecting my old job back. If I didn't have my dad to back me up, you'd be finding me at the unemployment line." Even if it was a short walk, Eli enjoyed walking with Shannon and Lacey. He could kind of go into autopilot, letting Lacey guide both of them along.

"If it's you I'm discussing world politics with, I wouldn't mind it so much. I'll take any excuse I can to be around you." He then sighed and looked over at Shannon. "He's trying to suck up to the boss and does so by attempting to make me miserable. It's more of an annoyance than anything, but I'll have to put him in his place soon."

Shannon tilted his head in acknowledgment. "That may be true, but you wouldn't be able to hold it if you weren't skilled enough, so they can all suck it as far as I care. You know Marcus wouldn't have backed your play if he didn't think so, too.

"What are you planning to do?" asked Shannon with a chuckle. "Short out his phone? No one would be able to trace that to you. Then again, it wouldn't really be earning you any respect if he didn't know who was messing with him." Turning his head to 'look' at Eli, he added, "You know you don't need an excuse, right?"

"That's true, but disappearing for that long hasn't made me any friends. I'm sure things will calm down eventually. It'll just time time and a lot of good articles to get back into the good graces of everyone around me."

"Oh, I'll do something that won't lead back to me, but will still let him know I did it," Eli said with a grin. "I'm well aware that I don't need an excuse, if you haven't noticed."

They got to the machine, and Shannon let go of Eli's elbow to place his hand against it as if to make sure of his position. He reached into his back pocket for his wallet, letting Lacey's harness down to count out change. He wasn't going to let Eli pay for lunch and their drinks. That would just be rude.

"No, that's true. We can start with that one on the eastern European tensions you've been assigned," Shannon agreed. "And to be fair, you did kind of excuse this one with lunch. Not that I mind. Food kind of passed me by in a haze of work today."

He merely glanced over at Shannon and doesn't move, knowing that he'd only cause trouble if he moved around. There's no move to pay for the sodas, knowing that Shannon probably wouldn't let him pay even if he did try to.

"You are my hero. Really, you are. I know this is a sacrifice you're making for me and I appreciate it." He's somewhat joking about that, but the appreciation for him is genuine. "I think of the food as a bonus more than an excuse since we spend less time eating than just hanging out."

Change divvied out, Shannon deposited it all at once and slid his hand down to select his own drink. Orange soda all the way. He gestured for Eli to go next as he bent down to retrieve his can. Having their hands full meant he wouldn't be able to walk back the way they'd come, but that was okay, too. Shannon was cuddly, not clingy, thank you very much.

"Should I get myself a cape?" Shannon mused aloud. "This is a pretty great sacrifice. I just had such a full evening, you can't even imagine everything I'm giving up to spend it with you, Eli."

Once Shannon gestures for him to go, Eli leaned in and picked his own drink, zeroing in on the cherry pepsi without a second glance at anything else. He bent down and grabbed his drink out of the machine and waited for Shannon and Lacey to make the first move in heading back so that he could slot back in to his proper position.

"Capes get caught on things. I know from experience." As to what that experience entailed, it was probably Jump-related and a story to tell later. He lowered his voice so that Shannon could hear him, but others couldn't. "I'm sure there's something I could do to make it up to you later."

Shannon gave an amused look, using the back of his wrist to quickly readjust his glasses when they began sliding down his nose. He still wore them because no one had given him a good enough reason not to. It still caught the newbies off guard and he still heard talk around the figurative water cooler every now and then that only served to stroke his ego. Of course, Eli liked Shannon in his glasses, and that was really the only reason strictly necessary. The others didn't hurt, though.

"I'm not going to drop that, you know," he said immediately. "You in a cape? When? Why?" He paused at Eli's sotto voice, lips curling upward in a secretive little smile. "Something, huh? Should I bother asking, or let your creative little brain whip it up behind the curtain?"

"In another world, I was a superhero and had to fight the villain threatening our dear city," Eli said in a tone that suggested he'd explain in greater detail later. He then turned his smile into a straight up smirk. "Let's not ruin the surprise, shall we? Unless you have a suggestion or two you'd like to give me."

Just because Eli wanted to keep their relationship secretive didn't mean that he would change how he acted around Shannon outside of not showing their increased physical contact. He wasn't going to stop flirting for any reason besides Shannon telling him not to. And besides, he was making up for lost time.

It was a game to Shannon. Not one to be won or lost, but something to be played for the fun and entertainment with other players. His boyfriend, in this case. Playing by Eli's rules only made it more interesting to him. Perhaps it would upset someone to realize Shannon thought of the relationship like a game. It was just how he processed the idea of being so close to someone, how his mind kept things fresh by inventing rules and challenges and rewards for good playing. All work and no play, after all, was the perfect way to let it go stale.

