Settling In

[Ehcorn]

After confirming that Jake had sent for someone to ensure the keypad and its scanner would register Sam’s fingerprint as well as his, Remi had wordlessly led the way into the penthouse that the Central District Leader had gifted him.

Ever since their meeting with Jake’s rival, Ben, and Ben’s partner, Kerr, Remi had been quiet. At first it’d been driven by the humiliation that’d come along with moaning at Sam’s boss because Ben had rubbed him the right way, but then it rolled into everything they’d said before that — everything about Jake. He still didn’t see any of the strings they claimed were attached to the place he now called home, but when a majority of the people you knew gave the same warning, it became difficult to ignore.

Just like the centerpiece of the lobby: a statue in the form of a woman but absent any of the details he'd come to expect from human sculptures.

Remi had stopped to stare up at her with his hands on his hips and a pensive frown dragging at his mouth. His wings were clamped as tightly to his back as they had been since Ben had dug his hands into his feathers.

"It's like everything else in here. It’s nice," he told Sam, who hadn’t made it much farther than him, "but I don’t know that it fits me. Not like the garden. It feels like it belongs to someone else."

[Existentially Odd]

When they'd met Jake the evening before to take ownership of the property they'd been flushed and handsy, unable to get far away from each other in the wake of their first lovemaking. They'd been giggly and only had eyes for one another, much to Jake's chagrin. He'd got their attention by throwing something new into the mix; talk of Remi becoming his Sheriff. He'd gained Remi's focus completely then and been very pleased to have it.

After the papers were signed and the drawn-out insinuations and conversations had happened, they'd been left alone to explore the penthouse. It'd only been enough time to do a quick scout of the place before Remi had to go and meet up with his dark angel project and Sam had gone to the Academy to do some work. He'd finally looked at his phone when he'd got there, which had opened up all new dramas. He'd met up with Remi afterwards and been invited to stay the day in the penthouse with him, which had blown everything else away.

Tonight, Sam had awoken here but had to go back to the Luminary to shower and change, then they'd met with Ben and Kerr. It felt like now was the first chance they'd had to breathe in the last couple of nights. The decor of Remi's new home certainly hadn't been high on the agenda but now that he'd brought it up... Sam turned and wrapped his arms tightly about Remi's waist, holding him close so as to reassure him,  their noses rubbing against each other in his earnestness.

"This place doesn't fit you," he agreed, nuzzling against Remi's nose and enjoying the way his body stirred so eagerly to life when his front was pressed tightly to Remi's. "Although there's enough lime green to make me think of your fruit addiction," he teased, grin broadening as his hands splayed across the small of Remi's back to hold him in place so he could practically climb inside him. "It's not exactly relaxing like your garden. It's showy and bright. Its only advantage is it allows me to come visit you whenever I want."

Sam grinned, feeling hopeful and guilty and jealous and longing but doing his best to hide everything but happy. It was Remi's apartment, his protection from the elements as provided by a generous district leader. Sam wasn't officially part of the arrangement and he couldn't be expected to be after just over a week with Remi. "D'you want to redecorate it?"

[Ehcorn]

For the first time in what felt like hours, Remi relaxed. He sank into Sam's hold, sliding his arms beneath the vampire's to hug him tightly in return, and if all the tension that'd built up in him had been a physical thing, it would've oozed out of him and puddled around their feet.

Sam had instantly made it easier to breathe, to smile, and to respond to his teasing in kind.

"If by redecorating you mean making room for some of my plants, sure." He narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips thoughtfully, then broke into a grin. "All we need is a bed, though. Everything else could go. We could fill the place with plants, make it a greenhouse." 

And since Sam's lips were so close to his, he tilted his head and pecked a kiss to them before he nestled in closer and rested his head on the other man's shoulder.

"You think anyone would want that statue?"

