Work Text:
Gold Team Quartet Private Discord Chat
(6 weeks into a 12 week leave.)
Niamh: I am still very much enjoying ma’s colcannon.
Kahurangi: oooo care to share the recipe?
Niamh: She’s promised it to my sister on her deathbed. ☹
Kahurangi: Rude!
Aparna: Do you like sambhar?
Jamie: omg yes
Kahurangi: YES
Niamh: God, yes.
Aparna: My nana is much more generous. I’ll share it in files.
Kahurangi: Lovely!
Jamie: Any special family recipes from Aotearoa?
Kahurangi: I’ll ask Dad. How about you?
Jamie: Our secret recipes all come from take-out places. Though my roommates have been known to cook every now and then.
Aparna: btw, how’s the hunt going?
Jamie: Harder than expected. I really want to move before next session in the field, but the bank is being squirrely.
Jamie: It sucks being relatively new, and yet having a decent salary, at least as far as the bank is concerned.
Kahurangi: Check with legal – they should be able to help you.
Niamh: Agreed
Kahurangi: And speaking of housing…
Kahurangi: I’m planning a trip to NYC two weeks before we leave. I’ve never been, and wonder if I could meet up with Jamie?
Jamie: Sure! Happy to get a head start on being a tour guide! Do you need a place to crash?
Kahurangi: I’m looking at hotels now.
Jamie: Nope.
Kahurangi: What?
Jamie: We still have a spare bedroom with an actual bed in it. We haven’t gotten a fourth roommate – we don’t need one. You’re welcome to stay with us.
Kahurangi: Really? That would be spectacular!
Jamie: No problem at all! My roommates think you are mythical, so nice to prove them wrong.
Niamh: I think your roommates are the mythical ones.
Jamie: I mean, things are better. They are working on an experimental theatre project that apparently involves colored smoke.
Jamie: So I’m hoping we don’t get kicked out before I can buy a new place.
Kahurangi: Or before I can visit.
Jamie: It will be awesome to see you! I can show you all the cool non-tourist places!
Kahurangi: As long as there is time for some touristy things.
Jamie: Pft, fine. 😉
Aparna: omg
Niamh: guys, flirt on your own time.
Huh, Jamie thought. I didn’t think that was flirty at all.
Jamie: gtg, appointment with realtor, even without a mortgage.
He logged off and went to his appointment.
Huh
He met the realtor at the condo in the East Village, not far from the current apartment. It was nice, well within his mental budget, and had three bedrooms and 2-1/2 baths, which was way more baths than they had now. There were some amenities and a rooftop garden which would be nice to relax in. Jamie found he missed greenery after being at the KPS.
Brent and Laertes could share the master bedroom with its attendant en-suite bath. Either of the other two bedrooms would do for him, and they would have a spare room for guests, or as an office or a gaming room, which was much more likely.
He got a text on his phone from Gracia.
::pre-approved for 5 mil, down payment of 1 mil. Sorry about the taxes::
He texted back quickly. ::Thanks! This place is perfect! We’ll have a party!::
Jamie smiled at the agent. “I just heard, I’ve been pre-approved!”
“Wonderful!”
~*~*~*~
It didn’t go quite as quickly as Jamie had hoped, but with the help of Gracia and the KPS lawyers, the paperwork went relatively smoothly. Soon Jamie was signing many, many pieces of paper and accepting keys.
Gracia was also helpful in connecting Jamie with a designer who arranged for new furniture, very comfortable and sturdy, perfect for a group of twenty-ish adults.
Brent and two of his set construction crew friends painted the space – murals in the bedrooms, and cozy greens in the open living room and kitchen area. Laertes, who was a lighting designer, arranged for the replacement of every “boob light, seriously, when are construction companies going to move away from those, they should be firebombed into oblivion,” with painstakingly rewired thrifted chandeliers and lamps.
