The White Knight
Who: Adam and Kyle When: Evening Where: Their Tent
Adam had just barely survived the second match with the giant knight. He'd been faster yes, but it turned out that it was more like 'fast enough to not get killed' instead of fast enough to win. Out of the tournament, he'd slunk back to the tent alone. There he peeled out of his clothes and was doing his best to clean and wrap a cut on his bicep. It wasn't terribly deep but it would definitely scar. He was peppered with bruises too, red marks that were starting to sink to purple, but he wasn't focused on those. Not yet.
When Kyle entered the tent, he had a look of exhausted contentment on his face. He ached all over from a day working with the blacksmith. He was damp from where he'd cleaned off, but his clothes were dirty - stained with soot and sweat. He felt fabulous though - he had learned things, he had made things. Today had been a good day. Right until the moment that he realised that Adam had got back to the tent before him. And right until he saw exactly what state his boyfriend was in.
Kyle crossed the tent space in a few strides, until he was hovering just inside Adam's personal space. His eyes roamed over the other man's body, taking in all the injuries, checking for more. Worry combined with fear in his expression as he focused on the gash on Adam's arm. "Tell me that you're out of the competition," he said, quietly, his voice trembling.
Adam jumped when Kyle was suddenly there and took a half step back before he realized who it was. He let out a breath of relief, though the moment Kyle looked at his arm he turned so Kyle couldn't really see it. He'd hoped to get it bandaged up before Kyle got back so he wouldn't sound like that. "Yeah. Lost my second match which isn't enough to move on," he said feeling silly that he'd tried in the first place.
Reaching out to take Adam by the elbow, Kyle gently but firmly pulled Adam back round to where he could see the cut again. As he did so, he took the cloth from Adam with his other hand. "You did well in your first match," Kyle said, trying to swallow down the fear at seeing Adam injured and the upset at knowing he was hurt and sound proud of him instead. He was proud of Adam, for getting as far as he did. He just hated that fact that he had gotten hurt, and he was certain that that the last thing Adam wanted to see was Kyle's relief that the whole thing was over now.
Adam tried to protest, but not hard, just an attempt to protect Kyle from the damage he'd done to himself. "Were you there?" He asked, surprise in his voice. He'd thought Kyle was with the blacksmith. He looked like he had been with the blacksmith.
Kyle shook his head. "No - but I saw the scoreboards. I saw you won. I... couldn't watch." He started cleaning the wound, trying to be as careful as possible, not wanting to hurt Adam any more. He didn't really know what he was doing though. "Surely they have medics, doctors - something around here. What if you need stitches? What if this gets infected?" He clamped his mouth shut as the worry he was trying to keep to himself started to edge into his tone and before he could launch into a ramble about how he saw this TV show once where this guy died from catching his finger on a rose thorn, because it was in the days before antibiotics and what if Adam developed some kind of an infection and he didn't want him to die.
"You couldn't? Oh." That hadn't dawned on Adam. He just thought that Kyle had work or whatever it was called with the blacksmith. Not being able to watch sounded worse. "You really think a doctor around here is going to help?" He asked with a wince as Kyle cleaned the wound. "It doesn't look deep enough for stitches I don't think." He'd seen those kind of cuts and they were usually messier.
Kyle rinsed out the cloth and went back to cleaning the wound. "I don't know if a doctor here would be able to help, but... I've never done anything like this before! I don't know what I'm doing and you're hurt and..." Kyle stopped, mid-sentence, his hand shaking slightly. He could feel himself losing it and he needed to hold it all together. Adam needed him to hold it all together.
Adam reached for the the cloth to take it from Kyle. "I got it. It's fine. Promise. Go sit." He could take care of himself and Kyle was starting to panic. "Promise. Tell me about he blacksmith."
Kyle hiccuped a laugh at that. "I - you're all beaten to shit and you want me to talk about my dumb day shoeing horses and sharpening swords?" he asked, though he surrendered the cloth back to Adam. Once his hands were empty, he seemed to realise they were still shaking. He looked at them for a moment, then crossed them over his chest, thrusting his fingers under his armpits, as though hiding them would help.
Adam smiled and nodded. "Yeah, yeah I do." He watched Kyle's shaking hands, smile slipping away. "You okay?"
"Me? I'm fine. You're the one that's hurt, A!" Kyle exclaimed.
Adam finished cleaning his arm and tossed the cloth away, reaching for the strip of cloth he'd gotten for a bandage. "You're easily the worst liar ever," he said gently. "I'm okay. I'll be okay. You're shaking."
"I've never been particularly good with blood - other people's blood. People I, I care about being hurt. You being hurt. I just - I..." He stopped and took a deep breath. In through his nose, slowly out through his mouth. "You know, when you see wounds and shit on guys on TV, they look all kinds of sexy. Right now, on you? All I can think about is what you went through to get them, and worry about how much they must hurt and what it means for you."
Adam wrapped the bandage around his arm as best he could then reached for Kyle to pull him closer. "It wasn't that bad. And I don't hurt that much. Let's go back to you thinking it's sexy."
Kyle laughed a little at that, and sank into Adam's arms. "Typical you, with your one track mind," he said, rolling his eyes. "You just want to make sure you know I think you're sexy. I don't believe all this doesn't hurt." After all, he still had the remnants of his own injuries to deal with.
"My mind isn't that one track..." Adam thought of what Brett had said, how he'd turned what Adam was feeling towards Kyle into a jab. It wasn't something Adam wanted to be thinking of though and he did his best to push it away. "It hurts but seriously, I'm not dying. I can handle it. High pain tolerance I guess."
"Yeah, well, I have no pain tolerance when it comes to you," Kyle told him, pulling back from the hold and fussing with the bandage on Adam's arm, getting it tied properly and neatly.
"You know what you said makes no sense right?" Adam teased lightly. He knew what Kyle meant, but he wanted to take the other man's mind off of things. He let Kyle fix the bandage, but as soon as he was done Adam pulled his hands away from it and set them on his waist instead. "Tell me about the blacksmith."
Kyle just gave him a look that spoke clearly of his confidence that he had made total sense and Adam was just wrong, but he said nothing about it. Instead he settled his hands about the other man's waist, pressing lightly with his fingertips and said, "I learned to shoe horses today." Kyle couldn't help the smile that bloomed on his face as he talked, revealing that inner excitement about learning something new.
