Dying To Bring You Down To Me

NATE

we've been living on a fault line
and for a while you were all mine

The storms don’t abate, don’t blow themselves out in a huff and fade away into humid heat. No, the first morning brings with it a gentle drizzle, tap tap tapping against the bedroom windows as a grey and hazy day breaks, like every other has since Nate returned home.

No, what’s different about this morning, compared to yesterday, compared to the week before, is what happens when Nate reaches out to gently brush some sweat damp curl away from Sunjata’s forehead. Fingers brush against skin, as they have every morning, always bringing with them a pulse of hot pain, a feeling Nate’s getting uncomfortably used to, which makes it all the stranger when it doesn’t come. When he doesn’t feel the urge to rip his hand away.

Fingers spread in a cautious, momentary exploration, Nate’s single eye wide, too used to being burned to worry too much about it, to repress the immediate reaction much longer.

Arms shift and appear to drag Sunjata into his tight embrace, Nate’s lips crashing into his husbands jaw, his cheek his brow. And where his mouth is occupied, his mind sings, an overlapping overjoyed cry. Sonskyn, wake up, kiss me! Phrases hiding in gasps of emotion, in roiling waves and storms of love, of relief, of utter adoration that has too long been contained by doors and blankets.

i've spent a lifetime, giving you my heart
i swear that i'll be yours forever,
'til forever falls apart

SUNJATA

if the tide takes california, i'm so glad i got to hold ya

He has no idea of the small tests Nate’s been doing at night, the ones that determine whether or not they can touch one another, because he’s finally managed to get some deep sleep ever since his husband’s returned. The nightmares have slowed, have only become small hiccups rather than the nausea inducing, jolt yourself awake kind. He only stirs slightly when the hand on his face continues to move, figuring it’s through the blanket still, and he tries to bury his face into the pillow a bit more — it’s obvious he doesn’t want to get up just yet.

But then, he’s moving, arms pulling the Attuned into Nate’s embrace and he wakes with a decent amount of confusion, a hitch of his breath, how long had he slept? His arms sluggishly move on autopilot, wrapping themselves around Nate, fitting between real arms and holographic ones, before the realization hits as he leans into each kiss pressed to his jaw and cheek. He pulls back, steel eyes wide in surprise and realization that there’s no blanket to block them. It doesn’t hurt? He asks groggily, before the realization sinks. Oh shit, it doesn’t hurt. A bright beaming sensation of love and relief meets Nate’s through the bond and he manages to focus his mind into getting his limbs to work.

The hands around his husband move to cup his face, pulling Nate down into that kiss (albeit a bit awkwardly, given his mind hasn't caught up with all of his motor functions) but gods, does he try. Oh thank gods. He mutters mentally, pushing through his tired, waking mind, to focus on all of this.

and if the sky falls from heaven above
oh i know i had the best time falling into love

NATE

we've been living on a fault line
and for a while you were all mine

A question struggles out of the confines of sleep, a question that Nate ignores. That he answers with his touch, with his lips and hands and the brush of his forehead. Realization follows without anything else from him anyway, arms wrapped tightly around him loosening and shifting up to brush at his face. It doesn’t hurt. He confirms finally, drinking in the joy in those steely eyes before Nate let’s himself be pulled down into a more conscious embrace.

I missed you so fucking much sonskyn. Nate’s lips are occupied by the kiss, awkward as it may be. It feels perfect, in its imperfections. Feels like them for the first time in who fucking knows how long. An odd kind of sound wraps around them, muffled and breathless and just as awkward as everything else, and after a moment Nate realizes he’s laughing, bright and loud into the mash of lips.

Nate shifts, moves them into a more comfortable position, Sunjata on his back on the bed while two pairs of arms cage around him. I missed this. He pulls back, enough to let his husband breathe, and presses their foreheads together, hard enough that he can feel it, that he can enjoy it, in the slight way he’d gotten used to. It feels like an indulgence, after the distance between them, after Safrin, after muffled echoes through blankets. I’m sorry for waking you.

i've spent a lifetime, giving you my heart
i swear that i'll be yours forever,
'til forever falls apart

SUNJATA

if the tide takes california, i'm so glad i got to hold ya

I missed you too. He hums, unable to fully express what he wants to say in words, so he continues to send those heavy pulses of relief and happiness, of light and love. He barely notices when the laughter starts and Sunjata’s pulling away a fraction, chest rising and falling with his breaths. “What?” He asks, a crooked smile that doesn’t last as crooked as Nate’s moving them. It’s only now that he gets to realize (and relish a bit) in just how strong Nate’s become, of the power that zips through those muscles and strong arms.