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel turned and nuzzled Remi's hair, chuckling over his reference to the statue. He ran his hands soothingly up and down Remi's back. "We could sell it, make some money. Online or maybe offer it to Ben and Kerr. I hear they have a whole floor dedicated to art and antiques in The Luminary. They might buy it?"

It wasn't just hearsay, Digital had told him about the art gallery one night after he'd delivered an artfully-shaped load of spunk onto Sam's stomach and cackled about how it should be frozen and hung in Ben and Kerr's gallery. Of course, he couldn't tell Remi that.

[Ehcorn]

Remi’s eyebrows went up and he made a soft, intrigued sound when Sam presented a scenario where they could make money selling the statue. By that logic, they could sell everything they didn’t need. He wasn’t sure how much they could hope to make off of it all, but everything looked expensive. Surely it’d be enough that they—

They.

Not he or him or his, but they, them, theirs.

He wasn't alone. Sam had referred to them as a unit, too. We could sell it. We could make some money.

The realization caused him to smile the same fuzzily contented smile he had when he’d woken up that evening cocooned by thick, warm blankets and Sam’s arms. He'd wanted to stay there forever because he didn't know when they'd have another chance to do it again, but what if they didn’t have to wait for the stars to align and life to sort itself out to spend time with each other?

Remi lifted his head to cast an anticipatory look at the vampire, then lowered his eyes as he unraveled his arms to slide his hands up and over the front of Sam’s suit, his fingers seeking out and smoothing lapels that already laid flat.

"If we sold the rest, we'd have something to redecorate with if that's what we wanted to spend it on. Otherwise, I could scoot my plants around to make room for your things." Realizing how that might’ve sounded, Remi blinked up at Sam, his mouth hanging open until all the words that’d been bunched up in his throat came tumbling out, "I want you here, too. Not just your things. You’ve got a lot nice things but that’s not—"

He pressed his lips together and huffed out through his nose. "You could stay here, I mean. Always. Not just to visit."

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel's gaze was rivetted on Remi's the moment he started talking about moving plants around for his things. His skin felt tight, his face like a grim mask as riots of excitement began to explode inside him. The stunned excitement inside him slowly worked its way out of him, lifting the corners of his mouth, tightening his grip on Remi, shuffling impossibly closer to him.

"You want me to live with you?" he asked breathlessly, once Remi was done stammering out his invitation. They'd only been together a week. They weren't even really together. Sam laughed giddily, shifting his grip to cupping Remi's face. "We haven't even labelled this, what we are, and you want to have me sleeping in your bed every day?"

His tone conveyed excitement and eagerness despite the fact his words were somewhat cautious. Nothing in his heart was at all reluctant.

[Ehcorn]

"I— well… yes, that’s the point of living together, isn’t it?" Remi said, breathing a laugh as he reached up to curl his fingers around Sam’s wrists. He slid his hands down his forearms and up again, feeling the soft fabric of his suit sleeves, and wondered if there was supposed to be more to it. Sam seemed to think so.

"You want to label us? Like Ben and Kerr have a label? Partners?" One of his hands went on the move again as he wedged it between them and rested it palm down on Sam’s chest, right above his heart; the same spot he’d healed the mark from Ben. "If that means you want to fight in front of guests or let dark angels kiss you, I'm taking back the offer."

He tapped a rhythmless beat on Sam’s silken tie and raised his eyebrows at him, but his twinkling eyes and the smile he struggled to contain might've betrayed that he was teasing about that, too.

[Existentially Odd]

Sam's mouth opened in slow motion, forming an awed and impressed 'o' of wonder as he marvelled at Remi's jest. It was unexpected and delightful. He giggled, his eyebrows raised at Remi as well. "Wow," he breathed once the giggles died down. "Look who's got his sassy pants on!" Sam's expression became marginally more mischievous as Remi pawed at him and he loved it.

How could he possibly ever think of staying apart from the angel willingly? He was already having the time of his life and it'd been so few nights! His heart was in danger of being surrendered in record time and he didn't even care. The challenge of their different species should've been giving him pause, in all likelihood - their sleeping schedules were already a task to navigate - but it was having quite the opposite effect on him. Remi being an angel made Sam more excited to explore their differences.

