“This is not my idea of relaxing. A relaxing includes sand, sun, and drinks with little umbrellas in them. a massage. shopping. spa day” She waved away the bug that had landed on her shoulder and was tempted to leave her companion behind. she let out a shudder. “This is hiking and not the fun perfect scenery type of hiking either. You so owe me a drink after all of this. WHERE are we going anyway?” she asked. “I could have just teleported us there. I said my powers are getting better.”

@assemblestarter​

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“I would kill to be in bora bora right now being served at every moment and just drinking my day away while basking in the sun.” Tk sighed, not really a fan of hiking especially with his powers still slightly on the fritz. “I could just take us to bora bora and we can enjoy our time there, I really don’t know what I was thinking when I suggested this, this is so not the gay agenda.” at the mention of powers he raised a brow. “Wait were your powers acting weird too? But you’re not a mutant.”

.

.

.

Warren actually laughed, not the tension breaking, almost nervous chuckle earlier, but that ugly, almost barking laugh one is prone to in the face of absurdity. “Please, I’m a gentleman. I think you’re at least worth the family bathroom. The doors actually lock. Only the best for you. Plus, I’m not much of an exhibitionist. Stage fright, y’know?” He leaned into him, just…basking in his presence for a moment. His heart still raced –more so than usual, though most people tended not to notice that part of his mutation– but he felt…reassured? Safe. Definitely safe. TK takes his hand and leads him, and it’s all Warren can do not to trip over his own feet, never quite as graceful on the ground as he used to be in the air.  “Been ready.” He breathes, meeting his gaze. 

.

“Good thing you’re letting me know it gets shy with an audience,” TK teased shaking his head, but he was glad to hear that laugh. It was truly music to his ears to be able to hear Warren do something so happily. There was so much more he could go on about when it came to Warren, but for now he’d just be content with the fact that he was here with the guy he’s been head over heels for. “Dang papi, I must be quite delectable for you to be that ready.” he giggled, a little nervous himself as they were about to take another step into their relationship. Something that wasn’t necessarily budding, just new, new in the sense that they’d finally gave themselves the chance to simply act on all the feelings they’ve had for years.

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At TK’s concern, Warren laughed. He couldn’t help himself. Here he was, panicking half naked in someone else’s living room. It felt ridiculous. That didn’t make the anxiety go away. It actually almost made it worse, knowing he was being ridiculous and he couldn’t just. Stop it. He’s aware that TK is touching him, and his attention snaps back, focuses solely on him in this exact second, trying to ground himself. “It’s nothing. I mean, it’s not nothing.” He can’t bring himself to lie to him. “But it’s…it’s stupid. And it’s so not important right now. I…Trust me, there’s a lot I want to do to you. With you? I don’t know, I– yeah.” He chuckles softly, a hand coming up to the back his own head. He takes another breath, mulling over how he wants to proceed. They could just stop. He fully believes TK would be fine with that. But he’s standing in front of him now and Warren doesn’t want to just call it a night, just wants his brain to shut up right now. “You just…you can’t touch my back. Like, around where my wings branch from? Anything else is fine. But I can’t…deal with that right now. We can, ah, talk later, if you want. Got a few other things I’d rather be doing right now.” He smirks, giving TK a slow once over. The nerves are still there, still loud, but he really, really doesn’t want them wrecking this for him.

.

There was worry written all over his face, Warren was right there somehow frozen in this space not able to move due to the voices in his head. TK knew Warren wasn’t okay, he could just feel it, ever since he found out about him dying and coming back it had been clear as day, there were scars there far too deep to just forget about them and move on. TK’s features softened as he pressed a kiss on Warren’s forehead, his chin now atop his boyfriend’s head. “Don’t ever say anything that’s bothering you is nothing okay, we can talk when you’re ready, whenever you want. I won’t force you, but just know that I’m here for you whenever you feel comfortable enough to start that conversation.” he promised himself that he’d make sure to give Warren enough of a safe space for the man to always feel comfortable and know that he would never be judged about any thought that clouded his mind. “Not stupid, and you can do a lot to me whenever you want, and I do mean that literally. Even when we’re out grocery shopping if you get the urge, I’ll be like okay and you can do me on a shopping cart. It would ruin a lot of Karen’s day so I’m kind of game.” he mused. No touching his back, so he figured it must be something with his wings, the way he keeps them always hidden away, that feeling of being so uncomfortable must be draining, but Warren had his reasons. “We can talk later, but I usually don’t talk with my mouth full so there’s that.” he teased loving, kissing Warren’s cheek. Taking his hand, he started guiding him towards his...their bedroom. “You ready?” he asked looking back at the love of his life.

