extent | duplicitynet

on my bed in my bedroom, just waiting for you

i can do the portal if you're wiped?

Edited 2022-08-21 10:15 (UTC)

i'll do it, i wanna see where i'm at, just get ur catching arms ready ;)

[ the portal opens more or less right after nick hits send, and it all works more or less as expected. the only difference is how tired looks as he steps through, in a loose fitting shirt and sweats that hang off his hips. there's a bandage wrapped around one of his wrists, the other ringed with scraped bruises. connect-the-dot bites and bruises dot along his throat down to his collarbone, and there's more hidden under the shirt yet to be seen, but nick looks happy enough as he collapses more or less face first into nate's bed. ]

Are all my limbs still attached? [ he turns his head out of the mattress to look at nate, grinning a little as he holds his hand out. ] Hi.

[ Nick appears, looking like he's been in several fights, but with an expression that matches that blissed out vibe Nate's been getting from him.

He grins, and scoots up against him to gather him up. Nate hasn't bothered with a t-shirt and just has some loose-fitting shorts on. His fingers trace Nick's arms, and he dips his head to kiss his cheek. ]

More or less. You look happy. Like chill and happy.

I feel--good, like really good.

[ he hasn't ached like this in as long as he can remember, too used to just healing away any discomforts almost as quickly as they occur. nick is quick to twist into nate's side, quicker to turn his head and steal a kiss. ]

I didn't realise how much I needed out of my own head, I guess.

[ Nate curves into him, kissing him softly. His hand comes up to cup his jaw. ]

It happens. There's a lot going on.

[ Nate nudges close. ]

I don't want to heal anything that's feeling good.

It all feels good.

[ sort of. more accurate might be that nick still feels good, regardless of the fact that it's a little uncomfortable to lie on his stomach, of the throb in his wrist, or the stinging reminders any time he stretches a little too much.

he tips his head into the touch, presses his cheek against nate's palm and smiles all the more for the simple touch. it's not like there hasn't been any gentle touches over the last few days, there was plenty of affection even amongst the violence, but after the intensity of the party he's craving exactly this more than ever. just nate, just him, no frills or fuss. ]

I don't need to keep any of it. Start wherever you like.

Okay.

[ Nate smiles down at him. He has a plan for this. With his head still dipped against Nick, he whispers a soft spell, and then gently lifts Nick's arm. He unwraps the bandage, and then gently kisses Nick's wrist. The spell starts to work, gently easing swelling and bruising and straining.

He moves up Nick's arm, touching light kisses to every bruise and blemish, and the spell sets in everywhere that he places a kiss. His hands slide up Nick's back, and he presses closer. ]

How's that feel?

[ he likes it precisely because it doesn't feel like nick's particular brand of healing. it's different, it's nate, as distinctive as a fingerprint. nick watches, a captive audience for the trail of kisses as the clean cut at his wrist knits back together, as the bruises and scrapes fade like they were never there at all. ]

Feels good. It feels like you.

[ he just has to take advantage of nate moving up close to him again to kiss him, nick can't not. it's just too easy to press his lips to nate's, and to sigh, satisfied, against his mouth. ]

[ Nate smiles into that kiss, his body gently pressing against Nick's while his hands slide over his back. He wouldn't say he's generally rough with Nick, unless they're aiming for that, but right now he's being especially soft. His hands push gently under his t-shirt, easing it up before he breaks from their kiss to pull it over his head. ]

Usually I'd spell my hands for this, but...

[ He dips his head, brushing healing kisses over Nick's throat. ]

I like it better like this.

[ it's not really about the healing, after all. nick will be back up to his usual function sooner rather than later, he could have dealt with the after effects of the party then. he'd already worn himself ragged dealing with the worst of the injuries, everything left behind on him now could wait--but that's not really why he's here.

nate's lips are gentle on his throat and nick's eyes flutter shut at the soft touch. a million miles away from harsh fingers digging marks into his neck. he reaches up, touches his fingers to the back of nate's head, threads his fingers gently through nate's hair. ]

I love you, you know. So much.

[ His hands are careful as they ease Nick back into the pillows, giving himself space to work on his chest. More bruises, more marks. Nate's lips brush kisses across them, sweet and soft, each one soothing and healing the skin it leaves behind.

He looks up, feeling hands in his hair. His face is flushed, his gaze warm, and he smiles again. ]

I do know.

[ He leans in, nose nudging Nick's jaw. ]

I can feel it. I can always feel it, right here.

[ His fingers brush across the skull scar on Nick's chest. He gently eases his legs apart to kneel between them, and works his way down again, kissing every bruise on Nick's stomach, down into the curve towards his groin, and then over his hips. He's gently easing Nick's pants down at the same time. ]

I always want you to feel it. Sometimes I don't know what to do with all the love I have for you, Nate. It just feels so big.

[ it's a privilege of a problem to have, and one nick wouldn't ever want to be without. it's a simple constant, nick loves nate, for so long that he can't remember what it was like to not love him anymore. there surely was a time, somewhere in that little window between meeting nate and deciding that he was nick's person, but it couldn't have been for long.

all he remembers now is this —the warmth he feels when he's with him, that love echoed right back, as fierce and big as his own. nate's hands find nick's waistband and he lifts his hips to make easing the sweats off go a little smoother, and even that feels like love. nate's lips brush over dark bruises bitten into his hips, and nick opens his eyes, tilts his head to watch. ]

You're the first thing I feel when I wake up, and the last thing before I go to sleep.

[ There's bruises, teeth marks. Nate can see the map of how Nick was used, he can imagine how many hands and mouths and bodies it must have been. He kisses them all away, and then his hands are petting across smooth soft skin and tracing the lines of Nick's tattoos. ]

I know.

When I woke up, from my coma? You were the first thing I felt. When everything was weird and nothing made sense, you made sense.

[ Thanks to that same coma, Nate remembers exactly what it was like to exist every day and not have Nick running through his veins. He knows he wouldn't change this for the world.

He climbs back up Nick's body to press against him, to let their bodies slot in against each other. He slips his arms around him, a gentle hold. ]

I don't think I make sense without you.

[ nate back in his arms feels right, he always does. nick winds his arm round him in turn, hooks his foot around nate's leg too just to feel a little closer. turns his head into nate's cheek like a sunflower into sunlight. ]

When you were asleep, everything felt so quiet. [ and when he was dead, too, but nick doesn't want to talk about that right now. he just wants to nose into nate's cheek, nuzzle in gently, trail his lips to nate's ear. ] I'm more, because of you. I'm more...me.

[ Nate thinks, he's glad Nick didn't feel what he felt when he was in hell. The fear, the loneliness, the desperation - if that had transferred, it would only have hurt Nick. It's good that it didn't.

But it's better, having him back now. Their bond is a warm glow between them. Nick's skin feels soft and good, his lips feel sweet, their closeness makes his heart race. This feeling is belonging. He tightens his hold, letting them settle together. His hands stroke down Nick's back, and they guide more generalised healing magic through him. He wants him to feel restored. ]

I would never take it back. This bond. I wouldn't want to live without it, not after knowing what it was like.

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