thingpuncher | @glavesworn.

@glavesworn.

So Midnighter spends the next week thinking about what an idiot he was. He bitches to Jason about it, about how that guy he was talking about was stringing him along, and he expects it to make him feel better, but it fucking doesn't. It just makes Midnighter feel more bitter, more betrayed, and more stupid for even feeling that way. Didn't Nyx say from the start, dates are all he could offer? Midnighter's the one who got his stupid fucking hopes up.

But the way Nyx had looked at him, on the couch or in his bed, the conversations they'd shared late at night, the way he'd held Midnighter's face in his hands... He'd thought, maybe, there was something more.

He'd been fucking wrong.

So he puts his energy into his job-- not that he'd been slacking-- and tries to ignore that fucking empty feeling. Any texts he receives from Nyx will get a brush-off; he's busy, can't talk right now, he's in the middle of something. In truth, Midnighter's just not ready to end it. He needs to. He just hasn't yet.

He waits until late at night, when he's lonely and sleepless and stewed in self pity, for the moment to finally feel right.

hey

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Fuck, Nyx is beautiful like this. Midnighter wants to capture the moment forever, but he doesn't have the time to grab his phone. Instead, he curls close to Nyx on the floor, wrapping them both in the spare sheet and running his hand over his chest, drinking it all in. He did this, he really did it, he finally gave Nyx what he's been given so consistently and for so long. He kisses his ear, his cheek, down the line of tattoo over his throat.

He can't stop grinning, so he just murmurs into Nyx's collarbone, "Shit, crown me the cocksucking king." He hasn't forgotten that, either.

Nyx groans a little as Midnighter touches him, sensitive all over from his recent climax. Damn, that had been... yeah, Nyx isn't too often on the receiving side of a blowjob, just due to his own personal preferences, but that had been hands down the best he can remember. Closing his eyes, he wrinkles his nose in thought, trying to adopt the snooty tones of the court nobles he'd heard back home.

"Sir Midnighter, I uh, hereby bequeath you..." and then he's laughing, and laughing is fucking difficult when it feels like every muscle in his body had just gotten the workout of its life, so he's wheezing instead, curling up against Midnighter's chest and into the warm circle of his arms.

Midnighter holds him close, peppering him with kisses on every bit of skin he can reach, laughing along with him. He's lovely, absolutely gorgeous and happy and safe and his. He'll do anything for that. And, yeah, maybe he's rubbing up against Nyx's hip a little, because he's hard and that was hot as fucking shit. Whatever, Nyx probably won't mind.

"You're gorgeous," he murmurs into Nyx's hair. "Absolutely. I wish I could've taken pictures of that. Prettiest goddamn thing I ever seen."

Nyx is still chuckling a little as he presses his face into Midnighter's throat, brushing a tender kiss of his own against warm skin, slow and languorous. Can't remember the last time he'd had such a good night's sleep... or gotten this kind of welcome in the morning. Midnighter's cock presses insistently up against his side. Nyx wants to return the favor, but every part of him still feels loose and slack with pleasure-- the best he can manage is turning onto his side, trying to encourage him to rub up between his thighs.

"Next time, get your camera ready. Take as many pictures as you like, any pose you want."

Midnighter is happy to take the hint, and gets a few quick grinds in before he catches himself, still breathless and bubbling with laughter. "You promising me dirty pics? Fuck, you really know how to romance a guy."

"You bet I am."

Feeling a little more energy in his limbs, Nyx deliberately rubs back up against him with a sigh, slow and sultry as he flashes a wicked glance up at Midnigher from beneath his lashes.

"But gimme some inspiration here. How do you want me? On my back? My knees? Jerking off? I can finger myself if you want, or do both at the same time..."

Midnighter, not quite in the throws of passion but definitely more than a little horny, groans at the suggestions (and at Nyx's fantastic fucking thighs, holy shit).

"All of it. Shit. Ever angles a good angle for you," He groans, gruff and lurid, enjoying the simplicity of it. For months, this was the only way he thought he could have sex, and it still carries that elation, the idea that finally, he could be close to someone. "Lemme be in 'em with you. Hate the thought of you alone."

