Chapter Text
Kelly made it back to his quarters and collapsed on the bed, still grinning. Casey was kind of adorable when he was confused and frustrated. He shivered, after waking up so warm his room felt like a freezer. But it had been one hell of a way to wake up. He couldn't help but be glad Cruz had busted that hot water bottle. By the time he'd got desperate enough to go searching his muscles had been cramping with the shakes and his jaw had ached like a son of a bitch, he wasn't sure a measly hot water bottle would have cut it.
Typical Casey, he wasn't exactly demonstrative but he could never resist helping someone out. Severide would have given him a much harder time in his place.
He wrapped the blanket back around himself and settled himself at his desk, now that he was up he might as well finish up the report on the water rescue and the requisition for a new dry suit. As he went through the needlessly complicated forms, the station house came alive around him and people started to tumble blurrily out of the bunk room.
By the time he'd finished, the next shift was starting to arrive and the smell of coffee drifted from the kitchen. Following his nose he found Matt at the coffee machine back in his usual clean cut Captain mode. He was staring down into his cup like he might find the answers to the universe at the bottom. It was a far cry from the ruffled hair and teasing laughter of last night and early that morning and he found himself missing it a little.
Severide tapped him on the waist in warning as he reached around him and up to grab a mug from the cupboard. Casey jumped and stepped back into him. He was a pleasant and newly familiar weight against Kelly but nearly sent them to the ground tripping over each other's feet.
"Whoa, sorry," said Severide, stepping away.
Their eyes caught and held for a second.
"S'fine," mumbled Casey.
Kelly cast another glance at him as he reached for the sugar, was it just him or did Matt sound off?
Sure enough as he looked closer he noticed a blush rising in Matt's cheeks and up the back of his neck as he grabbed his coffee and beat a hasty retreat.
What was all that about? He felt a smile work its way onto his face. Was Casey still embarrassed about kissing him? As far as Severide was concerned it was no harm no foul, he'd invited himself into Casey's bunk, he couldn't complain if Matt mistook him for someone else when they were both half asleep. As ways to wake up went, it hadn't been half bad.
Waking up all tangled together had been even nicer. Severide was going to get Casey back for that crack about needing to be spooned but damn. He'd never had someone his own size wrapped around him like that before. It had been so very warm and felt...safe, kind of like being lifted out by his team when he'd gone down on a call. But without the danger and blaring of his PASS alarm. He hadn't slept that deeply in ages. Maybe it was just Matt, he had that protective aura without the over the top dick-waving that seemed to creep into a lot of firefighters' interactions.
Watching Casey's hurried retreat he was overcome by a wave of affection for the man. And that blush…he kind of wanted to see it again.
He saw Casey only once before the next shift came around and it was as part of a big group at Molly's. It was business as usual between them and Kelly almost forgot about their weird little interlude as they joked around and dissected rumours of the new Blackhawks' line up. It was only when Foster gave them a run down of a particularly stupid self inflicted injury from the last call and Capp retaliated with the story of the save down on on marina that his eyes caught Casey's. He smirked as he lifted his bottle for another swig and saw Matt's eyes drop to his mouth as it wrapped around the glass. He almost choked and Casey sputtered out something about getting another round as he jerked to his feet, taking his half full glass with him.
Capp watched him go with a frown.
"What's up with him?"
"I have no idea," said Foster, mystified.
"I think I might," said Kelly pressing his lips together over a smile.
He couldn't say he hadn't been tempted to start teasing Casey more deliberately after the reactions he'd been getting, but it was pure chance that had him running into each other in the locker room before next shift.
Casey was pulling on his white CFD shirt as Kelly emerged from the showers. Severide wandered over to his locker and admired the play of muscles in Matt's back for a second as he moved. He was so fair, those blushes he'd been getting must go all the way down.
Matt turned and saw him coming over, his eyes flicked over Severide's chest and the towel around his waist.
"Morning," Kelly said casually, reaching for his deodorant.
