[PRP] where did you sleep last night (finn/aleksy)

[Silverah]

Five days later, Finn staggered out of the woods, minus both shoes and wearing a work uniform that would never again be suitable for service. His recollections of the past few days were foggy. Fuzzy. He'd been to the Otherworld - that much he knew. He'd been... a rabbit or something. That much was also clear. And Jamie had been there.

Where was Jamie now?

Finn would worry about that when he had shoes and a jacket that wasn't torn six ways to sunday.

Or he'd send a text.

He found his way back to the parking lot, and found his keys still, thankfully, clipped to his belt, and drove home through the quiet, just-past dawn streets of Ashdown. It was almost like he'd worked a night shift and was heading home.

If not for the mud caked on his bare feet or the leaves and twigs in his hair.

He let himself into Aleksy's house, wiped his feet gingerly on the mat, and stepped into the living room. Aleksy was asleep on the house - a sight for sore eyes.

Finn crossed the room and shook him gingerly awake.

"Hey."

Shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Aleksy had been driven to distraction. No one had seen Finn. No one had heard from Finn. His car was parked at the ranger station and he'd taken a radio with him. They'd found the radio, signs of a disturbance, and no Finn. Honestly, at this point he was expecting to get a call from Jeremiah, I'm sorry to tell you--

He'd been up for twenty-six hours before passing out on the couch. When he woke up, it was to Finn. Dirty, rank, blessedly alive Finn.

For a moment, it occurred to Aleksy to say something sweet. Maybe throw his arms around Finn and cry. Except then that thought was gone and Aleksy pushed Finn's hand away. "You smell terrible," said Aleksy, "Where have you been? You need a bath." He pulled a twig out of Finn's hair and held it up for both of them to consider. There were pine needles still stuck to it.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn wrinkled his nose - he supposed he did smell terrible, but he'd wanted something kinder from Aleksy. Some sign that he'd been missed. Not his usual prickliness.

His hand stung.

"The otherworld," he said, backing off. "But maybe I should've stayed there."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

The otherworld? Something stuttered in Aleksy's head then. He pulled himself to his feet and took Finn's hands in his. He'd fallen asleep with his gloves on, and they felt terrible, but in Finn's state he wasn't going to feed off him. He wasn't that kind of gross vampire. "Finnsha," he said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I was terrified. What happened to you? I was waiting for them to call and say they found your body. They found pieces of your shoes and a radio and your b-blood--"

And then Finn had wandered back in, dirty and smelly and all, hey, like none of that had even happened.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Aleksy's gloves were warm to the touch, supple, smooth leather beneath Finn's still-cold fingers. "I..." he began, and trailed off, cringing. It sounded so stupid. So unbelievable. "Something happened. Something bad. I think. I think I was a rabbit."

He couldn't be sure. He didn't really properly remember. He'd been feral and filtering everything through a prey-mind, every stimuli hyper-saturated and dripping with ill intent.

"It sounds dumb. I..."

He fell dumb again. He didn't want to get Jamie in trouble. Jamie was a good kid. He hadn't done anything on purpose.

Shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

A rabbit? But that was ridiculous. But Eve turned into a fox. Wasn't Shiloh's boyfriend a were-bunny of some kind? Aleksy's breath caught in his throat and he reached up to wrap his arms around Finn's shoulders and pull him down for a hug. "You are home now. Do not go anywhere like this again," he said. "You did me a frighten, stupid Finnsha."

What was that he'd thought earlier about hugging Finn and crying? Anyway he definitely wasn't crying. "You really do need a bath," he said. "I will help. Come."

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

"I didn't do it on purpose," grumbled Finn, resting his head against Aleksy's shoulder. How was he supposed to know that everything would go to s**t just because he had to walk to the far campsite in the middle of the night.

"But okay, yeah," he said, raising his head. "I need a bath."

He got up from his knees - a difficult prospect when he would like to go to sleep on the floor. He didn't even need a pillow. The last five days he'd lived at a hare's pace, sleeping lightly wherever the prey-mind thought he might be safe from the predator-creatures that roamed the woods.

He followed Aleksy towards the bathroom.

