Blood for blood.

[runningred]

Jay opens his door and tossed the suitcase aside. Nothing in there that can't wait. For once, Jay's room is in immaculate order, clearly cleaned and packed up before he went away.

He shrugs off his shirt and waistcoat to reveal his heavily bandaged chest. There are boot prints bruised into his skin and deep cuts and shallow scratches. All and all, he's a mess.

"Thank you for this." He kicks off his shoes and sits on the edge of the bed.

Comments

[runningred]

"I don't think I know that part of the-" Jay breaks off, arching one leg up sharply. It's hard to tell if it's a reaction to Eric's touch or the muscle damage in his thigh healing and pushing out a fragment of batarang Leslie missed, 'Ah! ...story."

Either way, something small and sharp clatters to the floor.

[onceaviking]

Eric bends to pick it up.
Studying it as he turns it over, holding it delicately between two fingers.

"Nice. You've got more of those? Because in that case, taking off your pants might be an idea," he remarks and lets the fragment drop down on the floor again.

"And it's just a sentence really. Slipping by, because it has no influence of the human drama of the play."

Talking, maybe because he gets the feeling that Jay needs something to focus on.
Maybe.

[runningred]

"I hope not. But I'm glad it didn't stay there." Coherent thought that doesn't involve quotations is a lot hard than it seems right now. So is undressing further but Jay manages. Not gracefully.

Focus is good. Focus helpful. Being held down would be helpful too but there's no tactful way to say that right now.

"The unseen, but influence enough to be a topic of conversation. Is that how you see yourself?" Not the best time to be posing existential questions but it's keeping Jay from drowning in a sea of unrelentingly odd sensations. Also, he's very hard.

[onceaviking]

"Something like that," Eric agrees, shifting a little closer and putting an arm across and around him.

He's seen people react like this before. This way, at least Jay won't manage to suddenly hit the floor and bust his face open.

He's being practical.

"Don't forget to breathe."

[runningred]

"I wonder if he's the same Valentine who left Verona to broaden his horizons, is banished for love and turns outlaw." Jay muses, resting his head on Eric's arm. His hair is no longer long enough to hide his eyes behind but the habit's still here.

Keep talking. Keep breathing. Focus.

[onceaviking]

"I don't remember,"" Eric says. "Though it's not too far off. Exaggerated of course."

Vampires don't love.
Sometimes, it's just nice to pretend.
Like in France.

[runningred]

Jay manages to raise an eyebrow without actually opening his eyes. "Eric? Did you get Shakespeare drunk at some stage in your history?"

It's meant as a joke but in Jay's current state of fighting a blood high, it might just come off too dead pan for that.

[onceaviking]

"No," Eric says slowly.
"Though I may have fucked one of his female relatives at some point."

He puts one large, cool hand to Jay's face.
"Open your eyes, Jay."

[runningred]

Jay barks a soft laugh at that.

He raises his head into the touch, opening his eyes slowly. They're hazier than he'd like but it's clear he's trying to keep it together.

[onceaviking]

"Why don't you tell me about your favorite play?" Eric suggests.
A topic fit for rambling. Or just something to get him started talking.

He can't walk away from him as long as he is this hazy. It would look bad.

[runningred]

"Lay me down first maybe." Jay suggests, blinking slowly. "That way you don't need to hold me up, if you don't want to." Trying to be thoughtful.

[onceaviking]

"No, I think -"

Eric moves fully onto the bed and then he lifts Jay, placing him between his legs, resting Jay's back against his chest.

"There."

He can feel his pulse like this. Much easier.

[runningred]

"Oh. Okay. Won't say no." Not that he could move much either way.

"Never had a favourite play. Just words, lines that... resonate." He lets his head rest on Eric's shoulder, exposing his neck without intent.

"I cannot hide what I am: I must be sad when I have cause and smile at no man's jests, eat when I have stomach and wait for no man's leisure, sleep when I am drowsy and tend on no man's business, laugh when I am merry and claw no man in his humour. Don John knew who he was - plain-dealing villain and made no apology for it. I respect that."

[onceaviking]

He watches Jay's pulse, not really paying attention to what he is saying.

Reaching up to stroke the trembling blood gently, through his thin skin.
So warm.

[runningred]

Jay turns his head a little, letting Eric touch. "I may taste different. Transfusion. I wonder what Drake tastes like."

[onceaviking]

"I am not going to bite you," Eric murmurs.
"Who's Drake?"

[runningred]

"Won't break me. Still healing but your blood is... fuck, there are no words. Not even Shakespeare."

He winces and straightens one leg out. A dark bruise that smacks of deep soft tissue damage goes from black to purple to yellow on his thigh. "Robin. Red Robin. The kid who came after me in the job. Found me on the roof. Gone into shock, might have been bleeding out. I don't remember. Never met him before that night but... he's my brother."

[onceaviking]

"That was pretty stupid, Jay," Eric murmurs. A deep, husky voice and cool breath tickling his ear.

"Even for you."

He drapes one arm across Jay's front. Loosely. Sometimes, everything falling back into place can be a bit - much. But Jay seems to be handling it okay.

[runningred]

"Golden boy, older brother landed on me from two stories up. Caved in-" He gestures at the upper half of his ribcage on the left side. "One was nearly into my lung. Kinda out of options."

He's trying very, very hard and Eric's touch is keeping him grounded better than he would have expected.

[onceaviking]

"Was he trying or did you just break his fall with your ribcage?"

His thumb is rubbing slow circles on Jay's abdomen.

[runningred]

"He was aiming." The touch draws a soft rumbling purr from Jay, so incongruous with the conversation or the feeling of his body unbreaking. "Had my hands around my mentor's throat at the time." Not an easy thing, he had to punch his way through the armoured cowl to get to that point.

[onceaviking]

"You have to decide if you want to kill people or not, Jay," Eric says. His voice low and intimate, close to Jay's ear.

"Trying to choke someone with your hands is not a viable strategy. If you're human. It takes too long."

The rest of his fingers joins his thumb in the soft, circular motion.

[runningred]

Jay finds himself moaning softly, spreading his thighs ever so slightly in encourage that fingers lower.

"Wasn't trying to kill him. Had my wrist blade on. Single twitch and it would have been through his neck. Needed to slow him down, get him off me long enough I could go after the man I was there to kill. Didn't even know Dickie was there till he was tap-dancing on my chest."

[onceaviking]

Eric doesn't seem to notice any encouragement. He doesn't stop moving his fingers though.

"You can't go up against people if you're not willing to kill them. It makes you an easy target."

[runningred]

He shakes his head minutely, his eyes closed. "Only there to kill one. He's the only one who needs to die."