itinere | Mingle Event

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Mingle Event

The County Fair has come to Itinere! It just magically appeared overnight. Such fun, right? Absolutely. Here, you'll find every rickety ride you can think of from ferris wheels, water rides, pendulum rides and roller coasters to the horrifying Drop Tower ride, a reverse bungee experience and tilt-a-whirl. Pretty much if you can dream an amusement ride, it's here. Don't even think about going hungry. They fry everything at this event. And of course there are the old staples of any Fair, funnel cakes, corn dogs and shaved ice in every flavor. Careful, you just might get pulled into a massive tent to judge anything from pies to barbecue to pickles to jams. Oh, but it isn't all food. You might get pulled into a tent to judge livestock. Sheep, cattle, pigs and llamas are the name of the game. Who has the best of the best? Did anyone say horse races? Feel free to bet at the makeshift track where horses will be racing all day! The promenade has several live bands cycling through on and off all day. Grab someone and dance before you, yourself get pulled into a two-step.

Everything isn't entirely on the up and up though. Did that sheep just whisper to you? What is it telling you to do? Is that paint on that clowns face or is that just his face? No smile should be naturally that large. In the hall of mirrors, you might not see yourself looking back at you. One of the mirrors might even be empty. Anyone who goes through the tunnel of love will feel compelled to kiss no matter who they're with. The acrobats do death defying acts that seem far too unreal. And the animals in their cages, the lions and the panthers... they look at you with a sentient, knowing eye that would give anyone the heebie-jeebies. The music in the promenade might force you to dance, with or without a partner. The fortune tellers know far too much about you and your life past, present and future.

But hey! It's a Fair! Everyone loves a Fair, don't they? Have fun while the fun lasts!

ooc: This is a very stereotypical fair. Feel free to create your own adventures, good or bad. Want to play with some of the not quite right stuff in the Fair? Have at it! Basically, create your own muses storyline here, let your imagination run wild, mingle, and have fun! Want to plot with others? Comment to THIS post!

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When Adam had seen the Ferris Wheel towering over the horizon out of the window of his and Ronan's apartment building, of course he had to investigate. No way could all of that have gone up overnight. The rides towered over the landscape, so many rides. And it was all just magically... present. Magic. Did that make it a magic sort of event?

The trick was getting Ronan out of bed to go to the Fair with him. Basically, he had coaxed him with the promise of trying at least one of everything fried. Never underestimate the power of crappy food when it came to Ronan Lynch.

Right now Adam was waiting at the promenade while Ronan stood in line for something completely unhealthy and, of course, fried. The music was something that begged for big hair and belt buckles. Adam carried a bag with him, something he was starting to always do because he carried a wooden bowl, bottles of water and his tarot cards in it with him. Anyone who comes across him will find him contemplating the merits of leaving Ronan behind to explore. (Stopping at every fried food stand has slowed them down considerably). He's also trying not to dance. Adam Parrish does not dance. Ever.

Ronan has mixed feelings about the sudden appearance of the carnival. On one hand beer, food and freaks. Ronan approves of all of those things. On the other hand, there's no way he's getting out of the fair without punching someone. Okay, so that works in it's favor too. On the other other hand, the sheer volume of people is going to make Ronan irritated and crabby. Chainsaw won't want to go (she doesn't do well with large crowds) and he hates leaving her in her cage (she's far too destructive when bored to be left out of it).

To add to all of that, he's going through one of his periods of hypersomnia and he's only about eight hours into sleeping. He's got at least eight more before he's ready to wake up without complaint. It had been a near miracle that Adam had been able to wake Ronan up at all. The promise of fried food and beer had really done the trick.

Ronan actually likes the music for the sheer fact that it's annoying. He likes when people are annoyed, irritated and awkward. Do not leave Ronan behind, Adam. He will panic and cover it up with being pissed off. Ronan is coping with this whole thing by putting all his energy and focus on Adam. If that happens, Ronan really will be a very loose cannon. He comes sauntering back wearing his traditional black tank top and dark jeans, deciding to forego the black leather jacket because it's a warm enough day. He's got a beer in one hand and a cardboard boat of something on a stick in the other. "Fucking fried spaghetti and meatballs," he gestures with that hand. "Try it."

