Destro: (while they're at home sometime destro just)
Destro: (out of nowhere asks enrion if he's ever been to coldharbour)
Destro: (have they been cuddling probablyyyy)

Enrion: (looks like he just sat up after cuddle time very ??? where u going)

Destro: (Destro has been entertaing A Though over the past few days. past... weeks.)
Destro: (it comes back to him now as a impulse, striking sharp enough that he draws back from the boy's warmth, hand set light against enrion's shoulder.)
Destro: (he's blinking. he could... consider this. could shove the impulse away. it's late, they're comfortable, and the boy's warmth is deeply appealing.)

Enrion: (Enrion hums a protest, easing up with a bemused expression. His voice is soft, has been soft all evening, drowsy with narcotic pleasure.) Daddy?

Destro: (oh, that isn't making this any easier, ad destro swallows, shifts his forefinger over the boy's shoulder. (it would be easy to stay.) (but, there's that sharp compulsion.) (but, if the moment strikes and he pushes it off, will he be able to find a moment again?) (it isn't... easy, what he's thinking of doing.) (it isn't easy, but he wants to do it.))
Destro: enri.
Destro: (a moment as he lets his thoughts settle, as he breathes, as he considers the decisions he could and couldn't make. (there. that idea, alone: there are choices to be made. he. has a choice to make. and the path ahead is clear.))
Destro: (finger still drifting over enrion's shoulder, he speaks, voice almost a little too even-)
Destro: puppy. have you ever been to coldharbour?

Enrion: (He feels languid, feels warm and supple, and there were caresses, there was himself and Destro twined impossibly close, there had been whispers - why would Destro leave that?)
Enrion: (...To talk about. Coldharbour. Of all things.)
Enrion: (He hasn't. He shakes his head, clearly at a loss for why this is a question.) Mm-mm.

Destro: (a slow nod, more to himself than to enrion. another breath, and again his finger brushes enrion's shoulder.)
Destro: puppy... i'd like to show you something.

Enrion: (He thinks about reaching out to Destro, whispering 'come back', but he's not fast enough. And -)
Enrion: (This seems important. His eyes clear a little of their dazed unconcern, and Enrion cocks his head.)

Destro: (there's something unsettled in destro's expression, and from time to time his gaze flicks sideways, toward nothing, then back to enrion, fully focused. he thinks perhaps he ought to say more. he doesn't think he'd know where to begin.)

Enrion: (He thinks back to some weeks ago, to - that conversation. That heavy conversation. Destro wants to show him something - and it might be? Maybe that. Related to that.)
Enrion: A secret?

Destro: ((can't even think about it, really. no one... no one has seen his place there. he'd assumed no one ever would.))
Destro: (a nod, this time for enrion) yes, enrion.
Destro: my enri, it is...
Destro: please.
Destro: the timing may not be ideal, but.
Destro: ...as i said. i am unaccustomed to forthrightness.
Destro you might need to take the opportunity when it strikes.

Enrion: (He nods without hesitating - a little eager. A lot...Something other. Gratitude, maybe.)
Enrion: The pillows aren't going anywhere.

Destro: (a small smile, a little bit distracted though he tries to keep focused on the boy.)
Destro: true.
Destro: (before he can let himself linger, he's upward, reaching for enrion.)
Destro: stick with me.

Enrion: (Enrion reaches back, assuring. Rising to his feet. And - yeah. Holding on.)

Destro: this is....
Destro: i suppose you'll see.

Enrion: (This is /creepy/. But he's not going to say that.)

Destro: (he hadn't precisely prepared the place for the boy, but. perhaps it's better than way. less contrived, or... well. never mind.)

Enrion: (just look around with a neutral expression, and follow destro.)

Destro: (just gonna. pause a moment.)

Enrion: (....Focusing as ever on the wrong thing)
Enrion: (Enrion points and -)
Enrion: Hey, an indrik!

Destro: ...yes.

Enrion: (...What's an indrik doing in Coldharbour.)
Enrion: ...Huh.

Destro: you're welcome to meet her. after you...
Destro: i'll introduce you.

Enrion: (He looks at Destro, then...past. Destro.)
Enrion: (It looks like a greenhouse, like what he'd see in Summerset.)
Enrion: (It's weird, to see all of these familiar things in this...place.)

Destro: (part of the trouble here. with this place. is that it resonates so thoroughly with destro. that he's found no place more consonant with himself (With himself alone, because there's a follow-up thought: the manor is becoming equally as consonant, with destro who has enrion.))
Destro: (difficult to share anything so close to himself. difficult to share anything so littered with signs of what and where he's been, the pieces he feigns to have discarded but hasn't wholly lost hold of.)
Destro: (he cocks his head, a movement half-forced.)

Enrion: (It doesn't take Enrion long. Not as long as usual.)
Enrion: ...This is where you go.

Destro: ...yes, puppy.

Enrion: (When Destro goes.)

Destro: it is...
Destro: mm.

Enrion: (He's frowning faintly. He doesn't. Know what to make of it yet.)

Destro: you could call it my most regular haunt. outsider of recent months.
Destro: (he tries not to dwell on that frown. clears his throat)
Destro: i'll show you the... well. what passes for an inside.

Enrion: (He tilts his head. He can already SEE inside - to the bed. To the lamplight.)

Destro: a little bare right now, but. you see.

Enrion: (He doesn't move far past the threshold. There's little judgment in his bearing, but his uncertainty is clear.)

