[Mature] Pagan Poetry

[Lars]

LARS' APARTMENT
VORTAS 2, 2719 ❁ WAY TOO LATE
continued from here

Saying that Lars didn't mind being pushed back further against the wall would have been an understatement. It wasn't far, and it wasn't much, but it was just enough to knock the back of his head against the stone, not hard enough to hurt but enough to feel, enough to send the tiniest of warnings to his brain, the quietest of alarms. The hand on Gideon's waist moved to their back, applying just enough pressure to keep them close once they'd set an arm against the wall. He was well aware of the fact that he was essentially held to the wall, and it only worsened that jittery, nervous feeling that came to rest in his shoulders and his sides, but it would be a lie if he claimed not to enjoy it. Lars was not sure why, exactly, he enjoyed it, but he knew that he did.

It was the same when Gideon's other hand found his neck, cold against his skin. He would have shivered, again, if he was not shivering already, but he made no attempt to remove the hand, dangerous as it was to keep it there. As far as he was concerned, it could stay there for as long as it pleased, pressing, holding, suffocating, whatever Gideon wished it to do. He wondered if Gideon thought about it, when they put their hand there. He wondered if it even crossed their mind, or if it came to rest there out of habit, out of necessity to hold him in place. He wondered if Gideon thought about how easy it would be to kill him, despite the niceties, despite the way his lips parted so easily when theirs pressed for it.

He hoped they thought about it. Even if it lasted only a moment, he hoped the thought was there.

Lars inhaled as the taller pulled ever-so-slightly away, quiet, but shaky and audible nonetheless. His eyes opened just enough to see Gideon's face (at least, what he could see of it in the pale light), and his lips remained parted, drawing in quiet breaths from the narrow space between their faces. He nodded, feeling as his hair caught behind his head against the wall, and moving it anyway. He let go of Gideon's collar, his hand sliding slightly upwards to brush against their jaw in an almost inquisitive fashion.

"Yeah," he agreed, even if he didn't immediately try to move out of the human's hold. "'ve got a fire. Fire... fireplace. One 'f those." The passive's mouth curved into half a grin, and he dropped his hand from Gideon's back. The one resting along their jaw remained for a moment longer, and he pushed forward, kissing them again - it was brief, this time, just enough to catch and release, just enough to make him wonder why they had to go inside at all, but to remind him that yes, it was fucking cold outside. Gideon was right. He had a fireplace inside, and there were plenty of walls in there if he felt the need to be pushed against one again, right?

He moved, finally, his hand falling from the line of their jaw to rest upon Gideon's hand, where it sat at his neck. His fingers slipped over it, pulling it (unfortunately) away from the delicate skin but keeping it in his own once he'd stepped to the side. Lars told reminded himself not to stare, there were places to be, but it was difficult still to look away. He managed, somehow, and brought the taller with him as he walked towards the door.

It was unlocked, even if the doorknob was way too fucking cold, and Lars moved inside and continued towards the stairs without much care for if the door was ever shut or not. The stairs were not steep, nor were they drawn out in some long, winding path, but their mere presence, keeping him from his apartment for those extra few moments, was enough to drag a sound of annoyance from the passive's lips. Still, despite the minor obstacles and annoyances, it didn't take much longer for the Hessean to get them to his door.

There was still a faint mark against the frame, a pale pink now that it had been scrubbed, that looked like it might have been a hand print before. Lars pushed open the door with his shoulder, stumbling inside when the weight of it gave way.

"Ah -" he corrected himself before he fell, and stood still, his hand still holding Gideon's. He laughed, quiet, "figure almost dyin' isn't enough t' help with that trick?"

Oh, he hadn't forgotten. There was no way he could forget about such cryptic statements, no way he couldn't be curious. Lars swallowed, looking to the corner, where the fireplace stood cold.

"I'll get - get that going. No hy... hypotherm... ia. Don't wanna die like that. Don't want y' to die in here, either, no space."

