icarusalsoflew | Waking the Dead 2.0 || August 27, 2063 || Saturday

[ He gentles his tone when he replies. ]

I'll wait for you to get back then.

[ You'll be able to tell that he means it. ]

Thank you.

[He'd normally ask if you're certain, because he doesn't ever want to impose on you too much whenever he knows that a lot of particularly difficult things have happened. Today definitely counts as one such case.

He's surprising himself, then, at how easy it is for him to accept your offer. He'll dwell on that later. For now, he's kissing you on the cheek, and pulling back in order to reach for the door knob.]

I'll be back as soon as I can manage.

[ He catches one hand just as you pull back, just long enough to give your fingers a gentle squeeze. ]

I'll be here.

[ He'd been half expecting the usual responses from your end, and while it pleases him to hear you accept his offer to wait up for you with little resistance, he's going to momentarily shelve the concern.

You're okay. Everyone else is fine. Today was hard, yes and people died, but all of you are safe and Aidan is back. ]

[He did a longer round tonight both because there were a lot of souls to reap and because he was hoping that going through the motions would give him something to do and present problems that he could solve. He had hoped that immersing himself that way would lend him better insight on the situation at hand, especially since he knew, for a fact, that he had to be more than just at his best. Everyone needed him: that was a fact. That wasn't just him taking on too much this time around. The Kings were compromised; Netsach had been placed in clear and present danger. Grendal was back; the Watcher was likely alive. Old enemies were crawling out of the woodwork.

Suffice to say, his strategy at calming himself down and hammering out some sort of plan did not quite work. It wasn't that he couldn't handle it: it was that it was hitting him at full force, the magnitude of what he had to handle.

The heaviness is written all over his face by the time he comes back, just shy of 2 AM. He's barely even aware of it as he knocks once, then lets himself into your room.]

[ He doesn't hear that knock, he's actually lost track of time because after you'd left he'd allowed himself a few hours to crash only to wake up sometime half past one.

He's got his earphones on when you come in, his tablet is also out as he's writing out some notes for one of his classes.

Yeah, those are some of next week's readings from Lia in a pile on the bed.

Yes, that is Glitch Mob playing pretty loud. He likes his EDM, okay. ]

[And the sight of you looking like that is kind of like the first real indicator that he has that you're going to be okay. That leads him to his revelation: that he really isn't, or at least not as fine as he could be. "Overwhelmed" doesn't even begin to cut it.

He ends up shutting the door behind him by slumping against it.]

I'm back.

[Saying that just loud enough to carry. You look busy: he won't stay for long, then.]

[ And he does catch that. And yes, he's tugging off his earbuds and turning to you with a smile that's bright and happy and pretty much--

--wait.

Yeah, this one's scrambling out of bed, who cares if his stuff falls to the floor, you don't look okay.

All concern now as his hands come to catch yours. ] What happened?

[ He's searching your gaze with concern. ]

[Trying - and mostly failing - to smile and meet your gaze properly.]

Just... just feeling a little overwhelmed, I guess.

[Which sucks because he's supposed to be the strong one right now. For all of you.]

Sorry. You look busy, so maybe I should...

[ Really. Cat mode. Really.

You're getting a kiss cutting off that really awful suggestion, and him stepping into your space so that the both of you are flush up against each other. ]

You tell me, [ that's murmured against your mouth ] that I have to put homework that isn't due until Wednesday before quality time with you and we are going to have a problem.

[ He's teasing. Please see that he's trying to make you smile. ]

[It works, to an extent. The kiss helped: he ended up melting into that one in spite of himself, and letting the feel and taste of you settle him in just a bit.

By Elaine, he has missed you. Yes, you saw each other right after the fight. Yes, you saw each other the day after that. But Falner Estate doesn't always explode. Adversaries from darker times don't always come back. People whom he views as his brothers - whom he would kill for - don't usually fall apart, leaving him to pick up the pieces.]

I can always wait.

[His delivery could have been a lot better. As things stand, it's soft, and trembles in the air just a bit too much.]

[ Leaning in now and resting his forehead against yours. ]

I can cram.

[ He totally could.

And yes, he's going to kiss you again and murmur softly against your lips, ] Tell me what's wrong?

Can I talk about it later?

[The plea is in his voice and in his eyes when he looks up at you. He's tensing again, in that little tell that might tell you that he's right about ready to bolt. Distractions are in order first, before you bring him back down and force him to talk about things.]

[ Before the Hour, before his talk with Wiseman Tagabigay, and even before Ireland he might have pushed -- but not tonight, and if he can help it, not until your ready whenever he finds you like this.

