comicshavefailedme | LL cont’

LL cont’

[Bad ideas. That’s what Rafael was famous for. Sometimes those bad ideas would pan out into groundbreaking technologies. Other times it would blow up spectacularly in his face - and by extension, all faces adjacent. Not that it ever stopped him from coming up with more.

This one, though. A bridge too far.

Aracha - if that really could be called his name anymore - sat, hunched over, cycling a trinket between his fingers as though in a trance. It felt like the slow, tactile motion was the only thing still keeping him grounded to reality (again, questionable). His mind was… far, far away, in a place that might not even exist anymore, lost. But more than that, alone, in a vast, empty field of deaf, silent rage. And that cold silence seeped into every crack in his brain, filling the folds of his thoughts, the hollow space in his bones, the pockets in his lungs.

He wasn’t real. He wasn’t real. None of this was real. He knew that now.

At some point, his fiance was going to walk through the door and find him sitting at the foot of ~~their~~ his bed. And one way or another, this lie would be shattered.]

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[Kaine doesn't reply, for obvious reasons. His breathing is slow, somehow still managing to sound grumbly, like the purring of a large, dangerous cat.

He dreams of being Aracha. Or maybe, he can only be Aracha in his dreams? Either way - it's a nice dream. Comfortable, domestic. Nothing more extraordinary than waking up in bed with his fiance, and spending the morning curled against each other - neither of them wanting to face the ordeal of pulling off the blankets and getting ready for the day. They mumble sleepily at each other about nothing of importance. They kiss each other's skin.

It's the happiest he'll ever be - and it bleeds into their mental connection. He was never more happy than in Rafael's arms.]

[ He hasn't fallen asleep yet, and has taken to idly gazing at the ceiling, his free hand sliding up to rub over his face. It tugs at him, the fatigue of the day, and he zones out—in that sweet spot between sleep and awake.

And like a gentle press comes the vision of them both, at home when the windows are starting to glow, enjoying their time together. Such a simple happiness, it (never) was. The biggest problem he could conceive was how to make it last forever (when it would last never). He'd joked about how hard it was to get Aracha to look at him in any way that wasn't a glare, and how that effort has paid off a million times over.

And... just like that, he realizes it's not just his fantasy. Not his dream. Right. Mind melding, or whatever. It features him, but he shouldn't be looking at it.

There's something burning in his eyes, and he has to vigorously scrub at his face to get rid of the evidence of a deep sorrow. That didn't exist. It never existed. He should stop playing with this poor guy—even though he feels it stronger than ever, that "playing" isn't the word for it.

One deep breath later and... no, ten deep breaths later, and he's drifting away into his own dream; one that is mercifully (or maybe mercilessly) quiet. ]

[The are two major problems.

One, is that Kaine was drifting back to consciousness. The comfortable reality of the dream was fading away, leaving only a whisper of that illusory bliss to remember it by. That it ebbed away so quickly, all at once, only made its falseness that much more apparent.

The second was that he was cuddling a body. He didn't even need to look to know who it was - he'd long since memorized the shape and contours. The scent, the warmth, it was all the same.

Maybe if he feigned being asleep just a little longer, he could stay like this?

...Actually there was a third problem. That being, Kaine barely had any clothes on (A BATHROBE DID NOT COUNT AS CLOTHES) and he'd been... stimulated downstairs after having such a good dream.

That clinched it. Miguel had to die.

...

Kick him out of bed. Just do it.

~~he can't do it~~]

...love you...

[ mumbling evilly in his shallow dreaming, fingers curling in Maine's hair. ]

[HE HAS TO DIE!!!!!

...ignoring the way his insides melt when Miguel says the words. Love, love... Kaine sighs.

He can't kick Miguel off the bed...]

[ is it okay. can he stay on the bed. can he stay on the bed when his knee starts to bend upwards between Kaine's legs— ]

[Nope.

Miguel is now kissing the hotel floor, courtesy of Kaine's foot.]

ohhh godddd what the shock now...

[ comes the groan from the floor. ]

[Kaine rolls over so his back is towards Miguel >:( ]

You’re givin’ me a headache.

[That might be a hangover?]

[ STARING UP AT THE CEILING, STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT JUST HAPPENED. ]

Did you punch me again? It feels like I got punched, but all over my body.

[Flatly,]

I kicked you.

[a meaningful difference]

Oh, that's fine then.

[ THERE'S NO DIFFERENCE. ]

[erection go away go away go away]

I called the bed, didn't I?

Did you forget who put me in bed?

Nothing happened.

[ERECTION GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY]

[ he is just slightly amused now. from his earned space on the floor. ]

And you definitely didn't jump on me.

[ and kiss me. ]

You deaf or something?

[DON'T SOUND AMUSED I'M FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE HERE]

[ Miguel sits up, dropping his elbow onto the sacred land of bed, gazing at him. ]

Someone else kissed me, then?

[Very deliberately not looking at him and facing the opposite way. It makes him look extra sulky.]

Maybe.

[It was Aracha. That's someone else, right.]

[ How... is such a huge, angry man... kind of adorable. ]

If I ever see him again, I'll have to tell him he's a great kisser.

[hey is it weird to be jealous of yourself?

this is a trick question.

Kaine's quiet for a moment.]

...

'If you ever see him again'?

Yeah, because I'm not sharing the rest of the Fireball with you until you look at me.

...

That's playing dirty.

Honey, you haven't seen anything yet.

[ I CAN BE SO NAUGHTY!! ]

[DON'T CALL ME HONEY--!]

I could just take it from you.

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