"Morning." Matt's voice almost managed to be casual but he buried his head back in his locker rather quickly as he hunted in his bag and transferred phone and wallet to his uniform pockets. Kelly felt amusement bubble up in him.
"Good break?"
He pulled on boxers and pants and hung his towel on the locker door.
"Alright," Casey shrugged, sitting down on the bench to put on his boots and kept his back firmly pointed in Kelly's direction. "spent most of it on the new job over on Lakeside."
"Going alright?"
Severide waited until Casey's eyes flicked over before he buckled his belt, hands moving a little slower than usual and waiting to see if Matt's gaze would linger. It did. Kelly felt a perverse flicker of satisfaction.
"Erm, not bad." Casey returned his attention to his boots and yanked a little harder than necessary on the laces. He'd have to redo those if he wanted to get them off quickly when a call came in. "Fussy owner, though, keeps standing over us while we work."
Severide grunted in disgust, he didn't know why someone would hire someone as obviously competent and experienced as Casey and then try and micromanage him. He grabbed his shirt but didn't put it on.
Behind him Matt fixed the padlock in place on his locker and moved towards the exit with more haste than was really necessary.
Kelly had been expecting it and stepped around the bench to intercept him, leaning in casually and enjoying the rising pink in the Captain’s cheeks.
"Hey, I had an idea for a drill to run with Truck and Squad."
"Oh yeah? Casey's eyes burned into his, staying resolutely away from his bare chest.
"Yeah," Kelly said, feeling his eyes crinkle up even as he fought to keep the laughter off his face. "We could be smarter about how we divide work on calls. I thought if we ran a few scenarios we could free up whichever rig isn't needed faster."
"Mhmmm."
It didn't sound remotely like Casey had processed any of that and Kelly raised a teasing eyebrow at the lackluster response.
Just then Hermann breezed into the locker room on a wave of frigid air and hollered a hello.
"Hey, Severide, aren't you cold? It'd freeze the balls off a brass monkey out there today."
"Yeah I am," Kelly responded, watching Matt disappear around the corner and letting the grin he’d been hiding spread over his face. He pulled on his shirt quickly and shivered. Totally worth it.
Truck was called out twice that morning but by the time lunch was over they were all twiddling their thumbs in the common area. After a while, Severide got twitchy enough that he ran a couple of drills with his team and re-sorted some of the equipment stores. Casey had been ensconced with Boden in his office for a couple hours but even he ran out of things to do by late afternoon.
When Severide ambled back into the common area he was treated to the unusual sight of Matt cooking his much loved meatloaf. Wandering into the kitchen he leaned against one of the counters, deliberately getting in Matt’s way. He knew how much Casey hated people getting under his feet on the rare occasions he cooked.
When they'd been candidates they'd been assigned kitchen duties together all the time, especially after Darden had proven he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a stove. Severide and Casey weren't nearly as bad but they had disagreed about everything and were both stubborn enough to stand by their guns on every tiny detail. Right from the start they got into some really flaming arguments. Once Kelly had worked out how glorious Casey was in full rant he'd started doing it deliberately on slow shifts.
As Kelly lounged against the counter Casey glared at him and shouldered him out of the way to drain some potatoes.
"You need something?"
"No," he paused for a long moment basking in the irritated look on Matt's face. How long would it be before he snapped? And what would he do when he did? "Getting sick of takeout?"
"It's more that if anyone from Headquarters notices how we've been eating there's a good chance they'll stage an intervention." Severide grimaced, no one wanted Headquarters interfering. "If you're going to be in here, make yourself useful and check the meatloaf, will you?"
Severide shrugged and knelt down to open the oven and peer in.
"Looks good. Maybe ten more minutes."
Casey would take it out in five. Guaranteed. He didn't understand the appeal of gloriously crispy charred edges. True to form Casey had come to stand over him and was clearly itching to check it himself.
Severide closed the door and looked up at Casey from his crouch. He let his eyes run down the length of Matt's body and up again.
