benumbing | locket.

She's alive. No serious injuries. There's been a lot of shock.

I can do it, Johnny.

I'm going to burn their whole damn cult to the ground.

No, I gotta do this too. He was a friend. He was uh -- [ He clears his throat, chest tight. ] He was cool. I -- [ He laughs a little, a distinctly humorless, sharp sound. ] That's stupid. Those are stupid last words. I should have been here.

He'll not know the difference now.

[It's gentle. He doesn't want Johnny to force himself, to hurt himself more.]

You couldn't have stopped this, Johnny. No one even knew until it was over.

[ Jack sounds more gentle than he's ever heard him be, quiet and calm, and he knows more than anything that he wants Jack right by his side. He wants to make sure he's safe with his own hands, see with his own eyes. ]

I want to see you. You're not allowed to die on me, Jack. Not ever.

[There's a hum. Johnny's words are startlingly sincere. There's a soft purr in Jack's voice when he speaks, a little smile. He's not going to let you be miserable, fireball, not when he's known that feeling intimately.]

Die before I get to fuck you? Let any enemy try it.

[ Johnny's so surprised by that comment that he can't help but huff, a sound of amusement despite the awful situation. Jack, he realizes, allows him to focus. Lets him know that he's not alone. ]

No one's trying anything with you. I'll set them on fire first.

[It strikes him that he's never actually had someone be protective over him before. It's new, but endearing.]

No one will try anything with me. I'm coming outside now.

[ Johnny's waiting for him, staring up at the -- at Brennan, hands clenched in fists at his sides. Someone got into the wolf's head and made him hang himself, suicide but not, and the idea of it makes him sick.

So when Jack comes into view, Johnny says nothing, and strides immediately over to him, catching a hold of the prince and taking him fiercely into his arms. ]

[It could happen to any of them, Seelie or Unseelie alike. Johnny's surely realized it now too, the horror that comes with the power to get inside someone's head.]

Shh.

[Jack immediately goes to soothing him, cupping the back of his head, fingers in those short strands of hair.]

I'm glad you're back.

[ He knows the horror of it, feels it sit in his chest, a wretched, terrible thing. But Johnny has never been cowed by horror or loss, and when Jack holds him right back, soothes him with a gentleness he greedily takes in, he presses his lips to the curve of his neck, his hand moving down to grasp Jack's other wrist, rubbing over the scars he'd left long ago. ]

Me, too. I'm glad you're okay. [ It could so easily have been Jack. ] I'm not leaving you alone after this.

I'm fine, Johnny.

[Oh, but you precious man, what're you doing to him. Jack gives those short strands a playful tug.]

There's things to do. I'll stay with you.

[ Things to do. Yes, things. Johnny reluctantly lets him go, but holds on to his wrist anyway. He stares for a moment, then sighs. ]

I'll go and burn through the rope and lower him down slowly. Can you catch him?

I'll catch him.

[It's the body of someone who mattered to the few people who mattered to Jack. He would never drop it. He'll even cover it with his own jacket out of respect.]

[ He goes and does it. Trusts Jack to do his part and he does. But then comes the difficult part. Johnny's valiantly working on neutrality and failing miserably.

There's something different, jarring about looking into the face of the recently deceased and knowing they're a friend. "But I just saw him the day before --"

He looks at Jack, quietly helpless. ] I don't know what to do next. Do we leave him here? I don't want to.

We take his body inside with us. Find a place for it where it won't be disturbed.

[Jack's voice stays calm, deliberately gentle.]

We make sure it's what Ariadne wants, and then we bury him.

[There's the matter of a coffin. He deserves that much. Jack can find out the details of that.]

Okay.

[ Jack is good at this. He's good at doing what's necessary. Johnny steps back for Jack to take the lead, on hand to help him with what needs to be done. He goes to lift him up after a moment.

~~The~~ Brennan's body is cold. Heavy. Ariadne must be devastated. Jack's jacket looks good over him. Like some sort of badge of honor. ]

He probably would have bitched about how his fur was warmer than this.

[Jack says nothing, just nods softly and places his hand against the small of Johnny's back. It's the sort of touch that's intimate, reserved only for certain people, meant to guide as well.]

[ Johnny takes comfort in that. The people around them part, somber and quiet, and when they find a cool, dark room to place Brennan in, Johnny turns to him, curious. ]

How do you do it? How do you not... freak out?

[It's a reasonable question. And Jack's not sure Johnny would like the answer. It makes him feel small to think about having less heart. A part of him wishes to be better, to be worthy. A part of him knows it's too late.]

Experience. [He sighs.] If freaking out brought back the dead we'd know real chaos. But it doesn't.

[ He doesn't think it makes Jack any smaller, or any less than himself. Jack just has a different set of experiences, things that Johnny doesn't share. As far as Johnny's concerned, all of it doesn't make him any less worthy. It doesn't make the fireball less enamored with him.

He's quiet for a moment, and in this room he takes his hand in his. Squeezes. ]

Thanks. We also need to get you a new jacket.

Don't worry about the jacket.

[And he means it. Once he had what he thought was the finest of everything. He looks at Johnny and realizes that his opinion of "the finest" has shifted.]

It's not like I need it to keep me warm.

[ What the hell, Jack?

Johnny blinks at that, and despite himself is endeared, warmed by the words. Jack's different, he thinks; the man had believes in him, and that is very rare, precious feeling. Jack doesn't dismiss him the way others always have, relegated him to little more than a playboy with a host of bad ideas. No, he makes him want to be better. ]

Is it going to be weird if I kissed you here? I mean... maybe not the super intense making out, but I really want to kiss you right now.

[He wouldn't, not anymore. He's the party prince who's only good at celebrating. Jack knows how that feels.]

So what's stopping you?

[ Jack is more than that to him, so much more. He makes a soft noise, maybe apologises to Brennan because this is just inappropriate -- but the idea of having someone to share this moment with you, someone you really like; that's important, isn't it?

He tugs him forward, his hand curling around Jack's scarred wrist, the other curling around his chin to tip his face up to his. Johnny kisses him, soft and slow. Chaste but affectionate. ] You're amazing.

I know.

[Jack pulls back before Johnny can feel inspired to go for another, taking his hand instead.] Let's go see to the Baroness.

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