A/N: Some mature themes in this ch, but not enough to warrant a full M rating for the ch, I don't think. Big hugs to indigomini as always for beta'ing <3
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“Twizzlers.”

“Gross,” Dyo tuts at him. “Come on, you have better taste than that, honey.”

“It’s the only one I’ve had!” Kai racks his mind for any other foreign candies he’s tried. “Oh, I take it back: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Those were amazing,” he says, his lips.

“Ahh, nice choice,” Dyo hums approvingly. “Something creamy that melts in your mouth and goes down smooth.”

Kai gives a breathy laugh, acting like he’s not 1000% by the innuendo and filing it away for later in the day when he’ll have a date with his hand. It’s been two weeks since he first indulged in ing to the thought of Dyo, and he’s all but given up pretending he doesn’t wank off to this guy on the reg now. The seal’s been broken. There’s no turning back. Who has that kind of self-control? Especially with Dyo serving up new eargasm candy every day.

It’s become part of The Routine. Work, cat cafe, mind-blowing before bed. On the handful of days he’s fought off the urge before sleep, Jongin woke up with morning wood so hard that his down comforter was six inches in the air. Then it’s breakfast, work out in biker shorts to minimize the floppage, and pleasuring himself in the shower instead. Hell, he’s taken to just leaving his and some lube in there. His forearm plastered on the wet tile wall, forehead pressing against it as he s the toy in and out at a frantic pace, he can’t help the name he’s . Listening to it reverberate around the steamy bathroom only makes him wonder how glorious Dyo’s voice would sound in there, bouncing off the walls while his hips are bouncing off his a--

“Baby?”

. “I’m here!” he says a little too quickly. He lost all control of his senses for a minute there, save for his sight. Thanks to extensive vigilance training, his eyes are perpetually locked on the green light flashing on his screen. It’s in the middle of the now complete floor of the building they’re mapping this evening. Dyo is done installing receivers, finally, and their missions tonight are focused on actually utilizing the tech inside of these (mostly) abandoned buildings. The maps are populating beautifully. It’s satisfying, to see their hard work pay off in such a tangible way.

“I lost you for a moment there, tiger. What were you thinking about?”

“You had me thinking about food.” . “I zoned out because I’m getting hungry.” Thirsty.

“Well we can’t have that. Just two more floors to go, right? Then we’ll get you fed, sweetheart,” Dyo says fondly, climbing the stairs to the fourth floor.

“‘Kay,” Kai replies, biting back a small smile. “You’ll want to go counterclockwise around this next floor. While you were downstairs, the sensors fleshed out the east side of this floor a bit better than the west side, so you might not even have to do the full circuit if you head to your right.”

“Thank you, my ever-efficient darling.”

A red light pings on his secondary screen, causing Kai to sit up and maneuver to the blueprint of the third floor they just finished. “You’ve got company down below. Traveling up the southwest stairwell. Can you access the outer room on your right? Looks like a typical office from here.”

A soft click signifies resistance of the door handle. “Negative,” Dyo whispers, awaiting the next directives.

“Try the inner room to your left - looks like maybe a copy room?” Kai suggests. Last one worth trying, then he’s making Dyo retrace his steps back toward the stairwell from whence he came and getting him the hell off this floor.

The metallic click sounds like victory this time, and Dyo puffs twice into his mic. Affirmative. Okay, good. Kai watches as the green light slips inside and moves along the wall that runs behind the door.

To lock or not to lock? Kai watches the red dot move methodically along the rectangular corridor. It’s pausing at each door to check them. . “Can you lock the door?” he asks, hoping no key is required.

Dual puffs.

“Okay, lock it--” he starts to instruct but pulls up short. “Wait.” The security guard is checking each door, leaving the locked ones alone, but the unlocked ones are only swung open halfway. Like he’s checking the status of the door rather than doing an actual sweep of the area… “Don’t lock it! Stay flat against the wall and don’t move,” he commands.

Locked, locked, unlocked. Locked, locked, unlocked. There’s a pattern. The guard’s checking to make sure the pattern on the floor is consistent - to ensure no one’s been tampering with the rooms.

“Someone’s gonna open the door in about 10 seconds, but he’s not going to enter. Just stay out of sight. Don’t engage unless the guard enters, ok, Nightingale?” he pleads.

The softest set of puffs is all he gets in response. Kai holds his breath and steels himself as the red dot approaches Dyo’s door.

He can hear as well as see the door unlatch and swing partway open. For a terrifying second, it lingers… and then is snapped shut. The red light blinks its merry way down the hall to check the next door.

Kai exhales roughly. “Stay put. He’s got a few more to check, but he’s almost done and probably going to head to the next floor.”

Sure enough, the guard moves on, up to the next floor which they don’t have properly mapped. Since what goes up must come down, Kai decides Dyo should hang tight until the red dot is back in the security nest down on the first floor so there’s no second chance for an encounter.

“All clear. Thanks for following my lead,” he says sincerely.

“Of course. I trust you, tiger.” The tenderness in Dyo’s voice warms Jongin from the inside out.

“It was a hunch. I don’t know if it was the safest move, but in the moment, I just--” he trails off.

