IC Contact - Exsilium

[maddeninghatter]

[ Thirty seconds of tuneless humming--beeeeeeeeep! ]

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[senseandcecilbility]

[Noticing Break's distress, he looks away, feeling ashamed for sharing his thoughts. Break doesn't deserve to deal with his ongoing failure to fulfill his role. But he deserves an honest answer about Mister Gilbert.]

...A raven. It is rather old and tainted. Dark and twisted. A cursed broken heart that can barely bear the weight of desperate loyalty.

He....is he some sort of assassin?

[maddeninghatter]

[ Something moving outside the window catches his attention (a walrus, lumbering by, just visible in the failing light), and for a long moment it seems he is going to meet Kevin's revelation with nothing but silence.

Finally, however, he blows out a long sigh, and fixes his gaze at a point somewhere to the left of the teapot. ]

That is my fault, I'm afraid. Another mark to put against me in your ledger. Goodness! You must be running out of red ink, by now.

[senseandcecilbility]

[...

Oh.

If Mister Gilbert is in such a state...He turns his gaze at the walrus too, and then back at Break. His hand is on Break's cheek before he even notices, the gesture both tender and possessive. Warm fingers slide to the man's chin, raising his head up just slightly so he can stare him in the eye.]

Say, what if I looked at it with my own eyes?

[Break's soul. He remembers Barma's words, and how he kept calling Break "the Hatter". Why? How bad is it? Has Kevin's presence accomplished any good to a loved one at least this once?]

[maddeninghatter]

[ He is still thinking about Gilbert, thinking how it had all been pointless. Hadn't Oz gotten himself out of the Abyss on his own? He'd gained valuable information about the Nightrays, it's true, but was any of it worth corrupting Gilbert's soul? ]

It?

[ He doesn't understand; hadn't Uriel just said he had looked at Gilbert's soul? ]

[senseandcecilbility]

[Apparently, luck is hardly ever on Mister Gilbert's side.

A small sigh. Without losing his hold on Break's chin, he brings his own chair closer, sitting by his side.]

Your soul, Mister Break.

You concern me too.

[He does, in fact, concern him in a very special way. Break is his, after all.]

[maddeninghatter]

[ Ah. He had begun to let himself wallow in his own guilty feelings, when his focus really ought to have been elsewhere.

He looks up, meeting Uriel's gaze — with a brilliant smile. ]

Looking at it now won't tell you anything — unless you sneaked a peek before.

[ So often Uriel has said, you have mistaken me for a good person. Now he has been mourning the fact that he couldn't help Allen or Rosette or Solomon.

It's backhanded, but he hopes his meaning is still clear: you have helped me. ]

[senseandcecilbility]

I-I did not.

[There is barely any time to finish the sentence before he embraces Break so tightly it probably hurts, face buried in his white hair as he attempts to muffle a relieved chuckle. Is that true? Is there any hope? He has become tearful all over again, but he is not letting go. Instead, he finds his way to Break's lips and kisses him once, twice, more times than he can count. And since the human can see now, he is the one keeping his eyes tight shut. In spite of some rather impressive blushing, he refuses to stop. He is too happy to even consider the possibility.]

Mister Break! Mister Break! [After such an excruciatingly difficult day, he can hardly manage anything more coherent than Mister Break!, and the very fake name is like a celebratory acclamation on its own right. ]

[maddeninghatter]

[ Uriel's effusive happiness would ordinarily be the sort of thing to make Break cringe. ]

Mmmf!

[ But everything about Uriel is extraordinary, from his divine presence to his open, artless love. Break shakes off his reflexive reaction, and accepts this outpouring of affection by returning the embrace and the kisses. ]

Why, haha! I think at this point you can —

[ Dispense with the formalities, he was going to say, but thinks better of it, leaning in for another kiss. "Mister Break" is the most precious endearment he can imagine, because it's what Uriel has called him from the start.

His awkward, lonely angel. ]

[senseandcecilbility]

Yes?

