Whenever Joseph had to leave, something tightened in Rhys' chest. It made him want to just reach out and grab his sleeve, pull him back into him. His anxiety over both of the near misses washed over him at random points, coming up and down but he tried to fight back with logic. He let him go every time, even when it was obvious that he wasn't the only one that didn't want to. His lover had a job to do and the fledgling had studying to do. After his conversation with Amadeus, that was only going to be more intense.
At least said job was only downstairs and not across town. Most of the time. It made it easy for him to call him back if he needed to. He had no reason to but sometimes, when he was alone like this, he felt touch starved. Ever since he'd woken up after the long sleep, he'd found himself curling around Joseph much more often, touching him casually more often. Instead of curling up on the couch under the skylight, he often stayed in bed, wrapped in sheets that smelled like them. Of course, that meant that it often got covered with books.
With the conversation he'd just had with Joseph over the net, that wasn't a problem. The new ones got shoved off the edge away from the door and the old ones were carefully set aside. Was he embarrassed by how bold he'd been? Yes. Even so, by the time his lover arrived to ravish him, he'd stripped out of his clothes and lay ready for the attention.
After all of that? He lay with his head on Joseph's chest, one arm wrapped tight around his waist, almost clinging to him with his eyes closed. He had to bring up going away from training alone, but he wanted to relax against the older man for a bit before having to bring it up. When it came to them, distractions were easy.
Joseph had never objected to Rhys' clinginess. He'd encouraged it, really. Lately, he'd done a fair amount of it himself. He hadn't left the theater much, mostly because there was little reason to. He knew his retinue was getting restless. They should be at least talking about what to do for the next production, starting any legal paperwork needed, and other preparations. But Joseph was uncertain about the future and while they certainly needed the distraction, if he had to do anything drastic, he didn't want to have to drop everything. It was best to see how things played out over the next month before making a decision. For now, he could find things for them to do.
Rhys had come so far from the shy fledgling he'd met at the Blue Velvet a few months ago. As far as Joseph was concerned, the young Tremere had proved himself repeatedly and all he truly needed was time. Hopefully, they had time.
But at that moment, he wasn't terribly concerned about anything much at all. The fingers of one hand were in his lover's hair, stroking the soft curls. The other covered Rhys' arm around his waist. Joseph loved to be the center of attention and in the middle of the action, but he appreciated these calm, soft moments more than he could express easily. A bit of peace in a tumultuous time.
When it came to Rhys’ attention, only two things really fought for it and one of them was being used as a pillow. The other? The books he had shoved to the ground to make room for the pillow man. He loved learning and would sometimes push off going to bed because he was stuck on a part he couldn’t look away from, but Joseph usually won. Everything else either fell off to the side or were connected to the two. Books, nor his mentor, could run fingers through his hair like that.
They laid like that for some time before Rhys finally tilted his head so his chin rested delicately on his lover, trying not to dig it into him. They might not get hurt as easily, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be uncomfortable. “I spoke to Amadeus before you messaged me.” There was a slight edge to his voice, and though he hadn’t meant to make himself sound so serious, it was there, as well. “I asked him to start uping certain parts of my training.” In a physical way. Defense, offense, anything to keep him from being in that situation ever again.
If it came down to it, he wanted to protect the people he cared about, and himself.
Joseph tried not to be too distracting when Rhys was trying to study. But since his lover had invited the distraction, he'd happily obliged. It was his firm opinion that hair like Rhys' was meant to be played with and took every opportunity to do so.
Something was on Rhys' mind and Joseph vaguely remembered the Tremere saying something about training before he'd offered the refuge of a pleasant distraction. It was understandable considering the last two tragedies that had struck the Kindred of New York that his lover would want to be able to defend himself better. Joseph had offered to teach Rhys some hand to hand combat, but the younger Kindred didn't anywhere match his strength and well, they often got distracted in the process. It was likely better for Rhys to learn from his mentor, especially incorporating his magic into it as the Tremere were ought to do.
"That's a good idea," Joseph agreed, continuing to stroke Rhys' curls. "Unfortunately, my combat technique is a bit heavily based on Potence and likely not much of use for you."
With the reaction he was getting so far, Rhys relaxed a bit, using his free arm to tuck under his chin, moving his body a little bit to make himself comfortable. He wasn’t all that great at physical fighting, especially not against someone with Potence, but he was going to be weaker than Joseph. Even if they were the same age. The other man had an advantage that the Tremere couldn’t compete with. Even so, maybe one day, he could at least use magic to make up for something like that.
Maybe he could be formidable, like Amadeus. He had the beginnings, it was time to try and make it reality.
“I might have to be gone for a long time, without Bruno.” Not nights, per say. Maybe one or two? He wasn’t sure what his mentor would have in mind, just that the two men weren’t invited this time. He could understand, especially now, that Joseph wouldn’t like him being by himself, but he’d have the much older Tremere with him. Maybe even Mab. The hand under his chin rubbed circles into his lover’s skin, slow and steady.
