[Jack looks back up at him again, his voice as quiet and calm as ever despite the way his throat works.]
I know you don't want me out there. I know you can't stand the thought of it, and I know why. [He looks at Johnny with adoring eyes, and does he really need to say it?] But I have to try for that very same reason. I want to protect you every bit as much as you want to protect me.
[ Johnny stares at him for a long, long moment, caught off-guard by the look in his eyes, the purity of the intention behind them. He might not be quickest on the uptake when it comes to relationship things, but he knows this: he's never seen Jack look at anyone like this, and this particular look makes his heart skip a beat and consequently start racing, like this is the most important thing in the world.
He knows why. Of course he knows why. Jack is so important to him that it's ridiculous, and he has to swallow a lump in his throat. Johnny softens, rubbing at his face. He feels oddly, strangely helpless and warmed all at once. ]
I don't want you to get hurt, or -- [ He can't say it. He can't even bring himself to consider such a terrible, damned thing. ]
[Jack knows that his hands are freezing, so he doesn't touch Johnny with them when he walks over to kiss him. He cuts off that word, derails even the thought of it.]
I have the mail that you gave me, and a fireproof cloak. If these things are as big as they say, they can't be fast. Cearul can get me away from them.
[All the little reassurances, whatever good they'll do. He smiles gently at him.]
I plan on coming home to our bed, so don't be inviting anyone else into it just yet.
[ Jack doesn't touch him and Johnny knows why, but he's the one who reaches out to his lover, both hands coming to clasp Jack's to warm him up, rubbing heat into them with care and affection that goes beyond so far, far beyond physical affection.
He's warmer than usual to compensate, to heat up those freezing fingers (he must have been practicing for too long). He kisses him back, keeping Jack's hands clasped between his own. Little reassurances, the way Jack drives the thought away from Johnny's mind, terrible as it is to contemplate. In fact, Johnny had recoiled from the very idea of it, rejecting the thought with every fiber of his being the way he rejects Jack's quip now. ]
There isn't going to be anyone else. I don't want anyone else. [ He presses his forehead against his, bringing their joined hands to his lips. Johnny kisses Jack's fingers, eyes lidding. ] I think you've permanently ruined me for other people, Jack. What am I going to do about that?
[Johnny's hands feel like heaven. On warm nights, it's something different, and Jack has to squirm away while maintaining some form of contact. He couldn't sleep without it, he had to be touching him, he had to know for sure that Johnny was still there.
But his words are even warmer than his hands, and bring feeling into every part of him.]
There's nothing for it. [And one or both of them should despair at that, being so tangled together with another person. But it makes Jack smile.] I guess we both have to survive.
[ Johnny's hands cup Jack's face in them, and he's uncharacteristically serious, brows knitting. He's going to extract this promise from him no matter what. Johnny doesn't know when his life had become so entwined with Jack's, but it doesn't matter, and it's too late for him to want to do anything about it now. ]
I don't care what you have to do, but you do it and you come back to me, okay?
[ He sighs, pressing his forehead to his, thumb smoothing over Jack's cheekbone. ] Sometimes I wish you'd just do what I say.
[ But they both know better -- they would both come to hate that in time. ]
[Jack actually snorts at hearing Johnny say the words about him. He lets his arms rest over Johnny's strong shoulders, holding him close.]
And I'm grateful that it's never been granted. I love everything that you are, Johnny Storm, the good and the bad. I don't fight for courts or worlds, I fight for the chance to come home to you.
[ Johnny finally smiles, but it's small and tired. Even so, it makes Johnny happy to hear it from him. Months ago, he would never have imagined hearing that from him, but now, it makes him all the more fierce and determined to fight for the both of them and his world, to keep his loved ones safe.
He dreams of taking Jack home to his world one day, and he huffs softly before he wraps his arms around him and picks him up, hauling the man into his arms and walking him to their bed. ]
You're getting sappy in your old age, Jack. [ But he's beaming at him when he places him against the pillows. ] And I'm gonna burn down everything to get to you if you don't keep your promise. We're always gonna come back to each other. [ He pauses. ] I should really make you that blood necklace soon.
