- Pronouns
- They/them
- Location
- Railyard
As written by @Jas and myself.
"Rage tol' me he died." Xandre was leaving the infirmary. Desmond and a few others had been out at the Den that afternoon and apparently some shit had went down. He'd heard tell that the infamous Broch was back from the dead, and so he wanted to go lay eyes on him. He looked like shit, but there he was, in the flesh. He'd only ever seen him once or twice, but he remembered him looking much older.Curious.
He sighed. That Jimmy kid had given them some trouble today too. Lark had done alright in handling that, but it was a good thing the boss showed up when he did. Could have gotten pretty out of hand otherwise. Was he gonna be any good as an informant, even if he agreed to it? Seemed like a headache, and like it was gonna be more trouble than it was worth.As he was lost in his thoughts, his feet had subconsciously moved. Instead of turning right to leave the warehouse, he'd subconsciously turned right, and when he popped out of his reverie he found himself right outside Ziessel's door."Huh." He shrugged and knocked on the door before pushing it open.
Ziessel was inside, she kind of heard the door in the background but she was focused on other things. The stack of paperwork she had already gone through was only growing, but she still had plenty to look through from the time they had been gone and especially the last two weeks. So she barely reacted when Xandre came in. She knew what his footsteps sounded like and she knew his scent. He was safe, she didn't need to be wary around him, so she continued to work even though she was tired and her brain was begging for a break. Her eyes as well.
He closed the door behind him and crossed the room. With her sitting at her desk, he was actually taller than her by some miracle, and he took the opportunity to drape a hug over her from behind.
"Hope I'm not interruptin', Z. Jus' came from the infirmary, checkin' on that Broch fella. You were there when he showed up, eh? Heard it was quite the show." He kissed her on top of her head.
"Quite the show indeed, hm." She smiled a bit at the kiss and leaned back. "I didn't know if I would see you tonight... But I'm glad you're here " She said, putting down her pen and placing her hands on his arms while he hugged her.
"Long day, huh? Did Desmon' really fuck up the books that bad?" He chuckled. "But yeah, I wasn't really thinkin' and just ended up here. Figgered I just knew what I wanted even when I wasn't thinkin' about it."He stood up again, taking the weight off of Ziessel's shoulders, and took a couple of steps to sit down on the bed. "How've yeh been adjustin' since gettin' out? I've done a coupla stints, but none as long as five years. Even a year or two can be hard to shake off and get back into things."
"No, no. Desmond did the best he could. It's just bad handwriting and... a lot of doodles of dicks." She said, then turned the chair around when he sat on the bed. What was she supposed to say? Well, maybe she should just... She let the words spill. "I don't know if I am. I feel so out of my depth, everyone else seems to have everything figured out. Even Rhetta. But I'm- I'm struggling with things, I'm out of touch and every time I think about asking for help the-, the person I want to go to for a word of wisdom isn't even here. He's never going to be here again." She said, pulling her legs up onto the chair and hugging them close to her chest.
"Yeah I figgered that was eatin' at yeh. N' I can't say I blame yeh. He was one of a kind, that's fer sure." Xandre got up again and moved closer to her, sitting on the floor in front of her chair. He looked up, trying to meet her eyes."Look, I know I ain't Salem. I could never fill his shoes. We were very different people. But I'm here. If you need me, I'm here. Just lemme know how I can help."
She looked at him, surprised to see him on the floor. "But you're busy. Everyone is... Very busy, we all are. And- you're already doing so much." Xandre and Salem, they had practically nothing in common. That was true. But they were both unique, amazing people. She got off the chair and slid to the floor next to him, and took his hands in hers. "You're here with me, aren't you? Even though you should probably be resting." She said, looking at him with a little smile.
"I'm not gonna lie to ya, Z. I'm here coz I wanna be. I like hangin' out with you. Maybe it's not resting, but it's relaxing." He squeezed her hands as she took his. "N' hey, you should be restin' too. So I reckon we may as well not rest together, right?" He brightened his previously-somber tone at that last line."So what if I'm busy? I'll make time. It may not be every day, but I'll make it to see yeh when I can, K?"
She snorted, having an idea of what he was getting to. Her smile remained this time, and she scooted closer to him so she could hug him instead of just holding his hands. "What about you though? How are you holding up?" She said, turning her face towards him to take in his scent better.
