Chapter Text
It’s a little after one in the morning on New Year’s Day, when the aftermath of the party has all been cleaned up and everyone else has gone home. Christine stands in her living room, in front of one of the windows. The only light comes from a few strands of fairy lights near the ceiling, and the soft glow of the city outside. Someone's shooting off fireworks over by Logan Square.
Felix comes to stand next to her and watch the little pops of color in the distance. Then he says, “Betcha Zoobie and Ribbons are ringing in the new year with a bang right about now.”
Official time it's taken Felix to make his first sex joke of the new year: 32 minutes, 40 seconds.
Christine snorts. “Gross. They’re probably asleep.”
“Not with the bedroom eyes that Emily was giving Nicky when they were getting ready to go,” Felix says.
Christine elbows him, but she’s smiling. “They seem really happy together.”
“Well, they’re in for a great year.”
She glances at him. “What do you mean?”
“It’s good luck to get kissed on New Year’s, right?” Felix says, with a too-casual shrug. “Not that I was counting, but based on that PDA when the ball dropped, they should probably buy lottery tickets.”
He’s right. Nicky and Emily had been all over each other. She'd felt mixed up seeing it, and not because her friends were making her uncomfortable. It’s taken her a while to put her finger on it. Now she realizes she can name the feeling: jealousy. There’s a part of her that wishes she had someone like that to start her year with.
Christine hums, her focus drifting back to the window. The silence flows back in, punctuated by the distant firework pops.
After a minute, Felix prods at her quiet demeanor. "What’s the matter? You feeling left out?"
She turns to him to tell him she’s not in the mood for teasing and…huh.
She didn’t really dress up for the party, aside from throwing on a holiday sweater, but he's wearing a jacket and tie he thrifted a few weeks ago, which should make him look ridiculous and he…doesn't? It flatters his height and frame. Ever since they first met after escaping the Circus, she’s thought Felix was pretty good looking, but like this, she suddenly realizes she finds him handsome.
“See something you like?” he says. Red and blue light washes across his face, intermingling, and for an instant, she sees the man he was in the circus, overlaid on the man he is now.
“Maybe I do,” she says softly, looking up at his broad, easy smile.
“Maybe we should do something about that,” he says, turning to face her.
Felix has generally been respectful of her personal space since he moved in. Now, he’s standing an inch away from her, staring down at her, his eyes so dark she feels like they could swallow her. The edge of his jacket brushes against her shirt.
He leans down, and she half expects him to pull away, to say how gullible she is for believing he would do something like this. But then: for the space of three heartbeats, his lips find hers. The kiss is chaste, gentle, warm. For all that it still makes her shiver down to the tips of her toes. Felix pulls back, and now his smile is smaller, gentler.
“Happy New Year,” he says.
He pads away to get changed into pajamas and claim his usual spot on the couch for the night, leaving Christine standing there in the sparkling light of the fireworks, feeling like she's just been struck by lightning.
~
She thinks about that moment periodically in the days that follow, but ultimately chalks it up to being a little bit of holiday impulsiveness. Felix doesn’t seem bothered in the least and doesn’t bring it up, so she decides to just let it be.
Two weeks later is karaoke night, which was Emily’s idea. Nicky knows the owner of the karaoke bar, who hooks them up with a private room, and four of the five of them are having a great time. Christine could have guessed that Felix would be a stick in the mud, based on the fact she had to plead with him to come at all. Felix has sung one song all night, and it was Mah Nà Mah Nà, for crying out loud. He’s not having a bad time (in her estimation), but it’s karaoke! Everyone should sing! It’s fun! It’s embarrassing, but only a little! In a fun way!
Yeah, these Midori mojitos that Nicky ordered are definitely hitting her.
Anyway, Christine has an idea to get him out of his shell. Something that’s one of her happiest memories with him from their time in the Circus, for all that it took place during an adventure where they were trying to shoot each other.
It’s now or never, since Catherine is halfway through Fast Car, Nicky and Emily singing along on the choruses. Christine scrolls through the tablet until she finds what she’s looking for.
“Sing with me,” she says to Felix over the loud music, pointing at the karaoke tablet. The song she wants to do is highlighted. Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie (1981).
Felix glances at it. “No way.”
“Come onnnn,” she says, bumping him with her shoulder. “It’s a duet! I can’t sing it alone!”
“No.”
Her finger hovers over the “add to queue” button. “I’ll let you pick if you wanna be Bowie or Freddie!”
That gets a smile and a shake of the head. “No.”
“Please? I’ll look like a huge dork if I have to do it all by myself.” Felix rolls his eyes and shakes his head again. Christine pouts.
“Lemme see that,” he says. She reluctantly surrenders the tablet and picks up her drink, drowning her disappointment until nearly all the melon-green liquid is gone.
Nicky has the next song in the queue, which turns out to be Zombie, and they absolutely crush it. After the song, Christine is trying to get the last few drops of her drink out from among the ice cubes when she hears the opening bassline to Under Pressure start playing. Felix stands up to grab the microphone from Nicky.
“Ready?” he asks, holding a hand back to her. She stares at it.
“No?” she says, still confused.
“Oh, you are not allowed to back out now,” he says, and tugs her to her feet. Guess this is really happening.
It turns out that Felix has chosen to be Freddie, because in the time it takes her to find the second mic, he’s already scatting the intro and snapping along. Hoo boy, she should not have chugged the rest of that drink. This is gonna be an experience.
She locks in on the karaoke screen and gets through the first half of the song, gaining confidence as she goes. Felix isn't the world's greatest singer, but he's got a good sense of rhythm and more than holds up his half of the duet. No fumbles, no sour notes. After the bridge, she finally get a moment to focus on him. He’s sporting a huge grin as he belts out the third chorus, her favorite part of the song:
“Can't we give ourselves one more chance? Why can't we give love that one more chance?”