[It surprises him when he picks him up, but Jack quickly realizes that it shouldn't. It's so very much a thing he would do.]
You're the one practically carrying me over the threshold. [He shoots back, smiling and reclining back comfortable. Jack lifts a hand to his face, idle touchings.] I don't need you blood against my skin. [He taps a finger against his chest.] As long as it pumps through this.
[ Johnny grasps Jack's hand, guiding him down to between his legs, right on his boner. Look, you don't say those kinds of things and not expect Johnny not to do it. But the gesture is more playful than sensuous, really. Underneath all the baron, he's still a frat boy. ]
Mmm, it's all your fault. You should be less sexy. [ He totally gave that one to him, and Johnny feels the tension dissipate, if only for a moment. He's still worried, he's still busy working out whatever plan there can be for evacuation, but there's a bittersweetness here with Jack, because who knows how long they can stay like this?
Who knows what the future holds for them?
He draws Jack's hand away after he feels that gentle squeeze, bringing it to his lips to press a kiss to his knuckles, more thoughtful than he normally is. He's still afraid to lose him, and it's a new, unpleasant feeling -- Johnny Storm is not usually afraid of anything. ]
[Jack moves their hands away, clearing a path for him to press the next kiss against Johnny's mouth. He can sense his fear, see it in his eye, and it makes him never want to leave this bed.
He lets go of his hand to open his palm. The ice crystals encase his hand before they start to form the dagger, an intricate handle and a sharp blade.]
I don't mind the cold, not when I have you to warm me up.
[ Johnny frowns. It's a beautiful, marvellous thing that his lover could do, and he's fascinated. But all the same he's concerned; he's never cared for anyone the way he cares for Jack.
He's never been more attached to anyone, and he cups his face, free hand lightly resting on the ice encasing his hand. ]
[Johnny's worried about it, but Jack doesn't want him to be, doesn't think there's a reason he should. It doesn't bring him any discomfort, and maybe that should trouble him, but it doesn't.
The numbness suits him. But the ice starts to melt, dripping immediately with Johnny's touch.]
[ It takes a cosmic pair of pliers to extract Johnny Storm's mothering tendencies (he has 0). But alternatively, that rare sight can be seen when it comes to Jack Benjamin. He kisses his fingers, ice be damned, before taking both hands between his again and heating them up. ]
Do you think the Seelie will still come after us? I don't. But if we empty out this Spire, it could be easy pickings.
[ He thinks about that for a long moment -- Johnny prizes Jack's advice because the man had been to war, had men at his command, and Johnny's only been exposed to that sort of thing for the past year or so.
Johnny absently traces patterns over his lover's stomach, having notched Jack's shirt up to brush over taut muscles. ]
The natives should stay put. We just need to scatter all the shard bearers and lure them away from the spires. Maybe draw them towards the void. If we can't kill them, we might as well let something much bigger do it.
[Jack's listening, he always listens, but he's more focused on the feeling of Johnny's touch against his stomach.
And then it sinks in, and Jack pushes himself up onto his elbows, looking at Johnny with mild surprise.]
That's a brilliant plan.
[He's looking at Johnny with something akin to awe. It's not that he didn't think him capable of it, it's just a testament to how much he's learned and grown.]
[ Johnny beams at him, brightening at Jack's reaction -- it had occurred to him only recently, and with his lover's expression comes a certain sort of excitement as he latches onto the theory. ]
I mean, why not, right? If those things are tearing up the landscape looking for shards, we might as well just toss them into the void. Problem solved.
[ Johnny lets himself be drawn down, trailing his fingers over his cheek and mulling over that option. ]
Mmm, tell me more about how handsome you know I am. [ He says cheekily, and he leans down to kiss him briefly on his cheek, his nose, his lips, ever affectionate. But another idea's budding in his mind, the one Hiro previously offered: what about blood magic, then? ]
[ It always surprises Johnny that Jack's this good at reading him, but it's delightful, intimate, and he laughs softly before he shifts, propping himself above Jack but resting his chin and elbow on his lover's chest thoughtfully.