Adam forced himself to focus on what Kyle was saying and not his fingers pressed against his skin, but it took an effort. He was still getting used to having someone there, someone he could make out with or more and Adam was feeling a little spoiled in it. And Kyle was probably right, his mind was definitely on a single track that involved Kyle in a lot less clothes. "That sounds kind of cool," he said with a smile, tugging at Kyle's shirt to get it off of him.
Kyle's gaze dropped to where Adam was pulling at his shirt, then back up to meet Adam's eyes. He arched a brow. "One. Track. Mind. Did you want to hear about my day or not?" he asked, a knowing smirk playing over his expression.
"Shut up," Adam said, but he was smiling and still pulling. "I'm listening, but you're all dirty and sooty and you can take this off and still talk. Because I have to tell you about meeting Brett."
Kyle rolled his eyes, but he lifted his arms so that Adam could take his shirt of for him, given that the guy did actually have a point. He was currently filthy. "Brett? Hmm, who's Brett?" he asked, tilting his head to the side a little and looking at Adam, wondering if this was someone he needed to be worried about or not.
Despite the fact that Kyle was rolling his eyes, Adam's reflected the small victory of actually getting Kyle out of his clothes. "He's a knight. The good one here, but he wasn't born here. Woke up here one day ten years ago."
Kyle's jaw dropped. "Ten years? Adam - I, we, I can't stay here for ten years! They'll burn me at the stake, or whatever it is they do with gay people here. Stone me, flay me, something! I'm, like, the most obvious person going, apparently. Like I have this sign flashing above my head going 'really into Adam's dick' in sky high letters whenever you're around or I even mention you!"
"We won't be here ten years. I won't let us be here ten years. I'll find a way out of here and no one is going to burn you at the stake. I won't let them," Adam started, voice steady, trying to be reassuring. He did have to look up over Kyle's head though as if that flashing sign might appear. "And if you're that obvious why am I the one with a one track mind? Why are other people getting that and not me?" He was teasing again, trying to keep Kyle from freaking out too much. "Brett was alone. There's more of us here now. We'll accomplish whatever we have to accomplish and get out of here. Promise."
"You might be the one with the one track mind but... Look at you! then look at me and apparently I, I don't even know! There must be something. I probably get this stupid dopey look on my face, or heart eyes or something when you're mentioned! Because people just know. Okay, so far it's all been people from the hotel, but still! If they can tell then other people can tell and I don't even know how to do this closeted stuff! Like, I met this guy Chase earlier on today and I thought I was basically just mentioning you in passing and apparently according to him we're like some epic romantic story and meant to be and I'm totally in love with you and I said none of those things at all, but apparently everything's just written all over me somehow and then there was Kennedy who just knew shit because of the way I was looking at you across the damn room and it's all clearly blatantly obvious and people are going to notice and then it's going to be some kind of witch hunt and if there is then you're going to have to be worried about saving yourself as well, you know. It's not just going to be me!"
That was a lot. Adam did his best to keep up but a few things Kyle said threw him for a loop and it made it harder to pay attention. Reaching for the other man's shoulders he squeezed them gently, trying to calm him down. "I'm going to be worried about saving you first. And it's fine. We can do this. I won't let anyone hurt you or start a witch hunt or anything else. Promise." The information that people could just tell that Kyle was into him, just in passing, made Adam's heart swell though, leaving him feeling warm all over. "Are you? What...what did you say his name was Chase? What he said?" Adam was tentative in asking because that was a heavy thing wasn't it? Was that how Kyle was supposed to say it? Probably not which meant that he probably wasn't but it seemed like something he needed to ask about.
Kyle didn't really catch what Adam was actually asking when he shook his head. "The man's delusional. Well, not actually or anything, but it seemed like he took whatever I said and spun it round to be like the most positive perfect thing it could be. Like, the fact that we'd met and then hadn't seen each other for months? According to him that was us being 'destined to be together'. And because I said that getting to know you now there were parts of you I hadn't expected, that meant that you are 'more than my dreams and imagination'. But still! Even if he'd determined to turn us into a Harlequin novel, it doesn't mean he's entirely wrong! And I don't want you to have to be worried about saving me! I'm not a damsel in distress and I won't have you risking getting hurt for me!"
Adam frowned because now he was really having trouble following. "So we aren't supposed to be together and I'm not what you expected?" he asked, thinking that was what he'd put together. "And this guy Chase is crazy...why were you talking to him? And I want to risk getting hurt for you. It's not if you're a damsel in distress or not it's just...me. Something I'd do..." That had him drifting from Kyle slightly, under the pretense of putting on a shirt, but feeling like he wasn't what Kyle wanted and maybe Kyle was just making do because he was hot or something. That didn't feel good.
Kyle frowned as Adam seemed as intent on misinterpreting what he said in a bad way as Chase had done in a good way. "No, I... God! I'm..." He took a deep breath, forcibly calming himself as he sat looking up at Adam. He knew he'd been rambling and he figured it was entirely his fault that Adam hadn't been following. He probably hadn't been making any sense at all. "Chase isn't crazy. I think he's just some kind of hopeless romantic. I never meant that we're not supposed to be together. I meant that Chase was basically spinning our story that we were destined to be a couple from the moment that we met, because he really seemed to like the idea of a hot waiter in a diner chatting up a customer. And then when I told him that I saw you again when I had nowhere else to go because of the rain, I think that sealed the deal in his head or something." He stood up and walked over to Adam. Standing behind the other man, he looped an arm around his waist and rested his chin on Adam's shoulder, being gentle so he didn't knock any bruises. "As for you not being what I expected, of course you're not," he said, softly. "That's not a bad thing. I get to find out all of the wonderful things about you. I get to find out all the ways that you're not perfect and the ways I really don't care about that. I get to find out all of the ways that you're just... you. And, sometimes, finding things out about you isn't going to be things that I... Well, like discovering your penchant towards being a white knight. Something that's both really great and really frustrating at the same time. I told Chase about that as well. How you're my white knight. Always saving me in a million different ways. But, I want to save you too. And I never want to be the cause of you getting hurt. Never."
"Well when you say it like that I can't blame him for thinking about it that way," Adam pointed out, but he didn't feel better really until Kyle was there, arm around his waist and holding on to him. He wasn't used to physical contact like that, not from anyone, but the moment he had it, it made him feel instantly better. Was that it? Was that why people did it? He sank back against Kyle a little, reaching up to touch the side of Kyle's face, leaning into him more. "I just don't want you to be disappointed," he said softly. "And I like saving you. It makes me feel useful. Though if you were telling him I was your white knight it's partially your fault he's decided that we're characters from a fairy tale."