A huff leaves him when Nate pulls back from the kiss, Sunjata doing his best to catch his breath if only so they don’t have to remain apart for much longer. His voice is heavy, is hoarse from sleep and breathy, but he manages to offer a bright grin to Nate. “Don't be sorry. It’s the best wake up I could’ve gotten.” His hands move now, able to touch and run his fingers along Nate’s skin, rising to his husband’s jaw and cheeks, leaning up to press his face against Nate’s in a stubbly nuzzle.

He pulls away, a small amount of course, to lean back in the pillows and blankets, before his hands are moving to pull Nate down atop him. This is all I’ve wanted. When he’d been cracked apart by his own actions and they couldn’t even touch, that he couldn’t even try to say what he wanted to say then because the point of them wouldn’t have come across. Now though? Now he could. And he both clings to Nate and drags him down, trying to smother himself with the weight of his husband, with the touch of skin against skin.

and if the sky falls from heaven above
oh i know i had the best time falling into love

NATE

we've been living on a fault line
and for a while you were all mine

Even with the inches Sunjata has on him, it’s easy to shift him, to wrap around him and pretend like his arms alone can keep all their troubles away. ”I just... I’m glad I can hold you again. I’m glad you’re in my arms.” He’d dreamt about it, as much as he dreams. Another cluster of giggles drops from Nate, muffled by the way he presses his face in agaisnt Sunjata’s skin.

”Still.” Nate protests easily, hands smoothing up and down Sunjata’s sides, just for the joy of touching. ”I’ll try to not make a habit of it.” Leaning into the stubbly touch, Nate let’s his lips brush against the newest addition to the scars that litter Sunjata. He doesn’t mean to linger there, but it takes time to press tenderness into his lips.

Of course, he doesn’t get much of a choice to continue as Sunjata leans back, snuggling deeper into the pillows and drawing a warm grin from Nate. Arms move to wrap around his husband, one around his waist and the other cradling his head, keeping it pressed into the crook of Nate’s neck. A false arm drags a blanket around them, shutting out all but the dimmest light, the faintest sound of rain pattering against the house. Nate doesn’t know what to say without repressing himself, and tries to press the crush of emotions out through his kisses instead, heavy things pressing against every part of Sunjata’s face he can reach without shifting too much.

Wrapped together as they are, it’s hard to think of anything more he could want, but he doesn’t need to think to shift his hips, just a little bit, to slip into the space between Sunjata’s legs instead of over them. It’s simply closer, simply warmer.

i've spent a lifetime, giving you my heart
i swear that i'll be yours forever,
'til forever falls apart

SUNJATA

if the tide takes california, i'm so glad i got to hold ya

The admission is far more than Sunjata expects. It’s a softness, a closeness that they haven’t had – feeling surprisingly more open than they have been. Perhaps that’s what the time apart, without touch, without being in the same area had managed to make work. “I’m glad too, Skatjie.” He murmurs, his gaze crinkling a fraction with all the emotion thrumming through his bones, through the bond that he’s helpless at stopping.

Nor does he want to stop it.

Hands smooth down his scarred sides and Sunjata shivers beneath the touch, pressing his face against Nate’s, trying to catch his breath. “And why not?” He asks, wondering why it mattered when he’d be able to finally sleep with Nate’s arms wrapped around him, whether it be two or four or sixteen (however many extra arms Nate has).

Speaking of those arms, he sinks back down and pulls Nate with him, the blanket draped over them instead of between them, and he breathes in his husband’s scent, arms snaking around Nate’s middle as his head remains pressed into the crook of Nate’s neck where gentle kisses are pressed, as if he might be able to wipe away the turmoil of the last two seasons with his touch alone.