“Oh well thanks! That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.” he grinned. “Oh uh…okay.” he shrugged taking the keys. He walked over to the car, unlocking and hopping into the driver’s side. “Nice car.” he smiled. He was prone to his bike, but it was in the shop right now. Either way, he had to get back to his warehouse.. 

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“Guess I’ll stick around to make sure you hear more of that then, cause if you met my family you’d certainly see yourself as a total dream.” he smiled. “no biggie, and you can keep it if you’d like, I have like three more. this one isn’t really one of the colors I like.” tk shrugged before hopping next to him. “so lead the way, i’ll find my own way back home after. no need to drop me off, i’m going to try something out later.”

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“That is an amazing power not gonna lie, I can also see why if you lost control of this power it would be pretty bad. So let’s maybe get you checked out to ensure that you aren’t blocked in some way” Pietro replied looking at the other nodding his head “Don’t worry there I promise I’m as real as they come.” He looked at the other, nodding his head. It was good to know given that he might’ve gotten some injuries. “Well I’ll at least you get

“Dream board category? I can’t say I haven’t heard that before but I love hearing it” He replied as carried the other back to the house so he could properly heal. “Yeah well you are stuck with me for the moment until I get you to the institute and properly look over. Of course if you want me to put you down I will” He replied looking at the other.

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“It wouldn’t be that bad if I lost control, I’m not that strong to begin with. Even designed my own gear to go in tandem with my powers cause like I said, I’m rather weak. Blocked?” That last bit confused him. Was pietro saying TK needed more fiber in his diet? I mean he was right, but that was a very strange thing to suggest to a mutant. “Get what?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be letting you know every time I see you.” TK promised making sure he was being carried bridal style because after all he was a diva, and he just needed an excuse to be close to a muscular chest. Gays have needs. “I’m not complaining anymore, just enjoying the ride. I’m saving a horse or whatever it is they say.”

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Warren couldn’t even act like he wasn’t staring. Didn’t want to, anyway. He’d spent long enough acting like TK didn’t enthrall him with his simple existence. Being tall and stupid hot didn’t do him any disservices, either. With his secondary mutation, it was no surprise he looked…well, perfect. It made Warren acutely aware of his own imperfections, even if he did try not to fixate on that. There were still thin, spidery, almost completely faded scars on his sides, where the metal monstrosities Apocalypse had “gifted” him with had broken through and taken over his actual wings. Their span had been different from his natural wings, and as a result if you looked closely, you could just see where they had been. It wouldn’t be something anyone else was likely to notice without searching for it, but Warren knew it was there. He had his hang ups about other features, but that one was an especially sore subject. Shaking his head, and trying to take one, quiet breath, he stood up, shooting TK a look and following after him. “I’m not just leaving my clothes on the floor, but you’re more than welcome to help me out of them.” Now if his heartbeat could just slow the hell down, he might be able to get to a more preferred headspace here. 

TK was aware that he looked good, if for nothing else the intense training regimen his family put him through to become a perfect weapon for their means left him with an incredible physique. Still, he felt he lacked in comparison to Warren’s diamond in the rough sort of beauty, yes he was visibly beautiful but what was underneath all that was truly what was beautiful, that troubled soul who wanted nothing more than someone to give him all that he didn’t get in the past. TK still didn’t know the details of what happened to Warren, but whatever it was he knew it was something that still haunted him, made him rethink every little thing he did apparently. His interest was definitely piqued the second Warren suggested he help him out of those clothes. “If I do that we might just end up on the floor...Coming.” he mused. Sauntering back he couldn’t help but notice the look on Warren’s face, the little worry behind his eyes. “Hey,” he said, softly reaching to caress Warren’s cheek. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, y’know. I’m just happy that you call me yours.” he mumbled, softly brushing his thumb across his cheek. “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, and you’re also my best friend, so if there’s anything that’s bothering you, I hope you know that you can tell me. I love you, remember.”