Kyle tilted his head into Adam’s hand, closing his eyes and tightening his hold just slightly. That helped with the panic. He knew it probably shouldn’t, given that this was pretty much the very thing he was currently panicking about, but he couldn’t help but feel safe like this. Even if it was an illusion. “He decided that we were a fairy tale long before I brought up the white knight,” he told Adam, his voice soft, almost a whisper. “You have nothing to prove to me, A. You don’t have to be ‘useful’ for me to care about you. I’m not going to be disappointed in you. You - just who you are… All you have to do is show up. The rest is just a bonus.”
Adam liked that something about him brought out that tighter hold which was what he wanted, Kyle holding him closer and tighter. "I'm not against us being a fairy tale," he murmured. It was cheesy, but it was a nice concept. He turned in Kyle's arms, pulling him closer again. "That's how I feel about you. That I'm lucky enough that you're here and you want to be here."
Kyle rolled his eyes, though it was whilst he was trying - and failing - not to grin. “So cheesy,” he said, echoing Adam’s thoughts. He didn’t sound against it either. It was a nice idea, Kyle just wasn’t sure it was true. Or maybe more accurate was that he worried that it was true. He had already been swept off his feet once, and Harry turned out to be far from a Prince Charming. Kyle no longer believed in ‘happily ever after’. “You’re not lucky, A,” he said, settling his arms around Adam again. “You’re you. Of course I want to be here.”
"At least it makes you smile." It was lame and maybe a little too idealistic, that everything would just work out and be okay, but Adam had never been in a situation like this one. He'd never been with someone before and he wanted it to last forever and hope that it would always be perfect. "That's why I'm lucky. And anyone who says differently is wrong." He ran his hands over Kyle's cheeks before kissing him lightly.
“I’m hopeless when it comes to you,” Kyle said, returning the kiss, but not drawing it out, resting his forehead against Adam’s. “What have you done to me, Adam Samuels? You drive me crazy and I don’t even want it to stop. You’re turning my world upside down and you just… You’re just like ‘who, me? But I’m just a guy...’ about it all. You say all the right things at all the right times and it’s like you’re acting entirely on instinct. You are - you have no idea what you’re doing. No plan. And yet… It’s like you can’t even see what you do to me, because you’re too busy wondering how you’re here at all. One day, I’m gonna get my hands on those idiots who made you believe that you’re worth less than everything and I’m going to… Well, let’s just say that it won’t be pretty.”
"I'm not much better off," Adam pointed out, but he was smiling with it. "Though I think you described me pretty well. I didn't realized I was supposed to have a plan. Hopefully it's a good crazy and upside down. Otherwise sorry?" He shook his head slowly, not enough to move it away from Kyle's head. "You don't have to do anything. Promise. It's not anyone person. Just a life of waiting to find someone who noticed me."
“God, you loveable idiot - that’s exactly what I mean,” Kyle said fondly, a helpless expression on his face. “The plan thing, you just… You have no idea. You know, you speak to most guys - myself included - and they’d say they couldn’t do this if they tried. You - you don’t even see that you shouldn’t have to have waited for someone to ‘notice you’. You’re like a fucking beacon.” He swallowed, knowing that he was turning far more than cheesy himself. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from adding, “All I see is you.”
"I'm not an idiot," Adam protested, but it was weakly, too caught up in watching Kyle and the way he looked at him. It made Adam blush slightly shaking his head. "All I see is you too. Which is probably why Mazie thinks we're nuts."
"What do you mean, 'Mazie thinks we're nuts'?" Kyle questioned.
"Well she said confusing I guess, but the tone sounded like she thought we were nuts," Adam clarified. "I'm not sure why I guess. She said something about us always talking about our feelings, which might be the problem."
Kyle stilled, his eyes widening just slightly. “What… did she say anything about what I’d been talking about?” he asked, cautiously, remembering his rant that morning about Kennedy. Kyle was aware that he was running high on fumes of jealousy - especially given what he’d put Chase up to. Whilst he didn’t regret his actions, that didn’t mean he was particularly proud of the emotions.
"No," Adam said, drawing the word out as he watched Kyle hard. He noticed the way his eyes widened and how he went still in Adam's arms. "She said we both freak out...did something happen?"
Kyle’s eyes widened more and he shook his head, trying to plaster on his most innocent of faces. “No. No, not at all. We just had breakfast together.” He figured that didn’t sound like enough. “I told her that I couldn’t face seeing you fight.”
Adam frowned, not sure if he believed Kyle and the skepticism showed on his face. "You sure that's it?" If there was something wrong, Adam wanted to know what it was so he could fix it, or try and fix it at least.
Kyle winced, knowing that he’d been called - if not blatantly. Adam had given him an opening to lie, but to Kyle that felt just like an opening to be caught in an obvious lie. He clearly hesitated for a long moment, then caved. “No, that’s not it,” he admitted, hating each word. “But - I’m not exactly proud of the truth and I’ll probably drop like a stone in your estimation if you ask me to tell you. So, how about we just… don’t talk about it?” he suggested - hopeful, but not actually believing that would fly.
Sometimes Adam hated that he could see through the little lies because it made it to the point where Kyle looked miserable, wanting not to talk about something, but clearly it wasn't really something that could easily be ignored. "You can't drop like a stone anywhere or whatever. I'm not going to be made. Tell me. Maybe I can make it better."
Kyle pulled his lips between his teeth, looking truly miserable and uncertain for a moment. Then he pulled back. Walking to the pallet, which passed as their bed, he slumped down onto it, dropping his head to his hands. He looked up after a moment. “I need you to know that it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s not you at all. It’s me and my stupid insecurities. It’s not you.”
That was worse than Adam expected. He watched Kyle go, head tilted to the side in confusion but as soon as Kyle slumped, he was following after him, stopping just in front of him. "Tell me what's going on." His mind was starting to come up with ridiculous things, running around in circles and if Kyle didn't get to it, he was going to wind up assuming the worst.
