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[swatsflies]

@ZD
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((OOC: Zell may show messages to Jim Hawkins. If you do not want Jim to see/know, then please let me know.))

Comments

nope <3

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim's never had anyone rely on him before, not like this. For all the situation is terrible, he thinks he likes the weight of being the star Zell looks to for guidance. The answering 'I love you, Sunshine' is almost too soft to hear, because the thought is still a little scary.

Jim gently resettles them into something that's comfortable for sleeping and kisses Zell one more time. He doesn't actually pull his lips very far away when he's finished, because he wants to stay close enough to do it again. ] You should get some sleep. I'll... [ keep watch over him, in all likelihood. ] be here when you wake up.

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim looks fine, if a little bashful, when he turns around and presents himself. ] Gonna tell me now?

[ He's already snagging the marker from behind Zell's ear as he asks and twirling it easily between his fingers as he tries to think of what to write or draw. ]

[swatsflies]

[He relaxes once he sees Jim looks okay. He almost wants to see where else he could maybe touch or kiss.]

Te amo.

[Latin for earth, but it's the language of the people of Centra for Zell. Moving his hands to Jim's hips as he thinks about that stomach for a moment. Liftinfg his gaze to Jim's face and then the marker in his hand.]

Do you know where you want to mark? [Leaning close to kiss his chin.]

:3

[swatsflies]

[He now knows Zell's weakness.

He looks down at his hand as Jim frees it from his gloves. Flexing and wiggling his fingers as his boyfriend feels them. Being silly and playing with his fingers because he didn't ask for him to keep them still. It's a nice distraction from the guilt or the desire to go check on the SOLDIER.]

Only if you stay close to me. [Not to protect Jim, but because Zell is feeling pretty vulnerable still. He knows he won't be getting any sleep that night and will want to check on Jim to make sure he can still move and things are still moving normally. That it's still real.]

I don't know. I don't know if it even was Winter that I was talking to. She was acting strange. I think the maintenance got to her, too. [Which is weird because Winter should be in Russia. It shouldn't effect her.]

haha whoops sorry and I guess this is over ;-;

[swatsflies]

[Going to snag another kiss as soon as Jim finish talking.]

I will soon. Get some sleep, too. [He just wants to enjoy Jim's weight and the way they fit together a little longer.]

[rattlingthestars]

What's that mean? [ Jim asks as he leans forward and reaches out a hand toward Zell's coat buttons. It hovers there, unsure of its welcome, before Jim drops it and looks up through his hair at Zell. ]

Can you take off your coat? I was gonna - on your hip...

[ Jim is absolutely not flushing. ]

[swatsflies]

My feelings for you. It's in the language from Centra. They were wiped out about a century ago. [Dead civilizations was super romantic, right? Having caught sight of the movement, Zell snags his hand to put it on his coat buttons.] Whatever you want, baby.

[Planting a kiss on the corner of his mouth as he worked on the bottom buttons, while letting Jim take the top ones.]

:o

[rattlingthestars]

I won't let go of your hand until morning.

[ Jim rubs his own head at the mention of maintenance. Apparently everyone who was awake had completely lost it, but he doesn't put it past @admin to have rummaged around in the head of those that'd gone to sleep as instructed, either.

It's less important than what Zell went through, though, so he puts it aside for now as he chases Zell's fingers around in an attempt to capture them. ]

Isn't she... somewhere else on the planet? You think the mechanism controlling all this is that big?

[rattlingthestars]

How?

[ Romantic, no. Interesting, yes. A lot more interesting than what had started this entire activity, right? Or at least better to think about. Jim works the buttons until he can get it off Zell. He leaves Zell's short-sleeved jacket alone, though he does pause to admire it for a second. It's cool and doesn't look like anything from Jim's world. ]

Can I-?

[ He tugs slightly at Zell's tanktop to untuck it, if Zell doesn't stop him. ]

Day 119 - @standardissue; voice

[deus_ex_phs]

[He honestly doesn't know which of them had been the one to help pull him free from the glass that had speared him and Zack, and he doesn't know who helped his hand find his best friend, or lifted his visor so he could see Zack one last time. Those last few moments were a blur in some ways, tinged with gray and cold and pain.

But he knows Zell helped.

He just knows.

And he knows that two teenage boys were left with the bloody bodies of their friends, unable to do a thing to save them.

So his voice is quiet and subdued when he calls Zell, though no less raw for it.]

Zell. Are you...? Tell me you both made it out.

@zd; voice

[swatsflies]

[Later on, Zell will appreciate hearing Kunsel's voice. Right now, all he hears is is static in code. He can see the username on the screen though. He replays it to tap out the words against Jim before he responds. Using voice, because one hand is occupied.The dream after effects needs to go screw itself.]

Yeah, we made it out. Just got some minor cuts.

[Zell can't really go for the usual excitement. He's happy, but until the effects go away and he can actually see and hear the two older members of the group, it's hard for it to actually settle in as real. He's still trying to wrap his head around what had happened.]

Where are you, man? We heard from Zack earlier.

[deus_ex_phs]

[He can't deny the relief he feels. He'd known, but he'd still worried, especially after the wordless voicemail that Zell had left the night before.]

I spoke to Zack, too. [That was the first conversation he had after waking up.] I think I'm in the funeral home. Going to head south as soon as I gear back up.

[He pauses, takes a breath, and slowly releases it.]

...how's Jim taking all this?

