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[abrightboy]

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The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

Will and Malcolm both feel the jar of the Narrenschiff when it bumps up against the Barge. Getting up to the Deck after that is a chore, to say the least. However much trouble the infirmary was getting, that was nothing compared to the open fighting happening now. Will focused on holding onto Malcolm's hand with a death grip as he dodged fire and keeping either of them from being seen by no less than two superpowered Narrenschiff people floating in the air. Either one could crush them instantly.

He has his knife in his other hand, hoping he doesn't have to use it. Will doesn't want to fight for once. There's no righteousness here. Just a reminder of the bloody, dysfunctional lives they've long since left behind. Will instead watches the deck of the Barge swing further away and then back towards them. They may be locked in combat, but the ships aren't perfectly aligned.

"We'll jump it," he says into Malcolm's ear, tension running through every part of him. "Jump and then we'll have to run."

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

When they emerge into the open fighting, Malcolm is a little disappointed in… well, almost everybody.

He clings to Will’s hand, his other hand gripping his bag and keeping it close to his body. He feels like it’s not too late to get robbed.

We’ll jump it, Will suggests and, if anyone else had said it or the stakes were any lower, he probably would have balked more, but he just nods, his eyes wide with fear and adrenaline and an anxious need to get home. To get to their home. Jump and then run. He’ll do it. He’ll do it when Will gives him the signal.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

Will nods back and watches the lateral movement of the ships with an unblinking stare. He crouches, and finally exclaims 'now!' when the Narrenschiff is just a little higher than the Barge and likely to start shifting away.

If they weren't enhanced, they wouldn't move together nearly so well. But they're both prone to taking the big leaps when they need to, and they're Pack. They move in sync. And it's apparent as they are only a quarter of the way through the jump that they'll make it. Will sees- but doesn't register- the infinite void below them.

He stumbles as they hit the Barge Deck but manages to recover before pulling Malcolm down with him. If Malcolm landed well, he'll immediately run towards a corner to hide behind. If not, then he'll lose a few seconds to getting him back on his feet. Either way, everyone on Deck seems to be far more concerned with whoever's dealing damage to aim at them at the moment.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

Malcolm stumbles slightly on the landing, but Will pulling him towards cover allows him to regain his footing. He crouches beside him there.

"Do you think anyone is fighting on the other levels?" he asks, looking at the floor like it might allow him a glimpse down into the belly of their ship. "Th..." He sees someone he doesn't recognize over Will's shoulder, running at them with some sort of makeshift club and his eyes widen again.

"WILL, LOOK OUT!" he shouts in terror - not of the guy or how much of Malcolm's skull he might cave in, but at the prospect of someone trying to fatally harm Will.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

Will doesn't even quite get his lips to form the 'maybe' before Malcolm's shouting a warning. He whirls in place- drawing his gun with his free hand as they go. He pops off two rounds before even processing what he's looking at.

The man racing towards them sort of falls towards Will, instead of the charge he was intending, and it's not too hard to sidestep that. Blood seeps from the man's midsection where he falls on Deck.

Will breathes in, breathes out, and fires another round in one of the guy's kidneys. What was once a wriggling shape now groans with pain and slumps down, still. Will looks up to Malcolm, his expression blank. "Stairs. Let's find the stairs." They don't have the time to strategize, apparently.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

Malcolm stares at the man on the ground and then at Will, allowing himself to be easily steered towards the stairs.

"Are you okay?" he finally asks as they hustle into the stairway.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

The stairway isn't necessarily safe, but Will puts a hand out after the question and listens. Nothing at the moment. He can't hear any breathing other than their own.

He squeezes Malcolm's shoulder briefly and nods. "I'm fine," he says, then realizes that tells Malcolm nothing. "You warned me in time. I just want to get home."

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

“Me too,” Malcolm tells him emphatically, taking his hand again so they can run down the probably empty stairs. He’s relieved Will also wants to just… get out of this and breathe for a moment. Malcolm feels like one battle they’re escaping from is his Shame: the war between how useful he could be and how useless he is.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

The race feels almost child-like, as they hold hands and move in large circles down, down the stairways. But the door to the topside Deck opens just as they reach the landing for Level 3. Will practically throws himself against the door, tugging Malcolm along. Will doesn't want to know if it's friend or foe. He can't. He just can't.