Destro: (that wasn't really a complete sentence, or thought. he knows.)
Destro: i like to...
Destro: while i'm here, puppy.
Destro: i prefer to see the sky.

Enrion: (He doesn't like that there are two pillows on the bed. He has questions about it. About whether Destro sleeps here. And who sleeps here with him.)

Destro: i came upon this place with the greenhouse and. it's been mine ever since.

Enrion: (He tries to focus. This is important. Destro's showing him something personal and private and secret.)
Enrion: (That's important, and he tries to hold on to it.)

Destro: (he's starting to feel nervous. more nervous? uneasy. the boy doesn't look precisely on solid ground, and it's to be expected. destro's given no way of understanding this place. destro's not certain he could explain it.)
Destro: it's the only place i have that...

Enrion: (And he remembers Destro said he might not like - or no, that's not right. He said. What was it he said.)
Enrion: (When Enrion knew him through and through.)
Enrion: (His attention slowly shifts around the room, then comes to rest on Destro - who looks uneasy.)

Destro: i've. suggested to you. that i own homes, properties beyond our dwelling.

Enrion: (Enrion blinks, then nods.)
Enrion: ('Our', he called it.)
Enrion: (But.)
Enrion: Our home.

Destro: (a nod, and a small smile that's mostly grateful, partly abashed; he might have said as much in the first place.) our home, puppy. yes.
Destro: this.

Enrion: (Enrion's eyes raise, because a moment or two ago, Destro said something about liking to see the sky.)

Destro: ...i don't make a habit of telling anyone where i'll be on any given day. but there are people - my family prime among them - who know where i might be. what places are mine.
Destro: this is the one place i've kept hidden.

Enrion: (And his attention snaps back.)
Enrion: ...You haven't told anyone else?

Destro: (blinking, shaking his head once) no.
Destro: nor did i intend to.
Destro: this is...
Destro: i suppose you could call it a well-kept secret. playing host to... other. more or less well-kept secrets.
Destro: (Clears his throat, tosses his hair, not quite looking at enrion)

Enrion: (Enrion does feel a momentary flicker of pleasure - to be in on the secret, to be the only one no matter how many pillows are on the bed. But it fades almost immediately.)
Enrion: (Replaced by.)
Enrion: (He. Doesn't like it. This place is bleak, and empty of warmth, and Destro comes here /alone/.)
Enrion: ...I don't like that, Destro.
Enrion: (His voice lacks accusation; it carries only soft fretfulness, the same as his eyes lingering, seeking.)
Enrion: I don't like thinking of you alone like that.

Destro: (he tries not to balk at the words. (the way he feels them slam against him, though he expects there's no censure intended, though he expects the force he feels is of his own perceiving. no, there isn't accusation or thrust force in enrion's words. still. for a moment, it was hard to take.))
Destro: (the follow-up helps, and he manages a small smile.)
Destro: oh, enri.
Destro: i understand it isn't...
Destro: it doesn't appear a warm place. i know. but i've never felt...
Destro: ...i'm near to myself here. myself, and my capabilities.
Destro: as i am, i find, becoming nearer and nearer to myself in our home.

Enrion: (There's something stirring in Enrion's brain, some awareness or. Some comprehension. That Destro needs this place.)

Destro: that, puppy, is new. and dire to me.
Destro: but this is also... i suppose, who i am.

Enrion: (He listens, and he lets the words settle against the dawning comprehension.)

Destro: (he wants... fuck. he wants the boy to understand, to understad at least some part of his meaning. but he can't let himself think on that. because what if. because what if...)

Enrion: (And there's something. He's not quite grasping, but he thinks he feels it there, right on the tip of his tongue.)

Destro: ((he doesn't like to think of enrion looking at him or at this place with condemnation.))

Enrion: (Something about the direness of home.)
Enrion: (...Funny, that he feels at home with Enrion in Reaper's March. But has this home, too.)
Enrion: (Funny that he kept it secret.)
Enrion: (Funny that. He. Brought Enrion here. From their home in Reaper's March. To this place, that is also dire.)
Enrion: (And home.)

Destro: (he wishes the boy would speak. feels himself beginning to fidgit (a rarity), fingers curling and uncurling behind his back.)

Enrion: (He's staring at Destro, but not quite at him. Listening to the rumble of not-storms, and the quality of their breathing and the music from a music box.)

Destro: (he shouldn't. push enrion. he won't. but the silence weighs on him.)

Enrion: (And the puzzle piece slots into place. His expression softens, his head ducking a little.)
Enrion: (It's an assumption, but it's not that big of one. Not a leap, when Destro is wearing his ring.)

Destro: (he sees that shift in expression, and there's a fluttering through his lungs, his chest.)
Destro: (maybe. maybe.)

Enrion: (It's not home anymore. But Destro needs it, so he brought what is "home".)
Enrion: (Enrion's mouth curves in a lopsided smile.)
Enrion: (He closes the distance - one or two steps - and draws the backs of his fingers along Destro's cheek.)
Enrion: (And softly - bending down a little to meet eye-to-eye, to make sure Destro hears him, feels the impact -)

Destro: (his eyes clench shut, his head burning with relief. with the grace of that touch and the image of that smile.)

Enrion: Hey. Look at me.

Destro: (feeling the boy come closer, and opening his eyes to find him, to answer that call)
Destro: (yes; he'll look; yes, those eyes are the truest he's known)

Enrion: (--Oh. Oh, he. Feels the last little bit of his heart go out.)
Enrion: (And smiles tenderly (lovingly) (loving) (oh, he does, every bit -))
Enrion: You're my home, too.