Shadow, lurking in the corner, decides to join in too, soundlessly leaping from the floor to settle on Jack's feet. ]
So, Hiro mentioned blood magic, right? Maybe we can do that as another option, too. We can ask Lauralae? I mean it's less cool than pitching them into the void, but.
Mm, I asked about undoing blood magic. Loki hinted at the sacrifice it must've taken for them to make such things...and the greater one it would take to undo them.
[He ruffles his fingers through Johnny's hair idly. It's gotten longer. He likes it.]
I trust Lauralae's knowledge of it. I'll visit her rooms, if she'll allow.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[Jack looks back up at him again, his voice as quiet and calm as ever despite the way his throat works.]
I know you don't want me out there. I know you can't stand the thought of it, and I know why. [He looks at Johnny with adoring eyes, and does he really need to say it?] But I have to try for that very same reason. I want to protect you every bit as much as you want to protect me.
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He knows why. Of course he knows why. Jack is so important to him that it's ridiculous, and he has to swallow a lump in his throat. Johnny softens, rubbing at his face. He feels oddly, strangely helpless and warmed all at once. ]
I don't want you to get hurt, or -- [ He can't say it. He can't even bring himself to consider such a terrible, damned thing. ]
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I have the mail that you gave me, and a fireproof cloak. If these things are as big as they say, they can't be fast. Cearul can get me away from them.
[All the little reassurances, whatever good they'll do. He smiles gently at him.]
I plan on coming home to our bed, so don't be inviting anyone else into it just yet.
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He's warmer than usual to compensate, to heat up those freezing fingers (he must have been practicing for too long). He kisses him back, keeping Jack's hands clasped between his own. Little reassurances, the way Jack drives the thought away from Johnny's mind, terrible as it is to contemplate. In fact, Johnny had recoiled from the very idea of it, rejecting the thought with every fiber of his being the way he rejects Jack's quip now. ]
There isn't going to be anyone else. I don't want anyone else. [ He presses his forehead against his, bringing their joined hands to his lips. Johnny kisses Jack's fingers, eyes lidding. ] I think you've permanently ruined me for other people, Jack. What am I going to do about that?
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But his words are even warmer than his hands, and bring feeling into every part of him.]
There's nothing for it. [And one or both of them should despair at that, being so tangled together with another person. But it makes Jack smile.] I guess we both have to survive.
action;
[ Johnny's hands cup Jack's face in them, and he's uncharacteristically serious, brows knitting. He's going to extract this promise from him no matter what. Johnny doesn't know when his life had become so entwined with Jack's, but it doesn't matter, and it's too late for him to want to do anything about it now. ]
I don't care what you have to do, but you do it and you come back to me, okay?
[ He sighs, pressing his forehead to his, thumb smoothing over Jack's cheekbone. ] Sometimes I wish you'd just do what I say.
[ But they both know better -- they would both come to hate that in time. ]
action;
[Jack actually snorts at hearing Johnny say the words about him. He lets his arms rest over Johnny's strong shoulders, holding him close.]
And I'm grateful that it's never been granted. I love everything that you are, Johnny Storm, the good and the bad. I don't fight for courts or worlds, I fight for the chance to come home to you.
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[ Johnny finally smiles, but it's small and tired. Even so, it makes Johnny happy to hear it from him. Months ago, he would never have imagined hearing that from him, but now, it makes him all the more fierce and determined to fight for the both of them and his world, to keep his loved ones safe.
He dreams of taking Jack home to his world one day, and he huffs softly before he wraps his arms around him and picks him up, hauling the man into his arms and walking him to their bed. ]
You're getting sappy in your old age, Jack. [ But he's beaming at him when he places him against the pillows. ] And I'm gonna burn down everything to get to you if you don't keep your promise. We're always gonna come back to each other. [ He pauses. ] I should really make you that blood necklace soon.
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[It surprises him when he picks him up, but Jack quickly realizes that it shouldn't. It's so very much a thing he would do.]
