Myth!AU - In The Shadows

[sword_breaker]

[Second Part to the Myth AU!~]

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[rocketsout]

He can't speak, but there's a surprised raise of his brows and a soundless 'oh' as James' skin fades away, but immediately after the expression is replaced by a wide, sincere smile as Liam runs the pad of his thumb over each and every bump along the bones of his reaper's hand. Forgetting, for a moment, that nothing is going to make sense, he tries to talk, fails, and reaches to reconnect his head so that he can properly show his appreciation.

"That's so cool," he murmurs, gently bringing up James' hand until he's able to press a light kiss to his knuckles.

[sword_breaker]

It’s a weird sensation to strip away the flesh and leave himself so bare even if it’s only a minor part of him. Even weirder is the pressure of Liam’s thumb, gentle brushes getting slight shivers at the care and warmth. James takes in a steadying breath before letting the shadow hood slip into place and reaper fire dance in his eyes. He trusts Liam.

The words take him by surprise. Cool? Huh. “It’s nothing like taking off your own head.”

[rocketsout]

He shakes his head, eyes bright with enthusiasm and wonder, "no no, that's really really cool! Look at you!"

As if to prove his point he motions to all of James, his grin wide, "that's amazing. You're amazing!"

His enthusiasm gets reigned back in just a little bit, however, and something almost shy comes over his features, "hey uh. Can I kiss you? Like if you're not okay with that I get it, it's totally cool."

[sword_breaker]

“Usually only ever have this out if I get knocked around too much,” he quietly murmurs, taken aback by the enthusiasm given so freely. No one has reacted to him like this outside of his family of fellow reapers. Val has said before how improper it was to show one’s true face when they take in so much death.

He sputters for a second at the request. That requires him to double check that he didn’t let all of his glamour get stripped away and he’s not sure that he still has lips.

“I ugh yea sure. It might be a little weird...”

[rocketsout]

"Well, glad that you're not getting knocked around right now," he jokes lightly, squeezing his reaper's boney hand. He doesn't like to think about James being so hurt, but it's amazing to be able to see him so bare like this.

But he's been given the go-ahead, so with one last peck to James' hand he's leaning in, very carefully brushing his lips over the bare mouth of his reaper's skull. It's a strange feeling, but not a bad one, it could never be bad when he's kissing the love of his life. But he doesn't want to make James uncomfortable, and so it's a short, sweet kiss before he's pulling back and positively beaming. "You're gorgeous."

[sword_breaker]

"That would make this a lot more awkward, yea. I know that can be a thing for some people but don't see the allure of it to be honest with you." It's meant to be a joke but it wasn't an uncommon occurrence for him to get a job that roughs him up. Besides it can always be put back into place...after a reset.

The kiss was strange but not enough so that he recoils. Instead he's simply mystified and frozen on the spot by it. However Liam is pulling away before he has a chance to react. How can he be gorgeous though when the shadow hood shrouds everything, hiding it away? He sighs before concentrating enough that he feels a tingle around his mouth before pulling Liam back in for a proper kiss.

[rocketsout]

He's sill smiling when James pulls him in for another kiss, and he reaches out to gently wind a hand around his reaper's shoulders to hold him close. This time there's the soft pressure of lips against his own, but it's just a different way of kissing the love of his life; glamour or no, James was James and he was beautiful. It belatedly occurs to Liam that he really needs to let the man know that and he makes a mental note to do so. James deserves to know how wonderful really was.

[sword_breaker]

Slowly, piece by piece, the glmaour sets back into place. His hands flexing for a moment as the flesh knits back together over the bone while the shroud fades away until he's whole once more. In the end this is what he wants to be known for when it comes to the dullahan. That they can show each other these things but ultimately still have the ability to be caring and soft like anyone else. Plus this was the far better way of kissing he won't lie to himself.

Pulling away, his hand dips down to trace along the seam of Liam's neck. It was the next best way to show his appreciation and one that meant the most between them.

[rocketsout]

The sensation of fingers along the seam of his neck has Liam shivering, but it's a pleasant sort of thing and the look that he shoots over to his reaper is one of pure adoration. Slowly he reaches out to take the man's other hand, bringing it up so that he can press a chaste kiss to the back of his knuckles, all without ever breaking eye contact.

"You're gorgeous," he repeats, "no matter how you wanna appear. And I love you so much that I can't even put it into words. But I promise, it's totally a lot even if I'm bad at letting you know."

[sword_breaker]

He stares at him for a moment, dumbfounded by the comments. He’s never been considered gorgeous or any of that sort especially when dealing with his less put together self. It doesn’t take him long to reboot though and he’s moving in once more.

A gentle bump of his forehead against Liam’s before he goes full in on another kiss. It’s slow and packed with every ounce of love he can muster because he couldn’t think of any better way.

Not too soon after a soft chime comes from his phone. He’s reluctant but he retreats to go see what was the commotion. Well...he didn’t expect that. “Whelp...guess you won’t have to worry about leaving me behind.”

[rocketsout]

The phone interrupts their tender moment, but Liam understands; James has important things going on and while he's happy to spend as much time as possible with the man he knows that he can't monopolize him forever. So he relaxes as his reaper pulls away, a soft grin crossing his lips as he watches and gently, absentmindedly, traces a finger along the seam of his neck.

