escordvi | [ Closed ] If you like, I will tell you a tale.

I wouldn't call tying someone down due to being stubborn a fitting punishment....

[ His words are slugging. Slow. G'raha is coherent, yes, but it's clear that he is growing more and more tired. He should shoo Zack away. Should tell him to go take care of things now that the bandages have been applied and G'raha is in no danger of bleeding out.

Yet he attempts to coax Zack into at least sitting - either on the bed or on the floor. If on the floor, then the man can still keep arms around G'raha. Rest his head in Raha's lap so that the man can continue to stroke dark strands of hair. ]

I've never seen you so livid.

[If G'raha coaxes him into sitting it will be where G'raha can still rest on the bed. So he does that sitting on the floor and resting his back on the side of the bed. He lets out a short sigh.]

He hurt you. [It seems like a pretty simple explanation why Zack was so instantly pissed.] I don't want to see you get hurt. It scared the hell out of me.

[He tilts his head with a small grin.]

What, wasn't it cool how I came out of nowhere to avenge you?

[ As long as Raha gets to continue to stroke Zack's hair. It's genuinely a soothing gesture for him right now.

'He hurt you.' A simple explanation that has Raha smiling. Someone getting that mad on his behalf. While he has come to understand that there are people out there that do not want him to come to harm, this hits different. Perhaps because his feelings towards this man are different. ]

Hmm. I didn't mean to scare you. [ How many people has Zack seen be hurt for him to react that way? ] Just remember that it would be the same for me if you were to be hurt.

[ Red eyes meet blue green. Zack is so full of himself. Honestly, it makes Raha feel better. He huffs a small laugh then groans with pain. ]

It was "cool." I suppose.

[He'll sit there like a good boy, enjoying the strokes through his dark hair. It feels good and it's soothing his antsy energy too. He'd been about ready to go crack some more thug corsair skulls (can't sit for a long while!!) but he could sit a while longer.]

I wouldn't want you to break a knuckle for me, but yeah. You get it then.

[Hearing G'raha's laugh even with the wheeze from the pain has Zack nodding. He better take it easy...]

I've seen a lot of people that I care about get hurt before. There's been too many times that I've done everything I can to protect them and they still get hurt somehow. I can't let it happen, anymore. That's why you should let me protect you.

[So it's a bit of trauma for him as well. Things he wishes he did better, regrets and what ifs...]

[ Oh Zack will be able to get up and move around as he pleases after a bit. G'raha won't keep him long. Won't want to. They are here for a reason, after all. ]

I wouldn't break a knuckle...

[ But he does know what Zack means. Raha says nothing as the man continues to talk. It confirms some suspicions that G'raha might have had. The man has suffered loss. Loss that he had believed he could prevent. Things of that nature make people - at least in G'raha's case - think that they aren't strong enough. That they should have been able to prevent that suffering.

"Can't let that happen." Oh does Raha relate. ]

Zack. Come here.

[What else can he say, he's a bleeding heart. Even now he has a bit of guilt for not being there before G'raha got hurt. He knows G'raha is capable but it still just stings.

He shifts to glance up at G'raha. Then he moves to get up to come to him.]

Hm?

[ He takes Zack's hands in his own. Raha looks up at the man in front of him. Looks at this person that he's come to care a great deal about in such a short time. A man that reflects him in so many ways. G'raha knows the emotions that Zack is speaking of. The pain and anguish. Wanting to do better and be better and yet thinking that there is yet more that could be done.

Even when it isn't true.

When he speaks, it's with an even voice. ]

The last thing that I need is a protector, Zack Fair. Had I been in need of one, I would have elected to hire you as a bodyguard or something to that effect. Thus I cannot and will not give you that.

[ But then his hands slide up Zack's arms. They rest on Zack's cheeks and pull the man down so that Raha can press foreheads together. ]

Though I will not refuse a partner - one that I might stand beside just as readily as they remain by mine. This is what I can offer. Life moves forward, Zack. We cannot protect everyone from everything that may yet lie ahead.

[ "We" not "you." Raha is telling Zack that he knows. That he's been there too. Nightmares about those that have lost their lives and the notion that he might have been able to do something more. The feeling of guilt and failure. The unworthiness. ]

Someone reminded me that it is a lonely existence, but it doesn't have to be. So why do we not walk it together, you and I? Offering and accepting aid in tandum? Look after me and I, you?

[He hears it. Some of it he expects to hear. He knew that G'raha would tell him exactly that, that he did not need a bodyguard or a protector. Zack knows that he doesn't need to be that for G'raha either. It's just old habits that die hard. An uneasy worry in his head all the time.

But the rest of it...? Zack keeps his brow against G'raha's. Leaning over the red head with his arm coming to rest near his head to prop himself there. He looks at G'raha and he has to shut his eyes because for a second he can barely stand just how fucking beautiful G'raha's eyes are.]