His legs shift when Nate moves, pressing against either side of Nate’s thighs, his hands shifting to the claws of his dragon shift to apply more pressure, something sharper edged, something to give Nate his true touch as he breathes against his husband’s neck. “You did get stronger.” He murmurs, lips pressing into the space where Nate’s neck and shoulder meet. “Not sure if it’s actually you or the addition of the extra arms, though.” He snorts, teasing the Ascended lightly, before he’s pressing against the holographic arm that keeps his head pressed into the crook of his neck to pull his face around to capture Nate’s lips again in a far greedier kiss than the bewildered one of before.

and if the sky falls from heaven above
oh i know i had the best time falling into love

NATE

we've been living on a fault line
and for a while you were all mine

"Because you need your beauty sleep, sonskyn." Nate jokes easily, naturally, pressing their cheeks together just for the sake of touching. It might only be pressure, but it's far closer, far more intense than anything Nate's felt of late. And because you always look so peaceful sleeping in my arms. What reason was there to disturb it?

A low groan of a sound drags from Nate as claws drag against his skin, sharp enough that it sends little shivers running up his spine. "I did.." He purrs warmly, rolling his shoulders back into the sharp touch while he presses against the lips at the crook of his neck. "I think it might be a little of both." Laughter is cut off by their lips meeting, Nate's tongue pressing into Sunjata's mouth while his voice rumbles silently between them. Maybe we won't need that pair of cuffs after all.

As if to demonstrate, the hand that had grabbed the blankets pulls itself free, finding one of Sunjata's wrists and pinning it to the bed. Nate's entirely too selfish to deprive himself of both his husband's hands on him, but right now he gets both, the sharp sensation and the hungry scrap of control.

i've spent a lifetime, giving you my heart
i swear that i'll be yours forever,
'til forever falls apart

SUNJATA

if the tide takes california, i'm so glad i got to hold ya

He wants to tell Nate he’s surprised by the idea of him looking peaceful at all while sleeping, when the realization hits that he said in his arms. And it only causes more bubbling affection to slip from Sunjata’s end of the bond, pouring into Nate as if he were an empty cup. The groan from Nate has goosebumps rising along his skin as his hands continue their idly sharp pressure, the Attuned twisting around in the hold to catch Nate’s lips and cut off the laughter. It’s a tangle of tongues, one that has Sunjata humming with the imagery in his mind at the words his husband sends across the bond. You’ve got them built in now. He can’t help but to purr back, to let the smirk blossom on the edge of the kiss.

It doesn’t really compare, though, to the sensation of his hand being lifted and pinned back by the holographic hand, Sunjata’s breath stuttering when he pulls away to try and grasp a bit more into his lungs. The hand that’s pinned tests the hand holding him down at the wrist, and when he finds it surprisingly unyielding, the hand that remains on the demigod grows a bit sharper, a bit more insistent. The claws drag up along Nate’s spine to the base of his neck, twisting into the wild curls there, and his legs shift just enough to hook around Nate’s own. And it doesn’t take much for his arousal to be noticed, placed into the position he is.

“Are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?” His voice is a husky purr as he pulls back with a catlike smirk, chin lifting a fraction and exposing his neck, waiting to see whether Nate decides to take the bait, whether it’s worth giving into it now because they can or to make it more difficult for old times sake.

and if the sky falls from heaven above
oh i know i had the best time falling into love

NATE

we've been living on a fault line
and for a while you were all mine

Another moan is pressed into the kiss, spurred on by the feelings flowing into him. It’s less controlled than Nate let’s himself be usually, more instinct, more love.I guess I do, don’t I? Nate barely registers the way Sunjata pushes against his hand, the fight that’s there, and it’s even more incentive to leave the other one loose. Especially when those sharp fingers tangle in his hair, and another low growl leaves Nate. The arm around the attuned’s waist shifts, working its way between them, to palm at Sunjata’s arousal, a light, teasing touch that doesn’t last.

”Thats up to you, isn’t it?” Hips roll down into Sunjata, a matching smirk spreading over Nate’s face. His eye follows the long expanse of his husbands throat, connecting from scar to scar until he reaches the one he hadn’t made, until his gaze snaps back up to steel eyes. ”If it were up to me though, I’d made you work for it.” Words dont match up with his actions though, with the hand that moves to Sunjata’s waistband.

i've spent a lifetime, giving you my heart
i swear that i'll be yours forever,
'til forever falls apart

SUNJATA

if the tide takes california, i'm so glad i got to hold ya

There's always been something about the way Nate lets go that has Sunjata craving it all the more. He lets the sensation curl around him mentally, lets the warmth of it send more shivers down his spine, and he hums a breathy sound into the kiss that’s a cross between a whine and a groan. It hitches when Nate’s palm ghosts across him, a shudder shivering down his spine as he instinctively rolls his hips when Nate’s do.

