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Is it? Not like he's gotta eat people to kill 'em, or even dirty his own hands. He might just be humorin' you while you're there.

And even if he's not, you thought about why he's bein' so helpful, right? Letting ya tag along and run damage control. You sure he's not playin' nice because he knows he can't control ya the way he could back home?

[ If Majima's talks with Tim had convinced him of anything, it was that the combination of guilt and terrible self esteem was a hell of a drug. So easy to get what you wanted from someone who was convinced they deserved no better. And he really doubted Jack was doing anything to benefit Tim if it didn't also, ultimately, benefit Jack. ]

Because that's what I'd be doing if I was some space psycho. Ya already feel responsible for him, right? Like ya can't ever get out from under his shadow, like it has to be you and you alone who stops him. But he's gotta know that, on some level.

You don't think he's got some investment in keeping you thinking you're the only one who can stop Hurricane Jack?

Edited 2019-12-07 02:11 (UTC)

I really don't need you to tell me that I can hurt Jack. I already know.

[Another thing that he felt bad about-- ripping Jack's stupid robot arm off in a fit of rage. Not just because it was, like, morally wrong to hurt people-- and it was wrong to hurt people, but Tim did understand nuance and the fact that Jack deserved a hell of a lot for all the shit he pulled-- but because when he'd done it, when he'd seen how scared Jack was of him in that moment, and how powerless he was to stop him?]

[Tim had kind of liked it. And that was where it had all started for Jack, too, when he'd killed a man for crossing him, because he deserved it, and said it felt invigorating.]

[Sometimes, Tim thought about the ways that he and Jack paralleled each other, and it kept him up at night.]

Besides, I'm not the one who stops him. Not at home, and I don't know if I can stop him here.

[He rinsed all the soap out of Majima's ruff, probably more thoroughly than he needed to. It kept his hands busy, and he needed that.]

And I know he keeps me around because he thinks I might be an asset. That's, like, not any different from back home. He's just not holding every card anymore. So I guess he can think whatever he wants, but I've gotta play along for a while.

[Tim had a hand now, if he was going to keep that poker metaphor going, but he still couldn't play it until just the right moment. If he went rogue on Jack too early, it would ruin any chance he had at stopping him from gaining power.]

I --

[ It felt like a brush-off, and hey. It wouldn't be the first one Majima had ever been on the business end of. It wasn't even the one that felt the worst ex post facto; that dubious honor was awarded to Saejima Taiga, for his mulish insistence on going through with that hit in '85 and not even telling his goddamn baby sister he was going to be going somewhere.

But he cared about Tim, so that sucked. Majima wanted to argue, of course, probably something along the lines of 'then why are you trying to do this alone', or 'you don't have to do anything', but guess what? He'd been down this road. He'd already agreed, despite all his misgivings, to leave it alone.

Even if Tim died, he'd be back. He should leave it alone.

He stopped Tim with the touch of his hand. ]

It's fine, I got it. And I know I already said I wouldn't get involved.

[ Majima didn't even want to talk about Jack. The fact that this dude, who was not in this relationship, somehow kept coming up in it? Thanks, he hated it. ]

How long are we talkin'?

[For whatever reason, Majima was attracted to stubborn-ass men. Here he was, shacking up with another stubborn asshole who refused to change his stupid plan despite the fact that it was, in fact, stupid as hell.]

[But he didn't want to talk about Jack, either. He wished he never had to consider Jack in his life at all, but unfortunately, his boss took up a lot of real estate in his brain. Despite the fact that Jack wasn't involved in this relationship at all, he sure had a pretty big impact on it.]

...I don't know?

[God, everything just happened so much. The day had literally just started and Tim was so tired, he just wanted to get back into bed and not think about any of this anymore, ever. Sleep for a whole month. And if the universe would do him a favor and let him wake up in a Jack-less world, he'd be grateful.]

I just, I don't know. I'm sorry, I, I'm trying.

[Trying to get things sorted, and deal with Jack, and deal with everything that kept happening in Ryslig, and maybe he wasn't dealing with it very well, but he was sure trying.]

[ One day, maybe he'd figure out why he was into hulking, immovable objects. That day was not today.

