aterat | One Fall And One Less Bear

He felt like he was losing ground here and couldn't figure out why. And just as he thought to let go of Nida the man was up against him and Ignis quickly put his arms around the other.

Of course the advisor had no idea what his lover was talking about here, but he held on, determined in his own way to try and protect Nida from whatever ghost was haunting him.

"Darling, I will always believe you over anyone in your past." That had him thinking, wondering if somehow someone from the man's other worlds would show up. "But we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But I'll be here for you no matter what."

"I'm sorry. The last man who ever..."

Who touched him like that, who wanted him like that, who had bedded him like that... Well, his scars were all over Nida's body, weren't they?

"Before the end, before he died, he said there was no way someone would ever want me like that. That they'd take one look at me and only see how I was his, and they wouldn't..."

Dammit. He hated his traumas. Nida took a deep breath and looked up into Ignis's eyes.

"I would really love it if you wanted to take all the time in the worlds to prove Elijah wrong. Repeatedly. In a variety of ways and positions."

He refuses to let that man haunt him now, when he had a good thing here. A real thing. And he knew if it were the last world or the one before, there would be others who would happily tell him the man had been wrong, had been an idiot and vile and not worthy of Nida's time. Here there was a lot less of that old support base. Ignis and Caelan and Jacob, and Nida would never admit how bad it was to the latter most of that list. Caelan knew some of it, had to so that he could help protect Nida from himself in case the darkness came for him again. But no one knew it in Ignis's detail. So it was really to this man he would have to look when it came to banishing his demons.

He had no idea what was going on, but he could feel Nida pulling back. However, Ignis kept a hold of his lover because he wasn't letting go. The advisor was normally very level headed and calm, and he fought to remain that even as his grip tightened on Nida's shirt.

The more he heard, the angrier he got and none of it was at the man in front of him.

So the blonde reminded himself to breathe and the pain in those dark eyes made Ignis want to hunt this man down and resurrect this prick only to kill him himself. But instead he forced a smile which was definitely forced at first. As he went on though, it grew more genuine.

"He's dead wrong. I want you that way and in every way you're comfortable with." This is where it got more sincere and his hands went to either side of Nida's face. "And you're mine now, just as much as I'm yours if you recall. So when I look at you, I will see simply that."

He'd heard those pleas and nodded as they went straight to his heart. "Of course. We can do everything repeatedly as it were because I am the one here with you now." The advisor moved in close and placed his head down close to Nida's and looked into his eyes. "And I am so very fortunate to have such a wonderful man at my side."

And that's exactly where Ignis intended to keep Nida for as long as he possibly could.

A weighty conversation. Perfect to go with the weighty day. And of course, so heavy with meaning and emotion and the sort of support Nida needed.

Which of course was why the moment had to be interrupted by a delicate mewl from Julia upon her throne of the top of the fridge. Clearly even she was picking up on her human’s distress and disapproving. Which drew a burst of laughter from Nida’s lips. She had broken the tension of the moment for Nida, in a good way. In a way that let him move enough to press his forehead against Ignis’s.

“Only one thing wrong with what you said, Ignis. Right now I’m in front of you, not beside you.”

Please let him have the horrid joke. In the moment he needed it because his heart was full to bursting over the support.

When the peacat decided to speak up and Nida laughed, Ignis just smiled. And then his lover was touching their foreheads together while melted his heart of course.

Curiosity got the better of him when the other spoke but he just quietly laughed at the response. "Alright darling, you got me there." Seeing the other laughing now was worth everything, even if it was something as silly as being corrected on a technicality.

After that Ignis took Nida into his arms and held on, looking up at Julia and silently thanking her.

The peacock cat needed no thank you. Clearly she had done nothing. Too busy licking her paw and grooming the feather tufts of her ears. Ignis was clearly mistaken about Nida’s little Princess.

“She’s telling me to get over myself,” Nida smiled as he rested there against Ignis. “Spoiled little brat. Bet she won’t even like what I am getting her from the curio shop.”

That had been his earlier secret, trying to hide how he doted on the feline. But that was the past and the future. The present was the man he wrapped his arms around to hold him closer.