[The awkward and lonely angel opens his eyes briefly, finds out he is not ready for that yet and closes them again. That makes the whole process of hauling Break from the chair and carrying him bride-style to the bed a little tricky, but he can manage that all right with only some minor molting. Hopefully, Mister Break's dignity won't suffer too much either.]

You were saying...?

[maddeninghatter]

I —

[ Here he'd been wondering how on earth he could possibly be making another person so happy. But now, it seems, both of them are going to be made very happy indeed. He giggles as Kevin deposits him in the bed. ]

I think you can open your eyes.

[ Whoops! There goes a feather. He'll have enough for that duvet in no time. ]

And take this off.

[ His fingers deftly unknot Kevin's tie. ]

[senseandcecilbility]

[Cautiously, Kevin opens one eye, looking positively mortified, though also mesmerized by Mister Break's face.]

...But it is scandalous.

[Now missing a tie and blushing fiercely, he starts working with gloved hands on Break's layers and frills, pausing now and then to kiss his lips and pretty hands. This will take a while.]

[maddeninghatter]

Scandalous?

[ It feels like a strip-tease, the way Kevin is slowly undressing him. His back arches and his hips roll, as he grins with feral delight, licking his lips. Finally he tires of the teasing and reaches for Kevin, pulling his angel on top of him. Immediately he yanks at Kevin's waistcoat and shirt and reaches underneath, his fingertips grazing smooth, silky skin. ]

Most pleasures are.

[senseandcecilbility]

[His eyes close again, but this time for a completely different reason. Break's touch is startling deliberate and still feels new every single time. Kevin doesn't believe he will ever get used to it. He falls on top of Break with a surprised - and pleased- sigh, followed by a protective embrace. With characteristic embarrassment, he finds his way under the covers as soon as the shirt comes off, and presses his lips to Break's lips. They taste of sugar and pastries, but even more of the delicious madness that is Mister Break.]

Most pleasures are? Is that a new rule you have just come up with?

[maddeninghatter]

[ The light is beginning to fail, he realizes. The setting sun had bathed the room in its coral glow for a long time, but now even twilight is fading. He reaches for the light at his bedstand that he only recently realized he had, and flicks it on. Then he tosses back the covers, very obviously staring at Kevin's body. ]

That's right. The more one isn't supposed to do something, the more fun it is. People are perverse that way.

[senseandcecilbility]

[Most perverse indeed. As expected, Break's actions are received with the most girlish and shrilly scream. And now he has a flustered half-naked angel on top of him, flailing and fighting both for the covers and the light at the bedstand. There are feathers everywhere, but certainly not enough to hide what is predictably a flawless body but for a nasty and poorly healed scar beginning on his left shoulder and running down his upper back.]

MISTER BREAK!

1/2

[maddeninghatter]

[ The tussling and shrieking is terribly exciting, of course, and he uses the opportunity to shrug off the rest of his clothes, that Kevin had mostly undone. He is in the process of trying to divest Kevin of his trousers when he happens to notice, amid the flying feathers... ]

[maddeninghatter]

[ He has known that Kevin's left shoulder is a source of pain, but he has never until now seen that scar. It's livid and angry. Three thousand years, and it still hasn't healed completely.

They really are two of a kind.

He stops struggling, and cedes both the covers and the light. He presses his lips to Kevin's shoulder, kissing the top of his scar. ]

Uriel...

[senseandcecilbility]

[He thought he was safe in the dark, but now he flinches at the sudden kiss. It has been many years since anyone had touched that shoulder so directly, but if he close his eyes, he can still hear the sound of snapping bones. His fingertips reach for Break's lips, gently blocking their path to his shoulder. Uriel, he says, and the word is enough to make him melt. He feels surprisingly peaceful.]

Mister Break, it is all right. I mean...

[I don't want to hurt you. The truth is that he believes he is always asking too much from Mister Break. It is not fair, is it? He has problems of his own. Human problems, he reminds himself. There is no need for him to deal with any of this. No human, except for young master, has ever made him as happy as Mister Break has. The least he can do is keep him away from the terrible mess that is his relationship with heaven. One day they will both age and die. Shouldn't Uriel help them live the lives they deserve while there is still time?]

