bakerstreet | Only one bed

[Okay, he has to admit, something about this act alone feels intimate. He braces himself, and then relaxes as he draws a slow breath through the filter. The hit of smoke doesn't hurt, but his lungs have better thoughts about his current, poor choice. With quick care, he snatches the cigar from his mouth as he starts coughing, and has to brace his arm against the nearest table to stay upright.

[It's only the coughing now that hurts, pains lancing up his ribs and muscles. He wheezes next, trying to stop himself from coughing too much, lest he make himself sick, or worse: injure himself.]

Oh, shit...

[It's a somewhat awed wheeze, but he offers the cigar back to Logan.]

Thought you said you had the idea.

[ Logan takes the cigar from him and takes a drag off it, rolling the smoke around in his mouth before exhaling it. He offers it again. ]

First mistake is you don't inhale. Keep the smoke in your mouth before letting it go. It's extremely noxious.

But you said you like it when it hits your lungs, so I thought...

[He squints a little, wheezes again, but takes it up. This time, he's careful to only let it into his mouth. It tastes disgusting, but his curiosity wins out on this experiment.

[He lets it sit a moment longer before letting it go.]

...Only ever saw others smoke, but never asked about it before. Never tried. And I've never been close enough to anyone to want to impose that way.

[He frowns.]

I'd apologize for this imposition, but... if it bothered you, you would have told me. I... I can at least trust myself to... to trust you on that.

[His gaze flicks up to Logan's face again, and he takes one more drag into his mouth before passing it back, an apologetic smile on his face.]

It doesn't bother me. What bothers other people is I generally do it wrong on purpose.

I'm inhaling it a lot. You shouldn't.

[ He accepts it back and takes a long drag, showing how he inhales it. If one were to pay attention, there's a split second wince whenever he does that's almost imperceptible. ]

I like it because it hurts. Because it's disgusting.

["Because it hurts". Right, he did say that before, too.

[..."Because it hurts."

[He lets the smoke go fairly quickly, brow furrowing.]

...It didn't hurt for me. The only thing that happened was my lungs spasmed, and it didn't hurt until I started coughing and everything else got involved with it....

[That's. That's weird, right?]

[ Logan's brown furrows as well. ]

Right. Another reason to get you to my world and get Mari to check you out.

No more of this in the meantime.

[ He stubs it out on the counter. Yeah, he doesn't really have an ashtray. ]

Hey--

[He wasn't done trying it out, dammit. He levels Logan with an annoyed almost-pout. He totally was going to keep messing with it until there was nothing left.

[Regardless, he doesn't complain after that. Just stares at the snuffed-out cigar as if doing so might relight it.]

...Fine.

[His tail thumps a little against the nearest furniture.]

...We should get cleaned up.

[And he should make sure to scoop out as much of Logan's spend as he can handle while his insides are still pliable.]

Edited 2024-09-18 22:48 (UTC)

Is that thump an annoyed thump? [He can't help but tease him a little. ] We'll clean up in a minute.

You'll need a second, because of the way you I haled it you're going to start feeling a buzz if you haven't already.

[ He never does anymore. He kind of misses the days. ]

...Yes. Yes it is.

[He at least has the smarts to not deny it. He huffs, shifts a bit. His heart's still racing a little, but he figured that it was just from the excitement of the new experience.

[He can't place it, but he does feel something.]

I wanted to share it with you a little longer.

[Absently, he looks to one of his hands, noticing it's slightly shaking. It's possibly part of the buzz he was talking about...]

Even though it tastes kinda bad.

[The benefit of not being able to fully taste some substances.]

Edited 2024-09-18 23:06 (UTC)

We'll do it again. Once we're sure you're recovered.

[ He has no idea he'll end up quitting for his own good before they can. ]

Once you stop shaking, we'll head out.

[ He taps his fingers gently with his own. ]

...Okay.

[Mollified, Alivian takes in the touch to his own fingers with a tiny huff of breath, and turns his wrist so that their fingertips can touch, instead.]

I definitely feel a little different right now.

[His gaze drifts to where he's seen those claws pop out, but he opts not to comment.]

Breath, for one. It'll really help with it.

[ Look, Logan lived through the 70s - twice. He's dealt with this more than a few times. Let alone how he smokes a cigar used to affect him, too. ]

Keep touching my hand, focus on that. Feel the scars where my claws come out, examine them and describe it to yourself.

It'll give you something to anchor onto.

