[CLOSED | COMPLETE ] You hold me without touch Characters: Hyacinth (hyacinthed) & Apollo (phanaeus) Date/Time: That time in July when they were both in Camelot Location: Wandering around Camelot Rating: PG! Warnings: Awkward!Hyacinth Summary: Hyacinth gets saved from falling scaffolding and makes a new acquaintance
Visiting with Hebe and Raven had been really nice. He'd forgotten how wet the weather in Camelot really was. Years and years away from it made it harder to remember. Still, it wasn't terribly rainy today. It had rained in the morning and the ground was still slick, but at least the rain had stopped long enough for Hyacinth to start going on a walk. There was no set destination and he didn't mind wandering around. It was relaxing, familiar. It was almost enough to keep his mind from the situation with Percival. Almost.
His brother's predicament was worrying. He could die. Hyacinth, for all his verbal denial, understood that. He knew there were no guarantees. That didn't make it easier to agree with it. If he could, he'd stop his brother from dying. He'd have offered his life up in exchange. It felt more natural that way.
Had he been paying better attention, Hyacinth might've noticed the people building up ahead along with their fairly unstable scaffold. Otherwise, he might have crossed the street to other side.
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Apollo had not been expecting to like Camelot. It was nothing like Babylon and he loved Babylon but he was beginning to find it's differences to be endearing. He could see why his wife had been so set on returning to the region to visit her friend. It was starting to look like maybe it was time for them to relocate. Babylon was getting to be too dangerous.
He hadn't slept much since they got there though, head racing with thoughts of war and what he was doing, so he soon found himself wandering. Sighing softly, he ran his hand over his face as he walked down the street. He had to go back home soon and help find Syrinx and that was nice. To have something to focus on.
Looking up, he noticed the young man about to walk into construction. "Hey! Hey kid!" He jogged towards him and pushed him out of the way before he could get hurt by a piece of scaffold that was falling.
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The sound of the voice drew his attention and he saw the scaffolding about to fall. He was going to die. He'd come to assure Raven that they would be fine and Percival wouldn't die, and he was going to die. How ironic. He wanted to move, but he was frozen in place. He couldn't move. Luckily for him, someone pushed him out of the way and he fell to the ground, the scaffolding falling right next to him instead of on top of him.
The ground hurt. Hyacinth closed his eyes, heart beating wildly in his chest. Calming himself would take a while. He was sure of that. After a moment, he opened his eyes, meaning to thank the person who'd saved him. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. Something about the man made his stomach feel strange. It was like he belonged there. Hopefully his staring wouldn't come off awkwardly. "Thank you," he finally managed before biting down on his lower lip.
Slowly, he picked himself up. His legs felt like jelly and he fell forward, catching himself on his savior. "Sorry..." His eyes closed again and he tried to steady himself a little better. And now he was blushing. "I...I really am sorry for falling on you. It wasn't-" His blush darkened. "Thank you again for saving me. I'm Hyacinth. I..." This was ridiculous. He should be able to talk. Honestly. He wasn't even this bad with Eve. "Yeah," he finished lamely.
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The landing hurt more than he expected but he was glad that he had kept him from being killed. He had worried that he hadn't seen him in time, that he wouldn't get there in time. The young man was handsome and part of Apollo's stomach twisted at the thought that he had just come seconds away from dying or at the very least being hurt quite badly.
Apollo couldn't help but let out a relieved chuckle though as he stood up, wiping at the mud that now covered his pants. The thank you and the blushing was damn endearing. "You're welcome," he said looking over at the younger man. He could not resist teasing him just a little. "You should be more careful where you walk. A handsome young man like yourself has to have someone waiting for him at home. I wouldn't want to have to be the one to let them know what happened to you."
He clapped his hand on Hyacinth's shoulder. "It's nice to meet you, Hyacinth. I'm Apollo." He held out his hand for a shake.
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His laugh was wonderful. It was the first thing he could think. It was difficult to keep from blushing again or staring. Staring would be considered rude and it wasn't a good idea to stare at attractive men when you were engaged. There was a pang of guilt as he thought about it. He'd already done this once and now he was indebted to Jubokko. This would never do.
A slight frown formed and he almost missed Apollo's words. "I-" He blushed again. "I didn't mean to be..." His gaze dropped for a moment. "I'm sure...I'm sure my brothers will be happy to know I've not been killed." And Eve. Eve would be happy, too, but for some reason, Hyacinth couldn't bring her up. He should have been forthcoming with the information. He shouldn't be letting his mind drift into dangerous places. He was engaged. He opened his mouth to add Eve onto the list of people happy to see him. Instead, what came out was, "Thank you again. I've been distracted recently."
Apollo. Apollo. Apollo. "Apollo," he repeated, smiling widely for a moment before taking his hand. All this touching wasn't conducive to doing the right thing but stepping back sounded painful. "It's too bad we couldn't have met under different circumstances. Your clothes are dirty because of me." He looked him over cautiously before smiling up at him. "I'm sorry." He laughed a little before looking again. Apparently self restraint was not on his list of abilities for the day. "Are you okay?"
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Apollo laughed again and shook his head. "Don't apologize," he said gently. "It happens. One time, I was talking to a person and I walked right into a river. Just..." He demonstrated with his fingers how it had happened. "That story still gets brought up in conversations." He rolled his eyes good naturedl y before looking over at the younger man. He should have been moving on, he had to get back to Babylon and it was getting late in the day but he couldn't make himself go just yet.
"Speaking as someone who has brothers, they will be," he agreed. He wasn't as close to his brothers as he used to be but he still thought about them all the time and worried. The news about the soldiers already had him on edge. It didn't seem fair that his brother had to go war after finding out he was going to be a dad. "Older brothers? They have a distinctive need to keep their siblings safe. A lot of people seem to be distracted lately. It's just the times, I think."
He covered his hand with his other and shook his head with a wide grin. "Saving a life I think is a good enough reason to get my clothes dirty," he assured him. "But I agree. I'd much prefer to meet new people without the threat of their or my potential death." After a minute, he pulled away and nodded. "Probably bruised my knee but other than that, I am one hundred percent."
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He was in a daze. "Sounds like we are very similar," he said after a moment. There was a small laugh of his own. "You should probably be careful about that, though. Rivers are no place for conversations. Unless you're swimming, of course." He felt his ears heat up when he noticed Apollo's gaze. Oh, dear.
"Percival would...but-" His smile faded slightly. "He's-" He bit down on his lower lip for a moment. "He's busy with the war." Unless this Apollo fellow didn't know about the fighting. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't-" This habit of not finishing sentences was going to be the death of him. "Raven's younger. I'm here visiting, actually." Hyacinth tried to push away the thought of Percival for the moment. "I think it's my older brother instincts that brought me here. I'm usually in Nifleheim."
Hyacinth didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed when Apollo stepped back. "I hope it won't bother you too poorly. I will do my best to keep from putting myself in danger again." Nevermind that he'd almost offered himself up in exchange for Percival. "With my luck, you won't be there to save me next time." And what a horrible end that would be.