[ There's something in that -- the assertion itself, and the idea that Bull knows something more about Dorian than Dorian knows himself -- that makes his heart twist. His eyes smile even as he looks down, where his hand is resting on Bull's chest, as if testing the thrum of the larger man's own heartbeat. ]
Let's not test that theory any further, [ he says, settling his tone into familiar frivolity. ] There's only so much I can take in one summer.
[ He should withdraw. Bull is tired, only newly coherent. Still-- ]
[ You know, Dorian's not bad looking on most days. But there's something about the little crinkle at the corner of his eyes he only gets when something amuses him. Not the pretend laughter that means he's silently scoffing at something, the real kind. Dorian's like that, feigning one emotion when he feels another, like the flourish of a street magician's scarf to distract from the real trick at work.
He'd hate that comparison, he thinks with an inward chuckle. ]
Yeah, big guy?
[ He's brave, but he shouldn't have to deal with this shit, he thinks. Just because he can handle everything that comes with getting involved with him doesn't mean he should have to. If it comes to that...if it ever comes to that...
He's fucked no matter what happens.
There's a faint tightening of his fingers over Dorian's. ]
[ Big guy and then that tiny tightening of Bull's grip over his hand and his heart twists and it's not as though Dorian isn't keeping up. He knows what he's doing, which is falling for someone, which is having entirely inappropriate feelings for someone, but there is some strange lurch -- ka-dan -- in which this knowledge intersects with the possibility that Bull might be falling for him.
Which has also happened to him before, and it's usually been a mirage. ]
You should get some rest, [ he says instead of whatever he was going to say next. ] The real sort of rest, not the feverishly unconscious kind. If you're good, I'll meet you on the sparring field myself.
[ Maker, what is he talking about? Anything, really, desperately attempting not to have some other necessary conversation while Bull is half-asleep. It seems like a bad time to end this. It can be postponed.
Despite himself, Dorian moves in to kiss him. The magician's scarf flutters. ]
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no subject
Let's not test that theory any further, [ he says, settling his tone into familiar frivolity. ] There's only so much I can take in one summer.
[ He should withdraw. Bull is tired, only newly coherent. Still-- ]
Bull.
no subject
He'd hate that comparison, he thinks with an inward chuckle. ]
Yeah, big guy?
[ He's brave, but he shouldn't have to deal with this shit, he thinks. Just because he can handle everything that comes with getting involved with him doesn't mean he should have to. If it comes to that...if it ever comes to that...
He's fucked no matter what happens.
There's a faint tightening of his fingers over Dorian's. ]
no subject
Which has also happened to him before, and it's usually been a mirage. ]
You should get some rest, [ he says instead of whatever he was going to say next. ] The real sort of rest, not the feverishly unconscious kind. If you're good, I'll meet you on the sparring field myself.
[ Maker, what is he talking about? Anything, really, desperately attempting not to have some other necessary conversation while Bull is half-asleep. It seems like a bad time to end this. It can be postponed.
Despite himself, Dorian moves in to kiss him. The magician's scarf flutters. ]