(Untitled)

[makes_a_law]

It was midmorning and already heating up in the tenements district, and the reflected heat from the roof shingles wasn’t making it any easier. Tom had long since tossed his shirt away, working in thrift store khakis and battered work boots as he moved up and down the steep edges of the roof, carrying a dark bucket of pitch and mismatched

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[blackhole_heart]

I'm not nervous.

Okay, that's a fuckin' lie. This has the potential to be really fucking awkward and even getting over here was probably a chore for both of us. We're twitchy and anxious, have been since we fucking woke up this morning, curled up together and still naked on top of the sheets. It was a long, long trip out here, or at least, it seemed that way.

Now, though, standing on the porch and hearing him call down to that old woman who isn't hear, I manage a smirk, leaning over the rail and craning my neck to look up at him.

"Don't got any lemonade. Sorry."

[manusgemini]

It's weird, seeing Hobbes again, and like this. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of point in pretending that it isn't. What he's not sure about yet is whether or not there's any point in trying not to stare a bit.

It's not like cheating, he tells himself. It's not anything like that, not anymore. Last night fucking erased all the ways in which it had been, and what's left in its place... he's not certain what the word for that would be.

Just let it happen.

"Yeah," he says, shuffling his feet against the concrete and shading his eyes. "And I kinda wonder if you do know what the fuck you're doing."

[makes_a_law]

It's about the last thing that he's expecting. He spun on a heel, peering over the edge of the roof with a look so startled it had to have been worth a few laughs. A few nails slipped out of his fingers, clattering down the roof.

They were here. Both of them. Together.

"I -" Tom licked his lip, making a half hearted effort to move to the edge of the roof.

"I thought you were my land lady."

[blackhole_heart]

Squinting up at him, sun stinging my eyes, I duck out of the way when a couple nails come tumbling off the edge of the roof, coughing out a laugh and calling out, "Watch it."

He looks... Well, he looks good, and a glance back at Mike shows that he's noticed it too. Seeing him half naked reminds me that I've seen him fully naked, which inevitably reminds me of other things.

Jesus.

"You gonna come down or what?"

[manusgemini]

He meets that glance and feels what passes between them as a weak little current of electricity, sympathetic and just a little jolting, like touching a piece of clothing in very dry air. Part of him doesn't want Hobbes to come down at all.

But only part.

The rest of him... well, excitement might not be the right word. But it's not totally the wrong one, either.

[makes_a_law]

So, he's nervous and not a little bit afraid. He's fucked things for them, they'd both said as much, but if they wanted to kick his shit in they probably wouldn't do it in broad daylight in front of his house.

Probably. This was New Tokyo, after all.

"Uhh..." he said, daring a slight hint of a smile. They don't sound pissed. Well, Mike does, but mostly that's just normal.

"Do I have to?"

[blackhole_heart]

"We came all the way out here. You gonna make us turn 'round and go home so soon?" I ask, folding my arms across my chest and looking up at him expectantly.

"Look, seriously. We're not... We just wanna talk. Relax, okay?"

[manusgemini]

"We're not exactly screaming at each other and throwing dishes," he says, glancing at Neil and unable to hold back a faint quirk of amusement at the corner of his mouth. Just at the entire fucking ridiculous situation. "Look, c'mon. We'll buy you lunch or something."

Something occurs to him and his mouth twists. "And no fucking charity. Swear."

[makes_a_law]

Tom had always had a glass forehead - he hadn't lasted long in vice, so his uncertainly was probably coming off in in palpable waves as he made his way down the rickety ladder propped up against the side of the house.

He licked his lips, watching the both of them, remembering the last time, separately, when he'd seen the both of them.

God dammit.

"Hey," he said, feeling the sun as a hot, breathing thing against the back of his neck. He shuffled his feet nervously. "Uh, so..."

[blackhole_heart]

"Look, seriously, let's like... find somewhere to sit down or something. At least get some coffee," I offer, taking a step down off the porch, eyes flicking over his bare chest again. I don't even bother to hide it.

What's the fucking point?

[manusgemini]

"Unless you wanna do this right here," he says, and he's watching Neil, watching Neil watching Hobbes, and what it's doing to his insides is... well, it's about what he had expected. And at the same time it's deeply jarring.

He glances up at the high sun. "Hot up here," he observes.

[makes_a_law]

"Yeah, I - okay," Tom said, snagging up his tee-shirt from where he'd tossed it before, pulling it quickly down over his chest, trying not to think about the lingering, sliding glances and what it meant that they were here, together.

"We can get coffee - or. There's a - uh, diner. It's just down the street."

[blackhole_heart]

Turning toward Mike, I step in close, close enough that our shoulders almost brush, a faint smirk of a smile passing over my face, amused at how tense Tom is. How tense Mike is and I guess maybe I am too.

"Yeah, that sounds good," I say, nodding for him to lead the way.

[manusgemini]

A diner sounds more than good. He hasn't had any breakfast to speak of and the idea of something fried and greasy sounds like one of the better ideas anyone has had lately.

Certainly one of the ones he's had the least doubt about.

"Sure," he says, shrugging.

[makes_a_law]

"Okay," said Tom, because there was very little else to be said. He patted his pockets for lack of something better to do with his hands and let his eyes slide back and forth between Mike and Neil worriedly.

"It's right -" he said, awkwardly stepping around them without touching them and stepping down onto the road. "Down this way. You guys coming?"

[blackhole_heart]

"I know where it is," I remind him, turning down the road to follow, my hand brushing the back of Mike's along the way, just a reminder... a little bit of reassurance. This is tougher than I want it to be, and as calm as I'm trying to be on the outside, I'm scared shitless.

This could be a fuckin' disaster in the making, but at least the setting is basically gonna be neutral.