slipped along the way

[unmarred]

(from here)

So... up the stairs they go, mostly side by side. Mark lags by a step or two.

There is a persistent silence.



"I... didn't think you'd react the way you did," he says finally. "I mean, I thought you might—that there might be something there, but not that you'd actually."

Comments

[thisvorlunatic]

That... is not the kind of communication Stalas was looking for, but it's clear enough to be going on with. He hugs back.

"I don't know the half of what your life's been like," he murmurs, "but for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

[unmarred]

Yep. Crying. So very much crying.

[thisvorlunatic]

"By the Stone..."

He feels intensely compassionate and a little overwhelmed. And bruised, that too, but hardly enough to be worth mentioning. Mark seems to be in more pain out of the two of them.

[unmarred]

Mark mumbles something unintelligible.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Um... what was that?"

[unmarred]

He mumbles again, then turns his face sideways to he's not speaking directly into Stalas's much-wept-on shirt.

"I said - it hurts me that you care. But it's a good hurt. I cannot remotely handle it but I don't for a second want it to stop."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I... all right. Good. Because I don't plan on stopping."

Very tentatively, he runs a hand down Mark's shaking back.

"I still don't understand... anything about you, almost. But I'd like to. I feel like we have some things in common."

[unmarred]

"Like hilariously shitty lives? Yeah," says Mark. "I think so too." He nestles his head against Stalas's chest and sighs.

[thisvorlunatic]

"I bet nobody's tried to eat you recently."

[unmarred]

"I'll give you that," says Mark. "Bet nobody's - hmm - I'm not sure nobody's had you tortured, actually. Have they?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"...They haven't."

[unmarred]

"Sorry. I mean - I'm not - it hurts you to think about it; I'm sorry for that."

[thisvorlunatic]

"You're the one it happened to," says Stalas, hugging him gently. "...Look, I have the feeling neither of us is going to want to let go anytime soon and I don't know about you but I don't look forward to standing here for an hour. Bed?"

[unmarred]

"...Sure."

He unhugs, very reluctantly, and goes to curl up on the bed, taking off his shoes on the way.

[thisvorlunatic]

Stalas leaves his boots beside Mark's shoes, and his sword and all his daggers beside those.

He's a little hesitant about the next part, but only waits a few seconds to gather his courage before lying down next to Mark and embracing him.

[unmarred]

Mark snuggles up and resumes crying into Stalas's chest, somewhat less desperately than before.

"I bet this wasn't how you expected this to go," he mutters self-consciously.

[thisvorlunatic]

"I... can't say I'm exactly surprised. Even though I wasn't expecting it."

[unmarred]

"Mm. Yeah... I see what you mean," he says.

A pause, and then: "You left somebody behind, didn't you?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"...Eh?"

[unmarred]

"Someone... in your world. That you wanted but couldn't have. And you don't think you'll ever see again."

[thisvorlunatic]

"How do you do that? Yes," says Stalas. "My second. My best friend. I loved him, and I... I know he cared for me, but I can't believe he might have cared for me that way. I never - told him anything about it." He sighs. "And now we're both exiled, but at least he was meant to survive his."

[unmarred]

"I just know how you work," Mark explains in a murmur. "You're harder to figure out than Miles, most of my life has been spent in an intensive study of Miles, but I'm learning. And everything you do tells me things."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I think I'm getting used to it," says Stalas. He discovers that he wants to rub the back of Mark's neck, considers this urge for a moment, and then goes for it.

[unmarred]

Mark giggles softly.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Well, that's an improvement on the crying."