Unexpected advice | bff!Nic x Jmancing!MC

A near silent shuttle of a camera goes off around the corner, confirming my suspicions, and I quickly make my way to the other side of the rooftop, towards a figure cloaked in black by the edge.

Nic’s changed so little over the years, it’s almost uncanny how youthful she still looks. She’s dressed for a job tonight; black pants and a black, long-sleeved turtleneck that almost seems to become one with her dark hair. A figure so well-hidden in the dark night that anyone else would probably miss it.

Thankfully, I knew what I’d been looking for.

“You know, if you wanted to stare at my ass all night, all you had to do was ask,” her voice slices through the silent night, silky smooth and with the insufferable tone of who’s heard me get on the roof from the very start. “I’d also appreciate it if you didn’t drag the feds into the place where I’m working.”

“They’re not coming,” I sigh, closing the distance between us and looking in the same direction as she is. “And I do not want to stare at your ass.”

I rub my hands together, trying to chase off the chills from the cold wind. At least the letterhead below us is hot enough to provide some sort of warmth.

She puts down her camera, leaning against the wall to look at me, kicking my ankle softly. “Yeah, but your stupid suitsignal is making a show of where we are.”

“If you keep kicking it, it might actually go off, dumbass,” I kick her back, not nearly as soft as she did, but she steps back in time, chuckling at my attempt. “It’s not like your target isn’t at least three blocks away from here, anyway.”

With a smug smile, she hands me the camera, pointing at a gated house in the distance. “Four, actually.”

“What’s the score?” My question comes from a mix of professional curiosity and poorly concealed longing.

It’s been way too long since I’ve pulled a con. I think this is what they call withdrawal, I don’t know, all I know is I miss the feeling.

Nic snatches the camera from me with a huff, but not before I can see the golden engravings on the gate, nor the top notch security system around the perimeter. She’s going after someone rich and, most likely, dangerous.

As usual.

“As if I’d tell you,” she mumbles, shaking her head as she goes back to her camera, snapping pics every now and then.

“You’re the one who pulled one over me all those years ago!”

“Because you told me.” Nic looks at me for a moment, throwing a wink my way before going back to her camera. The absolute bastard. “Surely you don’t expect me to make the same mistake you made.”

Leaning next to her, I ignore her latest statement and let my mind wander.

The low shuttling sounds of the camera are oddly soothing, and paired with the buzzing sound of the lights on the letterhead, make the traffic noise down on the street feel as though it’s coming from much farther away. It’s as if this roof entered a whole other dimension, isolating us from the world.

Being like this with Nic feels familiar. Comforting, in an odd way.

Nic might be many things, but I can’t ever say she's not good at what she does. Finding a good stakeout place four blocks away? Come on, this place is even hidden behind an obnoxiously bright letterhead, she couldn’t get more hidden if she tried. I might have held a grudge against her for a while, yet I can’t deny she did a fine job back then by pulling one on me.

Taking a deep breath, I notice she smells like nothing. Just another shadow of the night, elusive and unreachable, like she's always been.

Why did I come here, anyway? I’m not helping her with this job, I’m not looking for a fun night, there’s nothing Nic can offer me now.

So why did I come to her?

“What are you doing here?” her question catches me off guard, an echo of my own thoughts, her eyes still glued to the camera. “If you’re here for a throwback to the old times, I might be able to wrap this up earlier, but still, you really should have texted me first.”

The snort that comes out of me is involuntary. “As if.”

“It’s fine, you wouldn’t be my first choice either. No hard feelings.”

“Nic, you’re not even my third choice.”

Nic turns her head my way at that, incredulity written all over her face. “Well, now you’re just being ridiculous.”

“Oh, shut up,” I laugh softly at her reaction. Leave it to Nic to take more offense on that than on anything else I’d said tonight.

“You’re deflecting,” Nic sighs, putting down her camera and taking a seat on the floor, gesturing for me to join her. “What’s up? And please don’t say it’s nothing, that’d just be insulting.”

Letting go of the hem of my shirt that I’d been twisting in my fingers, I join her on the floor, wrapping my arms around my knees while I try to avoid her piercing look.

A deafening silence surrounds us for a moment. It makes me unable to focus on my own thoughts. What is wrong with me? I must have had a reason to come to Nic, of all people. She’s not exactly kind, or supportive, and I’m sure she couldn’t care less about my problems, but… I can’t think of someone better for this.

“How did you know?” Nic’s eyebrows hunch together at my words, and I realize I have to be a bit clearer. “That you didn’t love me. Back then, how did you know it was just… lust?”