His hands slid around to cup Remi's firm, round ass, dragging their crotches together. "Hell yeah I want a label! I want to hear you tell me what you want me to call you when I boast about you. My partner? My boyfriend? My lover? I already figured I wouldn't be kissin' on anybody else - least of all a dark angel," he said scornfully, his expression showing pure disdain at the idea of it, "but gimme a second to think about the other part. Because tonight was so comfortable," he grinned at his own sarcasm, enjoying teasing Remi by tilting his head and looking like he was questioning every one of his life choices up to this point.

Honestly, the idea of swearing at Remi at all was anathema to him, let alone bluntly snarling 'Fuck you!' in his face. Samuel was still boggling over what sort of relationship Kerr and Ben had developed; it couldn't have been a happy one, based on that swearing. They used to be so much happier when Kerr was the Luminary, what had gone wrong? Kerr's 'death'? But shouldn't that have made them appreciate each other more? They weren't always like that, though. He'd seen them happy at the Academy and around The Luminary. Maybe they'd just been having an off night? Everybody had those.

[Ehcorn]

Remi was happy to give Sam a second. He needed one himself. The hands squeezing his backside and pressing them together made it difficult to focus, and he needed to focus. Sam had said things. Important things. Relationship things. He pulled his hand out from where it’d been trapped between them and wrapped his arms around Sam’s neck, bringing their chests flush, too. With their noses so close they touched, it was difficult to resist the urge to kiss the vampire, but he needed to use his lips to speak.

He made himself look into Sam’s eyes, not at his lips. Not at his lips. Not at—

And here, Remi learned that telling himself not to look at something made it impossible not to look.

His heart flip-flopped as he admired the curve of a plump bottom lip that begged to be nibbled and sucked on and why was it so hard to look away? He’d thought their multiple rounds would’ve made it easier to be near Sam and not want to drag him to bed, but it hadn’t. Not at all.

"So my choices were partner, lover and…" Remi trailed off and grimaced like he’d had a cup of cold water dumped on his head. "I’m not a boy and we’re friends, yes, but it’s more than that. We’re not only lovers, either. We do more than make love. Partners. We’re partners. We face everything together and we only share ourselves with each other." He looked askance, his mouth a thin line, and sighed before licking his lips and continuing, "Like where Ben touched me? And how I reacted? I realize he didn't know any better, but that's supposed to be private. For you." He huffed softly. "Next time someone asks to touch my wings, I’ll make sure I tell them they're only allowed to touch my feathers. The ones on the outside."

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel's grin returned in earnest as Remi looked like he was going to succumb to his touch... but then followed his lead and picked a label for them. It had a vaguely business-like ring to it but Sam agreed it was the one best suited to them.  He didn't like the idea that they might become like Ben and Kerr in the ensuing years of their relationship but Sam had faith that they'd witnessed an uncharacteristically tense night between his boss and his partner. Love still presided in their hearts. Plus, Remi also spoke of them being monogamous, which was key.

He kissed Remi briefly, tasting excitement and a heady concoction of permanency he hadn't anticipated possible this early on in their relationship. They were still so new but so right it was boggling.  And wonderful.

"Okay then," he said softly, "we're partners and I will move in here with you so I miss as little time with you as possible. And if anyone wants to get their hands on your wings, they'll have to go through me first." His broad grin changed to something a little more perplexed as he thought about their evening. "I'm not even totally sure why Ben wanted to get his hands on them anyway. I didn't care about the noise you dropped but I wondered why he did it. What was the deal with the dark angel's mark on his chest, anyway? You got a weird look on your face when you healed it."

Standing here conversing with Remi in his arms and pressed tightly to his body felt like the most natural thing in the world. Sam was enamoured with it and with the angel himself.  Everything he said was interesting but he was particularly intrigued by the fact that it'd felt like there was something more to the 'burnt by a dark angel' story.