Do you even know what you're saying right now?

[Seriously. Zack can not stop the way his heart makes a painful squeeze hearing that. The last time he felt that sort of painful squeeze had been back with Aerith years ago. But now...

... Does G'raha know what he sounds like right now?]

[ Zack closes his eyes and Raha wonders what Zack is thinking. What he feels about that. He believes that he is going to get some sort of answer, but instead Zack asks him that question: does he know what he is saying?

His brows pinch together for a moment, the Miqo'te confused about why he would ask it like that. It dawns on him, after replaying everything over in his mind, what it ah. What it might come across as. There's a cool flush of embarrassment that washes over G'raha. But then he decides that he won't be teased for it, his cheeks coloring and puffing out a bit. ]

Is there something wrong with what I said? I won't take it back, I'll have you know.

[ With another huff, he brushes noses together. ]

You asked me to keep seeing you. Well, Zack Fair, I am seeing you.

[ Not the same type of seeing. But G'raha is going to use it to his advantage regardless. ]

[To be perfectly fair he is trying not to break into some sort of tease and to make fun of G'raha for giving him what loosely sounds like a confession of some sort. What someone would say to their partner at the altar during their wedding. It makes this air fill up inside of his chest and he hates how much he likes it. But miraculously, he does hold back the undefinable urge to tease G'raha or outright point out that it sounds like G'raha is proposing to him. He quirks a thin eyebrow and opens his eyes again to smile at the redhead below him.]

Asking me to be your lifelong partner so long as we have the time to do it is a pretty big ask, Raha.

[And on a more serious note Zack actually isn't sure how to respond. He's always done everything alone, walked the road of a soldier alone and took each step alone. Sure, he protected people, cared about them, fought with them and was beside them. But this sounds entirely different. And then there's the whole thing that Zack hasn't told G'raha about and that is about Zack's death in his own world. Does G'raha deserve that kind of pain? What happens after this world?

Questions. Swirling in his head. It hurts his head, honestly.]

I guess if you won't be taking it back then the only thing I can do is say yes. Sure, let's be partners.

[One hand comes to touch gently at the side of G'raha's face.]

We'll watch out for each other. Take care of each other. Protect each other. Equally, for as long as we can. I'll keep seeing you too.

[ Lifelong partner... What does - oh! Oooohhhh. That... That could most certainly be another interpretation of G'raha's words. Unintended, but the sentiment behind such things isn't. Exactly. Wrong.

Seeing that brow quirk and the smile form on Zack's features makes him fluster again. This time his cheeks do feel warm as they color all the more. ]

I-it doesn't have to quite be like that, I suppose. Th-there are many different shapes and forms that such a thing might take -

[ He is going to ramble. Intends to, actually, just to take some of the pressure off. Not necessarily to backpedal or take back what he has said. But to make the air between them comfortable, since Zack seems to say that it is a "pretty big ask." And G'raha certainly doesn't want to push too much or ask more of Zack than what he wishes to give or agree to. And he does mean it! They just don't have to do it all themselves!

The, uh... Romantic overtones might be there, yes. But it doesn't have to be dependent upon that! Raha is about to explain about how such feelings have many different words with different meanings - all academic of course - when Zack takes his cheek in return and just halts all thought processes. ]

I... Well. I won't take it back, but I... If it really is too much to ask of you, Zack, when you've not had that sort of support before...

[ Raha removes his hand from Zack's cheek. Places it on top of Zack's hand against Raha's face. Leans into the touch. ]

You simply deserve happiness, 'tis all. Happiness and those around you that seek to ease your burdens as readily as you are to alleviate theirs. I would like to be that for you.

Yeah? Then what would you call this? You and me?

[He can't help teasing now, his eyes opening again to watch G'raha's expression. Everything they're saying to each other makes a lot of sense. Being partners, watching out for each other, being there for each other, supporting each other. All of that makes sense. He wants that, even if there's a margin of wonder in Zack's chest about how the future might be for them.

But he still kind of likes hearing G'raha ramble on with his explanations, trying to cover up what he means or explain it to Zack so he won't tease. Zack likes to hear it as it makes him let out a small amused chuckle.

On a more on-topic answer, Zack feels his heart shifting again when G'raha just so easily leans into his touch.]

I don't know how I can say no to that when I want those same things for you. You're incredible, Raha. I can tell you wear that bleeding heart of yours on your sleeve. I just want to see you happy. Without regretting things.

He brings his nose close again. This time offering G'raha a slow chaste kiss. But taking it all the same.]

[ This man is teasing him. G'raha knows this and yet he can feel his heartrate increase. "What would you call this?" What does one call this? It's not quite like anything he has experienced before. Raha has admired several people throughout his life. Has felt intense feelings of kinship and awe. Been inspired by someone to the point of resetting the very course of history.

