[ Although he can't really tell with all the pain and all the noise through the tethers currently, he thinks at least (even if not right now) somewhere at someone earlier it did feel like Caelus's emotions were soothed on some level. That's good, then, considering how worked up Aventurine had gotten the Trailblazer.
Aventurine's mouth twitches a bit unimpressed at Nicola's explanation for having left. Even though that is indeed the reason exactly he himself had given Caelus, it's not exactly self-validating in any way to hear it at this point. Don't rope me into it, Caelus is agitated enough over me as is. I don't need to be part of the reason you left him. ]
Wise decision. [ is the response Nicola gets to admitting that he doesn't think the separation was as sound of a choice as he apparently did when he ran off. There's the slightest frown at being told they should stick together, though. Mostly because he wants Nicola to stay with Caelus and keep him calm and happy until whatever this all is wears off. Everything else in Aventurine's mind has become second since he set Caelus off.
Although he doesn't move when the distance between them is closed, the slightest cant of his head towards the other is a clearly silent Why? at the announcement. Lifting his chin, he seems to observe the other in turn, giving him an unreadable once over before responding: ]
I think you should stay with Caelus.
[ The gambler does tense a bit at that last question concerning his worry for Nicola himself, though.
Oh, now what's this? Interesting. Aventurine isn't going to think too hard on it, though, even seeing the expectant gaze (and it's not as if Aventurine has any idea as to what he wants.) Aventurine is agitated and restless under the surface, and he's already hyperaware of being caught in some similarly insane heart-to-heart with Nicola like he tripped into with Caelus.
(Because, honestly? He could control himself with Caelus for the most part, but that's not to say he'll be able to with Nicola.)
The small smile that appears is brief but sharp, like he's irritated to even be asked this. Maybe he's feeling a little preemptively defensive. Again, Caelus already threw a curveball at him that had to do with Nicola, so who's to say Nicola isn't going to do the same? If he's already been to see Caelus, this could be just some kind of tag-team continuation, even. ]
That depends. Is that a question or an accusation?
[For a moment, Nicola says nothing. He watches that brief, sharp smile arrive and disappear again, watches the defensiveness settle into place behind polished phrasing and practiced poise. Aventurine offers him a game instead of an answer. Under normal circumstances, Nicola might have admired it more openly.
Right now, it only leaves something taut inside him pulling tighter.]
Neither.
[The reply comes smooth and immediate. No irritation, no offense taken. If anything, his voice is gentler than before, which somehow makes it harder to dismiss.]
It's curiosity.
[His gaze drifts once, briefly, to the line of Aventurine's jaw where tension had gathered, then returns to his eyes. He is far too attentive tonight. Far too willing to notice things he would normally politely ignore.]
And concern. You seem to be even more out of sorts than Caelus was.
[There is no cruelty in the observation. No smugness. Just calm certainty, delivered with the same ease someone might comment on the weather.]
He's sleeping peacefully in my room now, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to come check on you. I left him a note in case he wakes before we return.
[We, not I. Aventurine may have noticed Nicola first, but he is indeed the person Nicola had come looking for, and he fully intends to take Aventurine back to his room once they're ready to rest themselves. Caelus would be overjoyed to wake up to both of his favorite people by his side.
Another step closes the space by inches. Aventurine had not moved when Nicola approached before, and Nicola notes that fact with a quiet satisfaction he makes no effort to hide.]
I missed you just as much as I missed Caelus, you know.
[The tether hums strangely beneath his ribs, pressure easing at the simple reality of proximity. No pain. No warning. Just the subtle reward of having what he wants kept near.]
We can go back to him later. For now, I'd like to spend some time with you while Caelus gets the rest he deserves.
[ that softness indeed makes the other's voice and the words spoken harder to ignore, especially what with Nicola making a point to let it be known he's observing every detail and movement he sees. this is behavior Aventurine expects from the other despite not knowing why he operates in such a manner, but it's the first time the gambler becomes self-conscious of just how much he is being seen (and has already been seen) by the other man while his manners very well told the story of not seeing anything at all. Stranger still, Aventurine gets a (—? What is it? Disturbing? Unexpected? Exciting?—) feeling that, if it's this person doing it, he rather likes it.
