milliways_bar | (no subject)

He takes this as confirmation, and wilts.

"I didn't want to rule it out..."

He hangs his head.

"You are truly lacking in intelligence if you believe I would not desire such a thing with you."

"Oh, thanks," he says acidly. Intelligence is a sensitive subject with him.

"Just...we fight so often...I didn't know if you'd want it inside your head."

He sighs.

"Believe what you wish to believe, Lee," is all he has to say, though his tone refects his sense of defeat.

"I would have liked it," he whispers.

"You would?" he asks -- and not in the past tense, either.

He looks up. "Someday--I mean, it'd be scary as fuck, but--yeah..."

"Someday."

He nods.

"When that day comes, we can discuss it."

He nods, folding his arms again.

"It's just...a really strange thing for someone from my world to be thinking about," he says hesitantly. "Like there wouldn't be any space in the relationship anymore. Loss of privacy...those are my main concerns."

He looks up, praying Namo isn't going to get offended again.

"Do you think Gorlim has lost his sense of privacy?" he asks quietly.

"No," he says slowly. He just doesn't know how to explain that he's thinking of how it might look to people from his own world.

He does not know what to do. Or how to explain it. It has always been his first language -- the mind.

So he did what any flailing lover would do.

Gorlim?

A lazy hum through the bond from a dozing Gorlim down by the fire.

There may be an impression of having a cat on him.

Lover, I am having trouble with Lee. It began with an argument about Mercutio and we have begun to speak about our bond. About his inclusion on it. And I find his worries... well, I cannot put them to rest. I need you...

Gorlim seems to wake up a bit more.

A central booth. Love, my temper is short...

He allows a fraction of the argument to be replayed, the sense of jealousy and anger he feels.

We need you.

Gorlim... rolls his eyes, scoops up the gently protesting cat, and trundles off with the feline under his arm to find Lee and Namo. Eventually he wanders by the right booth and pulls up a chair, refusing to appear to take sides by sitting on one bench or the other.

"Right, you lugs, what the hell is this now?"

The cat, annoyed at having been disturbed, leaps off Gorlim's lap and begins an exploration of the table.

"Fucked if I know." He's a little unnerved, not really knowing what's just happened. "Namo?"

"I cannot answer your fears about the bond, Lee. Gorlim can."

He fidgets just a bit.

"And he knows of our argument."

"I know you're both acting like children," he says, giving them both Meaningful Looks. "I know I've heard small bits of this thing you call an arguement but I fail to understand what about it has offended either of you. I know I was called here from a nap and you've upset my cat so explain, please."

Ailbhe -- for Ailbhe it is, grown significantly from her kitten stage and showing signs that she will become a stunning longhair as an adult -- sits primly by the wall and begins to groom her tail.

Lee directs a pointed look at Namo. He's not going to be the one to explain.

...well, all right, just to move things along, although he really has no clue.

"I was just...concerned about the bond's effect on privacy. He figures you can help with this."

Námo remains stoicly silent, his eyes veiled as he looks at Lee.

Gorlim sighs.

"Lee, I am able to shut off any aspect of my mind from Namo except the single one we have permanently bound, which was the REASON I allowed this in the first place. The only thing I will never be able to hide from him is when I want to hurt myself. I could sever the bond any time I pleased, as could you, were it made. It is not at all difficult, and if I can do it, anyone can. I can be the thickest numbskull in all the worlds sometimes, but I can hush up anything I don't wish to be overheard, as can he."

He does not, for all their sakes, use the example of the night Namo and Lee were together, when he could not call to Namo no matter how he tried.

He nods slowly, doubts addressed. When put that way...no, his worries aren't problems anymore.

He looks back up at both of them. "And...you would honestly want this? Both of you? You're certain?"

He's addressing this more to Gorlim than Namo, but he does mean both.

"I would not have brought it up if I did not," he mumbles. "And if you wish the same type of bond Gorlim has, it is easily duplicated."

Which, without saying, meant that there were other forms.