Chapter Text
Chapter 2
When Baz tuned back into the world around him, Simon was halfheartedly scolding Elliot.
“You can’t just walk away when you’re bored, baby, you have to tell me where you’re going,” Simon was muttering into Elliot’s hair, seemingly reluctant to loosen his grip as his son started to bat at his hands, nodding along with the man’s mumblings.
When Simon had finally reassured himself that his son was present and unharmed, he looked up to thank whoever had helped his kid, only to freeze when he saw the familiar face, all pale skin and sharp angles.
The last five years had done Baz good, he knew they had. He was still thin, but ropey muscles that weren’t there before moved under his skin as he clenched and unclenched his hands into fists. There were still blue smudges under his eyes, but they weren’t nearly as dark as they were back when they were at Watford.
Simon watched him closely, eyes moving over Baz’s features like he was taking him in for the first time.
They just kind of kept staring at each other, neither of them knowing what to say. Baz felt entirely out of his depth, staring at a man he didn’t think he’d ever see again.
Eventually, Elliot got bored of the silence. He pulled on one of Simon’s curls to get his attention and whispered loudly, “Dad, you’re being weird. Do you know him?”
Simon let out a low chuckle, rubbing a hand over his forehead as he shrugged, smiling apologetically at Baz, whose heart decidedly did not skip a beat.
“Your dad and I… went to school together. We were roommates.” Baz said, not sure if he was overstepping. He couldn’t very well tell the kid they’d been nemeses, though to be honest, that hadn’t really been the case those last few months, when they’d been working together to catch his mom’s killer. Maybe they would’ve even had the chance to become friends, if Simon hadn’t disappeared.
Elliot looked over at Baz, far more critically than he’d think a four-year-old capable of.
After a few moments of too intense eye contact, Elliot turned back to his father. “I like him,” he declared loftily. Simon let out a low chuckle, grinning sheepishly at Baz.
“Kids,” he said in response to Baz’s surprise, but there was a barely noticeable glint in Simon’s eyes that Baz couldn’t read.
There was another long silence, this one bordering on awkward. Elliot looked back and forth between the to of them, letting out an adorable put upon sigh as he turned his full attention to Simon again. “I’m hungry.”
“Yeah, right, let’s get you some breakfast.” Simon teasingly pulled on one of Elliot’s curls, before glancing up at Baz. “Do you maybe want to join us? We should, I don’t know, catch up?” He wrinkled his nose, like he though Baz was going to make fun of him for it, but the invitation itself seemed sincere enough.
For a moment Baz considered just walking away. Pretending he never ran into Simon, continuing to try and convince himself he had all but forgotten about his former roommate.
However, it had been over 5 years, and Baz still dreamt about the eyes staring at him right now. He still woke up in cold sweat, remembering the broken look on Simon’s face once all his magic was drained out of him.
In the end, it wasn’t really a question at all.
“Yeah, that would be good.
***
They ended up at a brunch café not too far away from Baz’s apartment. Baz ordered pancakes with sirup and bacon, Simon asked for a plate of waffles with strawberries and chocolate sauce to share with his son.
Elliot was wearing a self-satisfied smile, almost drooling as he looked at the plate in front of him.
“We were supposed to have boring sandwiches,” he whispered conspiratorially to Baz, his wide grin showing a missing front tooth.
Baz chuckled, tempted to reach out and ruffle Elliot’s hair, but he refrained himself. He didn’t know this kid. He didn’t even know this version of Simon, who’d been silent pretty much the entire time, only talking to order.
While Simon was looking down at the plate as he cut the waffles for Elliot, Baz allowed himself another moment to take him in. Now that the initial shock of how fragile Simon looked had worn off, Baz could see that it wasn’t all bad. Though his muscle mass had definitely decreased, he still wasn’t skinny or lanky. His bronze curls were still vibrant and bouncy, floppy on top and shorter on the sides. Though he seemed more subdued than he had ever been at Watford, his blue eyes were still bright, especially when he looked at his son.
Elliot attempted to stick his fork in one of the waffles that his dad had not yet cut, and Simon swatted his hand away playfully, a smile on his lips that still took Baz’s breath away.
When he finished cutting, Simon slid the plate in front of Elliot. While the kid dug in, Baz caught Simon’s eye.
“What happened to you?” The question was out before Baz could think it through, before he could even process opening his mouth to speak. He cleared his throat and tried again.
“After… I mean, you just disappeared. Where did you go? What happened?” Why didn’t you let me know you were okay? I thought we were becoming friends. He didn’t want to say those words, didn’t want to let Simon know how much his disappearance hurt him. From the sad smile on Simon’s face, Baz guessed he knew anyway.
“I guess we have a lot of catching up to do,” he shrugged self-deprecatingly, breaking eye contact to look over at his son. “Maybe now is not the time, though,” he said meaningfully, still avoiding Baz’s gaze.
Right. “Yeah, of course. It’s not any of my business anyway.” Baz said immediately, straightening his back and carefully pulling a mask of cold indifference over his features.
Simon’s eyes snapped back to him. “Hey, no, that’s not what I meant. I… after this, I don’t want to just go separate ways again. A lot has happened the past few years, but I realize that the way we treated each other in those last few weeks… we had the potential of being friends. I would like to explain to you what happened, maybe see if we can still be… that.” He looked away again. “I don’t have a lot of friends here.”
Baz swallowed. “Yeah, friends. Okay.”
A small smile graced Simon’s lips as he busied himself by cleaning the chocolate sauce off of Elliot’s mouth with a paper napkin.
“How about we meet up tonight? Just the two of us. We’ll get dinner or something, and I’ll explain everything. Without little ears listening in.” he tugged playfully at his son’s earlobe as Elliot whined softly and struggled against the napkin still cleaning his chin.
Baz breathed in deeply, taking in the easy banter between father and son.
“Tonight works for me.”