illicit | five hargreeves - EDITING

seventy six

chapter seventy six: sweet nothings

Anthony yawned slightly as he leaned his cheek against the palm of his hand, his elbow leaning on the desk as the dim light shown down on it. He turned the page of the heavy textbook, his tired eyes barely even comprehending the sentences that they scanned.

The words blended together, his eyes closing for a moment with his cheek against his hand, his head tilting to the side as his consciousness slowly began to slip away from him.

Six years had passed since the reset of the universe, and it almost felt as if all the tragedy and fear of apocalypses had been put behind them, finally. Anthony and Five had somewhat settled down to find a sort of security, a stable place to build their lives.

Anthony finally felt as if he was able to stop running, stop being scared of everything, and just start to live. It was a weird adjustment at first, but it wasn't long before his weeks consisted of college, studying, walks in the park, family dinners, and all the other mundane tasks. He found himself excited to do such simple things like laundry and dishes, but it was domestic. It was...normal.

Five only took a few years to complete a degree, before he got a job in the CIA, where he was currently working. Anthony was a bit behind, his intelligence had never been up to par with his counterpart, but he was studying and attending classes to get a degree in psychology. He didn't want a big job with all those responsibilities, he just wanted to help people.

Everything was fine, good even, and Anthony had finally learned how to just live without constantly looking over his shoulder. It was nice, and they both had settled comfortably into their new lives.

The sound of the front door of the apartment banging closed is what jolted him awake. Anthony looked up, blinking slightly before he wiped the sleep from his eyes, still drowsy.

"Hey," he murmured as he heard the footsteps in the room. Anthony glanced over, managing a small and tired smile for his husband, squinting slightly in his sleepy haze. "You're early."

Five returned the smile as he placed his bag down on the kitchen table, "Hi," he replied, shrugging off his jacket and hanging it up. He walked around the table, leaning down and placing a kiss to Anthony's cheek. "How's the studying going?"

"Mm," he hummed slightly with a small shake of his head. "Boring, tiring, annoying...you know, sometimes I wonder why I bother." Anthony shrugged as he leaned back. "How was work?"

He nodded, "It was fine," Five replied as he leaned against the table. "I'm still trying to work on that Keepers case."

"Still?" Anthony asked with slightly widened eyes and a head tilt. "Do you really think there's something there? They might just be a bunch of nut-jobs," he commented. "Like that guy we met in e 60s...Edward? Elliott?"

Five shook his head, "There's more to it," he said, leaning against the table slightly. "I just need to try and convince my boss that it's worth looking into more."

Anthony hummed slightly, "You work too much," he commented, glancing over at him. "I think you forget sometimes that you have a husband."

He let out a soft chuckle, "Oh please," he rolled his eyes at that. "You already get too much attention."

"I would disagree" Anthony stated, closing his book and placing it to the side. "But I guess I do have to let you work if I want you to basically be my full time sugar daddy"

Five scoffed and rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of it all.

"What are you thinking for dinner?" Five asked, almost an attempt to steer the conversation away from work and back to something a little more calm.

Anthony pouted his lips for a second "You?"

Another eye roll from Five.

"Gross" Five commented as he made his way to the kitchen, leaving his husband in the dim living room.

Anthony smiled to himself for just a moment, before standing up and following him to the kitchen.