Chapter Text
Lucas
They were calling it the storm of the century, except Lucas hadn’t heard shit because he had been sequestered in his office for two days. The rain had been pouring down steadily outside the large windows that ran the length of his office. Lightning zig-zagged across the sky, and thunder rumbled in the dark night. He worked at a swanky enough firm, so he had been able to shower and sleep in the overnight rooms. The billable hour ruled, and this year he was on track to make enough hours to get a sizeable bonus. He had big plans for that bonus.
His phone had died hours ago, and he had forgotten his charger at home. He finally pulled himself away from the boxes of papers to check his email on his desk computer. It was the technology age, where everything was electronic and digital, but the defendants were being assholes and had sent some of the discovery request documents in hardcopy form (just enough so they wouldn’t be sanctioned by the judge). He’d have usually given the job of sorting through papers to more junior associates; his friend and colleague, Yann, had basically begged him to do just that, but he was looking for a very specific document that could make or break their case and didn’t trust anyone else to find it.
The latest email was from the firm’s managing partner; it had gone out to everyone in the firm to confirm that the staff was safe and didn’t require assistance. The weather channels were reporting floods and tornadoes for the area. Based on the responses, only him and one other attorney, an Eliott Demaury, were crazy enough to still be in the building. The firm rented the top five floors of a thirty-floor Downtown building; he was on the 29th floor. He looked out his office’s large window to the street below. It appeared the weather was getting worse, and it was late; it was time to pack up and go.
He placed his computer in his bag, grabbed his jacket, wallet, and keys, and grabbed one of the more promising boxes to dig through later. His elevator opened on the 28th floor. A tall, blue-eyed guy with the kind of hair that was messy but so well done that you knew it cost him a fortune to get it styled just so, stood waiting. What a poser, but a good looking one...very good looking, Lucas thought to himself, as he studied the sharp features of his angular face.
“Eliott?” he asked.
“Hi, Luca,” Eliott replied as he stepped into the elevator, flashing a bright smile that made Lucas instantly smile as well. He had slung his dark blue jacket over his broad shoulders. His white dress shirt had a couple of top buttons undone, showing just a glimpse of a smooth, tanned chest beneath.
Now Lucas remembered who Eliott was-- the accent, the good looks. Lucas had been so hellbent on proving himself the past year that he hadn’t paid much attention to office gossip, but most of the support staff and many of the attorneys were abuzz with news about the good looking new attorney from the Paris office. There had been rumors of some sort of office scandal, but no details. He knew Mika, the lead paralegal of the litigation group would have all the juicy details soon. Lucas really didn’t care about the gossip; the job was stressful and most of the partners who had been there for some time had some kind of dark mark against them. Eliott wasn’t a partner, yet, but he was a couple of years ahead of Lucas and would be going up for partnership voting soon.
“So, we are the only ones stupid enough to be up here with a storm barreling down on the city, huh?”
“Yea, looks that way,” Lucas replied. “Think we’re safe in -.”
He didn't finish his sentence. The elevator lurched and then came to an abrupt stop. The bright lights switched off, and a red, silent blinking light filled the elevator car.
“Ah, Putain!” Eliott swore as he pressed the open door button several times.
“I don’t think that’s going to do anything,” Lucas said.
He knew he sounded resigned. He had been having a shitty year, so he was used to everything going wrong. His life had gone full-blown Murphy’s Law the last couple of years, from the shitty breakup with his ex-girlfriend to having to take time off the year before to help his mom. He had put in so many hours the last several months to prove that he deserved to be back on the partnership track; plus, now that he was single again, he had a lot more time to give to the job. Lucas pushed the emergency and call button, but nothing happened.
Eliott had moved to the back of the elevator. He leaned on the railing against the rear wall, and...posed? Was he still posing? It was just so effortless for him to look so cool and collected right before they went hurtling through the shaft to their deaths. Lucas’s brain told him there were mechanisms in place to prevent that from happening, but his shaking hands told a different story.
“You’re not worried?” Lucas asked.
Eliott shrugged. “I’m sure we’re on standby power, and the generator will kick in soon. We’ll be on our way again in no time.”
Lucas squinted his eyes. “You sound so sure.” He suddenly remembered something else he had heard about Eliott. The reason he hadn’t been kicked to the curb, and had been transferred to a new office instead of fired. He was a natural in the courtroom, charismatic and passionate. He had the reputation of being a great, upcoming litigator. “I call bullshit.”
Eliott laughed. Even in the weird, red light, Lucas saw his eyes crinkle into half-moons, the long lashes hiding the blue-grey irises beneath. “Are you scared of the dark?”