It might surprise you then, when he goes, ] Okay. Okay, later. When you're ready. [ Before he's slanting his mouth over yours all over again and whispering softly: ] Don't go. I miss you. Homework can wait.

Everything else can wait.

[ Please, he just wants to hold you. He's been looking forward to catching up with you all night. ]

[The certainty in your tone and the easy way you give in to him instead of fighting him on the matter is what really does it for this one. When he moves in to kiss you, you're probably going to see, for yourself, just how much he needs you right at this moment.

Many things have suddenly spun out of control, or shifted right beneath his feet. He's grateful, terribly grateful, that you're not one of them.]

[ And he's welcoming you into his space, drawing you close and parting his lips so that he can slide his tongue against yours. ]

I've missed you so much.

[ He's said that a lot in the last forty-eight hours, and he's going to keep on saying it for a little while longer. ]

[He doesn't need to say anything to that, because you're going to see it written in the soft sigh he makes against your mouth, and how he responds wholeheartedly to the way you're kissing him. He's also reaching out, and letting his hands slide over the curves of your waist just once before he's wordlessly attempting to tug you even closer.

Please excuse him. He's a little starved for the warmth of your skin - the warmth of something human, loving, reassuring - because it might just help him shake out a little of the cold from his bones.]

[ He's going to smile against your mouth at that, and move closer -- enough to back you into the wall by the door. His kisses are also moving from your mouth to that spot right where your jaw bleeds into your neck.

Okay, fine, he takes it back -- he's glad you were away for only a couple of days, but he still wouldn't have taken Death up on the offer. It would be different. It really is. ]

[The two of you have barely started, yet his breath already shudders out of his lungs like an unsteady thing by the time you break away. It only grows shorter when he feels your lips worrying at his skin, at that spot. That's always enough to make him shiver.

He's arching his neck, giving you more room to do more of that if you want to. (He really, really hopes that you will.)]

[ And he's smiling when you shiver, and he indulges you a little more by pressing kisses to your skin. His fingers are also catching on the shirt you've got tucked into your pants and he's tugging at that because he wants to feel your skin beneath his palms. ]

[Thank you, LaRue, for reminding him that you haven't touched him in a while, and he has not touched you. Not this way, anyway.

It's getting warm in the room, and the place is starting to feel a little claustrophobic. This might be why he's moving his hands away from your waist, and up, over your back, across your spine.

Convenient, really, how you never bothered to put a shirt on.]

[ And he's shivering from your touch and smiling into your skin before he pulls back and slants his mouth over yours again. ]

I can't fault your taste in clothes, but sometimes I really wish you wouldn't put on too many layers.

[ His fingers have fallen away to the buttons of your shirt and he's now trying to see how quickly he can get it off you. ]

Duty. Go figure, right?

[Although that isn't quite accurate. He's almost always in way too many layers. Makoto and Alistair both used to have a LOT to say about that.

And since you're occupied with that, he's going to try to distract you by kissing you some more.]

[ You're going to feel him smile against your mouth, just as you're going to hear the soft, half-gasp, half-laugh that leaves him as he unbuckles your belt so that he can tug your shirt out of your pants.

When he's addressed that little problem ( and tugged the tank you have underneath that free as well ) you'll feel his fingers skimming across your skin. ]

The Philippines is in the tropics, babe. [ Yes, apparently he's got a pet name for you now. ] And you go around in a tank and long-sleeves, and a tie. [ So do other people, sure, but he doesn't have to think about undressing them. ] I'll be conceited just this once and pretend you do this to torture me.

[ His hips are flush up against yours now. And yes, he's giving a lot of attention to your neck and the area of your collarbone now that all those buttons have been undone. ]

I don't, but now that you've brought up the possibility...

{Excuse the tightness in his voice. Your hands and your mouth feel good on him, and - given the fact that the both of you still have a lot of clothes on - it's a lovely prelude to whatever could happen next.

Good distractions. He kind of needs them right now, especially since --

-- okay then. Full stop. Time to try and focus on the attention you're very lovingly lavishing upon him.

Operative words: "try to".]

[ And because he's spent a potentially inordinate amount of time learning your tells and the shades and gradients of when you are okay and when you're not, this is Josh pausing mid-kiss to ease up a little and send you a questioning look.

He said he wouldn't push, that he'd ask only when you were ready to talk, but your mind is clearly elsewhere. ]

Hey, stranger. Where'd you go for a second there?

[ One hand's smoothing down your arm in time to that. ]

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timeskip /o/

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