[Peregrine]

02 of Vortas, 2719 - Too Late
Lars' Apartment

Weren't that just something, to have this lovely thing all pinned up and shivering underneath their hand? Set off something in their blood, that did. And it was their blood, Peregrine's blood, not Gideon's in that moment. Gideon Carver weren't a man that had this kind of fire in him, not like this. That was their blood, their pulse, their sharp teeth all set to rend and tear. After that little inhale when they pulled away, that hand on their sharp jaw, they almost said not to bother going inside. It were still cold as shit out here, but it was tempting to say. Fair tempting.

Fire was good though. Lars took Peregrine's dark hand off his neck and kept it as they both walked to the door. They should look around more, get their bearings. But they didn't bother; weren't like they could see much in the dark, or like it mattered. They just kept their eyes on the pale sliver of Lars' face and allowed themselves to be led through the door and up the stairs. Stairs-- stairs proved a difficulty. Peregrine stumbled a little on the way up. Not enough to fall or drag Lars down with them, of course, but enough to remind them that they'd had quite a few drinks and needed to watch themself. Careful, careful, careful. Didn't want to fall down no stairs and break Gideon apart, did they? That would be bad. Put something of a damper on the whole experience, really. Laughed at that, and at the sound Lars made when they got to the stairs. Giggling like a schoolgirl, they were--weren't that just sweet.

There was the ghost of a handprint against the frame of Lars' door. Peregrine noticed it, even though mostly their attention weren't on things like doorframes and details. Saw it and they wondered whose hand that was. They looked back at Lars again, dark brows arched. It was a considering sort of look. Evaluating. Morbid, all a-twitter to talk about how men could die. What other kinds of things did this LarsCailan get up to, hmm? Weren't the kind of thing they'd expect to see, given where he worked. Peregrine thought about the knife they carried.

"Not quite," Peregrine agreed, using their heavier weight to stay steady as Lars tumbled into his apartment. "Need that out-of-body experience." Were they getting awfully close to saying something of what they really were? Sure. They were enjoying it, too. Weren't like the smaller man would figure it out on his own, no.

No space! Peregrine laughed their carrion bird laughter. No space at all, it was true. "There are other ways to avoid that," they said, a voice full of promise. But they released Lars' hand, too, to let him... set something on fire, they supposed. Burn something up, so as nobody got hypothermia. Conserving space. They was just being efficient.

Immediately inside, they started to let their eyes wander, taking in the details of where Lars lived. Plenty of things all inside the place, they noted. They didn't have quite so many things. Enough, to be sure, but then again working the docks was probably a less lucrative career. They'd had things, before, for other faces. They liked things--shiny things, comfortable things, nice things. What was the point of even being in a body if you weren't going to surround it with nice things?

"Yer place." There wasn't anything to follow the statement, just the sound of Peregrine's low voice cutting through the air. Approval or disapproval was impossible to determine from their tone, or even really from their intention. "Y'leave it unlocked like that often?" they asked, followed by a grin. "Y'know, you do that and all manner of bad men can just waltz right in." Peregrine turned to look at Lars. All manner of bad men--although none probably quite like the one he'd brought in himself. I ent so terrible, they thought. Weren't shopping for new faces, weren't being asked too many questions. Weren't falling into any of them holes. Safe as houses with Peregrine, Lars was. Safe as he wanted to be.

[Lars]

LARS' APARTMENT
VORTAS 2, 2719 ❁ WAY TOO LATE

Out-of-body experience. Wasn't that curious. Lars wasn't sure that he'd ever even heard of such a thing, but it sure sounded interesting. He was quickly distracted again by the sound of Gideon's laugh, his eyes shifting back from the fireplace to their lovely smile, and the passive laughed too. He was not certain as to which part of it they were laughing about, seeing as none of it had been intended as a joke, but it was pleasant to hear them laugh nonetheless. It made him feel... seen, and that was strange. Like the human understood him, somehow, but how could they understand? They didn't even know him, didn't know what he did - they knew where he worked, but they didn't know what else he did, they didn't know the more important things. And he didn't want to ruin it all by explaining.

