[His eyes were forced from staring at the ceiling to his lover as Richard intended with those hands on his face. Instinctively, he curled his upper lip in a faint snarl, though this was not the first nor would it be the last time Richard mandhandled him. No, in defiance and to seize some control of the situation back, his lifted a hand to settle it on his lover's hip as if Richard needed to be steadied while leaning over him.]
No, you will not. [He would sooner burn everything that they had and were to the ground than actually lose Jinx. In an ultimatum like that, Richard would lose. There was no question in his mind, and even if Jinx eventually did abandon him, he would fight tooth and nail to retrieve her. It would be his entire focus.
But that wasn't the ultimatum. He remained tense as he listened to the proposition, fingers tightened under the water into a fist. She was flitted off for that boy, but also, she was flighty and skittish. Since she had returned, she seemed on the verge of slipping away as if he or anyone else wouldn't notice her absence. Inx had fallen by the wayside, and regardless of her touting herself as the Queen of Zaun, Silco knew the truth. It was a moniker, a title with no weight, least of all here. Jinx's actions could change the course of the entire city, yet it was wild and free, random and chaotic, action and reaction. It took a strong hand to build within it, to use the stirred up mess to the advantage of them and their people.
He stared at Richard, lifting his hand from the the younger man's hip so that he could use a finger to push back the ruff of bangs and tuck it behind Richard's ear. Then his hand dropped so he could wrap his fingers around that burn scarred arm, sliding his hand down the mottled smooth and roughened flesh. Their heterochromia and scars had attracted them to one another, but it had been something deeper too. Richard was ambitious, intelligent and strategic. Richard was a threat in a similar way that Silco was a threat.
They could achieve considerable together. They could elevate and harm each other in equal terrible depths. It frightened him because he had been there before, the rebirth at the Pilt, and he considered himself smarter and on the look out for such dangers again. The isolation had kept him separate for many years, trusting a select few. Yet Richard had slipped in beyond his guard, settled in a spot that had been vacant for all those years, and as much as he would like to deny it, he knew.
Life partners. Ambitious partners. This was not where he had intended this lounging in the bath to travel. Yet here they were on the cusp of an ultimatum, and he was not so easily lulled into the sweetness of Richard's words. No, he looked at it shrewdly while trying - and failing - to not examine his own fear and anger and desires and care for the younger man.
His jaw worked under Richard's hands, eyes studying the younger man even as his fingers stroked their way back up his lover's scarred arm.]
You understand what you are offering, don't you? That we will be united in all things: our lives, our emotions, our ambition. This is a path we cannot and will not deviate from each other unless it is in betrayal and death. You will be mine, and I will be yours. Is that what you want?
[Why was his heart beating so quickly? Why was a flush rising in his face? Why was there a lump in his throat?]
no subject
No, you will not. [He would sooner burn everything that they had and were to the ground than actually lose Jinx. In an ultimatum like that, Richard would lose. There was no question in his mind, and even if Jinx eventually did abandon him, he would fight tooth and nail to retrieve her. It would be his entire focus.
But that wasn't the ultimatum. He remained tense as he listened to the proposition, fingers tightened under the water into a fist. She was flitted off for that boy, but also, she was flighty and skittish. Since she had returned, she seemed on the verge of slipping away as if he or anyone else wouldn't notice her absence. Inx had fallen by the wayside, and regardless of her touting herself as the Queen of Zaun, Silco knew the truth. It was a moniker, a title with no weight, least of all here. Jinx's actions could change the course of the entire city, yet it was wild and free, random and chaotic, action and reaction. It took a strong hand to build within it, to use the stirred up mess to the advantage of them and their people.
He stared at Richard, lifting his hand from the the younger man's hip so that he could use a finger to push back the ruff of bangs and tuck it behind Richard's ear. Then his hand dropped so he could wrap his fingers around that burn scarred arm, sliding his hand down the mottled smooth and roughened flesh. Their heterochromia and scars had attracted them to one another, but it had been something deeper too. Richard was ambitious, intelligent and strategic. Richard was a threat in a similar way that Silco was a threat.
They could achieve considerable together. They could elevate and harm each other in equal terrible depths. It frightened him because he had been there before, the rebirth at the Pilt, and he considered himself smarter and on the look out for such dangers again. The isolation had kept him separate for many years, trusting a select few. Yet Richard had slipped in beyond his guard, settled in a spot that had been vacant for all those years, and as much as he would like to deny it, he knew.
Life partners. Ambitious partners. This was not where he had intended this lounging in the bath to travel. Yet here they were on the cusp of an ultimatum, and he was not so easily lulled into the sweetness of Richard's words. No, he looked at it shrewdly while trying - and failing - to not examine his own fear and anger and desires and care for the younger man.
His jaw worked under Richard's hands, eyes studying the younger man even as his fingers stroked their way back up his lover's scarred arm.]
You understand what you are offering, don't you? That we will be united in all things: our lives, our emotions, our ambition. This is a path we cannot and will not deviate from each other unless it is in betrayal and death. You will be mine, and I will be yours. Is that what you want?
[Why was his heart beating so quickly? Why was a flush rising in his face? Why was there a lump in his throat?]