"Try 'somewhere that does not require that you bleed too much'. It's all well and good when you're inflicting the wounds, Hikaru, but my couch can only absorb so much."
He hopes he can joke about that. You've patched each other up enough times this should be standard procedure, but he also knows that you're still calibrating. Why else would you have resisted him taking you here until he'd reassured you that no one else would be around.
"I can always buy you a new one. Or get this one cleaned."
You can joke about it: that much becomes obvious, in the way this one has just responded. As things stand, his chest doesn't feel nearly as tight anymore, and his head's no longer so full of noise.
Perhaps this office, much like your room or any of the other haunts Riley has kept for himself throughout the ages, can be a safe place for him to retreat to yet again.
Riley's going to smile at that -- a wider one this time, he's clearly pleased.
"Well, if the blood doesn't come off right, I can just tell Liandrin that the patches 'add character' to an otherwise boring choice of fabric."
He'll have it cleaned, and it will be spotless, and no one will ever be the wiser. If they do know, you can both deny to high heaven that anything ever transpired tonight.
That makes Hikaru laugh, soft and fond and amused all at once. He can imagine pretty clearly what the look on Liandrin's face will be if she spotted something like that...
...And now he's going to put his last cigarette of the moment out.
"I should get back to my room. Might as well try to get some sleep."
It settles him a little, to hear you laugh. To know that there is genuine fondness and amusement there. Perhaps he should have a word with the others at some point about how too often familiarity can breed contempt if one is not careful.
He won't offer to walk you to your room even if he wants to. He's been watching the way you've been moving in these last few minutes and he can say with good conscience that while you are not physically well yet, you will be, soon enough.
( As for matters concerning the heart... well. That is for another time. )
"Good night, Hikaru. May your dreams be sweet." He means that, by the way.
The gratitude for what you have given tonight is written in his eyes, plain as day in spite of the mix of everything else that's weighing him down. This is a step, isn't it? That's all that matters.
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no subject
"Try 'somewhere that does not require that you bleed too much'. It's all well and good when you're inflicting the wounds, Hikaru, but my couch can only absorb so much."
He hopes he can joke about that. You've patched each other up enough times this should be standard procedure, but he also knows that you're still calibrating. Why else would you have resisted him taking you here until he'd reassured you that no one else would be around.
no subject
You can joke about it: that much becomes obvious, in the way this one has just responded. As things stand, his chest doesn't feel nearly as tight anymore, and his head's no longer so full of noise.
Perhaps this office, much like your room or any of the other haunts Riley has kept for himself throughout the ages, can be a safe place for him to retreat to yet again.
no subject
"Well, if the blood doesn't come off right, I can just tell Liandrin that the patches 'add character' to an otherwise boring choice of fabric."
He'll have it cleaned, and it will be spotless, and no one will ever be the wiser. If they do know, you can both deny to high heaven that anything ever transpired tonight.
no subject
...And now he's going to put his last cigarette of the moment out.
"I should get back to my room. Might as well try to get some sleep."
no subject
He won't offer to walk you to your room even if he wants to. He's been watching the way you've been moving in these last few minutes and he can say with good conscience that while you are not physically well yet, you will be, soon enough.
( As for matters concerning the heart... well. That is for another time. )
"Good night, Hikaru. May your dreams be sweet." He means that, by the way.
no subject
The gratitude for what you have given tonight is written in his eyes, plain as day in spite of the mix of everything else that's weighing him down. This is a step, isn't it? That's all that matters.