Mingling hands and mingling glances - WC/HL, PG, Methos/Neal

[tigriswolf]

Title: Mingling hands and mingling glances
Fandom: White Collar/Highlander
Disclaimer: not my characters
Warnings: future!fic for Highlander; sometime in season 2 for White Collar
Pairings: Methos/Neal, Peter/Elizabeth, pre-OT3
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 550
Point of view: third
Prompt: a little snippet of Peter seeing Methos and Neal kissing
Notes: for longbca , since she requested it

 

 

The weekend is Neal-free time, when Peter does things with Elizabeth. Sometimes she has a commitment for her business that she couldn’t schedule for during the week or Peter has a case that boils over, but usually, she and Peter go on adventures—museums and art galleries and travel anywhere they can get to in less than a day.

 

Neal knows not to bother Peter on the weekends unless they have a case. Peter isn’t sure what Neal does, but so far it’s never gotten him in trouble.

 

o0o

 

Peter is called in the middle of Saturday with an emergency that only he and Neal can solve. Neal doesn’t answer his phone, but Peter calls up his Neal-map and sees that the tracker is still at Neal’s loft. He figures that Neal is in the shower or napping or sketching on the balcony away from his phone, so he kisses El and heads over.

 

He doesn’t bother knocking, just goes on in. Neal isn’t napping or in the shower, so Peter checks the balcony, and there Neal is. 

 

Peter freezes in place, unable to look away. Neal’s on the balcony, alright, but he isn’t alone. There’s another man with him: slightly taller, hair just as dark, paler than him.

 

And, well. There’s a good reason Neal didn’t answer the phone.

 

“We have a visitor,” Neal’s friend murmurs, smirking at Peter over Neal’s shoulder. “Your lawman, from the looks of him.”

 

Neal chuckles and spins in place, keeping his friend’s arms around him. “Peter, hey,” he says, and he’s as collected as always. “Agent Peter Burke,” he introduces, “this is an old friend of mine, Matt.” He tilts his head back to say, much softer, “A very old friend.”

 

Matt smiles at him and presses a kiss to his neck; Peter finally looks away, swallowing. 

 

“So, what’s up?” Neal asks, pulling away and sauntering past Peter to grab the shirt lying on his bed.  

 

Matt just leans back against the balcony, still smirking, so Peter turns to follow Neal and says, “We’ve got a case.”

 

o0o

 

The emergency turns out to be not so urgent. Peter considers and discards almost a dozen opening gambits in asking Neal about his old friend Matt with the completely unplaceable accent, but he never quite works up the nerve and then Hughes tells them to go home. 

 

“See you Monday,” Neal says with a wave. 

 

“Yeah,” Peter responds, watching him go. 

 

He really needs to talk to El.

 

o0o

 

It’s not that Neal was kissing a man, Peter explains to Elizabeth, pacing in front of the couch. He couldn’t care less about that.

 

“Really, hon?” El asks. 

 

Peter pauses mid-step. “It’s not that he was kissing a man,” he repeats, more slowly.

 

“It’s that he wasn’t kissing you,” Elizabeth finishes.   “Remember, we have talked about this.”

 

Shaking his head, Peter says, “But that was all hypothetical! Or maybe for your birthday.”

 

Elizabeth stands and reaches out. He takes her hand and lets her pull him in, and she smiles up at him. “Neal adores you, Peter. And he thinks I’m wonderful. So let him play with Matt this weekend, and then invite him over for supper Monday night.”

 

Peter nods, leans down to kiss her, and decides not to think about Neal until at least tomorrow morning.

 

Comments

[byrons-brain.livejournal.com]

Great fic!

[tigriswolf]

Thanks!