It didn't help when they kept saying such things, though, and Lars pondered it as he made his way to the fireplace. He stumbled, but had at least seemed to regain some form of composure, after being out in the cold and having something to really focus on.

"Oth - other ways," he repeated, his excitable tone betraying his curiosity. Upon reaching the cold fireplace, the passive dropped to his knees rather harshly, but whether it was intentional or the result of clumsy footwork was unclear. Either way, he was reaching for the box of matches afterward, and after striking a match once or twice to no avail, he finally procured a flame. It was tossed onto the bundle of wood within, and Lars remained, watching for a few moments as the flame slowly spread. He blew gently to aid it, and then he was moving back, setting the matchbox to the side. He stood up again, pulling himself up by grabbing onto one of the plush, pink chairs.

Gideon's flat voice drew his eyes back to them, and Lars didn't bother trying to make sense of the first part - he wasn't sober enough, and didn't really care to make something out of statements. They continued though, and grinned, and the passive had to laugh. It wasn't the first time he had been told such a thing, but the intentions here were different, he knew.

"Not... not gonna say 'm opposed t' that," the pale-haired man moved away from the chairs, crossing the room to approach the strange, tall human again. He reached out again, but didn't cling to their nice sweater this time, setting a pale hand against their arm. His eyes watched it, for a moment, and then darted up to Gideon's pretty face, illuminated and shadowed in turn by the light of the growing fire.

His hand simply couldn't stay in place (how it had managed to stay still at all was beyond him), smoothing up their arm, their neck, fingers delicately tracing the sharp jaw. "Sit with me," requested the smaller, "please?"

Even so, Lars didn't move his hand, nor did he make any effort to move his body. If he planned on doing so, he showed no indication.

[Peregrine]

02 of Vortas, 2719 - Late Late Late
Lars' Apartment

"Now now, a girl can't give away all her secrets. Ent even a first date, is it?" Peregrine was enjoying every vague mention, every strange hint. What would he do, this Lars, if he knew about the Peregrine inside of Gideon. Would he be frightened or thrilled? Which reaction would be better? Both were good, sometimes. Oh but Peregrine tried to be good, they did. Tried not to scare folks, to be quiet and live their life. Lives. Things just never seemed to happen as they wanted them to.

Nah, nah, nah. Took more than a few drinks and a pretty face what to get that kind of secret out of Peregrine. Wouldn't be much of a secret if they told it to anyone who put their tongue between Peregrine's teeth, would it? They'd been what they were a long time. Didn't stay living by telling everyone about how you couldn't really die. Peregrine stood and watched as Lars struggled with the matches.

Not opposed, huh? Peregrine couldn't tell if Lars meant all manner of strange men, or just them specifically. Both were moony. Practically inviting something terrible to happen. No, not practically--he'd invited Peregrine in, hadn't he? Except as Peregrine really thought it weren't likely to be terrible. They didn't often find as anyone had complaints, at least. Lars had lit the fire and came back across the room to put a hand on their arm. The fire cast a warm glow over all those cool, pale features that seemed out of place, somehow. Like someone had tried to pass off a ghost as a living thing. And weren't quite as good at is as Peregrine was, of course.

Those fingers moved from their arm up, up, up. "Sure," they said slow. "If that's what you want." Lars didn't move, and neither did Peregrine, curious. It had been his suggestion, but he didn't seem to keen on it. Peregrine didn't look to the soft pink chairs, but instead kept his gaze on that fine-featured monochrome face.

Peregrine always liked hands--they were such a good feature on a person. "Someone once told me," they commented idly, "that it takes as much force to bite through a carrot as through a finger. Can't do it to yerself on account of how the brain stops you." They covered Lars' hand with their own dark one and turned their face slightly to draw two of those fingers into their mouth, onto their tongue. As much force as biting through a carrot. If Lars hadn't pulled his hand away, they'd move those same fingers between their teeth, right at a joint. Biting down, though not nearly trying to bite through. Just putting a sharp pressure there, while looking into them grey eyes.