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Warren froze, sitting up straighter. Doing his best to feign a serious expression, he stared at TK for a moment. “Wait, you’re gay?” He’s a comedy god, honestly. At TK’s ribbing, he scoffed. “I’ll have you know, I have more game in one finger than you’ve got in your entire body. The girls, gays, and theys practically threw themselves at me. You’re bagging a serious catch here.” A bit of an exaggeration, but this was a matter of pride. At TK’s insistence they were wearing too many clothes, Warren looked from himself, already half naked at this point since he had to, y’know, basically strip to get his wings free, to TK, who was sitting fully clothed under him. “Only one of us has far too many clothes on. I’m halfway there already.” He was pretty sure his face was going to hurt later, seeing as his immediate reaction each time TK kissed him was to just grin like an idiot. It kind of made him wish he’d said something a lot sooner, gone for this before their lives diverged so sharply. Even if they did come back together –really, he always knew they would– having this sooner? It would’ve been nice. His brow furrows when TK speaks again, mouthing some of the words –and not as silently as he might have intended, nor entirely correctly– like that might help him parse out what TK was saying. He didn’t speak Spanish, which TK knew, but he had a nanny that spoke French when he was young, and he’d picked up a few words over the years just from being around TK. Siempre meant…always? He didn’t know what enamorando meant, but it almost sounded like English. “I don’t…know what all of that means. Which means you’re probably saying something sappy, after I specifically told you it would kill me.”

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TK had always been good when it came to expressing what he felt in the moment, after all it was how he pretty much got branded as the black sheep of his family, he would never submit to their whims just cause. “I think I’m very much part of the limp wrist brigade, yes. A thotasaurus rex if you will.” he giggled, rolling his eyes at Warren, his oh so hilarious boyfriend. They hadn’t officially said it that they were together, but TK just had a feeling, especially knowing Warren had a green light to stay over or move in if he so wanted to. “And yet look at where you ended up,” he mused, a bit sappy now that he was just realizing that one of his lifelong wishes had just become real. It shouldn’t be legal to be this happy, to have this level of euphoria that not many could say they’ve ever reached. “Dang Warren you dirty son of a gun, just say you wanna see me naked.” he teased lovingly before slowly lifting up his shirt over his arms, revealing sun kissed skin that held no blemish. If only they had been together sooner, if only he had been able to be there in Germany when Warren needed him, if only he could’ve stopped his untimely demise and maybe just maybe, they’d be in a much better place than they were now, even if it was still an amazing one at that.  “You’ll figure it out eventually,  and no worries, you won’t be dying from it.” Finally getting off the couch, he began to slowly saunter his way into the bedroom before looking back. “You coming or what because I’m about to leave a trail of clothes behind me and you’re free to follow suit.”

“Right. Mike.” the blonde said with a little salute. “Ah I don’t go out may way too. I’ve been told to have an obnoxious personality.” mike stated taking out his phone and sending a few texts to jason. “hey do you happen to have a car? I need a ride” he asked the stranger. Mike always ended up being too over trusting and ending up in sketch situations. He had no kind of self preservation. After all what were they going to do? Kill him? Big whoop.

“You’re a lot more tolerable than some of the people I’ve been around most of my life.” Tk shrugged before looking in bewilderment at the other. “Yeah, I’ve got a few, here.” he said before tossing the man his keys. “Don’t feel like driving so might as well have you do it. It’s the hennessey over there.” he said pointing to his car. 

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Pietro listened to the other shrugging a bit “I’m not quite sure if that’s how I’d describe it but I definitely did follow the sounds that were stemming from this place” He mused looking at the other for a moment thinking for a moment “Well I’ll be honest I’m not quite sure what your mutation is, Can you explain it to me? Maybe after I know I can offer some help in reining it in a bit.”

