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 Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 7:47 pm
Michael thought he should be concerned with how much time he was spending with Caspian. Or maybe how much he liked hearing Caspian laugh, and those rare times where Caspian would talk about himself and what he liked. Even if there were no nightmares, a phone call before going to sleep seemed to keep the darkness at bay. At least for him.
The more he spoke with Caspian, the more he realized just how bright and intelligent and witty he was. Michael found himself smiling when he was alone and thinking about something Caspian said or did. It was an entirely new experience for him, but he decided that not only did he not mind it, but he actually liked it.
He liked being able to talk to Caspian and be around him. He supposed that was what friends were supposed to do, but after everything they’d been through already, even though it had only been about a month since they really started to learn more about each other, he wondered if there was any potential for more. Or maybe they were always meant to be just friends.
One evening at the beginning of July, Michael asked Caspian if he wanted to come over for dinner. While he was decent at cooking, he didn’t dare making an attempt at baking, but lucky for him it was something his mother enjoyed, and she sent a fresh apple pie over in preparation for the fourth. For dinner it was simple roasted chicken with sauteed zucchini, squash, and onions, and mashed potatoes.
“I don’t care what movie,” Michael insisted as he cut a couple slices of pie. “Did you want this? I’ve got ice cream, if you’d rather. Or both,” he shrugged. He was already in a good mood from a nice dinner with Caspian and Peter, the latter of whom had trudged off to his room with a slice of pie and mumbling something about youma.
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 7:56 pm
”I never say no to pie,” came the somewhat muffled answer. Caspian was currently attempting to tug his sweatshirt back on over his head, and was halfway through the process. “Or ice cream. I’ll take both, because you can’t have one without the other, not really.”
He was getting too used to this house already, a fact made clear by the way that Caspian had just had dinner with both Michael and Peter and was now curled up on their couch. He had tried not to let himself feel as comfortable as he did, but it was much too late for that; the late night phone calls and the continued patrols and the constant talk all made him feel stupidly pleased about everything.
He felt safe with Michael - and even with Peter, even if the latter of the two brothers was...well, Peter. Caspian thoroughly enjoyed poking and prodding at him, almost as much as he enjoyed needling Michael about things, and he was in a particularly good mood on this evening.
His head finally poked out of the top of the sweatshirt, Caspian tugging it down into place over his shirt. It was cool in the house, which he preferred, and he made himself at home on the Gallo couch, legs tucked beneath him, a pillow held against his chest.
“How much will you try to smash that pie in my face if I say we should watch Pirates of the Caribbean?”
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:17 pm
“I will dump it all on your head,” Michael said from across the kitchen, which opened up into the living room, so it was easy to get back and forth. “No, I said I didn’t care. Whatever you want,” he insisted as he took the plates to bring over to the couch where Caspian had already made himself comfortable.
This was… nice. He was enjoying himself much more than he should, he knew, but having someone over to just talk to and spend time with outside of family was nice. And Caspian was surprisingly good company, despite their… less than great start.
“Don’t drop any,” he warned as he passed the plate to Caspian from over the back of the couch. “I’ll have you do the vacuuming if you do.” It was a hollow threat, but he gave Caspian a look nonetheless. He’d already fussed at Peter for taking food into his room that evening, but Peter simply waved him off.
“If you’re cold I can get you a blanket,” he offered, giving Caspian a glance over as he held the pillow against him. Michael suspected it was just for comfort, but still. If he was cold, he could get something warmer. “Or I can turn down the air,” he added, although he was warmer by nature and was quite comfortable.
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Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 8:58 pm
”Rude,” said Caspian in mock outrage. “I can’t believe you’re so against pirates. I mean, they’re a staple of life. Just admit that you like them,” he added, as Michael came padding into the living room with the plates. Caspian accepted his with a grin up at him, his hair pushed back away from his face.
It was an utter delight, really, to be sitting here. It felt so…normal. He was sitting on Michael and Peter’s couch, eating dessert after a relaxed and cheerful dinner altogether (minus a few grumblings from Peter and a few exasperated scowls from Michael), and they were going to watch a movie. It was just…nice, for lack of a better term.
“Thanks. And fine, lemme just dump all of this on the ground now,” he deadpanned, picking up the fork. The food looked delicious, as had the dinner had been. For whatever Michael said, he was an excellent cook, at least by Caspian’s standards. “Or rub it into the couch, you know, for good measure.”
