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"Shh..." Derek soothed, brushing away a few of the tears on Kor's face. "Breathe, sweetheart." He tried to keep his tone soft, gentle. He didn't want to create anymore tension and edge that there already was. He'd done enough of that. The blonde moved, shifting around the taller man's back to sit more at Kor's side. There was some space between them, incase Kor felt he needed to run. The last thing Derek wanted was to make Kor feel boxed in and trapped. "Not going anywhere." He promised. Derek brushed his hand over Kor's cheek. "Didn't you just tell me to move in??? Did you change your mind already?" Not that he had anywhere to go other than his parents. He leaned his back against the couch, trying to create more space if needed.

"...Do you wanna talk about it?"

Kray hadn't moved, frozen solidly in place, at least till Kor tried to bolt and Kraven fought the urge to keep Kor there, not ready to let go. He dropped his hand, letting them fall into the space between himself and Kor. Silent. He wasn't entirely sure why Kor was apologizing. Kor shouldn't be. He wasn't the one who needed to. He wasn't the one who started this whole mess.

"Shhh..." Derek kept at it. "What are you sorry for?"

It was probably a dumb question. But, Derek was curious just what it was Kor thought he had to apologize for. He let his hand settle on Kor's neck, gently brushing at the skin there. His gaze settled on the death grip in the other's shirt but said nothing about it. He turned to Kor with a cheeky grin. "I mean, 'Derek, Kraven. Kraven, Derek.' would probably be a good start." He said, waving his other hand around as if he were introducing two people to eachother.

--

Kor was still apologizing, and Kraven couldn't understand for the life of him why. The shorter man slid from his lap and Kraven honestly couldn't remember the last time he felt this cold. He'd felt it before mind you, a handful of times, but his mind blanked. The tug on his shirt drew his attention downward and Kraven grabbed Kor's wrist, perhaps a little to fast for his initial liking, and held on. He tried to work his fingers into Kor's, desperate for any sense of grounding.

He stopped though when the kid made a joke about introductions and just started.

The ******** class="quote">

Derek chuckled. "You're right... I did. Stole your thunder, didn't I? My bad. Nice to finally meet you, Kraven. " His hand moved from the other man's neck to down his back and up again. His other brushed away more tears. "You want something for the headache?" Derek asked softy.

---

Kraven nodded dumbly in greeting, unsure what else to do. "I gathered..." Kraven said quietly, trying to focus on the hand on his. Trying to focus on anything but the nausiating feeling creeping up his throat and the jitters that told him to run.

Wait

"...Finally?"

"Hey." He greeted with a small wave and a soft smile, when Kor finally looked at him. "What are you hiding for???"

He knew, realistically he should be mad with Kor. With both of them. Derek should be screaming, crying, all sorts of things. But in all honesty, he wasn't. He couldn't bring himself to be. Some part of him always knew this was a possibility.

"I'll see what I can do." Derek said, returning the quick peck with one of his own.


Kraven watched the exchange, and felt a part of himself shatter because of it. "Nice kid." He choked out, trying to gather what he could of himself and shove it back into the void. He had no right to he here. Had no right to do what he'd done. To hurt who he had just hurt. "W-where did you find him??"


"You know." Derek said, popping back around the corner. "If I had a dollar for evey time I heard that, I'd have ten dollars." He felt a little guilty in the small amount of joy he got from watching Kraven jump out of his skin when he spoke. I. His hands were two bottles. He passed one to Kor before tapping the other one against Kraven's head. "Would you chill? You look like you need one of these. "

"Also, a lot is an understament. You should see how he lights up when he talks about you. He gets so animated. It's really impressive honestly."

Derek made a face when Kor chugged the bottle. "... You know, pretty sure the point is to drink it slowly. Not... that." He said flatly, leaning back on one hand. "He tells me the tame s**t." Derek said rolling his eyes. "He refuses to tell me anything beyond that. I've heard some of your more crazy stories, but anytime its about him he acts like I'm this impressionable angel." He then reached over and snatched the bottle from Kor before taking his own drink. "Which he knows all too well is the farthest thing from the truth." He added with a grin.

He shrugged, setting the bottle down when he was done. "I can be if you want? Not that there'd be a whole lot of fire too it." He and Kor had been threw enough fights, was another really worth it? "I guess I've kind of always known?? Again, you really light up when you talk about him. You get so animated and engrossed in the stories you tell me, that it's like the s**t your dealing with doesn't phase you." Derek regarded Kor curiously. "Have.... you really never noticed that?"

The blonde picked at a loose thread on his jeans absently. "Granted, I can't speak for Kraven, or rather, couldn't. I didn't know his stance on things." He did now, obviously. "But I wasn't going to judge. You can't help who you love. It's no more my place to tell you you can't love him, then it is Kraven's place to tell you who you can date. 'Sides.. I had someone similar, once." Not that Derek knew where she was now.

Kraven just sort of watched the whole exchange as he took the bottle slowly. This was by far one of the most bizarre things he'd ever been a part of. "Uh... Yeah." He responded dumbly when he finally found his voice. "He's uh, definitely leaving out some of the better stories." His gaze bounced between the two as he cracked the seal on the bottle. "...The downstairs bathroom? That's not hard to break into..."

"No. I specifically break into the one up here." Derek said with a grin. "Chucklehead over here thinks he can keep me out if he locks up shop and the apartment. He forgets that I'm quite capable of climbing up the side of the building in order to get in. You should see his face when I pull out duplicate keys though. Priceless." The blonde grinned and shrugged in triumph. "We probably should figure out how to go forward from here though... And uh, how to handle... people."

Derek rolled his eyes and shifted closer to Kor. "Mmm. Remember that if you get sick from that later then." His hand rested against Kor's back, gently rubbing circles into the fabric of his shirt. The other, snatched up one of Kor's as he twisted their fingers together and gave a gentle squeeze.

"No one here is mad at you..." Derek said softly.

--

Kraven rubbed at his neck awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Practically married indeed. "I probably won't be after this." He'd have to tell Kaz, he couldn't keep this from him. It wasn't fair to Kaz or Kor to do that. "You didn't do anything wrong." He added, as if reading Kor's mind. "I shouldn't have done anything." He'd gotten to close, again. He had risked everything just to touch Kor. "It's my fault Firefly, not yours."

--

Derek fixed them both with a curious look at the use of a pet name, but said nothing about it. "Hey." He said softly, nudging Kor's shoulder to try and get his attention. "...I'm okay if you wanted to try something."

"I didn't stop you." Kraven muttered. "I instigated. I was in your space. Wouldn't back off." Had his hands all over Kor.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Babe, please." He muttered, taking their entangled hands and draping his arm over Kor's shoulder. "What's it sound like I'm talking about." The blonde leaned gently against Kor. "An open relationship sorta thing. Between you and Kraven. Well... uh, depending on how things play out on his end." He cast a glance over at Kray who was just staring at him like he had sprouted multiple heads. "I mean... Again, I've kinda always known this might be a thing." Granted, he'd never met the other man until now. But he was prepared for this, in the event it cropped up. Or so he hoped. Derek shifted awkwardly. "I don't know, can you go back to how things were? After what's happened here?? If you want to try something, go for it."

Kraven just stared. "Where... where the ******** did you find this kid?" He sputtered.