"I hear you, brother. So… See ya around?"
"Bet your life, brother. We're partners, remember."
"That's what I'm talking about!"
– Chapter 10; 2:00 A.M. ~

Warning; slight spoilers for the game.
First try at writing Hotel Dusk: Room 215. I played it, fell in love with Kyle, then I fell in love with Louie, and then I fell in love with them together.
Wouldn't it have been just awesome if Louie had gone with Kyle instead of Mila? I mean, seriously, I could imagine that happening…Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part [laughs].
At any rate, enjoy.

"Hey."

Louis DeNonno stands at the door of the hotel, one hand buried in his thick hair, his eyes focused on Kyle Hyde. He's standing by his car, suitcase in hand, the other hand extended to open up the door. He turns at the call, raising a surprised eyebrow at the other man, turning around to face him all the same, still holding his suitcase firmly. He's supposed to leave today—one night in Room 215, and he's done. He bets that Hyde's had quite enough of Hotel Dusk and its mysteries, anyway.

Louie pauses awkwardly, not certain if he's able to speak now with those eyes on him but, at last, he clears his throat and takes a couple of steps forward, letting the door to Hotel Dusk swing shut behind him, and feels a sort of finality with it clicking into place. He forces his hand to drop from his hair, trying to fight back the habit that comes whenever he's feeling awkward.

"Hyde, er…" He pauses, grins in a way that's more forced than anything. "I, well…you're really goin' alone?"

A slow nod, Kyle looking for a moment over at his old car, then back at Louis. "Yeah." There's a pause, as the man lowers his suitcase to the ground next to his foot, perhaps realizing this conversation won't be short one, by the way it begins. "Why'd you follow me out here, Louie? Isn't Rosa looking for you?" He speaks in a way that's slow, deliberate, and there's a measure of confusion in his usually sure voice. Louis takes a bit of pleasure in the fact that's he's managed to confuse the great Officer Hyde.

"Yeah, well…no, not anymore." Louis can't fight off the grin that rises to his face. "I told her and Dunning I'm done." Kyle blinks once, twice, and then fixes an incredulous look on him, his eyebrows rising, his chin lifting.

"Louie, what the hell are you talking about?" His voice is forceful, but not angry, more disbelieving than anything. Louis fights back the hand that tries to lift to his hair, shoves them into his pockets instead, ducking his head and lifting his shoulders.

"I quit," is the abashed reply, followed by a grin of self-satisfaction that Louis can't fight off.

This time Kyle's gaze is acutely surprised, his mouth falling open some, and Louis' grin grows wider. He's rattled Officer Hyde—he takes a bit of pleasure from that. "What the hell, Louie?" Now his voice sounds angry. "What the hell would you do something like that for? Weren't you the one who said you're serious about this job? What about the bar?"

"Well, Hyde," Louis begins, pauses, and squirms awkwardly. Those sharp eyes narrow.

"Spit it out, DeNonno."

Louis grins, a shit-eating grin that makes Kyle's eyebrows rise high. "Well, I thought I might come along with you, man. Bar be damned."

This certainly throws the officer-turned-salesman for a loop, as he stares incredulously at the man, whose hand has won against his self-control, scratching his thick hair. "What? Come with me…what? Louie, you can't be serious. You're on a trip, man." Kyle shakes his head two and fro, but there's something in that action that gives him away, that shows he isn't as angry nor as against the idea as he's acting. Louis knows, in that moment, that he has a chance.

"C'mon! Can't you imagine it?" Louis grins and lifts both hands to illustrate his grand idea. "Hyde and DeNonno, travellin' across the country, solvin' crimes and mysteries, findin' babes, gettin' rich, drinkin' til the sun comes up. Hell, we could open up our own detective office if we wanted, man. A bar of our own, too." He grins over at him, but Hyde is shaking his head at him, disbelievingly.

"You're crazy, Louie," sighs Kyle loudly. "Just go back inside and beg Dunning to give you your job back." There's something in his voice again, that makes Louis stay where he is, determined he can make Hyde roll over and give up. He takes a step forward, grabbing Kyle's arm as the man moves to pick up his suitcase and go on his merry way alone, and their eyes meet, Louis' hot and determined, Kyle's surprised and wide.

"I'm not givin' up," Louis says, quietly, feeling more serious than he's ever felt before as something churns low, deep and dangerous in his stomach. "I'm comin' with you, whether ya like it or not." Kyle raises his eyebrows at him, disbelievingly, but a smile threatens to appear on his face.

"That sounds like a threat, DeNonno," he says.

"A promise." Louis grins when Kyle sighs, and he knows that he's won.

"Get in the damn car," Kyle says, making himself out to be grumpy, waving at the passengers' side. "You aren't going to get any of your stuff; I'm sure as hell not waiting around for you." Louis laughs, loud and victoriously, not caring about the possessions he's left back in his room—not his room anymore, though—and hurries over to let himself into the old thing. Kyle climbs in the drivers' seat, flashes him a grudging look.

"Glad you see it my way, Hyde," Louis says, grinning. "This is gonna be great."

"Can't believe I'm going to have to put up with you from now on," mutters Kyle as he starts up the car, but Louis grins broadly, his eyes bright. Kyle's happy—he can see it in the way his lips curl up slightly when he thinks his face is turned away enough for Louis not to see as he drives the car back onto the stretching, empty highway, one broad hand reaching over to switch the gear into 'drive'.

"You'll learn to love me, Hyde," crows Louis, looking over at him. He doesn't expect the bolt that comes with eyes turning to meet his, a serious expression sweeping over Kyle's face, his hand pausing for a moment on the shift.

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," Kyle says and shifts the car into drive.