“I’m not scared,” Lucas said defensively. His voice had come out a little higher than normal. He coughed once to clear his throat. “I’m not scared at all.”
Eliott laughed again. “Ok, I believe you.”
“Ok, I’m a little worried. I think there’s air flowing,” he said, nervously looking around. “But who’s coming to help us?”
He dug his phone from his bag, but it was dead. He mentally kicked himself for forgetting to charge his phone while working all day.
“Do you have your phone on you?”
Eliott pulled out his phone, showing Lucas that the signal was non-existent. Lucas pressed the emergency and call buttons again, hoping someone, somewhere was coming to help them soon.
Fifteen minutes later and Lucas felt like he was starting to hyperventilate; he hated small, dark spaces. It was hot and muggy now in the elevator car. Eliott had moved to sit in one of the corners. Lucas noticed that another button of his shirt was undone. He had also rolled up his shirt-sleeves, revealing slim but muscular arms. He was staring intently at Lucas.
“You, ok?” he asked, genuine concern in his voice.
“I don’t know,” Lucas answered truthfully.
“Come here,” Eliott commanded. Lucas was hesitant at first; he didn’t know why, but after a small pause he walked over to sit beside Eliott “Let me see your hand.” He must have seen the puzzled look on Lucas’s face because he softened his tone. “I won’t bite, trust me...unless you want me to.”
Lucas wasn’t sure he had heard him right. Had he just offered to bite him? Eliott had sort of mumbled the last part, so Lucas didn’t press him to repeat it. He gave him his hand and felt something shift inside him as Eliott pulled him closer. Eliott massaged and pulled his fingers, working all the way up to his elbow and back down again. It felt...intimate, and Lucas’s first instinct was to pull away, but it felt so good that he let himself relax.
“Now, breathe slowly, in...out.”
Lucas did as he was told. At first, his eyes were closed, but when he opened them, Eliott was staring at him. The look in his eyes was so intense, that Lucas quickly closed his eyes again. Damn, he could see why he was such a terror in the courtroom. Who could resist those eyes in that face, and Lucas was feeling...things. He was feeling all sorts of things, so he pulled his hand away even though every nerve in his body was fighting against it.
He moved a few inches from Eliott and mumbled a quick thank you. When he looked back at Eliott, his eyes were half-closed and he wore a small smile on his lips. Well, at least he hadn’t been offended, or had he?
Eliott took a deep breath. “Do you feel better?”
“Yes...I do.”
“The massage thing...it was something I learned when I was in the Peace Corps before law school.”
“So you’re from here?”
“Yea, I grew up in the States and I attended law school here. My dad worked in government, and we moved around a bit before settling in France when I was in my early teens."
“That sounds pretty interesting.”
“It was and it wasn’t. Imagine trying to learn a new language, trying to make friends...”
His background explained his natural self-possession but also provided insight into why he seemed like a loner. Lucas could barely make it out in the dim light, but there was something in Eliott’s eyes - regret, sadness? He didn’t push and decided to change the subject.
“How was the Peace Corps?”
“I met some good people, thought I made a small difference in the world...or at least tricked myself into thinking that I had, and then I sold my soul to work at a law firm.”
“We’re doing some good work for some good people. I’m actually working on a case now against a big company that sold faulty medical equipment to the public.”
“You’re talking about the Duvall case?” Eliott asked.
“Yea, that one.”
“Luca, nothing is done for free. Yes, most of the plaintiffs are the little guys, but the firm is doing it for the notoriety and advertising, not from the good of their heart.”
“I don’t think everything is so black and white. If we help these people, they get the help they need. Their life is better even if the firm profits from it in other ways. We aren’t exploiting them.”
“That’s true, but we represent big clients like the defendant all the time. We’re on the right side this time, and that’s rare.”
Lucas was quiet, he didn’t want to seem naive. He wasn’t naive; he understood Elliot’s point, but he was so tired of everything being so negative in his life that it had felt good to work on a case he was actually passionate about.
“I took some time off, too, before going to law school,” Lucas shared. “I thought I was going to be some famous pianist, or at least able to play full time and support myself. It didn’t work out that way...but like you, I met some great people along the way.”
It had been a good time in his life. It was the last time he remembered everything making sense. One of those great people he had met had been Chloe, his ex. Their relationship had been going well for a long time until something suddenly changed in the last couple of years, or maybe the change hadn't been so sudden to Chloe. The argument that had been the final argument revealed that they had been in two very different relationships. Chloe confessed that she had been unhappy for a very long time. She pointed out that their sex life had been almost non-existent in the last couple of years even though neither of them had been unfaithful.
