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[abrightboy]

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[empathicfault]

Will joins him immediately, sitting next to him and immediately putting an arm around Malcolm's shoulder. It's as much of a hug he can give without making Malcolm move.

He won't say anything- Malcolm usually does but certainly doesn't need to. Even they can have a comfortable silence sometimes, and Will isn't going to break it if that's what his partner needs right now.

[abrightboy]

As soon as Will's arm slips around him, Malcolm leans into him, resting his head on Will's shoulder, his hand on Will's thigh.

"Shakespeare wrote that when sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions. That line stuck with me more than anything else we ever studied in English class." The fingers on Will's leg fidget absently at a wrinkle in the fabric. "You saw what happened to Crozier." Not an assumption; he saw Will ask a question. "Hilbert thought it was weird and even remiss that I wasn't angry at him, but... Hilbert's gonna Hilbert, right? I bet you can guess who I am blindingly mad at."

[empathicfault]

Will's fingers squeeze Malcolm's shoulder lightly as Malcolm speaks. He feels like they're in a larger forest, not just this little pond near the edge of a greenhouse. They're watching the leaves fall into the pond as the weather starts to get colder. They're watching the small tendrils of red come up from the bottom of the pond, then cascade down a stream feeding into it. The sound of water deepens into the roar of ocean waves.

And Will blinks, willing himself back to the little pond at the Barge. Malcolm is the sort of quiet that is the lid on a boiling pot and Will closes his eyes as he nods. "Sheehan," he says quietly. "He knew about it, beforehand."

[abrightboy]

“When he was haughtily disapproving of us, he basically told me that ethics are more important than anything. How is what he views as an inappropriate relationship more unethical than experimenting on a human being? I guess ethics are only really important for people he doesn’t respect in the first place,” Malcolm muses. He sounds tired now, more than raging. He raged at Sheehan already. “I called him out on a private channel. He was condescending.” He takes a breath. “I got in an… altercation with Sweeney last night,” he confesses. “I didn’t mean to, but he wouldn’t tell me what he was actually saying. He made a knife at me and stormed out. …I didn’t know he could do that. Make a knife out of nowhere. It was pretty cool, actually, but I didn’t get to ask him about it.”

[empathicfault]

Will's face shows he's not particularly impressed by Sheehan's way of handling most of this, but then Malcolm gets into another altercation with Sweeney...Will rubs at his chin.

"I'm sorry that fell apart for you. I'm sure you were both trying. You just have...different ideas on how to talk about things." He squeezes Malcolm's shoulders. "And Sheehan..." He lets out a tired sigh. "Maybe they don't have 'do no harm' as an oath in his world."

But more importantly, he looks to Malcolm. "Did you want to talk about either of these? You don't have to, unless it'll help to get out." He knows Malcolm's usual preference. But he wants it known that there's a choice there. And Malcolm might need happier distraction, after what happened to Crozier.

[abrightboy]

Oh. Does he? He lifts his head to look at Will, whose face is delightfully, thrillingly close to his.

“I don’t know,” he says honestly. “Maybe… I just want to be with someone who… I understand. Who doesn’t condescend to me. Who… can take me to his cabin where no one else is around and run with me…” he muses softly, his eyes studying Will’s face as he talks.

[empathicfault]

Will smiles a little and brushes Malcolm's hair back, running fingers gently over his scalp. "Let's go to my place and be wolves, then."

His house in his woods- in the Enclosure, he means. Maybe running it out will help with that excess angry energy neither of them seems to know what to do with.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm smiles, though it still somehow looks sad and he shifts his weight into Will's space to wrap his arms around him and cling to him tightly for a moment.

[empathicfault]

Yeah, this isn't going to fix anything, but...maybe it'll ease the pain a little. Will gets them quickly to the Enclosure, and he starts to wonder if his little house would 'burn in' to the fake space if they use it enough.

That would be kind of nice, actually.

They get in the house and Will stops Malcolm from shuffling out of his clothes- for just a moment- to give him a quiet, gentle kiss. He hasn't talked this whole time, but he wants to show him how much he's hurting for Malcolm. It's even tougher when a loss is impending, not happened but looming overhead. And adding arguments and slights onto that base just makes it feel weightier.

[abrightboy]

When the kiss breaks, Malcolm just looks at him for a moment, like he's studying the lines of his face with a sort of wonder, then his expression falters.

"I'm supposed to be happy for him. All his friends are happy for him."

[empathicfault]

Will puts his hands on Malcolm's upper shoulders, bracing him. "It's not a matter of 'supposed to,' Malcolm. I'm sure others are hurting too, but...it's easier for many people to focus on the happy parts. Not so much for you, I think."

[abrightboy]

"He was always kind. And he was always fair to me. There aren't many left," Malcolm says.

[empathicfault]

"You can't hold onto anyone forever. No one can," Will says, grimly. He looks up and kisses Malcolm's forehead. Afterwards, he'll pull him into a tight hug and speak into his ear. "Although I'm getting tempted to try and see if I can, with you."

Too much, probably too desperate. Will loosens his grip but doesn't let go entirely. "But it's...the way of life. Even with good people, you have to deal with the pain of losing them, or they will have to deal with the pain of losing you. You will find others that know you. We will find them together. That doesn't soothe this sting, but know it won't last forever."

[abrightboy]

Not too desperate. Never too much. Just the right amount to not be alone.

“I love you,” he whispers. “After…” he glances around to encompass the time they’ll spend here. “Can you stay with me tonight?”

[empathicfault]

"I will," he reassures, kissing Malcolm's hands, then his lips. "I love you, Malcolm. And I'll be there whenever you need me, if I even have to crawl my way over." He thinks about how that sounds and chuckles at himself. "Not that I'm expecting it to be that tough most of the time."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm leans into him, breathes in the scent of the skin at the crook of his neck.

“You know… the only people who really bother me are the ones that want to get you away from me,” he murmurs, letting his eyes flutter closed, just feeling and listening and smelling. He smiles faintly but warmly. “But they can’t, can they? They just can’t.”

[empathicfault]

"No one could. Not even gods," Will replies, his voice quiet but deep as he speaks directly into Malcolm's ear. It's practically a growl, a challenge. He won't allow anyone or anything to separate them. "Not even Hannibal. Not even your father." Which probably should've come before the gods, but of course they didn't.

Will and Malcolm are the Defiant. Beyond everything. And Will is committed to protecting Malcolm, until the man becomes whatever he desires.

[abrightboy]

He lifts his head to look at Will. He’s happy, he realizes. Out there, stuff is confusing and difficult but here… it all runs off like rain water. Only one thing is important. He holds Will’s gaze for a moment, then his eyes shift to his chest, where he starts unbuttoning Will’s shirt with a calm, satisfied smile.

“I’m ready to run now,” he says. He glances up and then leans up to steal a kiss as his fingers continue their work.

[empathicfault]

And perhaps that's all Malcolm needed, someone to be there for him, no matter what. It's something Will had known he'd needed for ages and something he'd come to accept and embrace and now will provide.

It's so gratifying and relieving to see that small, calm smile. There doesn't have to be any struggle here, nothing they don't want. It's just them and the woods. He radiates warmth as he kisses Malcolm back. "Let's go, then."

He helps Malcolm out of his clothes, too- briefly considers another distraction, but it's so not the time for it. Once he's pulled his socks off (he's destroyed more socks than anything else with this new state, oddly), he changes. The bone crunching noises remind him of the ortolans, and it's not an unpleasant reminder of transformations past.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm wouldn't object to other distractions.... maybe after they run. As they get outside the cabin, he nips playfully at Will's cheek, then he takes off at full speed across the field.