...I mean, it is not. But how else would I ever be able to meet you?

[He kisses him again and, emboldened by the darkness, starts trailing a path down Mister Break's delicate throat. ]

[maddeninghatter]

[ He shivers at Uriel's trail of kisses, weaving his fingers into the back of his lover's silky hair. He had something resembling an intelligible reply to that, but it will have to wait...



...until afterwards, when he is loose-limbed and spent, curled up in Uriel's arms. His mind is fuzzy with pleasure and exhaustion, and he has only just now caught his breath, but he does manage to murmur: ]

I love.... every part of you. Even the parts... that are broken.

[ He giggles, muzzily, pressing the side of his face against Uriel's chest. ]

'S selfish, I know.

[senseandcecilbility]

[He is not human and he will never be. Perpetually mesmerized by the strangeness of it all, he tends to take longer to recover, keeping as close as possible to Mister Break, too lost in the scent, warmth and pleasure. For the longest time, he cannot find any words, so he allows his hands to express what he must instead, memorizing, reliving and caressing. Burying his nose in Mister Break's hair, he tries to catch up with what he is saying.]

'You...you are the first. Nobody has ever...'

[Not in billions of years. He has always strived to be who and what others wanted him to be. It is his duty and he has never complained. God, Michael...Even young master. I trusted you, the child had said, so very hurt, and that had been the last thing he heard from him before he woke up in Exsilium. Uriel has never known love without conditions, and has always been obediently punished whenever he didn't meet them. Has, in fact, learned to expect such punishment.

And that is one of the many reasons Misters Break is irreplaceable. He wraps his arms around his waist, trying to find ways to bring him closer even if his lover's body is completely pressed to his. Is it really selfish to love someone this completely? If that is so, Uriel must be the most selfish being in the entire world.]

[maddeninghatter]

Mmm?

[ He had nearly nodded off by the time Uriel manages to answer, so warm and enveloping is his embrace. ]

The first... person to shag you senseless, yes I know. Their loss.

[ He shifts and props himself up, so that he can see Uriel's face. There's a stray feather on the pillow; Break picks it up, and twirls it between his fingers. ]

I know what you mean. But I think you're wrong.

[ Then he tickles Uriel on the nose with the end of his own feather. ]

There's lots of people who love you. I'd bet a month of scones on it.

[senseandcecilbility]

[All reference to shagging, senseless or not, must be met with utter mortification. However, his eyes twinkle at the magical word.]

You would?

[A month of scones is not a lot. Maybe. He kisses Mister Break's forehead, considering. There is Sister Rosette, of course. Solomon, Oz, Mister Gilbert, Master Walker...And he really wished that young master...His face falls a little.]

But Mister Break, they don't know.

[Not as much as Mister Break anyway. And the very few who do know want him to pick sides.

[maddeninghatter]

[ Break's gaze drops, as he remembers. His own secret, one he had spent so long guarding, had come out in the showiest, most humiliating way possible. One look at Gilbert's furious, hurt face afterwards told him everything he needed to know.

...except, as it turned out, Gilbert was upset that Break had never trusted him enough to reveal the details of his past. And Oz sat with him, looked after him, and even stood up for him against Lord Barma. The whole thing had ended with a group hug, how trying.

How very trying, indeed. ]

Then tell them.

[senseandcecilbility]

[Kevin looks positively horrified at the suggestion.]

I cannot!

[Last time anyone found out about his secrets he got kicked out from heaven. Most people, even those he cares most about, won't forgive him if he doesn't meet their expectations.

And he still needs to go back home and search for his young master. The boy merely stormed out of his room in the middle of the night when he could not answer his questions, and that terrible murder is on the loose.]

He knows I lied to him. He is so angry!

[Pressing his face to Mister Break's hair, he lets out a shuddering sigh. If young master pushes him away too, he won't know what to do.]

[maddeninghatter]

He?

Who, Solomon?

[ This seems unlikely. Solomon is one of the most languid people he's ever met. He can't imagine the man getting worked up over anything. But Uriel is clearly talking about someone from home, so... ]