o2 ⚔ find someone to hold your hand

[bangitybang]

Characters: Janus LeFevre & CR
Summary: Janus is leaving Xistentia to join their paramour back in their homeworld. They farewell to their lovers shortly before joining one last final mission in Panultima.
Date(s): Early February 2018
Warnings/Notes: NSFW nudity, some sexual content likely!



closed to rafaello;

[janus hadn't taken many people to their apartment when zeke was living here, and now that zeke is gone, it feels too empty. one of the reasons why they invite rafaello over, even if it's smaller and simpler by far than the lovely farmhouse where they'd gotten to sneak their callused hands into the vampire's tiny outfits. they lit some candles, changed the sheets, and then acquired a mammoth bouquet of roses and a bath bomb that turned the tub's contents a nebulae of purple and turquoise.

rafa hadn't taken too much convincing to disrobe and step into the water, alone-- at least for now, and they like the way that he looks, immersed in the rippling color, which leaves luminous flecks like mobile constellations on his little round arms and narrow chest. janus runs their fingers through the surface, skims the tips up rafa's hip, ribs. stops shy of making the final leap up to his chin. they look at his face.]

I have to leave soon, [they say, because they don't know what else to do when his eyes are bright and his hair is tied up like that, into a little bun, perched on the back of his head, setting his jawline off to such advantage. they don't know what else to do, when they know that the smile nested in his fangs won't stay.] Not tonight, I mean. But from Xistentia. I wanted to tell you.

closed to rosie;

[since the first-- rather embarrassing encounter at the citadel, they've met several times. janus has taken her out to eat now and again, expending as much effort and resources as you possibly can, considering that technically money doesn't exist in this city and barter is only a requirement to get better and finer than the baseline for survival. still, they enjoy her company— whatever is between them has seemed to be largely exempt from the sometimes tearful, sometimes naked internet, sometimes fantastically violent drama that revolves around rosie's life. they've fought in the same war, which was bad enough; it didn't have to get any more complicated than that.

but it did, of course. mostly, because janus has come to think of her as a friend.

today, they've picked a cafe along the edge of a lovely boulevard. tentative greenery on trees seem to be warring with a fuzz of frost. it's been a nice opportunity to wear a coat, which is black like all of janus' clothes, but heavy, unlike anything they got to wear at home in florida. they've threaded their arm through her arm and purchased a coffee for her that has both liquor settling at the bottom and a cream heart floating at the top, and asked to share some of it.] I have to tell you something, [they say, reaching to rub a pip of foam off her bottom lip.] It's-- important.

closed to era;

[once upon a time, a young genderqueer met with the warrior of light in the woods and provided to her some liquid chalk. they've only seen her around sporadically since then, as they had both been occupied with the defense of the city, and then the dozens of strange distractions that the world had to offer besides. they'd puled her into the orgy event, with a gentle warning, but separation had occurred almost immediately— after all, janus doesn't quite have the same restraints as she does. and there's a city to power with all the passion of sex.

but they're leaving now. so its daemon-to-daemon that they reach out again, for the last time. inviting her back to her old camp, where they'd met many months ago.

and on the tree stump where they'd sat before, there's a fresh glass of milk, another box of oreos. janus is sitting there, slightly slouched, their freckly nose turned toward the slow-rising sun. it's brisk, but the thaw is arriving over xistentia. janus brought a blanket in case, a big, heavy dark-red thing with tassels at the edges. they're waiting, in something of a reverie, but far more alert to subtle sounds in their environment than you'd guess just by looking at them.]

Comments

[bangitybang]

This feels-- [janus' voice is warm as mulled wine. they scoop a palmful of water up over the vampire's arm, then lift a petal out of the water to enthrone it on the crown of his hair.] This feels like a low bar to have made it over. I can't imagine just leaving. And I wish-- [hunters don't wish. hunters live and die for their mission, so that others may live and die for their choices and accidents and fears and desires.] I wish I could stay longer, too.

[or maybe the truth is that hunters wish all the time. and those wishes tend to stay unchanged in time, the opposite of water or petals or wine, unfulfilled but accepted. they look at rafaello like they're trying to memorize him.] You're welcome.

Thank you for not being angry, I think, [they say, after a moment.] I think other people might have been. I wouldn't want to leave you on bad terms. [their eyes crinkle a little. it's not quite a smile.] I'd rather have a few hours or days to make-believe from, for years to come. Do you know what I mean?

[mordacita]

[ Rafa sits forward to be closer, and moves his hands to Janus' waist. He draws them in, so that he can almost embrace them. ]

I cannot be angry when I understand.

[ He says, and leans forward to press an unfortunately damp kiss against Janus' shoulder. ]

You have people. You want them, you have obligations to your world. I understand all of that. One day, I will return as well. We would never have been going to the same place, you and I.

[ So they couldn't have kept each other either way, not long term. Long term is what really matters to Rafa. At some point, he would have had to let Janus go, and maybe it's easier this way. It's certainly not easier after a while, anyway. ]

Instead let me give you something to remember. No more pampering.

[ The fangs in his smile are a warning of mischief. Whether Janus notices that, or realises what it means, may impact on what happens next – or perhaps the speed with which Rafa tries to pull them, fully dressed, into the bath with him, will take them enough by surprise on its own. ]

[bangitybang]

[it shouldn't catch janus by surprise, and maybe it doesn't, exactly. there's a fat liquid slosh and a bloorop of water against ceramic. janus falls hands-first into the tub, their palms finding the bottom, squeak audibly through the thickness of water. they don't accidentally crack their chin open on his teeth, which is probably because they both have unimaginable, supernatural heights of agility and physical prowess.]

A wet floor? [they ask.] Plumbing problems. Complaints from the family of mice who live downstairs.

[but they smile at him and nip at his jaw, breathe into the crook of his neck, and then get their knees over the lip of the tub. slosh! slosh. it soaks through immediately, and then they're shifting so they can brace their weight above rafa. strip off their shirt first, then their trousers next. wet fabric slapping the floor, their hair already arrayed in pointy spikes when they duck down to steal some more kisses.]

[mordacita]

[ That's better. Rafa sits beneath them, smiling up at a happier face. He reaches up, cupping the slope of their jaw and running his thumb across it. Light stubble. So light, it almost can't be felt in this warm environment. He feels it anyway, and tilts his head up into soft kisses that don't feel like goodbye.

His arms loop around their waist. He pulls them closer, and arches his back a little so that he can generate pleasant friction between their hips. One hand reaches, feeling along the side of the bath until he finds the bar of soap. He brings it along Janus' back, creating suds that he can get his fingers into and massage in a slippery trail along their spine. ]

Mice, indeed. I did not come around enough. I would have frightened them away.

[ He leans forward, grazing Janus' lower lip with his fang. His slippery hands sink lower, fingers pressing into their cheeks now. ]

This is a good position. Do you like it? Does the tub hurt your knees?