MHA #6, Sunday Morning

[firstofitskind]

Over the last few months, Liam had fallen back on a number of old habits, including the one where he only bothered with sleeping the few hours a night that his body required. Instead, he kept busy doing other things, including regular runs around the island. He was on his way back to the apartment for a shower after one such run just now, as a matter of fact.

After that (and making sure the mice- and squirrel!Verity- had breakfast), it was probably tea and a breakfast sandwich at the Perk. What an exciting life he led.

[ooc: for the wiiiiiife.]

Comments

[arboreal_priestess]

AN INFERIOR CONCERN IS WHAT.

The kiss lasted until Verity literally could not hold her breath and she pulled away, reluctantly. "Hi," she said softly. "I missed you."

[firstofitskind]

“You said that already,” Liam teased, voice soft and full of wonder as he took in the fact that she was back, properly. “I missed you too,” he added, reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, and then cupping her cheek in his hand. “So much.”

[arboreal_priestess]

"I said it twice cause I mean it double," Verity said, wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him tightly.

"HAIL TO THE RETURN OF THE ARBOREAL PRIESTESS!" cried one of the mice who had come in to check on breakfast. "HAIL TO THE GLORIOUS NUDITY THAT HERALDS HER RETURN!"

"HAIL!"

[firstofitskind]

“Hail,” Liam agreed fervently. “I should get you some breakfast. Or some clothes.”

Not that he showed any signs of moving to do either just yet.

[arboreal_priestess]

"...Breakfast would be good," Verity said, though she wasn't letting him, either. "Snuggles are better."

Look, curling up on his shoulder as a squirrel was not the same!

[firstofitskind]

It absolutely was not. “What do you want?”

For breakfast, he meant.

Sure, the fridge was looking a little sparse, but that was what delivery was for.

[arboreal_priestess]

"One of everything?" Verity said with a laugh. "Enough coffee to drown in? Excessive amounts of protein?"

To stay right here forever?

[firstofitskind]

"I can make that happen," Liam promised. Except he was leaning down to kiss her again so it might be a minute or twelve before he got on that.

At least he was making good on the answer she hadn't actually voiced?

[arboreal_priestess]

And, honestly, that was the most important one. And she didn't seem to be in such a hurry for breakfast that she was about to complain about more kisses.

It had been a long time.

[firstofitskind]

"Waffles," he murmured against her lips. "With sausage. And bacon." Not that there had been anything but plant-based proteins in their house for... a long time, but they were getting this delivered and anyway, he would've happily grilled her a steak without a second thought right now.

[arboreal_priestess]

"You do love me," Verity sighed. Her arms tighten around his waist and she tries to get get closer still, like any space between them is too much.

[firstofitskind]

"A chuisle mo chroí, remember?" he told her. The feel of her pressed up against him was good, perfect, everything.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Say it again," Verity sighed. "It's been months since I heard it last."

She tilted her head up to look at him, resting her chin on his chest. "I love you, too."

[firstofitskind]

"A chuisle mo chroí," Liam repeated obligingly. It'd been months since he'd heard her say that, too. "I was starting to worry," he admitted.

A bit of a white lie; he'd started to worry somewhere around the third week, and it had never really abated. Still hadn't, if the way he was holding on to her was any indication.

[arboreal_priestess]

She wasn't going to call Liam out on that white lie, even though she had seen him worry.

"I've never heard of an animal transformation that lasted this long," Verity admitted. "It's...I can only imagine what it was like on the outside."

[firstofitskind]

"I thought maybe it wasn't Fandom, this time. That one of your family's enemies had perhaps decided to take revenge in a particularly maddening way," Liam confessed. As he spoke, his hands ran up her back, and then back down her arms, as if he was reassuring himself that she was in fact hale and whole and human.

... Were those Dominic's speech patterns he was emulating just a bit there? Maaaaaaybe.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity wasn't gonna call him on it. Dominic was perhaps the only person on this coast who understood that fear.

"Next time you're worried about that, call Aunt Rose," she suggested. And then wrinkled her nose at the possibility of a next time.

[firstofitskind]

"Rose?" Liam blinked down at her. "Why her, specifically?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"She knows routewitches," Verity said. "And she can get here a lot faster and more reliably than anyone else in the family, besides Aunt Mary. She might not know what to do or how to fix it, but she could at least get it confirmed or denied that it was a curse."

Her aunts were very useful to have.

[firstofitskind]

“That’s handy,” Liam acknowledged. “I’ll keep it in mind, though hopefully it won’t come up.”

He knew, given the lives that they led, that it most likely would at some point. Was still gonna hope, though.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Nothing wrong with hoping," Verity said, running her hands over his face. "So long as you remember to prepare. And I know you will."

[firstofitskind]

"It's good to know you have so much faith in me," Liam said. His tone was lightly teasing, but there was truth to it as well. He knew, too, that she never would've let herself fall in love with him if he wasn't capable of preparing for any number of possible disasters.

[arboreal_priestess]

Correct. Or was the type to expect hope to just...carry them through.

Hope was important, but ammo was better.

"How could I not?" she asked.

[firstofitskind]

"Have I mentioned yet today that I love you?"

He had, sort of, albeit not in English.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Not enough," was Verity's only reply.