"More of that sweet talk, and my head's not gonna fit through your door," Nyx says with a soft chuckle, tucking himself closer to savor the moment, the way Midnighter's hips work against him, eager and sweet, the rumble of his voice and the way Nyx can feel it all the way through his chest.

The way Midnighter treats him like the only thing that matters in the world. Nyx closes his eyes, hiding his face in the crook of his neck. Hate the thought of you alone.

"Yeah, okay. I'd like that." His voice is quiet... before his head comes up, a smirk hovering over his lips. "Got a few ideas for some creative selfies..."

Midnighter can feel himself getting close, and predictably starts to babble-- "Wanna finger you, fuck, that'd be great. Ride you, too. After we get back from Gloria, let's just- I'll take pictures and- last me until you get back. Damn, you're so good, you're so-" He gasps, soft, and nuzzles closer on the floor, tangled in thin sheets. "-beautiful, fuck, you're beautiful."

Oh, this is good too. With his front pressed flush against Midnighter like this, Nyx can feel every roll of his hips, every twitch of his cock against him. He slides am arm around Midnighter, trying to match his rhythm, and somehow it's the easiest thing in the world, the way their bodies move together.

"Yeah, please. I want you- every way." Fuck, it's too soon for his own cock to get back in on the action, but just hearing Midnighter's voice describing everything he would do to him- damn.

Midnighter hums with contentment, holding Nyx close and savoring the afterglow, the way Nyx's body moves with his, the way he holds him. "Damn, you're perfect." It's all fondness as he reaches for a box of kleenex he put nearby earlier, wiping them both off with lazy strokes.

He gets his fill of that, the closeness and the way Nyx never rolls away, overheating. Maybe he does like holding people close after sex, 'cuddling'. Maybe if it's Nyx. Eventually, though, time catches up to him. He kisses Nyx's cheek and sits up. "Gotta get dressed," he says, trying to smooth his rumpled hair back. "We got people to meet."

Nyx sits up without complaint, stretching and listening with bemusement as his joints pop. Time was he could've slept on a dirt packed road without caring or noticing the difference, but now all the bruises from last night are starting to pipe up with complaints. He's gotten soft. Or old. Funny thinking about it now; how he'd spent the last ten years only caring about living another day to fight, ready to burn his life out on a word from his liege.

Not all that much has changed, really, except that he's here, waking up in another world next to a handsome man who tells him he's perfect. (A familiar stir within in chest, in his heart, the black depths. Something so good, so sweet... it won't last.)

"Yeah, can I borrow your shower for a sec?" He runs a hand through his hair, grimacing at the braids half undone, "Thought I saw some gel in there..."

Midnighter leans in a little, pulling Nyx in for a quick kiss to his jaw. "Sure, babe. Gotta look your best. Lady we're going to see hates the fuck outta me, gonna hope she trusts you a little more."

He stands, stretches-- his back pops, but it's a good feeling, things settling back into place-- and goes to the closet where their clean clothes are ready and folded. "Her sense of smell's better'n mine, probably shouldn't stink of sex quite so much."

It's said with humor. He doesn't mind in the slightest.

Nyx just chuckles at that. Yeah, he knows all about working for people who hate his guts.

"No promises, but I'll do my best."

He's in and out of the shower in short time, emerging in a cloud of vaguely floral scented steam with his hair done up once more and a tiny towel wrapped around his hips, which almost immediately slips off as he starts rummaging through the closet, pulling out his uniform and letting out an impressed whistle to find it clean. Shirt, pants, boots, jacket, armor, and- right. He fishes the little crystal pendant out from a hidden inner pocket, pulling the cord over his head.

"Ready whenever you are."

Midnighter bathes in the guest bathroom-- because of course the apartment's got multiple bathrooms, and he figures it's probably good to bathe seperately, or they'll end up screwing again-- and emerges similarly clean and vaguely melon-scented. He dresses in his uniform-- complete with cowl-- before looking over Nyx appreciatively. "Damn, you clean up nice." He resists the urge to pull him into another quick kiss, suspecting it won't be nearly so quick.