"You need something else?"
His heart raced and skin hummed as he flirted with Matt's patience and watched for the reaction on his face.
Casey took a quick step back putting a little more distance between Kelly and his crotch. Then he paused and his eyes narrowed.
Severide's heart skipped a beat, was Casey going to call him out? He wasn't sure what he was hoping for.
"You…"
Brett and Foster wandered in laughing to grab something from the fridge, Casey's attention was pulled away and Severide stood up gracefully, unsure whether to feel relieved or disappointed. He was pretty sure Casey had just cottoned on that he was doing this intentionally. But that wouldn't make it any less fun.
Boden dragged himself out of his office when Gallo came to tell him dinner was ready. They didn't always eat together but since they were all in for once and Casey had bothered to cook, it was worth peeling himself away from his computer.
The common area was cheerfully rowdy as everyone took their seats. Hermann and Mouch were arguing over who got first serving of the meatloaf and Gallo was watching them and Casey with his usual innocent enthusiasm. Boden was grudgingly willing to admit what a good addition to the house Gallo had been, Casey had picked well and seemed to have been mostly successful in curbing his protégé’s more daredevil tendencies.
Squad had settled themselves along the opposite side of the table and Capp was trying to get Tony to open up about his time off with the usual abysmal level of success. In many houses the tensions between Squad and regular teams bubbled under the surface continually. Too often Squad were venerated by those who wanted to join and resented by those who were rejected. It made for an uncomfortable relationship between them and everyone else. Boden knew a lot of the easy camaraderie at 51 was down to Severide, his friendship with Casey and the solid base they'd laid with Darden all those years ago.
Although, he now had to wonder what kind of relationship really was between the two of them. He prided himself that he knew everything going on in his house and if he had missed something between his Captain and Lieutenant he wasn't sure he could look himself in the eye anymore. He watched them chatting and laughing as plates and bowls were passed around and couldn't really believe it. Much as people might like to believe otherwise, a relationship developing in house wasn't exactly subtle. He would have known.
Then Severide passed Casey the bowl of greens and made sure their hands brushed unmistakably as he did so. The look in his eyes was all teasing promise. Boden felt his brows snap together. Had he been wrong? He glanced at Casey and saw something quite different; a muscle was jumping in his jaw and his blue eyes were hot with frustration that looked distinctly non sexual.
Boden wanted to bury his face in his hands right there and then. Severide was playing with fire. Did he have any idea how many headaches he caused? Taking a breath he reminded himself that only a few days ago that they'd been happily tucked up in bed together, it was unlikely this was going to devolve into another sexual harassment claim. But if Severide didn't start using his brain a little more he'd end up with a broken nose, possibly a broken heart and the fallout might tear 51 apart.
As he mentally ranted at the utter dumbass that was looking extremely self satisfied at the other end of the table, he worked his way through a slab of meatloaf and let the cogs in his mind turn.
When the dishes were picked clean and Gallo was being ushered into the kitchen for clean up Boden waved Severide and Casey over. He wasn't going to let this situation devolve any further into chaos.
"Severide. Go check out that scene from last Monday. OFI have been on my ass about the possibility of an accelerant." They really hadn't but he'd take any excuse and locking them in a closet together would be a bit obvious. "Casey, go with him."
"Yes, Chief."
Casey didn't look thrilled but he turned on his heel and immediately went to fetch his coat.
"Severide, a word."
Kelly had been watching Casey leave and smirking. He looked back at Boden frowning slightly.
"Chief?"
"If you don't stop pulling his pigtails and actually talk to him, he's going to break your jaw."
Kelly jerked back, eyes wide and looking like a deer in headlights.
"Chief…"
"I'm not an idiot Severide. Work out what it is you want and don't break my firehouse half assing something as important as that relationship."
Kelly walked out of the firehouse with Casey in something of a daze. In his head this had all been safe but when Boden had called him out it had made it suddenly all too real. He felt like he'd been playing with matches and suddenly smelt gas.