“What say we try and further drive a dark mood away, however your creative mind sees fit?”

Nida aptly summed up Julia with the spoiled comment so there was no need for him to say anything about her. Besides, saying something like that was parental privileges or something along those lines.

The curio shop had him wondering though. Since he was wearing a necklace from there laden with layers of meaning, he wondered what he could get Nida in turn. Fortunately or unfortunately there was only one thing (well technically two things) he could think of and that would take time to get to that sort of place.

His lover's voice then brought Ignis out of those rather fancy long term plans and he kissed the top of the dark head. "If you're up for it, I highly suggest we get started on the thing I offered to do to you. However, keep in mind that I'm rather open to suggestions for the other various positions and ways list you spoke of earlier as well."

“I love it when you talk in a vaguely but not really dirty way to me,” Nida cooed, fluttering his eyelashes in the most ridiculous manner so Ignis would hopefully see it was meant as a tease. “But Hyne knows I would love for us to try said thing. Let me pack up dessert quickly so we aren’t risking Ebony investigating.”

He had no clue if apples or cinnamon or ice cream would be bad for the cat. Julia was disdainful of anything not fish or meat based so really, it was all safe from her.

Now he was confused. He had laughed at the eye fluttering (which happened to be quite adorable in his eyes) but then he got the vague feeling that something was off.

So as Nida packed up dessert, Ignis followed behind and started to help. But as he did, he wondered. Did he need to be more explicit? Should he just drag Nida off to the bedroom or hoist the man up over his shoulder or something?

Should he?

His mind whirled and he continued to watch the other as he went along until he finally had to ask, hands on his hips.

"Is there..a complaint in there somewhere that I'm hearing?"

Nida is absolutely caught up with putting away the food, and doesn't look at Ignis immediately. Not until the man spoke.

"No, why would there be? I just want to make sure the left overs are still there in the morning. I really don't want the ice cream to melt."

Ignis just shook his head. "Alright, but should there be one in the future, do let me know." So he turned and continued to help until everything was done. He smiled at Nida afterwards and held out his hand.

"Shall we be off?"

Of course he would let Ignis know. He smiles and moves forward to grasp that hand.

"Wherever you would take me, my flame. And however."

Once Nida took his hand, Ignis lifted it to his lips briefly in order to place a tender kiss there. He then kissed Nida just as brief and soft before heading into the bedroom.

Originally he'd planned to make love to Nida in the kitchen or living room or wherever they happened to end up. But going straight to the bedroom worked of course too. And as they walked, Ignis just thought of that heartbroken face and had to mentally banish the anger at how Nida had been treated and what he'd been told by the man who'd put him through so much.

But once they were in there, Ignis didn't just want to make love to Nida, he wanted to make sure the man felt protected, safe, cared for, adored, cherished and everything else. So he placed his hands on the other's face and just kissed him tenderly.

Everything else could wait or whatever. This was too important right now.

Didn't Ignis know that Nida already felt all of those things when he was with Ignis? Probably not. They were both bad at sharing it. But that kiss? Oh how that kiss felt, while Ignis held him there and kissed him so tenderly that his whole body ached with the sweetness of it, leaving him feeling pinned under the emotions.

His own hands came up, curling in Ignis's shirt, trying to hold him, trying to just keep him there, even if only for a moment longer.

He felt those hands move as his lips pillowed against Nida's. And secretly Ignis loved when his lover did that because to him it was as if the man was clinging to him for dear life. The gesture was just so sweet and he couldn't get enough of it, so he was in no hurry to move those hands.

Gently he slid his hands from the other's face and moved them tenderly over the hands curled in his shirt. Down they moved until he wrapped them around his lover, still working on soft kisses and in no rush at all to get them to where he intended them to go.

It's slower than usual. A lot slower. It's leaving Nida strangely breathless, and he licks his lips between kisses. He really wasn't certain, and he tried to pull Ignis back toward the bed from the hands curled in his shirt. Please.

Please let him do this.

When he started feeling the tugging, Ignis knew he had to move it along. This was alright though since Nida was the one doing the asking. So the advisor moved and gently lifted Nida up into his arms, holding the other as if he were a newly wed groom.