I'm not...
There's no reaction beyond the pressing of his lips together to prevent himself from being more animated. More out of sorts than Caelus? Well, clearly Nicola got off easy (as expected, he really couldn't imagine Caelus keeping that going once the man had returned,) but he is now hyperaware if he points it out that it'll just prove Nicola's observation right in the end. Again he can't tell if he's upset or delighted that this individual is paying that much attention to him.
Oh, but then he has to go and say something like that. That he not only missed him, but missed him just as much as he did Caelus? That's rather... well, Aventurine doesn't know. It stings a little despite the trembling sensation underneath it being suddenly anxious, even hopeful. How does he respond to that (beyond wanting to deflect it, even as Sleep's influence sinks into the marrow of his bones —this is what you've been hoping for, isn't it?) ]
I missed you, too.
[ He just wants them safe. Nicola says Caelus is safe, which means Nicola is, too. If they're together, they're safe.
—And so he should leave it at that. He already took advantage of Caelus, and he wants to do the same to Nicola now, too, what with him spilling the right words and looking at him the right way. His excuse with the Trailblazer earlier doesn't hold with Nicola now, though.
Swallowing a grimace, he brings a hand up to his face to hide the tremble of his mouth as well as the starlit mist that makes up his breath now in the heavy silence between them. His tone slicks up, his speech lilting as it's wrapped in the performative bravado and confidence he normally presents, and his eyes sharpen. Like an animal taken the defensive. ]
...I can say those words, but you shouldn't. You're a taken man, and with all that's going on right now, I might be too confused to help myself. And then you won't be very safe yourself at all.
[ a thinly veiled threat, a warning by prey that now feels cornered, don't tread on me. still, Aventurine can't bring himself to move even now that the distance has closed further, even recognizing that Nicola is well pleased, meaning that Aventurine is currently playing as Nicola has deemed appropriate.
His voice doesn't revert, but there's is a lack of targeted aggression when he speaks again, an almost sigh of an exhale accompanying. He's simply trying to save face, to appear unbothered or otherwise affected while still getting his point across. ]
... But you know all this. So, what do you really want?
[ is this because of what Aventurine did to Caelus? If so, Nicola might as well just spit it out. (Aventurine's end of the tether is like a a butterfly's wings fluttering simultaneously between defensive and apprehensive, even if twisted and garbled in the corruption that's been accumulating along it.
Nicola's not stupid, Aventurine has not done the best job in the world keeping his attraction to the other under wraps, and the only reason he feels at least relatively confident that he isn't ridiculously obvious in his feelings is mostly due Nicola's continued willingness to look the other way.
...So surely, Nicola can understand why Aventurine thinks it's dangerous for a man like Nicola, who isn't single, to be spending any time with him right now unless Nicola is actively looking for trouble. )
And to think this is all his confusion before asking about the other man's use of we.
Well, Nicola did say Aventurine seemed out of sorts, didn't he? Now he has that much more ammunition for it despite the Avgin's intentions to provide otherwise. ]
[Nicola's gaze drops to the starlit mist slipping past Aventurine's hand, and something in his expression warms instead of recoils. The warning does not make him retreat. If anything, it seems to settle him. His hand rises slowly, deliberately, and closes around Aventurine's wrist with careful restraint, thumb resting over the flutter of his pulse as though claiming the right to feel it there.]
You don't frighten me. You never have. I've seen that breath before, you know. I thought it was beautiful then, and I think it's beautiful now... Almost as beautiful as your eyes.
[His hold does not tighten, but it does not loosen either. The tether rewards the contact with a low, selfish ease beneath his ribs, and Nicola lets himself take comfort in it. Aventurine is tense, defensive, all sharp edges and trembling restraint, but he is still here. Still close. Still looking at him.]
What do I really want? You. I thought that was obvious by now.
