guylining | Open post

[ Nate takes a long while to wake up. He feels comfortable and warm, and he shifts a little in the grip of a familiar pair of arms.

Thorn.

Last night comes back to him in pieces. He can feel the stickiness of their dried cum between them, is aware of his soft cock still halfway inside Thorn's ass. He looks up at his still-sleeping face, and Nate lets out a breath.

There's no way he can extract himself without waking Thorn.

Gently, he eases back, just loosening his grip for now. ]

( Thorn slowly begins to stir as he feels the shift in Nate from sleep to awake. for a second, he forgets where they are. forgets about Duplicity or anything else. it's like being back in one of the bubbles. just the two of them.

instinctively, he tightens his arms around Nate like he did then....

then he remembers himself.

he loosens his grip. ) Sorry. You were trying to get up.

[ Nate stops moving, right in that instant. It feels just like it used to, the two of them together.

So he leans into it, eyes closing, tension leaving him in a soft exhale. ]

No, just shifting, [ He murmurs, and leans his head back against Thorn's shoulder. ] I can stay.

( Thorn's breathing is shallow. he should tell him to go. they should go back to how it was. keep their distance...

but Nate feels so good in his arms.

he rests his cheek against his head tentatively. ) If you like.... a little longer can't hurt.

[ Nate sets his hand on Thorn's chest, and his fingers move gently, flicking through the smattering of fine hair. He turns his head to kiss his shoulder, and then rests there.

Thoughts come to him slowly, as he wakes. This is dangerous. He doesn't really want to be thinking.

But he can't help it. ]

I know you're...Ineroth, [ He says, his tone careful. ] But you're him. You're Thorn. You even smile like him, it can't just be an act.

I didn't lie. Thorn is a piece of me. I'm a piece of him.

It's not an act.... ( he answers softly. carefully. )

But that doesn't mean I'm the way you remember Thorn. We're both changed by each other. I'll never be me again and... he's not the exact same man you remember either. ( we. we aren't the exact same man. )

[ Nate looks up at him, really looks at him. ]

Do you still want to hurt me?

[ It's a question he never would've asked of Thorn, never would've had the need to ask. But Ineroth had hunted him for years, had wanted to consume him and his magic until there was nothing left. ]

Will you hurt me?

( Thorn gets caught in Nate's gaze and he can't look away.

and he can't lie when Nate looks at him like that. asks him so clearly. )

Never on purpose. ( he says softly. then closes his eyes. )

But I am a demon, Nate. My very nature makes me dangerous, whether I like it or not. There's no off switch for it.

[ Nate watches his face, watches the way he moves. How sad he looks.

He'd thought Thorn was pushing him away because the part of him that was Ineroth still hated him. Maybe that's not true at all. ]

Are you afraid? [ He says, quietly. ] Of...being what you are. Of what...your nature makes you want?

( okay Nate no need to cut that close....

Thorn hesitates... then gives a brief nod. ) I'm not called insatiable because I choose to never be satisfied. It's the nature of my demonic being. I can't be. And I don't know what that means long-term.

Or worse in this fucking city that seems designed to pull the worst out of a person. ( he snarls. )

[ Nate chews his lip, but leans closer to Thorn, his cheek on his chest. ]

What does that mean for you here? What is it that you're...craving?

Because people come back to life here. Not all of them, but most.

[ Nate had. ]

I crave everything. ( Thorn rests his head back on the pillow now, looking at the ceiling above. )

Food. Vitality. Power. All those things I can fill my body with.

It's always there, Nate. ( he says softly. )

[ Nate nods.

Then his fingers splay on Thorn's chest. ]

So, then I'll help you, [ he says, as though that's a foregone conclusion. ] I'll be here, and I won't let you get out of control. You can manage it, I know you can.

( Thorn's gaze darkens as he looks down at Nate. )

This city has different things that effect judgement and control.

You can't help with that.

Yeah, but we're all in danger from that.

[ Nate looks up at him, meeting his eyes. ]

None of this means we should be apart. You're still you. Even if you're also him, you're you.

And when my blade is cutting your throat while I smile? ( he traces the line of the scar on Nate's throat. ) Will I still feel like Thorn then?

Is that what you want?

[ Nate reaches up to deactivate his eyebrow charm, making that scar visible. Ragged and ugly, it cuts a diagonal line across his throat. ]

To open this again? To kill me. Is that what you'll do?

When Duplicity gets in my head? When they drown me out until all I'm left as is a demon?

How will you stop them?

If I knew that, I wouldn't be trapped here.

[ Nate looks down, but he presses closer to Thorn. ]

I've been attacked, I've been killed. I'm not dismissing the threat, but I don't think...avoiding each other is the answer. I'll still be under threat. I'd rather be by your side than not.

You'll be under threat from me, Nate. ( Thorn says softly.

his fingers dig into Nate's side, holding him closer. ) I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you. Even knowing they forced me to.

[ Nate presses his lips together. ]

Well, not for nothing, but I fended you off for a very long time.

Thorn, I love you. I can't just pretend like I don't, or that you're not here, or any of that.

... I love you too, Nate. ( he presses his forehead down against his head. )

I'm not the same man you fell in love with, though.

But you are.

[ Nate looks up at him. He's aware that he's getting upset, that emotion is starting to win out over reason and he's not keeping a clear head.

He still keeps going. ]

Just because you're also...something else, doesn't mean you're not everything I fell in love with.

I can't just stay away from you, and after last night, I don't think you can stay away from me either. So we just have to work this out some other way.

( he can't stay away. the last month away has been painful. knowing Nate was here too. just out of reach...

he can't. he can't let his emotion and Nate's lead them down a dangerous path.

but Nate isn't wrong. last night proved they can't stay away from each other. )

You can't let me hurt you Nate. If this city makes me dangerous to you, you have to abandon me until I'm better again. Or kill me. You can't let me hurt you. I can't live with that.

[ Nate reads a bargain in those words, and at once, he jumps on it. He wraps his hand around Thorn's. ]

So then I'll find a way to stop you, if it comes to that. I can do that.

What I can't do is abandon you, abandon us. I'm supposed to be with you. You know I am.

Open post

The morning after (everempty)

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