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Church source 13
By the time Claude wakes up, a bit later into the day, the scene will have changed slightly in that clearly Dimitri has been elsewhere. That will be obvious because he is clearly soaking wet, most of his hair swept backwards and some of it tangled in his horns. Part of his face is resting on the edge of the mattress, as he dozes a little bit himself.
--
When he does, and he discovers that Dimitri isn't even in the bed - and, also, that Dimitri has clearly been elsewhere, doing who knows what - his first instinct is to reach out to him. He begins idly toying with that messy hair, untangling it from his horns. "Dimitri?" he murmurs.
--
The traditional Intseh start up noise signals his awakening, and he nudges his head up into Claude's hand. He's still a bit sleepy himself as he blinks owlishly over at Claude. "Do you feel better?" Because that's always the most important question.
--
"I'll know when I try to move." Claude cocks an eyebrow at him. "Why are you wet?"
--
...Oh. His ears slowly lower. "I couldn't catch any fish," he says in the soft tone of shame of someone who views this as a personal failing.
--
Claude blinks. "You went fishing without me?" Then he smiles, fingers combing through that wet hair. "It's fine. We can try again tonight. It's easier to catch them at dusk."
--
"I wanted to catch something so you could eat as soon as you woke up..." Even if those fingers are in his hair, Dimitri tilts his head back so that he can try to bump his nose against them. "I didn't know if you would feel alright."
--
"We've got food in the pantry," Claude reassures him. "I'm not going to starve before dinner. We'll catch fish one way or another, even if I have to shoot them out of the water."
--
Dimitri blinks in surprise. "We're still going fishing together?" And then an immediate and disapproving flick down of his ears. "You still don't know if you can stand."
--
"If worst comes to worst, you can carry me," Claude replies, with a charming smile. "But I promised you fish today."
--
"Am I going to carry you the entire time we're fishing as well?" Dimitri points out, even as he leans a little further into Claude's space. For as much as he really... truly.... enjoyed Claude's expressions as he'd unraveled so completely, these sort of smiles at least show Claude is good enough to still try and bullshit at him a little bit. There's a comfort in that.
--
"I can sit down and fish," Claude replies with a laugh. "I might need to use your cloak as a cushion, but I think that'd be enough."
--
"If you think that's enough..." That will have to be good enough for him. Still, now that Claude seems to be awake properly, something can happen that Dimitri's been stewing over the entire time that he's been unconscious. "I... wanted to apologize. For how I acted."
--
"Apologize?" Claude blinks. "For what?" He at least seems to have zero idea what Dimitri is talking about, which could be seen as reassuring.
--
It could be reassuring if Dimitri could get over the idea that he fucked Claude so hard he broke his brain, and the after effects of that could really be untold. Just, who knows. Dimitri sure doesn't!
He just feels as though he should apologize, and he searches Claude's expression for a moment. "For... the way I reacted. You know." His ears twitch. "When I asked about.... others." He really doesn't want to say 'when I got ragingly jealous about the other people you've fucked'.
--
Claude grins at that. "Oh, that?" He sits up slightly - oh, yeah, still some soreness there, he notes - to prop himself up on his elbow. "I admit it probably wasn't the healthiest reaction...but I can't lie and say that you getting all rough and possessive wasn't incredibly erotic, too." He winks at Dimitri. "It's pretty flattering, you know."
--
Oh. So he really isn't.... Well. Dimitri isn't sure what the reaction would have been, but Claude doesn't seem otherwise angry or upset. He stays where he is, still watching Claude. "Being rough and possessive is... flattering." He'd known the rough part was something to keep in mind- and he had in fact kept it in mind a lot when they'd had sex- but the possessive part is... new and a little strange to try and consider. At least, from an outside factor like Dimitri is trying to do right now.
--
"Mmhm." Claude reaches out to cup Dimitri's jaw, giving him a sly smirk. "I want to belong to you. So you wanting me to belong to you, and only you...I like it."
--
Oh. Dimitri has had a small bit of experience with his body now, at least in terms of arousal, and he's fairly certain it will take a while longer for his body to be ready to just.... engage in sex again. Yet the way Claude looks at him, how those fingers curve along his face perfectly, what he says.... Claude will be able to even feel the way his face goes still, all of Dimitri's focus on him with such clear desire that says he wishes he could immediately pin him to the bed again....
But not now. And not just because of bodily restrictions. Cupping his hand over Claude's, Dimitri nudges his palm with his nose. "Even though you said it's not.... healthy, as a reaction?"
--
"Well, it's not exactly rational. Or reasonable. But you know that, and you wouldn't be a jerk about it." Claude grins. "So long as you confine it to dominance displays like the one you did in bed, what's the harm?"
--
"I didn't know.... " He'd just been thinking himself in a circle for hours on end on the matter. "But I didn't..." A brief frown is pressed against Claude's palm. "...I didn't want you to be trapped...."
--
"Trapped?" Claude raises an eyebrow. "What, beneath you? I can think of way worse fates."
--
"Claude." Ah, the clear signs of embarrassment as his tail thwaps about a couple of times and his ears go back. "Yes, I am well aware that you were.... very happy that way. Even, apparently, at risk to your ability to walk." Next time they do this, Dimitri is going to remember this fact. He's going to be prepared.
But for right now.... He reaches over, tucking some of Claude's hair back. Sex, a bath, and then sleep without brushing it has really left it a rather curly mess, and he can't help his fingers when they linger there. "But I mean... with me. Or.... in anything you don't want to be. I don't.... have the right to keep you anywhere. Even if I love you. Especially for my love for you. You.. deserve to do what you want, in the past or in the future." He sinks back down against the edge of the bed again, face shifting down against it enough to make it clear he's looking away. "Even if I do not like it."
After all, if he does that.... Well. Dimitri looks up again, to where the bandages around his wrist have clearly been through the ringer even after only less than a day.
--
Claude follows his gaze, and jerks a bit as realization hits him. "Shit, we should change that bandage." He rubs a hand over his face. "I'd like to just heal it for you, but...if I heal it, it won't scar, and then your brand might be useable again. So it's better to let it heal naturally, and hope the brand stays broken when it does."
He nods to where his pouch is lying. "Could you grab the roll of bandages out of there for me? And then go wash that cut carefully before I wrap it up again."
--
"If it heals that way, I'll simply break it again." Even if he finds himself without a blade, well, the good news is that Intseh naturally have their own weapons immediately on hand. Dimitri doesn't see it being a problem so long as he has access to his own wrist. Still, he gives a nod and rises up to his feet. "Hold on."
As he rises, however, it... sure makes it clear that Dimitri has just been. completely bare ass naked this entire time he's been talking. Listen.... He just had sex and then went swimming. Pants are worthless.
Fetching the roll of bandages, he places it on the bed besides Claude and pauses. "....Do you want me to get anything for you while I'm cleaning the cut...?"
--
Claude considers this. "Maybe some bread and cheese," he says, after a moment. "And one of those sausages, and my knife to cut it with. We can have a cold lunch."
--
One of those words immediately gets Dimitri's ears perking up. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which one. "Alright. Then, I will take only a moment."
Cleaning his wound is probably the most important aspect of all of this, even if cheese itself ranks fairly highly as well and Claude's own well being above even that. Fortunately, Dimitri still has some water left over from when he was aggressively scrubbing clean the sheets to the bed- which are currently spread out on top of the tub for drying. His bandages he ends up slicing through, after some fiddling, although it's not an easy thing to do when his wrist is the thing that he's unbandaging. His fur is... a mess, around the wound. Even when he washes it, the imprint of having a bandage squeeze down onto it has left it clearly a bit more flattened than the surrounding fur, no matter how short it was to begin with. Diluted blood has really spread into the rest of his fur, staining the pale fur something awful and blending in with the ink of his executioner's brand. Even when he freshly washes it, the injury seems to slowly bleed just a little bit more, become red all over again. Not fast enough to be a concern, but still... very clearly fresh. Perhaps all the activity he's done has also only aggravated it all the more.
Leaving the bloody bandages in the washroom, Dimitri just goes to get their food and the knife. It's a good thing it's a small enough haul, although Dimitri has to carefully sniff at the bread in particular to decide which one he should bring. (The non-sweet smelling one, in the end.) When he returns, knife in one hand and everything else delicately balanced in his arms, he's also included two eggs. Those he.... had slightly harder a time distinguishing the differences, so one is hardboiled and one is uncooked.
....Listen, just in case.
--
Claude is pleased by the inclusion of the eggs - he'd briefly forgotten about them - but recognizes immediately that they'd better check to see if either one is raw. "Put the eggs on the table and spin them," he suggests, after taking the other things from Dimitri. "If they spin easily, they're hardboiled. If it's hard to get them spinning, they're raw."
--
"....Oh. So there is a difference." Eggs are among some of many things Dimitri has gotten to enjoy courtesy of Claude over his many visits, because gods knew the church wasn't going to bother, but he hadn't known how to distinguish. Still, he does so obediently, watching curiously as one does its spin with hardly any trouble and the other rather resists the attempt. With that mystery figured out, he takes it immediately to be returned and comes back up rather pleased with another hardboiled egg.
He knows another trick to help with just.... existing now. He's rather happy about that.
"I wonder what other things you can do with eggs...."
--
"Oh, a ton of things," Claude says languidly. "I'll get to show you all of them eventually." He sits up fully now, with a wince. "But for the moment, let's get your hand bandaged. Then we can eat."
--
Oh, right. He'd only just cleaned it, but Dimitri had already carelessly forgotten about his wound. An... unfortunate side effect of living as an executioner, where wounds meant nothing both from his depression and how the church would heal him eventually. Dimitri obediently crouches down before Claude, offering the red mess that is his wrist.
--
Claude scrutinizes the wound, holding Dimitri's hand gently as he examines it. "It doesn't look too bad," he murmurs. "But I can find some herbs that will help fight infection tomorrow, if necessary. I should be able to walk by then..." For the moment, he simply takes the roll of bandages and wraps Dimitri's wrist again.
It's while he's in the process of doing this that he glances up at Dimitri. "For the record, Dimitri...I want to be with you. There's nothing I've wanted more; not since we were kids. Even if you could or would force me into anything - which you couldn't and wouldn't, by the way; I'm way more stubborn and clever than you probably appreciate - you'd never have to force me into that."
He cuts off the wrapping with his knife once he's sufficiently bandaged Dimitri's wrist. "And there we go."
--
"I will carry you if you cannot." Since he put him into this state, Dimitri feels it's only fair that he help in this matter if need be. But that's for tomorrow. Instead, he waits patiently as the pressure around his wrist resumes.