“Sweetheart, you’re an excellent navigator. I trust your instincts - you should, too.”

The encouraging tone in his deep, honeyed voice has Kai imagining Dyo sitting across from him, plush lips pulled in a gentle smile. Dyo plays with Kai’s fingers with one hand and uses his other to brush back his hair and give Kai reassuring scratches along his nape.

If only dreams could become realities.

---

Kai has been navigating less and less for Lay and Tao as the date for their big, travel-required operation approaches. Instead, they’ve been undergoing more frequent co-op trainings paired with Wendy and Chen. Kai would feel left out, except it means he gets more time exclusively with Dyo, and goodness knows, he’s not gonna complain about that. Aware that Prudence was really pushing Dyo to get all the receivers installed, Kai waived his usual day off the other week and worked straight through with him. But not without first getting Kris to agree to let them both have a day off at the end of the rush. He smiles, remembering how pleased Dyo was to have a day off to rest.

‘I won’t be around tomorrow, baby. Finally getting a day off - probably gonna sleep the whole time and dream of you. Don’t go finding a new favorite agent while I’m away.’

‘I have the day off, too.’

‘That’s… a lovely coincidence. I don’t suppose you had something to do with that, did you, sugar?’

‘Rest well, Nightingale.’

He hopes Dyo is feeling as restored as he is now. It’s 9:55pm, and yesterday was a great respite but he’s anxious to get the evening started because ~40 hours without that chocolate voice in his ear is long enough. As Kai uses the slick coffee machine to fix cappuccinos for himself and the other navs, the crew sits at the breakroom table and discusses the plan for tomorrow.

“So we’re leaving shortly after the end of this shift and won’t be back for a few days,” Wendy announces. Her arm brushes against Chen’s as she leans forward on the table. She makes no move to withdraw as he seems to lean into it ever-so-slightly. Interesting.

“A few? How many agents are you taking with you, if I’m allowed to ask?” Kai probes.

“Eight,” Chen says.

“Don’t we only have nine on staff full-time?” Kai asks, confused. When he started working here, it was two regulars per navigator. Obviously, Dyo became his third but he’s not aware of--

“Ten,” Baekhyun interrupts. “But Suho’s starting paternity leave tomorrow - wife has a scheduled c-section. So essentially, we’ll be back down to nine again.”

Suho’s married with an almost kid? And Baek knows this? “Who else got a third regular?” Where has Kai been? Too far up Dyo’s , obviously.

“I did awhile ago,” Baek explains. “Her name’s Yeri.”

“She’s delightful,” Wendy says cheerily.

Baek’s mouth twists a little. “She’s something.”

Wendy swats his arm. “You just can’t handle her teasing. Some ‘tough guy’ you are. You can dish it but not take it.”

With a flourish, Baekhyun splays his hand across his chest. “I am perfectly capable of taking it, thank-you-very-much. This has nothing to do with her snappy teasing - you know I like feisty.” He accepts the cappuccino Kai is offering and side eyes Wendy. “Yeri’s just… a bit much.”

Chen snorts. “That’s rich, coming from you. In any case, yeah. It sounds like it’s just gonna be you two here in the office and your Dyo out in the field for a few days.”

Kai quickly takes a sip of his drink to camouflage the big grin on his face. His Dyo. His inner child loves that others recognize his rightful claim on the agent.

“So many maps I’ll be stuck annotating, uggghhh,” bemoans Baek, flopping dramatically onto the table. “At least bring me back a souvenir?” he pouts.

Kai checks his watch. “It’s 10:00. We need to get to work.” He wipes down the fancy coffee machine, still shiny as ever thanks to his meticulous care in cleaning up after each use. The others trickle out, and Kai notices Chen and Wendy link pinkies for the briefest of moments before going their separate ways to their workstations. Holy , Chen really did it.

Kai settles into his desk chair and completes an easy ‘retrieval’ mission with Tao. They bid their farewells, knowing it’ll be several days before they reconnect.

“I’ll miss you, Compass Kai.”

He rolls his eyes. “Take care of yourself out there, tacky Tao.”

“Tacky!?”

“I don’t know, I needed something with alliteration.”

“Tall Tao! Talented Tao! TreMENDOUS Tao!”

“Yes, yes. Timid Tao, you are not. Have fun on your trip, you big baby.”

He disconnects before the agent can retort. With a smile, he cleans up the mission materials, reassembling them into the envelope and dropping them into the incinerator. A quick bite to eat from the fridge, and he’s ready to talk to his favorite operative.

Except the next mission envelope to slide down the chute is for Lay.

Kai pouts but belatedly realizes that of course he’d work with Tao and Lay first: they probably have to get ready to travel. Kai helps navigate him to the rooftop of an apartment complex and keeps watch while Lay does some basic reconnaissance on traffic patterns in the area.

“Is Wendy navving for you or Chen on this big… thing?”

“We’re operating more as a whole unit. It’s unique. Sounds like it'll be fun,” Lay replies.

It kinda does. Oh well. “Stay safe out there,” he says encouragingly.

“Thanks - take it easy while we’re off. Hope you don’t get too bored.”

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