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 Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 8:28 pm
“You might want to wait on the pancakes till both arms feel better.” Yu grinned, lopsided and teasing again. “Only because our griddle is really heavy, it’s really nice mind you, but I would not want to drop that thing anywhere near feet.” “After you feel better I am absolutely looking forward to pancakes. I can... counter with fluffy omelettes or uh... eggs and rice? “I’m, sorry you had someone who didn’t... didn’t see how cool you are. I’ll do my best to be better than that always.” He offered. “It’s nice to be... needed too, like needed in a good way not a... I don’t know. It’s nice. I meant it when I said I’d protect you too, but if it’s ever too much, of if I’m just ... if I ******** up, I’ll try and make it right too. I promise.”
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Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 9:00 pm
Priam just smiled at him. "Yu, you know you're very considerate, and very sweet, don't you? ...You're miles better than he was. I'll tell you if I get my feather's rustled, or if I get nervous or--Heaven forbid--scared of anything. Thank you for looking after me."
He took Yu's hand again, laced their fingers together, and then kissed the back of his hand before he let it go. His face was pink, and he wouldn't look at him afterwards, but there was no indication that he was uncomfortably, just a bit shy about it.
"I can barely hold a teacup," he admitted, clearing his throat. "I promise I won't do anything excited. I do want to heal. Even if I am enjoying all this pampering. I hope I don't wind up needing to be protected. But I do sleep better knowing I've got you two in the house with me. I dream about falling. But not anything else. And when I do wake up all jostled and frantic, I just have to remember you two. Just the thought of you brings me so much comfort," he confessed. "...I do hope you two aren't out looking for strange men on rooftops, though. I don't know what I'd do if either of you got hurt. Stay...low to the ground. For me, please."
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 5:53 am
“That sounds like you’re make me return my super hero costume. Don’t worry, I haven’t figured out anything useful for one like a utility belt, and I’m pretty opposed to wearing underwear over tights.” Nothing he said was a lie at least, not that he felt any better. “And can you imagine Sterling doing that? It’s not like we have any solid leads to start with but- ‘excuse me, do you happen to be a crazy b*****d who was on this roof on this night? No? Very good have a magnificent cookie!” He went full tease when it came to Sterling. Truthfully between Sterling and Priam he could better imagine Sterling taking to the streets to find answers, at least now that he was better prepared to defend himself. “I’d be so worried if he got mugged again looking for answers. I think he knows that too... all I know is that if someone turns up on our door step looking to ******** with you he’s going to regret it.”
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 7:21 am
Yu hadn't seemed to get fussy or uncomfortable when Priam kissed the back of his hand, so he breathed a little sigh of relief.
He laughed at his impression of Sterling, finding himself relaxing again; he took another hungry bite as he listened. He shook his head. "I don't think anyone's going to show up on your doorstep. No one knows I'm here except for Jarvis, and you two. Unless you've told anyone," but even then he could only maybe imagine Ilya.
"Please, though," he said, with a soft, serious tone. "I don't know what happened up on that roof. But I don't want anyone else getting hurt. If you two see anything suspicious, please. Just get out of there. Come home. I went up to help someone. Or, I thought I did." He shook his head. "...I made a mistake. The signs that something was wrong was all there. But I genuinely--stupidly--thought that he needed help."
He pursed his lips and sighed. "...I don't know what I would have done if it were one of you in my position. I really don't know. Any time I imagine either of you hurt, my stomach just starts churning. I don't know what I wouldn't do for either of you."
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 9:45 am
Yu worried the inside of his cheek again, the faint taste of copper there because he couldn’t promise not to look, he couldn’t promise to run from anything strange, because he was something strange. “I… want to, I want to offer you something, and it may seem really awful or scary.” He said at last. “But with everything that has happened, I’d feel better if you had something with you, at least till I find something you’re more comfortable with… I can teach you how to use it too.” He offered. He slid a hand down to his boot, hesitating at the old leather that held the small blade in place, he’d feel naked without it, but he could replace it, Priam needed it more. He undid it and pulled it free and slid it carefully over the table. “The, idea of you getting hurt again, or hurt more… I think you understand how that feels.”
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 10:17 am
Priam blinked, visibly startled by the offering--or maybe the knife--or just the gesture overall. For a few seconds, he just stared at it, and then he hesitated and reached over to lift it.
"...It's in my nature to decline such a thing," he said, running his fingers over the smoothness of it. It was still warm from being so close to Yu, and for some reason that brought him reassurance. "...But I do understand," he admitted, and if there was anything he could have done to keep Yu safe, he would have. "...And I have absolutely no idea how to use something like this."
