A House in Currant, Maine, Monday

[smilestopscars]

Anyone who hadn't expected Ezra to hightail it the hell away from Limbo City at his earliest convenience was a fool. Because he had. Immediately as soon as danger had been over, and straight back to Currant.

But not to his house.

Nope, to Ava and Cade's, where he'd made himself at home on Ava's bed until she figured out he wasn't leaving. (Even if he also wasn't saying what was wrong with him. But she knew something was wrong, and that was enough.) He'd slept restlessly, but with his nose buried in Ava's hair. The warmth of her against his chest.

Home wasn't a place, you see.

But he'd returned to his house, now. Scowling at the porch like it had betrayed him, somehow. He was a little more friendly to the fridge, though, now that he was standing in front of it: he was going to positively devour its contents.

Getting kidnapped and stripped of half his self was hungry work, clearly.

[ooc: NFB but open.]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

Well, at least he hadn't gotten so hurt that there were still outward signs, huh?

Kathy looked a lot rougher around the edges than he did, but when wasn't that true? She on her best day still couldn't compete with Ez on his worst.

"So..." she said, pulling out her container and grabbing a cookie of her own, "...Yeah, that's about what I got. Pretty sure everything else is off-limits."

Fuck. This was going awesomely.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra watched her in silence for a moment.

Then he reached out to put his arm around her, and pull her close to him.

[smilestopscars]

"Oh, you know me," Ezra replied, smoothly. "Lazying around is what I do."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Not what I mean."

[smilestopscars]

"I know it's not," Ezra scoffed, "but what you mean is depressing, so I'm choosing to ignore it."

[spin_kick_snap]

And Kathy just--crumpled. Didn't cry. She wasn't sad. She just kind of deflated, curling up around him, burying her face in his shirt and her arms twining around his waist.

She'd needed this. More than she'd known, even.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante let out an audible sigh.

"He's gone," he said. "Anybody who saw you or knows who you are is gone. I hope that helps, at least."

[smilestopscars]

And so Ezra held her tight and close, and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

He wasn't at all surprised.

[smilestopscars]

"Not something I was worried about," Ezra replied, a little more flatly.

Still, it was good to hear, anyway. Or at least useful.

Something.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Okay," Dante said, after a short pause.

[spin_kick_snap]

It felt like she hadn't been held since it all had gone down. And sometimes--sometimes you just needed that comfort. The feeling that you mattered.

"Thanks," she murmured. "Worth all three batches of cookies, just for this."

[smilestopscars]

"If I was to worry about everyone that's tried to capture me or kill me doing it again, darling, I would never get anything done."

He was Coterie. Sure, most of the time that had meant he was the hunter, not the hunted, but he was familiar enough with that side of thing, too.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Sure," Dante said. "But I feel better knowing no one's gonna come in and kidnap you on my behalf again."

[smilestopscars]

"Fair," Ezra said. A little on the mild side.

Then, a little brighter, he added, "I would also prefer not to be kidnapped on anyone's behalf again, if you don't mind, darling."

It wasn't much of a quip. It was, however, the best he could do.

[smilestopscars]

"Sounds a little cheap, dumpling," Ezra murmured. Just to attempt a quip. It was his nature, after all.

His fingertips rubbed a circle against her back.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Not when you realize cookies are pretty much the best thing I've got to offer," Kathy mumbled.

[smilestopscars]

"Not true."

He was too worn down to go for a more elaborate argument. So he hoped that was enough.

[spin_kick_snap]

She wasn't going to press him for more anyway. Just hugged him tighter. Hand coming up to cup his cheek, her fingers tracing over the fine bones under his skin.

"You can have 'em anyway," she said. "I'd brought them so I could eat them, too, but...they're yours." She laughed softly. "I'm not really hungry, so it's not even a very good thank you."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra's eyes were closed. For a second, he just focused on her touch.

"Still," he said, just to say something.

[spin_kick_snap]

Her fingers ghosted over his lips for just a moment, standing in for the kiss he wouldn't accept yet. For a second, she was tempted to throw over good sense and just go for it, but...no. It would all - well, okay, not all but a lot - be because of how crazy and out of sorts she was feeling and that was a shitty reason to force a kiss on someone.

He was her friend, not her toy. And how could she demand he respect her if she acted like she didn't respect him?

Instead, she moved her hand up to his hair and gently scratched, nails light over his scalp. "This okay?" she whispered.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra wondered for a second whether she'd go for it. But then she didn't, and then there was a hand in his hair, and his breath hitched. Then he exhaled a sigh.

He nodded. It was a little... quick, but still only a slight movement. Like he didn't want her to think even for a second that it wasn't okay, but also he didn't want to interfere with the touching by jostling her hand.

[spin_kick_snap]

She was tempted. God, she was tempted. But if she was going to go against his no, she was going to do it for the right reasons, not because she was feeling scared and lonely and angry and abandoned.

Ez deserved better than that. From everyone, but most definitely from her.

"Good," she murmured, adding a little more pressure to her finger tips. "It's been a shitty weekend. You deserve to feel good after it."

And she just needed this. This moment of connection, of belonging.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra's 'no' was a fragile and fickle thing.

He didn't say anything, just made a noise in the back of his throat that managed to be want and need without being sexual. Or maybe that was just the context. Maybe it was the exact same sound as always.

He tried pulling her closer.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy didn't know that, so she was treating his no like it was made of stone and iron. The last thing she wanted was any more regrets between them.

But she did move when he pulled her, sliding into his lap, legs stretched across his thighs. Her other hand slid into his dark hair, too, joining the first in trying to soothe. That noise had made her breath catch in her throat and color rise in her cheeks, but the rhythm of her fingers remained slow and steady and even.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra was keeping his eyes closed. He could do with his other senses. Touch. Scent. The warmth and weight of her on his legs. Anything and everything that kept him grounded in the here and now, because he had memories he didn't care to revisit right now.

One of his arms was tight around her waist. His other hand rubbed its way up her arm, all the way to her shoulder.