Wax

Thirty

A/N: A nice, cozy, deliciously long chapter for a happy new year! (' v ')/ Happy New Year to the Beans who've smiled, laughed, cried and squealed with this series. Can't wait to write more. 

Enjoy. Oh, and that's Halloumi fries up there :> 

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[Leroy]

You don't really sleep in the firehouse; even if it's your day off and you have your private room on the second floor, you don't. There's the instinct to jump right out of bed when a call comes through the PA system and then you lay awake fighting the restless urge to do anything even after the alarm stops, hearing the rushing of feet, slamming of doors somewhere downstairs. The horn. The engine and the truck coming to life and turning out of the bay, onto the street.

I used to be good with that, too. Staying awake, drifting in and out, waiting for the sun. But approximately two weeks over at that cozy apartment of his and I'd softened up. A single taste of high-quality sleep and I was addicted. Even back at my own flat, things were different.

Chief wasn't really surprised when I showed up at the door to his office at five in the morning with a letter in hand. Not exactly a letter. An application form, with other relevant documents attached.

"Morning sir." I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tad bit nervous about breaking it to him. Station twelve's bureau chief looked up from the screen of his computer and nodded at the seat.

"Cox. It's your day off. What are you doing back here?"

"What do you mean? I'm always 'back here'," I'd meant it as an inside joke but saw it coming the moment he laughed.

"Not so much recently. Don't think I didn't notice," his gaze rested on the envelope I was holding onto. "I've known you for years. And I'm guessing that's for a sabbatical?"

I paused before the chair, not exactly taking a seat. "You knew?"

Chief gestured, again, at the seat; turning his swivel chair to face me straight on and resting his arms on the desk. Hands steepled. "Something's up on your end and we all knew. Probie was the one who first saw that photo of you going around. Shared it with a couple of others but Jaeger made sure no one approached you about this. Told me about it. I kept it under the wraps. Thought you'd come running to me someday but knew you'd never quit fire. So. Sabbatical."

I took the seat. Slow.

It was weird how he'd pieced things together just like Vanilla would've. Figured it out just by knowing me and then understanding bits and pieces of what was happening. Still, chief didn't know the full story.

I owed him that, at the very least. By the end of it, he'd brushed aside me not telling anyone else about working at a restaurant on my days off since... technically most firefighters did do odd jobs from time to time. All he said about that was me having to keep up with calls despite being mentally and physically exhausted. The thing about Siegfried Cox being blood-related, too, he didn't really seem to care.

I nodded while he gave me a lecture about putting myself in danger and then about doing nothing about Zales' cooking for years and making the crew put up with the crap. Had me swearing on a feast some time in the future before getting down to business. Approving my sabbatical.