#uuuhhh im not really gonna tag this bc im *insecure* abt it. yeah

[kirnet]

Of Course

Dorotea x Adam. 2k words

Dorotea was nothing if not honest.

She was almost famed for it around Wayhaven. If you wanted a second opinion or you wanted a dispute settled, you went to Detective Langford. Sure, you might not like the answer, but you could be assured it was the right one.

As much as she hated to admit it, she had a reputation to upkeep. She had been dancing around the truth for too long. She had to be honest with herself.

She had hit a wall. This damn investigation was going nowhere.

Dorotea leaned back in her armchair and rubbed her eyes, sending a few books piled precariously around her tumbling to the floor. The library was overflowing with stacks of tomes that she had ripped from the shelves in a desperate attempt to find any lead after her failed hours in the lab. To Dorotea’s frustration, there was hardly any evidence to work off of, just some contaminated blood samples and vague eyewitness accounts. It was making her pull her hair out, though she supposed she should be thankful that she hadn’t been kidnapped yet. 

“Tea? What happened to my study?”

Nate’s kind face appeared from behind one of the stacks, somehow still angelic despite his grimace. Slowly, he began to maneuver around the piles, quickly throwing his hands up to steady one when he knocked it with his hip. “I see we’re… redecorating.”

Dorotea sprang from her chair, knocking a few more books over. With a wince, she dropped to the floor and started gathering them up. “Shit. I’m sorry, Nate. The sample was coming up empty so I thought I’d find something here.” Nate was beside her, pressing into her shoulder as he fumbled with the remaining books. She leaned into his broad frame for a second before heaving herself off of the ground. “Don’t worry. I’ll clean this up.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t find anything in here either,” Nate mumbled as he unloaded the books on an empty shelf. “You tore this place up.”

“If you let me digitize the library we won’t have to tear it up.” Dorotea nudged him with her elbow. “Technology can be a good thing, old man.” He grumbled something she didn’t catch before going back for another stack. “I said I got this, Nate. It’s my mess.”

“Tea, no offense, you look like you need a break.” To emphasize his point, he lightly pushed her shoulder and quickly grabbed her arm when she started to fall over. “You’ve spent all day working on this. The least I can do is help clean up.” Mustering up her most menacing glare, Dorotea slowly bent down and picked up another book. Nate just smiled and took it from her hands. “Humans need sleep. I don’t.”

“Ugh. Fine.” Dorotea relented after a few seconds more of unsuccessful glaring. “Just a quick break, then I’ll help you finish up.” She gave Nate a quick hug before grabbing her keys and phone off the table. “And we are not done talking about digitizing.”

Nate lightly pushed her again, a smile on both of their faces. “Go. Rest.”

Now that Nate had mentioned it, she did feel burned out. Trying to brute force through the day certainly wasn’t helping the pressure building behind her eyes. She needed to clear her head.

Twirling her keys, Dorotea made for the front door to the Warehouse. A midnight drive with Dolly Parton blasting at a supersonic volume sounded like just the thing she needed. 

“Leaving already, Detective?” 

She turned to see Adam leaning against the doorframe and lightly massaging his hands. He wiped the barely noticeable sheen of sweat off his forehead, his usual tee shirt straining around his thick arms. “I thought you were doing research.”

“Yeah, I hit a wall. Gonna go for a drive.” She looked him up and down. “Training?”

“Just finished. You’re going to go off by yourself when we have an unknown threat in the area?”

“Of course. What, are you new?” She chuckled at his sour reaction. “Want to tag along?”

With a dramatic sigh, Adam pushed himself off of the doorframe. “I suppose I have to, if you keep insisting on running headfirst into danger.”

Dorotea scoffed. “How many times do I have to tell y’all that I can handle myself.” She pursed her lips. “Though I suppose getting attacked again would speed up the investigation.”

“I was referring to that thing you call a vehicle. I am well aware of your personal capabilities.”

They exchanged a quick look as Adam easily fell into step beside her before settling into silence for the rest of the walk. A wave of pleasantly night cool air hit Dorotea as Adam opened the door for her. 

“I can’t believe you still drive this thing,” Adam stated with disgust as Dorotea unlocked the hatchback’s door. “It’s a safety risk.”

“You offering to give me a raise?” Dorotea deadpanned as she slid into the driver’s seat. “‘Cause that’s the only way I can afford to stop driving this ‘thing.’” She drew out the last word, poking an accusatory finger into Adam’s toned chest. “I take damn good care of her, thank you very much.” 

“I’ll be sure to remember that when ‘she’ breaks down on this-” He was silenced by a swat to the arm. 

“Oh, hush. You’re more than welcome to stay behind if you’re gonna complain so much.”

Adam buckled his seatbelt with a huff. 

“Good,” Dorotea said through her grin. “And we’re listening to Dolly. Nonnegotiable.”

The summer night sky was delightfully clear as Dorotea maneuvered the hatchback through the winding forest roads. The drive had mostly been spent in comfortable quiet, with Dorotea happily humming along to the country music and focusing on the road, and Adam pointedly looking at anything else that wasn’t her. Though he was having some difficulty, as the pitch black night that swallowed up the world around them wasn’t nearly as interesting to look at. 

He shook his head at the thought. “You haven’t actually told me where we’re going,” he said, sparing a glance at Dorotea.

“That’s because it was gonna be a surprise,” she chuckled, not taking her eyes off of the road. “But if you’re so worried: it’s an abandoned coal mine deep in the woods. Spent a lot of time exploring there in high school.” 

