aintnoconvict: (if you fall i'll pick you up)
Glitch ([personal profile] aintnoconvict) wrote in [community profile] taxonomites2010-12-06 02:16 pm

028 ± [ location: central (locked to Cain) ] the buttons are pushing themselves

Somehow Glitch got it in his half-full head that what Cain really, really needed after a month and a scoosh of getting kidnapped, brainwashed into some bizarre alternate self, and then finding out that his two best friends had become romantically involved (...and no, that description still didn't sound perfectly right) was a housewarming gift. Not a music box, but a music player nonetheless, with an assortment of small discs he'd pulled from the palace archives. Traditional ditties, a few popular collections from well before the war, and some of the jazz that got imported from the Otherside and melded with Ozian styles.

Odds were against the gift going over too well, but Glitch was a bit desperate to get (back?) into Cain's good graces. So he struck out for Central - of course the tin man would settle in Central - and the dot on the map that showed Cain's home. There was a parcel under his arm, a scarf wound loosely around his neck, and snow flurries catching in his curls.

...maybe he should have gotten Cain a scarf instead, or some gloves, or something else warmth-generating. A very insistent half-memory told him Cain would not like the cold.


ooc - post shall contain mistletoe-induced shenanigans of a kissy and snuggly nature. BYO-popcorn :3
hasaheart: (noir)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-06 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
As it just so happened, Glitch was not entirely off the mark in his second guessings; Cain was indeed starting to feel the cold a bit too keenly for his own liking. It seemed that no matter how he adjusted the heat of his rooms, he still found his teeth clattering the moment he relaxed enough that his jaws weren't clamped shut.

He needed something else to keep him warm, like added layers of clothing; a scarf or a sweater might be nice. He pulled on his winter coat (courtesy of the hatches), righted his hat (same as the coat), and went looking for his tablet. Never mind that he hardly ever kept it running, he still didn't like leaving it behind. You never knew what kind of messages you might miss if you didn't check it every ten minutes.
hasaheart: (frown)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-07 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Sometimes Cain really thought the so-called hamsters were enjoying messing with his head. You go out looking for the nearest hatch, and you happen upon one of the two people you're trying to avoid because it's easier than the alternative.

He sighed, and figured that seeing as his life had only been easy for a short while, it was bound to keep being difficult to the day he died. He had the sickening notion he wasn't getting out of this place alive; that somewhere behind the facade, all the people who 'went home' were actually ending up a source of energy or nutrition for their captors.

Or just experimented upon. He wasn't sure which option he dreaded the least. He cupped his hands in front of his mouth to blow some hot air into them. Then, not entirely reluctantly, gave Glitch one of his trademark Exercises of Brevity (tm): "You found me."
hasaheart: (team efforts)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-08 07:36 am (UTC)(link)
Cain blinked, and found himself forgetting some of the teeth grinding, building frustration at being unable to remove himself from this without upsetting his friend further. He blinked, and looked from the box and Glitch's face and back again, not knowing what to say. A house warming gift, of all the shapes a peace offering could take... For that's what this was, no more and no less - a peace offering.

And despite the fact Cain felt more and more like he should be the one to extend such tokens, he found he couldn't refuse. He took the case, looked it over, and placed it snugly under his arm. "Not too far," he said. "Nothing compared to trekking 'cross the entire Zone, back and forth.


"Thanks."
hasaheart: (waiting patiently)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-09 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Something from home. Yes, Cain could agree with the sentiment. It was a good idea, and he could see the reason behind it well enough. Considering he was the reason, it wasn't really much of a stretch of the imagination. Glitch wanted to make things better, even if only by increments.

He reached out and patted his friend's arm and tugged him along. "I'll never know how you survived the Zone, Glitch. Don't you know you're not supposed to stay still when out in the cold?"
hasaheart: (observant)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-09 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well, that's unless you count inertia," Cain noted, something along the lines of a smile starting to crinkle the skin around his eyes.

Just a block away, his building. He could see the dark green door and the steps leading up to it from here. The snow lay snugly in every nook and cranny it could, covered the bushes adorning the sidewalk, nestling into the grooves of the masonry that made up the outer wall. It was a nice building. Old looking, and just a bit worn.