"Can I have one of those bubble things you save for special occasions," said Finn airily. "The ones that smell like roses."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Yes," said Aleksy. "I am putting that uniform in the trash." He rubbed his hands over his face. Eugh, mistake. This was what soap was for.

He was relieved, but trying not to show it. Being vulnerable was not a state he liked to be in, especially not when it was so, well, emotional. Finn was, whether Aleksy wanted him to be or not, important. The idea that he might not have ever seen him again, might have lost him to the otherworld, was utterly terrifying. It must have been worse for Finn. Whatever had happened, Aleksy knew his boyfriend was a creature of duty. If he'd been able to come home, he would have.

"We are rinsing the dirt off you first," said Aleksy. "All that mud. Then a bath. Then you nap while I call Jeremiah and tell him you are safe, alive, and certainly not in a shallow grave at the bottom of a ravine." As he talked, he was pulling out his soap, shampoo, conditioner, and one of the aforementioned special-occasion bath bombs. He considered a gray one, then a pink one, then a white one with flowers in it, and eventually decided on the pink. "Which is where I thought you were. I am sorry for snapping."

(He sounded relieved.)

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

"Aw," said Finn, pulling off his ruined clothes - his pants had so much mud caked into them that they seemed ready to stand up on their own. "You really do care."

And he climbed into the shower. "Ugh," he said. "That feels really good."

The water running off his body was streaked with dirt.

"I think it's going to keep happening," he said after a moment - something he hadn't really let himself fully consider until just now. "I think it'll keep going."

Shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"The dirt?" Aleksy peered into the shower. He considered the dirt. He said, "Here's a loofah. Scrub off first. Then you will scrub off with soap and water. And get your head under the water so I can take those twigs and leaves out."

He said, "I love you. Of course I care. Do what I say, and then I will leave you alone."

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

"No," said Finn, taking the loofa and weakly beginning to scrub his forearms.

"The being a rabbit thing," he clarified. "Or a hare. Something in that family. I don't think it's just once."

He turned, locking eyes with Aleksy. "I don't want you to leave me alone."

The prey-mind was still there inside him somewhere, whispering that there was safety in numbers and being alone made him weak.

Shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Aleksy was puzzled by this. It looked like he was about to ask something like--why?--but he swallowed it down. "Okay," he said. He thought about it, and then took off his gloves. Scrubbed his hands through Finn's hair, ignored the leaves and the dirt and the water soaking his sleeves. He kept his powers tucked back and away.

"I will stay," he said. "And we will deal with becoming a rabbit or hare when the bridge is here to burn."

When the water was running clean, or cleaner, and Finn's hair was wet and shiny from the conditioner, he chivvied Finn out of the shower. Just for a minute, to get the tub clean enough for a rose-scented bath.

Aleksy sat on the edge of the tub, scooped up a handful of bubbles, and smudged them in Finn's hair.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

"Okay," replied Finn, exhaustion taking over as he sank into the water. He wasn't sure he trusted Aleksy to do as he said he would - the initial rejection still stung, and Finn was hardly confident at the best of times. He leaned forward, hugging his knees to his chest, and considered just disappearing underneath the water's service, never to reappear.

Except, like, Aleksy's hands were in his hair, and that was nice.

Finn leaned towards Aleksy. "I smell okay now, right?" he asked. "I can stay? Because I have been through an ordeal."

Shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Yes," said Aleksy, brushing his fingers through Finn's hair. "You could always stay. You could also always have a bath." He scrunched up, so he could more comfortably touch Finn's hair. Finn was all scratched up, and Aleksy didn't like that--didn't like how small and afraid Finn seemed to be--he kissed Finn's cheek, careful again of his powers. "You smell like flowers. Or maybe that is the water, and you will smell different later? You are alright, Finnsha."

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Finn wanted, desperately, to believe that - as desperately as he wanted the hot water to soak into every one of his cuts and scrapes, carry the stinging soap into them and carry away the last five days.

"I was a rabbit," he repeated, inclining his head towards Aleksy. "Or a hare. Or something. And I was cold. It was so cold. And raining. And something was hunting me. Or I thought something was hunting me. It's all blurry."

The prey-mind.

"Do I taste different?" he asked, leaning into Aleksy's touch.

Shibrogane