[his shoulders relax a little further, although his arms stay tight in their embrace. a shift allows him to press a fervent little kiss against the nearest skin he can reach, throat or jaw.]
[even this embrace--gentle, protective, full of clear deliberation--makes it clear. even the sense of the man's pulse under his lips seems to affirm it.]
I don't know about beautifully, ( he chuckles, not really knowing how it might look to loki while also doubting he could possibly match loki's natural elegance in any way. ) But I do try to convey my earnestness.
There aren't many things I'm so sure of either, but I do believe in who we are, what we're meant to become.
[the sensation of the chuckle caught between them makes it clear as well. it's reassuring enough to risk unfolding just a little, enough to rest forehead properly against forehead.]
What we're meant to become?
[bucking against the sensation of fate would be natural enough. considering the prospect of continuing to grow with bucky feels less objectionable. desirable, even.]
Yeah. I. I can't think of a word for it, but I just. I just know, that we'll be somewhere good. Because we conquered everything else that would hold us back.
( eyelids flutter, their noses knock gently with the rock of his head. )
You make me someone better. And I can only get better, from here.
at this close range, there's no hiding the brief flood of hope, want, devotion that rushes through loki's features. even the impulse to shift for a soft, glancing kiss, one hand fluttering up to rest against the man's cheek, doesn't come quickly enough to mask the naked affection.
and that's a good thing, here, with bucky.]
We will. Bit by bit. Piece by piece.
[it isn't an "I love you," but it's circling closer. it will come, somewhere along the arc they've set themselves on.]
( lips brush again with the lean of his head, hand still against loki's upper back to form an embrace. bucky doesn't need 'i love you' to feel everything stirring in his ribs. )
If we ever struggle—and we definitely will because nothing is ever so simple—remember how far we've come. Everything we've found. Everywhere we'll go.
[they'd made it through all manner of self-sabotage and protective obtuseness already. they could make it through whatever was left--and, frankly, it might even make the rest of the twists and turns life threw at them feel easy.]
You've had barely a century, stuck here in this corner of the realms, but... [the pause is brief, thoughtful, and punctuated with a gentle brush of his thumb against bucky's cheek, searching for the right words.] ...you have a very real clarity.
[maybe some of it was the way they'd been growing together. still, these thoughtful bursts of earnestness felt innate.]
[a few centuries ago, bucky would have been one of his; one of the dogged men who, understanding or not, threw their lot in with the trickster. the hunger to survive brought them back to him, time and time again.
but this is now. this isn't the distant worship of someone holding half a refracted image. this is bucky, who knows him (good, strange, ugly) and still wants to know more. this is the intimate worship of personal devotion, drenched in understanding.
[he'll drown in this. maybe they'll both drown in this. loki doesn't mind, fingers spidering from bucky's cheek to tangle in the man's hair and hold them both firmly in the kiss for a few heartbeats longer.]
...I swear on my life, elskan. [whispered against lips, forehead still pressed hard together and fingers still clenching tight.] Thank you.
[this part, at least, isn't difficult. keen intimacy, wanting, needing, giving; since that dam broke, the flow has been entirely natural. if it all takes a headier tone in the midst of genuine emotion, well, that certainly doesn't make it difficult.
dangerous, perhaps, but they're already deep in the danger of it.]
[it's enough. it's so much more than enough. it's an overwhelming bounty, sending a shiver up his spine at least as much as the hands pressed against his body.
being able to sink back into this certainty is, for the moment, everything. loki pours himself back into the press of lips, of body against body, tasting the oath between them and binding it with the drag of blunt nails against the man's scalp.]
( the kiss is returned fervently until the nip of nails forces a shudder to rip through him, lips breaking away as bucky gasps with delight and tries to control the tremor in next breath. humming as he leans back in, the hand at loki's hip slips further around to dig his fingers into the supple curve of loki's rear.
there are still further ways to bind them together, aren't there? )
[strange, to be this pressed and pawed and still need to be closer, but here they are. loki's cool fingers leave off their clinging to start tugging at clothing--bucky's, his own, it doesn't matter. what matters, between fevered presses of lips, is to find the certainty of skin on skin.
will they tilt over at some point in all the fumbling? perhaps. that doesn't matter either. this matters. showing matters.]