[Alivian just hums again, and hesitates before reaching out to touch those little scars. His touch is very gentle, like the brush of feather down. Slowly, after a moment, he interlaces their fingers with similar care, noticing the differences in their hands in an abstract way, unable to quite put words to it, but to feel.

[He seems to lose focus, drawn into that singular point of interest. Other than that, he's calm, despite the continued tremors. This isn't his first rodeo in putting his focus to a point beyond his own physical form.

[Other than the odd reaction from his body - a giggle, or some restless shifting, he patiently lets the feelings pass on their own, and ignores the mess that their earlier activities leave on the floor. He'll clean it after they wash up or something...

[Slowly, the trembling subsides, even if the rest of him is still quite high. Not that he can really tell. It feels kind of like being tipsy, but... somewhat energized?]

Kinda feel like I could run a marathon...

[He absolutely can't - and shouldn't - in his current shape.]

...yeah, I'm not letting you.

[ He raises his eyebrows at him as if to say 'really?' He is not aware of the full extent of the bad shape Alivian is in, considering he's been okay manhandling him, but even he knows that there's something bad going on there. He's been listening, after all.

If you absolutely have to do something physical, we'll make out or some crap like that. But you're not pushing yourself that far.

No, I know.

[He squeezes their joined hands with a quiet hum. His ears airplane in the next heartbeat, his cheeks coloring.]

...Kissing you is more addicting than apple buns...

[He shifts a little, coming out of the haze a bit. He sobers a little more, and stands up a bit straighter. After a moment, he pulls his touch away with visible reluctance, and the clear yearning to hold his hand again.]

...It'll be easier to clean up sooner than later.

[His hands are still shaking, pulse still pounding with the nicotine rush, legs still hurting from the pressure to his knees, but he'd rather be clean and have a longer time to dry off.]

Let me support you while you walk, at least.

[ Logan is chuffed by the comment about how it's addicting, and it shows in how he straightens up a little too, presenting his chest a little in subconscious pride. ]

Lean on me. Okay?

[ He throws an arm around his shoulders. ]

[That gets another huff, but he acquiesces, leaning into Logan with a sigh.]

I'm taking my clothes and jacket with me. The latter needs... the mess taken off.

[He does, however, brush a kiss to Logan's scruffy jaw.]

...I've been relying on you a lot.

[Trying to say "sorry" without using the word outright.]

[ He senses the apology and he's not for it. ]

So? I'm sure if I ever run into trouble, you'll let me rely on you too. It's fine.

[ He makes sure they stop by the clothes on the way out, so he can grab them. ]

[That gets an audible grumble, making a point to do the work to pick up his own stuff, thank you.]

You're making it harder for me to keep hating myself, you know that?

[He phrases it with a complaining tone on purpose.]

Gods.

Good.

[ Logan looks at him, satisfied with what he's heard, a bit smug about it. ]

Because you don't deserve to hate yourself. I don't hate you, and never will.

[ Maybe this is part of how he pays back how Wade saved him, by helping someone else. ]

...This is the part where I say "you suck" like a hormonal teenager, but don't mean it in the slightest.

[Alivian tucks his boots under one arm with a sigh, and makes sure his mask and other belongings are in his jacket pocket. He glances over at Logan, and then nods at the door. He's ready to clean up if he is.]

Ready to try again to keep our hands off each other?

Speaking of being like a hormonal teenager...

[ Logan shakes his head and laughs. ]

I'll keep my hands to myself. At least for an hour.

[ He opens the door to head out. ]

[This time, at least, they do. Alivian cleans up, dresses, and gets fully settled before resolving to head back with him. He's absently grabbed onto Logan's wrist during the walk, only to frown when a sensation of something rippling past them like water manifests, and instead, they're in the depths of a forest, the trees towering high and blotting out a majority of the sunlight.

[The air smells different, and Alivian coughs a little.]

Um. We're both awake, right now, right?

....we are.

[ It smells so familiar. He focuses on the scent of modern society wafting through from the edges of the trees. ]

I think we're - we could be at my home.

It smells like it.

...Ah.

[His ears airplane, but he moves to put his mask back on in a hurry, just in case, and starts to tug on his coat, too, in order to reattach the hood and stick it back on his head. He can faintly hear people beyond the trees.

[Absently, he tugs his hood down a bit, as if to hide even his masked eyes. Trepidation oozes from his scent, but his expression remains neutral.]

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