He's never been happier there's little of interest on Level 3 (just communal bathrooms, and those are both hard to set on fire, and difficult to wreck). There's much less going on here- just a Barge person, maybe two. Will doesn't stop to chat. Hell, he doesn't even notice them, once he's assessed they're not threats.

He's seeking a particular door, and he pushes through it. He makes sure the door is shut behind them before he takes in their home. There's birdsong in the air. His dogs come up to greet them, tails wagging as if nothing's happened. All the strength leaves Will at once and he sinks to his knees. He'd been so sure it'd all been yanked out from under him, that it wouldn't be here. But it is. They're home.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

As they burst through the door, their death grip on each other’s hands releases. Malcolm’s glance around is breathless from sprinting and almost frantic, like a prey animal, though he’s far from one. Nobody is here. He looks at the weapons cases on the far wall, recalling the day he returned home with Gil in tow and Martin’s co-escapees had smashed them and stolen weapons. Smashed them, though the cases were never locked. But they’re intact. Nobody’s been here.

As Will sinks to the ground, the dogs attend him. Malcolm turns back to the door and throws the deadbolts, puts on the chain. They can stay out.

Malcolm looks at Will. He can’t tell if it’s okay to touch him now. He moves further into their cabin, taking his bag off for the first time since the ship rolled and setting it on a stool at the kitchen island before going to the closet and taking out Will’s helmet.

He brings it over to where the dogs are still wriggling in his space.

“It’s overdue,” he says, shifting it from one hand to the other awkwardly.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

The dogs are not nearly as nervous as the people. Buster does pick up on their distress, though, letting out a small whine as he licks at Will's face. That seems to get through to Will, who breaks into an obliging "Hey. Hi, guys," and holds an hand up to at least attempt some pets.

It's not the first time the dogs have been presented with a fragile version of their owner, and Winston takes point, pressing up against Will's legs and basically petting himself with Will's hand. Buster takes the more direct approach, practically headbutting Will in his attempt to provide support. "Yeah, it's good to see you, too," he murmurs, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.

And Malcolm shows up from- god, was Will not paying attention? He's holding what Will wants more than just about anything else right now: the embodiment of Quiet. "Very overdue," Will admits.

He gives Buster and Winston one good scratch behind-the-ears each and then pushes up from the floor, leaning against the closed door as he does so. He reaches for Malcolm when he's on his feet and hugs him tightly. "You okay with me deep diving already? Is it...?" He trails off before he gets to 'safe'. It...seems to be just fine, here.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

When Will hugs him, his eyes flutter closed for a second. There's real relief, finally. There's safety. He lifts his head and eases back just enough to see Will's face but not to fully break his grip. He presses a kiss to his mouth and it lingers for a moment because it's also way overdue.

When it breaks, he nods.

"I'm going to make tea," he says. Their tea. In their kitchen. A comforting smell when Will reemerges if nothing else.

He lifts the helmet and carefully places it on Will's head.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

Will practically falls into that kiss, eyes squeezing tightly closed as he focuses on the warmth and the presence of Malcolm here. They are both rightly in their space.

When they do finally pull away, Will gives Malcolm a nod back. "Okay." And even though Will looks both exhausted and tense, the expression on his face is one of grateful adoration. "Thank you," he says. He shuffles to their couch in the living room, while Malcolm moves to the kitchen.

He doesn't set it for long- only fifteen minutes. The amount of emotional residue he's stuck with, however...he tugs the helmet off after it passes 11 minutes, gasping like he's just run a marathon.

Luckily, it's hardly the first time he's been surprised by his own mind, and he reorients quickly. He's home, Malcolm is safe, the dogs are here. It's okay. If Malcolm isn't readily visible, he'll call out for him.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

Malcolm's wolf hearing is trained on that living room while he putters around. He's unpacking his bag when Will pulls off the helmet, gasping. He's already had a quick shower while the tea steeped, just to rinse Narrenschiff and infirmary off of him, and he's barefoot and shirtless in fresh sweatpants, his hair damp. He hurries over at the sound. It hasn't been as long as he was expecting so he's visibly concerned.

