| |
[Aug. 30th, 2009|10:11 pm] |
Haben had been eager to tell Robin about Noah. Having a bit of his childhood in town had put him in a perfect mood. He was up in the attic at Robin's house, going through some of his boxes. He wanted to show Noah Robin's work because he thought it was amazing. Unfortunately, the wolf wasn't doing much of it anymore, so he wanted the old stuff.
Since they had come back from their failed attempt at finding the humans that had hurt him, Robin had spent a majority of his time moping around. At first he stuck close to the haven, afraid to get too far away from the safety that lay within the small cluster of houses. But as the days passed he spent more and more time away from his house, wandering the woods just to be alone. Today he had been gone since before the sun came up and it was nearly setting when he came back, exhausted and pale from the effort of being out all day. He trudged up the stairs, not hearing Haben, though he should have guessed that he was there.
Haben heard Robin come in and he was relieved that the boy had come back. Sometimes, when Robin left he wondered if that was the last time he would see him. It hurt, but he knew he couldn't force the other to stay in his sights all of the time, even if the thought had crossed his mind. As soon as Robin came inside, Haben gathered up the pictures he'd selected and bounded down the stairs. "You're home," he pointed out the obvious with a smile.
"Yes." Robin nodded and he started into the bedroom, not even seeing what Haben had in his hands at that point. He started to work himself out of his vest, trying to get it off of his arms as he toed off his shoes, but he was tired and not paying much attention. He ended up tripping over pajamas left on the floor from the morning and he fell face first into the bed and just laid there.
Laughing a little at the fall, Haben's mirth died out when he saw that Robin was just lying there. "I took some of your art from upstairs," he began as he set it down the papers and went to help Robin out of his shoes. He tugged them off and chucked them haphazardly into a corner. "Noah's in town. He's a friend from when I was little. He's a werelion." He sat next to Robin on the bed.
With his shoes off, he had more energy to try an finish what Haben had started and he managed to wriggle himself free from his vest before he turned onto his back to look up at him. "Oh yeah?" There was interest in his voice, though it was very nearly covered by lethargy. Part of him worried about that, but part of him was relieved. Another lion meant something for Haben to focus his attention on.
He smiled at what he'd picked out as mild interest. It made him feel good to think that Robin still cared about his life and things outside of whatever was going on in that head of his. "I wanted to show him some of your stuff. And--I want you to meet him. He means a lot to me and you mean a lot to me and I think it'd be nice if you knew each other." Wolf Haven felt kind of like his home now and more to the point, Robin did and he wanted to share that with Noah.
That made him a little uncertain but instead of questioning it he just nodded. He would do it for Haben. The lion had made so many sacrifices for him, the least he could do would be to meet someone from his past. "When would you like me to meet him?"
"I don't know, as soon as we can. I don't know how long he'll stay." He didn't want to think about Noah leaving, but he didn't know what Noah was thinking about finding Haben here. Putting his hands on Robin, he rolled him over onto his back so that he could look down at him. "Where did you go today?"
"To the edge of the world and back." By that he meant he had walked as far as he could in one direction to hit the edge of the wolves' territory and then he had followed the line all the way around the outside and back to the house. He hadn't set a single step outside of it but he had walked along the edge, going as far from the houses as he dared to go alone.
The words appealed to Haben. He missed traveling and he laid down next to Robin, throwing an arm over his chest. Pressing his lips to Robin's shoulder, he spoke against it. "You and I could really go there someday. We could travel to the edge and then come back here."
"Yes." As if he had asked him to do it right in that moment. He wanted to go, he wanted to go and never come back. But he knew that he couldn't. There were too many responsibilities and too many relationships he'd be leaving behind.
"Where do you want to go first?" He wanted to take Robin away. Not to leave Sullivan behind, but to get him away from all of the pain that the boy so obviously had here. But maybe it would follow them and that would just hurt more. He worried about that, but he didn't dare talk about it right now. "I know how to get anywhere."
"I want to go to Africa, to see where you are from. And Japan to see the cherry blossoms. And Russia to feel the cold." There were more places he wanted to go, more things he wanted to see. But those were on the top of his list.
Haben got quiet for a second, hope building up in his chest. His arm tugged Robin closer and he looked up at him with his amber tinged eyes. "Would you really go with me? Will we really go? I want to take you away from the things that make you sad, but I think that I'm one of them."
Robin studied Haben's face and he leaned in to press a very gentle kiss to his lips before drawing back just enough to speak. "You are." He whispered. "Because I think you would be so much happier with someone better than me and that makes me sad. It makes me sad that I can't just be there for you. That I can't be better."