[Lars]

LARS' APARTMENT
VORTAS 2, 2719 ❁ WAY TOO LATE

When Lars remained in place, Gideon did too. While it was true that he wanted to go to the chairs, and get closer to the fire while it started to warm the apartment, it was hard to move. Hard to look away, when he had Gideon looking right back down at him. Hard to do much of anything but just stare, like he had done upon first noticing the human - they were captivating, so strange in some way he couldn't quite place, but he wanted to. He wanted to know why something felt off, but he didn't want to fix it. Things like that weren't meant to be fixed, he thought. Couldn't be.

He was dragged from such thoughts as Gideon's mouth moved, and the shorter realized that he had been staring at it. Bleary gray eyes flicked upward, looking curiously into their dark gaze, feeling again as if it could consume him if he stared too long. They said something about fingers - about... biting them? Biting them right off like biting through a carrot? He wondered if that was true. Something in the back of his head wanted to ask if Gideon had ever done that before, and he blocked it out. Another part was asking if he could do it now, if he could try it with their hands, and that was shut down even faster. No, of course not. It was just something to say. But he couldn't deny that it made him wonder... he supposed lots of things were like that, where the brain didn't allow them, in self-preservation. Most people's brains didn't let them do plenty of the things Lars did, he figured, but his brain only told him to continue. Part of it did, anyhow.

His hand was moved, and he couldn't quite help the quiet intake of breath as his fingers were brought into the human's pretty mouth. Lars didn't pull the hand away, even as he felt Gideon's sharp teeth against his delicate fingers. They were biting down just hard enough to hurt, just enough to send those first warning signals to his brain to take his fingers back, but not enough to do damage, beyond a bit of bruising if his body was feeling unkind. Still, not hard enough.

"Really?" he breathed, his lips curving into a grin, "I think... I could."

Lars moved his fingers a little between their teeth, felt the sharp edges, while his thumb brushed gently against their cheek. His fingers curved, holding to the inside of their teeth. Meanwhile, his other hand was set against Gideon's chest, though it remained there for only a moment before it was sliding up over the sweater to rest at the collar of it.

The passive really couldn't help looking down at Gideon's mouth again, seeing as how distracting they were making it. "You don't have t' be so gentle," teased Lars with another small grin, fingers pulling at Gideon's teeth - he pulled down, slow, until he could look at them a bit more evenly, and leaned closer. The hand at Gideon's collar dropped, then, reaching for the human's free hand, bringing it up to rest at his neck again. His heart was racing, light, and his eyes closed for a long moment.

"Y'seem strong," said the pale-haired man, eyes slowly forcing themselves open to look at Gideon. He did not elaborate, but he did let go of their teeth, finally pulling back his fingers and quickly replacing them with his mouth.

[Peregrine]

02 of Vortas, 2719 - Late Late Late
Lars' Apartment

If anyone could, it's you. Peregrine would have said this, had their mouth not been otherwise occupied. The bite had been a test, trying to figure out just where this was going to go. Weren't like they really wanted to bite through his fingers--for one thing, that was a fair bit of mess to clean up, and for another they weren't so sure as to where that would take the evening. But they were curious how Lars would react. If he'd pulled his hand away, for instance, Peregrine might have been disappointed but gotten over it. Could absolutely have carried on in the regular fashion.

Instead, Lars moved his fingers through Peregrine's mouth, feeling the edges of their teeth. That was absolutely not a reaction they'd expected--they were thrilled. They didn't think they'd met someone with such a self-destructive streak in a long, long time. Longer than they could remember, in fact. Weren't no other examples coming to mind, at least. Could be one in them holes, but they didn't think so. Lars seemed, what was the word? Unique.

So gentle? Peregrine couldn't help it, they laughed again around the fingers that were still in their mouth. Nothing seemed to them as it had been gentle by any normal standard. Peregrine didn't know much about normal standards, but even they knew this weren't part of it. But if that's what Lars wanted--well, they weren't sorry to oblige. After all, they hadn't laughed this much in lifetimes. Lars brought their hand back to his throat and they let their fingers curve around it with more pressure than they'd used outside. Might even have bruised, just a little.