His tone was teasing, and he shook his head at the offer. “Nah, this is fine. I’m cool. Come sit,” Caspian added, thumping the seat next to him. “I was just messing with you about the pirates, by the way, I stuck Pacific Rim in instead, I hope that’s okay with you.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 6:18 pm
Michael simply scowled and shook his head in response to the teasing about pirates, wondering if he should actually tell Caspian why he was so adverse to them, but figured if Caspian didn’t realize it already, well… Michael wasn’t going to dash any more of Caspian’s lingering innocence. Besides, it wasn’t as if telling him would make any difference, and there was really no harm in joking. In fact, it was quite endearing.
“Don’t you dare,” Michael warned again as he sat down on the couch. He reached out to place his hand against the side of Caspian’s face and gave him a gentle shove away from him, before returning to his own pie and ice cream. “I can’t stand sitting or sleeping on crumbs,” he admitted with a little shiver of disgust.
He realized he would have to get over himself when it came to crumbs, though. Especially if Caspian was going to be coming over more often; Michael already bought a few boxes of poptarts for whenever Caspian wanted a snack that he was used to. And those crumbled whether he liked it or not.
“Excellent. Giant robots and monsters,” he deadpanned, but shook his head so Caspian knew he was only joking. “Yeah, I don’t mind. You think Peter would want to watch?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder and towards the hall where Peter had the door to his bedroom closed. The kid was pretty independent on his own, so Michael figured he would come out if he wanted, but he always wondered if he needed to make more of an effort.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 6:30 pm
”Remind me never to eat in bed again,” Caspian said with a laugh; an unthinking comment based on the idea that Michael spending the night with him would happen more than once. He took a bite of pie and reveled in the taste, closing his eyes and giving a small hum of delight.
“I know you said you're not a master chef, but this is still seriously good,” Caspian said, reaching for the remote resting on the armrest beside him and pressing a few buttons. On screen, the opening theme music of Pacific Rim began to play, booming through the room at a deafening decibel.
“Oops.” He hastily jammed the volume down button to a more reasonable level. “Nah, I think Peter said he was gonna work on more youma research or something? That kid is very into his youma,” Caspian added with a shake of his head, sounding amused as he munched another bite of pie. “Maybe he'll come up with something new.”
Far from disliking Peter, Caspian privately liked the idea of hanging with Michael on his own. Peter was actually kind of fun in his own way, but…
“I love this movie,” Caspian said thickly, swallowing the last bite of pie and moving to the ice cream.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 8:03 pm
The comment about never eating in bed again had Michael glancing curiously over in Caspian’s direction, but he didn’t make any mention of it. For all Michael knew, Caspian was just saying something like that because he thought it was amusing.
“I can’t take credit for this,” Michael said with a small laugh at Caspian’s reaction to the pie. “This is my mother’s work. But she taught me how to cook when I was young. I think after I went into the Navy she didn’t even try teaching Chris or Peter because she wanted them to be dependent on her. At least, that’s how it seems,” he explained, using the side of his fork to cut a piece while Caspian messed with the remote. “Chris can barely function on his own, and Peter’s, well… Peter.”
Not that he had anything against his brothers. He just knew Chris was very dependent on Paris, and Peter was still a high school kid getting into trouble and chasing down youma. A comment to which Michael grimaced and shook his head.
“I have no idea what he’s doing…” Michael said with a small sigh, glancing towards the hall again, before turning back to the screen and wincing when the volume was way too loud.
“Of course you would,” Michael shook his head again, although he was smiling softly in amusement. It didn’t take long for them to both finish their pie and ice cream. Once they were done, Michael took the plates back out to the kitchen to rinse them and stick them in the dishwasher. He insisted he didn’t need to pause the movie since he could still see it from the sink, and he’d already seen it.
He lowered himself back down on the couch and lifted his arms to lay across the back. Patrol was important, but Michael thought it was just as important to have a day off every now and then to just relax and not almost die from fighting youma and the likes.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 10:23 pm
”Well, thank your mother for me,” Caspian said around the mouthful of pie he had. He swallowed and added, “My mom was more the ’what can I make in ten minutes in the microwave’ sorta mom, but she did her best; and we had great TV dinners.”
Caspian was grinning over at Michael. “I still haven't met Chris yet, unless I have and I just don't know it yet.” Kind of like how he'd met Michael as Sessrumnir first and Michael much later. “Is he more like you or more like Peter? He's married, right?”
Regardless of whether it was about Michael himself, or something in relation to Michael, Caspian was interested. Peter was one thing but the rest of the family was a mystery, though Caspian was under the impression it was kinda big - different from his own little three person family consisting of himself, his sister, and their mom. His father was hardly ever in the picture, and Caspian rarely counted him for anything.