"Oh I'm doin' alright, all things considered. It's true we lost a lotta folks so I'm doin' my best to keep shit goin', same as everyone. We gotta get some new blood, and fast. Hell jus' today I was helpin Lark out with some collecions n' some shithead decided to piss all over Thorje's market. While Lark was inside. Was some crazy shit. But my point is we're all chippin' in, so who am I to complain about it?" He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "As long as the hits stop comin' at some point, I'm good."
She wasn't sure they would stop, ever or at all. But if he could hope, then maybe she could as well. And whether they were right or wrong in the end, they could celebrate or hold each other up together. "So much new blood makes me nervous too, everyone is so young. They're all kids, and it's fucking weird." She said with a little sigh, nosing at his cheek in return and also leaving a little kiss there. Also what the fuck kinda weirdo pissed inside a market? Ew? He must have been deeply troubled. (edited)
"It's bound to happen. Any group is gonna have waves. The older crowd has to train the younger crowd. Remember when I joined? Yeh'd just come back at that point if I recall. I was a snot-nosed punk too, didn't know my ass from my elbow. Now I'm at least half-competent."He gave her a smirk."They'll figure shit out too. Just gotta be patient and wait. And maybe give 'em a kick in the pants from time to time." He wrapped his arms around her and held her there, in the middle of the floor.
He made her laugh a little, as always. Even though she was sad and sulky and tired. He was right about that. So much for not going to him for a word of wisdom, hm?. She should probably adjust her expectations and listen to him more. This time, she kissed him on the lips.
"You're a pro, Xandre. But I don't think you'll ever stop being a 'punk' like you said." She joked, still smiling softly. Why did she always turn this soft when they were alone?. It was uncanny. She kissed him on the lips and he blushed, smiling widely when she pulled away.
"A punk, eh? Well I reckonif you're gonna accuse me of somethin' I may as well." He gave a wink at that, and then he pushed her backwards onto the flat of her back and then straddled her, grinning.
He looked adorable from her point of view, and very, very good from this angle. "What, too punk for a bed as well??" She joked, putting her hands on his knees but making little effort to get up or make him get off of her at all. She just held on.
"Yeah, punks like me ain't got time fer trifles like that. We take what we want when we want it, to hell with the consequences." He winked, then leaned in to kiss Ziessel softly. The kiss lingered, but only for a moment. As he broke away, he continued his teasing. "N' I see something I want." He brushed the back of his hand across her cheek for a moment...
...
Later, in the communal showers.
He kissed her back, pulling her up against him. It probably wasn't the most hygienic to remain on the floor of the shower for too long but he was too spent to stand up at the moment and instead focused on her, kissing deeply and letting his tongue explore her mouth. He wrapped his arms around her in a big hug as he did, squeezing her as tightly as he dared; he knew he was very strong and was careful not to go too tight.
She was also a bit wary of lingering on the shower room's floor. But she was getting deliciously squished by Xandre, it was very comforting and she definitely wanted it to continue as they kissed. Still under the stream of water, until they were out of breath. Then Ziessel kissed Xandre's nose affectionately, got up and offered him a hand so he'd get on his feet as well. Thank... god, or anyone with power over destiny, for giving her nights like these.
Xandre took the offered hand and stood up. His legs were still shaky but they supported him. He stared at her like he wanted to say something more. In fact, he did want to say something more, but he didn't know how. And he was afraid of what it could mean. Afraid of scaring her off. So instead he smiled warmly at her, and after a moment manage to get out, "Should get finished up in 'ere, yeah?" He reached for the bottle of soap to continue washing her.
She nodded and stood in place so he could finish up with her. There was something in his gaze. It was deep and beautiful, but she didn't know what to do about it so she let it pass, for now. Instead she kissed him, chastely this time, and let him finish washing her so they could get back to the room and hopefully snuggle a bit before they fell asleep. They were both expecting early mornings, sadly, but it was what the pack needed.
A few minutes later, they found themselves back in her temporary bedroom. Once sufficiently dry, Xandre draped their towels over a rack in the corner and crawled, still nude, into bed. Ziessel folded their clothes up and placed them on the seat of the chair for the morning and then joined him. He drew her into a big hug, somehow big-spooning despite his height disadvantage. He kissed her on the back of her shoulder. "'Night, darlin'," he said with a little squeeze. She was warm and comfortable (even if her bed really wasn't), and so it wasn't long before Xandre drifted off to sleep. She wasn't far behind.
