MHA #14, Saturday Evening

[pocketpretzels]

First order of business upon arriving back at Steven and Marc's apartment had involved getting out of the clothes he'd been wearing since Tuesday and collapsing into a nice, hot bath-

Well, okay, first order of business had been saying hello to an extremely indignant cat who'd been deeply unimpressed about being left alone these last few days. Okay, sure, he'd had Marc for company but that clearly wasn't the same.

Then there'd been a bath. And changing into a set of Steven's sweats (he was never getting these back either, but that possibly wasn't as big a deal anymore all things considered). And then curling up on the couch, a bone-deep sort of tired settling in on him now that he'd stopped moving. All of which was done with the beau within arm's reach, because Watts was loathe to let him out of his sight at the moment.

Comments

[hasaknightjob]

Very much in arm's reach because Steven had strong feelings about holding Llewellyn close and not letting go. Even if he probably needed to eat the dinner they'd picked up on the way home almost as much as Llewellyn did. But the food was also in arm's reach on the coffee table so that was all right.

"I don't think I'm letting you go again," Steven said.

[pocketpretzels]

"The feeling is quite mutual, I assure you," Watts told him.

[hasaknightjob]

"I mean literally," Steven said, just so that was clear.

[pocketpretzels]

"I haven't let go of your hand- with the exception of getting undressed and then dressed again- since I took hold of it," Watts pointed out.

Well. There had also been taking care of some bodily functions but that sort of thing doesn't usually get referenced in the text.

[hasaknightjob]

"I'm perfectly all right with that," Steven said. "Though we will need to eat our meal at some point."

Sadly simply having food near you did not count, much though that would be handy.

[pocketpretzels]

"Right," Watts nodded. Because he was hungry, in a way he hadn't been since-

Well, it had been a long time.

"What did we get?" Yes, he'd been with Steven when they'd stopped to pick up said food. But he hadn't really been paying attention to anything except the feel of his beau next to him, solid and real.

[hasaknightjob]

"Greek," Steven said. "Your favorite. A little bit of everything that's easy to nibble. Let you fill up at your own pace, I thought?"

[pocketpretzels]

"Mmm, wise," Watts said. Not that he was moving as of yet from where he was tucked up against Steven's side. "There was no food inside," he said. "And yet- I wasn't hungry." Not until he'd stepped outside, anyway, beyond the reach of Midnight's illusions. "Not satisfied, but not hungry either."

[hasaknightjob]

Steven hugged him tighter. "My poor love. Do you want to talk about it at all? What it was like? Illyana said it was horrible."

[pocketpretzels]

It was probably a good thing that he and Midnight had reached their détente before it had started digging even deeper into Watts's fears, or it might have found the ones centered around not having enough to eat.

"Her description was- quite apt," Watts nodded. "It was- it was dark. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't drained the battery of my mobile telephone so quickly, as that was my only source of light."

[hasaknightjob]

"Oh poor love," Steven said. He knew how much Llewellyn hated the dark. "I tried contacting you. Nothing went through. Straight to your voice mail."

[pocketpretzels]

"I tried the same, before the battery failed," Watts said. "I did not even get so far as your voicemail."

[hasaknightjob]

"That's how I knew something must have happened," Steven said. "I knew you'd never be late without telling me, or let me miss your birthday."

[pocketpretzels]

"Never," Watts said fiercely, punctuating that with a gentle kiss.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven rested his forehead against Llewellyn's. "I thought I'd lost your birthday. Skipped it. But I knew you'd never let that happen to me."

[pocketpretzels]

"I am so sorry you had to entertain that thought even for a moment, darling," Watts said. Yes, he'd already apologised. No, that wasn't going to stop him from doing so again.

[hasaknightjob]

"You went through far worse," Steven said. "I'm sorry we couldn't get you out sooner. We tried. Marc and me started looking as soon as we realized you must have been taken."

[pocketpretzels]

"I knew you would," Watts said. "With every nightmare it threw at me, I knew you'd be trying to find me."

[hasaknightjob]

"I wouldn't have let anything stop me," Steven said. Which was one of the many reasons why Marc had grabbed hold of the body, frankly.

Steven leaned over just far enough to get one of the plates of food and hand it to Llewellyn. "Here. You need to eat."

The entire order had been Llewellyn's favorite things, but Steven had made certain that Llewellyn's plate had the most generous servings.

[pocketpretzels]

Watts was hungry, yes, but also quite unwilling to move so it was for the best that Steven took the initiative there.

Of course, once he had the plate, well. There was an entirely undignified but definitely pleased noise at that first mouthful of briam.

[hasaknightjob]

Steven smiled, glad to see Llewellyn eating. He picked his own plate up and balanced it on the arm of the couch so he could use one hand for eating but keep the other around Llewellyn. He really was not letting go if it could be avoided.

"We'll have to do your birthday again," Steven said. "The one that's just us. I won't have you missing it."

[pocketpretzels]

"You're very sweet," Watts said fondly.

[hasaknightjob]

"Celebrate you and getting you back," Steven said. "Could even do it tomorrow if you like. Dinner's easy enough to arrange. I can get the cake delivered as well."

Because the odds of them waking up early to run errands was very small.

[pocketpretzels]

“On such short notice?” Watts said. “It sounded wonderful; I was very much looking forward to trying it,” he said a little wistfully.

[hasaknightjob]

"Should be all right if we order it today for tomorrow night," Steven said. He reached for his mobile so he could do just that.