Not entirely unlike himself, or so he imagined.
hasaheart: (glitch(ed))

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-10 10:12 am (UTC)(link)
"I was just teasing," he remarked softly, turning and taking the first few steps up to the door. He turned halfway to make sure Glitch didn't trip or skid on some hidden patch of slippery ice, and returned his smile in kind.

He nodded. "I don't have much, but I think I can scrounge up some coffee."
hasaheart: (hug)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-10 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
The remaining few steps up the stairs, Wyatt took with a sort of spring to them that he couldn't remember having in a very long time. He went to push the door open for his friend, and while he fully intended to gesture for him to go on ahead, something came over him. A tingling little something running from the base of his spine, something burrowing right into his heart.

He realized something right then and there; something he felt absolutely certain he should have admitted a long time ago, a lifetime ago.

Instead of letting Glitch into the hallway, he lifted his hand to cup his face as if he'd done it a thousand times already (he hadn't, not in ten years had he done such a thing).

He leaned in - heart skipping a beat. Pulled Glitch close.

Looked into his eyes - they were warm brown, and seemed more vibrant than he'd ever noticed.


And pressed his lips to the corner of his mouth.
hasaheart: (smile)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-12 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
He'd been blind, was now blindsided by the sheer incredulity of it. His hand moved to the nape of Glitch's neck as he continued to kiss his smiles that somehow reminded him of sunshine, freshly cut grass and lying in the shade after a long day of working at the height of summertime. Like coffee and grapefruit and banter, out on the porch one chilly autumn morning.

He broke the kiss, overcome by a sudden flush of heat to his face, and ducked his head with a dopey smile of his own.
Edited 2010-12-12 21:47 (UTC)
hasaheart: (smile)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-13 10:48 am (UTC)(link)
Wyatt nodded, completely at a loss for words. It didn't matter, not with Glitch, who had a way of understanding his quiet moments and knew better than to poke and prod. He nodded, smiling still, and all he got out was a tiny little huff of air.

He didn't know what to say that wouldn't ruin the moment, had no idea how to put all those things that he'd wanted to say into actual words instead of just thoughts.

He looked up, warmth and mischief warring for the upper hand in his smile. "Morning, sweetheart."
hasaheart: (hug)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-14 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
It's the kind of laughter that just made his dimples pop, and Wyatt realized he'd loved the look of them for a long time. One more soft kiss, this time to his cheek, then he nodded affirmative- "Yeah." -and showed him into the lobby that wasn't so much a lobby but a hallway with doors and a staircase in the back.

Up the stairs, round the corner of the [-shaped corridor, and Cain stopped to unlock the door to his apartment. It faced out onto the busier street rather than the backyard, which he preferred; it gave him the freedom (and what a word to use in such a place) to watch people as they moved about their day to day existence. (He liked keeping tabs, and especially in the seeming unlikely event of an emergency - but that was as far from his mind as it possibly could be.)

"Here we are. Like I said, it's not much, but-- You know, it's more than I need, actually. As long as you're here..."
hasaheart: (hug)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2010-12-15 10:06 pm (UTC)(link)
He'd barely shrugged out of his coat before he was pounced, for a lack of better wording, and it made him smile. Not just the way he smiled when mildly amused, but a big, beaming grin. He closed his arms around his friend, holding him close. They'd been through so much in the short time they'd known each other, but it was enough (more than enough) for him to know with absolute certainty this was a once in a lifetime thing. They'd helped each other survive more horrors in a week than most people faced in their entire life.

He breathed deep, and his face felt entirely too warm against Glitch's cold cheek, but that was okay. It was all right. They were in from the cold, Glitch's zipper was out of harm's way (he wondered, not for the first time, why he hadn't thought to get a proper winter hat)... "Put up with you?" He asked incredulously. "You make life here easier to bear just by being around."
hasaheart: (smile)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2011-01-01 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Just ten minutes ago, going out in the street in search of a new scarf (or whatever it was, he can't remember, it doesn't matter), he couldn't have said he was happy. But now...

Well, it certainly felt like a possibility. It felt like right now, right this instant, he could be honest with himself. "Just give me some time. I don't want to jinx anything, but you're giving me a lot of incentive for happiness."


