Lunch today?

Carisi smiles at the two word message that pings on his cellphone, well aware that he looks like an idiot grinning at a two-word text, but quite frankly not caring. Do I get to pick this time?

Only if you promise this will be an end to any and all mentions of the Great Raw Food Debacle of 2017.

He doesn't like it when things get messy. He prefers clean breaks, and he deeply appreciates that this is the first moment that Sonny has even tiptoed over the line Rafael had drawn in the sand when he'd ended things between them. He doesn't want to encourage further intrusions, further boundary testing.

Except.

That's not really what this is, tonight. Even Rafael can see that. Sonny's so quiet, so withdrawn. He's hurt and hurting, and he came to Rafael because he didn't know where else to go.

They have no time, no time at all, but Rafael always wants to indulge. Conjure him a way to rewind this moment for the rest of his life. He'll take it, and then some.

The water washes away the sleep in their faces, but never the craving that sleeps in their throats.

Sonny Carisi, clean-shaven for the first time in nearly six months, steps into the bar with a certain amount of trepidation.

He couldn’t deny that the man looked good. It seemed that being away from the DA’s office suited him, even the way he carried himself was different. Towards the end, the once arrogant DA had seemed beaten down, just going through the motions. None of that showed now as he strolled confidently down the sidewalk.

Shoving away any thoughts of how great Barba looked, Sonny pushed himself off of the wall he’d been leaning on and offered a small wave to signal to him. Not that he thought Rafael wouldn’t recognize him. Besides being a little more gray, he hadn’t changed at all. He was even still in his three piece navy suit from work.

“Carisi,” Rafael greeted him with a smile.

“Good to see you, Counselor.” There was an awkward moment where Sonny was deciding if he should shake his hand, but he felt they knew each other too well for that. They definitely weren’t close enough for a hug, so he just settled on grabbing the door handle to the restaurant and pulling it open, gesturing for Barba to go in first.