And while it does.... He listens carefully, looking into Claude's face as he speaks. They want each other.... They want to be with each other. That's all that matters, right now. Dimitri takes some comfort in that, stores the words away quietly in his chest. "I still acted as though I would," he murmurs, glancing down as he flexes his fingers to see how the bandage holds. "I won't be swept up again in such thoughts."
A beat, and he glances up at Claude.
"....Unless you want me to."
--
"Hmm..." Claude gives this some thought, then gives Dimitri a wink. "Maybe don't get swept up in those thoughts...but it's okay if you let yourself be possessive when you know I'm into it. That's a compromise, right?"
--
"I believe that is more than good enough as a compromise." It certainly makes him feel better at any rate; perhaps he really does like it when he gets to be so possessive of Claude. Leaning in close, he presses another kiss to Claude's mouth before looking down to their gathering of food.
"So you said a cold lunch... We'll just eat these as they are, then?"
--
"Mmhm. We can make sandwiches." Claude grins. "You've had those before, right?"
--
"I believe you've seen me make those before." There's a brief pause before Dimitri smiles back, more than a tinge of awkwardness in it. It still feels funny, sometimes, to be able to smile. Still doesn't feel entirely real. But it's a feeling that's slowly becoming less and less prevalent, although it's taking it's sweet time about it.
--
"Then that should work here." Claude eyes the bed. "We're gonna make things messy if we do it here, though..." The table's objectively a better choice, especially for peeling and slicing the eggs. And cutting the bread, which will make any amount of crumbs.
--
The problem with that is that Claude still seems barely to sit up, of course, and Dimitri observes him for a moment before he begins to pile the food back onto Claude's lap. "Hold onto all of this... and don't cut yourself."
--
Claude promptly makes a nest for the things in his arms, since his lap might currently be sheets, but if Dimitri is going to move him - as seems inevitable - then Claude is going to be naked, and he feels as though holding things in his lap then will introduce perhaps more sausage to the meal then they necessarily want or intend. (Also, of all the places he wants to be holding a knife, 'in his lap while naked' is among the lowest ranked.)
--
That's rather why Dimitri did warn him... Although he takes care to fold over his cloak onto Claude's lap, to help ensure that knife-to-dick damage is minimal at worst. There's a bit of adjusting to make sure that he has Claude properly wrapped before he's satisfied. "Careful..." Another warning before he gingerly begins to lift Claude up into his arms for what is now the third time in a day, cradling him close. "Do you have everything?"
--
"Yeah." Claude leans into Dimitri. The thing he's thinking feels appropriate enough to say, so he says it. "You know, I could really get used to this?"
--
Making his way over to the table, Dimitri blinks down at Claude before his brain makes the connection. "Oh, being carried?" He nuzzles his way into Claude's hair. "I did say I liked carrying you..."
--
Claude smiles, utterly content. "I might have to let you keep doing it, then." This is sickeningly cute, and he can mentally hear various friends of his either gagging or making noises of pure incredulity that he would end up like this, ever. But he can't help it, and doesn't particularly care to try. He feels good in ways he never thought he could, and utterly loved and cared for and safe in ways he never thought he could, and he's going to luxuriate in that for all he's worth.
--
"Then I'll gladly continue to do it." Oh yes, Claude's friends would definitely be gagging, but Dimitri is unaware of all of that. All he does is smile into Claude's hair before turning his attention back to the chairs. He doesn't immediately set Claude down. Right now, he's taking things through tiny little steps. He doesn't know if Claude, even with the softness and layers of the cloak, will be alright sitting on such a hard wooden surface. So, instead....
Dimitri is the one who sits down, gently keeping Claude in his arms until he can adjust his lover so that he's sitting on his lap- much softer than hard word, although not as soft as the bed. There, this should be a good test.
--
It's a bit painful still, but Claude isn't complaining. He leans back against Dimitri's chest; having a furry boyfriend, he's decided, may have its own disadvantages, but it absolutely comes with its perks, too. Like how he feels like he's snuggled up with a luxurious fur blanket even when he's just leaning on Dimitri's bare chest. "I'm really going to hate it when you have to start wearing shirts," he says, with a regretful sigh.
He settles the food on the table, along with the knife, and sets to peeling the eggs with deft fingers.
--
Dimitri watches carefully for any sign that this may be uncomfortable for Claude, even when the other man doesn't say anything. After all, he hadn't said anything when he was shivering and stiff in the washroom, either. Still.... he seems fine enough, relaxed against his chest, and Dimitri relaxes in turn. Maybe fishing really will be alright for him.
"I can get away with it in private, I would think. You won't be doing things like this when we're in public." At least, so Dimitri would assume. He's mostly focused on watching Claude's fingers, impressed at how easy they make everything. He knows this won't be nearly as easy when he makes an attempt.
--
To be fair, Claude's lack of claws to have to contend with in this area probably makes it easier.
"Mm...true. But still, being able to admire how built you are anytime is something I'll miss." Claude grins as he begins slicing up the eggs. The sausage and cheese soon follow, before he's carving off thick slices of bread to lay the ingredients between. Once he has a sandwich finished...he turns somewhat in Dimitri's lap, holding it up for Dimitri to take a bite of.
"You know," he says thoughtfully, "pickles would go good on this. But it's up to you if you like it better without."
--
Oh. This is.... Dimitri blinks at being offered food in this manner. Wasn't this suppose to be for Claude, mainly? But more than anything... Something warm nests about in his ribcage, a light fluttering sort of feeling, and it only seems to grow when he leans down enough to take a bite. Slowly, a purr begins to rumble into Claude's spine again, although it sounds a little sillier than usual while Dimitri is actively eating.
"...I believe... I am fine like this." He doesn't really want to move, or let go of Claude, right now.
--
Claude grins. "I wouldn't mind pickle, but honestly I'm totally willing to go without it rather than make either of us move right now." He settles himself (relatively) comfortably sideways on Dimitri's lap, feeding him the rest of the sandwich. He's been shamelessly doted on here, and will probably continue to be so; pampering Dimitri back feels good. Plus, Dimitri's just kind of adorable to watch, especially when he's happy. Or enjoying cheese. Those two statements mean the same thing.
Only once he finishes feeding Dimitri his sandwich does he assemble one for himself.
--
Oh, good. They're on the same track, then, when it comes to moving away from each other. So caught up in the contentful moment, Dimitri hardly even realizes how much he's eaten until Claude's fingers are pressing the last of it past his lips, and he blinks a few times. Oh.
"I didn't mean to eat everything before you..."
--
Claude chuckles. "It's fine. We could've shared, but you've been pampering me, right? It was your turn." He curls up against Dimitri's chest as he bites into his sandwich.
--
Dimitri's huff ruffles Claude's hair. "You have been pampering me for months. How am I to catch up if you continue to do this?"
--
"It's not pampering if the rest of your life was miserable," Claude says archly. "That was just trying to balance out the scales. This is pampering."
--
He squints down at him. "...I.... think you are using semantics."
--
Claude almost chokes on a bite of sandwich laughing. "I didn't even know you knew that word." Which is to say, Dimitri's probably completely correct, and Claude is charmed and amused at even being able to be called out on it by Dimitri.
--
Getting one up on Claude is always a satisfying feeling, and Dimitri's sliver of a smile comes a lot more easily this time. "Listening to you talk to me in Intsehli has had me remember a lot of words that I thought I forgot. You talk a lot." He says it with nothing short of absolute fondness, however.
--
"It's nice, talking to you," Claude replies languidly. "There aren't many people I can be honest with, you know? Most of the people I interact with, I have to pretend I'm loyal to the church. Or I have to be diplomatic. With you, I really don't have to pretend anything, or lie about anything. It's a relief."
--
"Even..?" Dimitri pauses and then decides to abandon that train of thought immediately. He'd wondered, briefly, about the others that Claude had shared a bed with... but that might just be worse for him to know. And it doesn't matter anyway. He tries to tell himself that. How successful it is, well, that's harder to tell.
He goes with something else. "So you do everything on your own, when you've done things like go after that Bishop...?"
--
"Mm. Well, there's a few people who sort of know what I do. Or at least have good guesses. Mostly my friends in various towns." Claude shrugs and smiles. "But I lie even to them sometimes...either because the safest secret is the one only you know, or because I don't want to put them at risk. Letting someone into your confidence can put them in danger too, you know. What they don't know, other people can't get from them, and they never have to lie about. It's hard enough to navigate our own secrets without having to work around the secrets other people are carrying as well, you know?"
He's quiet for a moment. "But even my closest friends don't know everything about me. You included." He glances at Dimitri. "I think I've never told you anything but white lies, and most of those when we were kids. I think the biggest lie I ever told you was that the church razed my village...which was only partially a lie, really. It all happened like I said, but it was...well, more of a city than a village. I didn't really know how to handle it back then, when it was still fresh, or who I wanted to tell what. There wasn't that much of a point to the lie, honestly, considering how little difference it makes to anything."
He's still looking at Dimitri sidelong. "But there are things I simply...haven't told you. Nothing to be ashamed of, or for you to be jealous over, but...things I do want to tell you, someday. Just not yet. I don't ever want to have to lie to you, so I hope you're okay with knowing there's some things I just don't want to say at all."
--
This is perhaps some of the most honest Dimitri has ever heard Claude be... or perhaps just the deeper ends of Claude, what he hides behind that smile and carefree appearance. If there's anything deeper.... The night they've just left behind them, when Claude forced him to pay attention to him and there was so much anger burning deep inside.
Dimitri has always understood that Claude hasn't told him everything. Understood there were things he himself didn't bother to ask about, and so things Claude wouldn't tell him even if he was overall friendly and insistent to him while bars separated them from truly knowing each other. Back in the cage, he'd convinced himself of apathy even when he was proving himself wrong whenever he inquired about whatever Claude had brought or did. And now, recently free.... Claude isn't wrong. Compared to every other person that Dimitri has known for two decades now, he's the best he's ever experienced almost for lack of competition... so it hasn't mattered, that knowledge that Claude is secretive, at least not for the past twelve hours or so.
Dimitri stays quiet for a moment as he takes all of it in, staring down at the table quietly. Finally, he looks back to Claude. "As long as you don't lie to me," he says quietly, "then I will not want for more than that. Tell me if there is something I cannot be told. Just that. After all.... You never told me any of your plans to free me... So I will put my trust in you still."
--
Claude sets down his sandwich so he can cup Dimitri's face in his hands, leaning up to kiss him, soft and lingering. "I can't promise none of the little white lies," he says when he pulls away, with a rueful grin. "Not because I'd do it intentionally, necessarily, but I'm so used to lying that I don't even register the little ones sometimes. But I'll try not to. And I can definitely promise no direct lies on anything major."