Kyle’s eyes followed Adam, until he was looking straight up at him. “Harry cheated on me,” he said. “A lot. I… I know we’ve talked about that and I don’t think you would. I don’t want you to think that’s what this is about. I just… There’s Kennedy.” He grimaced, knowing that this probably sounded all kinds of awful to Adam. “She’s… She’s said she knows that we’re together, but she wants you anyway.”
Adam listened, not wanting to speak until Kyle was finished. Just mention of Kennedy had his cheeks going a tiny bit warm and unconsciously he was rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. "Yeah she mentioned that." She had been pretty clear that it didn't matter to her and it was up to Adam if he thought he could take advantage or not. "I wouldn't, you know," he said belatedly, not because he didn't mean it but because he wasn't sure what else to say.
Kyle kept looking up at him, the picture of misery. “I know,” he said, after a long moment. “I know that. I do. I trust you. I do. I just… You ever had a nightmare, or something totally irrational that you’re afraid of, and even though you know it’s totally stupid, you just can’t stop yourself? That’s me. And I know I need to get over it.”
Adam was quiet for a long moment before dropping to a crouch in front of Kyle and resting his hands on his knees. "Totally irrational fear, the one that you're just going to disappear again," he said with a sad smile. "It's okay to be afraid. You've got every reason. I'm lucky you even believe me or trust me because you have every right not to. But I have no idea why she likes me or any of that and I can promise that she's the only one and probably the only concern and it might not even be a good one considering. She might just be bored."
Kyle managed a little smile, though it looked off since the misery and guilt didn’t disappear. “She’s not bored,” he told Adam. “She sees the same thing I do. She sees a great guy who doesn’t have half the self-believe that he should have. She sees a wonderful guy who’s been overlooked by people for far too long, and so has learned to doubt himself. She thinks that you need to know that I’m not your only option. She wants you to know that you’re wanted. That you’re attractive and capable of attracting people. And the worst thing about it all is that I agree with her. I think all the things that she does. Only… I’m entirely selfish and you’re…” He took a breath and squeezed his eyes tight shut, dropping his head to his chest. “You’re mine. She can’t have you.” There, he’d finally said it.
Adam watched Kyle as he spoke, surprised that anyone would think those things of him, let alone act on them or want to, but he didn't push it away, not with what Kyle said at the end. That was what stuck with him, though maybe not in the best way. He'd been Jeffrey's too, told the same thing, and it was something he clung to when he hadn't had much else or his friend wasn't acting like his friend. Hearing Kyle say it gave him a little thrill and he pushed up enough to kiss Kyle despite his closed eyes and broken posture. "Good."
Kyle pulled back, pushing himself back onto the pallet more, eyeing Adam. That hadn't been the reaction that he had anticipated, clearly. “Good?” he questioned. “How can that be good? I shouldn’t be thinking of you that way. You’re your own man. You can do whatever you want. I shouldn’t - you’re not mine, like some kind of property!” Kyle had always felt like Harry’s, and for a while that had felt wonderful. Yet, toward the end, it had felt like a prison. Like shackles weighing him down. He never wanted to do that to Adam.
Adam was left frowning not sure how him being pleased with belonging to someone was such a bad thing. "You don't think of me like some sort of property do you?" he asked, because he didn't think Kyle would, that wasn't like Kyle. "So it's good that my boyfriend isn't really interested in me hooking up with other people isn't it?"
“No! Of course I don’t think of you like that!” Kyle protested, sounding and feeling honestly shocked. “That’s why I shouldn’t be thinking like that. Of course I don’t want you hooking up with other people! We agreed - exclusive, I just… There’s a long way from that to ‘mine’... Isn’t there?” he asked, looking up, his gaze full of self-doubt and uncertainty.
"Is there? If you aren't thinking of me like that, but yours, your boyfriend, exclusive, how is it that far?" Adam asked, corners of his mouth starting to turn up in a tiny smile. "Plus," he leaned up and kissed Kyle lightly, one hand planted next to Kyle's hip so he was leaning over him somewhat. "I want to be yours. I like that."
Kyle allowed himself to be kissed, naturally sinking back against the makeshift bed as Adam leaned over him, not even thinking about it and whether the other man would follow. “I don’t know where the lines are,” he admitted as his back touched the covers. His eyes never left Adam’s, especially when the other man said that last part and Kyle felt his heart do a little flip, despite everything.
Adam hadn't meant to guide Kyle back and wound up following after him and kissing him again. "I think the lines are when you start to think you own me or you can really tell me what to do then it might be too much. Fair?"
"I never want to tell you what to do," Kyle told him in all seriousness as he returned the kiss.
"Well, within reason," Adam said, sinking closer to Kyle. "Because you could tell me now and I'd be completely fine with that." He kissed at Kyle's jaw, light teasing kisses, attempting to prompt something.
Kyle laughed a little at that, knowing exactly what Adam was thinking, and deciding to play a little. "So... if I told you to go do my laundry then, you'd be cool with that?" he asked.
That got a pout out of Adam before he came up with something else, hands going for Kyle's pants as he leaned back. "Well...you'll have to get undressed first right? So sure," he played back flashing a grin.
Kyle reached down and placed his hands atop Adam's, stilling them. "Sweetie - I'm dirty and smelly, and you're injured. Plus, Mazie could walk in at any moment. Maybe... This isn't the best of times," he suggested.
Adam stopped when Kyle stopped him, knowing that was coming. He sighed and untangled his hands enough to run fingers over Kyle's stomach. "I know. One track mind."
"In your defence, it's a very attractive track," Kyle teased. "I just... You mentioned that you thought that we'd be able to get out of here. So, maybe we should be looking toward doing that. Because even if I do worry about what'll happen if we stay here, there's also the benefits of so much more if we could just leave. Benefits for that one track mind of yours."
"Now you're just cheating," Adam said before leaning in to kiss Kyle. It was a lingering sort of kiss, the kind that gave an opportunity for more if Kyle wanted but still ended with Adam sitting back on his heels. "Brett mentioned a witch that lives on the edge of town. We could talk to her. Or we play this thing through. See if the goal is to get to the end."
Kyle followed Adam up with the kiss for a moment, before flopping back on the pallet. Looking up at Adam, he linked his fingers behind his head - which could probably also be classed as cheating - and hummed a little. "Given that this Brett guy has been here for a decade, I don't think we can rely on there being any 'end' to get to. My vote would be for the witch. Though, she's probably just an old woman."
