The Roof, Tuesday Evening

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Pacing was good, and so was smoking (arguably), when you were on edge about something; Anders just happened to be capable, believe it or not, of doing both things at once. And so he was up on the roof, pacing and smoking at the same time, trying hard not to think too much about Sunday's unsettling trip to the Underworld, or how frakking fast these last few days were going.

And maybe, if he thought hard enough, he could come up with a way to freeze time.

. . . yeah, right. He might've managed (even though he couldn't for the life of him figure out how) to knock out a demon, but that wasn't going to turn him into a miracle worker overnight or anything.

Stupid time, and its stubborn insistence on moving forward.

[OOC: Anders and Bel's thread locked to them, but the roof is open for all your roof needs, emo or non-emo.]

Comments

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Anders sensed the shudder and pulled Bel closer. "I won't let him touch you again, I swear. He was wrong, Bel. You're not weak. You're the strongest man I know. I see how hard you work to be human . . . I couldn't even imagine having to do that . . . and I love you, and I'm proud of you."

[demonbelthazor]

"You can't think you're useless anymore," Bel said, trying to force the tension to leave his body. "You saved my life. You took out a powerful demon."

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

"Sweating buckets the whole time," Anders replied, just before he leaned in to kiss Bel. "And shaking so hard I could barely function afterward. I don't feel heroic or anything . . . I'm just glad I could save you."

[demonbelthazor]

"Thank you," Bel said, kissing Anders back. He chuckled a little. "Vornac never knew what hit him. You nailed him pretty hard with that rock."

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

"Guess I've got a pretty good arm," Anders admitted bashfully -- which was a weird reaction for a jock, but jocks didn't usually end up using their athletic prowess to save their half-demon boyfriends from threats in the Underworld either, did they? Jocks didn't usually engage in shamelessly snuggly PDA moments with said half-demon boyfriends, either.

"And you know you're welcome. After everything you've done for me . . . I guess we're even, now. Who the frak summoned the cats, though? I don't get that."

[demonbelthazor]

"I have no idea," Bel said. "They didn't appear too concerned about it."

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

"Weird." Anders shook his head. "But I guess as long as they're okay and you're okay and Phoebe decided not to kill us, everything's fine, right?"

No, he hadn't let go of Bel yet. He didn't show signs of doing so any time soon, either.

[demonbelthazor]

"Yeah, fine," Bel agreed, closing his eyes. Except for what was looming a few days ahead.

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

"Fine," echoed Anders hollowly. He let out a short, unconvincing laugh and tightened his arms around Bel. "I guess it's dumb to say I wish I could go with you, huh?"

[demonbelthazor]

"Not dumb," Bel said. "But what about finishing school?"

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

"Not like this is the only high school in the world or something," Anders muttered, though he was pretty well aware of the fact that this had a pretty good chance of being the only high school that would accept a guy from another planet, with no actual legal identity on Earth, no questions asked. "And I can't exactly try and drop out now that I've given you the whole lecture about doing well in school . . . and Phoebe would kill me if I did."

He sighed softly. "Dammit."

[demonbelthazor]

"What are you going to do when you graduate next year?" Bel said. ". . . go home?"

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Anders hesitated. "What would you do if I said I didn't want to? That I've been looking into options out here?"

[demonbelthazor]

"I'd say that's cool," Bel said. "Because I don't think I can shimmer to other planets."

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

"You wouldn't stop me?" asked Anders in surprise. "I was all prepared for a whole speech about how I've got a Pyramid career waiting for me and I shouldn't throw that away."

[demonbelthazor]

Bel had to smirk a little bit. "I thought you understood how selfish I am," he said.

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Anders conceded with a laugh, and hugged him again. "Okay, point. I'd expect that speech from Phoebe more, really."

[demonbelthazor]

"Maybe," Bel said. "But I think she wants you closer, too."

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't argue," admitted Anders. "I'd rather be closer to you than go home. Everything here feels more real to me than the entire sixteen years of my life before I came here."

[[*attempts responding via email, omg*]]

[demonbelthazor]

"What about . . . do you have any family back home?" Bel asked. Leaving his home behind had been relatively easy in that respect; he didn't have any family ties there, unless you counted the Brotherhood.

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Anders shrugged. "Yeah . . . but does it make me kind of a jerk to say that I feel less attached to them now? Almost like they're not as real as you guys? I haven't even heard from them in over a year, and it doesn't even bother me."

[demonbelthazor]

"Heh," Bel said, pulling out his cigarettes again. "At least they don't want to kill you?"

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

"Guess I've got one up on you there," Anders admitted with a laugh because he really had no idea about his 'relatives'. "Seriously . . . you'd be okay with me trying to stay? You're not going to end up feeling all guilty about me giving up my life or whatever later on?"

[demonbelthazor]

"Dork," Bel muttered, lighting up his cigarette.

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

"Yeah," replied Anders with a grin. "But your dork. Which, by the way, sorry about pretending like you were my property down there the other day."