Adam blinked. “A coal mine?” 

Dorotea raised her hand before he could continue. “I know it doesn’t exactly cater to your expensive tastes, Adam, but it’s a nice spot. Great for stargazing, too.”

Adam fully turned to her at this. “Stargazing? Are you serious?”

“What?” Dorotea snorted. “It’s the one day of the summer that isn’t hot and sweaty as balls. I intend on taking full advantage of it.” Adam raised his eyebrow at the imagery that tactful statement conjured, but kept his mouth shut and turned back to watch the road. “Stop scowling. We’re almost there.”

Soon enough, they were turning off the main road and heading down a sigogglin dirt path, the passengers bouncing uncomfortably as the car lurched on every bump and wayward branch. A few minutes later, the tree branches stopped scraping against the roof as the path opened up into a large clearing. Dorotea parked and left the headlights on. “The pit’s over yonder.” She gestured vaguely to the side as she pulled herself out of the car. “There’s an underground entrance to the west, too, but we’re gonna stay right here.” She made her way to the back of the car, cursing when the trunk wouldn’t open.

“Ah! There we go,” she exclaimed after a swift kick popped the trunk open. She ignored Adam’s horrified look and pushed a bundle into his arms. “It’s a blanket. Go lay it down somewhere nice.” He rolled his eyes but followed the order without complaint, spreading the blanket down on a grassy part of the clearing as Dorotea turned off the headlights. 

“Would ya look at that.” Dorotea let out an appreciative whistle as she turned her head up to the sky, the entire tapestry of stars bright and visible against the darkness. “Isn’t it grand?” 

Adam could barely whisper a reply as he lost himself in the magnificent sight. How long had it been since he had looked up at the sky like this? How long had it been since he had simply allowed himself to appreciate something?

Someone?

“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “It is.”

“Huh? Sorry, could you keep talking? I can’t see shit.”

“Of course,” Adam chuckled. “Over here, Detective.”

Slowly, with Adams' help, Dorotea made her way over to the blanket. Adam reached out and pulled her the last couple of steps until they were standing toe-to-toe, his hand wrapped loosely around her arm. He tried his best to ignore the flutter in Dorotea’s heartbeat.

“Uh, thank you, Adam,” she coughed as he pulled his hand away. She plopped herself down on the ground and lay back, stretching out languorously. When Adam didn’t follow suit, she pulled on his pant leg. “Hurry up, now. We don’t have all night.”

“I was under the impression that we did,” Adam grunted as he lay down beside her. “I didn’t know this was an urgent stargazing mission.”

Dorotea barked out a laugh. “Well, it is now. I promised Nate I’d help him clean up the study.” She winced. “Though I probably should have remembered that before driving all the way out here. Whoops.”

“I’m sure you’ll be forgiven,” Adam laughed quietly. “Though I wouldn’t make it a habit.”

The soft laughter faded away, leaving only the cacophony of the cicadas and the rustling of the trees in the breeze. Dorotea shifted closer to Adam’s warmth before pointing up at the sky. “That’s Ursa Major. Ursa Minor. Polaris. That one’s Cassiopeia. I think.”

“What about that one?” Adam whispered.

Dorotea squinted. “I can’t see what you’re pointing at. We don’t all have vampire eyes, you know.” 

Her breath hitched as a strong, calloused hand closed around her own. Gently, Adam lifted both their hands up to the sky and aligned them with a bright star. “Here. That one.”

“That-” her mind hiccupped as Adam squeezed her hand. “That’s Saturn. And that-” she moved their hands over slightly and extended her pointer finger. Adam did the same, resting his flush against hers so that they both pointed together. “That should be Jupiter.”

“What else?”

“Well, there’s Sirius. I’m pretty sure that’s Sagittarius.” She traced the outline with their fingers. “I think it’s supposed to be a centaur.”

“I believe that you’re correct.” His voice was husky.

Dorotea swallowed thickly and pointed again. “That’s the moon. Obvious, but important.” The cool air did nothing to calm the burn in her cheeks. “I’m running out of things to impress you with.”

She turned her head towards Adam to share in the joke and almost jumped out of her skin when she felt his breath fan her lips. She could practically feel his eyes on her as she leaned forward a little, their noses just touching.

“Adam?”

“Yes, Tea?” She barely heard him. He started stroking her hand with his thumb.

“Could I kis-”

A flash of light cut her off as she startled. Adam immediately released her hand and stood up. Dorotea’s phone continued to vibrate next to her on the blanket. “You have got to be fucking kidding- Hello?” she barked, not bothering to look at the caller I.D.

“Dorotea?” Rebecca’s crisp voice came through the phone. “Nate just made a breakthrough. Where are you?”

“Oh, hi Rebecca.” Dorotea sighed and rubbed her eyes. “He did? That’s great. We went out for a drive but we’ll come right back.”

“We? Is Adam with you?” As if on cue, Adam tapped Dorotea’s shoulder and offered his hand, gently pulling her off the ground when she took it. She patted him on the back as a quick “thanks” before answering.

“Yeah, he is. We’ll be back in thirty.” She hung up before her mother could respond. Turning her phone flashlight on, she watched Adam finish folding up the blanket. “Did you catch all that?”

“Of course,” was his simple answer as he walked towards the car, leaving her standing by herself. With a groan, she stole one last look at the sky. Restful break, her ass.

“Coming, Detective?”

She pulled her keys out of her pocket and half-jogged to catch up to him. “Of course. As always.”