The wonderful smell of bacon greeted Jack as he awoke. If dumping his complaints on Kieran always resulted in bacon for breakfast, then he might have to start thinking about ditching his lease and moving in.

He pushed himself onto his elbows and poked his head over the back of the couch. He watched as Kieran moved around the kitchen, grabbing ingredients. "Do you need help?" he asked, hoping the only help needed was to relieve Kieran of any excess bacon.

Looking up from his work, Kieran smiled and shook his head. "I'm capable of handling breakfast."

"Suit yourself," Jack mumbled, dropping back into the comfort of the couch. He rummaged around for his phone before finding it sitting on the coffee table. He frowned at the missed call. With how light he slept, he found it hard to believe he'd sleep through his obnoxious ringtone. He bit back a yawn and called Sam.

"Fairchild."

"Caller ID. It exists."

"No time," Sam readily replied. "Heard maintenance spooked you last night."

"What…" Jack pulled himself up again as he remembered leaving his weird message with Sam. He had jumped the gun with his paranoia. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Sam replied, the smile in his voice shifted to worry. "With everything that's going on right now, I'd rather you be safe than sorry. Hell, you got me spooked when you didn't answer your phone."

"Shit. Sorry. I kinda crashed when I got here."

"Kieran said as much when I called him. Tell your boyfriend that he should answer your phone if I call you."

"Yeah… I'll let him know," Jack said without conviction.

"He sent proof of life after I called him. You're not cute when you're asleep."

"Thanks."

"Oh, and he was wondering about the pig that took over your phone's screen."

Sam's voice was innocent enough, but Jack still felt a little defensive. "It's not an insult. Exactly."

"Like the shirt you showed Candy?"

"She showed it to you?" he moaned as he slouched down. He just thought the shirt was funny. He should have known Candace would pass it on to Sam.

"Not exactly. She bought it and wore it to the station. She also got one for the captain's wife. Apparently, it's very comfortable."

Jack stared ahead as he processed what Sam said. He could easily imagine Candace wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with ACAB I should know, I married one! in a room full of cops. "That's amazing!" he said through a fit of laughter.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Yeah. It's given the captain an idea of who to keep an eye on." Sam sighed in resignation. "Sensitivity and bias training begins next month."

"Well, I'm always happy to help weed out assholes with guns."

"It's obligatory," Sam added with a bitter note.

"Yeah? Well," Jack trailed off as Kieran set a plate of bacon and eggs on the coffee table. "Well, I'm having pig for breakfast."

"Enjoy."

"Oh, I will," he promised. He set his phone aside and moved to sit on the edge of the couch. "So you can cook. Is there anything you can't do?"

"Deal with the intricacies of the internet." Kieran leaned down and kissed Jack's cheek. "I'll leave you to breakfast."

"You're not eating?" Jack asked, looking up from the tempting plate of food.

"I ate while I cooked," Kieran replied. His expression turned apologetic. "Something came up in the shop, and I didn't wish to wake you."

"I'm not lazy or anything. You coulda woke me up."

"You were sleeping soundly," Kieran said, stroking Jack's hair.

"Thanks." Jack's attention went back to the plate as thoughts over just what he was grateful for bumped against each other. He felt like he should be thanking Kieran for the ability to sleep through the night.

"I'll see you downstairs when you're done. No need to clean up after yourself."

There might not have been a need, but Jack was going to clean up anyway. Maybe the whole domesticity of staying over was good for his mental health.

---

A piece of plywood covered the storefront window, and shards of broken glass littered the raised floor of the display. Kieran stood beside the raised floor, sweeping the smaller bits of debris toward the edge and into a waiting trash can.

Jack frowned at the surrounding area. Besides the obvious damage, something else seemed off.

"What happened? It wasn't like this last night." At least, he didn't think so. The sight tugged at his mind like déjà vu. Maybe he heard glass shattering in the night, but was too out of it to really care.

"A brick, apparently." Kieran paused and looked around at the other broken displays. "I'm missing a few things, but nothing insurance can't handle. You needn't worry."

"Shit. I come dumping my problems on you, and now this." Jack looked from the window display to the floor. It looked like a rug was missing. What sort of whacko would steal a rug? It made the floor look even cleaner than Jack remembered. "Sam could probably hook you up if you need a police report real quick."

"Thank you, but it's already been taken care of. Someone nearby reported a gunshot, and the police paid a visit not too long after," Kieran said with a bit of annoyance.

"You should send over the footage. They might have someone on file or something."

"They suggested as much. I told them I'd look into it tonight. For now, though, I should work on cleaning up the rest of this mess," Kieran said, gesturing to the destroyed window display.

"I can help," Jack offered.

"Thank you, but having a mindless task would greatly improve my mood."

"But…" He trailed off, not wanting to voice that he felt like it was his fault.

Kieran sighed heavily and stopped sweeping. "Please, Jack. I don't wish you to risk cutting yourself, and I'd rather do this alone."

"Okay." Jack shrank into himself and hid his hands in his sleeves. He was being pushy and annoying and trying Kieran's patience. He needed to keep his mouth shut. People liked him better when he was quiet.

"Would you like to join me for dinner tomorrow night?" Kieran asked.

"Yeah." Jack met Kieran's eyes and relaxed. No sign of irritation. "That'd be kinda nice. More than kinda, I mean."

image [https://i.imgur.com/eZY0YUq.png]