"I'd say you're still a superhero," Shannon said. He sounded contemplative. "Like, Superman with his secret identities." With one hand, he cracked open his soda to take a sip and set himself down when they got back to the desk. "Surprises, I can do. Love 'em. When they're not... you know." He gestured widely in front of himself, hands splayed near his head and eyes going wide, as if to indicate some kind of scare tactic. He kind of loathed it when people tried to startle him for whatever reason.

Eli couldn't stifle a groan at the mention of Superman. "Really, you're comparing me to Clark Kent now? I'm insulted. For one thing, I'm a way better journalist, plus I have someone far less damsel in distress and far more attractive than Lois Lane." He frowned as he perched back on the desk and made a soft annoyed sound. "Which is something I'd never do. My surprise is far more delicious and dessert, so you'll have to wait to find out what exactly I got you."

When Shannon got himself back into his seat, Eli touched his shoulder gently and moved his hand up by his glasses to let him know what he was going to do. He wasn't just going to snatch his glasses off his face without warning, after all. He is considerate like that. Once he's sure Shannon's aware, he snatched his glasses and put them on himself, ignoring that they were crooked and didn't fit right on him. "I don't think these work well as a clever disguise."

Shannon held himself still while Eli slipped his glasses off, then shifted to begin unwrapping his own sandwich and make himself comfy for the remainder of his self-proclaimed lunch break. (There would be no actual lunch break today, and chances were he was still going to have to do some work while they were talking.) He tilted his head back until his neck met the top of the backrest and eyed at Eli speculatively.

"You know, it's like I don't even know what you look like without those on. I think they work!" he said cheerfully. "Oh, wait. No. Still blind as a bat. Sorry to raise your hopes like that."

Taking a moment to have a bite, he mulled thoughtfully. "Do I have to be Lois Lane in the comics comparison? Couldn't I be Ben Urich instead?" Comic books weren't really his thing, much as reading in general was not Shannon's favorite leisure time activity, but of course he had learned of and kept an interest in Daredevil. Matt Murdock was awesome, but if Eli was the superhero in this scenario, then Shannon at least wanted to be someone not constantly kidnapped and treated like the second thought.

"You crush me like I was nothing," he said dramatically, not making a gesture because it wouldn't be seen and was thus pointless. "I would like to let you know that I can indeed pull off the glasses look fine, despite their uselessness in being a clever disguise. And you're still as gorgeous without them."

He lets out an annoyed snort in response to that. "Right, no girlfriend comparisons, got it. Which means you're a fellow superhero as well. Batman or if we want to go the obvious blind guy route, I say Daredevil. Don't even try to argue with me on it. I'll win the argument."

"It's been said I'm irresistible with glasses on. Am I just as charming and roguish without them?" Shannon's expression said he didn't mind too much, either way. He had grown up with the dumb comments about how much it must hurt him to not be able to see how beautiful he really was, stupid things like that, and he knew his looks certainly never hurt his chances of getting somewhere if he wanted. No reason not to take whatever advantage life had given him. Who was Shannon to deny his near-unnatural attractiveness?

The sound of footsteps drew Shannon's attention. They weren't unusual in the precinct, but the fact that they were coming closer to the desk specifically had him shifting ever-so-slightly. Matheus spoke up and Shannon mentally filled the space with both of his partners coming back to their seats.

"Nah, guy like him? Aquaman, definitely."

Shannon frowned, casting about for the reference he was surely missing. Superheroes were not actually his forte despite knowing all the obvious queues. "Talks to fish? That guy?"

"One and the same. You're forgetting 'useless in a crisis,' though," Matheus said with a fond, but overly teasing tone.

"Less hot teacher, more rich playboy. Or con artist." That last part caused Eli to chuckle softly. It was just one of those Jump things that he never really got to explaining to Shannon. "You've got a face that could let you sell pantyhose to a woman with no legs."

Eli glanced over at the arrival of Matheus and Javier, whatever positive feelings at being around Shannon vanished in a flash, withdrawing inside himself as was the norm since his return from Jumping. He put his hand on Shannon's arm, just to find some comfort when being around the other Aspects.

"That's too harsh," Javier replied as he sat down and looked over at Matheus. If he noticed how Eli reacted to them, he didn't draw attention to it. "He ranks higher in usefulness than you, Mister 'I screamed like a little girl when I first met a twelve year old Eli'. So Booster Gold."

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Heat in your heart. [ psl ]

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