It was cheating and Adam gave Kyle a look for it, not really moving away even though he should. "Probably, but if she's weird she might be from where wer are too. And maybe Brett hasn't hit the end? Maybe he's in some loop like in a video game or something." Adam shrugged before shifting so he was laying on his side next to Kyle. It hurt a little, but he managed to get comfortable. "He's been alone mostly too you know? I think that maybe he needs help. He was waiting on us."
Kyle returned the look with an almost smug look of his own. He was feeling more balanced now, his freak out well and truly past. "You know," he said, conversationally, knowing exactly what he was doing and watching for Adam's reaction. "If we do end up having to stay here for any length of time, I'm probably going to end up with real muscles. The blacksmith's is a real workout. All that hefting heavy metal. Working in that heat. Hammering things into shape..." He arched a brow and shifted onto his side, facing Adam. He propped his head up on one hand. "Maybe I'll end up being the one saving you." He let that thought hang in the air for a moment, then carried on, though at an apparent tangent. "Do you believe in fate?" he asked.
Yeah, Adam was getting a full on visual with that and his eyes narrowed as Kyle kept going on. "I hate you a little," he said before shaking his head. "You take away saving you and I have nothing to bring to the table." Though he wouldn't doubt that Kyle was capable of it. At the question he quirked an eyebrow up, laying more on his arm so that he was looking up at Kyle. "Maybe. Probably not. Why?"
"Trust me, baby - you bring plenty to the table," Kyle assured him. "If you don't believe in fate, then what makes you think that there's any kind of a 'plan', or a 'loop', or any kind of an end point? I'm not saying there isn't, I just think that you have to believe in fate, or in something controlling all of this, in order to believe that."
Adam had to force himself to think about the question because Kyle had called him baby and he wanted to think about that instead, but it was a good question. Or statement. Whatever it was. "I guess it feels more like a game. Something could be trolling this if it isn't fate. I don't feel like fate would be so random right? One minute we're one place, another we're somewhere else? Feels more like...a game. A bad one, but a game."
Kyle nodded, slowly at this. "So - what do we do to win?" he asked, quietly deferring to Adam in formatting some kind of plan. He felt like that could work. That his role could be to lead Adam through the steps, and Adam would get them safely out of this. All he had to do was trust his boyfriend and keep them on track. It felt safe and almost warm relaxing into that decision.
"A way out of here," Adam said with a shrug. That seemed like the most likely answer. That Kyle had deferred to him completely hadn't dawned on him, he was the one suggesting a game after all. "I probably won another long conversation with the most unsocial guy ever too." He wanted to know what Brett had done to get all Groundhog Day in the fourteenth century or whenever and maybe then they could figure it out. Or one of them would remember the end of the movie.
Kye smiled a little. Yup, his job was to keep them on track. "No, baby - what do we do to win? And tell me about the world's most unsocial guy."
"Oh," Adam said frowning. "I dunno. I mean I'm already out of the tournament so winning probably isn't the answer, but Brett's won before a lot so it's not like that's the thing to do either. I'm not sure. I guess, we'll have to keep an eye out or something." Letting out a sigh he rolled on his back, looking up at the tent ceiling. "Brett. He's this giant grump and I get it, he got sent here, thought it was because he was a giant medieval times geek and loved it and then ten years later he's still here. And they say terrible things about him behind his back. So he's not exactly friendly, but I want to help him, because if we can get back we can't just leave him here right?"
Kyle dropped to pool his arms on Adam's chest, propping his chin on them. "My A - everyone's white knight. Course we can't leave him," Kyle said, biting back the addition of 'he's straight, right?' which passed through his mind.
"Just don't like leaving people alone," Adam corrected. He'd been left alone before and it wasn't a good thing for anyone.
"White knight," Kyle corrected again in return, smiling at him. He dipped his head to lay a kiss on Adam's chest, and then returned to his previous position. "So, tell me about Brett the Giant Grump Geek. What terrible things do they say about him, and are any of them actually true?"
Adam smiled at the kiss, running his fingers through Kyle's hair. "I dunno. They think he's evil. He'll kill people for looking at him the wrong way. Apparently he's some sort of shunned knight, but everyone gets all hushed hushed when they talk about it like they all know the story and you can't bring it up or he'll hear you. And kill you. He said something about people thinking he has weird tastes, which means god only knows what. I don't know if any of them are true. Though he does kind of look like someone that would kill a guy."
Kyle quirked a smile. "And yet you trust him," he said. A statement made in a knowing and accepting tone. Kyle could tell that Adam did. It had been in everything that he had said. Possibly it was misguided, but Kyle sort of adored the habit in Adam - that he would trust his own instincts without even really getting that that was what he was doing. Because of that, Kyle would trust them too. He would go wherever Adam led.
"Yeah well he helped me out before my first match, which helped me win and in the second kept me from getting dead, so yeah I guess so." Adam ran his fingers through Kyle's hair again, thinking about Brett. "And he doesn't seem that bad. Just lonely. Or hopeless or something."
"Well, if he helped you out and helped keep you safe, then I definitely owe him," Kyle mused. He considered the options, then smiled sunnily and added, "If you're going to be talking to him again, let him know that if he brings my any work he might need doing whilst I'm at the blacksmith's, then it's on the house." That seemed like a gift that someone like he would understand.
"You and me both," Adam said with a smile, impressed that Kyle was offering to do Brett's blacksmith work. "I'll let him know. I'm sure he'd appreciate it but just grump through some sort of answer."
Kyle was long since resigned and used to people not appreciating his gifts. That Brett may not didn't throw him in the slightest. He was more pleased about the fact that Adam didn't seem to think the gift out of place. In the past, Kyle had been given more than a few weird looks and comments for his penchant for gift giving. He basked in that for a moment, before asking, "So - when for we go looking for the witch?"
Adam didn't think much of it, used to Jeffrey's gift giving which was random at best, but not always for the best reasons. "I guess that depends on if we're doing anything else like this..." he suggested gently, curious if Kyle would take the bait.
Kyle gave him a thoughtful look for a moment or two, then said, "You know, under the circumstances, the privacy of the edge of town might give us more privacy than the privacy of a tent we share with someone else..."
Adam gave Kyle a look but eventually got up with a sigh. "True but I know you're trying to push my one track mind back on the right track. "Come on, get dressed and let's go looking."
Kyle remained lying down as he watched Adam move about. "You know, it's not that I don't want you," he said, quietly. "That's not what this is about."