[A faint, almost fond smile touches his mouth, but there is nothing light about the way he watches Aventurine. The answer is simple enough that Nicola finds himself faintly amused by the need to say it aloud, as though Aventurine has been trying to turn an open door into a locked one by sheer force of will.]
And before you use Caelus as your excuse, don't. He and I already spoke about this before the last dream began. We both want you. Not as a lapse in judgment, not as something shameful, and not with one of us wanting you less than the other. Just as much, Aventurine. Equally.
[He steps in closer, close enough that Aventurine's starlit breath has nowhere to go but between them. Nicola's voice lowers, gentle in sound and implacable in meaning. There is no threat in him, not exactly, but there is certainty. The kind that has already decided where Aventurine belongs for the night and sees no kindness in letting him wander off alone.]
So for now, I'm keeping you to myself. Later, I'll take you back to my room where Caelus is, so we can all protect each other... and enjoy each other's company properly.
[His thumb moves once over Aventurine's pulse, slow and deliberate, as though soothing him and testing his answer all at once.]
His pulse rapid fires like a moth's wings caught in a spider web. Beautiful, huh? Doesn't frighten him—
—his eyes.
Aventurine's expression is dumbstruck, like he didn't hear correctly and it's attempting to reorganize what most likely was actually said without having to ask. That smile of Nicola's is so captivating, though, how can he not be pulled in? ]
You're such a flatterer... but it really does all sound so nice. [ Aventurine whispers as his stunned expression melts into something more calculating alluring (his pulse stays high, whether in nervousness or excitement is anyone's guess, however) going to finally get closer now to have their bodies fully touching beyond the hold current on his wrist. There's so much to think about now— too much, even, to truly think about and unpack even if he were in his right mind —but Nicola's words are enough to give Aventurine the excuse he needs to stop holding back. He'll use his free hand to run a finger along Nicola's jawline as he leans in that much closer until he can whisper against pretty lips as if branding them with every word spoken. ]
If what you're saying is true, then we've almost finished pulling off the perfect crime. If I've stolen your heart, [ he'll press their lips together not yet in an actual kiss, finishing his sentence like an invitation and a challenge that promises what he wants if he takes it. ] then all that's left to do is for you to steal mine~.
[ (Not exactly true, Nicola already has it, has had it along with Caelus for a while longer than he can remember to admit. Right now in this moment, where someone he desires so is claiming to actually want him, too, though... he's not going to waste the opportunity to demand a demonstration of exactly how sincere those words just now are. Caelus technically already did it earlier, so now it's Nicola's turn.)
Aventurine will tug his held wrist towards his own chest in a gesture of pressing over his own heart. ]
... And it's right here for the taking, if you truly so desire it.
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no subject
Aventurine's mouth twitches a bit unimpressed at Nicola's explanation for having left. Even though that is indeed the reason exactly he himself had given Caelus, it's not exactly self-validating in any way to hear it at this point. Don't rope me into it, Caelus is agitated enough over me as is. I don't need to be part of the reason you left him. ]
Wise decision. [ is the response Nicola gets to admitting that he doesn't think the separation was as sound of a choice as he apparently did when he ran off. There's the slightest frown at being told they should stick together, though. Mostly because he wants Nicola to stay with Caelus and keep him calm and happy until whatever this all is wears off. Everything else in Aventurine's mind has become second since he set Caelus off.
Although he doesn't move when the distance between them is closed, the slightest cant of his head towards the other is a clearly silent Why? at the announcement. Lifting his chin, he seems to observe the other in turn, giving him an unreadable once over before responding: ]
I think you should stay with Caelus.
[ The gambler does tense a bit at that last question concerning his worry for Nicola himself, though.
Oh, now what's this? Interesting. Aventurine isn't going to think too hard on it, though, even seeing the expectant gaze (and it's not as if Aventurine has any idea as to what he wants.) Aventurine is agitated and restless under the surface, and he's already hyperaware of being caught in some similarly insane heart-to-heart with Nicola like he tripped into with Caelus.
(Because, honestly? He could control himself with Caelus for the most part, but that's not to say he'll be able to with Nicola.)