( the soldier hadn't always been so insatiable, but loki had reintroduced an appetite he'd long forgotten about, one that greatly augments the intensity of emotion, and now the urge comes naturally as they've grown more physical.
overall still shy in approach, some things are simply impossible to deny, after a while. much has still yet to be explored, the door only having just been opened, but with possibility comes curiosity. the fact loki seems to want him helps greatly, too.
bucky doesn't want a direct tumble, if it can be helped, so even as they shift closer toward the inviting collection of blankets and pillows, he's methodical in approach. each tug of clothing coaxes, urges the reveal of bare skin with diligent persistence. shedding the layers takes time of its own, and there is still something to be savored with the gradual revelation of flesh.
though his own shirt still remains, once seeing the pale of loki's chest in full, he draws away from the ever eager clash of lips, teeth, and tongue to kiss down loki's neck to his collar, right hand idly tracing up from loki's bared abdomen to appreciate this beautiful, new expanse, fingers catching lightly against sensitive skin. )
[in some ways, it's absolutely maddening. so much of loki's life (essence, even) has been a question of riding the tides of chaos, letting moments of high emotion like this rip and tear and shred everything within him to pieces, finding new patterns to put himself back together.
the hunger of the moment is familiar enough. the act of being stripped by a lover is familiar as well. the care of it, clean and methodical rather than frantic and scrambling, is... not perfectly new, perhaps, but still strange. still fresh. still, ultimately, lovely, because it's the way bucky chooses to devote himself to the moment.
besides, the result is a wonderful reward. his skin prickles, a cold sort of burning in the wake of each press of lips and fingers to newly exposed skin. his own hands are much less methodical, tangling in the back of bucky's shirt to keep the man pressed close, breath coming short and shallow. dizzied, he tugs them both toward the waiting nest, trembling with the dual desires to move and to keep in constant contact.]
( they drift easily, contact held like a promise. vibranium settles against loki's lower back to keep him steady as they move, a tad cool but hardly cold, quickly matching the cooling warmth that had been held in with clothing. eyes keeping watch of the ground, subtle navigation keeps them from tripping and colliding to the floor. when a cozy space is determined, bucky's right hand seeks loki's left, taking it carefully to offer for balance. )
Here, love, ( he murmurs at the corner of loki's jaw, his lips having climbed back upward through the journey, faint puffs of warm breath catching against the shell of loki's ear. squeezing loki's hand gently, he continues. ) I've got you.
[the variation of sensations between the hands on his skin is entirely pleasant. it's a clear, indelible reminder of exactly who's holding him, even when his mind is addled over with want. the voice against his skin is the same; a sensation even more than a sound, reverberating deep down into his core.]
I know.
[bucky always has him. comparatively mortal and comparatively fragile, but also so comparatively reliable. it doesn't stop the tremble that's been growing in his chest, fingers clenching too tight around the hand holding his own.
going down is gentle, with bucky is leverage. being down is much less so, legs hooking around the soldier's to keep pressed tight, body shuddering slightly with the overwhelmed sensation of being so entirely at home.]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-09 09:57 am (UTC)You do it beautifully, you know.
am i allowed more...
Date: 2025-06-15 09:19 pm (UTC)( his right hand soothes along the track of loki's spine, trying to draw away the lingering anxiety that seems to entrench the other man's thoughts. )
always?? ♥
Date: 2025-06-16 12:51 am (UTC)[even this embrace--gentle, protective, full of clear deliberation--makes it clear. even the sense of the man's pulse under his lips seems to affirm it.]
How well you love me. How certain you are.
[it's what bucky deserves to receive in return.]
❤️❤️❤️
Date: 2025-06-16 01:12 am (UTC)There aren't many things I'm so sure of either, but I do believe in who we are, what we're meant to become.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 01:37 am (UTC)What we're meant to become?
[bucking against the sensation of fate would be natural enough. considering the prospect of continuing to grow with bucky feels less objectionable. desirable, even.]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 01:50 am (UTC)( eyelids flutter, their noses knock gently with the rock of his head. )
You make me someone better. And I can only get better, from here.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 02:08 am (UTC)at this close range, there's no hiding the brief flood of hope, want, devotion that rushes through loki's features. even the impulse to shift for a soft, glancing kiss, one hand fluttering up to rest against the man's cheek, doesn't come quickly enough to mask the naked affection.
and that's a good thing, here, with bucky.]
We will. Bit by bit. Piece by piece.
[it isn't an "I love you," but it's circling closer. it will come, somewhere along the arc they've set themselves on.]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 02:15 am (UTC)If we ever struggle—and we definitely will because nothing is ever so simple—remember how far we've come. Everything we've found. Everywhere we'll go.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 02:36 am (UTC)[they'd made it through all manner of self-sabotage and protective obtuseness already. they could make it through whatever was left--and, frankly, it might even make the rest of the twists and turns life threw at them feel easy.]
You're quite clever, you know.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 02:51 am (UTC)What do you mean?