He was sure Yu wouldn't be surprised. He ran his fingers over the grip, taking in the details of it. "But, I'd like to learn. Sterling thinks you're an excellent teacher, and from what I've seen, I'm inclined to agree. How long have you had this?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 10:52 am
“Uh…” He hesitated. “Long time. I don’t really remember, not …exactly.” He admitted. He’d ‘borrowed’ it from someone, it had been under his pillow more nights than he was ready to admit, he still kept one close even here where he felt safer, especially after running into that cinnamon jerk. But it would make him feel better to know that Priam could take a piece out of the b*****d if he came back. “It’s a leaf style blade… so… till you practice more, hold it a bit like this…” He took Priam’s hand and showed him carefully how to hold it. “It can be thrown if you have to, but then you’re out a weapon, better to wear it somewhere you can grab it when you’re scared, I can, I can make you like a wooden one you can practice with. But for now, if they come at you again, stab center of mass, it hurts way more than they want to show in the movies, and you can impact a lot of things. If they try and twist it on you, do that shin move I taught you, drop the knife if you have to but getaway.” He knew the conversation would sound awful, it probably made him sound like he thought about it too much. “I kept it at my ankle in case I got knocked down, you could do like… small of your back, or something… figure out where you can reach. The knife itself was small, an ankle knife by design, a round hole at the base of the pommel, a textured grip with a fanning handguard. The only real worry one might have was that the blade had signs of wear, a few scratches, uneven sharpening.
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 11:43 am
Priam leaned in a little closer, watching as Yu molded his hand to best fit it. He was fortunate that his dominant hand hadn't been damaged beyond a scraped knuckle. As Yu explained, he continued to take notice of the small details of the knife. The scrapes indicated use, and he wondered if Yu had used it as a tool or if he'd had to use it to defend himself. The uneven sharpening made him figure it had been hand sharpened--but it had been taken care of.
He imagined it must have been important to Yu, and he held a little tighter, like through his grip alone he could promise to take care of it too.
"I'll have to figure out where I can reach. Right now, it's just about anywhere that doesn't need me to move my back. But I won't go out alone until I can at least bend down touch my toes," he promised.
In some ways, it was cute, how Yu gave him such a detailed answer. He knew that the advice and suggestions came from the heart. He didn't remind Yu that he was a doctor and knew the human body well enough to know where to aim if he needed to--he just needed to work up the nerve to do it. And maybe to work on improving his body a little bit. Too thin, too scrawny, too little sleep, not enough exercise. He knew his weaknesses. At least, the ones he was willing to admit.
He nodded along with Yu, taking his advice to heart.
He didn't ask why he knew this. Didn't ask how. He just trusted him. It wasn't unnerving, it was smart. Yu was a survivor, a fighter.
Priam wasn't violent, wasn't even very good at defending himself if it meant hurting someone else. He was durable, though, and he supposed he should give himself more credit for that. Maybe all those years of being sick when he was younger had done something to brace his body for hardships.
He didn't put the knife down, just continued to rub his thumb along it as he tried to get used to the feel of it.
He leaned over a bit, bumping shoulders with Yu. "I'll practice some. Once I get into a routine with my physical therapy, maybe I'll find some way to get more practice in. I suppose if I'm staying here, I can't really slack or you'll find out," he mused, lighthearted, and smiled. "Maybe...when I'm healed up a bit, and when we have some free time...you can teach me more?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 12:24 pm
Yu nodded, a jagged movement of agreement, Yes, yes he would show him more as he healed. He was so…grateful that they didn’t ask questions sometimes. He was never sure if they just…knew, or if they knew it would push him away to ask, or… Well, the more he thought about it there were more reasons not to ask, weren’t there. He leaned gently into the shoulder bump. “I’ll show you more, and…you can help us figure out the back garden, it’s less of a mess than it used to be, but I’m not sure what to do besides rip up weeds.” He admitted. “When your arm is better, we can get you some leather bracelets.” He teased. “Like mine but… something that will go with your giant sweaters, so you can help with the roses, I think they’re roses anyhow.” He frowned but continued. “Build you an Arbor, let the damn things climb all over it, they can help guard you then.” He started to reach for the tangle of hair again and stopped, swapping to pick up his sandwich and took a bite. “And then for the holidays, we teach your horses to draw a sled, so even if you’re still sore we can have them take you wherever you want to go too.” He grinned.
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 1:18 pm
Priam laughed, visibly enamored by all of it. "Maybe they'll be big enough by then," he agreed, but he couldn't imagine them actually going anywhere with the sled, they'd probably enjoy dogpiling on top of it too much.
There was comfort, in just resting against Yu; he finally set the knife down so he could try and finish his sandwich, and he'd made it through nearly all of it by the time Yu was talking about sledding with the dogs. He had to chew carefully and eat slowly, working against the protest of a sore jaw.
"You give me too much credit if you think there's anything I can do with that back yard. I pay someone to mow my yard, I'm almost never even in my own. But I'll do my best. We can't have Ilya's yard looking better. So, an arbor sounds nice. Roses climbing up them would be magical."