“Depending on your idea of charming to some my personality is less than desirable, but I can at least assure you I’m not a dream status Myōgi type illusion,” Pietro replied to the guy after all he was the fast one and Wanda was the one to make magic come alive. “Well is anything broken that you can feel?” He mused sitting closer to the other not wanting him to hurt himself further. “Yeah, it’s natural, born with it which I think just adds to my charm.”

“Well lucky for you I’m much stronger than I look so carrying you shouldn’t be too hard, I’m Pietro sweet damsel” He winked at the other chuckling moving to help the other up rather easily. “Can’t say I know why, I haven’t noticed any other students acting that way, Maybe we can speak to Jean. She is beyond brilliant when figuring things out.”

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“I can manipulate the elements, not just your basic four of fire, water, earth and air. It also includes sound, light, darkness, gravity, nature, space, time, and lighting, and to some extent metal kind of. To a subatomic level at that but my power output is the weakest out of all of my family.” TK shrugged looking up at Pietro, wondering if he knew of the hellfire club, and how he was the failure of the Rosales clan.

“Don’t think that’s a bad thing regardless,” he smiled. “Good thing you’re not an illusion, last thing I need is to be caught talking to myself. That would be my social downfall in high society status.” Not that he had anything to his name anymore, except his parents wealth. “I forgot to tell you, I can also heal, usually I’d be fine by now but my healing factor seems to have taken a hit too.”

“Natural born hair like that, not gonna lie it just puts you on the dream boat category times a thousand.” slightly teasing he raised a brow as the man offered to carry him. “I was kidding about being nestled in your arms, but I mean beats lying here on the ground, I guess. Should probably have my powers checked out before I go to the institute, was kind of vying for a self defense without powers, and power control class.”

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Before Warren could retort, they were in the air, and it definitely wasn’t his doing. His grip tightened as they moved, an instinct, like he might fall again. “Put me down.” And he is, unceremoniously, in TK’s lap now. He doesn’t address it, chalking it up to being one more thing about TK he was yet to learn. While he was definitely the more open of the two of them, it didn’t mean he was without his mysteries. He pursed his lips and ducked his head into the crook of TK’s neck, his face engulfed in flame. “Shut up. You can’t…you can’t keep saying that. You’re gonna kill me.” His voice is a bit muffled, but he hopes the indignation shines through more than the swirl of other emotions TK’s words stir up. TK saying he loved him was nothing new. He’s been saying it for years, and Warren’s progressed from perplexed looks to hesitant echoing to casual acknowledgement in the same time. But they’re not the people they were back then, not by a long shot. Warren, especially, feels like he’s lifetimes away. If you’d told him years earlier that he’d find himself in this situation, he probably would have laughed at you. It sounded ridiculous. But he’s here, in this moment, and it’s all startlingly, jarringly real. “I, uh.” He pauses, frowning to himself at his own bashfulness. “…You’re throwing me off my game, you dick.” He sits up a bit more, putting a hand on TK’s chest to brace himself as he deliberately shifted his position, his wings unconsciously puffing out, like that made him look bigger. “You can’t keep being cute and expect me to think straight.” 

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Seeing Warren so free and happy made his heart swell up in a way he’d never known could happen. True, genuine happiness at seeing the man he’s loved for years just be himself, bashful, frustrated at not having the upper hand, letting down those walls that he’d been building up ever since they were kids. “I’m never gonna stop letting you know how much you mean to me, so I can promise you that, Warren. I’ll never stop telling you that I love you. Even if you act like this which only makes me wanna say it more,” TK teased, smiling at the man as he brushed his fingers through those blonde locks of hair. “Throwing you off your game you say? That definitely implies you had game to begin with, which is very bold of you to say.” TK teased but before he would let his definitely now boyfriend react, he stole a kiss pulling him down against his chest. “Warren, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but what we’re doing is kinda gay.” TK giggled before shifting his own weight and sitting. “Besides, with the way things are going, we still have far too many clothes on,” He mentioned, raising a brow before kissing his love once more. “Siempre fuiste la cosa mas bella en este mundo, y me te ame desde el momento que te vi, y poco a poco me fuiste enamorando hasta que porfin me di cuenta, que tu eras la unica persona para mi.”