And then he opens a Door to a farm on the outskirts of Metropolis. It's clearly been abandoned for a while. The tomato plants and fields of corn are all rotted off the stalk, but not unnaturally; it's like someone up and left the place with no intention of returning.

Midnighter explains while he walks through the place. "So, Gloria. She... I really wanna get through this without killing her. It's not her fault she got made the way she was. They put a brain ten times as intelligent as any human in a body with no hands or a way to communicate. I think she puts a stick in her mouth to draw words. Anyway, she sees me, she's gonna think I'm dragging her back for another round of experimentation."

They approach a large cave in the side of a hill at the edge of the property. There's a rattle and hiss emanating from its depths, more serpentine than anything else. A warning.

"I'm hoping if she sees I brought somebody else, she'll at least gimme a chance to talk before trying to bite my head off. If it does turn into a fight, be careful. The fangs're poison."

"Shit, really?" Holy fuck, that sounds... incredibly twisted, kind of like some of the shit they're hearing about the experiments being run out of Niflheim. Except, apparently here, they're successful. A chill runs down Nyx's spine.

"Who did this to her?" Another thought, a less pleasant one as Nyx follows Midnighter up to the mouth of the cave. "Uh, why would she think you're bringing her back?

"Yeah. You know, make a more intelligent weapon?" The rattling hiss from the cave grows louder, and Midnighter stops, standing on front of it. Puts a hand on Nyx's shoulder. "She probably thinks I'm here to drag her back because we were made by the same people. I'm trying to help the Gardener clean up her messes, though, you know. Repent? Not everybody sees it that way."

And then he turns to the cave, stepping purposefully in front of Nyx, a protective habit. "Gloria! Come out. I'm not gonna hurt you!"

And that's when a giant jet-black snake slides out of the cave, and if a snake can have an expression, hers is livid. The genetics that went into her mixed a rattlesnake with a cobra-- her hood is open in full, teeth bared, and the rattle at her tail is a potently loud warning.

Nyx tenses immediately at the sight of the giant snake- he's seen something like that before, deep cave-dwelling daemons with a fondness for sorcery and eating anything it could fit its jaws around. Worse are the ones that still retained a little bit of their humanity-- the last one he had hunted had spent the whole time crying for her daughter, who she'd almost certainly eaten immediately after her transformation.

His fingers itch for the handles of his blades, but he keeps his hands at his sides, trying to follow Midnighter's lead.

Midnighter holds up his hands, trying to pacify. It's not what he's made for, but he'll try anyway.

"Look, Gloria. You sick of living in a cave and eating cows, yet? It's only a matter of time before somebody finds you and rips you apart."

Gloria hisses louder, shaking with anger.

"I know you're strong!" Midnighter guesses that's her objection. It'd be his. "And you're smart, too. And I know whoever comes after you isn't gonna know that."

Gloria's hood droops a little, considering. The rattling stops. She motions her head toward Nyx, tongue flickering out, before turning around. She reaches toward a tree-- one missing more than a few branches-- and rips off another, using it as a stick to write a large question mark.

"I brought him because he's important to me," Midnighter answers.

Gloria narrows her yellow eyes.

"He's my fucking boyfriend. I wouldn't bring him if I didn't trust you. I don't wanna fight you."

Gloria seems to consider this.

Feels like he's kind of a third wheel in this conversation, so Nyx just stands there and tries not to look threatening, biding his time. At least until--

Boyfriend?! Nyx stiffens with- surprise? Shock? Uncertainty? Boyfriends. Is that what they are? What he and Midnighter have between them, it's not just friends, and last night's events had made that plenty clear. But he hadn't put any thought into categorization, into names or labels, and it's still kind of a shock just hearing it baldly laid out like that, Midnighter just fucking saying it with all the confidence in the world.

'He's my fucking boyfriend.'

Swallowing hard, Nyx awkwardly raises a hand, gives a little wave of greeting.

"Uh... Hey."

