Angel In His Pocket

[Maxpphire]

When Sam had kissed his forehead then just got up, he was left blushing. He certainly hadn't expected that at all and it did bring him back to some of the more colorful memories he did have with Sam, and a remembrance of a couple of songs he had been asked to sing while they did something that they never did get around to doing because of interference from the facility. He sighed while he realized he probably wouldn't exactly be appropriate to choose either of those songs, he figured he could use them as a jumping off point on what Sam would probably enjoy listening to. So when Sam came back with a laptop he was able to directed him what to look up, most of the time, and then from there look into related videos to choose the next.

Of course at some point the "4 Chords" video came about and Dreki explained how it was interesting because it showed that a lot of popular songs tend to rely on the same cord progression with being completely different genres and sounding different. From there it devolved into things that looked interesting to Sam, and while some things did get a small chuckle out of him, other things Sam did have to explain what was going on and sometimes the context. Some things would get a small chuckle while other things got more of a 'huh.' with some internal thinking about it on Dreki's part.

He had been more than enjoying himself, but he could also feel the tiredness tug at him. Part of him wondered if the couch they were on would become his bed for the day but not long after that thought Sam's phone rang and a sense of excitement and anxiety rang through him when told it was Remi. He paid close attention to Sam during the phonecall wanting to know that Remi was fine, and what had happened. Soon enough he had his answers and felt a sense of relief wash through him that tonight Remi was fine. He did remember hearing Sam say that the angel in question would be there every night basically so there was still this sense of worry deep within him, but the fact that tonight, Remi was fine, did make him feel better for the moment.

"A car would be nice, provided that you're doing ok enough that you don't need my company to feel ok anymore. If you do then I have no problem staying." He mentioned again. While Sam's couch was comfortable and probably very easy to fall asleep on, he'd of course much prefer his own bed. The anxiety of what happened earlier caught up with him finally and he did just want to get some rest, part of him was worried that if Remi didn't call when he did that he'd just end up falling asleep on the couch while Sam looked at funny videos. "Also thank you, might seem silly but I do think if I did go straight home I would have had a much worse night than I ended up having. If you need me, don't be afraid to reach out, ok? It wasn't torture to be here at all." He said with a small chuckle and a reassuring squeeze of Sam's hand. He might be more willing to reach out to Sam himself if he needed it after tonight.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel laughed heartily at Dreki's back-handed compliment. It hadn't been torture for them to spend time together. No, it hadn't and he was glad about that. Squeezing Dreki's hand (which had somehow found its way back into his when Remiel's call had registered and he'd hastily put his laptop on the coffee table, he supposed. He hadn't even noticed the gesture, comfortable as he was with holding Dreki's hand) in return, Sam quickly ordered a car on his phone for Dreki.

"Thanks for that," he grinned wryly - meaning the torture comment - as he looked down at his phone. "I do appreciate it and I've enjoyed your company. I'll definitely call you if I need you and I'll let you know how he goes tomorrow night, too," he offered. The car order was complete so he stood, still holding Dreki's hand and sliding his phone into his pants pocket.

"C'mon. I'll walk you down. The car is only six minutes away," he urged, tugging gently on their connected hands. He had no qualms about travelling down in the elevator and through the lobby still holding onto Dreki, either, but would drop the hold if Dreki indicated he didn't want to walk out in public with him like that.

[Maxpphire]

"Thanks, I should be mostly free tomorrow night aside from the one class I teach, but that's early enough in the night that I can easily just be available for the rest of the night after that without issue," he explained basically giving Sam an open invitation to contact him or even to ask for company again if needed. After all he did feel it was his fault that Remi could possibly be in some form of danger, it was really the only way he felt he could make that up to Sam.

When Sam had mentioned the car wasn't that far away and started to walk with him to the lobby, he realized it wasn't feasible to ask about using the stairs at that point and that he'd have to suffer the elevator again given how they were on the 15th floor. He didn't really mind that Sam was walking with him holding his hand, in fact he felt grateful for it once they were on the elevator. If Sam stood close to the wall, then Dreki would kind of position himself behind Sam to be able to grip the arm railing with his free hand. If he stood closer to the wall then all the easier it was for him to grip the arm railing with. In his discomfort he tried not to grip Sam's hand too tightly and tried to focus his other hand on doing so but the raise in heartrate and the tighter grip on the hand was probably noticeable regardless.

We're in The Luminary, I teach here, I go here at least weekly, even more for the library, this isn't the facility. Hofflan isn't waiting for me at the bottom, it will just be the Lobby. A room I walk through all the time. Elevators are useful and quicker, there is no reason to be like this, this isn't a bad place to be. This is my workplace, a friend's home, I'm safe, this isn't the facility. Hofflan is dead, I'm safe. I'm safe here.