He smooths his thumbs over the soft fur of Dimitri's cheekbones. "There aren't many people whose trust I want, and even fewer whose trust I deserve. But I want you to be the first of both."
--
It's slight, but Claude of all people will likely be able to catch the way Dimitri's ears lower by just a fraction. Even for the little lies.... It feels like even that is too much. Is he becoming greedy? Back in the church, they'd treated him terribly, but most had been honest enough about thinking him just a monster. Is it better to live with more pleasant lies like this one, lies that are backed up with such comfortable physical things like the food they've been eating?
That's another philosophical question he'll likely turn over at a later time. For now, he leans into Claude's hand. "What kind of white lies have you told me in the past, then...? The recent past."
--
"Well...some have been not exactly lies, but like..." Claude searches for the words. "Playing things off. Like pretending something doesn't bother me. Or, for instance..." He reaches up to ruffle Dimitri's hair. "I might downplay how sore I am, because I know it'll be fine and I don't want you feeling all guilty."
--
Promptly, Dimitri reaches up to snag that hand and slide his fingers inbetween the gaps of Claude's own. "Don't do that," he says quietly, even as he keeps that in mind. It seems, to be a true and proper lover, he'll have to work hard to make sure that Claude is truly happy instead of merely settling. "How can I care for you if you don't tell me what is wrong?"
--
"To be fair, the stuff about things bothering me...that hasn't happened very recently." Claude chuckles. "And the specific times I remember when it did happen...I think it was still too early for you to care how I felt about it. I didn't lie because I was trying to protect you; I lied because being honest wouldn't have helped me any."
He squeezes Dimitri's hand. "But I can be more honest about things like being sore if you promise not to beat yourself up so much for it. It's not all on you, you know. I knew a lot better than you what I was getting into taking your knot, for instance, and I still signed off on it." He grins at Dimitri. "So you should probably be more exasperated with me than feeling like you did something wrong."
--
Dimitri considers this compromise for a brief moment before nodding. He can't promise that he'll always be on top of not feeling guilty... but perhaps knowing what happened will give him more of a goal to work towards. "It sounds as though you want me to be more exasperated with you."
--
"Let's just say I know my own weaknesses, and being around someone who won't hold me accountable for my own recklessness for too long will both feel really weird, and probably also lead to me doing some incredibly stupid things." Claude winks at him. "How are you supposed to rein me in when you act like everything's your fault, and I don't have any responsibility to have sense?"
--
It is very nearly possible to see the way the gears in Dimitri's brain are slowly turning as he processes this particular admission and many, many different interactions with Claude in the past. Slowly, his eye narrows. "When I try to point out that you might be foolish," he says, "I feel as though you don't listen."
--
Claude grins. "I don't listen to my other friends, either, usually," he replies, far too shamelessly. "But every now and then..." He shrugs, still smiling. "I know when to listen when it's important. And even when it's not important, someone reminding me I could be wrong helps keep me humble. I'm not naturally good at humble, you know."
He says this in the manner of one imparting a secret, rather than a blatantly obvious fact.
--
"I know," Dimitri says bluntly, with absolutely zero surprise. This may be of some reassurance to Claude. In Dimitri's eyes, the hunter is incredibly skilled, the most brilliant person in the land, and seems to know how to do so much.... but it has also not escaped him at all how swollen Claude's head can be. It's just meant, for the time being, incredibly little.
Still, if that's what he wants, Dimitri is more than happy to help, and he nuzzles Claude's hair again. "Finish your sandwich. We still have to go fishing."
--
Claude laughs at that. "Okay, okay." He picks up his sandwich again. "You know, I feel like you get the short end of the stick when it comes to cuddling with me like this...I get all this soft fur to curl up with, and all you get is essentially a hot water bottle with bones in it."
--
"You aren't a hot water bottle with bones in it..." True, he's not the most cuddly thing, but, really, when was the last time Dimitri ever got to cuddle? It doesn't really matter. He continues. "You're warm... and fit perfectly within my arms. And like this, I get to press my face against your hair... It's even nicer, now." Which is why Claude gets a slight nuzzle to the back of his head.
"...And I love you."
Claude has, unfortunately, broken the gate on Dimitri's three new favorite words.
-
Claude grins. "I guess when you've got nothing better to compare it to, you won't have anything to complain about." He kisses Dimitri's jaw before going back to his sandwich.
--
"There won't be anything better than you." He settles against Claude, waiting for him patiently. "At least not for me. What will we need for fishing, then?"
--
"A pole, a line, and some bait. There's a fishing rod left here for people to use if they care to, so we're set there; bait we might have to dig for. Worms tend to be good." Claude gives Dimitri a sly sidelong look. "Or bits of cheese."
--
"So we still need worms," Dimitri says, with the purposeful obtuseness of someone who is bluntly ignoring both the alternative and Claude's look. "I can find those easily enough, and the rod as well once you simply direct me to it."
--
Claude cackles at that. "The rod's over there in the corner by the door," he directs once he's over his amusement, pointing. "We'll also take the bucket; if we catch any fish, we can keep them in the bucket until we're done fishing for the night. We might catch only little ones, after all, so we might need several for a good meal."
--
Claude wanted him to be more exasperated, didn't he? Well, he's certainly succeeding in making that happen fairly quickly as Dimitri waits him out, an utterly unimpressed look spread across his face. He knew that had to be on purpose.... and it's sure something to be proven right in that matter.
At least something makes him perk up excitedly, his tail giving a sharp flick. "I did that! Or, rather, I would have done that in the event that I managed to catch any. I thought it would be easier to keep them in something."
--
Claude grins. "You've got good instincts. I wonder if that's something you came up with on your own, or something you remember from your childhood?" Either is nice, Claude thinks, but in different ways.
--
"Ah...." The question is a good one, and Dimitri pauses, gaze going a little distant. "I hadn't.... considered that. My head had been so full of other thoughts. It just felt... natural to do so, once I paused to consider the issue..." Did he remember something from his childhood? It feels strange, to think that, and he can't explain why.
Claude will get to finish his sandwich in quiet, if he wants. Dimitri's about to get lost in his own head fairly quickly.
--
Claude does finish his sandwich like that - both because he needs to finish it anyway, and because he thinks Dimitri deserves the chance to mull over the possibility he's brought up. Once he finishes, though, he leans up to press a kiss to the side of Dimitri's mouth. "You okay?"
--
Apparently, the Intseh start up noise isn't only for when he's dead asleep, but for when he's out of his head and physically disturbed from it. Dimitri blinks a couple of times before his brain accepts that Claude actually said something. "Yes, I'm fine. I just.... It was strange, to think that might have been what happened. I'm sorry for worrying you."
--
"What's strange about it?" Claude tilts his head. He could see how it might give pause for thought, but he hadn't considered it odd in any way.
--
He hesitates, for a moment, because it almost seems as if it will be even stranger trying to explain it, before forging ahead. "I just thought... I was thinking that I feel as though I have forgotten so much from when I was young, when I lived in my homeland. I've... changed so much. When I was telling you about those memories... It felt as though I was telling another's story." His claws flex along Claude's sides.
"Does that make sense?"
--
Claude smiles faintly. "I wish I could say it didn't, but as far as being stolen away from our respective cultures and families goes...we're pretty similar in that respect."
--
Out of everyone in the entire world.... Dimitri truly is glad, in this moment, that Claude found him down in that hidden away room. Found him again after years of separation. Few in that accursed city would understand like he does, and he gives a quiet nod.
"In that cage... I had convinced myself a long time ago that I was completely isolated, that I had no connection to home. But I can still remember small things such as that... even when I thought I hadn't." His weigh sinks against Claude's body, just a little. "...I feel... nervous. Or perhaps that's not the right word. As I said, it's... strange."
--
"I think...it's probably going to hurt at times, being free," Claude murmurs. "Obviously it's a huge improvement over captivity, but...you never really had time to process how much they were hurting you. And the more you're free, the more you're going to realize how much you've lost. So some of your freedom is going to be like...discovering a wound you didn't really realize you had, and just how deep it runs. It'll be painful. But you'll finally be able to start healing it, too."
--
It's going to hurt, being free.... Arms wound about Claude's middle, Dimitri scrapes his thumb over the rough texture which makes up his bandage. He thinks of the slow dragging pain the knife had made- the one waiting for them on the table before them right now, in fact- and how it had made his muscles tense from the sharpness of it all. All for freedom. All for ruining that one mark on his wrist.
Freedom should be a good thing. A given. It shouldn't hurt like this, with promises to hurt worse.
"Have you healed?" he asks softly.
--
Claude smiles slightly. "Trauma's like an old wound. Even if it's faded, some days it might still ache." He leans against Dimitri.
"Do you remember what I said to you once? About how the question of whether it's better to live a life of tedium than a life of highs and lows that might be better or worse than stability is a philosophical one that has no singular right answer? That wasn't idle speculation on my part. You're going to have to decide that for yourself now." He closes his eyes. "All I can do is try to make the highs worth it for you."
--
"To exist when the lows seem to be so tiring..." But he's only existed in a state of lowness for decades now. As he said to Claude earlier in the morning, he's already changing his mind on this. Where he's changing it, he's not sure... but he wants to try it. If nothing else- and he admittedly doesn't have much else- then he wants to try it alongside Claude.
It's an answer he knows he won't figure out right away, so Dimitri waits for a moment to let Claude have his moment of rest before he rises up to his feet. At least it's not too hard to go back to carrying Claude with the way he'd been sitting. As he heads around the table, he gives a polite nod to the glass bottles that are still sitting quietly there before he heads to where the fishing rod is.
Yes, he is still naked. Yes, he's aware that Claude is in a similar state. It's fine.
--
Claude, however, raises an eyebrow at him. "I don't know if you've ever sat bare-assed in the dirt, since even the church bothered to give you clothes," he says, with some amusement. "But it's not enjoyable."
--
Dimitri blinks down at him blankly. "You have my cloak," he points out. "Since you wouldn't be sitting down regularly anyway with the state you're in. Besides, it would just bother you to put pants on if you can't even walk."
--
Claude laughs quietly. "And what are you going to be sitting on, Dimitri?"
--
That.... makes him pause, brain catching up with this. "A.... log...?" He didn't think this far. Claude had his cloak, so they were good to go.... was the thinking.
--
"And do you want to sit on a log bare-assed?" Claude prompts, grinning. He loves and admires Dimitri, and he knows the man is smart, but his oblivious moments are so damn adorable sometimes. Also hilarious.