[swatsflies]

[He looks over at his companion as soon as he hears the .--- .. -- in the conversation. Feeling again for the bracelet on Jim's wrist to make sure it's there. To make sure he's there.

It probably takes a moment too long for Zell to respond.]

As well as you'd expect. [Which isn't well at all. They were still walking, which Kunsel can probably hear the crunch of snow under their feet.]

The funeral home... [His voice drops a bit, as if he's talking to himself.] It really did happen.

[swatsflies]

[He seems to relax at that reassurance. Boyfriend is a mess, Jim.

Giving a grin a bit as he tries for a stalemate with their finger war. Tries pressing a finger against each of Jim's to lay his hand flat against his. They can compare to see who is bigger if Jim goes along with it.

To help with the finger war, he does press a kiss against his neck. He carefully churns Jim's words over his head as he chuckles softly. They both were wondering the same thing. It makes him really happy for some reason.] Yeah maybe. She could also actually be here or it only effected what she said because she connected to our network. We'll find out next time she talks.

[swatsflies]

[How to even explain this?]

A piece of the moon fell onto them, bringing with it a concentration of monsters. Some of them were able to escape, but the rest of the continent was wiped out.

[He gives a nod to Jim to give him the okay. Reaching over to run his fingers through his hair.]

That's also where the orphanage is. Matron used one of the old buildings next to a light house for it.

[rattlingthestars]

Sounds kind of spooky.

[ No more than Captain Flint, and of course being in Snowhell has skewed Jim's ideas of what's scary and horrifying, but going to school in a building that belonged to dead people still seems a little off.

Jim doesn't think about it too hard after Zell runs his fingers through his hair, though, because then he's thinking about that and it takes up a lot of his brain power. The rest is spent tugging Zell's clothing until he can expose a hipbone for his marker. ]

Is that - uh - [ Train of thought, where did it go? ] - is that why it flies?

[deus_ex_phs]

[Kunsel hesitates. That pause is telling.]

...that bad, huh?

[Not that he really expected Jim to take it well.]

I guess it really did. It still doesn't feel real to me, but the blood's there, even if I've been healed.

[swatsflies]

[Looking at his gasmasked boyfriend for a moment as he nods, even if Kunsel can't see it.]

We'll be okay once we know you're both together and on your way.

[Actually, it'll take them physically being there and a lot of support for anyone to be okay. One thing at a time, though.]

Yeah, the scratches we got help remind me. [They cleaned the blood up that night. Jim also helps keep him pretty grounded in what's real or not.] I don't know if you know, but it happened last night. [Which makes them some of the fastest revivals.]

[swatsflies]

[He's helping. Tracing the outer edge of his ear. Playing with his hair and massaging his scalp might be his second or third favorite thing to do Jim.]

Yeah. They were the escape ships. You would love it, man. We had to crawl around to get it all working, but it's pretty cool in there.

[The gears, the machines, and all the water; Zell really wants to check the entire thing out from top to bottom, but now he wants to do it with Jim if he can. Pulling up on his top to let Jim see both hips and his stomach. Very helpful, right?]

[deus_ex_phs]

We're both heading for the wall now. That'll make it easier for us to find each other so we can meet up somewhere midway. If the weather holds, I'm hoping that'll only take us another day - two at the most. Then maybe another couple days to get through the tunnels. Where do you want to plan to meet up?

[Three days, maybe four or five, and they might be back with their friends. That... That's good. Reassuring, helping to calm something that's been unsettled in him since having it shoved right in his face how easily any one of them could die.

But that's still three to five days. The worry isn't going to settle completely.]

Only a day... What have you guys been doing since then? You got the key, right?

[swatsflies]

[It'll take a bit for him to translate. Listening to the message a couple of times before he gets it all down.]

I got the key. [Swallowing a bit as he says that.]

We can meet at the post office in a couple of days. [There is a pause. They told Zack already, and from all the messages he was getting from the Soldier, he wasn't happy.] We're going to try to finish this before then.

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim spreads his own hands flat easily; his hands are large for his body, callused all over, and his nails are ragged from being chewed on. They're not exactly the nicest hands, but maybe the way Jim steals a kiss between Zell's words might make up for it. ]

Guess so. Wish there was a way to force ourselves onto her network.

[ Because the cagey nonsense really isn't working for him. ]

[swatsflies]

[They are beautiful hands to Zell regardless of how they felt against his. Zell's own hands have scars, mostly on the knuckles and the back of his hand. His nails are mostly trimmed, but he uses scissors to cut his. He has zero complaints about watching his boyfriend put his fingers his mouth.

Giving him a series of quick smooches after Jim expresses his displeasure about Winter not sharing her network.]

Not even sure if she has control over much. Still feels like she's a prisoner. Man, I don't think she's even aware of how much time passes.

[Gives him another quick kiss.] We'll find out when we do. [And he's sure they will! Worrying over what could come though is something he doesn't want to tread down right considering their earlier issue. Rubbing his face against Jim's neck. There is something he really needs to say-] Thank you, Stars.

[deus_ex_phs]

What?

[The word comes out sharp, alarmed.]

Zell, the last trap just killed me and Zack! The next one could be even worse!

[swatsflies]

Yeah, I know.

[He's going to spare a look over to Jim as he says this. Even if all he can see is a mask, he can imagine the look he's receiving in response. Squeezing his hand before he continues with his message.]

We have to. We don't want to see anyone else get hurt because of it.