IC contact for wethelost

[devoutish]

Solomons & Melborn
1108 Sweet Cream Street

[Feel free to use this space for letter/package deliveries as well as visits/knocks on the front door!]

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[bywolves]

[ He takes the bottle, looking down at it. He's trying not to let it get to him, because he knows that'll just make things worse. ]

Yeah. Okay. [ All it takes is one thing to get under his skin, and he's annoyed with himself for feeling uncertain. ] Are you sure?

[devoutish]

If I can't sing a song to prove it to you, can I do a dance?

[bywolves]

[ He wrinkles his nose. ]

No. [ A pause. He plays with the bottle a little. ] Were you expecting something from me that I didn't pick up on?

[devoutish]

Royce.

[He takes him gently by the shoulders, turning him to face himself.]

I hope that you can have a good time tonight, that's all. That's not even an expectation, it's just a hope.

[bywolves]

[ He startles slightly at his name, but it gets him to stop spiraling. He meets Alfie's gaze, facing him as well. ]

I have been having a good time. That's why what you said confused me.

[devoutish]

[He lightly taps their foreheads together, just once.]

Then the idea I had is working, and there's nothing for either of us to worry about.

[bywolves]

[ He's still feeling anxious about it - Alfie will feel the little tendrils of it coming off Royce - but he's figuring that answer is going to have to do. He pulls back a bit, trying his best to make it natural and not stilted, and then takes a sip of the wine before placing it back in Alfie's lap.

He grabs for the movie at the end of the bed and stands up. Lady mrowls? in his direction and Bear lifts his head, watching. ]

[devoutish]

No, no, no, come here-- come here.

[He makes little grabby motions for Royce.]

Come back.

[bywolves]

We were going to watch this. [ Royce says, pausing. But he sits back down on the bed, at least. Doesn't crawl back into Alfie's lap, but he sits. ]

[devoutish]

We don't need to. I wanna be with you instead, without distractions and all.

[bywolves]

[ He purses his lips. There's a lot of bitter words trying to escape - he knows better. That's not the way to fix this. A long time ago, he would've just said something rude and left, but Alfie doesn't deserve that and Royce doesn't want to fight.

So instead, he sighs and drops the movie on the bed again, scooting over to sit next to Alfie. He doesn't curl up against his side this time; instead, he sits facing Alfie, legs folded, knees pressed up against Alfie's thigh. Lady crawls into his lap and sprawls out, purring. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie sighs heavily, flopping back and closing his eyes.]

If a single comment can send you off into a spiral like this, I wish a single comment could also bring you back from it.

[bywolves]

[ He shifts, uncomfortably. ]

I'm trying not to let it bother me. [ It's hard for him to flip the switch - it always takes him a while to get back to being happy and comfortable again, and he wonders if that's just something wrong with him. ]

[devoutish]

Yeah, I know. Will you come back and sit over here with me?

[bywolves]

I am sitting with you. [ A little bit of an indignant tone comes out in that. ] My legs are touching you. I'm practically sitting on you.

[devoutish]

[He mutters a quiet fucking hell, running a hand down his face. This is getting into one of those situations where everything he says pisses Royce off, and he's never been very good at stopping that train once it's left the station.]

[bywolves]

[ The thing about this is that they've done this song and dance so many times that Royce is able to recognize when it's starting to get bad. And rather than just let it get even worse, Royce takes a deep breath to just calm himself down, and scrubs at his own face. ]

Sorry. [ Royce says, after a moment. ] You have to just give me a second to ease back into it, Alfie. You caught me off guard.

I don't want to fight. I just go slower than everybody else.

[devoutish]

Yeah.

[He rests his hand on the mattress- next to Royce's, but not touching it. It's an invitation, but he means it to be without any pressure attached to it. Slyly, he says:]

You probably thought I was joking, about the dancing.

[bywolves]

Oh, no, I knew you were serious. [ Royce says wryly, putting his hand on top of Alfie's. ] You're just ridiculous enough.

[devoutish]

[Ridiculous and proud, Royce. He wriggles his hand around in Royce's grip, so that their palms are together and he can lace their fingers.]

That's another thing that we did better in my day. I've seen people try to dance at parties here. Fucking ridiculous.

[bywolves]

[ Royce snorts. ]

Hm. Dancing was either swaying around a fire or ridiculously over the top steps that people had to memorize, in Elan.

[devoutish]

Swaying around a fire sounds nice. I'd do that.

[Another swig of wine.]

[bywolves]

We used to have bonfires, at the Rose and the Thorn. [ Royce hums, reaching for the wine. He wants more. ] Gwen was a fan of the fancy dances.

[devoutish]

Did she make you try them out?

[bywolves]

Mm. She taught one or two of them to me.