"Wait, what?" That's not something he's expecting to hear, and for a moment it throws him for a loop as he tries to parse out just what James is getting at. When it finally clicks his expression brightens as he beams, somewhat hopeful, over at his boyfriend.

"Wait, is everything okay? Like, I'm really excited if that's the case, but stuff being okay for you is way more important, yeah?"

[sword_breaker]

He's in the midst of writing a reply back when he catches the small gesture. His eyes following along the gentle touch of that scar on Liam's neck. The email takes precedence soon enough and he's back to writing with his fingers shifting from key to key quickly.

"Oh everything is fine," he reassures, glancing up. "It's still normal hours and the potential job went through. I'm technically acting as your escort since it'd be good for a headhunter to keep track of all this. But really it's not going to be much of a job."

[rocketsout]

"I promise it won't be too much work, okay?" He's grinning now, unable to hide the excitement from his voice. It makes sense if he thinks about it, of course the reapers would want to keep an eye on him while he worked, but that doesn't dull the fact that he's going to be able to finally show James this part of himself.

"Or like, any work at all," he adds a little slyly, beaming over, "I just gotta do a little bit of my job, you do your thing with the souls, and then we can have time for like...I mean think of it like a little vacation."

[sword_breaker]

“I know how your sort function. That’s still some work but not going to be bogged down with paperwork or the like,” he assures, putting his phone down. Liam was the first dullahan he was on speaking and well other terms with but the reaper has had his fair share of run-ins.

He smiles back at him, “A vacation, huh? Are you sure you’re not just trying to whisk me away to a fae realm? I’m sure you have quite the plan for it.”

[rocketsout]

Absolutely no paperwork, he's certain of that, and when James catches him with that brilliant smile of his he can't help but beam back. "I mean, I think you might be stuck if I took you there."

His grin turns devious as he strides over and winds his arms loosely around his reaper's waist, resting his chin on the man's shoulder. "That whole 'don't eat anything' rule, after all. I think we've broken that a couple of times over already."

[sword_breaker]

A gentle laugh falls from his lips while he turns and knocks his forehead against Liam’s, smiling amused. “Oh well that is a certainty. I’m not very good about that rule. Not when you’re so sweet,” he teases.

“I think I’d be fine being captured by a fae so long as it’s you.”

[rocketsout]

Despite everything, the joke still brings a slight pink flush to his cheeks even as he grins and reaches up to thread one hand through James' hair to keep the both of them close. "See, now I'm gonna have to capture you. Mark my claim, let everyone else know that you're mine and they can't screw with you because that's my job."

[sword_breaker]

“Uh hunh sure.” He crosses his arms lightly over his chest but not to disturb the dullahan’s hold. A knowing smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth and only worsens with the pink entering Liam’s cheeks. “Wouldn’t it be more so screwed by me rather screwed with me? You have quite the preference.”

[rocketsout]

"Well I mean-" He trails off, his grin turning wolfish, despite the heat in his cheeks. James does make a very compelling point, and one that Liam is entirely willing to concede. "To be fair, you do a really, really good job of it if I can say so."

Nailed it.

[sword_breaker]

“It helps that someone is so avid about practicing,” he teases. Reaching up James gently cups Liam’s jaw for a moment before pulling away and heading back to his desk. “But I’m glad that you’ve enjoyed it so far.”

[rocketsout]

"Well yeah." His grin is wide and dumb, filled with excitement and affection, and as he watches his reaper move back he rocks back on his heels. "I'll get everything up and ready on my end, okay? Does the Order have specific times when they want you to come along, or are we just kind of....like, are we able to leave whenever?"

Because he might have to plan just a little bit, now that it's certain that his reaper is going to be able to join.

[sword_breaker]

"They'd want a specific date that we would be doing this excursion," James answers with a meager shrug. "So as long as I give them a heads up, there won't be any further fuss. So if there's things you want to knock out beforehand, you have the time."

He hums under his breath, "Got to pack anyway. Make sure I'm covered for however long you need to be out."

[rocketsout]

"I can do that, I can definitely do that," he agrees, all excitement and barely contained energy now that they're doing this, they're actually doing this. "Uhhh, how about the end of the week, does that sound okay? Is that enough time to get packed? If it's not I get it!"

His mind is racing now, there's a fire in his blood, and oh is he absolutely ready to just leap off and peal out already. There's a lightness in his chest, a grin on his lips, and love in his eyes as he looks back over.

[sword_breaker]

"The end of the weeks work for me," he smirks at the overflow of excitement coming from the dullahan. Liam was practically a full 180 of how he's been for a bit now. It was refreshing to see him so happy. "It's enough time. Do you have any recommendations of what I should bring?"

[rocketsout]

"Oh! Uh." That's a very good question, and one that he actually has to stop to think about. Generally when he's ridden by himself he doesn't need anything, but now that he's going to have someone along for the ride (heh)...that would make things a bit different. Not difficult, but he'd have to figure out how to adjust.

"Probably like, an overnight bag with a couple of changes, maybe? We'll be riding most of the time but I'll pull over at night when we need to so you can get some sleep!"