Tourist, May I?

[takingkarabusiness]

Who: Tourists and visitors!
Broadcast: Nooooooooope
Action: On the Tourist
When: May

[ Ship Catch all for May! Mingle! Talk to your neighbors! Walk in on your friends! Wait, don't do that. ]

Comments

[winn]

[ he kisses back, happy to be spared for at least a moment from the need to figure out the right thing to say.

he hates that he has feelings, they usually hurt. if he's lucky, they only hurt him. if he isn't, the people he loves the most end up as collateral damage. ]

[passingthrough]

[She transitions to another hug when they part for breath.] I know communication is good. I wish... [She pauses trying to regather herself.] I feel like the things I have to communicate a lot of the time are just so...broken.

[winn]

[ he rubs circles into her back. he knows where she's coming from - both out of experience (one of the reasons why communicating is so hard on him), and because he listens to her. horror story after horror story. the words 'I'm sorry' feel like they've lost their meaning, he's been saying them so much. ]

Talking about it is a pretty good way to piece things back together.

[passingthrough]

I guess if you're fresh out of all the king's horses and all the king's men. [She starts rubbing his back maybe just to comfort herself.]

[winn]

They didn't do much good anyway. They should've known - you wanna put a shattered egg back together - you go to a nerd. We've got years of model building experience.

[ he smiles, hoping he's helping. ]

[passingthrough]

[He's always helping. Even when it's supposed to be other other way since she's the one who probably freaked him out here.] You know, no one ever actually says Humpty Dumpty is an egg.

[winn]

[ he's far more comfortable in the helper role anyway. it's still difficult for him to accept help from her, when she's been through so much. his burdens are nothing in comparison. ]

Sure they do, when they give animation instructions.

[passingthrough]

I'm preeeeetty sure it was written before animation was a thing. [She has no idea when it was written, but it sounds like a safe bet and they can't look it up from here anyway.]

[winn]

I'm a Millennial, I'm not even supposed to know books exist.

[ he shrugs. ]

[passingthrough]

You're a what now? [She kisses his neck.]

[winn]

[ that is very distracting, kitty. he hums contently, tilting his head for better access. ]

The latest incarnation of 'young people these days'.

[passingthrough]

Does that make me a millennial too? Because I know all about books.

[winn]

Unless your time travel also included yearly leaps I'm unaware of -- yeah. Congratulations, you're a member of generation spoiled mindless drone.

[passingthrough]

This is very exciting. What should we do to celebrate?

[winn]

Hmmmn -- well, the appropriate celebration would be lying around doing nothing. But we're rebels - [ he smiles and leans in for a kiss. ]

[passingthrough]

[She kisses back, looking amused after a moment.] So we're going to celebrate the same way we celebrate seeing each other and getting ready for bed and waking up?

[winn]

If it ain't baroque - [ he smiles, a little obnoxiously, before shrugging ]

How d'you wanna celebrate?

[passingthrough]

Mmmm...you could tell me why you had blows to the head that required CT scans. [YOU THOUGHT SHE FORGOT! No, of course she would just bring it up right before potential sex. Of course she would. You're the luckiest man in the multiverse. /laughtrack.]

[winn]

-- it's not a very celebratory story.

[ that smile kind of freezes uncomfortably. it's his own fault. he should have pretended he was kidding. but she asked, so he shrugs, he'll share. he won't outright lie at the question. ]

Basically, when your dad orphans a bunch of kids - you're not gonna be Mr. popular at an orphanage.

[ did he make light of it enough? he could go lighter. ] Scan was for legal reasons, wasn't that bad, really. Dunno why I brought it up.

[passingthrough]

I didn't really think it would be. [She gently strokes a hand through his hair.] Did they transfer you or at least keep you safe after that?

[winn]

I learned to keep a low profile.

[ he shrugs with a smile. never bother anyone, always be helpful, smile - even when it's the last thing he feels like doing. some of it is just the way he always was. other parts are lessons that merged so completely into his very core that he can't really tell them apart anymore anyway. ]

[passingthrough]

And you still do. [She leans in touching her forehead to his.] Are you going to be offended and emasculated if I tell you that I want to keep you safe forever so you can keep whatever profile you want?

[winn]

If full on hiding behind Kara at home, and sewing ball gowns here didn't do it - I'm pretty sure you're safe.

[ he smiles, booping her nose. he appreciates it, he really does. that she could care so much about his little troubles, after everything she's been through, that she wants to keep him safe even though she's so tired of fighting. he doesn't want to be the thing that will drag her back in the ring, though. he wants to keep her safe too. ]

I'm generally for me being safe.

[passingthrough]

[See? Another difference from Reid. Not that she's thinking that right now.] Good. I'm for you being safe too.

Not just physically. [She knows what it's like to just be hated by people for something you can't control. She hates that he went through that too and younger and more. She spent almost all her time with other mutants once she was rescued.

And don't get her wrong or let her fool you. The second someone is in danger she is throwing herself in without hesitation to help. But there's a big difference between something like that and working to take down an opponent that you can't even get to.]

[winn]

[ no one will ever beat him at emasculating himself.

she understands him in a way no one ever has before, and it's incredibly moving to him. ]

It stopped being an issue once I went away to college. Most people remember murderers by their nicknames, not their given names - I was mostly left alone til he broke out, and that was earlier this year - grown ups have their problems with you behind your back.

[ he just wants to reassure her, keep her from worrying about him - it wasn't that bad, it ended, he's alright. or at least, he tries his best to be. ]