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      	  Less Than You Think 
 by brooklinegirl  

 Author's Notes: Pairing: Kowalski/Gardino (seriously. Shut up.) DEEP and
MEANINGFUL thanks to Estrella for offering to beta this for me! I owe you
big time. This is for my most wonderful stalkee, Dira, on the occasion of
her birthday. I adore you madly, ms. Dira, and stalk you with wild
abandon, and present you and our tiny little fandom (that would be, uh.
You. And me) with Kowalski/Gardino boykissing (and
more-than-just-kissing).

 

 Gardino was a goof. Everyone knew that.



Gardino could barely dress himself - or, if he could, then he shouldn't,
because man, what an eyesore. Gardino, Ray reflected, watching him trip
over nothing and then glare at the sidewalk, had a lack of social skills
that was almost alarming. It was like he tried too hard. He wanted to be
buddies with everyone, be the cool guy, be the tough guy, but he tried too
fucking hard and ended up being just a total goof.



Also, Gardino had even worse glasses than Ray himself did.



They worked in different precincts, but he'd known Gardino for a couple of
years now, and sure, he was a goof, but he was a good cop. He jogged over
to Ray after the last panel after a long-ass day of "sensitivity" training
- when Ray considers himself to be pretty damn fucking sensitive already,
though mostly it's sensitivity about his time being wasted with training
like this - and suggested they grab a beer, grinning at Ray like he was
one hundred percent sure Ray wouldn't say no.



Ray hesitated. "I should get home..." 



"C'mon." Gardino bumped him with his shoulder, turned to start walking
slowly backwards in front of him. "One beer. Your treat." He spread his
hands and grinned, his paisley purple tie flipping back over his shoulder
in the wind, leaving the short end dangling absurdly in front of his plaid
shirt.



Ray shook his head, but followed in the direction Gardino led. "One beer,
Gardino, and I'm not buying your nasty-ass Pabst Blue Ribbon. You must
have a buck you can spare."



"Aw, Kowalski, you just don't have a taste for the good stuff." Gardino
slung an arm around Ray's shoulder and pulled him down the street,
explaining to him the wonders of two-bucks-a-pitcher beer. 



*~*~*~*~*



"So listen," Ray said seriously, leaning across the scarred wooden table
in the booth and gesturing at Gardino with his cigarette. "I got this."



Gardino, sprawled on the bench on the other side of the table, tilted his
head back, taking a drag off his own cigarette. "Yeah, right, Kowalski."



"I'm telling you," Ray persisted, taking a swallow of his beer.



"Oh, yeah?" Gardino leaned in over the table towards Ray. "Go ahead."



"All right," said Ray, taking a deep breath. "Okay. Laura, Sylvia, Julie.
Jamie, Kate, Sandy." He counted it out on his fingers as he went along,
and Gardino, drinking his beer, bobbed his head along with the count.
"Ruthie."



"Uh-huh." Gardino grinned at him. "Go on..."



Ray blinked slowly and thought for a second. "Ruthie..."



Gardino shook his head. "You don't got it."



"I got it! I got it," Ray said stubbornly. "Just gimme - ah! Ruthie, Barb,
and - fuck."



"No," said Gardino, chuckling. "Not fuck. Carla."



"Carla," Ray exhaled. That was it. Carla. Dammit. He looked quizzically at
Gardino. "How the hell do you get so many dates?"



Gardino took a long drag off his cigarette and looked away. "I get a lot
of first dates." He turned back to Ray, and the serious look between them
held for a moment, then they both dissolved into laughter. The wood felt
cool against Ray's forehead as he lay his head on the table, and he knew
it couldn't possibly be nearly as funny as it seemed, but it was. His
stomach hurt from laughing.



The bar Gardino had dragged him to wasn't quite a dive, but it was close.
Still, it was pretty empty, it being a Tuesday, and Ray had bought the
first round, and then let Gardino buy them another. Halfway through the
second round, Ray went to the phone out front to call Stella. But her
voice when she answered was distracted, her tone short, and when he opened
his mouth, what he said wasn't, "I'll be home soon," but, instead, "I'll
be home late."