Gloria turns her head to the side, yellow eyes looking Nyx over. She drops the stick and slithers closer, feather-light tongue tasting the air inches away from Nyx's face. She nods carefully, and turns to look at Midnighter.

"You wanna pick up that stick and talk like adults, here?" So he's not great at negotiation.

Gloria's glowing eyes narrow, and she begins to coil around Nyx, not tight at all, but certainly possessive. Midnighter glowers. "Hey- hey! What are you- fucking testing me? That's a great way to make me change my mind about the mercy thing, Gloria. Hey! Are you fucking listening to me?"

Gloria expands her hood over Nyx in an almost protective gesture, and Midnighter has the grace to sound... hurt.

"Are you... protecting him from me?"

The giant snake- Gloria, she's got a name and he should use it- slithers right up to him, forked tongue flicking in his direction. Up close and personal like this, Nyx finds his shoulders relaxing, and he manages a quirked brow and a crooked smile as he looks up at her. There's curiosity in those golden eyes, intelligence in the tilt of her head and the flick of her tail, nothing at all like the bright-burning malevolence and hunger of the daemons he'd encountered before.

Coiling around him is-- unexpected, but Nyx laughs, looking up at Gloria and setting a gentle hand against her scaled flank.

"Hey, appreciate the thought but you don't need to worry about me. I'm a big boy, could kick his ass if I wanted to."

But it's more than that, isn't it? Whatever Midnighter had done in the past, where he came from, who he might have been, Nyx doesn't know. Doesn't care. All he knows is what they've got in the present, warm skin against skin, lazy mornings and kisses, a beer shared between the two of them. And more than that...

"I'm safe with Midnighter. He's a good man. One of the best I know."

If a snake can roll its eyes, Gloria just did. Still, she doesn't do a thing to hurt him, just moves her head forward to grab one of Nyx's knives out of its sheath. With a level of dexterity befitting a snake, she twirls it around in her mouth until the blade is over her tongue, and the hilt sticks out. She uses that to write in the dirt, an elegant hand in scrawling cursive.

That's all very well and good, but I have other concerns, and find you a far more trustworthy creature han the man who brought you here-- likely without giving you the full scope of the situation you were walking into! My freedom is to me paramount, after I wrenched it from the men I was sold to as an amusement. I do not believe for a second it will continue, should I go back to my creator with my-- excuse the metaphor-- tail between my legs.

Midnighter steps around the bulk of Gloria's scales, trying to get a look at the message for himself. "You really think I'm gonna let somebody put you in a cage?"

Gloria's eyes narrow. That is exactly what she thinks.

Nyx glances up, startled, as Gloria deftly plucks the kukri out of its sheath. The writing is even more impressive-- definitely better than anything he could've managed with his own blades, even if he has to peer over the bulk of her coils to read it. As for the message itself... it's true that Midnighter hadn't told him much about the mission, such that it was, before they'd headed out. But Nyx hadn't really cared-- after all, he trusts Midnighter, and he's used to getting thrown out on deployments with little in the way of details and a fuckton of MT's to mow down, so...

"Hey, don't worry. I'm used to getting info on an as-needed basis." He pats at Gloria's mottled black scales, smoothing a gentle hand along her body. "Besides, whatever the hell he says, I'm not gonna let anyone put you in a cage either. Not a gorgeous lady like yourself."

Said with a saucy wink, and all things considered that's a new one for him, flirting with a snake. But it's true. For all that Nyx barely knows anything about Gloria, he at least knows this much-- he sure as fuck isn't going to let anyone slap shackles on something- no, someone as magnificent and graceful as the serpent before them.

Gloria hunkers down around Nyx protectively, her hood extending over him a moment. I can see why he finds you charming. You're surprisingly kind, someone who willingly spends their time around a sociopath.

"Can you quit shittalking me when I'm right here?" Midnighter speaks up, standing in front of the words Gloria just wrote. "I'm not locking you away. The Gardener wants to see if she can put you in a human body, okay?"

Gloria rears back, dropping the kukri (which Midnighter catches handily) and begins to hiss.

Midnighter sighs. "Taking that as a no, then."

@glavesworn.

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