It was looking at them again what did it, what made some kind of control snap just a little more. Peregrine brought their other hand to the back of Lars' head, threading Gideon's musician's fingers through that pale, pale hair. Grabbed it even, maybe a little harder than they'd meant. He'd said, hadn't he, that Peregrine didn't have to be so gentle? Well, they weren't going to argue. They tried to crush their mouths together, a terrible tangle of teeth that seemed fit to take the air right out of Lars' lungs and draw it into Gideon's. Still, they pulled back, trying not to get too excited. Not so soon. They had so much time ahead of them. Would be a shame if they didn't use it all.

"Dunno my own strength, really," they said with a grin. Hadn't spent enough time with it to really know the limits--part of them being so "gentle" was just not knowing how easy it'd be for Gideon's pretty bony fingers to snap Lars in half. Easier than it would have been as the bookseller, that was a fair sight for sure. The bookseller had been pretty too, in their own way, but in a waifish way. Gideon was no waif.

They hadn't let go of Lars' throat, but they did slide their hand up a little higher so they could trace a thumb across the line of his jaw. "Y'got some kinda death wish?" The way Peregrine said it, it wasn't an accusation. They practically purred the statement. Had to admire that kind of self-destructiveness. Burned bright, in its own way. Besides, if that was what guided him to bring Peregrine back here tonight, how could they really complain?

"Still wanna sit down?"

[Lars]

LARS' APARTMENT
VORTAS 2, 2719 ❁ WAY TOO LATE

Gideon's fingers were beautiful, he thought, beautiful and strong. They felt perfectly in place around his neck, pressing hard enough against his throat that it made his breath catch within it. His delight with the firm, sudden pressure was obvious, his bleary eyes bright in the warm glow of the fire. It did nothing to calm him when their other hand found the back of his head, grabbing his hair, and he let his head move back slightly with the hold. He inhaled, sharp, into the kiss, doing his best to stay focused on it, stay focused on their lips, on their lovely teeth. It was hard, though, so hard when their fingers were pulling at his hair and pressing hard around his throat. Hard enough to bruise.

They pulled back soon enough, and Lars swallowed, his lips remaining parted to breathe as he opened his eyes again. Gideon was grinning down at them, and it made him grin too, flashes of white teeth in the low light. A small sound of amusement escaped him at the comment of not knowing their own strength, as if the notion of not knowing was somehow more appealing. It was - not knowing felt dangerous, just like everything else about the strange human with their hand wrapped around his neck. Dangerous and strange and oh so pretty.

The hand moved upwards, thumb finding his jaw to run along it. It made him swallow again, involuntarily, having their hand there - like his throat was somehow trying to fight it off, to lessen the pressure, fighting against what the passive wanted. One of those things - the things the brain didn't want you to do, but he was no stranger to ignoring it. He didn't want for the taller to strangle him to death, of course... but he did not seem as if he would fight it either, if it came to that.

Lars hummed, and the sound was entirely too pleased, as was the grin that had yet to fall from his face. Death wish. He did not have a good answer for that, but he liked the way it'd been said, liked hearing Gideon's smooth, low voice curling around the words as if it pleased them. No, he didn't think he had a death wish - he didn't want to die, not yet, he had too much death to experience in others before he wanted it for himself. But if he had to die, he would not mind being killed like this, under Gideon's lovely hold.

"Not quite," he managed, and then his teeth found his bottom lip, eyes flicking off to the side as he considered the idea of sitting down. He had wanted to sit, yes. Sitting was good, because it meant that he wouldn't have to worry about trying to keep himself upright (he was still quite drunk and clumsy, and Gideon was distracting), but it also meant having to walk over there. The distance between them was short enough, but Gideon was here.

In the end, though, it wasn't wise to stay standing. His eyes darted back up to their face. "Yes," answered Lars in a short breath, "let - let's sit. Better, ah, not t' fall down," and he smiled again, pulling against the hand in his hair just a bit, just to feel that resistance. His own hand went to rest against Gideon's chest again, fingers smoothing gently against the warm knit.