She sounded relieved instead of disappointed - she'd been working like
crazy lately, always buried in work even when she was home - and told him
to have fun, and when he went back to Gardie, he ordered a third round
even though they weren't yet done with their second. Gardino was game, and
drained his glass quickly, swiping his hand over the back of his mouth and
giving Ray a grin, and Ray figured they were in for a night of it.



Ray took a deep breath and lifted his head off the table, trying to get
his laughter under control, wiping his eyes. Gardino was a good guy.
Gardino didn't even have someone at home waiting for him, no phone calls
to make, since that last one - Carla - had dumped him a couple of weeks
ago. Ray took a fortifying gulp of his beer and reflected that,
technically speaking, Ray himself really didn't have someone waiting for
him to come home either. He had someone who was kinda relieved that he was
out.



He looked at Gardino, with his mismatched shirt and tie and the godawful
glasses that he'd shoved on his face when he'd pulled out his black book
to show Ray and then forgotten to take off, and wondered, really, which of
them was worse off. 



At least Gardie knew where he stood. 



It was chilly out when the two of them stumbled outside - fall was really
here, and Ray could see his breath in the air - but the cold felt good on
his face. It was late, real late, probably later than Stella had expected
him to be. And he was a lot drunker than he had expected to be. 



He stumbled a little against Gardino, and Gardino, laughing, steadied him.
"I think you're drunk, Officer Kowalski."



Ray blinked slowly and grinned. "I think you might be right about that,
Officer Gardino." 



"C'mon." Gardino put a hand on Ray's shoulder, pulling him gently down the
empty sidewalk, the light and sound of the bar quickly receding behind
them. "You're not driving home," he said.



"No," Ray agreed. "That would not be wise."



This, too, was one of the funniest things ever, and Gardino stumbled into
him, none too sober himself, as they laughed like lunatics in the cold
darkness. "No," Gardino wheezed, propping himself up against a wall as he
wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. "Not wise. You wanna crash on
my couch?"



Ray nodded, snickering and washing up against Gardino, who grabbed his
arms and blew hot laughter into his face. "Yeah." Ray grinned. "I could do
that." Gardino was still hanging onto his arms, and it felt warm where he
was touching Ray - his arms, his breath on his face, and Ray realized his
hands were sort of anchored on Gardino's hips. 



"Yeah," and Gardino's laughter faded, though he was still smiling at Ray.
Ray liked that easy smile, liked that the smile reached all the way to
Gardino's eyes, liked that Gardino wanted to spend time with him tonight,
even before they were both drunk off their asses. He tilted his head,
watching as Gardino licked his lip real quick and lost the smile entirely,
and took a deep breath, looking at Ray. "Uh. Ray."



Ray nodded. Right. Not here. This was Gardino's area, his precinct, his
neighborhood. Gardino pushed him gently back. "Yeah," Ray said, only he
was cold again, the wind cutting through his jacket. He hadn't been cold
up against the wall with Gardino. He shook his head, and said, "Gardino,"
and now Gardino's face was pretty serious, and his eyes darted to the
side. 



"C'mon," he said roughly, tugging on Ray's shoulder. "C'mere," and Ray let
himself be led around the corner, which turned out to be an alley, which
turned out to be real quiet and real dark. Ray sprawled up against Gardino
and man, his arms were real warm around Ray. He grinned at Gardino and
said, "Hey," and Gardino shut his eyes for a quick second, then smiled and
said, "Hey, there," back. So Ray leaned in and kissed him till he couldn't
breathe any more. He pulled away and asked, belatedly, "You do this?"



Gardino took a deep breath, and his eyes looked huge. "Yeah. I do this."



"But all those girls..."