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“Psh, hush.” If a bit of twang came out there, he wouldn’t acknowledge it. He thought his face would just be permanently red, with everything TK was saying. Not really knowing what else to do, he shoved him, half hearted, mostly joking. When he managed to grab the material over his wings, he pulled it off and tossed it as well. With his wings free, he flexed them and fully extended them, the noise falling from his lips pretty much involuntary. “Oh my God.” Rolling his shoulders, he pulled his wings in finally, to at least not take up the entire space. “So much better. It’s like…it’s not super comfortable.” And still, TK kept talking. Kept…grabbing Warren right by the heart and just tugging. It felt different now, hearing that. He loves him. He knew that. But this wasn’t something he said in passing while the two of them stayed up too late to avoid going home. This was…a lot. His eyes burn, just a bit, and he’s aware he could tear up right now. He won’t. Really. “I, um…” He can’t say it. Saying it back feels dangerous. Like if he puts it out there, if he solidifies this feeling, quantifies it definitely, it’ll be one more thing to lose. This would be something else taken from him, and he doesn’t know if he’d ever recover from that. But he can’t lie to him. He can’t just act like TK doesn’t mean more to him than most people ever have. “iloveyoutoo.” The words more fall out than anything else, but he’ll take it. Consequences be damned, he’s jumping in. TK has always made him feel safe. He’ll catch him. He’s back in TK’s space without even really thinking about it, pulling him down closer and kissing him again. He needs this. He’s not good with words, never has been. But he can work with actions. 

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“I see your vernacular has improved,” Tk teased, amused by everything Warren was doing. It was like no time had passed since they last saw each other, but clearly they’d both gone through a metamorphosis that led them here. Seeing worry with his wings freed, able to be comfortable and happy was a sight that he couldn’t quite describe, you just had to witness it. “All I ever want you is to be comfortable and happy, Warren.” he mused, eyes still drunk on his best friend as he kept coming back for more, more of those lips, those tender moments when his hands didn’t exactly know where to go as they wanted to hold and touch everything that was Warren. Admitting to his best friend that he loves him, that he’s always loved him was a lot easier than he thought it would be, as if the words had been ready to jump out of his mouth for years, and now they simply floated out drifting around them and caressing like a warm blanket. The second Warren admitted it back, TK’s smile grew wider, knowing it was hard for him to say those words, as someone who’s always had to hold a guard up, keep those walls as high up as he could so nothing could come in and hurt him. He was the sun to Warren’s icarus, but he’d never burn him or those wings, just kiss his skin in smoldering passion. Before he could say anything in return, Warren was pulling him down, lips against lips as Tk pulled their bodies tighter, winds lifting them off the ground as his powers were in tune with his emotions and he found himself with his back on the couch, Warren hovering on top. “I thought you were about to Han Solo me,” he teased. “I love you, Warren, I love you more than anything and anyone else.”

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“TK, I’ve known you for how long? You say a lot of shit. You can’t surprise me that easily.” He scoffed, feigning an offended expression. A partial lie, apparently, but. Emotional stuff didn’t count. “I’m gonna hold you to that. You’ll regret it in a week.” The you’ll regret me reared up in the back of his head, the way it tended to do when people cared, seemingly without any ulterior motives, and he probably would have focused on it better if TK wasn’t so distracting. Breath hitching, slightly, just for a second, when lips met his neck, he blinked himself back into the moment, flushing at TK calling himself his. It settled into his chest, solid and grounding. He almost didn’t even notice the endearment, mostly just nodding to placate TK. He should let his wings out. He knew that. He was safe here. But this would require, like, a lot of effort. When TK kissed him again he just grinned. “I’d be offended if you didn’t. And, uh, you might need to help me if I’m taking my wings out. Unless you wanna watch me struggle for, like, four minutes.” Stepping back, the hoodie was the first thing to go. His wings were too large to just hide, so layering was key. Even then, he always thought he looked a bit odd. Not quite right. His shirt goes next, tossed somewhere on the floor. He practically spins to turn his back to TK, reaching his arm as far back as he can reach, half grabbing at air and half trying to direct him. “I can’t always reach there. Don’t, like, just yank it up, but. If you can get that into my hand I can get the rest. Pull, like, the sides, not the back directly. It’s, like, an out and up kind of motion?”