"Are you okay? Did something happen?"

Re: The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

Will's shoulders slump in relief at the sight of Malcolm. He rubs at his face with a light groan. "No, it's just...my mind doing what it does best. Recreating atrocities."

Despite the complaint, Will does seem somehow less stuck in one mode. He's no longer running off of pure survival instinct, and his words are starting to come back to him. "I apparently picked up more of what was going on around us than I realized."

At least coming out of it was far more pleasant than most times. "You smell nice," he notes, with a half-smile.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

Malcolm is listening raptly to Will’s assessment of his situation and the compliment catches him off guard. A smile starts off shaky but solidifies on his face as the words solidify in his mind.

“I just took a quick one. I thought… maybe I’d join you when you’re up to it. If… you want.” He misses the feeling of intimacy that the beach and Narrenschiff robbed, more than anything else, but he also recognizes that Will might not be decompressed enough to tolerate a lot of… other person energy just yet. Malcolm, fidgeting slightly, decides that Will probably gets it, regardless, and decides to chance saying it. “Is it… is it weird that I feel like… I’ve missed you, even though you were with me all the time?”

Re: The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

Will's smile widens at the thought of joining Malcolm for a shower. He sets the helmet aside for now and stands, taking Malcolm's hands in his, letting Malcolm fidget with his fingers if he'd like. "It's not weird. I know I didn't feel like myself. I felt...like time was rewinding, and I was shards of glass again. I'm sure you didn't feel right, either."

He takes a deep breath in and lets it out slowly, leaning down to rest his forehead against Malcolm's. "And now we can relax and retake ourselves again...I hadn't realized how very safe I felt here, until it was gone."

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

He does fidget at Will’s fingers when they’re placed there, absently, like it’s natural. And then Will answers and… there it is and maybe the next breath Malcolm draws - which he feels like it comes with the light that Will gives off - is a little shaky, but something holding tension in the rest of him releases.

“…Like a wet paper bag of broken pieces,” he confirms in a murmur. Before Will started gluing things back together just by treating him like a whole person.

After a moment just lingering there, Will’s forehead against his, his eyes closed, breathing him in, Malcolm lifts his head to look at Will.

“We just… have to get our ship. So we can always get back to that place because worse comes to worse, we bring it with us.” He pauses. “It needs some sort of recall function. So we can do something that calls it to us no matter where or when we are and escape.”

Re: The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

Will rumbles with a hum of agreement. "You were thinking that, too. Once we get that, nothing can take it away from us." With the added benefit of nothing taking them away from each other.

Will closes his own eyes and leans in for a kiss. Slow, gentle...grounding. The sort of kiss that could easily last forever. He knows he's not 'better', and that he won't be back to his now-normal state of 'mostly stable' for a while. But he's feeling settled and well, right now.

"Welcome home, Malcolm," he murmurs against Malcolm's lips.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

He smiles a little. "The safe place is where you are," Malcolm murmurs back, sliding his arms up around Will's neck as he kisses him again. "I love you," he says softly in the wake of that kiss.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[empathicfault]

Every sentence helps him relax a little further. "I love you," Will returns.

They should get back out there, but for once Will's mind completely and utterly rebels at the thought. It's not just that it's a bad idea or that he can't imagine it. His mind won't even bring it up for him, at the moment. Self-preservation actually wins in Will's mind, for once. They're here, the Barge has them, he doesn't care about anything else.

"Do you want your tea, or should we hop back in that shower before you dry off too much?" is the important decision right now.

Re: The Return to the Barge

[abrightboy]

Malcolm wants to feel Will’s skin against his skin more than all the tea in the universe. He smiles and lets his hands slide down Will’s arms to take his hands before he starts walking backwards, tugging Will with him, but also trusting him to steer because Malcolm’s eyes are on Will’s face, like he needs to soak it in after not seeing it for ages.

It had been minutes.