--
"You realize I've sat on a log exactly once in my life now," Dimitri points out, which is sort of roughly true. "I wouldn't know." Still, he's getting the picture, and so he makes an abrupt turn to head back to where the bed is. He's not going to put Claude on the floor while he gets his pants, after all.
--
"You should get my pants, too," Claude remarks, once Dimitri's settled him on the bed. "In case you have to put me down while we're outside for anything. Which you might have to - especially things like getting any fish I catch off the hook and into the bucket. There's not going to be a convenient bed to put me on."
--
"You're not going to like having to put them on," Dimitri warns as he fetches his pants from where they'd been put into a corner. It's not that he completely ignored them after they had sex, just... Listen. Learning to fold clothing is also on his list of things he needs to figure out properly.
"Not with how you're still sore. Unless you want me to help, and even then...."
--
"I'm aware," Claude says wryly. "Believe me, everything I'm doing is pretty calculated right now. But I can't just do nothing uncomfortable until my ass stops hurting, right? I'll tough it out." He can't help grinning. "Although if you want to help me put my pants on, I suppose I'm not going to object..."
--
Fiddling with the cloth belt that helps keep the hole for his tail available without the rest of his pants falling down, Dimitri casts a suspicious glance towards Claude. "How would me getting you dressed sound as though we're doing the opposite, when it comes from your mouth?" he asks, even as he goes to get Claude's pants. At least most of Claude's clothes have been put to one side vaguely neatly; Dimitri thought it was literally the very least he could do.
--
Claude grins. "Well, it does mean having your hands all over me below the waist, doesn't it?" He gives Dimitri a saucy wink. "Not that I'm up to a whole lot at the moment, of course."
--
"You would die," Dimitri says quietly, crouching down in front of Claude. "I wholly bleieve you are so foolish as you would accept death as a possibility when it comes to sex. I am not touching you in that manner at all until you can walk again, without a limp. Now unwrap, please."
--
"Hah!" Claude laughs. "I'm pretty foolish, but not that crazy. I have too many important things to accomplish to risk death just for some temporary physical pleasure...no matter how good it is. Only really big things are worth that kind of risk." He grins. "On the other hand, I don't think any amount of wrecking my ass would actually kill me. At worst, I might risk doing some permanent damage...which I wouldn't risk, mind you. But I don't think death would ever be on the table."
--
"We will see while judging how long it takes for you to regain your ability to walk." Still, as he gets to see Claude's body now without caught up in his own lust or worries, in the light, it's... Oh. His ears lower a little bit. He hadn't realized just how much he'd bitten Claude. Mostly his torso, but Dimitri can see a couple of bite marks on one of Claude's legs as he begins to get his pants on.
....He's having a lot of mixed feelings on this. Not all or even most of them negative, even.
--
Claude's getting good at reading the barometer of Dimitri's ears. He tilts his head. "What is it?" He hasn't actually inspected himself much.
--
It's probably a little hard to tell that Dimitri's eyes are flicking from Claude's face to just, his general overall body. "...I did worse. Then merely affecting your legs."
--
"You did?" Claude reflexively looks down, all the same...and notices that someone could probably model dentures for Dimitri from his skin. His eyebrows go up. "Wow. I barely even noticed half of these at the time..." And he'd minded none of them.
--
"At least it seems that I don't have to ask if you feel any pain..." That makes him feel a little better, at least, and is enough for him to look down so that he can begin to tug Claude's pants over his feet and up his legs.
--
"I'll probably feel them if I put pressure on them, but no, they don't really register." Claude helps Dimitri work his pants on as best he can, bracing himself on the Intseh's shoulders.
--
"Good." Dimitri stays still for Claude's benefit, finally tugging them up over his hips. The fiddly minor details he'll leave to Claude's hands. You know. The ones without claws. "Especially since..." Well. Dimitri leans forward slightly, head brushing against Claude's chest before he glances up beneath his bangs.
"...I like... how you look with them."
--
Claude grins. "They stop just short of a 'property of Dimitri' brand over my ass, huh?"
--
"You're putting it crudely, I can tell." Despite that, he moves in close to press a feather light kiss to one of the marks on Claude's neck. "....But yes."
--
If Claude had been caught off guard every time Dimitri had waxed romantic at him, then he at least gets to have the shoe on his foot this time around considering the way Dimitri blinks up at him. It's not that he can't imagine Claude being eloquent, or clever with his words. It's just that the idea of him being so upfront is...
And then Claude says that.
Dimitri pauses for a moment, just staring where Claude has pressed his hand. When he finally looks up- his various smiles have all been held back to some degree, even when he's been so much happier than he has been for literal years. But this is probably the brightest smile Claude has gotten to see yet, wide and brilliant and just unreservedly happy. "I love you," he says again, not tired of the words and not planning to be for as long as he's alive.
--
This is completely unfair. Even when Claude is the one being romantic, somehow it's still him who ends up melting! That smile of Dimitri's is probably the most beautiful thing he's ever seen, and he can't fathom that he's somehow the cause of it. The predictable red creeps up Claude's face. "I love you too," he murmurs, helplessly, wondering what it takes to annihilate this man the way he constantly seems to be destroying Claude.
--
Honestly, it's almost kind of funny. Here, Dimitri was wondering if he could just.... stay here, head against Claude's lap instead of them going out to the lake, and yet he can almost hear the flutter in his lover's heart as that red flush takes over again. He didn't even do anything.
But they really have been putting off fishing because of Dimitri getting distracted. Even if it's hard, as evidenced by how he ducks his head down to press his forehead against Claude's chest. (This. He wants to stay exactly like this, no matter what.) Fighting his own desires, Dimitri sighs quietly in soft contentment before speaking again. "Is this enough then....?" He means Claude's pants.
--
"To go fishing?" Claude asks, distractedly. Honestly, Dimitri destroys his ability to think straight and it's dangerous. "Yeah, it should be."
--
"Mm." It takes a moment for Dimitri to summon up the willpower to pull away so that he can lift Claude up into his arms again. How on earth he'll ever get anything done now that he knows what it's like to cuddle with someone... Yet as he's adjusting Claude's weight, he notices something else.
"Ah.... Your hair."
--
"Hm?" Claude glances up at his face. "Is it a mess?"
--
"It is.... very cute." It is absolutely a mess with all they've done to and the care they've neglected, but Dimitri is kind of in love with it. That's not the point. "You haven't done your braid..."
He objectively knows that Claude hadn't done his braid for years, before meeting him again and getting back into the habit, so maybe it doesn't matter...
--
Claude blinks, then chuckles, reaching up to pull the longest strands through his fingers. "Oh yeah. I kind of forgot. I can put it back in, though..." He reaches up with his other hand as well now, already beginning to separate the strands into three.
--
Oh, they're- already? Dimitri doesn't even have much of a chance to do much besides adjust Claude in his arms, doing his best to get a better look as possible. He wants to see exactly how Claude does it, commit it to memory. The focused stare is probably hard to miss.
--
Claude notices after a moment, looking up at him. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what Dimitri's doing, which is too bad since Claude kind of is one regardless. He grins. "Do you want me to show you how?" he suggests.
--
"I wouldn't want to interrupt you when you've already done so much of it," Dimitri protests, in direct contrast to the clear interest in his perked up ears.
--
"I've barely started," Claude replies, and brushes out what little he's done with his fingers to illustrate it. "Wanna sit down again for a minute? This won't take long, and then you'll have your hands free."
--
"If you're sure..." But it's hard to hide his interest as he sets Claude back down on the bed, and then promptly settles behind him with his tail flicking from side to side.
--
Claude finds Dimitri's fascination with things endlessly charming, and he's smiling as he starts the braiding lesson. "For your basic braid - there are a lot of varieties - you split the hair into three parts, see? Then all you have to do is bring in one of the outermost strands over the middle strand, alternating. So you pull the rightmost strand over the center strand, then pull it down; then you pull the leftmost strand over the center strand, then pull it down. Each time you do that - see? The center strand becomes the strand you just crossed over. And that's how you get the braid pattern."
--
The explanation is simple enough, although Dimitri finds watching Claude's fingers at work makes much more sense. He reaches up to lightly touch his own hair consideringly, although it's much more straight and tangled than Claude's hair. "It seems hard to do when it's right by your face..."
--
Claude, who was not born yesterday, grins at him. "You wanna do mine for me, then?"
--
There's more impact damage from Dimitri's tail that the bed will never forget. "...Is it alright? I'm not sure if it will be good at first..."
--
"You can redo it until you're satisfied with it. That'll be good practice, right? And it's so small that it'll be quick to do each time." Claude winks at him. "I don't mind."
--
"You realize you're asking me to do it over dozens of times, then." It's mostly a joke. He'll.... hold back from getting worked up on making things perfect. It's something he's had to do a lot for many things now that he's free, he's finding. It all seems like matters others can do without any trouble, although he only has a very small pool of examples to choose from...
Still, he reaches over, carefully undoing the braid Claude has made. "Tell me if I pull too hard."
--
"I will," Claude promises, grinning. "Although I was kind of into you being rough with me earlier, so I don't know what standards for 'too hard' I'm supposed to hold to..."
He closes his eyes then, to let Dimitri work.
--
"There is roughness for sex, and then roughness because I'm clumsy," Dimitri mutters, scrunching up on the bed as he leans in close. "Please learn the difference." Still, now he has a braid to figure out, and he falls silent as well as he tries to work it out.
It's... definitely one of those things that is made slightly different with the inclusion of claws. On one hand, after all, he can't just broadly pinch in the same way as Claude does to gather a section of hair. On the other hand, it means he has to be a little more precise as he uses his claw tips to adjust things. The first time still finds it a little.... Well. It's not neat at all, the exact opposite of what he's seen of Claude's braid in the past, and he gives a low growl at himself. "No, it's not.... Hold on. I need to try again..."
He's going to do it at least a few times before he forces himself to stop.
--
Claude waits with perfect patience until Dimitri finally seems satisfied. Then he cracks open one green eye. "How's it looking?"
--
"It's.... not as bad as it could be. I think." It's still not as uniform and neat as Dimitri would like it to be- as Claude has made it before- but it's holding its shape and not sticking out everywhere completely. The best he can do.
--
Claude laughs. "I'll take that vote of confidence." He winks at Dimitri. "I'll let you braid it for me anytime. Soon enough you'll be an expert."
--
"I'll make sure to practice as well." Gods know Dimitri has plenty of hair himself, in at least a couple of different places. His own on his head will make things a little tricky, but he's sure he can figure something else out. Leaning down, he scoops Claude up again. "It feels like we've done a lot more things that weren't fishing since we first decided to do it."
Sex, a brief bathe, napping, lunch.... Getting clothes and braiding hair....
