Re: In-person: Holly W/Noah N
[Holly didn't mean to make the guy feel bad, you know, when he stepped away. He just wanted them to have somewhere to sit where he could pull Noah close. Standing wasn't cutting it, okay? And he knew they couldn't do more than hold each other, but he'd been selfish in wanting to see the guy, and he was being selfish now. He just wanted to lose himself in Noah for a few minutes, and even the topic of the conversation didn't take away from that for Holly. Noah was sitting between his thighs, and Holly had his arms around him, and he could feel the warmth and weight of the guy in this crazy steadying way, like that presence just grounded him in this inexplicable way.
Holly hadn't showered yet, and he smelled of sweat, probably of the day's fear, the lab's antiseptic, and of the blood from draw marks hiding beneath the sleeves of his jacket. He nosed at Noah's cheek, and then he slid his hands down over the taut fabric of the pajama pants on Noah's thighs.] It's more than catching me, huh? How is it, then? [That was coaxing, light and against Noah's ear, and Holly just stayed there for a second after, breathing the guy in and sliding his arms up again to hold the guy close.] I don't like thinking about it either, about you not being there. [He admitted that reluctantly, but it was the truth and he did admit it. And then Noah was curling his knees up to his chest, like, protectively, and Holly tried really fucking hard to not be worried. His voice, when he talked again, was calm, right? Calm, calm.] Like you said, we don't even know if it's the same place. They just told me there's a portal that leads under the town, and that they need samples. They're running all these tests to make sure I'm 'healthy' enough to go. [He almost scoffed, because he was fairly sure they'd just reached the point where they didn't know what to do with him, and this was their solution.] I'm going to ask Adrian about it. [He was going for practical here, and his hands slid along the outside of Noah's thighs reassuringly.] You can ask Aleksi or Dietre, and it's probably not even the same place. If it is, they're giving me some suit that's supposed to protect me, and a tether to pull me back if things go wrong, so it's not like I'm going anywhere without a contingency plan. [He kissed Noah's earlobe.] Okay?