It was Christmas morning and although the holiday shift officers had to spend the day at the police station, that didn’t stop them from running to the tree in their PJs.
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“In my family we exchange gifts at Christmas Eve already”, Gavin chatted away. “Here, look, Tina sent a video of Jin playing with the mermaid playset I bought for him!”
Antony: ”Phew. For a moment I was afraid it would be another cat video... But that’s not a toddler you two have there, but an anthropomorphic water rat.”
Gavin: “Yeah, yeah, I know. He got the water part from his mom and the rat part from me. Now open your package! - Ew, no, not the robot building kit. The other one!”
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Gavin: “What did you get? Oh, crap, a lousy postcard...”
Antony: “A postcard from Littlehaven, signed by a certain someone by hand. That is proof they are safe and that in turn is worth more than anything.”
Not their best haul. Antony got that postcard, and Gavin got nothing at all (not even a notification).
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Gavin: “I have something for you, by the way!”
Antony: “You? No way! It’s a prank!”
Gavin: “Nope.”
Antony: “C’mon!”
Gavin: “Okay, maybe a little. But it’s perfectly safe to open. Don’t want my disciplinary folder overtake Hank’s in size, you know?”
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So what should I buy as Gavin to give Antony, I wondered. Fortunately he already had two objects in his inventory: the wooden sculpture he had bought the day before and an Engineer Corps Honor Medal from his job. Perfect, actually!
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Antony: “My honor medal from my military days! You found it! And after all this time!”
Gavin: “Hell, no, mate. I found it back when you lost it already, but hung on to it in case I ever needed to bribe you. But now the year’s almost over, so... Merry Christmas!”
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At this point I was still unsure whether to go the friends or the enemies with benefits path. I had given the sims a start on both - and Antony made a decision by gifting Gavin a rose back.
Gavin: “Hear, hear, who’s talking about prank presents NOW!”
Antony: “Haha, no! I promised I’d make an effort to bond with my partner and I’ll stick to that! Now I really, really, really cannot see us become friends, so I settled for the nextbest thing: Enabling you to leave your closet, Mister “I made my alibi girlfriend a child”!”
Gavin: “Forget it! You can’t prove something that isn’t real!”
Antony: “I promised!”
Gavin: “Pfft.”
Antony: “I promised TO DANIEL.”
Not quite the truth, Antony admitted to himself. But Daniel had at least been in the same room when the officer had made his resolution. So that had to count.
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The mention of Daniel unlocked the pink romance bar. It was hard to overlook and Antony knew he had correctly intuited his co-workers orientation. But it was strange. Gavin Reed had an ego sufficient to be a whole Pride Parade all on his own, so why was he so determined to come across as straight?
Antony: “It’s “muh career” again, correct?”
Gavin: “...yeah. You never know how times might change, and then it’s better to be safe than sorry. But Jin’s not an alibi! He was an honest accident on my part when Tina collected her payment! - Was I really that easy to read?”
Antony: “Not for the longest time. Tina and you make convincing friends with benefits. But ever since Daniel has started working here, you went into heat.”
And ever since that day, Antony, who technically was attracted to men and women alike, but in practise spent more time tinkering than conquering, had started noticing Gavin as a... no, not as a person, but as a body, a face and a smile. Antony’s perception of Gavin as a person usually didn’t pass a profanity check.