--
Claude grins. "This time for sure. No more distractions." He slips an arm around Dimitri's neck. "Let's go get dinner."
--
When he does, and he discovers that Dimitri isn't even in the bed - and, also, that Dimitri has clearly been elsewhere, doing who knows what - his first instinct is to reach out to him. He begins idly toying with that messy hair, untangling it from his horns. "Dimitri?" he murmurs.
--
The traditional Intseh start up noise signals his awakening, and he nudges his head up into Claude's hand. He's still a bit sleepy himself as he blinks owlishly over at Claude. "Do you feel better?" Because that's always the most important question.
--
"I'll know when I try to move." Claude cocks an eyebrow at him. "Why are you wet?"
--
...Oh. His ears slowly lower. "I couldn't catch any fish," he says in the soft tone of shame of someone who views this as a personal failing.
--
Claude blinks. "You went fishing without me?" Then he smiles, fingers combing through that wet hair. "It's fine. We can try again tonight. It's easier to catch them at dusk."
--
"I wanted to catch something so you could eat as soon as you woke up..." Even if those fingers are in his hair, Dimitri tilts his head back so that he can try to bump his nose against them. "I didn't know if you would feel alright."
--
"We've got food in the pantry," Claude reassures him. "I'm not going to starve before dinner. We'll catch fish one way or another, even if I have to shoot them out of the water."
--
Dimitri blinks in surprise. "We're still going fishing together?" And then an immediate and disapproving flick down of his ears. "You still don't know if you can stand."
--
"If worst comes to worst, you can carry me," Claude replies, with a charming smile. "But I promised you fish today."
--
"Am I going to carry you the entire time we're fishing as well?" Dimitri points out, even as he leans a little further into Claude's space. For as much as he really... truly.... enjoyed Claude's expressions as he'd unraveled so completely, these sort of smiles at least show Claude is good enough to still try and bullshit at him a little bit. There's a comfort in that.
--
"I can sit down and fish," Claude replies with a laugh. "I might need to use your cloak as a cushion, but I think that'd be enough."
--
"If you think that's enough..." That will have to be good enough for him. Still, now that Claude seems to be awake properly, something can happen that Dimitri's been stewing over the entire time that he's been unconscious. "I... wanted to apologize. For how I acted."
--
"Apologize?" Claude blinks. "For what?" He at least seems to have zero idea what Dimitri is talking about, which could be seen as reassuring.
--
It could be reassuring if Dimitri could get over the idea that he fucked Claude so hard he broke his brain, and the after effects of that could really be untold. Just, who knows. Dimitri sure doesn't!
He just feels as though he should apologize, and he searches Claude's expression for a moment. "For... the way I reacted. You know." His ears twitch. "When I asked about.... others." He really doesn't want to say 'when I got ragingly jealous about the other people you've fucked'.
--
Claude grins at that. "Oh, that?" He sits up slightly - oh, yeah, still some soreness there, he notes - to prop himself up on his elbow. "I admit it probably wasn't the healthiest reaction...but I can't lie and say that you getting all rough and possessive wasn't incredibly erotic, too." He winks at Dimitri. "It's pretty flattering, you know."
--
Oh. So he really isn't.... Well. Dimitri isn't sure what the reaction would have been, but Claude doesn't seem otherwise angry or upset. He stays where he is, still watching Claude. "Being rough and possessive is... flattering." He'd known the rough part was something to keep in mind- and he had in fact kept it in mind a lot when they'd had sex- but the possessive part is... new and a little strange to try and consider. At least, from an outside factor like Dimitri is trying to do right now.
--
"Mmhm." Claude reaches out to cup Dimitri's jaw, giving him a sly smirk. "I want to belong to you. So you wanting me to belong to you, and only you...I like it."
--
Oh. Dimitri has had a small bit of experience with his body now, at least in terms of arousal, and he's fairly certain it will take a while longer for his body to be ready to just.... engage in sex again. Yet the way Claude looks at him, how those fingers curve along his face perfectly, what he says.... Claude will be able to even feel the way his face goes still, all of Dimitri's focus on him with such clear desire that says he wishes he could immediately pin him to the bed again....
But not now. And not just because of bodily restrictions. Cupping his hand over Claude's, Dimitri nudges his palm with his nose. "Even though you said it's not.... healthy, as a reaction?"
--
"Well, it's not exactly rational. Or reasonable. But you know that, and you wouldn't be a jerk about it." Claude grins. "So long as you confine it to dominance displays like the one you did in bed, what's the harm?"
--
"I didn't know.... " He'd just been thinking himself in a circle for hours on end on the matter. "But I didn't..." A brief frown is pressed against Claude's palm. "...I didn't want you to be trapped...."
--
"Trapped?" Claude raises an eyebrow. "What, beneath you? I can think of way worse fates."
--
"Claude." Ah, the clear signs of embarrassment as his tail thwaps about a couple of times and his ears go back. "Yes, I am well aware that you were.... very happy that way. Even, apparently, at risk to your ability to walk." Next time they do this, Dimitri is going to remember this fact. He's going to be prepared.
But for right now.... He reaches over, tucking some of Claude's hair back. Sex, a bath, and then sleep without brushing it has really left it a rather curly mess, and he can't help his fingers when they linger there. "But I mean... with me. Or.... in anything you don't want to be. I don't.... have the right to keep you anywhere. Even if I love you. Especially for my love for you. You.. deserve to do what you want, in the past or in the future." He sinks back down against the edge of the bed again, face shifting down against it enough to make it clear he's looking away. "Even if I do not like it."
After all, if he does that.... Well. Dimitri looks up again, to where the bandages around his wrist have clearly been through the ringer even after only less than a day.
--
Claude follows his gaze, and jerks a bit as realization hits him. "Shit, we should change that bandage." He rubs a hand over his face. "I'd like to just heal it for you, but...if I heal it, it won't scar, and then your brand might be useable again. So it's better to let it heal naturally, and hope the brand stays broken when it does."
He nods to where his pouch is lying. "Could you grab the roll of bandages out of there for me? And then go wash that cut carefully before I wrap it up again."
--
"If it heals that way, I'll simply break it again." Even if he finds himself without a blade, well, the good news is that Intseh naturally have their own weapons immediately on hand. Dimitri doesn't see it being a problem so long as he has access to his own wrist. Still, he gives a nod and rises up to his feet. "Hold on."
As he rises, however, it... sure makes it clear that Dimitri has just been. completely bare ass naked this entire time he's been talking. Listen.... He just had sex and then went swimming. Pants are worthless.
Fetching the roll of bandages, he places it on the bed besides Claude and pauses. "....Do you want me to get anything for you while I'm cleaning the cut...?"
--
Claude considers this. "Maybe some bread and cheese," he says, after a moment. "And one of those sausages, and my knife to cut it with. We can have a cold lunch."
--
One of those words immediately gets Dimitri's ears perking up. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which one. "Alright. Then, I will take only a moment."
Cleaning his wound is probably the most important aspect of all of this, even if cheese itself ranks fairly highly as well and Claude's own well being above even that. Fortunately, Dimitri still has some water left over from when he was aggressively scrubbing clean the sheets to the bed- which are currently spread out on top of the tub for drying. His bandages he ends up slicing through, after some fiddling, although it's not an easy thing to do when his wrist is the thing that he's unbandaging. His fur is... a mess, around the wound. Even when he washes it, the imprint of having a bandage squeeze down onto it has left it clearly a bit more flattened than the surrounding fur, no matter how short it was to begin with. Diluted blood has really spread into the rest of his fur, staining the pale fur something awful and blending in with the ink of his executioner's brand. Even when he freshly washes it, the injury seems to slowly bleed just a little bit more, become red all over again. Not fast enough to be a concern, but still... very clearly fresh. Perhaps all the activity he's done has also only aggravated it all the more.
Leaving the bloody bandages in the washroom, Dimitri just goes to get their food and the knife. It's a good thing it's a small enough haul, although Dimitri has to carefully sniff at the bread in particular to decide which one he should bring. (The non-sweet smelling one, in the end.) When he returns, knife in one hand and everything else delicately balanced in his arms, he's also included two eggs. Those he.... had slightly harder a time distinguishing the differences, so one is hardboiled and one is uncooked.
....Listen, just in case.
--
Claude is pleased by the inclusion of the eggs - he'd briefly forgotten about them - but recognizes immediately that they'd better check to see if either one is raw. "Put the eggs on the table and spin them," he suggests, after taking the other things from Dimitri. "If they spin easily, they're hardboiled. If it's hard to get them spinning, they're raw."
--
"....Oh. So there is a difference." Eggs are among some of many things Dimitri has gotten to enjoy courtesy of Claude over his many visits, because gods knew the church wasn't going to bother, but he hadn't known how to distinguish. Still, he does so obediently, watching curiously as one does its spin with hardly any trouble and the other rather resists the attempt. With that mystery figured out, he takes it immediately to be returned and comes back up rather pleased with another hardboiled egg.
He knows another trick to help with just.... existing now. He's rather happy about that.
"I wonder what other things you can do with eggs...."
--
"Oh, a ton of things," Claude says languidly. "I'll get to show you all of them eventually." He sits up fully now, with a wince. "But for the moment, let's get your hand bandaged. Then we can eat."
--
Oh, right. He'd only just cleaned it, but Dimitri had already carelessly forgotten about his wound. An... unfortunate side effect of living as an executioner, where wounds meant nothing both from his depression and how the church would heal him eventually. Dimitri obediently crouches down before Claude, offering the red mess that is his wrist.
--
Claude scrutinizes the wound, holding Dimitri's hand gently as he examines it. "It doesn't look too bad," he murmurs. "But I can find some herbs that will help fight infection tomorrow, if necessary. I should be able to walk by then..." For the moment, he simply takes the roll of bandages and wraps Dimitri's wrist again.
It's while he's in the process of doing this that he glances up at Dimitri. "For the record, Dimitri...I want to be with you. There's nothing I've wanted more; not since we were kids. Even if you could or would force me into anything - which you couldn't and wouldn't, by the way; I'm way more stubborn and clever than you probably appreciate - you'd never have to force me into that."
He cuts off the wrapping with his knife once he's sufficiently bandaged Dimitri's wrist. "And there we go."
--
"I will carry you if you cannot." Since he put him into this state, Dimitri feels it's only fair that he help in this matter if need be. But that's for tomorrow. Instead, he waits patiently as the pressure around his wrist resumes.
And while it does.... He listens carefully, looking into Claude's face as he speaks. They want each other.... They want to be with each other. That's all that matters, right now. Dimitri takes some comfort in that, stores the words away quietly in his chest. "I still acted as though I would," he murmurs, glancing down as he flexes his fingers to see how the bandage holds. "I won't be swept up again in such thoughts."