Potence gave Joseph an unfair advantage in close combat and that was about it. The sheriff would be able to teach Rhys both magic and physical fighting skills that combined would make the younger Tremere formidable in his own right.
Joseph frowned at Rhys' explanation. "How long is a long time?" he asked. While he knew his lover was young and often tripped over himself in communication because he didn't ever want to upset anyone, especially Joseph, he already didn't like where this was going. The fact that Rhys had specified going without his most trusted ghoul was more than a bit disconcerting, but one thing at a time.
There was the frown he was worried about. His fingers pressed a little harder, willing calm into not only himself but his motions. There was a part of him that wanted to duck his face to hide it but he kept looking up. That didn't mean he didn't pause to chew on the inside of his lip.
"I don't think it would be more than a night… but I'm not sure." The arm that was tucked across him shifted, his hand sliding up Joseph's side a little, holding him a little more. "T-there was a specific space he wanted to use...but said it had to be just me." Him and no one else. He didn't think he'd be left to go there himself. In fact, knowing his mentor, the older Tremere would probably teleport him in to wherever they were going to be.
Finally, dipping his face down, he pressed lips to his lover's skin before settling back down again. He even mentioned the teleporting part out loud. It would only make sense and if he popped into the theater, the lobby or just outside of it, they wouldn't have to worry about it.
One night was hardly a 'long time' especially by Kindred standards. Joseph relaxed considerably. He had agreed long ago to not wanting to be anywhere near these magic lessons and it made sense Amadeus wouldn't want his ghoul around spying. He'd only come along with Rhys to the ritual about Henry because his lover had asked him to come for moral support. "Yes, we discussed that awhile ago," the Brujah agreed. "Is that what you were so fussed about?"
Those fingers lightened up and stopped, laying still on him. "I was a little worried..." His whole bottom lip disappeared this time but the chewing still happened. He was careful not to poke holes in it. "It might be more than a night… I don't know. I might get hurt, too." He trusted his mentor not to intentionally put him in harm's way, not to the point he'd be brought to true death. Or seriously injured. Things happened.
"And with things lately?" At this, Rhys' fingers curled a little bit. He could tangle his fingers together and squeeze them, but that would involve letting go. "I just - wanted to tell you." Joseph wouldn't get in the middle of it, but he also didn't want him upset, either.
Joseph sighed. "With things lately, I'm rather glad the sheriff has made time for his obligation to you," he admitted. "You hash out the details with Amadeus and then let me know what's decided so I know how many days I'll be sleeping alone."
As for Rhys getting hurt, well, that was rather inevitable. "If he's teaching you to fight and defend yourself," he pointed out. "You're going to get hurt. Especially as Amadeus strikes me as the 'hit them until they learn to duck' sort. Now if he sends you back here with any pieces missing I'll be cross, but unfortunately, the only way you learn to fight is to get banged up a bit."
Joseph had taken a gentler hand with Rhys for a multitude of reasons, but hopefully, the sheriff wouldn't go overboard trying to 'toughen up' the young Tremere. Or take out any of his many frustrations on his apprentice. "I promise to fuss properly over all your bruises when you get home, love."
Rhys paused for a moment before relaxing and settling fully against his lover, a slight smile on his lips. He was right, though, he was lucky that Amadeus was taking the time for him with everything else going on. He would have to make sure to message him again with all of that. There had been a bit of a… heated past between the two older men when it came to him and to see it cooled? He was happy.
"I don't want you to sleep alone." The hand along his side rubbed against him, as if petting him. Soothing. The very idea of being out of their bed for a day seemed weird but he had told his mentor whatever it took. "I'll try not to lose pieces but…" He trailed off a little, making it seem like he was really giving some thought to the idea of being inspected and taken care of. "I'll talk to him about the specifics."
It wasn't so much that things had been heated as both Joseph and the sheriff were powerful Kindred accustomed to getting their own way. They'd both had Rhys' best interest in mind, just different notions of how best those would be served. Certainly they were past such a small misunderstanding.
Joseph smiled as Rhys fussed over his jest about sleeping alone. Yes, he had a few blood dolls who likely wouldn't mind, but it wasn't the same thing. But he didn't want his lover being worried over it. He had every intention of fussing over Rhys after he got done with his combat lessons. "Good," he said, dropping a kiss atop Rhys' curls. "I suppose we ought to get up and pretend to be productive now."
Rhys had the tendency to over think things, to feel like he was making things worse, even if he was told otherwise. There were things he really needed to get used to, especially when trying to play in this sandbox he'd been tossed into without guidance, at first. He was learning more everyday and he needed to just relax.
The hand along his lover's side smoothed over his stomach, almost as if he was going to refuse getting up. While he absolutely couldn't get enough of just this, they both had things to do. Finally, after a moment of silence and rubbing his cheek again him, Rhys gave a quick nip to Joseph's stomach before trying to roll away and get out of bed. A shower and back to the books were the intention now.