You're the one practically carrying me over the threshold. [He shoots back, smiling and reclining back comfortable. Jack lifts a hand to his face, idle touchings.] I don't need you blood against my skin. [He taps a finger against his chest.] As long as it pumps through this.
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[ Johnny grasps Jack's hand, guiding him down to between his legs, right on his boner. Look, you don't say those kinds of things and not expect Johnny not to do it. But the gesture is more playful than sensuous, really. Underneath all the baron, he's still a frat boy. ]
-- this?
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You're ruining the moment.
[He's not. The normalcy of this is nice, they can forget all the terrible things for a little while. Jack gives his dick a squeeze.]
This does see more of your blood though, I'm sure of it.
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Who knows what the future holds for them?
He draws Jack's hand away after he feels that gentle squeeze, bringing it to his lips to press a kiss to his knuckles, more thoughtful than he normally is. He's still afraid to lose him, and it's a new, unpleasant feeling -- Johnny Storm is not usually afraid of anything. ]
How are you doing with your ice weapons?
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He lets go of his hand to open his palm. The ice crystals encase his hand before they start to form the dagger, an intricate handle and a sharp blade.]
I don't mind the cold, not when I have you to warm me up.
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[ Johnny frowns. It's a beautiful, marvellous thing that his lover could do, and he's fascinated. But all the same he's concerned; he's never cared for anyone the way he cares for Jack.
He's never been more attached to anyone, and he cups his face, free hand lightly resting on the ice encasing his hand. ]
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[Johnny's worried about it, but Jack doesn't want him to be, doesn't think there's a reason he should. It doesn't bring him any discomfort, and maybe that should trouble him, but it doesn't.
The numbness suits him. But the ice starts to melt, dripping immediately with Johnny's touch.]
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[ It takes a cosmic pair of pliers to extract Johnny Storm's mothering tendencies (he has 0). But alternatively, that rare sight can be seen when it comes to Jack Benjamin. He kisses his fingers, ice be damned, before taking both hands between his again and heating them up. ]
Do you think the Seelie will still come after us? I don't. But if we empty out this Spire, it could be easy pickings.
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[It's his war experience talking, though anyone with eyes can see the Void creeping closer.]
Besides, these things have no preference for court. They'll have their hands just as full.
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Johnny absently traces patterns over his lover's stomach, having notched Jack's shirt up to brush over taut muscles. ]
The natives should stay put. We just need to scatter all the shard bearers and lure them away from the spires. Maybe draw them towards the void. If we can't kill them, we might as well let something much bigger do it.
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And then it sinks in, and Jack pushes himself up onto his elbows, looking at Johnny with mild surprise.]
That's a brilliant plan.
[He's looking at Johnny with something akin to awe. It's not that he didn't think him capable of it, it's just a testament to how much he's learned and grown.]
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[ Johnny beams at him, brightening at Jack's reaction -- it had occurred to him only recently, and with his lover's expression comes a certain sort of excitement as he latches onto the theory. ]
I mean, why not, right? If those things are tearing up the landscape looking for shards, we might as well just toss them into the void. Problem solved.
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[Jack smiles, pulling him back down again.]
You're grown. It's quite handsome.
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Mmm, tell me more about how handsome you know I am. [ He says cheekily, and he leans down to kiss him briefly on his cheek, his nose, his lips, ever affectionate. But another idea's budding in his mind, the one Hiro previously offered: what about blood magic, then? ]
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[Jack smirks after he reconsiders, eyelids heavy as Johnny scatters affectionate little kisses. But he knows his lover well by now.]
What is it?
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Shadow, lurking in the corner, decides to join in too, soundlessly leaping from the floor to settle on Jack's feet. ]
So, Hiro mentioned blood magic, right? Maybe we can do that as another option, too. We can ask Lauralae? I mean it's less cool than pitching them into the void, but.
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[He ruffles his fingers through Johnny's hair idly. It's gotten longer. He likes it.]
I trust Lauralae's knowledge of it. I'll visit her rooms, if she'll allow.
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