Myth!AU - In The Shadows

[sword_breaker]

[Second Part to the Myth AU!~]

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[rocketsout]

"Definitely not," he gives a small, impish smile, "all work and no play, isn't that how it goes?"

Because he does have a job to do, he's always had a job to do, but he's not so naive enough as to think that he can just run wild. There have always been rules and regulations, but beyond that...beyond that he doesn't want to make more stress for James. "You don't have to worry about a thing."

But James is moving now, and Liam lets him, watching curiously. "Yeah, but...but like it's different. I don't know a good way to explain it, but there's just something about being out and feeling the wind and everything and just-"

He trails off, looking a little embarrassed, "I just um, I guess I just want to kind of...share that part of me and my life with you."

[sword_breaker]

He gives him look after starting to scroll through his contacts. "That makes it sound like there's going to be more than 'some' work. Might need to pick a different idiom, just saying."

The reaper gives a simple grunt in retort. Usually the worry only stuck around fiercer when someone told him not to bother with it. Especially now that he was having to mix work affairs with his boyfriend. Not exactly a winning combination.

"I can get it," James peruses through the names until selecting, "and why it's different from all this. Used to travel a lot for...well you know. Before all this too even."

A text is in the works but he pauses to smile at Liam. "I appreciate the chance."

[rocketsout]

Despite the smile that crosses James' lips there's a growing sense of...Liam can't quite parse through what exactly he's feeling. Guilt, maybe? Shame, a little, for not being able to keep himself under better control. And worry, because while he'd wanted to open up and share this part of his life with his boyfriend it seems like it might have caused the reaper more trouble.

"Sorry-" He trips over the word, looking over towards the wall to try to gather his words, "if, um, if it's going to get you in trouble don't worry about it, okay? I don't wanna cause a bunch of stress..."

[sword_breaker]

“What? No. Liam, hey.” The phone is forgotten for the sake of taking a knee in front of the dullahan. He reaches over to take his hand and give it a squeeze. “Trouble be damned if it means I can help you with this sort of stuff.”

He brings his hand up, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “Yea things are going to be tough to figure out but that’s how it always is. You don’t need to worry over it. It’ll be fine.”

[rocketsout]

There's a moment where James calls his name and Liam isn't sure that he's made the right decision. Maybe this really was a bad idea, and maybe trying to fix things was the wrong thing to do. There's a clench in his gut as he prepares for the worst, but then his reaper is taking his hand and it helps to pull him out of the spiral that he'd been starting to flow down.

"I just," he starts, chancing a look up to meet James' gaze, "I wanna show you, but I don't wanna get you in trouble. You're more important to me, more important than anything."

[sword_breaker]

Never has he seen the dullahan so defeated at the simple call of his name. There's no questions when he moves in to hug him close with one hand going up to hold the back of his neck. His thumb gently stroking over the scar.

"You will get the chance to," he assures. "Might not be this time for sure but definitely the next. If you have to go and I can't, I'll always keep my eye on the road for you to return. That doesn't mean I'm not going to try my damnedest to go with you."

[rocketsout]

There's an implicit trust between the both of them and it shows ever so much at the way James' hand comes up to trace over the seam of his neck. It helps calm Liam's nerves just the tinest bit, knowing that his reaper is there and things are fine for the time being. A seed of concern still worms its way deep in his gut, but it's easier to ignore when he can focus on the warmth of his boyfriend pressed against him.

"Yeah. Yeah okay." He's not entirely convinced, but he trusts James implicitly. "Promise it won't be long, won't be a lot of trouble for you and your work."

[sword_breaker]

He press a kiss to the dullahan’s forehead before pushing back onto his feet. His thumb giving one last stroke. “I’m going to go take of things, ok? If you need anything, I’ll be in the office.”

There’s a nagging feeling that there should be more he should be doing. He simply doesn’t know what. So he’ll do what he knows he can and give Liam breathing room.

[rocketsout]

Take care of things. James is going to take care of things. Liam draws a shaky breath, calming his nerves and reassuring himself that this is a good thing. James always makes everything better, this would be no exception.

Still, it's so strange to feel such anxiety about this; he's been around for centuries, but this is the first time he's ever tried to share this part of himself with anyone else. The last thing he wants is for it to be a bother or trouble for his reaper.

But he breathes deep, slow, works on focusing himself despite the itching just under his skin and...yeah, yeah he can do this. Things are going to be okay.

Time passes, and he finds himself padding through the halls of the apartment until he's knocking gently at the office door before sticking his head a few seconds later. "Hey."

[sword_breaker]

He buries himself into files, combing through every paragraph and iteration to find some way to follow through on his promise to Liam. There had to be a way. He didn’t trust any other reaper to understand Liam and what he had to do. Plenty of reports pointed to that with the rare dullahans being chased out into the unknown.

A glimmer of hope turns up. It’s a stretch but he’s filling all of the pieces and sending it off to the office. Hopefully a response would be back soon since Liam didn’t look good out there.

A poor pen is getting chewed over when Liam pokes in as the reaper stares at his computer. He glances up with a faint smile, “Hey. Everything ok?”

[rocketsout]

There, he's taken the first step and while there's still the dull buzz of anxiety that's flooding through his system just seeing James' smile helps steady him. His reaper looks good like that, engrossed in work and idly worrying at the poor pen; Liam can't help the soft grin that tugs at the corners of his mouth. "Yeah. Yeah, it is. Sorry, am I interrupting?"

