NIXIE V

Difficulty level: -

Status: Back to base

Mark passed out when they got back into the car. The others all contributed to the peace by staying silent the whole way back to the airport, then they got on a plane and headed for the Berlin base.

"Mark, tell us what happened." Jack requested when they were settled into the new bus.

"Okay listen. So like the nymphs had their hands around my mouth so that I couldn't call you guys. They made me walk for a while and then changed to cover my eyes instead so I couldn't see where I was headed…" He continued on with what happened slowly, wearing a proud look on his face. The members applauded him for his courage and smart replies to the Nixie and were all speaking over each other about how proud they were of him. Mark laughed at their statements from pure joy, he was proud of himself too. This had to be one of his greatest achievements since the nine months he spent in his team. "I'm a bit sad that you guys didn't get to see me though, I was really cool."

"We know Mark, we've always known you were the coolest of all of us." Tommy patted him on the head. Mark grinned back at the team's oldest member.

"It's all thanks to Dom really, I wouldn't have been able to make it without his potion."

"Nah, the potion didn't do much. You should take more credit for yourself." Dominique was a little flattered. He had never used this potion on anyone but himself, especially in times when it actually mattered since he wasn't sure if there would be any side effects when used under a lot of stress.

A short while later they were assigned their room and separated to get some rest, even if they didn't do much during this mission. They kept the same roommates they had since their stay in Japan, and no one had any objections, so they quickly went their own ways and settled in.

"Well, I'm not tired." Dominique said as he took off his shoes and quickly jumped towards the bedroom.

"Same, but definitely hungry." Jay followed in while rubbing his stomach. Dominique was standing in the doorway, so he couldn't see what the bedroom looked like. "What's the matter?"

"You're sleeping on the floor." Dominique stated firmly as he hopped onto the bed and took up all of the space.

"What? No way." The room only had one bed. Was this some kind of joke? Does the headquarters think this is a romance fiction of the one bed trope? NO! They were both very masculine straight guys who would not sleep on the same bed.

Well, Jay wouldn't, not because he's straight but because he is not.

"I'm bigger than you, I should get the bed." He declared as he pulled the other guy up and replaced himself where Dominique was laying.

"I'm gonna go check the others' rooms."

"I'll come too." They headed out in slippers and knocked on each door. Turns out they all got a single bed room, but none of them seemed to have any complaints

They were back in their room and stared at each other intensely.

"How about we switch every day?" Jay suggested, which gained him a hard slap on the arm.

"No way I'm sleeping on the floor." Dominique made his stance clear. He looked around in the closet to find some blankets and pillows, but there were none. "We even have to use the same blanket?!"

"To be honest, the bed is quite big." Jay observed. It was a big king-sized bed with many pillows and a very thick blanket. They looked at each other again before turning away quickly. "Anyways, how about we find something to eat first and think about this later. I'm starving." His stomach groaned at this, making Dominique laugh.

"Fine. Wanna order something or do you wanna go outside?"

"Outside. It's a perfect evening. Let's also find some alcohol, I don't think another mission is gonna come in soon." Dominique agreed, so they grabbed their things, put on their shoes and headed out.

It was the middle of spring, so the weather was immaculate. They paced through the streets and looked for an interesting restaurant. They ended up at some fancy looking lunch place and took a seat outside.

"Is this dinner or lunch?" Dominique asked.

"Early dinner I guess."

"Alright." They sat and pondered about the menu for a short while before calling the waiter. "I'll have a lemon garlic pasta."

"I'll have one beef wellington, rare."

"And for the drinks?"

"Two pints of beer, thanks." The waiter took the menus away and left for the kitchen.

"What do you think we'll be dealing with next?" Jay asked. Dominique laid back into his chair and thought.

"I have a weird feeling that it's gonna be in Germany still," He said, "like a Schrat or something."

"Isn't that kind of like the German boogeyman?"

"It's a nightmare demon or something, but I don't think they abduct kids." Jay nodded. He definitely would not want to deal with one of those out of all things. Despite being physically strong, he was most afraid of ghosts and boogeymen. "You scared?"

"Huh? No, definitely not." He cleared his throat and spoke, his eyes rolling around. Dominique laughed at him and the beers arrived.

"Cheers?"

"Cheers." They clinked their glasses and took a small gulp each.

"For real though, are you afraid of the boogeyman?"

"It's not my fault my mom told me a lot of stories about them!" He exclaimed, Dominique laughed again and started to tease him.

"It's okay Anderson, I'll protect you." He pulled on Jay's cheeks and giggled to himself.

"What about you? What are you scared of?" He took his hands and pinned them down to the table.

"I'm not scared of anything." He puffed up his chest proudly.

"Well, clearly you're scared of having to sleep with me."

"I'm not scared."

"You sure?"

"Yeah!" Jay wore a playful look and moved in closer so that their faces were only a few centimeters apart. "You don't believe me?"

"I know I'm very handsome, so you're afraid that you would fall in love with me if we sleep on the same bed." Dominique laughed again.

"You're very funny Anderson."

"Call me Jay."

"Jay." Well he didn't expect that he would get flustered from being called by his first name by Dominique. He didn't have much time to feel like that because the food suddenly arrived, and they dug in very quickly as this was their first meal of the day.

"Lemme try some." They took a bite of the other's food and kept switching plates until all the food and alcohol were gone.

By the time they paid for the meal, they were both quite drunk. Dominique was definitely a lightweight and had to be carried back to their room.

"Go shower first Dom."

"Mmmm, don't wanna." He slipped under the blanket and was about to fall asleep when Jay pulled him up and led him into the bathroom.

"I'm gonna wait outside, take a shower quickly so we can go to sleep." Dominique held onto Jay's hand and collapsed to the floor. "Hey get up, you alright?"

"Jayyyy, I don't wanna shower…" He looked up and Jay had to take a step back.

His round eyes were moist and he seemed to be begging Jay to get back to the bed. Dominique, usually very sturdy, looked like a little kitten asking to be fed milk and put to bed. He pulled on his hand and got back to his feet before leading them both to the bed. He jumped onto the bed and pulled Jay down with him. Then he immediately fell asleep, stuffing his face into Jay's chest and one arm laid over his waist.

Jay whispered quietly to himself, "holy shit, the gay panic is so freaking real."