"Yours or mine?"
He jerked his head around to look at Casey wondering if his teasing was being visited back upon him just when he was starting to regret it. But Casey just gestured at his truck, bouncing impatiently in the frigid evening air.
"What? Oh. Your truck's fine."
"Alright," the word was drawn out a little and Severide knew Matt was thinking it was unlike Kelly to pass up the opportunity to drive.
Severide could feel the tension in the air as they climbed in and Matt cranked the heat up as high as it would go. Boden hadn't been wrong; Casey was usually chill as anything but he had one hell of a temper when the right thing pushed his buttons. Just thinking about it Severide felt the same thrill he had every time he'd wound Matt up lately, and then an immediate wave of irritation at himself. What was wrong with him? Did he want a broken nose? And if he didn't, what had he been hoping to achieve?
Even staring out the window he felt Matt sending him the odd frown as he drove, no doubt wondering why Severide was being so quiet after spending the rest of the day as a pain in the ass.
To cover up his own churning emotions he dug out the folder Boden had handed him and flipped it open to remind himself of OFI's interest in the fire.
It had been a hardware store they'd been called out to a couple of weeks ago. Not a memorable day, the owner and shop assistant had already made it out when they arrived and they'd fought it with the hoses, never needing to go inside until it had burned itself out. He had no idea why OFI were bothering with the case. With all the flammable materials in the shop it would be almost impossible to tell if an accelerant had been used. Thinking about it, it was a fairly obvious ploy from Boden to push Kelly into talking to Casey.
His stomach churned, what the hell was he meant to say? That Casey’s reactions to this whole thing were kind of adorable? That he found the idea of Matt thinking about him in that way strangely thrilling?
It didn't seem enough to risk a friendship over. But like an idiot he'd already gone and backed himself into a corner. And what if he’d been reading Matt wrong? He could just be feeling awkward; it didn't mean he was attracted to Severide. Was this all just his ego talking?
He dragged himself out of his thoughts and gave Casey a quick run down on the contents of the file as they parked and they slid out of the truck. They crossed the icy street and Severide watched as Casey pulled off the board covering the front door.
It was slightly warmer inside but pitch black and they clicked on their torches before picking their way across the floor. Casey set a lantern on a ragged section of metal shelving that was still standing and switched it on. The cold light flooded over his face and lit up the clouds of his breath in the air. His blue eyes were crystalline in the harsh glare but the flush over his skin and bright lips made him look vibrantly alive among the freezing, burnt out husk of the building. He really was stunning. But did thinking that mean Severide wanted him? Where was the line between acknowledging that Casey was attractive and being attracted to him?
When Matt looked over Kelly tore his eyes away and tried to focus on the pattern of the fire.
"OFI couldn't tell where it started. It was one of the things they saw as a red flag."
"Does seem like much."
"Apparently the store was on the verge of bankruptcy as well."
Casey scoffed, unimpressed.
"Them and every other small business around here. It's not their fault they can't keep up with the big companies."
Typical Casey, always on the side of the underdog.
"Alright, Alderman."
Casey grinned at him and for a moment everything was normal between them again. Except for the way Severide felt his heart leap.
They gave the place a thorough sweep but didn't find anything helpful. Any number of ignition points could have been concealed by the kind of fuel this fire had had to feed on. The heat would have been intensely destructive.
"Nothing back here."
"I guess unless there's any obvious sign of foul play there's not much we can do."
"No."
Casey directed his torch at the ceiling as he took a step forward and slipped. Severide caught him by the forearms and held him steady.
He looked at Matt with a smile, a crack about having his head in the clouds already on his lips. But before he could speak Casey caught the smile and the way Kelly's gloved hands lingered and his eyes blazed. He ripped his hands away and sent a not particularly gentle fist into Kelly's shoulder.