Adam looked back confused. "I didn't think you didn't want me. Not right now at least. Am I missing what it is about?"
Kyle pulled himself to his feet and reached for his spare shirt. "Just checking," he said, not looking at Adam. "You... Kinda mentioned the one track thing and I know I've said it a lot, I just wanted to..." He finally glanced across. "I'm there too, y'know? One track. Only, I guess not quite. For me it's like... That track's this constant hum? Just under my skin. It's not all I think about, but it's always there. This awareness. Of you. Of what I want to do to you. The idea of the edge of town? I didn't just put it like that as a sweetener to get you to go look now. I put it in there because I really think it might be the case."
Adam listened, drifting closer to Kyle while he did. "I like that better, the hum. It's like that for me too I guess. And it's not all I think about. I think about other things too. But I've never had a chance to actually act on something I wanted like I can with you." He'd never had someone in his life that wanted to be his romantically, that he could even consider coaxing into bed. It was too tempting not to try. "You really think it might be the case? Or no, you're really interested?"
Kyle laughed a little at Adam's confusion over what he meant. Looking back, he realised he hadn't been clear. Closing the distance between them, he kissed him, softly. Drawing back, just enough, he whispered, "I don't know what we'll find. I don't know if I can believe in witches. But, I do know I can believe that maybe we'll find some alone time."
Oh. That clicked everything into place an Adam smiled some more, pulling Kyle closer. "If believing in witches gets us alone time..."
"Then we go hunting witches," Kyle said, ending the sentence as Adam pulled him in. Kyle hooked his hands over Adam's shoulders and bit his bottom lip in his teeth, even as he smiled. "Maybe you should bring your sword - since you're determined to be my white knight."
It was killer when Kyle bit his lip like that. Like it was some sort of open invitation and it was killing Adam. It hadn't even been a day and already he was aching to do more than steal a kiss here and there. Kyle was right. It was a constant awareness. "Of course I'm bringing my sword. Makes me look hot."
Kyle almost giggled - something he really wasn't proud of. "You don't need a sword to make you look hot," he breathed, reaching to practically tug Adam out of the tent.
Kyle might not be proud of it but Adam loved it, laughing himself and barely grabbing his sword before he was drug out of the tent. "You can't let your voice go like that then drag me into public," he chided gently.
Kyle turned to look at Adam, a flirty comment on his lips, when he realised they were out in public. People milled around them, not paying them the slightest attention, yet still they were there. Kyle's eyes widened and he dropped Adam's hand as if burned, shooting him an apologetic look as he stepped away. He wanted to say something cool and off-hand. Something serious that a squire would say to his knight and yet, there was nothing. Only a gut wrenching sadness that he couldn't be what he wanted right now and a realisation that he had no idea how to pretend.
Adam wasn't thinking about people, but more that he was wearing tight pants, but the moment Kyle's face changed he got it. This was bad. It was hard and two seconds ago Kyle had been smiling and happy and now he looked like someone had runnier his puppy. Adam waited less than a few seconds before he was pushing Kyle back into the tent with a hand on his shoulder. "I forgot that thing," he said lamely, following after him until they were back inside and alone. Then his arms were around Kyle, pulling him closer.
Kyle melted into him for a moment, then froze and pushed Adam away, stepping back. "I don't know how to do this," he said clearly distraught. He brought his arms up to hug himself, rocking back and forth on his heels. "I don't know how to make like we've just... Like you're not everything to me. I don't know how to be around you here."
Adam didn't understand why Kyle was pulling away, reaching out for his elbow to bring him back. At least at first that was what he was doing. Then Kyle said something that made him stop, freezing himself. "I'm what?"
Kyle met his eyes, biting his bottom lip once again as he figured out what to say. "You heard me," he replied, after a moment. He even managed to sound confident with it.
Adam moved closer, watching Kyle's eyes intently. He wasn't much taller, just a couple of inches at the most but for an instant he was feeling it. Maybe hearing it made him stand up a little taller. "I'm everything? Me?"
"Why not you?" Kyle asked. "My white Knight. My champion. My boyfriend. I... know it's fast," he said, wondering if he should actually be apologizing.
"Is it fast?" What did Adam know about that sort of thing? "It's just...everything." He'd never been anyone's everything. He'd never been anyone's something. "I kinda like everything."
Kyle didn't know what to say at the question, but he smiled as Adam said he liked it, letting go of the burgeoning fear and guilt that maybe he was being inappropriate. "You do?" he asked, needed to check that.
Adam nodded. "Yeah, yeah I do. It's nice to be something to someone," he admitted. Even more so to be everything.
"Hopefully, you never doubted it," Kyle said, talking a couple of steps toward Adam.
"Doubted what? Because I'm not usually important to much of anyone. Except Jeffrey. And you. Now." Adam felt himself get nervous as Kyle moved closer and had no idea why.
"That's you're something to this someone," Kyle said, reaching to pull Adam in to him.
"Well you only just now said it," Adam pointed out as he let himself get pulled closer. His hands caught Kyle's hips, steadying himself, but also keeping them near each other and holding on to Kyle in return.
Kyle mirrored the move, resting his hands on Adam's hips. "Yeah, but those are just words," he pointed out. "Did you think you didn't mean anything to me, until I said them? I know I'm something to you." Kyle didn't even need to question that, he just knew. Adam was pretty blatant in that respect.
"Of course you are," Adam said before shrugging. "Something yeah, your boyfriend at least." He knew why he'd been hesitant to put himself in that role in his mind though. He thought Kyle might disappear again. Just like everyone else. Just like he had before. He hoped that wasn't the case, which was why he didn't bring it up, but it was still there.
Kyle let out a breath he hadn't realised that he'd been holding. He dropped his forehead against Adam's. "God, we need to get out of here," he muttered, though they were close enough that he wasn't trying to hide it from either of them. I need to be able to just be with you."
Adam smiled at the comment, nodding a little before stepping back slightly. "We do. And I want that too. So out there, we are best friends. Maybe we grew up together?" He looked around his stuff then back at Kyle. "It's not like I'm a rich knight. It makes sense that my squire would be my best friend. So we can be that. Close friends. That easier?"
Kyle closed his eyes with a sigh and nodded. "Like brothers," he agreed, regretfully. He hated this. He wondered how Chase had done it, growing up in an environment where it wasn't okay to be himself. Kyle had never felt so lucky to have come from where he did.