Priam was, of course, easily charmed by all things magical and fantastical.
"I'll do what I can to help, though, I promise. Let's finish eating, I'm getting worried about that hair of yours. If you want, you can sit on the floor and let me stay on the couch, I can brush it out. Nice and gentle, so you don't start getting bald spots by the time you're my age. Of course," he mused, "It might take me a while. You might be stuck with me for ten, fifteen minutes."
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 1:34 pm
“Sounds … awful. Horrible… torture.” He grinned. “I’m in. I’ll even look up youtube tutorials and we can try and figure out…” he pointed to the pencil that had been somewhat less than effective in putting his hair back. “I can do more with smoothies too, I don’t figure I can burn the house down if I use the blender to mix sweet things.” He offered, watching carefully at the cautious chewing. “Might uh… have you there with like, the fire extinguisher though, I make no promises that whatever Unholy Eldrich Creatures that Sterling sacrificed cinnamon buns to be as good at sweets as he is, hasn’t got some kind of grudge against me.”
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 2:28 pm
Priam laughed, and the smile on his face was devoid of any concern or worry, like he'd settled into this conversation, settled in next to Yu, nicely.
"Well, I'll never complain about being there while you cook. It'll get better," he promised. "I've gotten better with smiling and talking already, my muscles are just working things out. And being able to eat your food is inspiration enough to want to get better. But smoothies do sound nice," he said, resisting the urge to reach up and see how tender his flesh still was.
It was still healing, he didn't need to keep poking and prodding.
"And if anything goes wrong, you know Odie and Penny will be just delighted to clean up any mess you leave them."
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 2:38 pm
“Oh boy, don’t I know it, they know EVERY time we have a steak special at the restaurant.” He laughed and shook his head. “It… it kinda freaked me out a little after they got dropped off, and I came to the door and you just hear -feet-“ He shook his head grinning. “I mean, I thought I was going backward off that step, but they were good.” He exhaled and shook his head. “It made me wish you’d been home to see it though.” “Umm...What kinda fruit and veg do you like? Cause if you leave it up to me it’s probably gonna end up some kinda sugar shock to hide the veg.” He grinned.
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:28 pm
The smile lingered, and he still rested gently against Yu. "I wish I'd been here to see it, too," he said, and then repeated Yu's word, "Home," like it was a correction he had to make. It was sweet; for the time being, this was his home, that they had welcomed him into. He thought of his little house, the cute little cottage he'd fallen in love with all those years ago, and how he'd had pride in himself for buying it, for moving in, for managing it.
But this, it was a home away from home, and there were people here who cared for him. Loved him, even. It was hard not to feel a flutter in his chest, hard not to smile at the thought.
"I'll have to keep my eyes open for the next time it happens. I've been trying to make sure they know to be gentle, Odie especially. I think Oreo has them both whipped, though," he laughed, surprised the dogs hadn't yet made their way into the kitchen at the prospect of food. If he strained his ears, he might have heard the little huffs and grumbles as they pressed their noses against the glass, staring wide-eyed at the birds in the yard.
"I like all fruits, and all vegetables, because they are all very healthy for you. But I'm a doctor, so I suppose apples are supposed to be my favorite. I like bananas, though. With no shortage of peanut butter, or chocolate, or hazelnut. And they aren't really as messy."
He had finished his sandwich and picked up the knife, just looking it over once more. He wanted to ask Yu if he was sure about it, but he doubted Yu would have given it to him if he wasn't. He wanted to return the gesture, but he wasn't sure if he should be shopping for knives so Yu could protect himself--or some nice, warm leather jacket, so that when Yu was out, away from them, he could still have something safe and full of love draped over him.
Vaguely, Priam wondered if there was some way to have it custom made, with some sort of Kevlar sewn into it.
Just to be safe.
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Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:58 pm
“You get till… Thursday.” Yu mused. “It's surf and turf night, so if you want sea-roach, let me know I’ll fight for leftovers if they have any.” He grinned. “But I’ll absolutely smell like tasty cow meat, plus I think I’ll get stuck cleaning the grill.” Yu looked thoughtful about the smoothies. “I think we could manage alike…banana apple, spinach, a smoothie with chocolate and peanut butter or chocolate and hazelnut. I think I’ll drag home some like…mangos or strawberries, get some of the greek yogurts, that’s supposed to be the better one, right?” He watched Priam take the knife but didn’t move towards it. “If that one ends up being uncomfortable too, let me know. Sometimes it’s about what fits in your hand as much as anything else. But…that one, you can hook a finger and pull it free. I… feel better knowing you can grab it fast.” He bumped his head gently against Priam. “Actually… if I can get Sterling to help, I think I know an idea for a breakfast you’d probably love.” He mused. Because jumping between cooking and knives was apparently how this day was going to go, he was fine with that.
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