Yet it hadn't been like this. Talking to Zack is easy. Natural. Hearing his voice makes Raha smile effortlessly - and they do check in with one another often enough. Seeing the messages. Hearing his tales. Witnessing those moments of vulnerability... They make Raha feel full in his heart. He hadn't even realized that there had been a void there until he had started to be around Zack and take in everything that the man has been offering.

Zack often asks how he had gotten so lucky, but Raha feels like he is the one that has struck gold here. It is he that is fortunate, no matter what the future might hold. To be thought so highly of and regarded. To have someone furious on his behalf and doesn't allow for Raha to just get away with dismissing himself. They want the same things for one another. Perhaps with one another?

Really this man has no room to call Raha a bleeding heart. Not when he says things like that. Not when it is followed up with the sweetest of kisses. A chaste kiss is returned, Raha's tail seeking out what it can wrap around of Zack's body - hip, thigh. Whatever. ]

I've admired heroes since my childhood, Zack. Then I looked at adventurers and longed for their life and their ability to do what they thought was right. My friend is the champion of our star and I was inspired by him for near a hundred years.

[ He tilts his head a bit more. Presses a kiss into a palm. A wrist. Then he looks at Zack's eyes. They remind him of the aetherial sea, in a way. Or perhaps the sea of stars itself. ]

Yet when we speak, my heart jumps. When you leapt to my defense but moments ago, it took my breath away. Looking at your smile chases any fears and concerns that I may have away. I speak many languages and know how to translate others and yet all of those words pale in comparison to how I might describe how I feel.

[It's no secret that G'raha is better at saying everything so eloquently. He's a well-learned guy and Zack is more brawn than he is brain. But that is one of the things that Zack admires about G'raha too. G'raha is this incredibly talented, smart and adorably dorky person. Zack can see how much wonder he has in his eyes when he sees something new. But he's also genuine, soft, real. ... Incredibly sassy and quirky at times. And all those things put a smile on Zack's face.

In the face of all of that, Zack feels like he wants to be better. Be worthy of that. He really can't help but feel lucky to have G'raha return his attraction and affection. What started off as a harmless flirtation turned into a date under glowing trees and now he really doesn't want to let go.

Even the action of the fur of G'raha's tail brushing up against him makes him smile. Makes him want to just scoop G'raha up in his arms tight.

He just hopes he doesn't mess this up. Not now that he feels like wants to keep this. How much he's falling head over heels for this redhead.]

I could say the same things about you, Raha. I swear, you're wrapping me around you finger more and more every day. The more I learn about you the more I can't get enough.

[He grins.]

And to be honest, I'm hoping my hero stories are even half of what you've been admiring. That would be enough for me.

[Zack is a hero in his own right. A forgotten one. But a hero.]

So that's it then. We're partners. [He looks down at G'raha's injured torso.] And you're staying here to rest.

Edited 2024-02-06 02:24 (UTC)

[ Once more they seem to share similar feelings, even if they aren't fully aware of it. The need to feel worthy of such affection. That attraction. There is also that hope that G'raha doesn't mess this up. Doesn't want this to be like so many things that he has tried in earnest to do and have fallen apart. This is something he wants to do right.

The smile upon Zack's face is infectious, really. Raha can't help but return it, though his own is soft. What had started out as a flirtation and a single date - G'raha just entertaining the notion and believing that the other will just sate his curiosity before moving on - has become so, so much more. Then again, that might have been clear to him the moment that they had embraced on that same evening.

Head over heels indeed. ]

The more you tell me and what I discover only draws me in further. In this, I would say we both equally wind ourselves around fingers. Though the stories are only a portion of what I have been admiring.

[ Meaning that it is also largely just Zack himself. His cheerfulness and mannerisms. How much protecting others means to him. That need to do the right thing and the pain that knowing it's not always so black and white.

"Partners" it is, then. Raha is sure that his heart stutters at the confirmation. Something swells within and threatens to take his breath away -

And then Zack says that. That he is going to stay here and rest. ]

I suppose it is pointless to argue with you now, hmm?

[His easy smile stays in place but there is something that aches deep in his chest. He really doesn't know how he deserved the chance to find this. But he has to agree, he's okay with it happening. He's okay with being partners. More than okay.]

Once we're done here and you're back on your feet, we'll talk more.

[More about stories and everything else.]

For now, I've got a corsair to interrogate for the two of us.

[ Ah... He doesn't like that thought. "Interrogation" by Zack who is likely still feeling some kind of way due to Raha's injury.

There's a sigh. He leans towards Zack to give him a peck on the lips. ]

All right. Do not stay out there for too long or I will get back on my feet.

[ Closed ] If you like, I will tell you a tale.

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