"Okay brothers is a little much, Adam said, leaning in more to kiss Kyle lightly. "But you can do this. We can do this. And we will find somewhere we can be alone."
"Like brothers," Kyle corrected, pushing lightly at Adam's should. "Because actual brothers would creepy and weird. Plus, nobody in their right minds would believe you and l came from the same gene pool."
"Yeah it would be. Because wanting to make out with my best friend is totally more reasonable than my brother," Adam said. Then he shook his head starting into a backtrack. "Not that I want to make out with Jeff. I don't. We aren't like that. It's just not the same..." He let out a breath, shaking his head. "Okay we should go."
Kyle stared at him for a moment, then took hold of the front of Adam's tunic and hauled him in for a hard and passionate kiss. It was deep and fierce, but he cut it off whilst Adam would still be reeling. "I know you don't want Jeff. You want me. Only me. And best friends can be lovers. I want to be your friend as well." Kyle,wanted to be his everything. His possessive streak was running so wide right now that it wouldn't allow for anything else.
That was cheating on a thousand levels because Adam didn't have any sense when Kyle pulled back. He just wanted more, still half caught up in the kiss. "Only you," he echoed. "And yes. We're friends. We are. I think."
Kyle smiled - he liked Adam like that, though in retrospect, just as they were meant to be leaving the tent probably wasn't the best of moment's to pull that kind of a trick. "We're friends," he confirmed.
It probably was a bad idea because Adam was already leaning in for another kiss. "More than friends," he corrected before kissing Kyle again, just as hard as before.
Kyle returned the kiss, pulling Adam to him. "So much more than friends," he agreed, mumbling into the other man's lips.
There was no way they were leaving just yet, not with Adam tangling his hands in Kyle's hair, to kiss him again. He was right. So much more than friends. A lot more. The needy eager kind of so much more and it was reflected in Adam's kiss.
Kyle let himself go, surrendering to Adam and whatever he wanted to do, kissing him back with equal fervour. He never knew how he got himself to these places. All of his promises and suggestions flying out the window. He was a man who worried endlessly about the future, yet when it came right down to it, he was instinctive and lived entirely in the moment. Then again, that was why he worried. His instincts led him wrong so many times, made the future so much harder, that he spent most of his time trying to deny them. Yet, when he truly let go, regardless of what the impact on the future may be, he really couldn't regret it. Right now, all he saw, all he wanted, was Adam.
It was completely intoxicating. Adam lost his breath in the kiss, practically crushing his mouth against Kyle until he had to break it off to breathe. He stayed close though, his forehead pressed against Kyle's, fingers still twisted in his hair. "We need to make a decision..."
"Make a decision," Kyle told him, breathlessly. "I'll go with whatever you want."
Adam laughed, but it was a more a noise in his chest than anything else with Kyle so close to him. "You know you don't mean that. Because if I say we stay and not worry that we might scar Mazie for life, you'll convince me to go." He kissed Kyle again, lighter this time, but still deep with longing.
"Will I?" Kyle asked, melting into Adam's arms. Maybe he would. Possibly. He'd said before that he would. Now though, he wasn't overly sure.
"Mmhmm," Adam murmured, kissing Kyle's nose lightly with a smile. "You're the rational one here. I'm the one with a one track mind."
Kyle just grinned at that, helplessly. "There comes a time when even I leave rationality behind," he said, lowering his head to kiss down the column of Adam's neck. "And, when I do, I really do. I'm yours."
Adam made a noise in his throat as Kyle kissed his skin, something like a groan. He really was having a hard time doing anything that wasn't giving in to Kyle. "I like you being mine..."
Peppering little kisses along Adam's collarbone, Kyle didn't raise his head as he said, "Good, great - make a damn decision." His tone was fond, yet deeper than normal as he slid a hand down the length of Adam's spine.
Adam shivered with the motion and knew he was doomed. Kyle had him, one hundred percent. He groaned again, then pulled Kyle up to kiss him hard, already starting back towards the makeshift bed. Kyle wanted a decision and Adam could make one, even if his judgement was completely clouded.
It took Kyle a moment to clue into Adam's unspoken decision. He knew in the back of his mind that it wasn't the one he would have made five minutes ago. He was passed that now though and his own reaction was to reach for the ties of Adam's trousers, deft fingers quickly and efficiently untying them even as he returned the passionate kiss.
They were in so much trouble if Mazie caught them, especially with the day starting to end and he was sure the most likely time for her to come back was now, but at least she wouldn't really get all that mad. Just maybe yell at them for being gross. None of that mattered once Kyle's hands were on his trousers though and he was tugging at Kyle's shirt, pulling it up and off then did the same with his own.
Kyle grasped at Adam's shoulders and tumbled them down onto the pallet, trying to do that and not stop kissing Adam - which basically just meant that they went down in a tangle of limbs and lips, little puffs of dust and pieces of straw flying up from the impact. Kyle couldn't care less though, as he rolled them so Adam was on top of him, pulling the other man down.
Adam grunted as they hit the pallet, which wasn't exactly forgiving for his injuries, but he wasn't going to let it stop things, not when Kyle wa holding on to him like that. Kyle kissing him, dragging him closer, that was all that mattered. So what if he came out of this with more bruises than he started with. He kept up with the kiss, reaching between them to undo Kyle's pants as well, fingers fumbling with the urgency.
Kyle raised his hips, helping Adam out as much as he could and then kicking his pants down his legs and onto the floor. He was frantic and thoughtless now, not thinking of Adam’s injuries at all, something that he would hate himself for when he realised.
Adam helped Kyle of his clothes, doing the same with the last of his before he was propped up on his good arm, looking down at Kyle with a pleased grin. Kyle like that, under him and frantic was one hell of a sight, and for a moment Adam just focused on taking it in.
Kyle practically whined when Adam drew back. He lay under the other man, eyes darkened as he looked up, hands already reaching for him. “Please,” he said, rolling his hips upward. He hooked his arms around Adam’s neck and pulled him downward, even as shouts started to erupt outside the tent. What did he care about any of that, when he had Adam, naked and gorgeous like this.
Adam groaned when Kyle rolled his hips like that, answering the movement and grabbing at Kyle's hips as he let himself get dragged downward. The shouts were ignorable at first, probably just a bunch of drunken knights yelling about something or another, but the next round was closer and it had Adam pulling back, looking up and staring at the wall of the tent, trying to determine what the noises really were.