His playful question is paired with a matching smirk and Sunjata finds his pinned hand pushing up against the hand that binds him again, despite the way his jaw lifts up, despite the way he offers himself like a five course meal for his husband to devour. And oh how terribly he wants to be devoured.

There’s a threat in Nate’s words even if his actions show differently, and the attuned has to swallow hard when his husband’s hand moves to his waistband. He’ll find Sunjata’s cock already hard, aching, while he grows surprisingly (or unsurprisingly?) more greedy for his husband’s touch. A hum slips from his throat and his fingers twist in Nate’s hair, tugging his head to the side with a hint of challenge in his steel gaze, the way his tongue traces a line across his own lower lip. I’m counting on it, Nate. He purrs mentally, hips shifting to try and press more into Nate.

and if the sky falls from heaven above
oh i know i had the best time falling into love

NATE

we've been living on a fault line
and for a while you were all mine

For a single hopeful second, it seems like Nate might simply give in, might just dip into his desperate, hungry sense and wrap his hand around Sunjata’s cock. There would be something so easily satisfying in it, in dragging his husband to the edge immediately, Nate letting the feeling leak out of him, a suggestion planted in the bond. It’s not what happens, his fingers curling, a pressure teased and then removed within a heartbeat.

No, he’s going to play with his food, and then savour it.

A breath sighs from Nate as his head follows the hand in his hair easily, the edges of his smiling curling up into something sharp, predatory. A smug, oily feeling seeps into the bond as his one eye follows the trail Sunjata’s tongue swipes across his lip. I think, his hands slips frustratingly away from the motion of his husbands hips, that you have some making up to do, Sunny. Lifting himself up and away just long enough to slide the barrier of clothing off completely, Nate settles back in with a purr.

His other holographic hand appears wrapped around Sunjata’s wrist already, fingers moving up along tanned skin to gently pull the clawed fingers from his hair, and then dragging the attuned’s hand down to the bed. It’s a different kind of selfishness, just as there’s a different kind of hunger in Nate’s gaze as he leans up, keeping their hips flush. You’re so pretty. He hums softly, claws tipping his fingers and scales growing down to his elbows. Those borrowed points drag down Sunjata’s chest, leaving thin red lines in their wakes as Nate’s hips roll. I thought about you every day I was gone you know, and it never came close to the real thing. Theres the edge of something depraved in his growl, which grows deeper and rougher as horns spiral back through messy curls.

i've spent a lifetime, giving you my heart
i swear that i'll be yours forever,
'til forever falls apart

SUNJATA

if the tide takes california, i'm so glad i got to hold ya

He might be holding his breath, he isn’t too sure. All he knows is that it leaves him when Nate’s suggestion reaches him, when the thought sparks and drives him into a selfish, hopeful moment. It’s a moment that passes as soon as it arrives, though, his breath slipping out of him in a sigh. Nate’s head tilts with the direction Sunjata tugs him, and the sharpened smirk that’s aimed his way has him shivering, wanting so desperately to give in, to let Nate ravage him gladly. But he doesn’t, not as the idea of making it up to Nate by making it more difficult and prolonging it out crosses through his mind.

They’ve always been good at this, anyway. I do. He agrees with a husky purr, one that’s edged with the shifts that dance beneath his skin. But he knows well enough to not ask what Nate would have him do to make it up to him, and instead chooses to decide on the go. He’s always been better at spontaneity, anyway. So the clothes slip off and it’s skin on skin for the first time in what feels like a lifetime, and Sunjata has to bite his cheek against the retort he wants to give — because that other holographic arm is rising, is pulling his hand away, and fuck Nate’s gotten strong. There’s hardly a chance to challenge it before that arm is pinned too, and he’s left peering up at his husband with hunger and desire and a protectiveness that lingers in the steel of his gaze.

His words are a balm, something among everything else that lightens him, but it’s nothing compared to the claws that appear, for the horns that spiral through Nate’s hair, and Sunjata visibly shivers with it, goosebumps rising against his skin tenfold. “Fuck.” Claws rake down his chest, straight through tattoos and ink and scars and with the red lines left in their wake, he growls his approval, his need as Nate’s hips roll and Sunjata aches further with the way they’re pressed together. His hands continue to press against the holographic arms that keep him pinned, while his gaze grows heavy lidded and full of lust and desire.

