christmas ain't the time for breaking each other's heart.

[nightmarist]

Who: Ronan Lynch & OPEN
When: December
Where: The Midway Hub
What: Rare encounters with Ronan Lynch.
Warnings: Spoilers, excessive swearing, religious references, violence, sex...

week one - a wasteland oasis

[It's near the end of the first week that Ronan creates a garden.

Granted, it's a small one. He's wary of spending too much energy at once, and he remembers Andyr's advice about avoiding the attention of the others, lest they get the idea that a Greywaren would be a fun pet to keep locked in a cage, generating resources as necessary. He dreams the garden in the middle of the night, sneaking off to the edge of camp like he's going to take a piss. He picks a spot half-enclosed by boulders, and when he wakes, a stream of fresh water flows from the rocks and the area immediately around Ronan has sprouted bushes and trees bearing ripe fruit and berries.

He's still there after the camp's awoken, sitting with his back to one of the boulders, enjoying a breakfast of apples and blackberries. After days of eating nothing but junk food with Kavinsky, the fruit tastes heavenly. Or it might simply be that dreamt fruit is more delicious than anything mundane. Chainsaw keeps him company, the raven circling overhead and occasionally swooping down to steal a berry from Ronan, which earns her a cranky chiding from him.]

week two - a dead luxury car

[By the beginning of the second week, Ronan has acquired his BMW.

Recreated it, rather. Somewhat disastrously, in terms of the dreaming experience, but the resulting car nearly perfect. Most of the alterations are on purpose: wheels equipped to handle rough terrain, a bulletproof exterior that somehow weighs not a pound more than the original, a gas tank that refills itself... The only problem is that it seems to have inherited the Pig's finicky nature (which Ronan privately attributes to his longing to be reunited with his best friend, Gansey).

Ronan is a spectacular street racer, but he's never been much of a mechanic. When the BMW refuses to start, he's left to puzzle over the problem without anyone he can call for help. After about an hour of opening the hood, finding nothing, slamming the hood, and doing it all over again, Ronan takes a break. He climbs up onto the top of the thing and lays out across it, his long body draped from roof to nose. If he could, he'd be dreaming up an improved version of the sports car. But that ability's been stolen away from him, and he feels helpless in every way. It's infuriating.]

week three - a disabled weapon

[During the third week, being human becomes unbearable.

Ronan didn't think he would miss magic this much. Back home, his connection to the ley line was mostly only evident in his sleep. He never experienced Adam's waking visions or the whispering of spirits or the thrumming of energy in his veins. If anyone asked him, he would have said he felt like any other boy.

Removed from his magic, however, Ronan quickly realizes the extent to which he is no ordinary boy. He isn't even Kavinsky, who's struggling with being severed from his dreams in his own self-destructive way. Kavinsky is only a dream thief. Ronan is more than that, and he feels the difference more acutely with each passing day. It isn't simply that he can't dream. Something is fundamentally wrong with his body. It's like there's an itch he can't scratch on his brain, or like a piece of his heart has been numbed, or like his blood is flowing in the opposite direction. An endless, nameless discomfort which is the suppression of his dream half. To look at him, he might seem vaguely ill, or depressed, or faded like some of the color's gone out of him - which is worrisome, because he didn't have much to begin with.

When it's discovered that the water in the caves restores power, Ronan is one of the first to drink. He practically dives for it, on his knees and lapping it up with his hands. He looks desperate, as if he's been dying of thirst.]

week four - a very bad christmas

[By the fourth week, Ronan doesn't feel much like partying.

Being anywhere near the crowd is only getting him angry, so Ronan retreats to some private crevice around the bend of the cave. He's close enough that he can still hear the murmured voices and soft music echoing from the party, but he hopes he's far enough to go undisturbed by revelers.

Supposedly it's Christmas. Or something near that. If he was home, he'd be at the Barns with Declan and Matthew. They'd be having Yorkshire pudding and decorating a tree they cut down themselves. It would be his first Christmas with Adam and Orphan Girl, too, and she'd probably be eating tinsel or wrapping paper while he and Adam took turns chasing her away from the gifts. It would be snowing in the mountains, but they'd have a fire roaring in the hearth.

In the cave, Ronan kneels upon the cold stone and makes the sign of the cross. He clasps his hands and presses them to his forehead, bowed in supplication. He whispers to God:]

De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine:
Domine, exaudi vocem meam.
Fiant aures tuae intendentes
in vocem deprecationis meae.
Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine:
Domine, quis sustinebit?
Quia apud te propitiatio est...

wildcard

( Start a thread or contact me at pana. )

Comments

[unaffluent]

[Adam definitely doesn't agree because kissing Ronan is much better than his singing and being close, feeling the fingers in his hair was more relaxing than he could imagine. He pulls away from the kiss finally, gently pressing his lips again to the corner of Ronan's mouth.]

I love you.

[nightmarist]

[Ronan wonders if his heart will ever stop skipping a beat every time Adam utters those words. He's so unbelievably lucky.]

I love you.

[His fingers keep up their work, tenderly brushing fine strands out of Adam's eyes and tucking them behind his ears.]

[unaffluent]

[Adam relaxed into the others administrations, mind wandering as it usually would and he could already be certain he wasn't close to falling asleep.]

You should go. [Even if he wants him to just stay all night even if neither of them slept.]

[nightmarist]

A few more minutes.

[Ronan doesn't want to leave any more than Adam wants him to go. It isn't as if it's vital anymore. He's been without dreams for days now, which means he's also without the demon, and he finally can enjoy moments of respite the way ordinary humans can. At this point, he's only keeping Kavinsky company to ensure his survival in case the dreams return.

Dropping his hand to Adam's side, Ronan caresses him with slow strokes over his ribs and down his hip.]

I need enough of you to last me the night.

[unaffluent]

Sometimes, I think you grew up reading romance novels with all those cheesy lines you have. [Adam says, mostly to cover up feeling flustered by not only the words but his touch. It'd be too easy to relax into this touch only to find themselves quickly in a fight again and that was the last thing he wanted when Ronan would have to go at some point.]

[nightmarist]

Fine, shithead. No more romance for you.

[He's joking, of course. Ronan presses a kiss to Adam's forehead, and that caress halts just so he can hug Adam tighter.]

[unaffluent]

Oh don't say shit you know you don't mean. [Adam grins, exhaling heavily and lowering his head to press his face into the other's shoulder.]

[nightmarist]

Oh, so you do like my cheesy lines.

[Ronan gives Adam's hip a light squeeze, fingers rubbing a half-circle over the space of bare skin peeking out between his shirt and the waistband of his pants.]

Wait until the bad poetry and moonlight serenades. I can be unbearable.

[unaffluent]

[The subtle touch on his skin leaves him wanting more but Adam ignores the desire, pressing soft kisses over his clothed shoulder and then to the side of his neck.]

Don't start going overboard.

[nightmarist]

I can't help myself when I'm with you.

[There's another one.]

[unaffluent]

Ugh.. [Adam playfully groans, shoving Ronan lightly.]

You're disgusting.

[nightmarist]

[Ronan snickers and brings a hand up to catch the side of Adam's face, holding him so he can't escape the sloppy kiss being smushed into his cheek.]

You signed up for this.

[The words are muffled into Adam's skin.]

[unaffluent]

Yeah. I did. [Adam can't help but laugh as he submits to the kiss on his cheek, gently pushing him back.]

I love you, dumbass.