"Prob'ly shouldn't walk though," considered Lars, sounding thoughtful, "y'can carry me, can't you?"

[Peregrine]

02 of Vortas, 2719 - Late Late Late
Lars' Apartment

They were drunk. They knew they were drunk, they'd been drunk on purpose. They had been so before Lars ever got to the bar, ever spilled anything on their lap. Before he bought them a couple of drinks, or left the bar. Elsewise, why would they be here teasing about not knowing their own strength, wrapping Gideon's fingers around that pretty neck? Did something to them, it did, those flashes of white teeth in the low light of the fire. The way it seemed like his throat wanted Peregrine to let go, but his face open and wanting. Stirred up something dark in their blood, low and hot. They wanted to let their fingers tighten more and more, to see how far they could push it before--but nah, if they lost control, that would be that. They didn't want that. Probably. It was getting hard to tell, with Lars using that mouth of his to goad them on and light up all their veins.

"Wouldn't want that," Peregrine agreed. Falling over weren't... weren't good, nah. Leastaways they didn't think so. Could fall down and break your neck, you could. Lars pulled just a little bit againt the grip they had on his hair. Well then! Weren't that something, just so completely something. Peregrine tightened their grip again, used it to force Lars' head back just a little. Their dark eyes were steady and unblinking as always, admiring the view from their current vantage point. The grip on his neck released, though a stark red imprint of it remained, so as to rake their nails thoughtfully back down the shorter man's chest, hand coming to rest on a hip. Didn't break the skin none, but they'd been thinking about doing that the whole walk over. Just dig right through all of that skin exposed by the undone jacket with no shirt under it.

"Dunno," they answered truthfully. "Prob'ly so, oes." Peregrine looked up and away, thinking on it. They weren't really sure how much Lars weighed. Less than some of the crates they tossed around the docks, they thought. More than others, but less than some. Only one way to find out, eh?

Didn't even given so much as a warning, just leaned down and tried to pick him up. There weren't no small amount of difficulty in doing it, they had to admit. Gideon's frame weren't especially delicate, but it weren't like they often tried to lift many grown men up into their arms neither. Especially not while drunk and more than a little bit unsteady themselves. Probably could have managed sober, or maybe if they'd thought as to say something before they tried, but Peregrine weren't and they didn't. Didn't help that Gideon's leg chose that moment to give out from underneath them, in that helpful way it did sometimes. So instead they stumbled forward and knocked both of them to the ground.

"Shit!" Peregrine hissed. "Gideon and yer fuckin' leg!"

Dice

SidekickBOTToday at 5:05 PM
Drunk Raen Tries to Princess Carry a Grown Man: 1d6 = (1) = 1

[Lars]

LARS' APARTMENT
VORTAS 2, 2719 ❁ WAY TOO LATE

The hand in his hair gripped tighter again, pulling his head back a little - it dragged a quick breath out of him, another small grin gracing his features to express his approval. He stared back at Gideon, at their unblinking, all-consuming gaze, looking pleased as could be but somehow, somehow, still wanting more. Needing more. It hurt, it did, the pulling at his hair and the pressure on his throat, but not enough, never enough, and he wondered for a brief moment if he really did have a death wish. And then, quick as could be, he decided that it didn't matter. None of it mattered, not when he had Gideon right here, looking down at him like that. It felt like staring into some terrifying, mesmerizing sea of darkness.

Gideon's hand let go of his neck, and Lars drew in a deep breath, the effect almost - almost - dizzying. The same hand traveled down, nails dragging along pale, bare skin, sliding down his chest to rest at his hip. He was certain that the taller had already left their mark on him, certain that his neck would bruise soon if it hadn't already, that his skin was just delicate enough to react to even the gentlest of touches and scrapes. He wanted to tell them to do it again. He wanted to tell them to drag those nails across his skin harder, to draw blood if they so pleased. But he did not.