“Adam…” The word really did come out as a needy whine this time as Adam left Kyle hanging. He pulled himself up, wrapping himself round Adam’s back and kissing at his shoulderblade. “It’s nothing, just drunk fools who decided to come back from the banquet early. Ignore them,” he suggested, running a hand round Adam’s front and encouraging him to do just that.
The suggestion worked, Adam's hips arching into Kyle's touch as he reached behind him to tangle his hand in Kyle's hair. His eyes fell shut with a smile, leaning into the attention. "Probably is," he agreed with a nod, shifting against Kyle again, urging them back to where they'd been.
“Definitely,” Kyle said as he captured Adam’s mouth with a kiss, still working him as they lowered themselves back down to the bed. Kyle was already thinking about where they would take things next when all of a sudden a fricking deer came charging through the tent, accompanied by swooping birds that were making such a racket that Kyle felt like they were being attacked by an entire army.
Adam was lost in that kiss and Kyle's actions at least until the whole world was all but upended by the sudden appearance of a deer and birds and the tent itself started to collapse at the impact. "What the hell?" he asked, already pulling back, ducking his head and covering it with his arms as the birds swooped towards them. Over the clatter of the birds he heard more shouting, though this time it was punctuated by screams as well, screams of pure terror and pain. "Ky..." Adam was reaching for their clothes, tossing whatever he had his hands on towards Kyle.
One of the birds swooped down, aiming directly toward Kyle. Instinctively, Kyle threw his hands up round his head and curled into a ball. He felt talons bite into his shoulder and wings beat at his hands and head. He realised that one of the screams was his. He tried to roll, hoping that the momentum would throw the bird off. He had no idea what to do.
Adam was struggling with pants, trying to get those on as the birds swooped and god only knew what the damn deer was doing, but Kyle's scream drew his attention away. With little else in his hands but his shirt he swung it at the bird, thankfully throwing off it for a moment. It gave Adam a second more to go for what he really needed, his shield grabbing it and hefting it over his head even if it made the sore arm ache and bleed more. Then he was pulling Kyle to him, keeping them both sheltered. "We have to get out of here." Kyle was hurt, he could see the blood on pale skin, but he couldn't panic about that just this second.
Kyle grabbed the blanket from the pallet and wrapped it around him to try and cover as much of himself as possible. He clapped a hand against his shoulder, ignoring the pain as he struggled to his feet, keeping himself pressed up against Adam. “Let’s go,” he said, trusting to the other man to get them out of here.
Adam stopped only to grab his sword, assuming he'd need that as well if this was one of those 'When Animals Attack' shows come to life. He had them moving quickly as he could, shield arm up over their heads until they were out of the tent and away from the birds. Instinctively he'd started them back towards the tournament grounds, as if that made the most sense, but once he was headed that way the chaos just got worse. "Oh my god." Animals were chasing people, people were falling, overrun by bunnies and raccoons and a stampede of deer. Everywhere, just chaos.
Once they were running, Kyle found his brain again and stopped panicking quite so much. He tugged on Adam’s arm, swerving them round in another direction. “The blacksmith,” he said, by way of explanation. “Animals don’t like fire, and it’s more solid than anything else - come on!”
Adam took the direction change as smoothly as he could, swinging his shield out towards another swooping bird, one much bigger than the first that had attacked them. "Hurry then!"
“I’m hurrying!” Kyle snapped back as he jumped over a pile of something someone had abandoned in the darkness. This wasn’t how the night was meant to go.
Adam missed the jump, stumbling over whatever it was, but as his feet squished against it he realized it wasn't so much a pile of things but a pile of gross. His stomach turned over but he hurried to catch up with Kyle.
Kyle thrust open the entrance to the blacksmith’s and practically yanked Adam inside. Even though the place was closed for the day, the heat from the furnace remained and hit them like a wall. There was no sign of the blacksmith. Kyle wasn’t surprised - the guy had spent the entire day talking about how much he was looking forward to the banquet, and this one woman he’d had his eye on. Honestly, if Kyle had had to listen to the guy wax lyrical on the size and shape of her breasts and hips one more time, he would have decided that no education was worth it. Breathing hard, he looked around and lit the lantern he knew would be on the side. “You okay?” he asked Adam.
Adam dropped his shield with a clattering noise the moment he was inside and behind a door. His arm hurt like hell and was bleeding more, but it didn't stop him from moving towards a table and pushing it towards the door to barricade it. "No. You're bleeding. And it's insane out there."
Kyle thrust open the entrance to the blacksmith’s and practically yanked Adam inside. Even though the place was closed for the day, the heat from the furnace remained and hit them like a wall. There was no sign of the blacksmith. Kyle wasn’t surprised - the guy had spent the entire day talking about how much he was looking forward to the banquet, and this one woman he’d had his eye on. Honestly, if Kyle had had to listen to the guy wax lyrical on the size and shape of her breasts and hips one more time, he would have decided that no education was worth it. Breathing hard, he looked around and lit the lantern he knew would be on the side. “You okay?” he asked Adam.
Adam dropped his shield with a clattering noise the moment he was inside and behind a door. His arm hurt like hell and was bleeding more, but it didn't stop him from moving towards a table and pushing it towards the door to barricade it. "No. You're bleeding. And it's insane out there."
Kyle hurried to help Adam with the table, and together the manhandled it into place. Once that was done, Kyle turned his attention to his bleeding shoulder, craning to try and take a look at it, and then giving up. “You’re hurt too,” he pointed out. He ripped a strip off the bottom of his blanket and moved to start wrapping up Adam's arm. He might have been a wreck earlier on, but there was no room for that now. Kyle was great at compartmentalising himself when he had to, and now was one of those times. He went blank, focusing entirely on ensuring that Adam was okay. As a result, he had the wound bound and tied in no time at all. "Could you have a look at me?" he asked, stepping back and turning round. He let the blanket drop to his hips, leaving the entirety of his back exposed for Adam's inspection.
Adam was going to protest Kyle working on his arm when it was already bandaged, just bleeding through it, but Kyle was so focused there wasn't even a chance to pull away before he'd taken care of it. When Kyle turned Adam was struck with the thought of how just moments before he'd been considering doing something far different with the expanse of bare skin in front of him. He ran his hand over Kyle's back to be soothing more than anything else. "Your shoulder got the worst of it. Let me see if I can find something to clean it with."