The small smile that appears is brief but sharp, like he's irritated to even be asked this. Maybe he's feeling a little preemptively defensive. Again, Caelus already threw a curveball at him that had to do with Nicola, so who's to say Nicola isn't going to do the same? If he's already been to see Caelus, this could be just some kind of tag-team continuation, even. ]
That depends. Is that a question or an accusation?
no subject
Right now, it only leaves something taut inside him pulling tighter.]
Neither.
[The reply comes smooth and immediate. No irritation, no offense taken. If anything, his voice is gentler than before, which somehow makes it harder to dismiss.]
It's curiosity.
[His gaze drifts once, briefly, to the line of Aventurine's jaw where tension had gathered, then returns to his eyes. He is far too attentive tonight. Far too willing to notice things he would normally politely ignore.]
And concern. You seem to be even more out of sorts than Caelus was.
[There is no cruelty in the observation. No smugness. Just calm certainty, delivered with the same ease someone might comment on the weather.]
He's sleeping peacefully in my room now, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to come check on you. I left him a note in case he wakes before we return.
[We, not I. Aventurine may have noticed Nicola first, but he is indeed the person Nicola had come looking for, and he fully intends to take Aventurine back to his room once they're ready to rest themselves. Caelus would be overjoyed to wake up to both of his favorite people by his side.
Another step closes the space by inches. Aventurine had not moved when Nicola approached before, and Nicola notes that fact with a quiet satisfaction he makes no effort to hide.]
I missed you just as much as I missed Caelus, you know.
[The tether hums strangely beneath his ribs, pressure easing at the simple reality of proximity. No pain. No warning. Just the subtle reward of having what he wants kept near.]
We can go back to him later. For now, I'd like to spend some time with you while Caelus gets the rest he deserves.
no subject
I'm not...
There's no reaction beyond the pressing of his lips together to prevent himself from being more animated. More out of sorts than Caelus? Well, clearly Nicola got off easy (as expected, he really couldn't imagine Caelus keeping that going once the man had returned,) but he is now hyperaware if he points it out that it'll just prove Nicola's observation right in the end. Again he can't tell if he's upset or delighted that this individual is paying that much attention to him.
Oh, but then he has to go and say something like that. That he not only missed him, but missed him just as much as he did Caelus? That's rather... well, Aventurine doesn't know. It stings a little despite the trembling sensation underneath it being suddenly anxious, even hopeful. How does he respond to that (beyond wanting to deflect it, even as Sleep's influence sinks into the marrow of his bones —this is what you've been hoping for, isn't it?) ]
I missed you, too.
[ He just wants them safe. Nicola says Caelus is safe, which means Nicola is, too. If they're together, they're safe.
—And so he should leave it at that. He already took advantage of Caelus, and he wants to do the same to Nicola now, too, what with him spilling the right words and looking at him the right way. His excuse with the Trailblazer earlier doesn't hold with Nicola now, though.
Swallowing a grimace, he brings a hand up to his face to hide the tremble of his mouth as well as the starlit mist that makes up his breath now in the heavy silence between them. His tone slicks up, his speech lilting as it's wrapped in the performative bravado and confidence he normally presents, and his eyes sharpen. Like an animal taken the defensive. ]
...I can say those words, but you shouldn't. You're a taken man, and with all that's going on right now, I might be too confused to help myself. And then you won't be very safe yourself at all.
[ a thinly veiled threat, a warning by prey that now feels cornered, don't tread on me. still, Aventurine can't bring himself to move even now that the distance has closed further, even recognizing that Nicola is well pleased, meaning that Aventurine is currently playing as Nicola has deemed appropriate.
His voice doesn't revert, but there's is a lack of targeted aggression when he speaks again, an almost sigh of an exhale accompanying. He's simply trying to save face, to appear unbothered or otherwise affected while still getting his point across. ]
... But you know all this. So, what do you really want?