He knew there's prettier ways to say what he wants to, but Glitch was the eloquent one. If anyone could put frills on words and get away with it, it was him.
hasaheart: (open)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2011-01-02 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Expecting a kiss was one thing, but not getting it was a completely different thing. Cain blinked, and tilted his head to the side. His hand cupped Glitch's cheek, thumb stroking along the crow's feet he'd grown to love.

"...how about that coffee, huh?"
hasaheart: (grin)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2011-01-02 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Cain gave Glitch a lopsided grin before hanging his hat and coat beside the door, then brushed a self conscious hand over the back of his neck. "I think I can fix us something along those lines, yeah."

It was ridiculous; he hadn't blushed like this since he started middle school.
hasaheart: (dynamic duo)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2011-01-02 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"Always prepared, sweetheart," he quipped, rifling through his meagerly stocked pantry. Coffee and biscuits, coffee and biscuits, coffee and biscuits...

He straightened up, a packet of ginger snaps in his hand, feeling rather like there was something wrong with this picture.

Not the banter, surely, since he and Glitch... Well, it was what they did. Comments and remarks of varying acidity was their thing.

Oh, right, coffee's in the fridge, not the pantry. He tossed Glitch the ginger snaps and then silently reprimanded himself for his own scatterbrained-ness and headed to the fridge.

That same ripple of something along his spine came over him the moment he started adding coffee to the ditto maker, but he ignored it. He was in a good mood, and he wasn't about to let his paranoia get the better of him this time.

This was a Good Thing, and he sure wasn't about to mess it up. "Black? Sugar? I don't have any cream..."
Edited 2011-01-02 18:41 (UTC)
hasaheart: (shock)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2011-01-02 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
He smiled to himself, ducking his head at the comment, because boy wasn't that the truth. Glitch liked sweet things. Apples, biscuits... Wyatt might've known, but he didn't much like extrapolating when he had so little to go by. He knew Glitch loved apples (red, ripe ones), and he'd heard him moan enough about muglug to know he liked that too... But that was just the beginning of it. He could tell that much. Headcased though he may be, there was more brain left in him than most people got to begin with.

...even if it didn't show, at times.

Point of the matter being: He was rather looking forward to finding out what else Glitch loved, besides apples and muglug and biscuits.

"Two sugars, comin' right up."

He didn't know whose kitchen this had been before he came here. Truth of the matter was he didn't much want to think on it, but in any case it came fully equipped. As much as he needed, anyhow. He got out two cups, prepped Glitch's with two sugars, picked them up and--

And...

And set them back on the counter, going pale as death in the face.
hasaheart: (alert)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2011-01-02 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
One after the other, Cain's shoulder returned to their preferred position - all straight lines and very lacking in the fluid department. His neck felt like it was about to snap (like a twig, and he deserved it, too), but instead it didn't, and he found himself turning around. Slowly. Expecting the other shoe to drop - or to kick him in the face.

"I... Y--you're..."

He couldn't feel his face anymore. And he couldn't feel his hand drifting to his lips either.
hasaheart: (shaken)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2011-01-02 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
He shook his head, hand still pressed to his mouth as if to stop himself from saying something he'd regret, the wrong thing, the not quite right thing, any thing.

Maybe if he squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again this would turn out to be a dream: surreal, nice and disconcerting in equal measures, but ultimately harmless.

He tried it to no effect. All in vain. "I-I, no, that, I didn't mean... I don't know."
hasaheart: (alert)

[personal profile] hasaheart 2011-01-03 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
"No!"

If he could've, he would have backed himself right into the wall, but the kitchen counter blocked even the slightest bit of effort to that effect. He was stuck, well and good and rooted to the spot despite Glitch moving closer.

He couldn't have that; not when he felt both disappointed and relieved when Glitch backed off just as soon as he'd moved closer.

"I mean... I didn't mean it like that, like I meant it." ...no, wait, that wasn't right either. He had meant it. Even going over it all, he was struggling to find something that he hadn't meant - anything that he'd just said, for some, some sort of intensely awkward reason. But there was nothing. "Just..."

Glitch did make Taxon easier to bear just by being around, he just wasn't supposed to know it. Or he was. He should know. Cain just wasn't supposed to ever have to tell him outright, as if it was the single most important, most incredible thing there ever was.

...but when he said it, he couldn't have thought of one single thing greater than Glitch's companionship. He'd meant every single word.

He still did.

He just didn't mean it.




"Just stay where you are."