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Missing scene #3 Laurent ft. Maverick š¶
🕑 Added 2020-12-20 23:24:58 +0000 UTCPlastered to the back of the passengerās seat, Maverick makes a great impression of a sheet, with how pale and rigid he is. In his head, he can practically hear Flavioās voice, saying, āBoss wouldnāt off you for thatā¦ Probably.ā And, āWell, even if he tries, your kind is hard to kill, eh?ā
Which, sure, Distant Healers are resilient. But not that resilient.
During Maverickās short but intense internship, heās found himself eye to eye with the impending death thrice; each time, his doom was directly or indirectly related to Laurent. Having survived the ācoffee incidentā, Maverick thought that nothing more dire could happen to him. He was, as he often is, wrong.
Since his first official mission wentā¦ awry, Maverickās hope for a simple life diminished greatly. But he kept his head low, his nose out of other peopleās business, averting his gaze and pretending not to see what he was not supposed to. That is, until now.
His curiosity, or maybe the surprise, got the best of him. And who can blame him really, when his boss, usually so regimented and rigid, insists on behaving out of character? Itās only natural that Maverick wasā¦ concerned. The identity of Laurentās friend aside, what shocked Maverick the most was Laurentās countenance. Though he memorized all of Laurentās limited facial expressions; the myriad of grimaces, the tired glare and the rare amused not-quite-smile, Maverickās never seen him look so open.
On a normal day itās easy to overlook how young Laurent is; merely a few years Maverickās senior. He carries himself in a way that demands deference, making it difficult to remember that under the illusion of the commanding officer is only a man.
That picture in Maverickās mind distorts. How could someone, who he used to describe as heartless, act this gentle? In the span of a minute, it was as though he had shed his old suit and transformed into a completely different person. And all it took was a handshake, that despite its apparent tenderness, seemed more intimate than the illicit affairs of the other senior agents Maverick had the misfortune of stumbling onto in the office.
He almost feels guilty for breaking the moment.
Laurent marches towards the car donning the grace of a hangman heading to an execution; with every step, the earlier softness disappears. His back is straight, eyes cold as steel, and though his hands are free of a noose, Maverickās ready to say his last goodbyes.
The door opens and slams shut just as quick. Maverick gulps, surveying his fingernails with a forced focus, giving up on the pretense hearing the engine start up without the accompaniment of his bossā admonishments.
Once Laurent settles behind the wheel, his features shift from what Maverick names āthe angry frown no.2ā to ā the disapproving frown no.1ā. Itās been months since he began his internship, and Maverick still canāt decide which one is worse.
They leave the parking lot in silence, interrupted only by the mad drumming of Maverickās pulse and the white noise of the chatter outside. The car joins the traffic jam as Maverick waits forā¦ something. Heās not sure what. But Laurent sits here motionless, attention fixed on the road ahead.
The car continues its crawl down the street, pausing briefly on the pedestrian crossing then driving off when the red light turns back to green. Maverick doesnāt make a sound, doesnāt even twitch in fear of bringing Laurentās wrath upon himself.
Though heās not a curious man in nature, he isnāt stupid. When Laurent sent him to collect evidence from a random - as he then thought - abandoned apartment, he was more than surprised. The case was given to another team, but he was never the one to question his commanding officerās interest in the suspect, so he did as he was ordered.
He couldnāt wrap his head around it for weeks, but he gets it now.
Years ago, his mother revealed to him that in this world there are only two things above the law; money and love. Maverick has dismissed her comment as a silly notion, but that was when he was a child, hopeful and naĆÆve. He knows better now. After all, didnāt he join the SPD for the same reason? Why would he stay if not out of love, if not for the paycheck his mother needs to survive?
Everyone has something worth dying for, it seems Laurent is not an exception.
That realization startles Maverick. Beneath the dread and the respect he feels for his boss, he finds a thin thread of understanding. A shared ground he dares not speak of.
The ride to work takes a quarter of an hour, but itās enough to rearrange Maverickās worldview.
When he exits the car, Laurent stops him, as he knew he would. āMaverick.ā His voice doesnāt waver, and though once Maverick would call the tone biting, now he can interpret it as simply exhausted.
āYes, sir?ā
āIf they ask you about-ā
āAbout what, sir,ā Maverick counters, for the first time daring to interrupt Laurent's warning mind-word. āI havenāt seen anything.ā
Laurent hesitates, fingers tensing on the door frame as he apprises Maverick. Whatever he searched for, he must have found it because his lips curve faintly, just for a second before he nods.
āAs you were.ā
āYes, sir.ā
Comments
Shuris
Aw, Max! šššā¤ā¤ And that moment between him and Laurent at the end is just so sweet. I wanna hug these two and never let go.
paragontethras
I was braced and prepared for the laurent feels but not the MAX feels! but my god did this take me back to that moment all over again. I never wanna let go of laurent again š„ŗ