When the time came, they had a moving party. One team of theatre people, all laughing and strong, carried boxes to a friend’s van, who drove their belongings to the new condo. There, another team unpacked the van under Brent’s direction, and a third team made up of Gracia, Lilo the props master, and Lilo’s younger sister Amanda, unpacked the household items and put them away. They even received some housewarming gifts, sent from friends and family.
Jamie sat on his new (and very comfortable) couch in a daze. He never thought he would own an actual home, especially here in New York. KPS had been really good for him, in so many ways.
Gracia sat down next to him. “The team had some questions about setting up your room and the guest room?”
“Right.” He stood and stretched. “Decisions, decisions.”
~*~*~*~
Gold Team Quartet Private Discord Chat
Jamie: All moved in!
Aparna: Congratulations!
Niamh: Welcome to the drudgery of home ownership!
Kahurangi: YAYYYYYY Is there a couch?
Jamie: there is a guest room with a fold out couch!
Kahurangi: DOUBLE YAY!
Aparna: Aw, I wanted to visit!
Kahurangi: ME FIRST
Jamie: Plenty of time
Jamie: K. DM me your itinerary so I can meet you at the airport.
Niamh: yes please.
Aparna: I’m so envious!
Niamh: take your flirting to DMs.
Kahurangi: hey!
Jamie: wdym, flirting?
Niamh: you know what you did
Jamie: ????
Niamh: You sweet summer child.
Kahurangi: Itinerary sent! Thanks man, looking forward to visiting!
Jamie: Great! Looking forward to your visit!
~*~*~*~
Jamie stood outside the arrivals area at JFK holding a cup of iced coffee and a sign that read “DR. KAHURANGI LAUTAGATA” in Sharpie. Brent had wanted to print out a sign in an exciting font, but by the time he and Laertes had finished squabbling about font legibility and size, Jamie had already written out the sign.
Both of his housemates were excited to meet Kahurangi. They still didn’t know what KPS did – they were fine with “it’s an NGO and we all signed massive NDAs, please don’t ask” – but the notion of a co-worker who was a geologist/chemist from New Zealand was fascinating.
(“What do you even talk about?”)
(“I don’t know, Everything?”)
(Brent shook his head at that, a little curve to his mouth that Jamie knew meant he was amused for some private reason. He didn’t ask; the ways of theater people were often mysterious.)
The flight from Auckland with a stop in Los Angeles was finally debarking and Jamie watched as streams of jet-lagged and exhausted people stumbled towards the baggage claim. Finally, he spotted Kahurangi, his long dark hair tied back, but still a little rumpled on the side where he had slept. It was adorable.
Jamie waved the sign, hoping to catch his eye. The moment Kahurangi spotted him, he broke into a sunny grin and hustled through the crowd, dodging family groups and business travelers with ease. When he reached Jamie, he hugged him enthusiastically, crushing the sign in the process.
Jamie held the iced coffee out to the side to avoid spilling it over them mid-hug. He felt his nerves calm a tiny bit, knowing how happy Kahurangi was.
Kahurangi gave Jamie a quick kiss on the cheek before releasing him, holding him at arm’s length. “You look well. Ready for the next six months?”
“Dude, I am so ready,” said Jamie. “Here,” he handed Kahurangi the iced coffee. “Thought you could use this.”
“Thank you!” Kahurangi said, and took the cup, draining it halfway almost immediately.
“How was the flight?”
“Long. Luckily no crying babies, though. I slept most of the way across the Pacific.” Kahurangi rubbed his head. “I’m a mess.”
Jamie grinned at that. “Never. Let’s get your bags and find someplace for lunch. Unless you want to go back to my condo…” Jamie didn’t think he would ever get over the idea of his condo!
Kahurangi shook his head. “Nothing but the backpack. Won’t need anything there, anyway. Got enough to get through the next two weeks, if I can do laundry.”
Jamie slung his arm around Kahurangi’s shoulders. “I have my own washer and dryer. It is so awesome!”
“Aw, you really are grown up now!”