"I do this too," and then Gardino was kissing him again, and Ray's hands
were under Gardino's coat (his ridiculous, dorky, thick black-and-white
checked coat that made him look like a demented woodcutter), and, oh
Christ, Gardino's hands were in his hair. Ray couldn't stop hitching his
hips up against Gardino, and every time he did, Gardino made this sound in
his throat and kissed him harder. 



Because underneath his woodcutter coat, Gardino was hard, which Ray
couldn't decide was a good or a bad thing, he himself being so fucking
hard he was feeling kind of lightheaded as he pressed Gardino up against
the alley wall. He had a moment where it seemed equally urgent and
necessary to get the hell home to Stella, and to put his hand on Gardino's
dick. Then Gardino twisted his hand tight in Ray's hair and Ray groaned
and pushed his hand between Gardino's legs.



"Fuck." Gardino's head hit the wall behind him and he moaned as Ray rubbed
up and down with the heel of his hand against the hard length in Gardino's
jeans. "Kowalski," Gardino said vaguely, and Ray dropped to his knees in
the filthy alley and flicked open the button on Gardino's pants. He heard
Gardino gasp heavily from somewhere above him. "Kowalski, Christ."



But Ray was drunk and on his knees and his dick was thrumming between his
legs, and he wanted to do this, more than he'd wanted to do anything
lately. So he just looked up at Gardino as he slid his zipper down, and
Gardino looked down at him and put a shaky hand on his face, sort of
petting the corner of his mouth with his thumb. And Ray leaned in and
pulled Gardino's cock out of his boxers and into his mouth. 



He thought he maybe heard Gardino's head hit the wall again. 



It felt good, it felt so fucking good, Gardino's cock in his mouth, and
Gardino's hands were tight on his shoulders as he moaned quietly up above
Ray and moved his hips slowly, pumping gently into Ray's mouth. It was
good, it was good, and Ray had one hand wrapped around the base of
Gardino's cock, and with his free hand he fumbled desperately to get his
jeans open. 



He heard Gardino above him whispering desperately, "Christ - Kowalski,
god, you -" as Ray moved his hand and his mouth to the same rhythm. He was
so fucking hard, and this was so fucking good, and Gardino's cock in his
mouth was so - fucking - perfect. He felt Gardino's hand move, his thumb
stroking over the exact same spot on the corner of his mouth as before,
and let Gardino's cock slip from his mouth as he lost it, jacking himself
desperately and spilling over his hand onto the ground. He was still
gasping, reeling, as he twisted his hand on Gardino, and heard Gardino
moan loud and long just as he came, spattering Ray's hand and shirt.



Then Gardino was hoisting Ray to his feet, and they were both scrambling
to tuck themselves away, clean themselves up, shooting quick, worried
glances to the thankfully-deserted mouth of the alley. "Jesus, that was
dumb," Ray breathed, checking to make sure his jeans were zipped. 



"So fucking dumb." Gardino nodded several times, and looked at Ray.
"Really dumb," he said again, and he leaned closer, and it was still cold
and they were still drunk, and Ray let Gardino kiss him for a long time
before they pulled away, and shivered.



"C'mon," said Gardino, sticking his hands in his pockets and tilting his
head towards the street. "My place." He took a step and stumbled a little,
and grinned. "It's not far."



And Ray nodded, and fell into step beside him. "I gotta call Stella," he
said. 



Gardino lit a cigarette. "She's gonna be pissed."



"Yeah," Ray sighed. 



"Buy her flowers tomorrow," Gardino suggested. "Chicks love that."



Ray slanted a look at him. "That your method of getting them to forgive
you?"



"Yep."



"That usually work for you?"



Gardino sadly took a drag of his cigarette. "Nope."



"Well." Ray patted his pockets for his own cigarettes. "I'll keep that in
mind."



Gardino grinned and lit his cigarette for him with an unsteady hand, and
Ray brought Stella roses in the morning.



~end~

  
  

End Less Than You Think by brooklinegirl 

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