[ Closed ]

[milly_fox]

WHO: Mildmay the Fox milly_fox and Felix Harrowgate harrow_gate.
WHAT: After Mildmay attempts to find a job, he heads home.
WHERE: Mildmay and Felix's apartment.
WHEN: Evening.

Comments

[harrow_gate]

Felix, curled up at one end of the couch, was occupied with a book. And though he glanced up when Mildmay walked in, it was only a quick glance. "Well, isn't that nice," the redhead murmured, not looking up from his book this time. He wasn't nearly as pissed as he might have come across-or at least, he wasn't pissed at Mildmay.

He was annoyed at himself, mostly. And he took it out on Mildmay. Even though he tried not to.

[milly_fox]

Mildmay shrugged. "Yeah, it's pretty nice, I think." He kept his gaze focused on Felix. "What'd you need, while I was out? You let me go awful quick."

Contrary to popular belief, Mildmay could read more of Felix than he let on. He usually knew when something was bothering the other man.

For instance, there were signs. First of all, when he didn't look someone in the eye. Felix liked the control of seeing someone's expressions, Mildmay knew. Being able to watch their reactions to himself. Also, he was verbose. He could talk the ear off a snake, Mildmay had once thought, and decided it reigned true.

He was not, however, very good with dealing with people at all. And so his only methodology was staring the other man down and asking simple questions.

Mildmay would have smirked, if he wasn't-- But he didn't. Simple questions from a simple man, s'all.

[harrow_gate]

Felix closed his book with a snap, feeling the tension building in his shoulders. He tried to force himself to relax. "You're a grown man," he said finally. "If you want to go out, it's not my place to tell you to stay." Like a dog, went unsaid, but the both of them heard it in the silence. He knew that Mildmay would, though. He wouldn't like it, they would fight, but he would have stayed if Felix had asked.

Felix wouldn't have asked.

"Besides, as you said, you were bothered by the jobs I was finding. 'If something has to be done, do it yourself,' and all that." He unfolded himself from the couch and stood, tossing the book aside negligently as he moved to the window.

[milly_fox]

Mildmay sighed full-on now, crossing his arms over his chest and not standing. "You're as bothered by them jobs as I am, an' we both of us know it. You pull 'em to watch me wiggle. An' you know you do, 's in your eyes when you get 'em." His eyes stayed firmly on the other man, green as poison. A slow-moving, soaking poison, filling both the air around it and the fibers of those unfortunate enough to drift among it.

"An' you know if you want me to stay put, I will," he said, finally, voice calm and placid. "Long as it's for a good 'nough reason, anyway. An' for you to ask, t'would be." His scar had slurred the last three words into one, conglomerative, harsh consonant chain. But his voice was soft, underlying the words.

[harrow_gate]

That took most of the wind out of Felix's proverbial sails. The rehead bristled a little as he yanked open the window, letting the cool evening air in, almost as if that would cool his sizzling temper as well. He was both put out and absurdly grateful that Mildmay read him as easily as he did. It saved time, really, though it didn't help his mood at all. "If you don't like the jobs I find for you, then don't take them," he muttered.

But it was Mildmay, and Felix did try. For him. With a sigh he moved away from the window, sliding gracefully onto the arm of Mildmay's chair, and arm over the back of it. "Have you eaten dinner yet?" he asked, plucking at the strands of Mildmay's dark hair. It needed another dye job, he thought.

[milly_fox]

Noting Felix's change in topic, filing it away, not really wanting that particular confrontation at the moment, Mildmay said, "Haven' eaten, no." It made him feel childish, but he relished the attention, and moved almost imperceptibly into Felix's fingers.

Mildmay's cheek twitched in that way that meant he'd wanted to smile, or smirk, but had caught himself right before he did, and he let his eyes slowly slide shut. "Why? You cookin'?" he asked, the tone of his voice implying an incorporeal chuckle.

[harrow_gate]

Felix smiled and twirled the hair around his fingers. There weren't enough moments like this, he thought, with the both of them happy enjoying each other's presence. Ignoring the big issues.

He affected am insulted tone, though there was a smile tugging at his lips. "I happen to cook very well, I'll have you know."

[milly_fox]

It felt somewhat strange to be comfortable in the middle of a city as violent as this, but strange was, twistedly, the norm in his life. And maybe he was something of the dog they both associated him with -- loyal and stupid -- but soft touches were calming. Relaxing.

"Never even implied you couldn'," he said peaceably. "Jus' a bit o' awe that you might be deignin' to do so." He made a soft, back-of-throat, humming noise, more like a cat than a dog. Having his hair pet was almost a sedative.

[harrow_gate]

"Well, for you," he murmured, tugging affectionately at the strands around his fingers. "Anything for you." He didn't give the young man time to reply to that, though, tugging again. "What would you like me to make?"

[milly_fox]

There was that subject-changing again. Felix and words were like a cat in a room full of mice, all skirting his paws, all delicious, but too many to choose from. And so Mildmay ignored it again, his ever-present Felix tactic, and shrugged loosely. "Dunno," he replied, honestly. "Somethin' warm?"

He raised a slow eyelid to where the window remained open, the chilling air flowing in, causing the hair on his arms to stand upright, and gooseflesh to form.

"Stew o' some kind?"