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user name: nick
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Comments

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i think i can spare a few, what's up?

[snikthatch]

still got that healing thing going on?

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uh yeah it's kind of permanent

why what happened?

[snikthatch]

nothing happened I just want to test something out

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super ominous just fyi

but sure

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just come over to the gym when you've got time

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i can come over in a bit, i'm not busy

[ well, he is. but he'll make time. ]

[snikthatch]

no hurry

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couple of hours?

[snikthatch]

sure, I'm not going anywhere

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ok, see u in a bit
dont miss me too much etc x

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I'll be in the back

[ He'll let Nick find his own way to the new extension on the gym's services, confident that if he happens to ask any of the gym's regulars he'll be pointed in the right direction. He's finishing off putting some waterproof stain on the wood around the holes cut in the walls, so the space looks and smells more like a workshop than anything else right now, though it's clear enough what the intention is.

For Logan himself, he's in jeans and a cheap t-shirt, back to normal, apparently having been restored overnight -- the power of a healing factor switched back on. ]

[extent]

[ nick isn't worried, because he doesn't really worry about anything that logan seeks him out to help with, because it's never really anything drastic. he finishes up at work, doesn't really rush, and by the time he turns up at the gym he's more or less talked himself out of the weird vibe of it all too.

he heads straight from the theatre, arrives reeling of magic and potions, and he doesn't even bother to make a cursory effort at looking like he might work out at some point today, maybe. he just heads straight to the back, hip against the door frame as he looks over logan's handiwork. ]

If you wanted to test out a glory hole you could have just asked.

[snikthatch]

[ It's nice to be able to smell him arriving, even under the stink of paint and chemical solvents and freshly cut wood. Logan doesn't bother glancing up at Nick when he turns up in the doorway, but he's keenly aware of him nevertheless. ]

If I wanted to test out a glory hole I woulda just sent you a picture of one and waited for you to turn up.

[ It's a joke, but he's also pretty sure it's true as well. He finishes the last coat on the planks he's working on, then sets the brush down and pulls himself to his feet, turning to look at Nick properly. ]

Back to normal. [ Obviously. But holds out a hand and flexes his fingers anyway, as if demonstrating. Or maybe just reassuring himself. ] Except for this.

[ He reaches down to the hem of his t-shirt and pulls it up under his chin, exposing his chest, once more covered with a pelt of dark hair. And underneath it, harder to see but still there and still red-pink, the brand across his pecs. ]

You mind havin' a go at it?

[extent]

I might've made you ask nicely too.

[ it's a joke because it's not, not really, but logan's construction project should be able to play into that nicely enough in the future. at any rate, nick is just about too caught up in tender, mushy sort of feelings to get too distracted by the horniness of it all.

like how logan gets up and doesn't grunt in pain, or like how nick can't basically hear the creak of joints and it's a relief. it's enough to make him smile--so it's a shame really, that it doesn't last. ]

It didn't go?

[ predictably nick draws close, a hand already outstretched to press his fingertips light to the edges of the nasty brand mark. ]

Yeah. Um, yeah, I can try and fix this, sit down.

[snikthatch]

Everythin' else healed up.

[ He's not the only one feeling a mixture of relief and concern. At first he'd thought it meant his healing was still on the fritz, but in every other way that matters it's all working how it's supposed to, just not for the letters etched in tender lines across his skin.

He lifts his free hand to briefly, almost instinctively, touch his fingertips to Nick's wrist, then he drops it again. Moves back to sit carefully on the end of a bench he's been using as a place to put his tools. After a beat of thought he just pulls his shirt off and tosses it aside so he doesn't have to keep holding it up. ]

[extent]

Figures.

[ it'a exactly the kind of spiteful move that nick would expect from the city, but he's good at not getting angry and he's going to keep not being angry about it, even if looking at the raw marks makes his stomach twist painfully. it's not helpful, so he just frowns a little with focus.

nick comes to stand in front of logan, hand settles on his chest, and he murmurs a soft warning, "this will hurt" before he starts to work. in theory, this should be easy. nick has healed brands off his own skin without even thinking about it, there should be no effort at all to healing something like this. but the magic winds through logan's skin, tries to pull apart the damage and reform the way it should, and it just--doesn't.

his frown deepens. he exhales out a quick frustrated huff. ]

Just....hang on.

[snikthatch]

[ Truthfully, Logan doesn't expect it to work. As Nick sets his hand on him he wonders if he should mention that. If it's managed to resist his own prodigious healing powers, there's clearly something fucked up going on. But he wants to try, so he sits still and feels the warmth of Nick's palm and the strange buzzing sensation of magical warmth spreading over his skin.

