boundxkitty | (no subject)

(no subject)

Liz had watched when Nathaniel had left the infirmary, not thinking too much of it at the time. They all had friends here or just needed time for themself through this. But then he hadn't returned.

That had worried her a little.

After making sure there was still someone to sit with Jason, Liz went in search of her Pardmate. It was fairly easy to tell he wasn't in the bar proper after a quick glance. She moved and took the stairs to the rooms. She's stopped briefly in her room both to see if he was there and then to shed old cloths for new quickly. Then she was moving to Jason's room. His scent seemed stronger here and she knocked before trying the handle. "Nathaniel?"

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Nathaniel is in Jason's room, furiously cleaning the place.

Where Jason had voided his body, he's currently scrubbing.

It's as if he could undo everything if he could just get the room clean enough. He's already dumped Jason's fucking stash, stripped the bed and remade it, and taken care of the laundry.

Now he's scrubbing.

Scrubbing and trying poorly not to cry.

The door opens as quietly as she can make it, and only enough to slip in before she closes it behind her, eyes glancing at the made bed before resting where she can hear Nat scrubbing.

She moves quietly across the room to lay a hand on his shoulder. "Nat." She squats down a little, her hand sliding to his arm in a quiet request to stop his scrubbing for a moment. "What's wrong?" Aside from the usual.

Nathaniel shakes his head, sitting back.

His shoulders slump, his head falls forward, and quiet sobs shake his body.

"All... fucked up, Liz."

Liz wraps around Nathaniel from behind, hugging him close.

After a moment there's a gentle tug to try and get him up and to the bed at least.

"Which part, Kitten?"

He slowly rises with her to the bed, shaking his head.

"I just needed time... I meant to just ask for time... I should've been here, Liz, I should've been with Jason and he wouldn't have done so much coke! But I wasn't here! Instead, I was off with... with Asher!"

Nathaniel's voice cracks on Asher's name.

"He didn't want to wait, Liz," he sobs, finally looking up at her. "I needed time to help Jason and I can't think about anyone but Asher when I'm with him and I just needed a little time... but... he didn't want to wait for me. T-Thanked me for my s-services, for tending to his n-needs and off I w-went."

"Oh, Kitten..." Nathaniel is pulled against Liz, offering support and comfort to him. She places a soft kiss to his hair.

"I don't think anyone could have stopped Jason from taking so much." He did what he wanted to do, she was just glad they'd been close enough to pick up the pieces and save him.

She rubs a soothing had along his back gently. "And Asher's a fool if he didn't want to give you time."

Nathaniel leans against her and simply cries.

"He didn't really want me," he manages. "I thought... maybe... I'm so stupid, Liz, so stupid..."

Anita's houseboy was what he deserved to be. Pick up the messes, lay out the supper, and put away the laundry. Strip for some cash. He could be happy in that. He would be.

Somehow.

Liz's eyes close and she swallows the growl she wants to let out. He doesn't need that right now. And she won't leave him to confront Asher about it because she won't leave him alone.

"You aren't stupid, Nat." Her hand continues to stroke up and down his back and she rocks him a little gently. "There is someone out there that will want you for you. We'll find them."

Nathaniel buries his face against her throat and laughs bitterly, a terrible sound coming from him.

"Come on, Liz. I'm Anita's snack, a stripper, and an ex-whore. I don't really think there is someone out there fit for me." He shakes his head and pulls back, wiping his face with the hem of his shirt. "Doesn't matter. Really. I just thought... I saw more than there actually was." He forces a smile onto his face even as the tears linger in his eyes. "We always see what we want to, don't we? I wanted those looks to mean he--"

He swallows.

"We need to worry about Jason, not my failed love life. I flushed his stash, and if I catch him with any more, I'm going to enlist Yrael to help me beat some sense into him."

He'd not just lost Asher so Jason could just keep fucking up.

There's a soft, comforting sound in the back of Liz's throat for him. One hand raising to brush his cheek gently, clearing any tears he may have missed with his shirt, as well as offering comfort. "We do always see what we want. But that doesn't mean what we want wasn't actually there either."

There's a set to her chin. "And I'll enlist Yrael's help to beat Ramon for selling him more. Might need the help with his feline form and all." Ramon's feline form, not Yrael's.

A nod, and his eyes focus on the wet stain he'd been working on.

He is quiet a few minutes, and then he glances up at her.

"I really wanted him, Liz. I didn't realize it until he dismissed me. It had nothing to do with his bite or his power or anything... He didn't laugh at me or talk to me like I was a child. He read to me, held me, and kissed me. I thought that was more than it was. Don't..." He swallows back the scream that's been building in his throat for hours. "Don't make him pay because I was living in a little fantasy."

She watches Nathaniel quietly for the moment, eyes showing that she wants to very much skin the vampire that caused him so much pain. She lays a kiss to the side of his head after a quiet moment.

"I won't make him pay because you feel you were living in a little fantasy." She repeats the words, word for his word. That exact reason. She will possibly make him pay for hurting Nathaniel. That wasn't on the not to hurt because of list of his.

He gives her a watery smile.

"Thank you, Liz."

Nathaniel sighs, exhausted.

He still hasn't slept since the brief nap late Saturday night, all aglow from--

No! No, he wouldn't think about that. If he didn't think about it, maybe it would hurt less.

"I need to get that stain up."

"Always, Nat."

The signs that Nat is exhausted has Liz tugging him gently further up the bed in an attempt to get snuggly.

"After you sleep a little, Kitten." They both needed sleep. And while the stain might set, yes, it wasn't exactly going anywhere though.

"I should clean the stain, Liz, and then get back to Jason--"

But he doesn't stop her from pulling him up on the bed more, or down into the pillows that still smell of Jason.

There's snuggle of both the pillows and of Nat, a soft purr low through her throat.

"After a nap. The stain won't come out if you're too tired and Jason will be fine for a little while without the two of us. And then we'll be back at his side, awake and more watchful for the sleep."

He wraps his arms around her, his eyes filled with something raw and shattered.

"I miss them," he whispers. "I miss Jason who would wrap around me and make me feel safe. I miss Asher who would hold me close and make me feel cherished."

But wrapping around Liz, her scent and warmth and closeness, makes him feel as if he belongs, he is not alone, he is loved. He drinks that up, pressing close, eyes closing as his vision swims.

"You won't go away?"

Liz wraps around him, holding him close. She hates that shattered look in his eyes. "We'll have Jason back soon." She's really hoping this recent event will open the Wolf's eyes to what he's doing. "And then we can have piles again." She can't promise Asher because she doesn't really know him or how he thinks.

"I'll be here until you wake and we go back to Jason. Promise."

He nods, nuzzling into her throat, and sighing softly.

"Love you, Liz."

She'd come to find him.

She'd held him.

She'd look out for him.

"Thank you."

"Love you too, Nat."

Her nose buries in his hair as her eyes close with a murmured, "Always."

She won't drift off to sleep herself until she's sure Nathaniel is asleep. But once his breathing is even, she follows soon enough.

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