~*~*~*~
The two weeks before they left for Greenland for their third tour flew by. Jamie and Kahurangi hit all the tourist spots, but they had the most fun at the American Museum of Natural History. Kahurangi loved the dinosaur bones the best, while Jamie remained enchanted by the planetarium show. They took a selfie under the blue whale, grinning widely with their faces smushed together. Both agreed that the insectarium was a little reminiscent of the tree crab training, and that the items in the Pacific Peoples exhibit should be returned to their people of origin.
They went to the opening night of the show that Brent and Laertes were working on, very off-off Broadway experimental black box theater, but it was fun to see all the effects that the two had been working so hard on, and to see them work perfectly.
Jamie was glad they were his housemates – he did better with other people around him. It was so nice to have Kahurangi around as well.
~*~*~*~
Two days before they were scheduled for their flight to Greenland, Jamie was called into the office by Gracia to complete some forms and evaluate procedures. She also had him look at resumes of potential grunts – people with experience in Operations and Facilities Management, but also with other skills and education that would make them assets to KPS.
Jamie and Gracia chatted for a little after he finished. “How did you end up in the New York office?” asked Jamie.
Gracia shrugged. “It turned out I was highly allergic to something in the air there. They needed someone here, so they kept me on with a higher salary and a different title.” She shrugged again. “I like being able to work with the team, even if I can’t actually be on Kaiju Earth. Steady employment is also a plus.” She smiled and glanced at her phone. Jamie heard the *ding* of a text notification.
“And now I’m going to head home – you should too.”
Jamie stood. “I think Kahurangi’s cooking a thank you dinner for us, so I don’t want to be late!’
Gracia smiled a little, reminding Jamie of a smug Cheshire Cat. “You definitely don’t want to miss out on a home-cooked meal.”
~*~*~*~
Jamie arrived at home to find the most delicious smell wafting through his condo. The table was set with the new dishes, and Kahurangi was lighting taper candles set in candlesticks that were a housewarming gift from Gracia.
“Wow this looks great!”
Kahurangi grinned. “Glad you like it. Thought you should get some use out of these lovely candlesticks.”
Jamie noticed something. “Only two places set?”
“Brent and Laertes had something they had to do at the theater. They won’t be back until late.” Kahurangi went into the kitchen and brought out a deep pot. It smelled heavenly, of lentils and spice and warmth and coziness. Kahurangi set it on a potholder on the table. “Sambhar, courtesy of Aparna and her nana.”
They chatted over the excellent meal; Jamie had two helpings, along with the dosa. Kahurangi admitted that he’d asked Brent and Laertes for directions to the Asian groceries, and they had been smart enough to send him to the one with the best South Asian selection. Apparently, Laertes had spent some of the time when Jamie was away learning how to cook.
When they finished, Jamie stood and walked over to Kahurangi. “That was fantastic – I’m going to think about that meal a lot over the next six months.!” He gave him a quick one-armed hug. “Now I’m going to be a good host and clean up.”
Kahurangi protested. “This was a thank you for letting me stay with you. I can clean up.”
“Nope,” said Jamie, “I’m going to pack up the leftovers for the theater twins, rinse the dishes, and put them in a dishwasher that actually works, and then we are going to watch a movie that we’ve both seen a hundred times so we can fall into a food coma on the couch.”
“That was weirdly specific,” said Kahurangi.
“I have hidden depths.”
They ended up watching something with Tom Cruise and explosions, and both of them fell asleep on the couch, Jamie drooling onto Kahurangi’s shoulder, until Brent and Laertes came home and woke them up to ‘sleep in a real bed, dammit!’
~*~*~*~
The next day, while brushing his teeth, Jamie wondered to himself Was that a date?
He shook his head. Couldn’t be. He’d know if Kahurangi was flirting with him.
~*~*~*~
On the last day before shipping back to Greenland, both Jamie and Kahurangi rushed around, doing laundry, persuading Laertes to download possibly illegal versions of the latest video games and making sure Brent’s name was on all of the bills and on the account they had specifically set up for household expenses. Brent also had Gracia’s contact information, and in case of dire need, she could assist as she assisted others associated with KPS employees.