At first it's easy to ignore, but once he starts to focus his mind on it, the squirmy not-quite-heat feeling pulsing against him becomes more and more uncomfortable. He can almost sense the magic fighting against itself, or against his own healing or whatever it is. It feels like an animal digging against him, something mindless and hungry. Teeth gritted, he steadies his breathing.

Eventually he can't stand any more. He reaches up to catch Nick's wrist. ]

Stop. Nick. It ain't gonna happen. [ His grip relaxes a bit. ] It's okay.

[extent]

[ it's not working and it should, and it's all the more frustrating because nick should have seen it coming. that doesn't mean he doesn't try, he pushes harder, brow knitted with focus as he tries to brute force it with magic that was never meant for that. magic keeps flowing hard, and fast, and nick doesn't stop when his fingertips start to feel cold--

but he stops when logan's hand finds his wrist.

nick blinks like he's surprised, and some of the tension that he hadn't noticed building in his muscles bleeds away as he pulls that power back. it's quick, the absence immediate and noticeable when nick stops trying to push it so damn hard. ]

Sorry. [ he murmurs the word under his breath, stepping closer so that he can press his lips to logan's forehead, and nick knows that it's not his fault but it doesn't stop some vague notion of guilt from creeping in all the same. ] That...that should have worked.

[snikthatch]

Hey.

[ Logan tips his head back to look up at him and loops his arms around Nick's waist.

It's a kind of relief to have that particular question answered, though not necessarily a pleasant one. But he can push the worry aside for a moment or two as he tries to encourage the younger man forward and into his lap. ]

Hey, it's okay. I figured it was some kinda nonsense. Maybe they ain't done with me, or it'll go away on its own. Thanks for helpin' out. C'mere and sit down before you fall over.

[extent]

I'm not going to fall over.

[ but he sits down anyway. nick settles in logan's lap, and there's relief in the way that he doesn't hear the huff of painful joints in response, at least. he's back to normal, in every way except one. that has to be a good thing.

this time when his finger brushes light against the pink edge of one of the harsh lines, there's no magic to it. just a soft touch, and nick idly wondering if it looks slightly less tender, or if he's just trying to convince himself to make it feel better. ]

At least all your hair grew back. [ he doesn't much feel like making a joke but he does it anyway, even if there's not much comedic timing in a soft little murmur. ] At your age, baldness is a real risk.

[snikthatch]

[ There are lots of sayings about how you don't know what you've got until it's gone and Logan figures he ought to be grateful to be out of that haze of pain and fever. He certainly feels as though he has some time to make up for, which might account for the fact that he doesn't grumble when Nick touches the brand again, nor does the joke earn more than a brief grunt of affectionate amusement.

He tucks his chin to watch Nick's finger trace one of the letters, then looks back up at him. His thumbs hook companionably into the back of Nick's waistband as he spreads his hands across his backside. ]

Careful with wisecracks now I can throw ya over my shoulder again.

[extent]

Oh, what are you going to do.

[ a fond smile cracks despite his best efforts, and it's right around then that nick decides to just rest his palm on logan's chest instead, mostly away from the burnt lines. his fingers splay out over the thick hair and he leans in, pressing his nose in against logan's head, right against his hairline.

the breath he exhales is long, drawn out, but right around when he's done with that he decides--to be mad about the brand, or the fact that he couldn't fix it, or the whole city from the top down, another time. later, when he's home and mulling it all over, or tomorrow. some time when he's not sitting in the lap of logan, as close to his normal as he's been in what feels like forever. ]

Threaten me with something I won't like.

[snikthatch]

Mm, lemme think.

[ It's nice, sitting like this, with nowhere else they have to be and nothing else to do. Nice and almost normal. It's also not difficult to sense the relief in Nick as he sighs beside his ear, tension seeming to ease out of him a little more the longer he stays there.

He follows Nick's lead, though it's his inhale that's deeper as he nudges his nose up against the curve of Nick's jaw, taking in a catalogue of scents both fresh and stale, the story of the last couple of days overlaid by the stink of magic and wood stain. He just sniffs and nuzzles at him like that for a bit as he considers the suggestion. ]

I could stop doin' those quizzes you like.

[extent]

You wouldn't dare.

[ he hadn't realised just how much he missed this until this moment. nick doesn't know how many times he's laughed about the 'weird sniffing thing', but it's fond and familiar and--it makes him smile, now, stupid as he might feel about that.

it's been a long month. it's been a hard one, for both of them. there are worse things than getting a little sentimental over someone's scenting habits. ]

How do I smell, you miss it?

[ if he's going to be cringe about something, he might as well go all in. ]