Majima was looking at Tim while he spoke, as if he might glean the answer to some unasked question through the act of simple observation. What he saw besides an exhausted minotaur was a mystery, but he put out a hand to touch Tim's face with the back of a white-furred hand. A careful touch, gentler than necessary.

Then he pulled the plug. The water was starting to get cold, anyway -- best to dry off before someone's teeth started chattering. ]

Here, go ahead and rinse off. You'll catch a cold, y'know.

[ He started to get up and lift one leg over the rim of the tub, aiming to brave the bathroom floor and retrieve some clean towels. ]

[Tim turned his cheek towards Majima's gentle hand, and couldn't help but feel guilty. His boyfriend had been patient about this whole thing with Jack, more patient than he should've ever had to be-- it wasn't fair to ask him to keep their relationship a secret.]

[Tim needed to do something about Jack. He didn't know what, exactly, but something.]

[Then Majima pulled the drain and went to get towels, and Tim did as he'd suggested and stood up to rinse all the soap off of himself. And, in the meanwhile, tried to put his thoughts together, figure out something to do about this whole Jack situation.]

[He couldn't kill him. He didn't have any proof from home about how dangerous of a person Jack was to use against him. How was he supposed to keep him in check?]

[When he was finished rinsing, he stepped out of the tub and reached for one of the towels to dry himself off. It wouldn't do to catch a chill right after he finished growing back limbs, right?]

Thanks.

[ That got a little smile out of him. Majima leaned over and planted a kiss up on Tim's cheek. No smooching, not while they were both still buck naked and recovering from growing some goddamn organs, but it had a kind of lingering warmth to it. ]

You're welcome.

[ Ordinarily, this was the part where he wrapped the towel around his waist first, the whole thing with preserving his modesty, but this was Tim he was with. So instead, Majima swiped the fluffy bath towel over those long legs, swiping away at the moisture first with no immediate rush to cover up. ]

I know you're tryin', Tim. But you're beat, right? You should get back in bed. I can make something for when ya get back up.

[He returned that kiss with a smile, maybe just a little weakly. Majima wasn't wrong in his assessment-- Tim was pretty exhausted from everything that had happened. Regrowing limbs and organs was a shit business, and he wanted to crawl in bed and go back to sleep until he didn't feel like crap anymore. Not that he knew how long that would take, but hey, a few hours was a good start, right?]

[The kiss was, too. Even if Tim was being frustrating, Majima still loved him, right? He needed to remember that.]

Yeah, okay. Just wake me up in a few hours? I don't want to sleep all day.

[Even if he kind of felt like he could. Then he dried off his legs first, too-- wet fur was pretty cold-- and then the rest of him. He considered putting on some pajamas or something, but screw it, who cared if he slept naked in his boyfriend's bed?]

Get me if you need me?

[Otherwise, he'd bury himself in that bed without even bothering to dry his hair off and go the fuck to sleep.]

I will.

[ When Tim woke up, there'd probably be the lingering smell of vegetables and broth left to cool in the kitchen... and a set of extra clothes on the nightstand. However, there'd also be a toasty werewolf pressed against him from behind, hand held reflexively over Majima's side, where a row of almost-healed stitch marks ran up over his torso.

Good luck, space cowman. ]

[When Tim woke up, he was warm and comfortable and felt less like ten pounds of shit in a five-pound bag, which was a general improvement from how he went to bed. Majima was a familiar weight against his back, and he could smell that there was something savory left to cool in the kitchen. He also kind of had to piss.]

[And there lay his dilemma.]

[On one hand, Tim didn't want to disturb Majima was he was sleeping, but on the other... food, and probably coffee, and also his bladder, not necessarily in that order.]

[Maybe he could just kind of slowly and stealthily easy himself away, so that he wouldn't wake up his boyfriend while he tried to get out of bed.]

Mmph.

[ For a moment, it seemed like Tim wasn't going to be able to get away; Majima snuggled into the nape of his neck and gave Tim a little squeeze around the middle, as if out of some unconscious desire to soak up every last bit of warmth.

Then he sighed, and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "I love you" before letting go. Now there was a wolf curling up under the blankets, looking like a furry croissant. ]

[ Now that Tim was feeling better, maybe he'd take some time to notice various things around the apartment. In the kitchen was a pot of toasty vegetable soup. Notes of thyme, parsley, and rosemary to be found there, along with potatoes, carrots, celery, and the like. In fact, if Tim were to look in the refrigerator, he'd find a surprising amount of vegetable ingredients for a monster who loved his meat.