And then, over and over: give love, give love, give love, give love.
Her heart feels like it's vibrating out of her chest. Her pulse seems as loud in her ears as the drums coming out of the room's speakers.
She takes back over for Bowie’s part of the outro, and Felix rejoins her in harmony on “caring about ourselves,” eyes locked on hers, hunched over so he’s at her height.
The last “pressure” fades and she remembers for the first time in the last four minutes that they have an audience. Catherine, Nicky and Emily cheer and applaud. Felix takes her hand and bows theatrically, a curtain call, still grinning as he flops back into his seat.
“Thank you,” she tells him as she settles back beside him.
He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t stop smiling either.
And to her surprise, her plan works. Over the rest of the evening, he does a couple more songs, and she even catches him singing along once or twice when it's someone else's turn. She also catches Cathy watching Felix from across the room, her expression analytical.
Their time finally runs out and they say their goodbyes before Felix drives her home. When they get back to the apartment, he tosses her car keys in the little dish by the door and flops down on the couch. “Gotta say, Pommers, we make a good team.”
“We really do,” she says, taking off her scarf. She’s been trying not to stare at him the whole ride home. She’s still a little buzzed, and ever since their duet, there’s been a part of her that’s full of interesting ideas based on their little New Year’s connection. “I didn’t really expect you to sing with me,” she admits.
“I guess it’s your lucky night, then. Used up all your luck for the year in one go. Hope you didn't plan to go to Vegas.”
That jogs her memory. “Do you use that line a lot?” she asks as she struggles to get her boots off.
“What line?”
She finally gets her second boot unlaced and kicks it off. It thunks against the fridge.“The one about kissing someone on New Year’s being good luck?”
“Aw, are you sore about that?” he says. “Don’t worry your pretty little head. It didn’t mean anything.”
She walks over, a little wobbly, until she stands in front of him. “I didn’t say that. Maybe I need a little more luck for this year.”
He false-pouts. “What’s the matter, did last year saddle you with a freeloading roommate?”
“Yeah,” she says. “He’s a real smartass. But he’s not half-bad at karaoke…and sometimes I’d even say he’s pretty cute. So I guess it evens out.” Suddenly she’s climbing onto his lap. God, he’s got some long-ass legs. It’s like sitting on a seesaw. Felix’s eyebrows go up but he keeps grinning.
“Didn't expect you to get so clingy when you've been drinking.”
“I didn’t expect you to actually have fun at karaoke,” she says.
“You know what, me either.”
“Did I really use up all my luck getting you to do a duet with me?” she asks.
“I’m afraid so.” His smile is easy and wide. His eyes are half-lidded as he looks at her.
“Can I have a little more?” she asks, and leans in.
It’s just as good as she remembers. She takes the lead, and takes her time with him. He’s so gentle. And his lips are really soft. She slips her arms around his neck. God, his torso is so long, even perched on his legs like this she still feels small compared to him. It’s great. This is great. They should do this more often. And he should probably touch her. Hang on, he isn’t touching her?
She breaks the kiss to check where the hell his hands are and finds they're clenched at his sides. Why isn't he touching her? Is it because he doesn’t want to do this? She watches as his fingers work by his legs, opening and closing. Wanting to touch something but not budging from their safe spot.
Oh. He doesn't know if he should touch. He needs permission. Respectful bunny, she thinks, and giggles. He looks at her like she’s lost it.
“You can touch me,” she says, meeting his eyes. “Please?”
Felix releases a breath Christine hadn’t realized he was holding and his hands slide up to rest on her hips. And then they stay there. Wow. A very respectful bunny. If he wasn’t looking at her like she hung the stars, she’d think he wasn’t interested.
She puts her hands on his cheeks, and when she gently slips her tongue between his lips she’s rewarded with a deep groan from Felix that resonates in her own chest. It’s funny, kissing him like this. He’s normally so combative, so teasing. But here, he’s more passive. Pliable. And it’s kind of doing it for her. She pulls back for a second to admire his slightly dazed expression and feel his fingers squeeze her hips, a silent plea for more. She gently nips his lower lip and then dives back in.
She has no idea how long they’re enjoying each other like this before her phone buzzes on the coffee table, and that breaks the spell they’re under. They're both breathing a little hard. She slips off his lap, legs feeling too unsteady to stand up. Felix touches his lips for a moment, almost like he's not sure that really happened. Then he gets up and goes to the kitchen.
Christine checks her phone. It's a text from Cathy. Hey, just making sure you made it home safe!
She taps out a quick reply: Safe and sound!
Great! By the way, that duet you two did was awesome. It seems like Jax has really started coming out of his shell.
Yeah, Christine thinks. You don't know the half of it.
Cathy texts again. I know I haven’t been around as much as Emily and Nicky, and I know I’ve been pretty skeptical about Jax, but he almost seems like a different person. I think you’ve been a good influence on him.
Yeah, she’s definitely not sure about that. Suddenly he's back, standing over her with a glass of water and two ibuprofen. “Here.”
“Thanks.” She takes the glass with both hands after throwing back the pills dry. Felix is wearing a thoughtful expression, and she watches him over the rim of the glass as she takes a long sip.
“Hey…there’s something I want to know.” He’s not looking at her. Her heart sinks. It was nice while it lasted. His foot taps on the floor and he takes a deep breath before asking–
“That lip balm you had on,” he asks, “Is that strawberry?”
She blinks. “No, it’s, uh…watermelon.”
“Ha!” he grins. “I knew it. Cool.” He steps into the bathroom. She can hear him humming to himself as he gets ready for bed. The melody of Under Pressure.
She presses the cool glass to her face. Part of her can't believe she just did that. The other part of her can't stop wondering when she’ll get to do it again.