A beat, and he glances up at Claude.
"....Unless you want me to."
--
"Hmm..." Claude gives this some thought, then gives Dimitri a wink. "Maybe don't get swept up in those thoughts...but it's okay if you let yourself be possessive when you know I'm into it. That's a compromise, right?"
--
"I believe that is more than good enough as a compromise." It certainly makes him feel better at any rate; perhaps he really does like it when he gets to be so possessive of Claude. Leaning in close, he presses another kiss to Claude's mouth before looking down to their gathering of food.
"So you said a cold lunch... We'll just eat these as they are, then?"
--
"Mmhm. We can make sandwiches." Claude grins. "You've had those before, right?"
--
"I believe you've seen me make those before." There's a brief pause before Dimitri smiles back, more than a tinge of awkwardness in it. It still feels funny, sometimes, to be able to smile. Still doesn't feel entirely real. But it's a feeling that's slowly becoming less and less prevalent, although it's taking it's sweet time about it.
--
"Then that should work here." Claude eyes the bed. "We're gonna make things messy if we do it here, though..." The table's objectively a better choice, especially for peeling and slicing the eggs. And cutting the bread, which will make any amount of crumbs.
--
The problem with that is that Claude still seems barely to sit up, of course, and Dimitri observes him for a moment before he begins to pile the food back onto Claude's lap. "Hold onto all of this... and don't cut yourself."
--
Claude promptly makes a nest for the things in his arms, since his lap might currently be sheets, but if Dimitri is going to move him - as seems inevitable - then Claude is going to be naked, and he feels as though holding things in his lap then will introduce perhaps more sausage to the meal then they necessarily want or intend. (Also, of all the places he wants to be holding a knife, 'in his lap while naked' is among the lowest ranked.)
--
That's rather why Dimitri did warn him... Although he takes care to fold over his cloak onto Claude's lap, to help ensure that knife-to-dick damage is minimal at worst. There's a bit of adjusting to make sure that he has Claude properly wrapped before he's satisfied. "Careful..." Another warning before he gingerly begins to lift Claude up into his arms for what is now the third time in a day, cradling him close. "Do you have everything?"
--
"Yeah." Claude leans into Dimitri. The thing he's thinking feels appropriate enough to say, so he says it. "You know, I could really get used to this?"
--
Making his way over to the table, Dimitri blinks down at Claude before his brain makes the connection. "Oh, being carried?" He nuzzles his way into Claude's hair. "I did say I liked carrying you..."
--
Claude smiles, utterly content. "I might have to let you keep doing it, then." This is sickeningly cute, and he can mentally hear various friends of his either gagging or making noises of pure incredulity that he would end up like this, ever. But he can't help it, and doesn't particularly care to try. He feels good in ways he never thought he could, and utterly loved and cared for and safe in ways he never thought he could, and he's going to luxuriate in that for all he's worth.
--
"Then I'll gladly continue to do it." Oh yes, Claude's friends would definitely be gagging, but Dimitri is unaware of all of that. All he does is smile into Claude's hair before turning his attention back to the chairs. He doesn't immediately set Claude down. Right now, he's taking things through tiny little steps. He doesn't know if Claude, even with the softness and layers of the cloak, will be alright sitting on such a hard wooden surface. So, instead....
Dimitri is the one who sits down, gently keeping Claude in his arms until he can adjust his lover so that he's sitting on his lap- much softer than hard word, although not as soft as the bed. There, this should be a good test.
--
It's a bit painful still, but Claude isn't complaining. He leans back against Dimitri's chest; having a furry boyfriend, he's decided, may have its own disadvantages, but it absolutely comes with its perks, too. Like how he feels like he's snuggled up with a luxurious fur blanket even when he's just leaning on Dimitri's bare chest. "I'm really going to hate it when you have to start wearing shirts," he says, with a regretful sigh.
He settles the food on the table, along with the knife, and sets to peeling the eggs with deft fingers.
--
Dimitri watches carefully for any sign that this may be uncomfortable for Claude, even when the other man doesn't say anything. After all, he hadn't said anything when he was shivering and stiff in the washroom, either. Still.... he seems fine enough, relaxed against his chest, and Dimitri relaxes in turn. Maybe fishing really will be alright for him.
"I can get away with it in private, I would think. You won't be doing things like this when we're in public." At least, so Dimitri would assume. He's mostly focused on watching Claude's fingers, impressed at how easy they make everything. He knows this won't be nearly as easy when he makes an attempt.
--
To be fair, Claude's lack of claws to have to contend with in this area probably makes it easier.
"Mm...true. But still, being able to admire how built you are anytime is something I'll miss." Claude grins as he begins slicing up the eggs. The sausage and cheese soon follow, before he's carving off thick slices of bread to lay the ingredients between. Once he has a sandwich finished...he turns somewhat in Dimitri's lap, holding it up for Dimitri to take a bite of.
"You know," he says thoughtfully, "pickles would go good on this. But it's up to you if you like it better without."
--
Oh. This is.... Dimitri blinks at being offered food in this manner. Wasn't this suppose to be for Claude, mainly? But more than anything... Something warm nests about in his ribcage, a light fluttering sort of feeling, and it only seems to grow when he leans down enough to take a bite. Slowly, a purr begins to rumble into Claude's spine again, although it sounds a little sillier than usual while Dimitri is actively eating.
"...I believe... I am fine like this." He doesn't really want to move, or let go of Claude, right now.
--
Claude grins. "I wouldn't mind pickle, but honestly I'm totally willing to go without it rather than make either of us move right now." He settles himself (relatively) comfortably sideways on Dimitri's lap, feeding him the rest of the sandwich. He's been shamelessly doted on here, and will probably continue to be so; pampering Dimitri back feels good. Plus, Dimitri's just kind of adorable to watch, especially when he's happy. Or enjoying cheese. Those two statements mean the same thing.
Only once he finishes feeding Dimitri his sandwich does he assemble one for himself.
--
Oh, good. They're on the same track, then, when it comes to moving away from each other. So caught up in the contentful moment, Dimitri hardly even realizes how much he's eaten until Claude's fingers are pressing the last of it past his lips, and he blinks a few times. Oh.
"I didn't mean to eat everything before you..."
--
Claude chuckles. "It's fine. We could've shared, but you've been pampering me, right? It was your turn." He curls up against Dimitri's chest as he bites into his sandwich.
--
Dimitri's huff ruffles Claude's hair. "You have been pampering me for months. How am I to catch up if you continue to do this?"
--
"It's not pampering if the rest of your life was miserable," Claude says archly. "That was just trying to balance out the scales. This is pampering."
--
He squints down at him. "...I.... think you are using semantics."
--
Claude almost chokes on a bite of sandwich laughing. "I didn't even know you knew that word." Which is to say, Dimitri's probably completely correct, and Claude is charmed and amused at even being able to be called out on it by Dimitri.
--
Getting one up on Claude is always a satisfying feeling, and Dimitri's sliver of a smile comes a lot more easily this time. "Listening to you talk to me in Intsehli has had me remember a lot of words that I thought I forgot. You talk a lot." He says it with nothing short of absolute fondness, however.
--
"It's nice, talking to you," Claude replies languidly. "There aren't many people I can be honest with, you know? Most of the people I interact with, I have to pretend I'm loyal to the church. Or I have to be diplomatic. With you, I really don't have to pretend anything, or lie about anything. It's a relief."
--
"Even..?" Dimitri pauses and then decides to abandon that train of thought immediately. He'd wondered, briefly, about the others that Claude had shared a bed with... but that might just be worse for him to know. And it doesn't matter anyway. He tries to tell himself that. How successful it is, well, that's harder to tell.
He goes with something else. "So you do everything on your own, when you've done things like go after that Bishop...?"
--
"Mm. Well, there's a few people who sort of know what I do. Or at least have good guesses. Mostly my friends in various towns." Claude shrugs and smiles. "But I lie even to them sometimes...either because the safest secret is the one only you know, or because I don't want to put them at risk. Letting someone into your confidence can put them in danger too, you know. What they don't know, other people can't get from them, and they never have to lie about. It's hard enough to navigate our own secrets without having to work around the secrets other people are carrying as well, you know?"
He's quiet for a moment. "But even my closest friends don't know everything about me. You included." He glances at Dimitri. "I think I've never told you anything but white lies, and most of those when we were kids. I think the biggest lie I ever told you was that the church razed my village...which was only partially a lie, really. It all happened like I said, but it was...well, more of a city than a village. I didn't really know how to handle it back then, when it was still fresh, or who I wanted to tell what. There wasn't that much of a point to the lie, honestly, considering how little difference it makes to anything."
He's still looking at Dimitri sidelong. "But there are things I simply...haven't told you. Nothing to be ashamed of, or for you to be jealous over, but...things I do want to tell you, someday. Just not yet. I don't ever want to have to lie to you, so I hope you're okay with knowing there's some things I just don't want to say at all."
--
This is perhaps some of the most honest Dimitri has ever heard Claude be... or perhaps just the deeper ends of Claude, what he hides behind that smile and carefree appearance. If there's anything deeper.... The night they've just left behind them, when Claude forced him to pay attention to him and there was so much anger burning deep inside.
Dimitri has always understood that Claude hasn't told him everything. Understood there were things he himself didn't bother to ask about, and so things Claude wouldn't tell him even if he was overall friendly and insistent to him while bars separated them from truly knowing each other. Back in the cage, he'd convinced himself of apathy even when he was proving himself wrong whenever he inquired about whatever Claude had brought or did. And now, recently free.... Claude isn't wrong. Compared to every other person that Dimitri has known for two decades now, he's the best he's ever experienced almost for lack of competition... so it hasn't mattered, that knowledge that Claude is secretive, at least not for the past twelve hours or so.
Dimitri stays quiet for a moment as he takes all of it in, staring down at the table quietly. Finally, he looks back to Claude. "As long as you don't lie to me," he says quietly, "then I will not want for more than that. Tell me if there is something I cannot be told. Just that. After all.... You never told me any of your plans to free me... So I will put my trust in you still."
--
Claude sets down his sandwich so he can cup Dimitri's face in his hands, leaning up to kiss him, soft and lingering. "I can't promise none of the little white lies," he says when he pulls away, with a rueful grin. "Not because I'd do it intentionally, necessarily, but I'm so used to lying that I don't even register the little ones sometimes. But I'll try not to. And I can definitely promise no direct lies on anything major."
