Nothing But Thieves {Fransykes}

21: Josh

Josh is sitting at a table in the safehouse that Jordan and Elissa are staying at. Beside him, Oliver is holding his hand, giving it the occasional reassuring squeeze to help keep Josh's anxiety level down. The intimacy of the handholding, the way that Oli is paying attention to every indicator of Josh is doing, is making Josh feel even safer. He loves Oliver a hell of a lot.

"The buyer's name is Rima." Elissa informs everyone, "If we're all targets then she is too, and she can probably tell us what's actually in that ugly ass statue. I should have charged her more, damn it. I would've if I knew there was something inside the thing."

"She's fucking beautiful too-" Jordan begins, only to be cut off by Elissa interrupting him.

"But lucky for me she swings my way and not yours." Elissa says smugly, smacking Jordan upside the head and earning a playful glare from him. "As I discovered when I dropped off the statue to her and ended up getting laid."

Josh makes a face, definitely not enjoying hearing about his sister's sex life. "Please stop talking, I don't want to hear about my sister getting laid."

Elissa rolls her eyes, "You're such a prude, Joshua." She complains, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms over her chest.

Oliver starts to laugh, "You wouldn't be saying that if you saw him this morning." He replies, grinning widely at his own words.

Josh can feel his face turning red, so he lightly smacks Oli's arm to get him to shut up before he can start spilling the details of their sex life. "Anyway, we need to find this Rima and figure out why the people we stole from want it back so badly." He really wants to get this conversation back on track, because he would really rather focus on the matter at hand.

Oliver and Elissa devolve into giggles, though luckily Jordan goes with Josh on this one.

"Right." Jordan declares, "We know where she lives, but we don't know whether or not the people who are after us know about her. It'll be a risk."

Josh looks at him gratefully for going back to the topic with him. "I think it's a risk we have to take. Otherwise we're just sitting ducks."

Oliver seems to have finally gotten his giggles under control, though Josh is still irritated with him for revealing personal information in the first place. "Agreed, we have to do this." He smiles at Josh, but Josh just glares. He is upset that Oliver would say something like that without making sure that Josh is comfortable with him sharing it. Even worse, it seems as though Oli was about to share even more information, had Josh not stopped him from doing so.

"Alright, sounds like we're doing this." Elissa states, then appears to study the expression on Josh's face. "Jordan, let's give these two room to talk." She practically drags Jordan from the room, leaving Josh and Oliver alone. Elissa knows Josh well enough to be able to tell when he is upset, and Josh appreciates that she is giving him the time to talk this out with his boyfriend.

"You're upset with me." Oliver says softly, looking Josh in the eyes, searching, as though he can find an explanation in them.

Josh nods his confirmation, biting his lip to keep it from trembling with restrained sobs. "I'd really rather you didn't share details of our sex life with people." He mumbles, trying to hold eye contact and failing, looking down at the table.

"I didn't share any details!" Oliver protests, "I just-" He stops himself, inhales deeply, and drops his gaze just as Josh looks back up at him. "No, you're right. I shouldn't have brought it up, it was personal and I didn't have your permission. I'm sorry." Every word sounds genuine, apologetic, filled with care and concern for him.

Josh is surprised by this, by how quickly Oli has owned up to it and apologized. He has never been with anyone so kind before, and Oliver is proving right now that he is a good man who will take responsibility when he fucks up. It's a low bar, but it is reassuring to know that Oli can handle doing the right thing about his mistakes.

Josh smiles, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Oliver's cheek. "It's okay. Thank you for acknowledging it."

Oli kisses him softly on the lips, "I love you." He murmurs affectionately.

"I love you too." Josh answers, his smile widening.

Jordan and Elissa burst back into the room, clearly having been listening in on the conversation. "Well handled, Oliver." Elissa tells him, lighting up a joint. "I was gonna have to murder you if you didn't do the right thing."

"Is she joking?" Oliver whispers, his voice holding enough concern to show that he doesn't think that Elissa is joking at all.

Josh shakes his head, "No, she really would've killed you." He replies honestly, going off of what he knows about his sister.

"I would have." Elissa confirms, a little too calmly, taking her seat at the table once again. "Josh, we're heading over to Rima's place but there might be people sitting on it. You got your knives?"

Josh flinches, the memory of his knife firmly embedding itself into the stranger's chest flashing through his brain. "Yeah." He says softly, hoping that he never has to use a knife in a fight ever again, "I've got them."

Oliver takes Josh's hand and squeezes it reassuringly, lovingly. That helps Josh to settle his breathing, to calm himself down a little bit, and clear the images from his head enough to make himself move on from the topic of his knives for now.

Elissa seems to see what is happening, because she looks Josh in the eye and gives a small nod. "Jordan and I will be the advance party. We'll scope out the area, and head inside. We'll call you to give you the all-clear, and then you two can join us." She declares definitively.

There is a part of Josh that wants to argue, wants to point out that Elissa is sheltering him unnecessarily, but there is also a part of him that wonders whether it is necessary after all. Sure, he is holding himself together, but he honestly doesn't know what he would do if confronted with another life or death situation, and he isn't too sure that he wants to find out. He could easily fall apart, and risk other people's lives in the process. The last thing he wants is for someone to get hurt, especially on his account. He is a risk to others in this state, and he knows it. He makes his decision then and there, that Elissa is right to suggest that he hang back until they know that the area is safe.

Oliver looks at Josh, apparently waiting for him to answer rather than answering for him. It's sweet, actually, that he knows that this is for Josh to decide, because Josh is the one still dealing with the ongoing trauma of the situation.

Josh smiles at Oli, "Yeah, that sounds good." He says to Elissa, finding himself relieved that the chances of him having to physically defend himself are now significantly reduced.

"Alright." Elissa stands up and claps her hands together, "Let's do this."

~

sorry that my updates are slowing down, I'm in my third last week of classes for the semester and I have lots to do

anyway! i hope you enjoyed this chapter! the next will be a special chapter, from elissa's point of view

wear a fucking mask and remember to create and destroy as you see fit

-Samira