[closed] i been getting used to waking up with you

[goldcuffed]

who: Laurent and Damen
what: It doesn't take them long to find each other.
when: 24 hours after their arrival
where: Floor 7, Apartment 3
warnings: Feelings for now. Will update.


[Damen arrival through the portal is a jumble of memories. He barely remembers the moment he planted feet on the moon - maybe because he probably fell through it, still bleeding out from Kastor's knife. Being rushed to the 'hospital' is a blur, and then blackness while they treated his wound. Upon waking in a thin paper gown in a narrow bed, a man from the Perimeter Guard told him about this place, where he is and why he's here, how they cannot yet send him back to Akielos. He gave him something called a 'phone', a hand-held rectangle of glass and plastic, and showed him how to use it to access 'websites' and 'apps', to send 'text messages' and 'call people'.

They released him 24 hours from his arrival in Riverview Quarantine, his injury now seeming days or a couple of weeks old, not freshly given by- His head spins whenever he thinks of Akielos. Of the baths. His brother's lifeless eyes and blood on the marble floor. Laurent, holding his hand.

A dearth of painful memories that leave him feeling small and tired.

The guardsman shows him to a tall building, the tallest he's ever seen, but he can hardly take in the wonder of steel and glass; he takes the stairs to the seventh floor, with the key he was given in hand. He still doesn't trust the mechanized box they call an elevator. When he reaches the apartment he has been given, he slides in the key and opens the door, stepping inside with barely a glance. He must look a sight, his curls a dark bird's nest, bandages wrapped around his torso beneath a thin white shirt, hospital-issued sweatpants just a bit too short. He doesn't care. He just wants to sleep, and hope to wake up from all this tomorrow.]

Comments

[goldcuffed]

[He can't hold back the happy little laugh as he rubs his nose against Laurent's, presses kisses there, and across his cheeks and forehead and eyelids when his affection is well-received. Laurent is here. Laurent remembers, he knows this right away when he starts to scold Damen for being out of bed. They're here and they're together and Laurent still loves him enough to berate him like a naughty child sneaking out after bedtime.

After a moment, he reluctantly sets him down, though he stands close still, keeps his arms around Laurent's waist.] It's alright, I'm well. They brought me to a hospital, I suppose. Their physicians are- [He lifts the hem of his shirt with one hand; all that activity and only a few tiny spots of blood dot the bandages.] -amazing, truly. It's been a day and yet I feel as if I have healed for a week at least.

[redoublement]

[ With his feet back upon the ground, Laurent lets himself relax into the other's arms. To catch some of the kisses Damen delightedly bestows upon him, and respond with a soft brush of his own lips in kind. The aching knot of grief that he had carried within him since he arrived finally begins to unwind, and for just a moment, he let him enjoy this closeness.

When Damen drew back a little in order to lift his shirt, Laurent was almost reluctant to let him. As if he thought by doing so the other might slip through his fingers; disappear. So he kept one hand upon the other's shoulder, the other drifting down towards the other's bandages, inspecting the spots of blood and humming lowly in disapproval. ]

They may be good, but you are still a fool. [ His hand rose then, and with two fingers, he flicked the other's nose, chastising. ] Such a brute you are. [ And oh, how he loved him. ]

[goldcuffed]

[He looks a bit like a kid caught sneaking pastries as Laurent inspects his bandages, flicks his nose. He breathes out a laugh and leans in again to tuck his nose against the curve of a pale, elegant throat.] Your brute. [He murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to warm skin.]

I don't know what I would have done, if- [If you weren't here. But he can't even voice the thought. It's a terrible one, the thought of being alone after everything they'd been through, after how hard they had fought for kingdoms and each other.

They don't have their kingdoms here, cannot reach them yet, but... A kingdom or this? Damen will always choose this.] I didn't get to say it. Before...

I love you, Laurent.

[redoublement]

My brute. [ He agreed, voice soft as he turned his head to nuzzle in against the others wild curls.

Damen continued on, spouting first, impossibilities- and next, unnecessary air. Huffing a soft breath of laughter, Laurent rose a hand to the others lips, pressing two fingertips against Damen's to silence him. ]

We shall not speak of what might have been. [ He murmured, drawing back- voice soft, but firm. ] And you don't need to say it, Damen. I know. And I hope you know, too- that I love you, as well. With all of my heart.

[ Laurent moved his hand away, then, and leaned forward. Connecting his lips softly, sweetly, with Damen's once more. ]

[goldcuffed]

[He smiles against Laurent's fingertips, pressing the softest of kisses there as he falls into silence. Lets him speak. It's a reassurance like no other, a balm for his soul, having Laurent here, knowing that he remembers, knowing that they haven't been separated. Knowing that he feels the same.]

I know. [He says, aching with the truth of it. He knew back in the slave baths, bleeding out on the tile. It was one kingdom once.] I know, Laurent. [He returns the kiss, a little more fervently, as if he is dying for it. After a bit, though, he seems to settle, and when they part, he leans his forehead down against Laurent's, breathing out.]

No one seems to know how long we will be here. I suppose, until then, this is our home.