Adam would have left Ronan asleep in the bed. He'd thought about it. Last night that had gone to sleep on opposite sides of it assuring each other that it was okay. This morning Adam woke up alone, his body still warm from being wrapped up in Ronan. Awkwardness had ensued. Mostly on his part. Ronan had left the bed because he was being an insomniac. Adam had felt embarrassed about the closeness, the way he had clung to Ronan and fit so comfortably there. Awkward.

But even when Ronan was finally sleeping, Adam wasn't ready to go out into this new place by himself. So he'd finally made the decision to wake him up and get him out of the house, promising his ~~boy~~friend all the things Adam imagined a fair to have.

He was just about to give up waiting on Ronan, feeling a tap in his toes at the same beat of whatever this music was, when the other sidled up beside him. He gives Ronan a 'really?' look when he offers him fried spaghetti and meatballs. "I've always heard they fry everything at a fair but I thought it was an exaggeration." Nevertheless, he reaches out to pinch some off of Ronan's plate with his fingertips and taste it. He isn't sure what to think about it. But it isn't bad. He hums his approval with a nod.

Ronan had woken up snuggled against Adam, his brain far too awake and body far too restless to sleep. Insomnia wasn't anything new to Ronan, but the source of his insomnia had been. Dreams about Adam were easier to move past when Adam wasn't there curled up against him. In any case, insomnia had driven him from bed, awkward for some of the same reasons that Adam had felt awkward and awkward for so many more.

Ronan would have been furious (and panicked) if he'd awoken to find Adam gone, convinced that this place had abandoned him, or that sharing a bed and the one bedroom apartment this damn electronic building had given them had proved too much for Adam to cope with so he'd fled. Waking Ronan up was a good call on Adam's part.

Ronan simply smirked at the really look. "You have to dip it in the marinara sauce," he said, pointing to the puddle of sauce in the corner of the cardboard boat. While Adam took a pinch of the food, Ronan took one whole portion of the kebab, dipping it in the sauce and popping the fried ball of pasta and meatball into his mouth whole.

Adam wasn't used to foods that didn't come out of a can or a box. So he gave Ronan another skeptical look before he grabbed another bit with his fingers and dipped it in the sauce. And well, the sauce was the best part. He stares at the sauce, wondering why people don't drink it, and then looks up to Ronan. "S'good."

He supposes he's impressed with Ronan for knowing that this sort of fried thing existed in the first place.

"So I'm thinking from the top of the ferris wheel, we could get a look at the whole town. See where the edges are..." He says, gesturing to the large wheel like structure towering over the entire fair. It probably should remain unmentioned that Adam had never been on a ferris wheel and was semi excited at the prospect of trying it out. Yeah, he wouldn't say that out loud.

Once upon a time, Ronan had borne witness to and consumed a great many home cooked meals. It shouldn't surprise anyone that Niall's dream wife is a fantastic cook, specializing in Irish food. However, once Niall had been killed and Aurora had become a sleeping thing, once Ronan had moved in with Gansey, he became a creature more accustomed to pizza, fast food and Ramen noodles. Oh, never fear, once the fried deliciousness is gone, Ronan will probably swipe the sauce up with his fingers and lick them clean.

Oh, don't be so impressed Adam. Ronan didn't know it existed. He'd just seen the sign advertising it and being Irish meant that he accepts fried foods as a major food group.

Ronan considers Adam, head tilted a bit to one side. The Ferris Wheel is awfully tame by Ronan's standards but he shrugs. "Works for me." It hasn't occurred to him yet that Adam might have a more selfish reason for wanting to go on the ferris wheel. He probably wouldn't tease Adam about it though, he'd just go on the ferris wheel with him. He rolls his shoulders and turns to go that direction.

"Well, come on, Parrish."

Adam was all about keeping it tame. The other rides seemed so fast and jerky and intimidating. A ferris wheel was classic. It was the iconic thing that anyone thought of when they imagined a fair. It was what Adam had seen from afar anytime the fair was in Henrietta. How whimsical, it had seemed to him. And how aggravating that everyone had money and time to spend at the fair except for him.

He tries so very hard not to look at all excited as they head toward the structure. He thinks he does a decent job of it. Instead, plucking at Ronan's food once more and busying himself with looking at all the tents and rides and games around them. See how he's not talking about what happened this morning? That's happening too. Or not happening.

"How tall do you think it is? I mean... how high up?" He asks curiously, craning his neck to squint up at the top of it as they get to the back of the line.

Ronan might have to try and talk him into something less tame. He refused to understand how Adam couldn't love the heart-pounding thrill of riding in the front car on a rollercoaster.