He smooths his thumbs over the soft fur of Dimitri's cheekbones. "There aren't many people whose trust I want, and even fewer whose trust I deserve. But I want you to be the first of both."
--
It's slight, but Claude of all people will likely be able to catch the way Dimitri's ears lower by just a fraction. Even for the little lies.... It feels like even that is too much. Is he becoming greedy? Back in the church, they'd treated him terribly, but most had been honest enough about thinking him just a monster. Is it better to live with more pleasant lies like this one, lies that are backed up with such comfortable physical things like the food they've been eating?
That's another philosophical question he'll likely turn over at a later time. For now, he leans into Claude's hand. "What kind of white lies have you told me in the past, then...? The recent past."
--
"Well...some have been not exactly lies, but like..." Claude searches for the words. "Playing things off. Like pretending something doesn't bother me. Or, for instance..." He reaches up to ruffle Dimitri's hair. "I might downplay how sore I am, because I know it'll be fine and I don't want you feeling all guilty."
--
Promptly, Dimitri reaches up to snag that hand and slide his fingers inbetween the gaps of Claude's own. "Don't do that," he says quietly, even as he keeps that in mind. It seems, to be a true and proper lover, he'll have to work hard to make sure that Claude is truly happy instead of merely settling. "How can I care for you if you don't tell me what is wrong?"
--
"To be fair, the stuff about things bothering me...that hasn't happened very recently." Claude chuckles. "And the specific times I remember when it did happen...I think it was still too early for you to care how I felt about it. I didn't lie because I was trying to protect you; I lied because being honest wouldn't have helped me any."
He squeezes Dimitri's hand. "But I can be more honest about things like being sore if you promise not to beat yourself up so much for it. It's not all on you, you know. I knew a lot better than you what I was getting into taking your knot, for instance, and I still signed off on it." He grins at Dimitri. "So you should probably be more exasperated with me than feeling like you did something wrong."
--
Dimitri considers this compromise for a brief moment before nodding. He can't promise that he'll always be on top of not feeling guilty... but perhaps knowing what happened will give him more of a goal to work towards. "It sounds as though you want me to be more exasperated with you."
--
"Let's just say I know my own weaknesses, and being around someone who won't hold me accountable for my own recklessness for too long will both feel really weird, and probably also lead to me doing some incredibly stupid things." Claude winks at him. "How are you supposed to rein me in when you act like everything's your fault, and I don't have any responsibility to have sense?"
--
It is very nearly possible to see the way the gears in Dimitri's brain are slowly turning as he processes this particular admission and many, many different interactions with Claude in the past. Slowly, his eye narrows. "When I try to point out that you might be foolish," he says, "I feel as though you don't listen."
--
Claude grins. "I don't listen to my other friends, either, usually," he replies, far too shamelessly. "But every now and then..." He shrugs, still smiling. "I know when to listen when it's important. And even when it's not important, someone reminding me I could be wrong helps keep me humble. I'm not naturally good at humble, you know."
He says this in the manner of one imparting a secret, rather than a blatantly obvious fact.
--
"I know," Dimitri says bluntly, with absolutely zero surprise. This may be of some reassurance to Claude. In Dimitri's eyes, the hunter is incredibly skilled, the most brilliant person in the land, and seems to know how to do so much.... but it has also not escaped him at all how swollen Claude's head can be. It's just meant, for the time being, incredibly little.
Still, if that's what he wants, Dimitri is more than happy to help, and he nuzzles Claude's hair again. "Finish your sandwich. We still have to go fishing."
--
Claude laughs at that. "Okay, okay." He picks up his sandwich again. "You know, I feel like you get the short end of the stick when it comes to cuddling with me like this...I get all this soft fur to curl up with, and all you get is essentially a hot water bottle with bones in it."
--
"You aren't a hot water bottle with bones in it..." True, he's not the most cuddly thing, but, really, when was the last time Dimitri ever got to cuddle? It doesn't really matter. He continues. "You're warm... and fit perfectly within my arms. And like this, I get to press my face against your hair... It's even nicer, now." Which is why Claude gets a slight nuzzle to the back of his head.
"...And I love you."
Claude has, unfortunately, broken the gate on Dimitri's three new favorite words.
-
Claude grins. "I guess when you've got nothing better to compare it to, you won't have anything to complain about." He kisses Dimitri's jaw before going back to his sandwich.
--
"There won't be anything better than you." He settles against Claude, waiting for him patiently. "At least not for me. What will we need for fishing, then?"
--
"A pole, a line, and some bait. There's a fishing rod left here for people to use if they care to, so we're set there; bait we might have to dig for. Worms tend to be good." Claude gives Dimitri a sly sidelong look. "Or bits of cheese."
--
"So we still need worms," Dimitri says, with the purposeful obtuseness of someone who is bluntly ignoring both the alternative and Claude's look. "I can find those easily enough, and the rod as well once you simply direct me to it."
--
Claude cackles at that. "The rod's over there in the corner by the door," he directs once he's over his amusement, pointing. "We'll also take the bucket; if we catch any fish, we can keep them in the bucket until we're done fishing for the night. We might catch only little ones, after all, so we might need several for a good meal."
--
Claude wanted him to be more exasperated, didn't he? Well, he's certainly succeeding in making that happen fairly quickly as Dimitri waits him out, an utterly unimpressed look spread across his face. He knew that had to be on purpose.... and it's sure something to be proven right in that matter.
At least something makes him perk up excitedly, his tail giving a sharp flick. "I did that! Or, rather, I would have done that in the event that I managed to catch any. I thought it would be easier to keep them in something."
--
Claude grins. "You've got good instincts. I wonder if that's something you came up with on your own, or something you remember from your childhood?" Either is nice, Claude thinks, but in different ways.
--
"Ah...." The question is a good one, and Dimitri pauses, gaze going a little distant. "I hadn't.... considered that. My head had been so full of other thoughts. It just felt... natural to do so, once I paused to consider the issue..." Did he remember something from his childhood? It feels strange, to think that, and he can't explain why.
Claude will get to finish his sandwich in quiet, if he wants. Dimitri's about to get lost in his own head fairly quickly.
--
Claude does finish his sandwich like that - both because he needs to finish it anyway, and because he thinks Dimitri deserves the chance to mull over the possibility he's brought up. Once he finishes, though, he leans up to press a kiss to the side of Dimitri's mouth. "You okay?"
--
Apparently, the Intseh start up noise isn't only for when he's dead asleep, but for when he's out of his head and physically disturbed from it. Dimitri blinks a couple of times before his brain accepts that Claude actually said something. "Yes, I'm fine. I just.... It was strange, to think that might have been what happened. I'm sorry for worrying you."
--
"What's strange about it?" Claude tilts his head. He could see how it might give pause for thought, but he hadn't considered it odd in any way.
--
He hesitates, for a moment, because it almost seems as if it will be even stranger trying to explain it, before forging ahead. "I just thought... I was thinking that I feel as though I have forgotten so much from when I was young, when I lived in my homeland. I've... changed so much. When I was telling you about those memories... It felt as though I was telling another's story." His claws flex along Claude's sides.
"Does that make sense?"
--
Claude smiles faintly. "I wish I could say it didn't, but as far as being stolen away from our respective cultures and families goes...we're pretty similar in that respect."
--
Out of everyone in the entire world.... Dimitri truly is glad, in this moment, that Claude found him down in that hidden away room. Found him again after years of separation. Few in that accursed city would understand like he does, and he gives a quiet nod.
"In that cage... I had convinced myself a long time ago that I was completely isolated, that I had no connection to home. But I can still remember small things such as that... even when I thought I hadn't." His weigh sinks against Claude's body, just a little. "...I feel... nervous. Or perhaps that's not the right word. As I said, it's... strange."
--
"I think...it's probably going to hurt at times, being free," Claude murmurs. "Obviously it's a huge improvement over captivity, but...you never really had time to process how much they were hurting you. And the more you're free, the more you're going to realize how much you've lost. So some of your freedom is going to be like...discovering a wound you didn't really realize you had, and just how deep it runs. It'll be painful. But you'll finally be able to start healing it, too."
--
It's going to hurt, being free.... Arms wound about Claude's middle, Dimitri scrapes his thumb over the rough texture which makes up his bandage. He thinks of the slow dragging pain the knife had made- the one waiting for them on the table before them right now, in fact- and how it had made his muscles tense from the sharpness of it all. All for freedom. All for ruining that one mark on his wrist.
Freedom should be a good thing. A given. It shouldn't hurt like this, with promises to hurt worse.
"Have you healed?" he asks softly.
--
Claude smiles slightly. "Trauma's like an old wound. Even if it's faded, some days it might still ache." He leans against Dimitri.
"Do you remember what I said to you once? About how the question of whether it's better to live a life of tedium than a life of highs and lows that might be better or worse than stability is a philosophical one that has no singular right answer? That wasn't idle speculation on my part. You're going to have to decide that for yourself now." He closes his eyes. "All I can do is try to make the highs worth it for you."
--
"To exist when the lows seem to be so tiring..." But he's only existed in a state of lowness for decades now. As he said to Claude earlier in the morning, he's already changing his mind on this. Where he's changing it, he's not sure... but he wants to try it. If nothing else- and he admittedly doesn't have much else- then he wants to try it alongside Claude.
It's an answer he knows he won't figure out right away, so Dimitri waits for a moment to let Claude have his moment of rest before he rises up to his feet. At least it's not too hard to go back to carrying Claude with the way he'd been sitting. As he heads around the table, he gives a polite nod to the glass bottles that are still sitting quietly there before he heads to where the fishing rod is.
Yes, he is still naked. Yes, he's aware that Claude is in a similar state. It's fine.
--
Claude, however, raises an eyebrow at him. "I don't know if you've ever sat bare-assed in the dirt, since even the church bothered to give you clothes," he says, with some amusement. "But it's not enjoyable."
--
Dimitri blinks down at him blankly. "You have my cloak," he points out. "Since you wouldn't be sitting down regularly anyway with the state you're in. Besides, it would just bother you to put pants on if you can't even walk."
--
Claude laughs quietly. "And what are you going to be sitting on, Dimitri?"
--
That.... makes him pause, brain catching up with this. "A.... log...?" He didn't think this far. Claude had his cloak, so they were good to go.... was the thinking.
--
"And do you want to sit on a log bare-assed?" Claude prompts, grinning. He loves and admires Dimitri, and he knows the man is smart, but his oblivious moments are so damn adorable sometimes. Also hilarious.
--
"You realize I've sat on a log exactly once in my life now," Dimitri points out, which is sort of roughly true. "I wouldn't know." Still, he's getting the picture, and so he makes an abrupt turn to head back to where the bed is. He's not going to put Claude on the floor while he gets his pants, after all.