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“Practically all my life. Hey, me asking you to kiss me was surprising enough.” Tk shot back, laughing at his best friend...wait that didn’t seem right to just label Warren as his best friend anymore, he was much more than that, he always had been. “If there’s one thing in my life that I’ve never regretted it’s having you in my life.” he didn’t mention about his regret at getting Warren out of Germany, being able to be there for him, it was something he had never forgiven himself for.  The taste of Warren’s skin was captivating, the smell of his lynx and the way his muscles shaped him like a sculpture. He had always been beautiful, but to have him this close to be able to touch him now without inhibition, it was magical. “The problem might be getting my lips off of you to be able to form a sentence outside of this,” he giggled. Nodding, he watched the layers just fell to the ground, seeing as the wings became clearer to his eyes. Tk took the moment to let his fingers run along the top of Warren’s wings, caressing them gentle before finding his digits on Warren’s chest running little circles before listening to the instructions. “Alright,” it was an instinct that took over him as his eyes began to glow in a vibrant green, soft breaths of wind began to circles and brush against Warren’s hair and wings, helping gently guide the motions until Warren could fully unfurl his wings. “How’s that feel babe?” he asked worried if he had hurt Warren in any way of caused discomfort.  “I know we’ve said this to each other as friends over the years, but um...I love you. Nerd.”

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     Tim had come to the realisation a while ago that family was always complicated in one way or another, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with familial problems. Tim fell quiet as he listened to Kai explain, his mind on Jason. He wouldn’t dare ask, but he was pretty sure that the older would always resent him for replacing him as Robin even if the situation was far more nuanced than that. Jason’s feelings were his feelings, however, and there was little that Tim could do to change them. “I would bat an eye” Tim answered quickly. Sure, they had only just met, but Tim could tell that he was being genuine, that he really would have his back no matter what. It was the least he could do to have his back. “Tell me about it” he scoffed, being able to relate a little too hard to that. “All the more reason to redeem yourself, make your own path” Tim grinned back at him. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was possible. “Saviour of worlds” he agreed with a small nod, blushing as the other kissed his cheek suddenly. “Don’t mention it”

TK so deeply wished that his family would see the error of their ways and try to make amends, not with him, but with their ideals of what mutant kind should be. Aligning themselves with mister sinister, that was the last straw, and that was when the rift became tangible. The second that Tim said he would bat an eye if anything were ever to happen to him made his heart swell up. Only a few times in his life had he ever had someone that was a genuine friend, and then there was Warren, who was always...something else. “Yeah, but I just wish I knew what they were planning, and it’s funny cause the more I try to piece it together the more I just come upon this haze in my mind. Strange, I know.” he sighed, unaware of the telepathic tampering with his memories and thoughts. “Well, Red Robin you’re definitely my hero, and if you ever need a killjoy, you know who to call.” he mused. “Let’s head back, I think the skies are clearing up now, time to make sure there’s no more danger before we go back to sleep. Although something tells that someone with a mind like yours will just try to figure this out ceaselessly.”

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Warren laughed at TK’s correction, leaning his head on the other’s shoulder as his own shook in amusement. “I don’t think you propose on both knees.” He said, smirking. “But alright.” The question, though, caught him off guard. After everything, being asked to stay, was. It was a lot. He was all too used to being told to leave, being left, but even still. TK stayed. TK wanted him to stay. How was he supposed to turn him down? “I, um. I’ll stay ‘til you kick me out for my shitty music.” He looked up, chuckling. His heart still felt like it was running a mile a minute, and he wasn’t entirely sure he was awake. All of this felt surreal. Rolling his shoulder, he was vaguely aware of a discomfort in his left wing, the bad one. How long had he been here now, for that to bother him? He didn’t know. He couldn’t entirely say he cared. He’d stand right here, in this kitchen, his wings pressed tightly to his back, all night and into the morning if it meant not shattering this moment. More than anything, TK made him feel safe, in a way not many things did anymore. The idea of coming home to him? God, it was almost enough to choke him up. He probably would have cried, at least a little, when TK looked at him and said he wanted to make him happy. But he managed not to. Somehow. “You’re such a fucking sap. You already make me happy.”