"You think this is funny?" There it was, finally, the flare of Matt's temper, right when Kelly had least expected it. It was like magnesium igniting and made him catch his breath. "What is it Kelly? You think I have the hots for you or something…"
"Do you?" Kelly's voice came out breathless and somewhere inside he cringed.
"Ugh," Matt threw up his hands with an irate noise of frustration and stalked towards the exit.
"Matt, wait." He was doing all of this so wrong. "You know why Boden sent you out with me?"
Casey stopped and tossed his head back looking at the smoke scarred ceiling as if begging for patience.
"I did something terrible in a past life?"
Kelly swallowed and found his mouth dry and his heart roaring in his ears.
"He told me to stop pulling your pigtails like a five year old with a crush."
Casey turned around, frowning and confused.
"What?"
"Yeah." Severide shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "I'm just as thrown as you, Case. But...turns out you're kind of sexy when you blush."
He could feel his own face heating up as he admitted it, thank God it was dark in the store. Matt took a couple of steps towards him, through the rush of adrenaline Kelly was desperately glad he hadn’t just immediately walked away.
"Really? You've been...you're…"
"Yeah. And I have no idea what to do about it."
That was the honest truth at least.
"So you were a dick about it. That's your default."
It wasn't really a question, Matt had known him long enough not to need an answer. Kelly shrugged and felt a smile try and climb onto his face.
"Hey if you can't recognise flirting." Matt glared at him and the next step forward he took was slightly threatening. Kelly grinned and held up his hands, not especially apologetic. "It was fun. I guess part of me assumed you'd get so angry you either punch me or kiss me again. Then I wouldn't have to make a decision."
"Which would you prefer?"
Severide thought back to the feeling of Matt's knuckles in his shoulder a minute ago, trying to ignore the way Casey's voice rumbled over the question.
"Well you already kinda…"
"Severide!"
Casey stepped forward again, his voice snapping out. He'd come close enough that the clouds of their breath mingled in the air.
"Okay! Okay. I guess, I want you to kiss me,” his voice didn’t tremble over the words. It didn’t.
"Really."
Casey's body language was unimpressed but his eyes were dancing and Kelly relaxed slightly.
"Don't tell me you haven't thought about it."
"With you throwing yourself in front of me at every opportunity?" His voice was very dry. "Yeah, I thought about it."
Severide let out a shaky breath and watched it bloom around them. He desperately wanted to reach out and touch Casey, being this close was addictive.
"And?"
Casey stepped into him, almost nose to nose and his voice changed from amused to his trademark sincerity.
"I wasn’t sure,” his eyes ran over Severide's face, lingering on his lips. "I was half asleep before, I didn't know how it would feel to do it again." Casey's gloved hand came up and curled around his neck, soft against his skin. "I didn't know if I really wanted you."
Severide felt his breath come faster as every part of him screamed to close that tiny gap between them. Dimly he realised he already had his own answer. He wanted Casey, really wanted him, at this point it was utterly undeniable.
Casey read it in his eyes and his own burned.
"And now?"
He hardly got the words out before Casey lurched forward and kissed him. Severide groaned in relief and dragged him closer, needing to feel all of him. He wrapped his arms around Matt and fisted his hands in the padded jacket as Casey bit his lip and slipped his tongue inside his mouth. God it felt good.
At the back of his mind he was cataloguing the differences, the hands on his face were bigger and stronger than he was used to. The body in his arms was broad and hard under layers of fabric. Casey didn’t mold to him as his female partners had. It was different but not bad, if they hadn’t been standing in a freezing, burned-out wreck he’d have been fumbling for zippers and seeing how fast he could strip the layers off of Matt. Even so, it was tempting.
He settled for slipping a hand up the back of Casey’s shirt to find warm skin and shoving a knee between Matt’s so he could pull him even closer.
“Fuck, Kelly,” Casey panted into his mouth sounding absolutely wrecked as he curled his hand around Severide’s neck and used the other to drag him even closer.
Eventually the kiss slowed and Casey eased his lips over Severide’s gently before pulling away.
“Answer enough for you?”