PSL for devozione

[stillthrillsme]

Joe closes the door and locks it, hesitating for a second before he grabs a chair and jams it under the door handle. There. No-one is getting in for a while and it's just Nicolo and him, as it should be.

He leans against the wall, his shoulders slumping a little in exhaustion, and watches Nicky. Nicky, who still has blood on his face and unidentified goop in his hair. Nicky, whose shirt is torn by multiple bullet holes and whose eyes are still too wide, too sharp. Nicky, who was tortured for hours by a mad scientist after their own brother sold them out to a pharmaceutical company.

Joe can feel his anger ignite in the pit of his stomach again, rising up from his chest to his head like a searing wave, making his eyebrows furrow and his eyes go dark and flat. It's lucky for Booker that Andy forcibly separated them and took him in. Joe is not a man who delights in violence, but he thinks he would make an exception just this once.

Pushing away from the wall he steps closer, reaching out to rub at a spot of dried blood on Nicky's jaw. It doesn't budge. He stares at it helplessly, looking up to meet Nicky's eyes. "Shower?" he offers, quietly. 

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[devozione]

Joe may have just met his gaze, but Nicky has been watching him since the lab. He doesn't need the chair at the door, or the lean against the wall to read the other man's mood -- he knows Yusuf's form all too well by now. He never could have missed the tension of those strong shoulders, or the rigid set of that handsome jaw -- all signs that a storm is brewing. Nicky's own brows knit together, but he exhales a small sigh of relief once Joe comes into his reach.

"Shower," he agrees, equally quiet, but the slow move of his hand to reciprocate Joe's touch shows he's not exactly racing for the bathroom door.

They definitely need to shower. Nicky can still feel the stickiness of gore in his hair; the phantom ache of his wounds, but he hardly pays that any mind. Joe's anger is all but vibrating under his sky, and Nicky finds that much, much more important.

"Talk to me?" He bids gently, knowing things to be serious, if only because he has to ask.

[stillthrillsme]

Joe turns his head to lean into Nicky's touch, covering Nicky's hand with his and kissing his fingers. He's tender even now, even with anger simmering right under his skin, unwilling to be curt with the man he loves.

"Come on, then," he prompts gently, giving Nicky a little push towards the bathroom. They can crowd close in the small room and lock the door, another defense between them and the outside world.

Joe exhales slowly at the request, his hands coming to rest on Nicky's hips, holding him tight. He cannot deny Nicky this, though he fears voicing his anger will give it too much power. "He betrayed us," he says, his voice very low, dark eyes staring into Nicky's. "After all this time. Everything we've done for him. He sold us out. Both of us, when he knows..." Joe has to swallow down the painful lump in his throat. "He knows what it would do to us, if one of us didn't make it out alive."

[devozione]

Nicky lets himself be guided into the bathroom. It's a close fit between the two men, but he has a feeling that's exactly what Joe wants. The touch at his hips has a sense of urgency; of a need for closeness that Nicky finds himself again reciprocating with hardly a thought.

His arms slide around Joe's neck, until he can twist his fingers into those beloved dark curls. The small smile that almost forms at Joe's affections turns sorrowful as Booker's crimes are laid out before him.

"I know," he says, mostly because what else can he say?

To point out Booker didn't fully consider the consequences; of what it could have meant for their future, does not excuse the man's actions, nor would it do much for Joe's temper. His Yusuf, is a passionate man, in love and in anger. At times like these, there's only one thing Nicky can do.

Leaning forward, he puts their foreheads together, half-lids his eyes, and exhales.

"We're both still here though."

[stillthrillsme]

Joe's eyes fall half shut when Nicky's fingers slip through his curly hair, like a cat pleased to be petted despite himself. The line of his shoulders doesn't relax though, his grip still tight on Nicky's hip, not bruising but holding him very close.

He searches Nicky's eyes, finding understanding there and no small amount of disappointment at what Booker did. He nods, leaning into the touch of Nicky's forehead against his, allowing himself to close his eyes and enjoy the calming effect Nicky's affection always has on him.

"No thanks to him," Joe grumbles, keeping their foreheads together even as he looks down, pulling Nicky's T-shirt from his trousers and tugging it up so he can remove it. "Nile did that. Booker hadn't planned for her." That's a dangerous thought to follow, so Joe tries to focus on something positive instead. "I like her, she's a good kid."

[devozione]

Nicky's hum is both thoughtful and knowing, though he doesn't further comment. Instead he helps Joe pull his ruined shirt up, momentarily breaking with the other man to pull it over his head. Despite the multiple attacks of the day, the only marks left on Nicky's torso are that of dried blood (and not all of it his own.) He hadn't expected anything different, but he knows Joe will want to check, just as he will. Nicky's hands are tugging at Joe's shirt just a moment later.

"She'll fit in well, I think," he agrees. "Though the first years will be hard for her. She will have to stay with us. We should all stick together."

[stillthrillsme]

It has become a ritual for Joe to check Nicky's skin for injury after they died multiple times. It always reassures him to find Nicky whole and unmarked, and he runs the tips of his fingers over Nicky's collarbone, his shoulder, his ribs, wherever there is dried blood that shows he was wounded there. The back of Nicky's head shattered on the floor, thick blood oozing out, is the worst memory of the day, so Joe's fingers soon find their way there, touching Nicky's skull carefully. "Your hair is a mess," he says, picking out something that looks like a bone fragment from a tangle and throwing it in the washbasin.

"We shouldn't leave her alone," Joe agrees, mildly. "She'll have to cut ties with everyone she knows, we'll have to be her new family." Joe likes the idea of having a new member to the team, they didn't for so long.

[devozione]

It doesn't surprise Nicky at all to feel Joe's hands go for the back of his head. He grimaces. Not because of any pain -- no, the wound has long since healed, nasty as it was -- but rather to think of the gore that might still be there in his hair. His eyes flickers to the washbasin as Joe tosses something away. He figures it's best not to ask what.

"I feel like a mess," he agrees, before placing a gentle kiss to Joe's lips.

They've gotten lost in their passions, more than a few times before, but this kiss is one of simple gratitude and reassurance. It doesn't last too long, and when Nicky pulls back, it's with a small smile and a lingering hand against Joe's chest.

"We won't leave her alone...well, not for much longer." His glance goes back over his shoulder for just a moment. "We really could use that shower."

[stillthrillsme]

Best not, though Joe would tell him, if Nicky asked. They've seen each other with all sorts of horrible injuries through the many centuries they've spent together, and while Joe always hates seeing Nicky suffer, he's not squeamish when it comes to gore.

He welcomes the kiss with a soft hum, his hands resting on Nicky's shoulders, squeezing. It's a gentle kiss, soft and reassuring, and Joe takes it, letting it soothe his temper. He smiles at Nicky's request, small but fond, his eyes crinkling a little at the corners. "We really could."

His fingers trail down Nicky's arm to take his hand even as he turns around to start the shower, removing the rest of his clothes as it warms. He'll get in first, putting his face into the stream of water for a few seconds before he steps away, making room. "Come in," he beckons, smiling to Nicky, droplets of water in his eyelashes.