He does a good job of it overall. However, Ronan suspects simply because he knows Adam. He knows a little of what his life back home is like. He suspects that things like this fair are firsts for Adam. Ronan is doing his part to help make that first fair experience awesome by getting everything fried and sharing it with Adam. Definitely not talking about what happened this morning.

Ronan considers Adam's question as he looks up at the ferris wheel. He shrugs a little at he pops a bite of food into his mouth. "100 feet," he guesses. "Come on," he beckons, stepping into the line and filing on the ferris wheel, assuming that Adam is right behind him.

Adam had never ridden in the front car on a roller coaster. Mostly it was a lack of experience in such things that left Adam intimidated by them. Also, all of these rides were man made. They had flaws. It seemed that something that moved that fast at such velocity shouldn't be able to hold up in spite of the engineering. Basically, as Adam did with most things, he over-thought it.

He was still squinting up at the top of the ferris wheel when Ronan answered him. And let Ronan guide him forward as the line moved forward. It wasn't particularly a fast moving line, but it was quicker than any of the food lines Ronan had stood in.

When it was their turn to get into a car, Adam's breath caught in his throat. He forced a deep breath and settled in the car with Ronan at his side. The bar that came across them didn't seem all that much of a barrier. It was locked into place and then they were moving and stopping, moving and stopping, the car swaying gently with each stop.

"Hm. It seems different from a distance." Which is to say, Adam had expected more out of the ferris wheel. Maybe you could build something up so much in your mind that reality couldn't hope to compare.

Well, Adam was going to get his chance today because Ronan wasn't going to leave this fair without riding in the roller coaster, going through the haunted house (and growling/screaming AT the things designed to scare him) and possibly getting lost in the fun house because he could. While Adam overthought everything, Ronan rarely overthought anything. He went with what he felt, with his instinct.

Ronan flopped into the car, forcing it to rock a little. He slumped against the side, watching as Adam got in the car. He's got his head tilted back, watching the stars above them.

"Yeah. It's a ferris wheel. Five year olds and guys who want to make out with their girlfriends go on them."

Sorry, Adam.

Ronan's comment gets a look from Adam. And suddenly things are weird, which he's sure had been Ronan's intention. It irks Adam even more that Ronan, slumped against the side of the car, seems to look bored. Like he's done this a million times before and it's no big deal. Like he's not having any fun at all. Adam feels foolish for being so excited about a fucking ferris wheel.

He sighs and looks out over the city. "Neither of us are anyone's girlfriend." He mutters.

Steeling himself, as they rise higher and higher, Adam prepares to look out as far as he can. He'd come up here with a mission aside from just being excited about riding a ferris wheel. He gets a small notepad and pen from his bag and looks out over the landscape. For now, it seems to go on forever. But he wonders how far they could go before they couldn't go anymore.

"Probably five miles or so... maybe six." He writes that down in his notebook.

Ronan isn't bored, but he's cultivated the image of being bored over the years. He didn't necessarily mean to make things weird. To irritate Adam, sure, but mostly he refused to play into whatever delusion Adam has about ferris wheels and the magic of them. He refused to assure Adam that his delusions were real. Basically, he was being Ronan. If Adam wanted a magical fucking ferris wheel, Ronan would be happy to dream him one. However, this ferris wheel was just a giant metal wheel built by the lowest bidder. Probably anyway.

"You're just saying that 'cause I'm not pretty enough to be anyone's girlfriend," Ronan smirks, sitting up a bit straighter, watching Adam's reactions.

He shifts a little, making the car rock a bit more.

"We going hiking?"

"Shut up. You know you could have anyone if you weren't... you." Meaning, if he didn't act like Ronan Lynch. Because Ronan Lynch scared people off, purposefully so for the most part. Ronan knew it. Adam knew it. Adam was just stupid enough to not be afraid. And honestly, he was kind of glad that he was stupid enough to not be afraid of Ronan Lynch.

From Adam's point of view though, Ronan was a catch. He had money and was sure of himself. He was everything Adam wished he could be. And in the looks department, Ronan hadn't been spared the handsomeness that all the Lynch boys possessed. Ronan was sharp and chiseled, yes. But he was still a Lynch. All of them had been blessed by the good genes of Niall and Aurora. Of course, it was also possible that with Adam and Ronan, beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

The car begins to rock a bit and Adam puts both pad and pen in one hand and reaches out for the bar with the other. His grip is tight. "Yeah I think we should. You know... see how far we can get."

