Settling In

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel beamed, melting into Remi and feeling there could be nothing more perfect than an angel running his fingers through your hair on a cool, clear evening, his wings wrapped around you and the entire world holding its breath while you whispered sweet promises to one another. Then he quickly changed his mind as their lips met and he found there could be something more perfect after all.

Their kiss was slow and sweet, full of promises and earnest devotion. It was much too early for them to think about bed and much too soon after seeing Ben and Kerr's sour interchange for them to advance, it felt like, so Sam pulled away after a fairly brief exchange of tongues. His mind wandered to that night at Jake's bar and to the promise Kerr had made them. Sam smiled, his head resting on Remi's shoulder.

"When your claustrophobia is cured, what are you looking forward to doing the most?" he asked dreamily.

[Ehcorn]

"Going into the music hall," Remi said, almost as soon as Sam had finished asking the question. "I’ve only tried once. The ceiling was high, and normally that’s enough, but it was dark and there were a lot of people and... I had to have help leaving." Smiling sheepishly, he told Sam about the kind-faced old man that’d dragged him from his seat and guided him out of the building. If Remi hadn’t recovered as quickly as he had, he was sure the man would’ve carried through with his threat of calling an ambulance for him, but thankfully, it hadn't come to that.

"If I didn't miss it so much, I wouldn't have bothered,” Remi admitted, resting his head gently against Sam’s. "Music, I mean. I listen to it through my phone, sometimes. With the things you put in your ears? Ear pods? But it’s not the same. You can’t feel it."

Not like he could feel Sam in that moment, the weight on his shoulder and their twined fingers acting as a comforting reminder of their connection to one another. Combined with the cool breeze carrying the essence of freshly bloomed flowers past his nose, he found it easier than he’d thought to broach a topic that’d been bothering him.

"I should look forward to seeing my mother most, shouldn’t I?” Remi’s throat grew tight, making the remainder of his words strained. "I wish I did, but it makes everything twist up when I think about it. I’m not her son. Not really. What if she doesn’t want to see me?"

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel didn't know what he'd been expecting Remi's answer to be but a music hall for a concert surprised the heck out of him. He hadn't realised it was so important to Remi to listen to and feel music. It was a new thing to marvel at his partner about. Sam decided he needed to investigate the sound system in the penthouse as a matter of priority, hopeful that it was connected to all the rooms as modern places tended to do.

His thoughts distracted him enough that he didn't end up making a comment about the music before Remi raised another surprising topic with him. He tilted his head towards Remi but their position didn't allow him to see his face and he was loathe to break contact with him just to look into his eyes. He squeezed him tighter, though.

"No... I don't know that you should be looking forward to seeing a woman you don't remember," he drawled pensively, obviously putting a great deal of consideration into his answer. "I believe y'all are right to be apprehensive. And there's only one way to find out if she wants to see you or not... and that's to go see her," he finished quietly.

They'd tentatively planned to do just that but if Remi was having second thoughts, Sam wasn't going to shove him into doing it against his will. Forcing such a thing wasn't going to help anyone; Remi had to want it.

[Ehcorn]

"That's... exactly... what I've been... trying to tell myself. Hearing you... say it... too... helps," he said haltingly while he adjusted to Sam's tighter hold, pulling his leg out from underneath him and briefly resting his foot next to the other on a plush, vibrantly colored rug that covered cold tile. More shifting, and he'd toed off his loafers and shoved them underneath the glass coffee table that he then popped his heels onto.

"Enough that I'll put getting into a car at the top of my list of things to do once my claustrophobia is cured," he added. Smiling, he leaned over and kissed the crown of Sam's head, savoring the scent of his shampoo combined with the wisteria blossoms hanging above them.

In that moment, he felt more at home than he had since he'd left the heavenly plane.

And then, when he sat back again, they began their trip-planning, where Sam did most of the planning while Remi held him and marveled that by this time next week, they'd be across the country and visiting the place he'd been born but had never visited - not in this lifetime, at least.

***