[Ehcorn]

Sam brought up Ben and his mark and the weird face returned. Remi’s eyebrows knitted, his lips thinned, and the warmth in his eyes disappeared. "Well…" There was a brief pause where he tried to figure out how to explain what he’d seen and how he’d seen it, but Sam's arms could only provide him so much clarity when he was stuck inside. He needed Sam as well as the clear night sky, with stars overhead and an occasional breeze to stir his feathers — not stagnant, recycled air in a space with walls and a roof that seemed all the more oppressive when he was forced to think about dark angels that weren’t actively being rehabilitated.

He snapped his tongue off the roof of his mouth and shook his head. "I’m having trouble thinking in here," he admitted. "Come sit with me in my garden?" A smile stole over his face, transforming his expression back into what it’d been when Sam had agreed to move in with him. "Our garden?"

His amended request came with a kiss, slow and sweet, as well as a tender moment spent caressing Sam’s cheek before he pulled himself back and gathered the vampire’s hand in his. He led him past the statue and into the penthouse, through the gleaming silver and black kitchen that had been touted as state-of-the-art when they’d first toured it, and into the dining area. Presiding over the room was a long table lined with chairs and close nearby, a staircase. It was the latter that he approached, and he released Sam’s hand so they could climb up and onto the rooftop of the Capital Building.

The air was as cool and clear and crisp as he'd hoped. He paused long enough to tilt his head back and smile at the night sky, then it was on to the couch situated beneath a canopy of vines supporting countless grape-like clusters of flowers. They’d exploded into fragrant existence since Sam had last visited the rooftop, back when they’d been discovered cuddling on the couch by Vretil.

His mentor had ruined that night, but he wasn’t there to ruin this one.

"Alright, so," he began, once he’d sat down and had Sam tucked into his side with an arm and a wing curled around him, "the mark." Remi explained how he could see auras, he could see curses, and he could also see where a dark angel had scalded Ben with a touch — but not just any touch. "It was in the shape of lips, like how you pucker before you kiss." Remi cast a sidelong look in Sam’s direction. "He didn’t seem like he wanted me to remove it at first, did he?"

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel grinned at the invitation to their garden and agreed graciously, too filled with the wonder of how that sounded to pay attention to walking. He was pretty sure he floated all the way up onto the roof, where the air and the scent of newborn flowers only added to his daze. Nestling against Remi, he listened to his explanation of his 'sight' and was appropriately scandalised by the description of the mark's shape.

"He really didn't. I'm still shocked by the way he snarled and swore at Kerr. He settled down when Kerr said he had to choose potential allies or...  well, him, I guess," Sam wondered aloud, his drawling voice revealing his conclusions and his amazement. "Do you think... Ben let a dark angel kiss a curse onto his chest? Just because he didn't seem to want it taken off?" Sam asked conspiratorially, a hand gripping Remi's thigh tighter at the implications.

Kerr had seemed to know exactly what Ben was volatile about. But how? And if that were the case, why? The more they talked, the more questions Sam came up with.

[Ehcorn]

"Not just that," Remi said slowly, working through details from the evening as he went, "but because of how Kerr acted. He… He was smiling one second, and then it was like Ben had ripped his heart out. Like he’d been…” The angel trailed off to chew on the inside of his lip and sighed out, long and thoughtful. "Betrayed," he decided. "Like Ben had betrayed him."

Remi reached for the hand that had been gripping his thigh and covered it with his own. As he swiped his thumb over Sam’s wrist, ticking back and forth over his cool skin as steadily as a metronome, he allowed his thoughts to drift to the past and to Mexico. "I’ve felt that way before. When— well, you know. But that's not something I ever plan on making you feel," he said, conviction in his voice (and if Sam could manage a peek from where he was burrowed into Remi’s side, shining in his eyes).

His attitude shifted to something more lighthearted as he nudged into Sam and added with a smile, "The same goes for you, right?"