He was trying to reassure himself as they went down, but as a result of being focused on his thoughts, he was otherwise quiet and in general not paying attention to whatever stops the elevator seemed to make either. He would start moving again if he felt the tug of Sam's hand, and would snap out of his thoughts if Sam, or anyone else, directly spoke to him.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel nodded at Dreki's profession of freedom the next night, practically shouting at him to Call me!! in his own way. He chuckled, saying, "I'll keep that in mind," while stepping in to the elevator and slouching near the back wall.

Once there, he became aware that Dreki wasn't doing so well; his thoughts were obnoxiously loud and difficult for Sam to ignore, in fact.

"You don't like elevators either?" he asked, thinking about the time they'd gone to Echelon and Dreki had been perfectly fine in the lift. He wasn't fine now, though. "Since when?" he queried, squeezing Dreki's hand in an effort to reassure him.

[Maxpphire]

"Since I became free," he mentioned a quieter voice, "while I'm glad to have my memories back in full and wouldn't change that, getting used to being reminded of, things, some of which I really don't want to be reminded of, when I do certain things has been not the easiest thing to get used to. In fact, getting used to be free in general has actually been a little difficult to deal with, but I've been getting through it little by little." He explained as he looked down at the ground feeling a little embarrassed over his own discomfort, part of him felt like he should be better than this.

He remembered the last time he was in an elevator with Sam with that 'Since when' comment, and even if he was uncomfortable with elevators back then, he would have been far too busy to have been worried about such a thing at that moment. But there was one word that struck him as odd in Sam's questioning.

"What do you mean by 'either'?" he asked looking back at Sam, with more of a curious look to his face, "You know if you don't like elevators yourself, we could have just taken the stairs. Probably requested the car around floor 3 or 4 and still would have made it to the lobby with decent time." He seemed to be feeling a little better talking to Sam, the distraction of the conversation helped a bit.

[Existentially Odd]

Again, Samuel found himself nodding sympathetically at Dreki. It was only when he asked about his slip of the tongue that he realised he'd possibly said more than what Remiel might like.

"No, it's not me," he insisted calmly. "It's... Remiel. He doesn't like tight spaces. Are you upset only in lifts?" Sam queried.

[Maxpphire]

"No, medical related facilities seem to also make me highly uncomfortable. I went to find a new doctor that was in the know after I became free because I knew at that time that I would need it. My first visit didn't go over so well, not because of them, but because I had such a hard time with being there." He explained, not really commenting on Remi's issue with the elevator, but did make a mental note of it. If he did get used to elevators again at some point, he'd have to keep in mind that with Remi, he'd just take the stairs.

"Other than that and people going through my memories without at least warning me or asking first, I haven't noticed anything else yet." He wasn't trying to bring that up to jab at Sam or anything, but it was something he learned he didn't quite enjoy that night, "I don't think I'd have an issue with someone speaking with me mentally if they needed to, but I actually haven't tried that yet and it was something that Hofflan did with me a lot. At the same time, when he did that, he generally wasn't near me physically." He was trying to think about if that would actually bother him or not.

[Existentially Odd]

Probably much to Dreki's great relief, they finally reached the lobby and the lift doors opened smoothly. Samuel noticed Dreki spring forward and was quick to keep up with him. There were a few people around so he found himself subtly guiding them through The Luminary's lobby in order to avoid the little islands of people pulling suitcases or wandering in with food or coffee.

It was easier than acknowledging his part in Dreki's discomfort earlier. He was ashamed he'd caused it by searching his mind but he wasn't sorry he'd done it so he wasn't going to apologise for it. Dreki himself hadn't been too sure what'd happened and there was no way Sam was going to see Remiel off into potential danger without doing everything in his power to equip him with every available bit of information. It had been a necessary evil, in Sam's opinion.

"I'll keep that in mind," he told Dreki noncommittally, his mind already moving to what he would do with the rest of his night. Just because the two diurnal angels in his life needed sleep didn't mean he had any intention of wasting his wakeful hours. With a pang, he thought of being there to watch over Remi while he slept. That wouldn't be a waste of his time... though going to the Academy had been his intention hours ago and he really should go in for a while. Remi-gazing would have to wait for another night (and, perhaps, until he'd taken possession of the penthouse and then Sam would have somewhere to go when the sun started to rise).

"Thanks again for everything you did tonight," he told Dreki as they left the hotel and the brisk night air hit their faces. A car was stopped in front of them, across the concrete apron that formed a sort of courtyard before the hotel and Sam supposed it was the one he'd ordered. He'd go up and check it was under his name when he helped Dreki in, to be sure. "We couldn't have done it without you."

[Maxpphire]

When they got off the elevator, Dreki's grip on Sam's hand relaxed back to his normal grip strength as he walked with Sam through the lobby and out the doors.

"Of course, and thank you for helping too. I'll see you around." He said as he got in the car, he felt closer to Sam after all that happened tonight and while his worries for Remi were temporarily eased, in the back of his mind he knew tomorrow night would likely be a different beast altogether. He hoped for the best outcome that Remi would be fine.