The Gig [Finished]

[accalia]

Tony's still a little slow on the uptake "okay, lunch is at thirteen hundred..." Tony needs a bit of time to process things, and he's got a vague suspicion that he did things just about exactly wrong there... He's not sure what he was supposed to do, but he's pretty sure that it wasn't what he did.

[yamikuronue]

Lunch? What? What is he even talking about? Victoria doesn't ask. He just turns and flees to the bedroom, where he yanks the dress off even before he remembers to shut the door.

[accalia]

Tony wanders into the kitchen as Vic disappears. Tony has a bunch to think about.... including what on earth is he going to make for lunch. Tony's been living of takeout for so long he barely remembers how to cook things for one, let alone two.

He didn't dislike the kiss, but he's kinda sure that he should have.... Is it okay that he..... kinda liked it? So many confusing questions!

[yamikuronue]

Vic doesn't have a flurry of packing to do, as much as he'd like to; he never really unpacked in the first place. He considers stealing one of the gowns (it's not like Tony has a use for them) but he ends up refraining (what, so you throw yourself at the guy and then steal from him too?). He pulls on his trousers and shirt again, stuffing the dirty clothes from last night that he'd tossed into the corner into his bag after all.

Where am I even going?

Don't know. Don't care. Away from here.

Vic considers climbing out the window, but discards this idea as "a little extreme". Instead, he heads down the stairs, making no attempt to be quiet. He doesn't know what steps creak or anything, and if he sounds confident, people might not be suspicious. Of what? He's probably glad you're leaving.

[accalia]

Tony's at the kitchen stove staring back at the living room so he spots Tony pretty much straight away.

"Okay, where are you going?" He asks "Running away? I'd really rather you didn't. It would make it a lot harder to fulfill my promise to you if you did that."

Tony's not sure how he feels about the kiss, but at least now he's figured out that Vic's probably got the wrong impression from it. Vic's still perfectly welcome here, no matter what happened there.

[yamikuronue]

Vic freezes, heart pounding in his chest. "I.." he stammers, blushing. "I figured you'd rather I..."

[accalia]

"You know me better than that." Tony replies calmly "If you want to leave, that's your call and i won't stop you. I'm majorly confused by what happened there, and it'll take both of us a while to sort it out for ourselves i'll bet, but i don't want you to leave because of it. As far as I'm concerned you're welcome here as long as you want to be here."

[yamikuronue]

Vic's eyes fill with tears. "Thanks," he says, and then continues out the door. I'm never going back, he tells himself. I'll get lost somewhere, find my own way. He'll meet someone good enough for him and that'll be that.

[accalia]

Tony sighs as Vic leaves then picks up the phone and dials a number from memory.

"Kate, It's Tony. I need to take a personal day, let Captain White know, and tell him i recommend Bear as a competent officer to fill in for me for the shift."

Tony has a lot to think about and a lot of cleaning to do. He doesn't know when or if Vic's returning, but that upstairs has been off limits for far too long. Time to clean up the place. Maybe if he stays busy cleaning he'll stop thinking about those lips pressed against his...

[yamikuronue]

Four hours later, there's a timid, almost hesitant knock on the door.

He won't answer, he tells himself, shifting his weight awkwardly. His eye throbs, but he keeps it closed. The swelling will just be annoying until it goes down, he knows. Best not to dwell on it.

Or the scratches.

Or the ankle, for that matter.

[accalia]

Moments later Tony opens the door. Was he standing behind it waiting for the knock? No, he can't have been, not with that dripping wet mop in one hand and soapy water soaked pants. Tony's as bad at mopping floors as he is at cooking without hurting himself it seems.

It doesn't take Tony a moment of looking at Vic before he drops the mop and reaches for Vic. "let's get those looked at."

[yamikuronue]

Vic hung his head, letting Tony pull him into the house. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't have anywhere else to go."

[accalia]

Tony nods "Want to tell me what you got into? ... Hmm. That eye will want a compress."

[yamikuronue]

"I  stopped in at MacAlley's," he says, naming an ice cream parlor that was a known 'legitimate business'. "I thought it'd be fine." Clearly it wasn't.

[accalia]

"Ah. And it wasn't." Tony busies himself preparing cold towel for a compress "How badly did they hurt you?"