His body aches for the attention, his cock hard and waiting, while his mind tries to pull together his thoughts into something that might make sense. But it’s hard to piece together, his back arching slightly as his chin tilts up and he looks up at his husband with a gaze of smoldering steel. I love it when you’re like this… He pauses, allowing his own horns to spiral around his head, the tips of his canines sharpening to points to mimic his husband. “Especially… When you’re using a piece of me.” He purrs, broken up by the way his breath hitches and his traitorous hips try to roll against Nate again. “And that look… in your eye when you have the upper hand… Gods, you are incredible.” His voice lowers, huskier more and more as he feels his heartbeat thump in his ears, as he feels it against his neck.

and if the sky falls from heaven above
oh i know i had the best time falling into love

NATE

we've been living on a fault line
and for a while you were all mine

With Sunjata stretched out before him, pinned and helpless and bare, it’s no wonder that Nate can’t help himself. That a greedy hand explores across every expanse of bared skin, barely there touches tracing along muscles and scars and ink with the same distant reverence, the same gentle care. He could stay here all day, simply touching, exploring, making Sunjata shiver.

If it wasn’t for the reaction when he shifted pieces of him, maybe he would have simply stuck to maddeningly light touches. The smirk on Nate’s face grows downright dangerous, stretched wide around sharp teeth. Nates faux arms tighten their grip, while the scaled one finishes its trip down, those thin red lines sweeping to the side while the hand wraps around Sunjata’s hip tightly, holding him steady for the next press of Nate’s hips. ”What should I do with you darling?” A claw tipped finger on his other hand circles the attuned’s nipple while Nate licks his lip, his gaze intense, piercing, no less than it was with two eyes.

”Oh sonskyn.” Nate leans in to press his lips against the heady rush of pulse in his husbands throat, a cool breath exhaling over the dozens of scars that sit there. ”You're not going to flatter your way out of your punishment you know.” His hand moves to tap tap tap at the constellation tattoo, Nate’s nose wrinkling in distaste against  before the claw presses in deeper than it had before, two rough letters left just deep enough to scar on the attuned’s left side. NW.

Rising to admire his handiwork, Nate let’s a brilliant smile cross his face, leaning in briefly to press a kiss, then his tongue, to the new mark. I’m glad you like being under me. He admits silently, hand rising to brush gently through Sunjata’s hair, to grip firmly around the base of his horns and tug his head back.

i've spent a lifetime, giving you my heart
i swear that i'll be yours forever,
'til forever falls apart

SUNJATA

if the tide takes california, i'm so glad i got to hold ya

The smile on Nate’s face grows wider, grows more predatory, enough so that it sends his prey shifts more to the surface, a dusting of feathers navy in hue that flit through the base of his neck and thread through his curls. A growl leaves him with the press of Nate’s hips, meeting that piercing stare with a hunger of need and a flush that crosses along his skin. His lips part to suggest just what Nate could do to him (ravage him, in particular, comes to mind) but it dies on his tongue when Nate leans in, the cooling breath against his pulse, his mind threatening to press against the lips there, wondering if he taunts Nate enough that he might get a bite.

He doesn’t, and instead manages a breathy start to a laugh. “I can try—” It’s cut off with the immediate inhale of breath, sharp and audible, back arching as he feels those clawed tips press in hard, pointed and pressured, feels the warmth of blood that begins to bubble to the surface of the NW, proof enough that it would scar. He flushes further, set aflame by the heat of his blood and the thought of the memory of his wrist coated in the same from a prior tryst.

His breath leaves him in a slow exhale, his heartbeat thundering visibly against his neck, back arching slightly into the kiss pressed to the mark that’s left and all Sunjata can spy is the dark ruby red coating his husbands lips before his head is pulled back by the base of the horn, Sunjata’s hips pressing up against Nate’s in the process, before he’s visibly shuddering with a louder groan. I love it here. He purrs mentally, swallowing hard, his pinned arms pressing back against the holographic ones that hold him down. I get to make things difficult for you. He tacks on, a small smirk curling along the corners of his lips, his legs moving a fraction to hook around the back of Nate’s to trap him there too. I know how you love putting me in my place.

and if the sky falls from heaven above
oh i know i had the best time falling into love