[Existentially Odd]

Despite Remi's breezy tone and playful nudge, Samuel took the question asked of him very seriously. He straightened up, turning his hand in Remi's grasp so that he was holding his hand, threading their fingers together. It felt like a dream. Honestly. The time spent with Remiel had all the right elements; unbelievable events, heightened emotions, shocking revelations and intense sexualisation. Their time together was both a blur and a standstill moment of breathless anticipation.

Sam wasn't used to spending time outside of a routine. He didn't push himself beyond his comfort zone - inside books or his library. He didn't involve himself with warm-blooded creatures with variable heartbeats that could deafen him with their pounding and rushing blood. Remiel had been entirely unexpected, an echo of a past Sam was ashamed about - yet still enchanted by - an uninvited disruption when he'd finally created a smooth path for himself.

In the question he'd just been asked, there was gravitas; sorely needed after a dazzling ride and whirlwind week together. Here they were... partners. And he'd just agreed to live in Remi's space. He'd committed himself to sleeping beside someone he knew yet didn't, agreed to take a chance on a man who still needed reassurance about the nature of their relationship. Because they'd both jumped in headfirst and now they needed to look around at what they'd landed in. In Remi's question was a vulnerability he didn't expect but which he adored because the asking of it was necessary. It was everything.

Neither of them was entirely sure what they'd got themselves into but both of them had leapt anyway. It was exhilarating to be so wholly out of their depth but be completely understood by the wondrous near-stranger at their side. There was still so much to learn about themselves and each other but both were happy to do it together. It might be messy and a lot of people wouldn't be prepared to do it - it contradicted Sam's usually-quiet and restrained nature one hundred percent - but they hadn't thought twice.

Remiel had that effect on him. Stole his thoughts, stole his inhibitions, stole his heart. Sam was stripped raw and floundering but there wasn't a speck of panic inside because he was needed like he needed, craved like he craved. It was weird and wild and wonderful to be so different to this amazing winged creature at his side, yet be perfectly aligned in intent and desire. It boggled and humbled him and it was with that amount of brevity that he answered; from his heart. From his soul.

"Right," he said emphatically, looking unwaveringly into Remi's eyes. "I don't know what went wrong with Ben and Kerr - I remember them as a great couple, I hope they work it out and that you helped them to start healing - but I don't plan on anything like that happening to us, ever. It baffles me and awes me that you want me but everything I am is yours from tonight onwards. I commit to you as my partner and swear to be faithful to our relationship until you tell me you no longer want it," he smiled earnestly, the hand not entwined with Remi's reaching up to cup his face, thumb stroking his cheek gently.

[Ehcorn]

Remi closed his eyes and slowly turned his mouth into Sam’s hand, his beard rasping softly as he maneuvered himself to press a lingering kiss to the heel of Sam’s palm. He let loose a sigh that took all his concerns with it and relaxed into the vampire’s hold, allowing his head and neck to be cradled by cool fingers that he knew wouldn’t stay cool for long. Sam would absorb his warmth, take it as his own, and soon, their temperatures would be one and the same.

"And I’m yours," he mumbled through a sloppy smile, the type he’d seen humans stumbling out of bars wearing. He’d never been drunk before, but he wondered if it’d make him feel like he did now, all tingly and gooey, like an electrified blob of… of blobness.

He knew he could come up with a better word than that, but he couldn’t find it in himself to try.

He was a blob.

Sam’s blob.

He opened his eyes to gaze wonderingly at the vampire, his smile growing more lopsided by the heartbeat. "Remember how you told me that you looked for what made me happiest when you had to bring me back to myself at Jake’s club?" Remi lifted his head and pulled his leg underneath him so he could twist and lean forward and run his fingers over and through the curtain of brown that always framed Sam’s noble features. There were a few errant strands that he tried to coax behind his ear, but as soon as he lifted his hand, the hair escaped again.

Remi laughed and slid his hand to Sam’s neck. "It’s you, now."