"Rage tol' me he died." Xandre was leaving the infirmary. Desmond and a few others had been out at the Den that afternoon and apparently some shit had went down. He'd heard tell that the infamous Broch was back from the dead, and so he wanted to go lay eyes on him. He looked like shit, but there he was, in the flesh. He'd only ever seen him once or twice, but he remembered him looking much older.Curious.
He sighed. That Jimmy kid had given them some trouble today too. Lark had done alright in handling that, but it was a good thing the boss showed up when he did. Could have gotten pretty out of hand otherwise. Was he gonna be any good as an informant, even if he agreed to it? Seemed like a headache, and like it was gonna be more trouble than it was worth.As he was lost in his thoughts, his feet had subconsciously moved. Instead of turning right to leave the warehouse, he'd subconsciously turned right, and when he popped out of his reverie he found himself right outside Ziessel's door."Huh." He shrugged and knocked on the door before pushing it open.
Ziessel was inside, she kind of heard the door in the background but she was focused on other things. The stack of paperwork she had already gone through was only growing, but she still had plenty to look through from the time they had been gone and especially the last two weeks. So she barely reacted when Xandre came in. She knew what his footsteps sounded like and she knew his scent. He was safe, she didn't need to be wary around him, so she continued to work even though she was tired and her brain was begging for a break. Her eyes as well.
He closed the door behind him and crossed the room. With her sitting at her desk, he was actually taller than her by some miracle, and he took the opportunity to drape a hug over her from behind.
"Hope I'm not interruptin', Z. Jus' came from the infirmary, checkin' on that Broch fella. You were there when he showed up, eh? Heard it was quite the show." He kissed her on top of her head.
"Quite the show indeed, hm." She smiled a bit at the kiss and leaned back. "I didn't know if I would see you tonight... But I'm glad you're here " She said, putting down her pen and placing her hands on his arms while he hugged her.
"Long day, huh? Did Desmon' really fuck up the books that bad?" He chuckled. "But yeah, I wasn't really thinkin' and just ended up here. Figgered I just knew what I wanted even when I wasn't thinkin' about it."He stood up again, taking the weight off of Ziessel's shoulders, and took a couple of steps to sit down on the bed. "How've yeh been adjustin' since gettin' out? I've done a coupla stints, but none as long as five years. Even a year or two can be hard to shake off and get back into things."
"No, no. Desmond did the best he could. It's just bad handwriting and... a lot of doodles of dicks." She said, then turned the chair around when he sat on the bed. What was she supposed to say? Well, maybe she should just... She let the words spill. "I don't know if I am. I feel so out of my depth, everyone else seems to have everything figured out. Even Rhetta. But I'm- I'm struggling with things, I'm out of touch and every time I think about asking for help the-, the person I want to go to for a word of wisdom isn't even here. He's never going to be here again." She said, pulling her legs up onto the chair and hugging them close to her chest.
"Yeah I figgered that was eatin' at yeh. N' I can't say I blame yeh. He was one of a kind, that's fer sure." Xandre got up again and moved closer to her, sitting on the floor in front of her chair. He looked up, trying to meet her eyes."Look, I know I ain't Salem. I could never fill his shoes. We were very different people. But I'm here. If you need me, I'm here. Just lemme know how I can help."
She looked at him, surprised to see him on the floor. "But you're busy. Everyone is... Very busy, we all are. And- you're already doing so much." Xandre and Salem, they had practically nothing in common. That was true. But they were both unique, amazing people. She got off the chair and slid to the floor next to him, and took his hands in hers. "You're here with me, aren't you? Even though you should probably be resting." She said, looking at him with a little smile.
"I'm not gonna lie to ya, Z. I'm here coz I wanna be. I like hangin' out with you. Maybe it's not resting, but it's relaxing." He squeezed her hands as she took his. "N' hey, you should be restin' too. So I reckon we may as well not rest together, right?" He brightened his previously-somber tone at that last line."So what if I'm busy? I'll make time. It may not be every day, but I'll make it to see yeh when I can, K?"
She snorted, having an idea of what he was getting to. Her smile remained this time, and she scooted closer to him so she could hug him instead of just holding his hands. "What about you though? How are you holding up?" She said, turning her face towards him to take in his scent better.
