when I am with you there's no reason to pretend

[dalishious]

WHO: Merrick and Metaari
WHAT: Metaari gets injured, Merrick deals
WHEN: Set during Merrick and Metaari's Excellent Thedas Adventure post-Cade whooping
WHERE: somewhere in the Frostbacks
NOTES: Violence and injury stuff, tent sex.

Merrick had been mostly quiet during the journey thus far. He'd been quiet since the night of the ball, actually-- the shame heavy and hot in his throat, his shoulders crushed under the weight of the depression that had followed. He felt as though it were strapped to his ankle, dragging behind him as they walked the mountain trail, and he'd barely spoken a word or looked Metaari in the eye since they'd left.

During a run-in with bandits that were tailing some refugees, Metaari had taken a serious blow to the arm from an enforcer's hammer-- and things have drastically changed since. Merrick has gone from taciturn to a babbling, panicked wreck, and still won't calm down even after they'd stopped the bleeding and reset the bone. They'd made camp in a small gathering of trees just shy of where they'd been attacked, and Merrick's hands shake as pours Metaari some medicinal tea he'd made.

"Here," he says hoarsely as he hands it over. "Drink it slowly."

Comments

[metaari]

He had to take the hit. The hammer had been aimed at Merrick's head and, even if Metaari had faith that Merrick could have dodged the hit, there was no way he was going to take the risk. What's his arm in comparison? It will heal. It'll be fine. He still had another arm, and the man who had been wielding the hammer found his face meeting with a tree over and over again. They became the best of friends.

It was hard to keep from moving it, no matter how tightly they had it tied to his body. He was just lucky it wasn't his right arm, or he'd really be fucked. But he couldn't fight like this, not really, and that was his main concern, though he tried not to voice it out loud.

He wriggles his way to a seated position, leaning back against a fallen stump, and reaches for the tea with his still good hand to take it. "Thank you, Merrick." A pause as he takes a sip. "You worry too much. I'm telling you, it'll be fine."

[dalishious]

It doesn't seem to matter. Merrick is still in a great deal of distress-- and it shows in the way his hands continue to shake, in how his small shoulders tremble, in his wide and frightened eyes.

He goes to check on the wound again, and he looks like he might cry.

[metaari]

Metaari hurriedly sets the tea down, taking care not to spill any of it, as he turns toward Merrick. "Hey, hey, look at me..." He reaches out and takes a light hold of Merrick's chin, lifting it slightly to force him to look at him--or at least make it obvious he's trying to do anything but. "I'll be fine. When we can get to a healer, they'll speed the process along. You did wonderfully in setting the bone for me. This isn't--it'll take a lot more than a broken arm to do me in."

[dalishious]

Merrick's body leans some of its weight on Metaari's hand, and his eyes close. For once, the weight of his emotions aren't making him lash out, they're exhausting him. He just looks completely worn out, so thoroughly beaten down by the events of the past week that he's barely holding on.

"It's my fault," he says finally.

[metaari]

"What? No. Hey." Metaari winces slightly as he leans forward, sliding his hand along Merrick's jaw. He spreads his fingers, lets them rest against Merrick's neck as he rubs the back of it lightly, and he shakes his head. "This isn't your fault. You weren't the maniac swinging around a giant hammer. At least, not last I checked."

[dalishious]

The effect that hand has on Merrick's neck is instantaneous; tension releases from his body and he's trembling less violently, even if he doesn't seem to realize it.

"You're wrong," he mutters. "All of this-- We wouldn't have to be out here if I hadn't lost control."

His words are bitter, heavy with self-hatred.

[metaari]

"Ah, but then we wouldn't have been able to have this little adventure together, would we?" Metaari smiles a little, though he's wondering about that reaction a moment before. He presses his thumb into Merrick's neck a little harder, digs into the muscles a little more to ease them out. "I don't know about you, but I've actually been having a lovely time."