He held the man there a moment, just admiring the way the other felt and how simply delightful this was to hold him like this. Just the two of them in their own private world. One more kiss was pressed to those wonderful lips before heading onto the bed.

The advisor smiled and set Nida down onto the bed gently, making sure to constantly maintain eye contact with an adoring smile on his own face.

There was a brief yelp from Nida, shocked by the move from Ignis. People picking him up like this was rare, beyond rare. Rare enough that instead of being flustered or embarrassed, he soon settled on feeling safe. So safe as his arms came up to curl around Ignis.

"Impressing me with your strength?" he whispers as he's carried to the bed, only to be set down softly.

And oh those eyes on him. He can't look away. There's something intense right now, something going on that he doesn't rightly understand. Each breath feels so heavy with potential, to the point where he shuts his mouth, unwilling to speak and dispel whatever magic was given them in this moment.

As he moved up over Nida, Ignis smiled and removed his glasses to the bedside stand. "If that's impressed you darling I should do it far more often." And the advisor made a mental note to do just that. Besides, Nida took care to show off for him, so the least he could do was return it in kind. Besides, the adorable gaze he'd been on the receiving end of while holding his lover had thrilled him to no end.

He leaned over his mate and gave a few reassuring kisses, linking their fingers when he received a silent permission to do so. He had a plan as to how he wanted to do this, but knowing them whenever he made plans Nida had a few wrenches. But he could deal with that.

Ignis too wanted to say a lot of things, words he always kept close to his heart, but he might ruin things. So he stuck to kissing along the other's jaw and slowly made his way down the other's neck, squeezing the hands placed so trustingly under his own.

At first, Nida's confused by the hands moving into his own, by the tangle of their fingers. He makes no move to stop them, because why should he? If this is what is getting Ignis off, he wants it. But...

But the more it goes on, the more that grip feels good. Grounding. Anchoring. His heart doesn't know what to make of it. Good thing his thoughts were elsewhere, following the line of Ignis's kisses, each one punctuated by a small sigh from Nida.

It's like a day at the spa, but intimate. He likes it.

This is far more than a claiming that Ignis wants to do. After hearing what he heard tonight, and seeing the almost childlike and helpless expression on Nida's face, it broke Ignis. If he could take every last bit of his healing technique and use it to mend Nida's heart and never be able to use it again he would without hesitation or reservation.

And that's what this was for too. This was about healing as well as making love. If the advisor could make love to his mate's very soul he would do that too. Hopping worlds and having to start over repeatedly was bad enough. But to hear about an abusive mate on top of it, that was it.

He pulled up from kissing Nida's neck and gently rubbed their noses together. "What do you say to us getting a little more comfortable with our clothes decidedly off?"

Oh Ignis, his heart feels too large already. So damn large. He wants to touch the guy. But their fingers are tangled.

"Yes," he says, his voice soft and half breathless. "Yes please, Ignis."

He doesn't know what is happening, but he's excited for it.

Oh how that soft breathless voice left him in delightful shivers. He smiled and slowly let go of Nida's hands. And no sooner had his own moved to start removing his lover's shirt, he immediately missed the warmth and the trust that he'd felt.

Knowing it could happen again kept him going and he always liked when Nida removed his clothing, so here he was returning the care and the tenderness he always felt when it was done to him. It was half a thought to leave them half clothed, but once he really got started he wouldn't want clothes to inconvenience them.

The clothes would really be an issue later, and Nida? Nida just smiled up at his lover for now, enjoying giving control over to the other.

"You seem like a man who really knows what wants tonight."

As Ignis lifted the other's shirt from his chest, Ignis leaned in to kiss the man. "Well in this case, that would be you." He tried to take the top off slowly of course so that both of them could savour it.

Once that was accomplished, he started to undo the buttons on his own shirt. But every few moments he would lean in to kiss Nida or lift one of his lover's hands to kiss gently before returning to the task at hand.

Finally he had it unbuttoned and went to undo the buttons at his wrists in preparation for taking the article of clothing off and be freed of it. So his green eyes fixed on the other man and he smiled.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful and fascinating I think you are?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject