MHA #6, Monday Afternoon

[firstofitskind]

The island was being weird again. Because of course it was. Though at least this latest bout of weirdness seemed... relatively benign?

It hadn't actively interfered with any of Liam's usual morning routines, anyway. So that was good, he supposed. And now that it was a bit later in the day and he could be reasonably certain the person on the other end would actually be awake, he dialed a certain number on his Global. There were a couple of things he needed to take care of.

It rang once, twice, and then...

"Heyyyyyy, hot stuff!" the redhead on the other end chirped at him as the video feed connected.

"Street," Liam grinned. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, well," she shrugged. "Who's fault is that?" she asked pointedly. Because it was absolutely Liam's fault, yes.

"Point taken," Liam acknowledged. "Listen, I need-"

"A favor," Street chorused with him in unison. But she didn't look put out or anything, just amused. "You know, only giving me a ring when you need something is a guaranteed way to give a girl a complex. But what do you need?"

She listened attentively as Liam outlined just what it was he needed her to do, nodding occasionally.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Street said finally. "I'll let you know when everything's good to go. And- just 'cause this isn't your home anymore, doesn't mean there's not people who love you here, you know?" ... Though by 'people', she mostly meant 'her', since everyone else Liam cared about was either dead or off exploring space. "Maybe try calling more often?"

"Yeah," Liam said, smile turning soft around the edges. "I'll do that, Street. Thanks again."

With a wink and a little wave, Street shut off the connection on her end. Liam slid the Global closed and pocketed again. Now all he had to do was let Verity know things were in motion.

[ooc: mostly establishy, but also open.]

Comments

[arboreal_priestess]

"Of course not," Verity said, eyes closing. "I was nervous, not stupid."

[firstofitskind]

“And as hard as it was for me to wait for you to say those words, it was worth every minute of it,” Liam said softly.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Technically, you didn't have to wait," Verity said, for however true that was.

[firstofitskind]

“Depends how you look at it, I suppose,” Liam admitted with a small smile.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain how he was looking at it.

[firstofitskind]

“I figured out I was hopelessly in love with you the first time the kids showed up, giving us a glimpse of... what our lives could be like, one day. But you practically had a panic attack when they showed up; if I’d said the l-word, you might have literally run away, and I don’t think my heart could’ve taken that,” he admitted. “So,” a shrug, ignoring the slight twinge in his still-healing shoulder. “I waited, and hoped you’d catch up.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"Yeah, that's a pretty fair read on the situation," Verity acknowledged. "I caught up...but then I had to admit I caught up and then I had to admit to you I'd caught up..."

It had been a wild ride for a bit there.

"Loving you was the easiest thing in the world. Letting myself love you, however, was one of the hardest."

Verity didn't do vulnerability well.

[firstofitskind]

And Liam... Liam loved too much, and too deeply, to the point where both of his fathers had considered it a weakness.

"But here we are," Liam murmured. "Working on building a life together."

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity would be lying if she said that the phrase 'a life' still didn't send a chill spooking down her spine. There was just so much there; a few years ago she hadn't imagined anything more for her life beyond dancing and now there was Liam and cryptids and kids...

But then she looked into his eyes and it kind of made everything okay again.

"You're working," she told him. "Everything comes naturally to me."

[firstofitskind]

A few years ago, Liam had figured his life was over. He still didn't understand why he got this second chance, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to embrace it.

"Everything, hm?" Liam asked, eyebrow raised.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'm pretty much naturally good at everything," Verity informed him. "In case you didn't know."

She kissed him. "And we've gotten more than a little off-track from my original question."

[firstofitskind]

"... Right," Liam said. "Anyway. My point was that one, I trust you. Two, there isn't anything I'd want to do while," he coughed, "high, that I wouldn't want to do when fully sober."

A pause, and then: "And three, which ties back into one, I trust you to stop if you felt that- that that wasn't the case, anymore, for whatever reason." Yeah, he was thinking of that one time she'd pinned him down to the bed and he'd just... frozen, for a few panicked seconds. But Verity had picked up on it almost immediately, let go, and they'd moved on.

[arboreal_priestess]

Hard not to notice when your moaning, writhing boyfriend had suddenly just shut down beneath you.

Which, she figured, was pretty much exactly his point.

"How do you feel about what happened last time?" she asked. "I know we were kind of right up against some boundaries there. You haven't said anything but if that bothered you...?"

[firstofitskind]

“Got me hot and bothered, more like,” Liam said, lips quirking up in a bit of a grin.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity grinned back at him, relief shining in her eyes. "You know, there are a couple other boundaries we should figure out while we're talking about them," she said. "Like how you might wanna try waking me up sometimes, see if it makes me less grouchy to wake up to an orgasm."

[firstofitskind]

"I dunno, your grouchiness is adorable and I love it," Liam mused.

"But," he added after a moment, breath hitching just a bit as he pictured that scenario, "the way you look when you come... I love that, too."

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'm sure we can find a decent grouchy-to-orgasm ratio, just to keep you happy," Verity teased. "And if I come home tipsy or high on, like, cryptid spores or whatever, I'm okay with stuff then, too."

For all the reasons he'd enumerated already. Because she trusted him to take care of her.

[firstofitskind]

Liam was smiling already, but at Verity's words it became something... softer. Lighter. "I'll remember that," he promised. And of course, there would always be the possibility of mitigating circumstances, like injuries or whatever, but that was part of the 'taking care of each other' deal, here.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity didn't bother adding rules and caveats. She trusted Liam to put her needs first and everything else would follow after that. "I never doubted that for a minute."

[firstofitskind]

"This was probably overdue," he acknowledged. Given that he'd now been drugged twice and all. "But I'm glad we talked about it."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Agreed," Verity said. "And not just because it means I can stop saying no every time you're high and amorous."

It was hard telling a handsy Liam no! Because 'no' was the last answer she wanted to give!

[firstofitskind]

"Every time," Liam echoed with a snort. "As if it's happened more than twice." And just because he was giving consent for what he was okay with when it did happen, didn't mean he was any more inclined to get high on purpose.

[arboreal_priestess]

Yeah, and Verity was in no rush to experiment, either. She loved Liam a lot of different ways but '100% aware and cognizant' was her favorite.

"Yes, but two out of two times, that was my point," she teased.

[firstofitskind]

“I would like to point out there was at least one other common factor,” Liam said, giving her a pointed look.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity looked at him, innocently. "Can't think of anything."