Lucas hadn’t had many sexual partners before Chloe. He hadn't dated much in college, and most of the “dating” back then had consisted of a lot of heavy petting and quick blowjobs in dorm rooms. He thought it had been the same for other guys as well, but he found out later, that had not been the case, especially for guys like him who were constantly hit on by the opposite sex.
So when he met Chloe, a year after graduating from college, he had been questioning what he wanted. He had always had an attraction to men but had never acted on those feelings before, mostly because the ones he was attracted to all seemed straight. He and Chloe had started out as friends, sharing a deep love for classical music. Their sexual attraction had developed slowly over time. The sex had been good, but never great, and then had fizzled to nothing by the end. He still missed her friendship and companionship, but could admit, with a little distance from the ugly breakup, that the relationship had been unfair to her, and maybe to him as well.
“Yoo-hoo, Earth to Luca. Where did you go?” Eliott asked. “Remembering simpler times?”
“Something like that,” Lucas admitted. “So you came over from the Paris office, huh?”
“Yea.” Eliott didn’t say anything else, so Lucas didn’t press. After a moment, Eliott looked up, again staring directly in Lucas’s eyes. “You heard some shit?”
Lucas was going to lie, but for some reason couldn’t. “Not much. I don’t know any details...everyone has some kind of shit in their past.”
“I guess,” Eliott said. “I just let stress and other personal stuff get the best of me,” he finally admitted by way of explanation.
“Oh, I’ve been there.”
“Really?” Eliott asked.
“The last two years have been kind of rough. I had to take time off last year to help my mom, and the year before that I had an epic breakup with my ex.”
“Boyfriend?” Eliott asked.
“Uh-Huh?” Lucas stuttered. “Um no, a girl-friend; it was an ex-girlfriend.” Lucas hesitated before asking the question on his lips, but they had been stuck for almost an hour, and it seemed help was not on its way. He wondered if there were cameras in the elevator, and some twisted technician was somewhere eating popcorn as he gleefully watched two overpaid attorneys turn into puddles of sweat. “Is there something about me that made you ask that?”
“No...It’s no big deal, just wishful thinking on my part.” He flashed that smile again at Lucas and then looked up at the ceiling of the elevator car.
Lucas felt his heart or stomach (other body parts may have been involved as well) lurch in response. For once he had no words.
“Anyway,” Eliott continued as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb in the middle of a very casual conversation. Or had it been casual? Lucas was unsure now. “The ceiling is too high for us to try to climb out, and I am starving.”
Lucas’s stomach growled in response causing Eliott to laugh. Eliott dug into his briefcase. “The only thing I have are these two chocolate granola bars that I swiped from my secretary’s desk. She’s always eating them, so they must be pretty good. I also grabbed a bottle of water, if you want to share.”
“You’ve been holding out on me!” Lucas exclaimed.
“I honestly forgot all about them, and I thought we’d be out of here by now.”
He handed Lucas one of the bars, and they ate and drank in silence. Lucas was a bit of a germaphobe but had no qualms drinking after Eliott.
“So, do you have a girlfriend... or boyfriend?” Lucas asked. Lucas knew he could have just asked if he was dating someone, but he wanted to know the specific answer.
Lucas smiled as Eliott almost choked on his water. He had been the cool one in the conversation, so it secretly felt good to catch him off guard.
“It’s complicated,” Eliott finally answered.
“Hmm...”
“It is!” Eliott said defensively. He laid his head against the wall.
“Is that your Facebook relationship status?” Lucas teased.
Eliott laughed as he took another swig of water. Somehow the distance between them had lessened, and Lucas’s hand was now right by Eliott’s. He looked down and studied Eliott’s long fingers. He wore silver rings...and black nail polish. They were the hands of a rock musician, not an attorney, and were in sharp contrast to the suit...but not the hair and not those eyes. No, those matched perfectly.
Eliott touched Lucas’s hand. The touch was soft and slight but intentional. Lucas didn’t look up, but felt something heavy and electric in the small space between them, not so unlike the storm outside. A million questions flashed in his mind, not the least of which being, did he want to pursue anything with someone who had a relationship status that was a question mark? He felt rather than saw Eliott move closer, but he was stuck, frozen in place, wanting something to happen, but waiting.
There was a bump as the elevator restarted and the lights above them flickered, then came back on. Lucas felt like he had been dumped in cold water, the soft mood of a second ago now erased in the elevator’s harsh light. They both stood up and dusted themselves off. Lucas was finally able to look up at Eliott; he gave a soft smile, which was greeted by Eliott’s own.