Hopefully not, that's not his intention at all, but he doesn't quite know exactly how reapers work.

[sword_breaker]

"No, no you're not. I'd just finished some stuff up and only reading really. Nothing important at the moment," he answers, dropping the abused pen back onto the desk. He shuffles the papers back into a folder before hiding them away into his desk once more. It was only supplemental to what was on his screen anyway.

"So what's up?"

[rocketsout]

Liam finds that his words stick in his throat, any semblance of eloquence abandoning him with each of James' passing words until he's left standing a bit awkwardly, grinning shyly as he tries to recover. "I uh."

That certainly doesn't help, and so instead he exhales slowly and shoots his reaper a slightly apologetic look before slipping into the office and making his way over. The buzzing under his skin alleviates some when he's here, with James, and with a quiet exhale he manages to finally find his voice. "I, yeah. I think- I think I can hold out for a while, if your work will let you come. Could...could that be a thing?"

[sword_breaker]

“Are you sure?” Far be it for him to not worry over the man especially with the admissions early. He wasn’t going to force his dullahan to do something that he wasn’t really built to do: stay in one place and for long extended periods no less. “I could always meet you out on the road. I just...”

He rubs the back of his neck. “I want to go but I can’t gurantee this. So I don’t want you to wait for something that might take ages to approve. That’d be cruel.”

[rocketsout]

"Yeah." The answer comes naturally, and he finds himself nodding, "I am. I- I want this to be a thing that...a thing that I get to show you."

He's certain of that, even with the uncomfortable buzzing beneath his skin; he's never allowed anyone this close into his personal life, and he wants James to be the first. If that means having to wait, then so be it. He'll find a way to deal with all the extra anxious energy, it'll- it'll work out.

[sword_breaker]

James glances over the papers, chewing his bottom lip as he thinks. Glancing back up at the dullahan comes after he decides on his next words carefully. “Can...May I see you without your head here then? So I can show you what I was meaning before. You obviously don’t have to. I know it’s bold of me to ask and I’m sorry for doing so.”

[rocketsout]

The question actually surprises him, but not in a bad way. For a moment he just blinks, trying to process what James is asking but when it finally registers he greets the reaper with a small, shy grin. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, of course. That's always okay to ask, you're never- you never need to apologize for that okay?"

With a quiet exhale he reaches up, feeling the normal glamour and sealing charms give way as he lifts his head from his shoulders. He's still grinning, however, even with it cradled in his arms, even if he can't speak at the moment.

[sword_breaker]

“Figure it’d be best to ask. Not going to ever assume this is a certainty cause you might not feel like it sometimes. I meant it when I had said you weren’t some reaper’s toy back when we first met.”

He waits, watching carefully as the dullahan beheads himself. It’s morbidly fascinating to see how it didn’t affect Liam much at all. Pushing up from his desk, James moves in close before gently pressing a kiss to Liam’s throat. Then he’s taking a knee so to kiss his lips.

“See,” he muses, “you’re not scary ever. Just a dork.”

[rocketsout]

It's a strange feeling when James's lips meet his throat, but certainly not a bad one at all, and Liam's grinning all the while. The smile may be a bit toothier than normal, but he's doing his best to keep his glamour up because it's just...it's just nice. It's nice to be himself like this, and the fact that his reaper is kneeling, kissing him properly, sends a pulse of warmth through his chest.

Shifting a bit, he frees up one hand, so that he can gently stroke the side of James' face as he beams, then winks a little cheekily.

[sword_breaker]

He tilts his head into the touch, humming contently at the gentle warmth. No one would expect a dullahan to be such a affectionate sap capable of being soft yet he had all the proof right in front of him. Too bad he wants to selfishly keep said proof to himself.

“So,” he leans back on his heels, “can you talk like this or is it another round of the guessing game?”

[rocketsout]

It's a good question, and one that he unfortunately can't answer immediately because he's got no way to actually speak proper. Liam has the decency to look a little embarrassed, but he taps two fingers on the side of James' cheek before reluctantly pulling his hand away so that he can make a gesture as if he's writing. Paper and pen, he needs paper and a pen and then he'll be able to explain more.

For right now? It's definitely a guessing game.

[sword_breaker]

“So guess all that talk about dullahans being able to speak headless was crap, hm? Figures as much,” James mulls over while he watches the gesture. He presses a kiss to Liam’s forehead before getting up and scrounging up a pad of paper and pen.

Both are offered over. “Here.”

[rocketsout]

It takes a little bit, but he’s able to shift his head under one arm so that he can take the pen from James.

I mean, we can talk. But it’s not something you really want to hear. :P I only talk to people right before I. Uh. Do my job. That’s one of the things humans got right when they started telling stories about us.

He’s grinning a little shyly, and though there’s no noise his shoulders shake with laughter.

[sword_breaker]

"I thought the talking thing was for the name saying. Is there more than that?" Training only covers the more dangerous stuff that listers are capable of doing. He wants to know everything that there is about dullahans because he wants to understand Liam and what he has to go through. "Also don't laugh at me, dork."

[rocketsout]

Nah, it's just the name things. It

He pauses for a moment, grinning cheekily at his reaper and sticking his tongue out for just a second.

it's really hard to do much more than that, it takes a lot of energy so it's something that we really can only do when we know we're uh gonna get that energy back real quick.