there is a part of wallace that wills himself to stop, to lay the matter to rest before it would only meet in further disappointment ; even more so in the face of steven's speechlessness, something so rare a feat that he'd only ever witnessed him like such within two or three moments to date. a lifetime of knowing each other, months spent in such a domestic style that champion became illusioned with what it might look like, feel like, to have the rest of their lives spent together.
together ... beyond being what they'd both defined as close friends.
and perhaps wallace did speak swiftly, faster on his feelings than what he'd even anticipated from himself, but it isn't the deterrent that stopped him years ago from this very same condition. no, he didn't want to forego what he'd already built with steven. he didn't want to push the man away.
but he loved him. and it was about time that wallace told him so.
the blinks and shift in the wanderer's demeanor softens the muscles in his forehead / eyebrows from further expression of his own, turquoise gaze staying locked onto the face he'd come to find familiar solace in. and when he's posed with the confounded question, he answers simply, " indeed. "
of course wallace was certain. he'd never been more certain of anything else - in a lifetime's worth of certainty marred by occasional, frustrating uncertainty. he wanted to live with steven, not just as lifelong friends ... but, perhaps, as romantic partners. if it had been achievable?
though gloves do not decorate wallace's hands, and the barrier had been dropped, he still reaches out and helps adjust steven's tie, brushing his shoulders as the final act of preening. something so familiar, something wallace had greatly enjoyed to do for him ... and the gates open within his mind as it links with his, an insight into what truly ran through the other man's mind.
... it pales in comparison to what he actually heard from him, spoken aloud. eyebrows lift, and hands still in their space over steven's shoulders as silence falls over them both in thought. " ... i ... appreciate your willing to think about that for me. but here is the thing, my dear knight ... "
a hand lifts from his shoulder, and with fingers curled does wallace rest them against the pale cheek of his companion, " as much grief as you have brought me, you have also brought considerable amounts of joy. i feel a kindred spirit in you, and i have since we were boys. i would never forsake that, and such a fact had been the cause of my fumbling to tell you all that time ago prior. however ... " it trails downwards towards steven's jawline, a thumb ever so softly rubbing back and forth. " the time that we have spent together, watching and taking care of our protégés, has opened my eyes to the fact that i do, very much so, love you. as a friend, it goes without saying. but ... "
there's a faint dusting of color on his cheeks, lessened so by the light facial makeup he'd applied in the morning ... but there nonetheless. " i love you, in a sense that errs beyond what a platonic feeling defines. my care for you runs deeper than any ounce of hurt and grief, steven ; and i do not wish to squalor this second chance you've been given. if ... you would have me in that way. "
cont. @devonheir.