[dalishious]

Merrick's body responds even more as the pressure increases-- breath shuddering slightly as he exhales, eyes fluttering closed. For a moment he's quiet, as if the hand on his neck is easing away some of the jittery energy that relentlessly shreds his nerves. Then--

"I... I never wanted you to see that," he murmurs. "Much less be in the middle of it."

[metaari]

It's an interesting reaction, and Metaari wants to see some more of it. He starts to really press, curious how much Merrick can take of the sensation. There's a bit of a fear, a worry that he might dig too hard, might bruise, break, but Merrick is made of sterner stuff than one might think. Metaari will just have to find the point of stopping.

"But I did, and I am." He smiles and tilts Merrick's head down (it's easier on him this way) so that he can press his lips to the elf's forehead. "And there is nowhere I'd rather be."

[dalishious]

Merrick's eyelids flutter as his throat is pressed on a bit more, and he's finding it difficult to concentrate. He melts against Metaari as the other man gives him a kiss, surprisingly pliant.

"You asshole," he mutters. "I was worried about you."

And he was. There had been a moment of utmost terror, a flash of a world without Metaari in it, and Merrick never wants to experience that again. He can't lose Metaari, he realizes. Just thinking about it hurts, hurts so bad.

[metaari]

Metaari just grins at him and eventually lets himself rest back against the stump again, sinking slightly down against it, before pulling Merrick toward him with the hold he still had on his neck. He doesn't stop tugging until he has the elf pressed against him and his grin softens as he closes his eyes.

"Good. I'd be offended if you weren't." A light tease.

"Give me a kiss, then. It'll make me feel better."

[dalishious]

The edge of Merrick's anxiety has been dulled considerably, and he makes a sound that's part fond, part annoyed. It's easy for him to comply, moving on top of Metaari's body so he can easily lean down and kiss him.

It's firm at first, with passion there, relief, tears at the bottom of his throat-- and then he interrupts it with a punishing bite to Metaari's lower lip.

"Stupid," he growls. "Why'd you do that, huh?"

[metaari]

A faint grunt escapes him as Merrick settles on his lap and he tips his head into the kiss, eyes falling closed--until the bite, at least. They fly open again and he growls lightly, playfully, and brings up his hand to poke Merrick in the middle of his forehead.

"Because I like your face," he mutters, tipping his head a little as he lets his eyes rake across Merrick. "And that hammer would have done terrible things to it."

[dalishious]

Merrick just grumbles and goes in for another kiss, with all his characteristic boyish energy. Then he pulls back slightly, his entire weight on Metaari, and looks down at him with a sultry expression.

"I'd hate to lose either of your arms," he counters, and bites his lip playfully. "Well, your hands, more specifically."

[metaari]

That makes him grin and he wraps his good hand around Merrick's body, planting his palm flat against the small of his back. "My hands, hm?" He curls his fingers, digs them lightly into Merrick's back. "Well, when this one's good and healed, I'm sure it'll be eager to remember the feel of you again."

[dalishious]

Merrick promptly occupies himself with kissing Metaari's jaw and neck, leaving little bites as he goes. He's definitely feeling...excited, but Metaari literally just took a catastrophic blow to the arm. The tea he'd made contained elfroot for the pain, but still...

As always, it's difficult (impossible) for him to hide how he feels. His body squirms a bit against Metaari's, his skin heated.

[metaari]

A deep laugh leaves Metaari and he brings his hand up Merrick's back to rest against his neck again, fingers digging into the soft skin there for a brief moment. "Calm down. We've all night, you know. At least, I'm not planning on going anywhere."

His hand slips around so that he can grasp a hold of Merrick's chin, pulling him down for a faint kiss. "Then again, I suppose I'm at your mercy tonight. I follow your lead."

[dalishious]

There's that feeling again, that sense that he's being reined in by the press of fingers on his neck. He kisses back much more softly than he had been, then pulls back to sit upright.

"Do what you were doing before," he says, both hands coming up to rest on Metaari's.