Kahurangi made some long distance and questionably time-zoned calls to his parents and sisters, letting them know that yes, the vacation in New York had been amazing, he was going to mail the postcards before heading into the field, and he’d talk to them in six months.
Then he had to actually write the postcards and throw money at Brent with a promise to put proper international postage on them. Once these chores were done, Kahurangi tried to settle down and rest for the flight, but it just wouldn’t happen.
Jamie noticed. “Hey, it’s ok. It’s our third tour, and nothing is going to be as exciting as our first, right?”
Kahurangi looked at him, an expression of mixed confusion and exasperation on his face. “I just…am having difficulty realizing that vacation is over. I didn’t do everything…”
Jamie grinned at that. “You can always come back. The theater twins love you, and New York will be here, no matter what you missed.”
Kahurangi sighed. “I know. I was just…well, it doesn’t matter now.”
Jamie rubbed his friend’s shoulder and was surprised when Kahurangi reached up to hold his hand in place. “You should get some rest. Greenland waits for no man!”
“Right.” Kahurangi patted his hand before releasing it. “See you in the morning.”
“Right.” Jamie gave Kahurangi’s shoulder a last, hopefully comforting squeeze, and turned to go to his own room. “Sleep well.”
“Sleep well, Jamie.”
When he looked back at Kahurangi, Jamie was surprised to see his friend looking sad, rather than sleepy.
He almost turned and went back to him, but instead Kahurangi stood up and headed for the guest room.
Jamie wasn’t sure why he felt a little sad as well.
Must be stress.
~*~*~*~
The next morning, things seemed normal. Jamie and Kahurangi got an early Uber to the airport, meeting Quanisha there and a few other KPS people from the Gold Team who were flying to Greenland from New York. There were two newbies that Quanisha was shepherding – one was going to be part of the Facilities team, specifically to keep up on the paperwork and dealing with tourists.
Once they were in Greenland, and met up with Aparna and Niamh again, things seemed…off with Kahurangi. His usual happy-go-lucky persona was subdued, and even watching the newbies react to Fucking Kevin didn’t bring more than a brief chuckle.
Once they got through decontamination and arrived at their quarters for this tour, he pulled Kahurangi aside. “Hey, are you all right?”
Kahurangi smiled, a sad smile, rather than his usual joyful smile or the rarer but still sparkly sweet smile. “I’m fine. Just…coming to terms with something internally. Don’t worry about me.”
“Of course I’m going to worry. You’re my friend.” My best friend, Jamie didn’t add, but he thought it. “Are you thinking of this being your last tour?”
Kahurangi stared blankly at Jamie for a moment. “Uh. Not sure. Probably not. The science is still amazing, and I love what I’m doing here.”
“Oh. Good.” Jamie rubbed Kahurangi’s shoulder. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“I will,” Kahurangi said quietly. “You’ll be the first to know.”
~*~*~*~
The first week went by quickly. Jamie was shadowed by Anna, the new Facilities person. She had a dry sense of humor and was ferociously organized, setting up systems that helped Quanisha, Val, and Jamie make even better use of their time while allowing them down time.
Anna was a firm believer in down time. Jamie approved.
He noticed that Kahurangi was mostly back to normal, aside from some whispered conversations with Aparna and Niamh, mostly when Jamie was supposed to be sleeping or elsewhere.
Jamie was a little uncomfortable with this, but it was up to Kahurangi if he wanted to upgrade Aparna or Niamh to the place of Best Best Friend.
Even though Jamie was still the best at weird band name banter.
He tried to ignore it; he pretended everything was fine and normal. Bella’s babies had winnowed themselves down to a dozen, all of which needed to be monitored for growth and to see if they were getting the right parasites, etc. Kaiju Earth was full of work to do, things to lift, catering to clean up after. Jamie would keep busy, and he would not fret about the uncomfortable feeling he had around Kahurangi.