He shrugged now, enjoying himself far too much. “He's in high school. He's being a typical high schooler.”
Caspian was not going to mention anything about the fact that he knew this because he had only left high school two years prior. Bringing attention to his youth was not something he particularly wanted, not now, not after how far they'd come.
Not after that morning in his kitchen. Which he was definitely not thinking about. Or Michael taking ahold of his hand for the whole breakfast, or the way he'd lingered when saying goodbye, or anything that had led up to that.
No, he was definitely not thinking about any of that. Caspian was going to sit here and enjoy a relaxing evening with his friend, eating dinner and watching a movie and just...having a good time. They weren't patrolling or stitching one another up, they were just...having fun.
It felt...nice. Very nice.
By the time Michael settled himself back down on the couch, Caspian had drawn his knees up beneath him again, a pillow hugged against his chest. He automatically and instinctively leaned slightly closer to Michael, and, not taking his eyes off the screen, said, “The kaiju are almost like youma, if you think about it.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:24 pm
Michael felt guilty for wanting to talk more during the middle of a movie. It wasn’t as though they both hadn’t seen it before, of course, but it was still rude. And yet, he still wanted to talk to Caspian, which was weird because until recently he would have preferred to just keep to himself.
“Coming from the depths of the earth?” he mused, moving the arm that was now behind Caspian’s head a little to gently nudge him. “But you’re right. They are almost like youma.” Even if it was just a teasing touch, Michael was starting to realize that he was doing it a lot recently as well. Talking, touching… spending time with someone who was… a friend.
“I was lucky. Other than moving a lot, my mother didn’t have to work, so she spent all her time with me. I was the definition of a spoiled brat,” he half joked, hoping that he hadn’t been that bad, but he knew it would definitely look that way to other people. Hell, he still was spoiled, and sometimes he hated himself for relying on that so much.
“Chris and Peter are very similar,” he said quietly during a part that wasn’t important to the plot. “Probably why they don’t really get along. Chris… has a bit of a bleeding heart that gets him into trouble, and Peter likes to over exaggerate things… yeah, being a typical high schooler. Exactly. And yeah, Chris is married and has twins. They’ll be a year old in October. I don’t envy him if they end up like you and… I haven’t met your sister, I don’t think, but if she’s anything like you, well… he’ll have his hands full.” If he made it that long, but that wasn’t worth getting into.
Instead, he wanted to enjoy the somewhat quiet time between the two of them. It was easy to just watch a movie and forget about things.
Michael glanced over to look at Caspian’s profile in the glow of the television light. The way his hair fell around his face… the way his lips parted just slightly as his blue eyes were locked onto the screen… the way he wrapped his arms around the pillow he held to his chest, and how his knees were pulled up onto the couch. Michael knew he shouldn’t. It was a bad idea. He should just accept the fact that he was Caspian’s mentor and friend, and forget about Caspian’s pulse beat rapidly under his hand when he held onto his wrist.
It was a bad idea...
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:35 pm
Caspian was, for the most part, one of those people who had a lot to say during movies; but he normally tried to shut up so that he was less obnoxious about it, since most people disliked the continued interruptions.
But...well...they'd both seen the movie before, as much as Caspian enjoyed it. And Michael was openly talking to him about things, which was something uncommon, and Caspian couldn't just focus on kaiju and Idris Elba’s voice when Michael was being so relaxed beside him, arm nudging lightly against Caspian’s head.
“Let's just hope youma don't grow to kaiju size,” Caspian said with a sigh. ”That would totally suck in so many ways.”
He listened with interest to Michael speaking of his brothers, Caspian toying with the sleeve of his shirt, arms still looped around the pillow pressed to his chest. He made a little face, laughed, and said, “Hoo boy, I hope he doesn't want to have any free time. My mom always said that having twins sucked away her soul and took away her massage time, but that she'd never change a damn thing about it.”
Caspian was grinning; it was clear from his tone of voice that he thought very highly of his mother, and he tilted his head back so that it was resting against Michael’s outstretched arm. It felt...extremely warm and comfortable, and would have been even more so if Caspian dared to shift the last few inches between them and curl himself against Michael’s side. The idea was extremely tempting; he tried very hard not to do exactly that, though he kept his head resting against Michael’s arm.
“Let's face it,” Caspian said, tapping Michael’s chest with the back of his hand. “If I wasn’t a handful, I wouldn't be me.”