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 03:07 am (UTC)[maybe some of it was the way they'd been growing together. still, these thoughtful bursts of earnestness felt innate.]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 03:23 am (UTC)I guess cause I've had to go through so much in that short amount of time. And. And I've had to find some way to move on from it.
I don't think I know how to give up. Even as much as I want to, sometimes.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 10:01 am (UTC)[a few centuries ago, bucky would have been one of his; one of the dogged men who, understanding or not, threw their lot in with the trickster. the hunger to survive brought them back to him, time and time again.
but this is now. this isn't the distant worship of someone holding half a refracted image. this is bucky, who knows him (good, strange, ugly) and still wants to know more. this is the intimate worship of personal devotion, drenched in understanding.
what a deadly, wonderful thing, love.]
We won't give up. I'll promise if you promise.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-16 01:42 pm (UTC)I swear on my life, as it too depends on this.
( it's punctuated with a slight roll between their foreheads as bucky then presses a firm, insistent kiss to loki's lips, as if to seal it. )
no subject
Date: 2025-06-17 09:50 am (UTC)...I swear on my life, elskan. [whispered against lips, forehead still pressed hard together and fingers still clenching tight.] Thank you.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-17 02:16 pm (UTC)( how hard he'd fallen, and how quickly, still. but no other has ever eased with such consistency, left him soaring with joy from mere moments.
though the day-to-day may still prove difficult, at times, a refuge awaits even by text alone. the value of that cannot be replaced.
his hand around back presses loki harder against him, and the hand at loki's hip tugs insistently. he wants more. needs more. )
no subject
Date: 2025-06-18 01:18 am (UTC)dangerous, perhaps, but they're already deep in the danger of it.]
Everything?
no subject
Date: 2025-06-18 01:21 am (UTC)he'd already promised, and promises must be kept. together or not at all. )
no subject
Date: 2025-06-18 02:15 am (UTC)being able to sink back into this certainty is, for the moment, everything. loki pours himself back into the press of lips, of body against body, tasting the oath between them and binding it with the drag of blunt nails against the man's scalp.]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-18 02:26 am (UTC)there are still further ways to bind them together, aren't there? )
no subject
Date: 2025-06-18 10:11 am (UTC)will they tilt over at some point in all the fumbling? perhaps. that doesn't matter either. this matters. showing matters.]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-18 01:50 pm (UTC)overall still shy in approach, some things are simply impossible to deny, after a while. much has still yet to be explored, the door only having just been opened, but with possibility comes curiosity. the fact loki seems to want him helps greatly, too.
bucky doesn't want a direct tumble, if it can be helped, so even as they shift closer toward the inviting collection of blankets and pillows, he's methodical in approach. each tug of clothing coaxes, urges the reveal of bare skin with diligent persistence. shedding the layers takes time of its own, and there is still something to be savored with the gradual revelation of flesh.
though his own shirt still remains, once seeing the pale of loki's chest in full, he draws away from the ever eager clash of lips, teeth, and tongue to kiss down loki's neck to his collar, right hand idly tracing up from loki's bared abdomen to appreciate this beautiful, new expanse, fingers catching lightly against sensitive skin. )
no subject
Date: 2025-06-19 02:21 am (UTC)the hunger of the moment is familiar enough. the act of being stripped by a lover is familiar as well. the care of it, clean and methodical rather than frantic and scrambling, is... not perfectly new, perhaps, but still strange. still fresh. still, ultimately, lovely, because it's the way bucky chooses to devote himself to the moment.
besides, the result is a wonderful reward. his skin prickles, a cold sort of burning in the wake of each press of lips and fingers to newly exposed skin. his own hands are much less methodical, tangling in the back of bucky's shirt to keep the man pressed close, breath coming short and shallow. dizzied, he tugs them both toward the waiting nest, trembling with the dual desires to move and to keep in constant contact.]
no subject
Date: 2025-06-19 07:28 am (UTC)Here, love, ( he murmurs at the corner of loki's jaw, his lips having climbed back upward through the journey, faint puffs of warm breath catching against the shell of loki's ear. squeezing loki's hand gently, he continues. ) I've got you.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-19 07:58 pm (UTC)I know.
[bucky always has him. comparatively mortal and comparatively fragile, but also so comparatively reliable. it doesn't stop the tremble that's been growing in his chest, fingers clenching too tight around the hand holding his own.
going down is gentle, with bucky is leverage. being down is much less so, legs hooking around the soldier's to keep pressed tight, body shuddering slightly with the overwhelmed sensation of being so entirely at home.]
(no subject)
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