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whumpacabra · 3 months

Text

48. Fastforward

Fluff, timeskip [10-15 years], cold temperatures, dog mention, referenced memory issues, referenced protectiveness, referenced legal proceedings, referenced past character death, fictional politics

AU Masterpost / Previous

“One hot chocolate, extra cream, and one black coffee, two sugars.”

“That’s me - thanks!” Harrison perked up, snagging the drinks from the counter with a polite smile. The barista gave him a wink. “I hope it goes well. He’s quite handsome.”

Harrison flushed, thankful his dark skin helped hide the blush as he thanked her again and left the cafe.

Wolf was waiting outside, Jakki, his service dog, sitting patiently on the snowy sidewalk.

“That was faster than expected.” Wolf hummed, walking with Harrison toward the park. Harrison sipped at his drink, mittened hands a bit clumsy.

“Yeah, I think the barista rushed it - she thought I was taking you on a date or something.” His laugh wasn’t quite genuine, and he knew Wolf could tell.

“I guess it kind of is. In more of a ‘long time, no see’ date than a first date way.” Wolf paused, Jakki tense at his side as a snowball whizzed past his face. A few university students engaged in the first shots of a snowball fight hollered apologies and politely held their fire until Harrison, Wolf, and the dog had made their way past the danger zone.

“Speaking of, how’s Finland?”

“Colder than here in Geneva, if you can imagine.”

“Ugh, I’d rather not. It’s cold enough here as it is.” He didn’t miss the desert, but he wasn’t fond of the icy air this time of year.

“How’s Katie and Awesome?”

“Good - great, honestly. They’re thinking of signing up for Doctors Without Borders for a bit, once Eli’s at his new boarding school fulltime.” A sad smile twitched at Harrison’s face, both at the current prospects and the nephew named for a dear dead friend.

(Somehow, despite everything - the court case of the century, the US tried in The Hague - the truth of Elias’ death never came up. Nor did Merrick’s, for that matter. Harrison tried not to dwell on it; his hands and Wolf’s both bloodied, but no good would come from guilt now.)

“How’s Mel? I heard she was back in the States recently.”

“Yeah, doing reparation work out there with Jennings and the nations. Walker’s there too, mostly just to keep on eye out I think, but she’d say it’s a vacation.”

“Once an agent, always an agent.” Wolf huffed, breath puffing white in the clean, cold air. His face was rounder, more color in his face than Harrison ever remembered. No matter how dark and dreary Finland was, somehow Wolf always looked fresh from a trip to the Mediterranean.

“How about you? How are things going with…?”

“Good. Better.” His smile wasn't quite genuine, and he knew Harrison could tell. “Memory is back, mostly. On good days. Jakki’s been a good help for bad ones.”

The Australian blue heeler perked at her name, but still seriously scanned their surroundings. Her vest was a vibrant neon orange, insulated against the cold.

“And how’s everyone else up there?” Harrison wasn’t sure what details Wolf could spare. He was vaguely aware that Liza, and Casey to an extent, couldn’t quite leave behind their grifts and cons. RJ was a bit of a wildcard, either deeply invested in some obscure hobby or casually taking assassination jobs. He sincerely hoped it was the former. And Ghost…

“They’re fine. Case and RJ are out in the Canary Islands with Liza - retirement party for her. Or so she promises. For real this time.” Wolf shook his head with a smile, dark hair shining and snow speckled. His smile faded a bit. “And Ghost…he’s trying.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Harrison took a long sip from his drink, busying himself with watching the ice rink. There were dozens of skaters, some elegant and some markedly less so.

“He’s just…protective is all. Maybe a bit paranoid. And smothering.” Wolf was clearly trying to work humor into his words, so Harrison offered a snort of amusement. “I’ve been arguing with him about this trip for two months.”

“Really?” Harrison raised a brow. He knew the old mercenary was…still dealing with the guilt of what had happened to his former friend and protege. Harrison didn’t realize quite how badly he was overcompensating for lost time.

“Arguing might be too strong a word, but he certainly took some convincing.” Wolf sipped at his coffee. “But we both agreed we could use some…space.”

“If there’s anything I can help with, let me know.” The words were almost automatic. Harrison didn’t even need to say them - it was a given. The two families - one (mostly) civilian, one (not entirely) criminal - had each others’ back over the years, from legal paperwork to therapy sessions.

“I appreciate that, Harrison.” Wolf sighed, leaning into him slightly where they stood watching the skating rink. Jakki huffed at a stranger who passed a little too closely. “I was actually thinking about - if you don’t mind - living down here for a while.”

“Yes - yeah, sure. That’s fine. I mean, hey, if Katie and Awesome do go abroad for a bit I wouldn’t mind having someone else in the house.” Harrison smiled up at him, hoping his excitement and relief wasn’t too noticeable. The way Wolf smiled down at him proved it was, but he didn’t care too much.

“Ghost will want to visit. Often, unfortunately.” The warning in Wolf’s voice was joking.

“We’ve got a guest bedroom. I mean, assuming you don’t mind sharing a room with me or - ”

“I’d like that.” Wolf’s voice was soft, a gloved hand gently taking hold of Harrison’s own mittened fingers. Harrison squeezed back, not letting go even as they started walking home.

AU Masterpost / Previous

(An AU of my Freelancers series)

Taglist: @i-eat-worlds @whumpy-daydreams @stargeode

#whump #fluff #recovery #post timeskip #cold temperatures #memory issues #protectiveness #past character death #fictional politics #idk how to tag for wolf+Harrison’s queer platonic whatever they’ve got going on.#…I wanna do a behind the scenes post abt this au later #a writer I adore did one with cut scenes+explaining Easter eggs and stuff and I LOVED it #it’s just….too much to put in the tags. what this au means to me. all the little details it feels like only I know about. the stuff I cut.#this has been…wild. and fun. and so so cathartic. I appreciate any of y’all reading along to this personal pet project of mine :]#the wolf and the hare au

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