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“Hmm, close enough I guess, but I’m more interested in the fact that you didn’t even think it was weird that I said something like that. Guess, I know what I’ll be doing in the future.” Tk said throwing his head back in laughter as he kept a hand passing through Warren’s hair. “If that’s the condition then you’re literally never gonna leave then. My parents had the worst taste in music so anything you got will most likely sound like a blessing to me.” He mused, enthused and completely enamored with this moment, having Warren so happy and smiling, laughing, a Warren that didn’t have to worry about much else than just exist in this moment. Tk loved that,, he loved being able to give this to the man that had first struck cupid’s arrow to his heart. “Do I?” Tk questioned, his voice lowering as his lips came closer to Warren’s neck, pressing kisses here and there along the curve of his neck. “Guess I am a sap, but you know what that makes me, your sap, and yours alone.” Pointing that out he poked his best friend’s side. “Hey babe, since you’re staying, let out your wings, there’s no need to keep them restrained. Plus, I own the building so you’re fine.” Tk promised as he kept his fingers trailing circled along Warren’s chest, his lips now close to his ear before coming back to find their place on Warren’s own. “Sorry to tell you that I’m going to be kissing you a lot from now on,”

.

Warren felt as though he’d cracked a sizeable dam with the first kiss, started something he’d surely drown in. When TK leaned in and kissed him again, and the noise he made when Warren pulled him close…Drowning sounded nice. Drowning in this, this moment, this…whatever this put them into now, yeah. He wouldn’t mind drowning in this. He chuckled when TK said he’d wanted him to be his first kiss. What a sap. He hummed questioningly when he called him different. “Yeah? You’ve always been in your own category to me, honestly.” A category that, apparently, anyone who knew Warren could see through more plainly than him. He couldn’t even fully remember at what point TK went from just being a friend, someone Warren trusted more than anyone else he knew, to something more than that. Something….dear? Dear was probably the right word. It was like TK was always important, and this was just a natural progression. It had taken leaving, dying, for Warren to see what had been staring him in the face this entire time. God, he felt stupid. “Yeah. I’ll stay the night.” He laughed in turn, TK’s own response making him feel lighter, like here and now the weight of all the shit he’d been carrying could wait. All that mattered, in this moment, was the man in front of him. All his problems would be waiting for him later, but TK was in the here and now, and Warren definitely knew which he preferred.

.

The little boy TK used to be would be happy that in a way his wish came true. When he was young and felt lonely and desolate, he would imagine himself being trapped in a tower, a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued by the one who held his affection. Warren had always been the one he pictured to save him, and finally after all this time, he got what he always wanted, someone who wanted him as much as he wanted them back. Every kiss felt like a tidal wave, taking him under and dragging him down into the deepest pits of euphoria. Warren was a blend of hard muscle and soft skin, rough callouses and supple lips, and TK could see himself growing increasingly intoxicated by every touch, every kiss, and every little breath and whisper in between. “If you say something like that again I might have to get on my knees,” he said before realizing how dirty it sounded. “To propose I meant, but...” he smirked, laughing at his own stupidity and the way his brain never seemed to work well when he was around Warren. “Just the night?” Tk didn’t want this to be over in the morning, he wanted to have Warren next to him every morning if he could, to be able to wake up and feel all smitten again. His worries about his family and his powers were deep in the back of his mind, they didn’t matter, just the here and now, just Warren. “I’m definitely gonna sound mushy and all that other gross stuff, but you’ve always been what I envisioned when I thought of myself as happy, or as happy as I could ever be back then. I...wanna be that for you.”