|
Cian doesn't look back as he strides from the hotel room, head down. Takes the stairs, quickly, stumbles out into the parking lot just as quickly.
Jasper seems unhurried, knowing he can always cheat with Celerity. Following along the distress as if it left a literal glowing trail.
He'll follow for some time, through the back streets of Philly - because Cian doesn't take the main ones. But eventually Cian slows, turning down an alley behind a row of bars in one of the more historical sections of the city. He pauses near a fire escape, leaning against the blackened brick and staring up at the sky. The glimmer of a tear builds in his eyes, and he's breathing a little heavily.
Still no words offered towards Cian. For the moment, it was as if he was well and truly alone, before the cloak of obfuscate was broken as Jasper's arms came around Cian from behind. He presses a kiss to the side of Cian's face. No questions, just comfort.
Cian jerks away, his heartbeat fluttering, the half-second it takes for him to realize who's with him making him paranoid.
"...Oh," he finally whispers, and leans into the embrace, shaking slightly as he relaxes. His head drops back onto Jasper's shoulder and he takes a few deep breaths. Even Blushed, his face is a little pale.
"Do you want to talk about it?" asks Jasper quietly.
"No." Another whisper, and he shakes his head.
"Not yet," he amends after a moment, and rests his arms on Jasper's. "Maybe at home."
"Ok," says Jasper before nuzzling Cian before smiling into skin. "You do know at least part of it's nonsense, right? Imagine me, ambitious."
"Is it so out of the question?" Cian sighs. "You crave new experiences, new things to learn, I can easily see you setting your mind on something longer term."
"Then I'd be trapped in the same cycle. Forever," muses Jasper. "Besides, it's not my place."
"You're currently trapped in a cycle, from what I understand." Cian turns his head to kiss Jasper's cheek tentatively.
"A cycle that... fits my place and station," he offers quietly.
Cian stands upright and turns in Jasper's arms until they're face to face. "Is that all you are? A place and a station?"
There's a tightness to his features. "No. Let's not go into this fight tonight."
"You think it will be a fight?" Cian's voice is gentle, a little sad. "I'll drop it. I'm sorry." He brings a hand up to brush hair away from Jasper's face.
"I think that the young don't understand the same kind of loyalty that comes from those who've walked my path," states Jasper succinctly. "You're troubled. Let's get you home and comfortable instead."
"...You're probably right." There's a bitterness to Cian's voice, and he pulls away from the other man enough to start the walk home.
"Will you stay the day with me?" It's a quiet question, almost too quiet to hear.
"Yes, of course," says Jasper as he follows in that couple steps behind.
They're not too far away from Cian's flat, and Cian stays silent the whole way there. He sags in relief when he makes it through the door, his whole posture changing. There's a glance at Jasper before he all but flings himself across the loveseat with a quiet groan.
"Now that's dramatic," murmurs Jasper as he locks up behind them. He comes to kneel next to the loveseat. "Are you about to recite... Poe?"
Cian cracks an eye open and huffs out a laugh. "I suppose I could dredge up something. I daresay my poetry reciting is better than my singing...though Poe is not my strong suit."
"If you choose a book, I'd read to you, too." He reaches out to rest a hand on Jasper's shoulder.
"If you'd prefer that to unburdening yourself, we may do that game. I can always find out what troubled you later, from your mind," comments Jasper as he rises.
"You haven't already?" Cian arches an eyebrow. "You know as well as any the sorts of cycles expected of us. My aim was to break that for myself. Phaedra's reading suggested...it may not be so easy."
"Perhaps from your own perspective. My perspective was that you relied on weak lies to make your place and try to control other's perceptions." He seems to select a book at random - something on historical art. "Perhaps what cycle you're in theory going to break is something like that. Or simply a fancy parlor trick that doesn't mean anything."
"I know Phaedra too well to console myself that it's merely a parlor trick, unfortunately." Cian sighs and lets his head flop back onto the small couch. "I'm sure I will be called to face the consequences of my own actions in some regard. You don't believe there was any truth to her reading for you, then?"
"I imagine that a a Shadow of some significant skill would be able to pick out enough details from one's mind in order to make a comprehensive little set," says the jaded one.
"Is it the years that have so jaded you, or some specific event?" Cian shifts, giving Jasper a place to sit if he wants.
"I've seen plenty of so-called miracles. Reason shows that when a Kindred has access to their gifts, they use them," he says as he settles in.
"Mmm. Phaedra does not strike me as the type to use her gifts in such a manner, particularly with us." There's a beat, and Cian sighs again. "It's neither here nor there, in any case. I'd rather be distracted, parlor trick or no."
"And what sort of distraction would you like best?"
"Reading aloud will occupy most of my mind. I'm sure we could get up to...other things, too, if the prospect of my voice doesn't excite you." Cian offers Jasper a reserved smile.
"Your voice will do just fine for now," he says as he hands off the book.
Cian takes a soft breath, and starts to read. Almost immediately, his voice shifts, becoming slightly more melodious. There's a weight to his reading that doesn't come across in his casual speaking, though he doesn't seem to notice. As he reaches the end of a paragraph, he pauses, eyeing Jasper to see how he's responding.
Jasper drapes an arm around Cian lovingly. If he's paid attention to a word of it, it doesn't show. The Mekhet's either fixated on a button or off in his own thoughts.
"Where's your mind, sailor?" Cian finally asks, the ghost of a smile crossing his face as he raises a hand to run gentle fingers through the Mekhet's hair.
"Here. Just... decades ago," says Jasper quietly.
"Talk to me?" Cian's voice is quiet.
"Another night," begs off the Shadow
Cian's only response is to pull Jasper down into a soft kiss. Lingering, searching, but soft.
|