His teasing grin had relaxed into a softer, quieter expression, Caspian leaving his hand where it was, fingers curled slightly against his palm, knuckles resting loosely against Michael's chest.
“You have your hands full too,” Caspian said softly, his voice absurdly affectionate. “I heard Regolith senshi are particularly stubborn.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:54 pm
“I’ve seen a few that could be comparable,” Michael admitted with a grimace, thinking back to the various greater youma he and many others had faced in the past. The dragon youma had been bad enough in negaspace, but there had been others of that size, too.
“Your mom did a good job with you. Even if you’re a handful,” he pointed out, very much able to tell how fond Caspian was of his mother. It was nice, knowing that he must have had a supportive, caring mother who took care of him and his sister. He was very aware that Caspian had never mentioned a father, but putting him on the spot to talk about didn’t seem fair. For all Michael knew, there was nothing to talk about anyway. Or maybe it was something Caspian wouldn’t want to talk about. Either way, he didn’t want to ruin the good mood.
But Caspian was right, and Michael snorted softly in amusement when trying to think of Caspian in any other way. Maybe it was the fact that he was a handful and stubborn that made this… new… unexpected friendship work. Or at least Michael was… happy with how things were growing between them.
Slowly, Michael moved the arm not behind Caspian’s head off the back of the couch, his hand reaching up to very lightly run his fingers up the length of Caspian’s arm as it rested against his chest, pausing once he reached his wrist. He let his fingers linger there for a few moments, as if to give Caspian enough time to pull away if he wanted, and then moved his hand up a little more, a couple of his fingers sliding between Caspian’s fingers, his palm against Caspian’s palm as he pressed it more firmly against his chest.
He needed this. This companionship. This closeness. It was a feeling he didn’t expect to ever experience, but here he found it with Caspian of all people. He didn’t understand it, and part of him didn’t want to try to. He still didn’t believe he deserved everything Caspian offered him, gave him willingly, but he would take it if it meant spending more time with him.
“Yeah, I know I do,” he said quietly as he kept his eyes on the television for a little longer before glancing down at Caspian beside him, a certain amount of warmth in his own voice. He gave Caspian’s hand a small squeeze as if to indicate that he meant both metaphorically and literally. “But it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m a knight of Jupiter; dealing with stubborn is in our nature.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:45 pm
Caspian gave a little shudder, making a face. “I sincerely hope neither of us run into anything even remotely kaiju-ish, that would be totally shitty. I know I'm Super now and all that and you're a Knight but I'm pretty sure that I don't want to turn a corner and find myself face to face with a dragon.”
He remembered all too well the one from Negaspace, and he was not too inclined to meet anything like it again.
Michael’s compliment on his mother made Caspian grin with pleasure, shifting on the couch. “She's great. She raised me and Cassie all by herself and she’s, in her own words, ‘pretty kickass.’ ‘Course, she'd say that anyway,” he added with a laugh.
He glanced at the screen again without lifting his head from Michael’s arm - but his attention was entirely diverted by the gentle sweep of fingers up the inside of his arm. Caspian’s gaze flickered over, watching as Michael drew them towards Caspian’s wrist, pausing there, where the pulse had quickened, along with Caspian’s breath. He felt lightheaded as Michael’s fingers slid between his own, which trembled slightly, but there was no indication that he wanted to pull away - and he didn't.
His heart seemed too large for his chest. A light pink flush spread across Caspian’s cheeks, his lips pressed together in an effort to keep from saying or doing anything stupid, but…
He curled his own fingers around Michael’s, holding them in place, palm to palm with the back of his hand resting lightly against Michael’s chest. Caspian slanted his gaze from there slowly up to Michael’s face, and he felt breathless and unsteady, swallowing hard against the rising emotion in his throat.
This was -
Dangerous, he knew, but he couldn't stop himself, his eyes fixed on Michael’s.
Could you handle more, if I asked you to?
Would you want to?
“I’ll leave myself in your hands, then,” said Caspian softly, his voice barely above a whisper, a very soft tremor to it. “I'm in your care.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:36 pm
Michael liked hearing Caspian talk about his mother and his sister. He always seemed happy when he did so, and of course Michael only wanted him to be happy. That was most important, right? To be happy, even if it wasn’t the safest choice? He was already toeing over the line of knowing what would be the best decision to keep Caspian safe and to keep him happy. But what if it could be both?