"Oh I'm doin' alright, all things considered. It's true we lost a lotta folks so I'm doin' my best to keep shit goin', same as everyone. We gotta get some new blood, and fast. Hell jus' today I was helpin Lark out with some collecions n' some shithead decided to piss all over Thorje's market. While Lark was inside. Was some crazy shit. But my point is we're all chippin' in, so who am I to complain about it?" He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "As long as the hits stop comin' at some point, I'm good."
She wasn't sure they would stop, ever or at all. But if he could hope, then maybe she could as well. And whether they were right or wrong in the end, they could celebrate or hold each other up together. "So much new blood makes me nervous too, everyone is so young. They're all kids, and it's fucking weird." She said with a little sigh, nosing at his cheek in return and also leaving a little kiss there. Also what the fuck kinda weirdo pissed inside a market? Ew? He must have been deeply troubled. (edited)
"It's bound to happen. Any group is gonna have waves. The older crowd has to train the younger crowd. Remember when I joined? Yeh'd just come back at that point if I recall. I was a snot-nosed punk too, didn't know my ass from my elbow. Now I'm at least half-competent."He gave her a smirk."They'll figure shit out too. Just gotta be patient and wait. And maybe give 'em a kick in the pants from time to time." He wrapped his arms around her and held her there, in the middle of the floor.
He made her laugh a little, as always. Even though she was sad and sulky and tired. He was right about that. So much for not going to him for a word of wisdom, hm?. She should probably adjust her expectations and listen to him more. This time, she kissed him on the lips.
"You're a pro, Xandre. But I don't think you'll ever stop being a 'punk' like you said." She joked, still smiling softly. Why did she always turn this soft when they were alone?. It was uncanny. She kissed him on the lips and he blushed, smiling widely when she pulled away.
"A punk, eh? Well I reckonif you're gonna accuse me of somethin' I may as well." He gave a wink at that, and then he pushed her backwards onto the flat of her back and then straddled her, grinning.
He looked adorable from her point of view, and very, very good from this angle. "What, too punk for a bed as well??" She joked, putting her hands on his knees but making little effort to get up or make him get off of her at all. She just held on.
"Yeah, punks like me ain't got time fer trifles like that. We take what we want when we want it, to hell with the consequences." He winked, then leaned in to kiss Ziessel softly. The kiss lingered, but only for a moment. As he broke away, he continued his teasing. "N' I see something I want." He brushed the back of his hand across her cheek for a moment...
...
Later, in the communal showers.
He kissed her back, pulling her up against him. It probably wasn't the most hygienic to remain on the floor of the shower for too long but he was too spent to stand up at the moment and instead focused on her, kissing deeply and letting his tongue explore her mouth. He wrapped his arms around her in a big hug as he did, squeezing her as tightly as he dared; he knew he was very strong and was careful not to go too tight.
She was also a bit wary of lingering on the shower room's floor. But she was getting deliciously squished by Xandre, it was very comforting and she definitely wanted it to continue as they kissed. Still under the stream of water, until they were out of breath. Then Ziessel kissed Xandre's nose affectionately, got up and offered him a hand so he'd get on his feet as well. Thank... god, or anyone with power over destiny, for giving her nights like these.
Xandre took the offered hand and stood up. His legs were still shaky but they supported him. He stared at her like he wanted to say something more. In fact, he did want to say something more, but he didn't know how. And he was afraid of what it could mean. Afraid of scaring her off. So instead he smiled warmly at her, and after a moment manage to get out, "Should get finished up in 'ere, yeah?" He reached for the bottle of soap to continue washing her.
She nodded and stood in place so he could finish up with her. There was something in his gaze. It was deep and beautiful, but she didn't know what to do about it so she let it pass, for now. Instead she kissed him, chastely this time, and let him finish washing her so they could get back to the room and hopefully snuggle a bit before they fell asleep. They were both expecting early mornings, sadly, but it was what the pack needed.
A few minutes later, they found themselves back in her temporary bedroom. Once sufficiently dry, Xandre draped their towels over a rack in the corner and crawled, still nude, into bed. Ziessel folded their clothes up and placed them on the seat of the chair for the morning and then joined him. He drew her into a big hug, somehow big-spooning despite his height disadvantage. He kissed her on the back of her shoulder. "'Night, darlin'," he said with a little squeeze. She was warm and comfortable (even if her bed really wasn't), and so it wasn't long before Xandre drifted off to sleep. She wasn't far behind.