--
"You should get my pants, too," Claude remarks, once Dimitri's settled him on the bed. "In case you have to put me down while we're outside for anything. Which you might have to - especially things like getting any fish I catch off the hook and into the bucket. There's not going to be a convenient bed to put me on."
--
"You're not going to like having to put them on," Dimitri warns as he fetches his pants from where they'd been put into a corner. It's not that he completely ignored them after they had sex, just... Listen. Learning to fold clothing is also on his list of things he needs to figure out properly.
"Not with how you're still sore. Unless you want me to help, and even then...."
--
"I'm aware," Claude says wryly. "Believe me, everything I'm doing is pretty calculated right now. But I can't just do nothing uncomfortable until my ass stops hurting, right? I'll tough it out." He can't help grinning. "Although if you want to help me put my pants on, I suppose I'm not going to object..."
--
Fiddling with the cloth belt that helps keep the hole for his tail available without the rest of his pants falling down, Dimitri casts a suspicious glance towards Claude. "How would me getting you dressed sound as though we're doing the opposite, when it comes from your mouth?" he asks, even as he goes to get Claude's pants. At least most of Claude's clothes have been put to one side vaguely neatly; Dimitri thought it was literally the very least he could do.
--
Claude grins. "Well, it does mean having your hands all over me below the waist, doesn't it?" He gives Dimitri a saucy wink. "Not that I'm up to a whole lot at the moment, of course."
--
"You would die," Dimitri says quietly, crouching down in front of Claude. "I wholly bleieve you are so foolish as you would accept death as a possibility when it comes to sex. I am not touching you in that manner at all until you can walk again, without a limp. Now unwrap, please."
--
"Hah!" Claude laughs. "I'm pretty foolish, but not that crazy. I have too many important things to accomplish to risk death just for some temporary physical pleasure...no matter how good it is. Only really big things are worth that kind of risk." He grins. "On the other hand, I don't think any amount of wrecking my ass would actually kill me. At worst, I might risk doing some permanent damage...which I wouldn't risk, mind you. But I don't think death would ever be on the table."
--
"We will see while judging how long it takes for you to regain your ability to walk." Still, as he gets to see Claude's body now without caught up in his own lust or worries, in the light, it's... Oh. His ears lower a little bit. He hadn't realized just how much he'd bitten Claude. Mostly his torso, but Dimitri can see a couple of bite marks on one of Claude's legs as he begins to get his pants on.
....He's having a lot of mixed feelings on this. Not all or even most of them negative, even.
--
Claude's getting good at reading the barometer of Dimitri's ears. He tilts his head. "What is it?" He hasn't actually inspected himself much.
--
It's probably a little hard to tell that Dimitri's eyes are flicking from Claude's face to just, his general overall body. "...I did worse. Then merely affecting your legs."
--
"You did?" Claude reflexively looks down, all the same...and notices that someone could probably model dentures for Dimitri from his skin. His eyebrows go up. "Wow. I barely even noticed half of these at the time..." And he'd minded none of them.
--
"At least it seems that I don't have to ask if you feel any pain..." That makes him feel a little better, at least, and is enough for him to look down so that he can begin to tug Claude's pants over his feet and up his legs.
--
"I'll probably feel them if I put pressure on them, but no, they don't really register." Claude helps Dimitri work his pants on as best he can, bracing himself on the Intseh's shoulders.
--
"Good." Dimitri stays still for Claude's benefit, finally tugging them up over his hips. The fiddly minor details he'll leave to Claude's hands. You know. The ones without claws. "Especially since..." Well. Dimitri leans forward slightly, head brushing against Claude's chest before he glances up beneath his bangs.
"...I like... how you look with them."
--
Claude grins. "They stop just short of a 'property of Dimitri' brand over my ass, huh?"
--
"You're putting it crudely, I can tell." Despite that, he moves in close to press a feather light kiss to one of the marks on Claude's neck. "....But yes."
--
If Claude had been caught off guard every time Dimitri had waxed romantic at him, then he at least gets to have the shoe on his foot this time around considering the way Dimitri blinks up at him. It's not that he can't imagine Claude being eloquent, or clever with his words. It's just that the idea of him being so upfront is...
And then Claude says that.
Dimitri pauses for a moment, just staring where Claude has pressed his hand. When he finally looks up- his various smiles have all been held back to some degree, even when he's been so much happier than he has been for literal years. But this is probably the brightest smile Claude has gotten to see yet, wide and brilliant and just unreservedly happy. "I love you," he says again, not tired of the words and not planning to be for as long as he's alive.
--
This is completely unfair. Even when Claude is the one being romantic, somehow it's still him who ends up melting! That smile of Dimitri's is probably the most beautiful thing he's ever seen, and he can't fathom that he's somehow the cause of it. The predictable red creeps up Claude's face. "I love you too," he murmurs, helplessly, wondering what it takes to annihilate this man the way he constantly seems to be destroying Claude.
--
Honestly, it's almost kind of funny. Here, Dimitri was wondering if he could just.... stay here, head against Claude's lap instead of them going out to the lake, and yet he can almost hear the flutter in his lover's heart as that red flush takes over again. He didn't even do anything.
But they really have been putting off fishing because of Dimitri getting distracted. Even if it's hard, as evidenced by how he ducks his head down to press his forehead against Claude's chest. (This. He wants to stay exactly like this, no matter what.) Fighting his own desires, Dimitri sighs quietly in soft contentment before speaking again. "Is this enough then....?" He means Claude's pants.
--
"To go fishing?" Claude asks, distractedly. Honestly, Dimitri destroys his ability to think straight and it's dangerous. "Yeah, it should be."
--
"Mm." It takes a moment for Dimitri to summon up the willpower to pull away so that he can lift Claude up into his arms again. How on earth he'll ever get anything done now that he knows what it's like to cuddle with someone... Yet as he's adjusting Claude's weight, he notices something else.
"Ah.... Your hair."
--
"Hm?" Claude glances up at his face. "Is it a mess?"
--
"It is.... very cute." It is absolutely a mess with all they've done to and the care they've neglected, but Dimitri is kind of in love with it. That's not the point. "You haven't done your braid..."
He objectively knows that Claude hadn't done his braid for years, before meeting him again and getting back into the habit, so maybe it doesn't matter...
--
Claude blinks, then chuckles, reaching up to pull the longest strands through his fingers. "Oh yeah. I kind of forgot. I can put it back in, though..." He reaches up with his other hand as well now, already beginning to separate the strands into three.
--
Oh, they're- already? Dimitri doesn't even have much of a chance to do much besides adjust Claude in his arms, doing his best to get a better look as possible. He wants to see exactly how Claude does it, commit it to memory. The focused stare is probably hard to miss.
--
Claude notices after a moment, looking up at him. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what Dimitri's doing, which is too bad since Claude kind of is one regardless. He grins. "Do you want me to show you how?" he suggests.
--
"I wouldn't want to interrupt you when you've already done so much of it," Dimitri protests, in direct contrast to the clear interest in his perked up ears.
--
"I've barely started," Claude replies, and brushes out what little he's done with his fingers to illustrate it. "Wanna sit down again for a minute? This won't take long, and then you'll have your hands free."
--
"If you're sure..." But it's hard to hide his interest as he sets Claude back down on the bed, and then promptly settles behind him with his tail flicking from side to side.
--
Claude finds Dimitri's fascination with things endlessly charming, and he's smiling as he starts the braiding lesson. "For your basic braid - there are a lot of varieties - you split the hair into three parts, see? Then all you have to do is bring in one of the outermost strands over the middle strand, alternating. So you pull the rightmost strand over the center strand, then pull it down; then you pull the leftmost strand over the center strand, then pull it down. Each time you do that - see? The center strand becomes the strand you just crossed over. And that's how you get the braid pattern."
--
The explanation is simple enough, although Dimitri finds watching Claude's fingers at work makes much more sense. He reaches up to lightly touch his own hair consideringly, although it's much more straight and tangled than Claude's hair. "It seems hard to do when it's right by your face..."
--
Claude, who was not born yesterday, grins at him. "You wanna do mine for me, then?"
--
There's more impact damage from Dimitri's tail that the bed will never forget. "...Is it alright? I'm not sure if it will be good at first..."
--
"You can redo it until you're satisfied with it. That'll be good practice, right? And it's so small that it'll be quick to do each time." Claude winks at him. "I don't mind."
--
"You realize you're asking me to do it over dozens of times, then." It's mostly a joke. He'll.... hold back from getting worked up on making things perfect. It's something he's had to do a lot for many things now that he's free, he's finding. It all seems like matters others can do without any trouble, although he only has a very small pool of examples to choose from...
Still, he reaches over, carefully undoing the braid Claude has made. "Tell me if I pull too hard."
--
"I will," Claude promises, grinning. "Although I was kind of into you being rough with me earlier, so I don't know what standards for 'too hard' I'm supposed to hold to..."
He closes his eyes then, to let Dimitri work.
--
"There is roughness for sex, and then roughness because I'm clumsy," Dimitri mutters, scrunching up on the bed as he leans in close. "Please learn the difference." Still, now he has a braid to figure out, and he falls silent as well as he tries to work it out.
It's... definitely one of those things that is made slightly different with the inclusion of claws. On one hand, after all, he can't just broadly pinch in the same way as Claude does to gather a section of hair. On the other hand, it means he has to be a little more precise as he uses his claw tips to adjust things. The first time still finds it a little.... Well. It's not neat at all, the exact opposite of what he's seen of Claude's braid in the past, and he gives a low growl at himself. "No, it's not.... Hold on. I need to try again..."
He's going to do it at least a few times before he forces himself to stop.
--
Claude waits with perfect patience until Dimitri finally seems satisfied. Then he cracks open one green eye. "How's it looking?"
--
"It's.... not as bad as it could be. I think." It's still not as uniform and neat as Dimitri would like it to be- as Claude has made it before- but it's holding its shape and not sticking out everywhere completely. The best he can do.
--
Claude laughs. "I'll take that vote of confidence." He winks at Dimitri. "I'll let you braid it for me anytime. Soon enough you'll be an expert."
--
"I'll make sure to practice as well." Gods know Dimitri has plenty of hair himself, in at least a couple of different places. His own on his head will make things a little tricky, but he's sure he can figure something else out. Leaning down, he scoops Claude up again. "It feels like we've done a lot more things that weren't fishing since we first decided to do it."
Sex, a brief bathe, napping, lunch.... Getting clothes and braiding hair....
--
Claude grins. "This time for sure. No more distractions." He slips an arm around Dimitri's neck. "Let's go get dinner."