There were the little lunchboxes Tim might recognize as the one Majima had been using for him. On the counter sat a brown stuffed cow, as well as a few letters and a catalog. ]

[Tim paused in his attempted to get up when Majima's arms tightened around him, and, god, his heart did stupid things in his chest when his boyfriend mumbled some approximation of I love you against the nape of his neck. God, it was hard to leave him when he was all sweet like that, but also... Tim kind of had to take care of his bladder.]

[Before he left, though, he leaned over to give that furry croissant a kiss on the forehead and a soft love you too.]

[After he'd taken care of business and gotten dressed as much as possible-- the shirt was a no-go just because of his shoulders, but the pants worked so long as he rolled them up past the knees-- Tim wandered into the kitchen in pursuit of the savory smell. He found the pot on the stove pretty easily, and when he lifted the lid, it was still warm enough to steam; he felt his stomach give a grumble at the possibility of getting filled. He went to locate a bowl, because, well, even if it wasn't the most commonplace breakfast food, it was late enough in the morning for soup to be fine.]

[The stuffed cow on the counter was adorable, and Tim gave its head a little pat on the way to the cabinets. As he pulled down a bowl, he couldn't help but notice the mail sitting there; going through Majima's letters would be pretty invasive, even for a boyfriend, but there was nothing wrong with taking a look at what catalog he was getting, right?]

[ Those fuzzy ears twitched a little at the sound of Tim's voice, and if a wolf's expression could be said to relax, well... that was precisely what it seemed to do as Tim planted a kiss on his furry head and left the room. ]

[ At first, the thick catalog seemed to involve Christmas products: stockings, trees, wreaths, and there were a couple of notes written down on the pages. Fir, pine, spruce... perhaps Majima had been thinking about getting a Christmas tree for the season.

Only wedged firmly in between some of the pages was an entirely different sort of catalog. This one ran significantly racier, with gloves and lingerie and leather and models (not all female, either) demonstrating the proper fitting of each. Man, those uh

sure were some skimpy negligees. The ones that Majima had circled seemed to favor styles that showed off the legs rather than the bust area. ]

[Flipping through the pages and finding Majima's little notes about types of evergreen trees was adorable-- look at him, putting so much effort into Christmas. Tim hardly would've been able to tell the difference between a spruce or a fir or a pine tree, they were all just big plants with green pokey bits to him.]

[But apparently, that Christmastime catalog was a cover for a much different catalog.]

[Either Majima was going really 80s with his spank bank and had picked up the equivalent of the Victoria's Secret catalog to hide in the bathroom, or he had some ideas about how to really make Tim's holiday merry and bright. There was a lot of leg in some of those pictures, especially the ones that seemed to be designed for people who had maybe a little less to show off in the chest region.]

[Tim quickly closed the magazine again, though, after he'd gotten a pretty decent eye-ful. He didn't want Majima to know that he'd seen it and ruin the surprise. But, man, what a surprise to get. Merry Christmas to Tim, apparently.]

[And, hey, maybe if he put some coffee on, it would summon the wolfman himself out of bed.]

[ Maybe a minute or two after the smell of coffee started wafting though the place, there was the sound of bare footsteps approaching. Majima had thrown on some quick loungewear, but his hair still fell loose over his shoulders, and he was yawning as he made his way toward Tim. None the wiser, apparently, that Tim had gained some foreknowledge in the holiday cheer department. ]

Hey, beautiful.

[ He'd been wanting to say that to his boyfriend in person for at least a week. ]

'Morning.

[Beautiful. He loved it when Majima called him that, both because of the sentiment and because he liked it better than handsome. His ears did that happy flippy thing when he walked in, and Tim turned towards him and, when he was close enough, leaned up to give him a lingering good morning kiss. Not only was Majima a great boyfriend who deserved nice morning kisses in general, but he'd also been pretty damn great this morning, when Tim was regrowing half his stupid body.]

How'd you sleep? [Seemed like pretty well, but he'd been out like a light, so he couldn't really tell.] Want me to get you some coffee?

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