"We'll travel and you will be better," he said with a burst of confidence. "Even though you don't have to be better for me. You're just fine for me. I don't want anyone else." He liked Robin this close, especially his lips as he spoke. His eyes fluttered shut and he looked happy.
"I'm sorry, Haben. For everything that I have been putting you through. It is incredibly unfair of me." And he knew it was. To him and to Sullivan. Though he clung to them both anyway because he knew without them he would drown, and there was still a tiny part of him that wasn't ready to give up. A part that was getting smaller by the day.
"What's been unfair? What they did to you wasn't your fault." He kept his eyes closed, trying not to think about the first few days after Robin had gotten home. He'd steadily gotten better, until he started getting worse and Haben had to wonder if Robin had ever gotten better at all or if he was just trying to put on a brave face.
The last thing he wanted to do was worry Haben but he knew that everything worried him. "Sometimes I wish that they would have just killed me. That Hunter and Sullivan hadn't come along to put a stop to it. You would have never known where I went and you could have hated me for just assuming I left. Then you wouldn't be so sad." He ran his finger down the tip of Haben's nose.
"I keep telling you that I'd rather be sad with you than happy with anyone else. Our life will be much simpler once you accept that you're stuck with me. You feed a stray cat and he never leaves." He leaned forward and offered Robin a little kiss that turned into numerous ones.
There was a smile on Robin's face as he kissed him back and he just wrapped his arms around Haben so that they could be closer to one another. "I love you, Haben."
"We'll go to Japan first," he said quietly. "And I love you too. Sometimes I don't think you get it, but it's true." He sighed, trying not to think of how Robin had said he wished those men would have killed him.
"I want to see the cherry blossoms. I want to see everything while we are there." Robin thought about the places he wanted to go. "I want to see tea houses and temples. I want to see where the bombs were dropped and I'd like to go to museums." He sighed softly and brushed their nose together. "When can we go?"
Haben would take them anywhere but Africa. The idea terrified him. He listened to Robin talk, liking the fact that there was some life to his words. "As soon as you want. I'll tell Noah. I'm sure he'll understand. Maybe he'll come along; he's been traveling too--he can help us. You'll like him."
"All right. We can take Noah too." Though he wasn't sure that would be quite as he imagined it. There was a lot going on in his head so he just got quiet.
Haben laughed a little. "You don't take Noah anywhere. He drifts along next to you and then he disappears at will." A pause. "Though I guess I was the one who disappeared on him." He still felt guilty about that. "Do you want to ask Sullivan?"
"If he wants to go with us or if it is okay for us to go without him?" Robin wasn't sure but he tried to read Haben's expressions as he spoke because he wanted to know what he was thinking about.
"If he wants to go with us," Haben said honestly. He'd slowly grown to accept that Sullivan was a part of them. It had helped to go hunting with them, and although Austin may not have realized it, he had helped Haben a great deal.
"All right. I will tell him and ask him if he would like to go." Robin nodded and he leaned his head against Haben's. "I'll ask him in the morning. It is already late and I just want to be here with you."
"Will you be sad if he says no?" Haben wondered out loud, slinking his arm around Robin's waist.
"Maybe a little, but it won't be the end of the world." Robin rubbed his nose against Haben's again and then he laid his head down on the pillow. "Can you help me get undressed."
Smiling just a little at the request, Haben sat up and moved his hands over Robin's pants, tugging on them. His motions were less nurse and more boyfriend now though they weren't overtly sexual. Stripping Robin down to his boxers, he smiled triumphantly as if it was a great accomplishment.
Once he was undressed he turned over and laid on his stomach. "Hey, curl up with me." Robin gave him a gentle smile and he patted the bed beside him so that he could come closer.
Haben obliged quickly, curling close to Robin. "I'll always love you, no matter what. You know that, right?" He wanted Robin to do more than know it--he wanted him to believe it. Nuzzling his face against Robin's neck he sighed warm breath against him.
That made him smile again and he moved to push Haben over onto his back. He wrapped an arm over his hips and then laid his head against his shoulders. "Can I sleep on top of you?"
Haben laughed. "You can do anything you want to me," he said. "I'll try to make a good bed." He was warm and soft in the right places.
Moving to crawl on top of Haben, he kept his head on his chest and curled their legs together. He tangled himself up with the lion and then closed his eyes so he could rest.
It felt so good to be there. It had been far too long since they'd just been close to each other. A warm contentment radiated from him, like an aural purr.
The purring was perfect. Robin had had so much trouble sleeping lately but the feeling of contentment that seeped into Robin while he laid on top of his lion made him start to drift off. His fingers were curled into the fabric of Haben's shirt but they loosened as he drifted.
|
|
|
|