~*~*~*~
Aparna suggested a Sambhar and Movie night for Sunday, and the quartet agreed. As the organizer and chef for the evening, she got to choose the movie, and she chose a recent romcom entitled “Red, White, and Royal Blue.”
“It’s adorable!” she enthused. “And if you hate it, it is just one movie, and you can choose next time.”
Niamh said that they had already fallen asleep through it once, but was willing to do so again, and Kahurangi said that it might be kind of fun, and he was more interested in Aparna’s version of the sambhar using what they had available in the KPS communal kitchen.
They settled in to watch the movie. Jamie managed to sit next to Kahurangi, bumping up against him in a friendly way.
”I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Christ, you’re as thick as it gets.
The extremely pretty leads were kissing on the screen, and Jamie must have twitched or something, because Kahurangi leaned over. “You ok with this?”
“Yeah,” Jamie managed to get out. “I mean, I’m bi, so yeah, it’s good.”
“Good,” whispered Kahurangi, as on the screen Henry fled from Alex. “Hate to think you were a secret homophobe.”
“I live with theater people!”
“SHHHHH” Aparna shushed them. “This gets better!”
~*~*~*~
After the movie, Aparna drafted Niamh into taking the dirty dishes and leftovers back to the communal kitchen. She shot several meaningful looks at Kahurangi, who remained quiet through Niamh’s rant about the Royals, even imaginary ones. This would leave Kahurangi and Jamie alone together for the first time since New York.
Finally, they were gone.
Jamie rubbed the back of his neck and decided to take a cue from the movie. “Did I do something wrong?”
“What?” said Kahurangi.
“I mean, ever since that dinner…was…” Jamie felt his perspective shift. “Was that a date?
Kahurangi covered his eyes. At first, Jamie thought he might be crying, but no, he was laughing. “You really are as thick as it gets.” He smiled, and it was the joyful smile that Jamie had missed so much in this short time. Then Kahurangi was reaching for him, cupping his cheeks and they were kissing and oh that’s what was going on!
Finally
When they finally pulled back for some air, Jamie said, “You know, you could have just told me. ‘Hey, Jamie, I really like you, wanna make out?’”
“I did tell you,” said Kahurangi.
“When????”
“When we were rescuing Bella. You sent me and Niamh off to deal with the generator while you and Aparna went with Satie, and I said ‘You’re mad and I love you!’ and then I waited.” Kahurangi gave him a fond sort of glare. “I waited through the rest of that tour and all through the next one and you never said anything!”
“In my defense, I am pretty oblivious. In college I had a girlfriend, only I thought it was friends with benefits, until she got mad at me for not getting her Valentine’s Day chocolate and broke up with me.” Jamie shrugged, and kissed Kahurangi again.
“Really?” Kiss.
“Really.” Kiss, kiss.
“Any other examples of obliviousness that I really should have known about?”
“Nuh-uh. Your turn.”
Kahurangi maneuvered them onto the couch. “I was never oblivious. Thought you were hot the first time Aparna brought you over to us.” He ran his fingers through Jamie’s hair. “Seriously, you’re like…Keanu Reeves with wavy hair and green eyes. Super hot.”
Jamie looked down at that. “I don’t know…”
“You should. It’s true.” He lifted Janie’s chin so their eyes met. “And we became friends, and I felt like we clicked, you know? How some people just get each other? That’s what it felt like, for me.”
“Band names.”
“Exactly.” Kahurangi smiled, and it was the smile full of joy.
Jamie exhaled loudly. “I’m sorry I didn’t get it before. Niamh was being cryptic, and I thought they were teasing, but…”
“They knew,” said Kahurangi. “Pretty much everyone knew, except for you. You oblivious Kaiju nerd.”
“It’s like a bad romantic comedy,” Jamie said. “Is that our new band name?”
“Well,” smiled Kahurangi, “It will never beat Edward’s Tumescent Cloaca, will it.”