Mainly because of the fact that they were leaning down, then, arms moving to grab the passive's slender form in an attempt to pick him up. It surprised him, even though he had told them to do it, and that was evidenced by the little gasp that escaped him as the human lifted him - tried to, anyway. In truth, the smaller of the two had absolutely no clue what happened in the process, but figured he could attribute it pretty well to the fact of them both being terribly drunk. So it might not have been a good idea to request that they carry him, but wouldn't it have been so nice if it worked?

Not that he could say being dropped onto the wooden floor wasn't nice. Gideon tumbled after him too, falling partially over the passive and hissing something about their leg. The way that said it seemed strange... but considering the way he used to speak, Lars didn't think he could question anyone's speech. It knocked the air out of him, and he groaned, quiet, arching his back slightly off of the floor. The noise was quickly overtaken by a different sound - one that bubbled up from his chest, all giddy and amused, the laughter of someone that shouldn't have been laughing.

"Floor's good too," said Lars, forcing his laughter back down.

He didn't try to move, or to push the human off of him, but his hands did find their shoulders. Lars lifted his head a little bit to look at Gideon, one of his hands moving to brush his fingers along their sharp jaw.

"You - ah, y'good?" he questioned, and despite the man's amusement, a bit of concern still shone through. "Is yo - your leg alright? Can look at 't for ya, if y'like. Un... unless y'wanna stay here. That's good too."

[Peregrine]

02 of Vortas, 2719 - Late Late Late
Lars' Floor

They fell, cursing Gideon's leg on the way down to the hard wood of the floor. The impact made them hiss again, wincing. They were drunk, yeah, but that weren't no excuse for this betrayal of flesh and bone. They'd... they'd give it a stern talk-to, later. Yeah, that's what they'd do.

Weren't so bad though. They'd taken Lars down with them, so as both of them ended up sprawled out on the unforgiving floor. They didn't mind that quiet groan, or the way he arched his spine off the floor. Couldn't decide if it were purposeful or accidental, but they appreciated it all the same. They wondered if anything had been too badly damaged with the fall--they did hope not. Weren't so fun if the damage weren't on purpose or asked for. Or interesting, neither, and weren't nothing interesting about getting knocked to the floor by Gideon's moment of weakness. Lars couldn't have been too bad off, though--started laughing, which set Peregrine off to grinning too. Despite Gideon's clocking leg.

"Floor's just fine." They turned to look at Lars as he brushed a finger alone the line of Gideon's jaw; the motion made their head swim. Something about falling over really did make all five of them drinks come right back into focus. Not-focus? One or t'other was surely applicable. They squinted a little blearly at Lars, frowining and thinking on their clocking ersehole of a leg. Then their face split into a grin again.

"Good 'nuff, hey? Weren't what I was tryin' t'do, but this works fair fine." They were almost touched there, just a little--weren't that sweet? Acting all concerned for them. Didn't even know their real name. Maybe they should tell him. Yeah, they could do that. Weren't like telling him what they were, of course, but it had been a long long time since anyone had talked to Peregrine on purpose. Couldn't remember how long, and it hurt to think about it. Usually they was always talking just to the face, and Peregrine wanted them to but sometimes. Sometimes they wondered what would happen if they were talking to the real thing, the part that was Peregrine.

Nah, hey, what were they thinking? They were more drunk than they thought, shit. Sitting here on Lars' cold floor and thinking about giving away a secret to a man what let them follow him home from a bar. Their favorite bar, but still. Just because he was lovely and strange, and seemed to like all the parts what were purely Peregrine and not Gideon at all. Shit. Shit. Fuck it. Yeah. Yeah! What did it matter? Was just a name.

"'S fine. Leg. Here." They paused, shifting their weight so Gideon's body formed a cage over Lars on the floor. Hovering, just a little bit. "Peregrine." They didn't elaborate--shit, if he was gonna know maybe he could figure it out. There, that worked, hey? Like a little puzzle. Could put the pieces together maybe. Didn't fucking care no more. On a whim, they moved their mouth to the side of Lars' neck. Pretty, pretty, pretty. Kissed him there. Then opened their mouth and bit down, hard. Hard enough to taste copper on their tongue, just a little.