He could feel Caspian’s hand tighten in his own as he continued to look down at him. Michael wasn't sure what he saw in Caspian's eyes, but the shifting blue ran deep with unfamiliar emotion. Caution? Concern? Desire? Michael wasn't sure, and he was afraid of guessing incorrectly. Of messing things up. Of going from a place where they were both comfortable to something not quite reachable. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
I’ll leave myself in your hands, then.
I’m in your care.
There were so many things he could have said in response. He could have made a joke, or he could have agreed to those words, or said something to indicate the strength of his resolve. But those blue eyes and the gentle expression on Caspian’s face was stealing his breath in a way he’d only experienced in his presence. He couldn’t make himself say something if he wanted to.
The arm he had behind Caspian shifted a little, bending as if to try and draw Caspian a little closer to him. And as much as he wanted to keep Caspian’s hand in his own, he gently pulled away, leaving Caspian’s hand against his chest and raising his to brush Caspian's dark hair from his face, pushing it behind his ear. Curiosity had the better of him, and Caspian wasn't pulling away yet.
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:18 pm
If the world had stopped right then and there, Caspian would not have noticed. He felt like a string pulled too tightly, his chest compressing like it was having difficulty drawing in enough air to reach his lungs, and each breath that did make it was shaking slightly around the edges as it was eased out.
The flush on his cheeks deepened, and Caspian was vaguely aware that the movie was still going, but he couldn't look away from Michael’s intense blue eyes, gazing at him so intently. He could not read the expression in his face, though he desperately wanted to, and he wondered whether it was the same sort of expression he wore - a mixture of anticipation, confusion, pleasure...more. More than that.
Want?
Michael’s arm was drawing him closer, strong and solid behind him, and his hand had pulled away from Caspian’s and moved to his face instead. Gentle fingers trailed across his cheek, tucked hair behind his ear, and every brush, every graze sent Caspian’s heart into overdrive. He felt his breath catch audibly, his eyes wide, and a tremor ran through him, shivering up and down his spine.
He couldn't find words. There was nothing to describe this feeling, nothing that he could do to pull away, and Caspian’s hand on Michael’s chest shifted and turned, daring to slide higher. His slightly shaking fingers moved tentatively up to the nape of Michael’s neck, and he could not take his eyes away from Michael’s, his own falling half-lidded, lashes fluttering.
They fell lower, gaze dropping to his mouth and then back up again.
Very slowly, hesitantly, Caspian tilted his head up towards Michael’s; and their faces were mere inches apart now - wondering if - maybe - maybe -
Please.
Please -
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:34 pm
The movie lost somewhere in the background, he let his fingers wander, ghosting over Caspian's face. They caressed the apples of his cheeks, the smooth line of his brow, the edge of his chin and along his jaw, and finally dipped down to his neck. Each movement reached back across Caspian's face, so instead of random motions, it was almost reminiscent of petting.
Michael felt as though almost all of his senses had been numbed, replaced by the feel of soft, heated skin beneath his fingers, and the quiet, almost gasping breaths that came from Caspian's open mouth. He'd had this feeling before; as if he'd been submerged in those searching blue eyes, so deep and pure with emotion.
Being so close to Caspian was like being drunk. He couldn't think of anything other than maybe wondering what Caspian was thinking as he looked up at him. Did he feel the same way? Was he just indulging Michael? Did he want to be closer as badly as Michael did?
His fingers pressed a little more firmly as they lifted to Caspian's temple, pulling them through dark hair to reveal the blue and purple beneath. He could feel Caspian’s hand moving up to his neck, and he could tell his own face had flushed in color. Those blue eyes were looking at him like no one had ever looked at him before, as though they were boring into his soul, pulling him closer.
He shifted his hand again, fingertips very lightly touching Caspian’s lips. They were just as soft as he would expect them to be. But he didn’t just want to touch them with his fingers. Caspian was so close to him now, it would be easy… so very easy to just… lean closer…
Michael felt the brush of Caspian’s nose against the tip of his own, when a sudden voice caused him to jerk away in surprise.
“What?? You didn’t say you were watching this!” the somewhat annoyed chirp of Peter’s voice breaking Michael out of his daze, and he very quickly sat back up, removing both of his arms from around Caspian and hopefully inconspicuously crossing one leg over the other as he leaned back against the couch.
The movement must have caught Peter’s attention because Michael could see him look from him to Caspian and back, out of the corner of his eye.
“What were you doing?” Peter had the gall to ask, his eyes wide with curiosity and needless interest as Michael scowled darkly at the television as if it had insulted him, but still not quite able to focus on it.
“Watching a movie, Peter,” he grumbled lamely, not quite able to get his mind working to throw some facetious comment back at him.
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