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In general, snooping around your boss’s house was never a great idea. However, snooping around your boss’s house while at his dead wife’s wake? That was an even worse idea. But Daniel was bored, and everyone was occupied in another room, giving Mr. Fisk their condolences and talking about their memories of Mrs. Fisk. So no one would notice if he took a quick look around, right? It was a nice place, and it’d be a shame to not investigate it, really.
These justifications rushed through his head as he wandered through the halls, peeking into rooms with their doors open. After all, if the door was open, it wasn’t technically being nosy. And if confronted, he could lie and say he was looking for the bathroom or something. Anything to escape the heavy cloud of grief lingering throughout the home.
Daniel approached another door and nearly collided with Heather, who was rushing out of the room.
“Sorry, Daniel. Excuse me, please,” She said with a weak smile, before ducking her head and continuing past him, like she was desperate to get out of the house, which he didn’t blame her for.
“Dr. Glenn, are you-” He turned around quickly, as he took in her tear-stained cheeks and shaky voice, only to find that she’d disappeared from sight, “-okay?” God, what a day. With a small sigh, he made his way into the room, stopping as he saw Buck, sitting on what must have been the Fisks’ bed.
The mayor’s assistant looked up at the sound of Daniel’s footsteps, giving him a weary smile. “Daniel. Did Miss Urich leave?”
He nodded, taking a seat next to the older man. “Yeah, she had some stuff she needed to do, I guess.” Then changing the subject, “Is everything okay with Dr. Glenn? I ran into her just now and she looked pretty upset. I mean obviously she’s going to be upset, given everything, but… I just want to make sure she’s okay, y’know?”
Buck placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “That’s kind of you, Daniel. She’s just working through some things. Losing Vanessa has made some feelings resurface, I think.”
“That makes sense. I just wish I could help somehow.” He glanced over at Buck, about to make a dumb comment about being in the mayor’s bedroom, but then noticed the ring of red circling his neck, barely visible above his collar, and reached over to pull down his collar before the other man could say or do anything. “What the fuck happened to you?” He demanded, his voice full of concern.
Removing Daniel’s hand from his shirt collar, the Englishman gave a small shrug. “It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Too late, I’m worrying.” Daniel frowned, then, slowly, a horrified expression formed upon his face, “Jesus. Did you and Heather-”
“Please don’t finish that sentence, Daniel,” Buck responded, in the tone he reserved for replying to his friend’s less intelligent comments.
“Sorry, but what other context would there be? Because those marks are definitely recent.”
The older man sighed, “No mentioning this to anyone, alright? And don’t tell Dr. Glenn that I told you this happened.” He waited for Daniel to nod, indicating his understanding, then continued, “She told me what happened when Muse attacked her, then I told her to show me, so she did. I figured it’s one way to get the feelings out.”
Daniel stared at him, dumbfounded. “So you told her to choke you? What the fuck, man?”
“It seemed like it helped. It’s not like she was trying to kill me.”
“Either way, that’s definitely not an approved kind of therapy, Buck! It just sounds like some kind of fucked up foreplay in the mayor’s bedroom.” Daniel threw his hands up, exasperated. Buck’s course of action made no sense to him, and he honestly didn’t understand how acting out the violence Dr. Glenn had experienced would make anything better. Sure, he wasn’t a therapist, but it definitely seemed like an issue to go to a therapist about, not one you worked out by choking a coworker (even if it was consensual). But what did he know, anyway?
Buck raised an eyebrow, watching as Daniel paced across the room. “I don’t see why this is such a big deal.”
“It’s not a big deal! It’s just weird. How don’t you see that it’s weird?”
“Weird or not, you’re certainly making it a big deal. I’m the one who was choked, not you, after all.” He paused, thinking the situation over, when a possibility dawned upon him. “Daniel, are you jealous?”
The man in question stopped pacing abruptly, giving his colleague a strange look. “Jealous? Of what? Getting choked out by a crying lady in my boss’s bedroom? No fucking way.”
“Then what’s the problem? Help me understand,” Buck prompted, standing up and walking over to his friend, stopping a few inches in front of him.
Daniel sighed, running a hand through his hair, as he did so often when he was stressed. “I don’t like that you let her hurt you, okay? It’s stupid.”
The older man had the audacity to laugh at that. “Seriously, Daniel? She didn’t hurt me, and even if she was trying to, I would have been able to take care of the situation.”
“She may not have hurt you, but how hard did she choke you to leave handprints on your neck?”
“I don’t know, Daniel,” He answered, tired of talking in circles. “Do you want to give it a try? Do you want to be the one doing the choking or getting choked?”
The younger man’s mouth snapped shut at the comment, his face turning bright red. “Listen, Buck. I don’t know what kind of kinky shit you’re into but-”
Buck smirked, preening himself on the reaction. “What’s it going to be, Daniel?” He took a step closer, backing Daniel against the wall. “Your birthday, your decision.”
“This-this is fucked up. I’m not choking you,” Daniel stammered, his eyes flickering from Buck’s face to his hands and back again. His heart hammered in his chest, and he could feel his face growing hotter as Buck came closer. Fucked up, indeed. They were in Fisk’s bedroom, for fuck’s sake. This was wrong on so many different levels, none of which he felt capable of voicing at the current moment. Right now, he didn’t think he was capable of saying much of anything.
“Oh? That’s okay, Daniel. You don’t need to do anything, yeah?” The Englishman gave him a grin, predatory, all teeth. Keeping his eyes locked on Daniel’s, he raised his hand toward the man’s neck, not missing the way his chin lifted slightly and his throat bobbed, as he swallowed away his nerves.
Buck let his hand brush Daniel’s neck, then, not breaking eye contact, moved it upward, cupping his cheek instead. He leaned in, lips grazing the younger man’s ear as he whispered, “Have a nice birthday dinner, Daniel. I’ll see you in the morning,” then withdrew, giving him an affectionate pat on the cheek.
Daniel watched in stunned silence as his colleague winked, then turned and left the room, acting as if nothing had just happened. As if he hadn’t just completely changed the way Daniel thought about his life and their previous interactions, making him reanalyze everything they’d ever said to each other. How was he supposed to go on with his day now? How was he supposed to go to dinner with his mom and BB and act as if he’d just had another boring day as the deputy mayor for communications?
He would figure all of those things out at some point, but as he stared at the doorway Buck had just left through, he knew that his first priority was going to be payback.