Nic’s lips twist at my question, masking the smile she's clearly struggling to contain, but she's unable to hide the glint in her eyes. “I never had to ask that question, for starters.”

“Oh, god,” I mumble, burying my face in my knees. I’m fucked. I’m so, so fucked.

She’s right, I wouldn’t be asking this question if I didn’t have actual feelings for that jerk.

“What are you so upset about?” she chuckles, clearly taking pleasure in my distress. “I mean, it’s not like you chose to fall in love. We don’t get a choice in that. If we did, I highly doubt you’d choose to fall in love with the suit that handles you--”

“I never said it was Jess!” My head shoots back up as I interrupt her, wide-eyed.

“Doesn’t really take a genius.” Dismissing it with a shrug, Nic stretches her arms over her head, closing her eyes for a moment before looking back at me.

Once she does, it’s… different.

Her usually cold eyes feel warm, kind even. As if the ice-cold ocean in them had been bathed in the sunlight, and for once I don’t think she has hidden intentions, nor that she's judging and scrutinizing me.

It’s different. And weird, but also... nice.

And it makes it pointless to lie to her anymore.

“What should I do, Nic?” I let my knees fall to the side, leaning my forearms on my calves as I stare at my hands. “I like her, I guess, but I don’t know if it’s love or if it’s just the thrill of the forbidden or whatever. And it’s not like I can do anything about it, I just,” I sigh, looking up at her. “I don’t know what to do.”

“There is an easy solution.”

Her words catch my attention, and I lean forward just as she does, her eyes narrowing slightly as she whispers. “Do her.”

“Nicole!” she almost falls back laughing and trying to dodge the slap I throw her way, clutching at her sides as she tries to keep quiet. “Can’t you act like a grown woman for once?”

My cheeks are burning up, and I’m glad for the shadows all around us, if only so they keep Nic from seeing me blush.

“I was being serious.” she sits back up with a large smile on her face and eyes bright with mischief. “You know I’m not exactly an expert in serious relationships.”

“I expected an unbiased response, that’s all.”

Her smile softens. My voice comes out lower than I intended, and I bite down on my bottom lip when I realize I’d started pouting. “Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Yeah, well, you suck at it,” I give her a small smile in return. I guess she did help ease my stress in her own, weird, way.

Nic inhales sharply, throwing her head back to look at the sky. You can hardly see a star with all the city lights, but she stares at it like she could see the whole universe -- or like she loves the sky this way, you can never know for sure with her.

“There’s really nothing you can do,” her voice is quiet now. There’s a raw honesty in it that sounds almost foreign coming from her. “I’d say talk to her, but Jessica doesn’t come across as the type that handles feelings very well.”

“So, I just… wait?” I ask, the tightness I feel in my chest whenever I think about Jess weighing on my heart.

“What for?” Nic looks back at me with a scoff. “Waiting is pointless. You should just be there, you know? I don’t know, go and help her out in stuff that seems meaningless, talk to her, compliment her. Hell, ask her out on a date if that’s what it takes. Just do something. And be yourself. It’s not like I never saw her looking at you for longer than she should.”

I try to ignore her last words. Surely, Nic is just screwing me around. She’d have a field day if I made a fool of myself with Jess.

… I think.

“Be yourself,” I repeat, letting out a short laugh. “That’s got to be the cheesiest shit you’ve ever said to me.”

She shrugs. “You’re a great person. Being yourself isn’t a bad thing when you’re, well, you.”

Her words hit me hard.

Being myself. I’m not even sure I still know how to do that, but Nic has seen me at my worst and at my best. Should I take her advice into consideration?

“Enough about me,” I clear my throat, trying to change the subject. “Have you ever been in love before?”

Nic’s eyes lose their warmth, the calculated glint sliding back in its rightful place as she smirks at me and picks up her camera as she stands up. “Isn’t your curfew coming up soon?”

“Who’s deflecting now?” I ask, following her cue and standing back up, the cold wind slicing my cheeks.

“Goodnight, mini suit,” Nic replies with a smile, not taking her eyes off her camera.

Nic and I might have shared something in the past, and even a moment just now, but there is one thing we’ve never shared. Something I’m not sure even Alexa knows much about.

Nic’s past.

With a sigh, I slide my hands in my jacket’s pockets. “Thanks, Nic.”

A non-committal sound comes from her, and I smile as I make my way out.

Could I take Nic’s advice into consideration? Would Jess like me for me? I don’t know, but it’s better than doing nothing, I guess. And why the hell is Nic so secretive about her personal life?

The quiet shuttling sounds starts again, but this time, it’s my own thoughts that drown it out.