[ is this because of what Aventurine did to Caelus? If so, Nicola might as well just spit it out. (Aventurine's end of the tether is like a a butterfly's wings fluttering simultaneously between defensive and apprehensive, even if twisted and garbled in the corruption that's been accumulating along it.
Nicola's not stupid, Aventurine has not done the best job in the world keeping his attraction to the other under wraps, and the only reason he feels at least relatively confident that he isn't ridiculously obvious in his feelings is mostly due Nicola's continued willingness to look the other way.
...So surely, Nicola can understand why Aventurine thinks it's dangerous for a man like Nicola, who isn't single, to be spending any time with him right now unless Nicola is actively looking for trouble. )
And to think this is all his confusion before asking about the other man's use of we.
Well, Nicola did say Aventurine seemed out of sorts, didn't he? Now he has that much more ammunition for it despite the Avgin's intentions to provide otherwise. ]
no subject
You don't frighten me. You never have. I've seen that breath before, you know. I thought it was beautiful then, and I think it's beautiful now... Almost as beautiful as your eyes.
[His hold does not tighten, but it does not loosen either. The tether rewards the contact with a low, selfish ease beneath his ribs, and Nicola lets himself take comfort in it. Aventurine is tense, defensive, all sharp edges and trembling restraint, but he is still here. Still close. Still looking at him.]
What do I really want? You. I thought that was obvious by now.
[A faint, almost fond smile touches his mouth, but there is nothing light about the way he watches Aventurine. The answer is simple enough that Nicola finds himself faintly amused by the need to say it aloud, as though Aventurine has been trying to turn an open door into a locked one by sheer force of will.]
And before you use Caelus as your excuse, don't. He and I already spoke about this before the last dream began. We both want you. Not as a lapse in judgment, not as something shameful, and not with one of us wanting you less than the other. Just as much, Aventurine. Equally.
[He steps in closer, close enough that Aventurine's starlit breath has nowhere to go but between them. Nicola's voice lowers, gentle in sound and implacable in meaning. There is no threat in him, not exactly, but there is certainty. The kind that has already decided where Aventurine belongs for the night and sees no kindness in letting him wander off alone.]
So for now, I'm keeping you to myself. Later, I'll take you back to my room where Caelus is, so we can all protect each other... and enjoy each other's company properly.
[His thumb moves once over Aventurine's pulse, slow and deliberate, as though soothing him and testing his answer all at once.]
Doesn't that sound nice?
no subject
Oh oh oh oh oh.
His pulse rapid fires like a moth's wings caught in a spider web. Beautiful, huh? Doesn't frighten him—
—his eyes.
Aventurine's expression is dumbstruck, like he didn't hear correctly and it's attempting to reorganize what most likely was actually said without having to ask. That smile of Nicola's is so captivating, though, how can he not be pulled in? ]
You're such a flatterer... but it really does all sound so nice. [ Aventurine whispers as his stunned expression melts into something more calculating alluring (his pulse stays high, whether in nervousness or excitement is anyone's guess, however) going to finally get closer now to have their bodies fully touching beyond the hold current on his wrist. There's so much to think about now— too much, even, to truly think about and unpack even if he were in his right mind —but Nicola's words are enough to give Aventurine the excuse he needs to stop holding back. He'll use his free hand to run a finger along Nicola's jawline as he leans in that much closer until he can whisper against pretty lips as if branding them with every word spoken. ]
If what you're saying is true, then we've almost finished pulling off the perfect crime. If I've stolen your heart, [ he'll press their lips together not yet in an actual kiss, finishing his sentence like an invitation and a challenge that promises what he wants if he takes it. ] then all that's left to do is for you to steal mine~.
[ (Not exactly true, Nicola already has it, has had it along with Caelus for a while longer than he can remember to admit. Right now in this moment, where someone he desires so is claiming to actually want him, too, though... he's not going to waste the opportunity to demand a demonstration of exactly how sincere those words just now are. Caelus technically already did it earlier, so now it's Nicola's turn.)
Aventurine will tug his held wrist towards his own chest in a gesture of pressing over his own heart. ]
... And it's right here for the taking, if you truly so desire it.