Ronan snorted at Adam's comment, a loud, almost amused sound. "Yeah, but I am me." And he refused to be anyone or anything else. Sure, Ronan had never been Gansey, but once upon a time he'd been passable in social situations. Niall's death had obliterated that. That's when he'd shaved his head, gotten the tattoo and focused on being intimidating as fuck. Ronan couldn't argue Adam's stupidity in that case. However, Ronan was a little softer around Adam. His edges were dulled enough that he wouldn't cut Adam without some pressure. Just in the same way that Ronan relaxed with Gansey, he relaxed with Adam. He didn't need to intimidate either of them because they knew who the real Ronan Lynch was, or who he was becoming at least.

That was because Adam knew that Ronan had a slightly softer center. Besides that, money means very little in Ronan's world. Everyone (but Adam and Blue) have it. They had confidence and arrogance as well. Ronan's sharp edges, his intimidation factor was part of what made Ronan different in his world. As for his genes, well Ronan couldn't argue that. Niall had been commonly known as handsome as sin and Aurora...was a dream thing: Niall's perfect ideal of feminine beauty. The rate at which Declan went through women was probably testament to the Lynch good looks.

When Adam grips tight onto the bar, Ronan reaches out to pry his hand off the bar. "We're not going to fall, Dude. Relax and enjoy it."

As for hiking, Ronan's all for it. He nods a little at the idea of hiking.

"You are you. The one and only, unicus, Ronan Lynch." Adam answers with as much flare as Adam ever said anything. Which isn't a lot. But his teasing is evident in his tone. Teasing even with as much truth was in the statement. There wasn't and would never be another Ronan Lynch in the world.

Ronan grabs his hand from the bar and Adam looks at him like he isn't so sure that they won't fall out as they still rise up and up. He thinks about holding onto Ronan's hand, and then thinks about how cliche it would probably be in a ferris wheel, as Ronan had said. So he doesn't. Ronan would mock cliche, as he rightly should.

"You keep rocking us and I'm not sure this bar is enough to keep us in." He says instead, arguing for arguing's sake. "I mean look. I could slide right through this thing. How do they let kids on this ride?"

On the whole, that's pretty flair-riffic and flattering. It has Ronan smirking, obviously pleased. Of course, it's the teasing tone as much as anything that pleases him. "The day dad was born back in Ireland, there was an earthquake. He used to say that was God breaking the mold." He shook his head a little. "Declan is just like him though." Which is funny because Ronan had worshipped Niall and he couldn't be in the same room with Declan. "Declan says I'm just like Dad." They're both right. They're different sides of Niall.

Ronan slides his hand to Adam's wrist, thumb pressed against the fluttering pulse point before he lets go. Yeah, holding hands in the ferris wheel would be cliched. Ronan would probably mock it. At the same time, Ronan would be relieved that Adam is taking a step toward him. They'd been in a holding pattern since that kiss. Pushing Adam away or destroying the friendship they had isn't something Ronan is interested in. He'd rather be stuck in this holding pattern, or have clear cut lines drawn about their relationship, lines that made it clear they were just friends than destroy their friendship.

Ronan smirks at that, purposefully rocking the seat. "We're not going to fall out. We're eighteen, not six and if you slide out, I hope you can hang onto the edge for a while."

They haven't even reached the apex of the ferris wheel yet.

Every single time that Ronan decided to share something about himself it surprised Adam. He'd never had friends like Gansey, Noah or Ronan. And it felt like Ronan was so closed off in the beginning. So was Adam, embarrassed of his circumstances as he had been. That they'd come so far with each other felt nothing short of miraculous. It seemed especially miraculous when the things that Ronan shared had to do with his past and his family, particularly his father.

Adam loved to hear tales of Ronan and his father. It seemed the sort of relationship between a father and son as it should be, not at all like what Adam had been saddled with.

"If you're just like your dad, and if there's a God, then He broke the mold with you too." It sort of delighted him to think that he might be knowing Niall Lynch through Ronan because they were so much alike.

The way Ronan held his wrist for even those few seconds was nice. He still went back and forth over whether they should hold hands. He almost reached out for the bar again, but then just held onto his notebook in his lap. "Maybe if you would stop shaking the car then no one would have to hang onto the edge... which is opposite of reassuring, by the way."

He can't believe this thing still has higher to go. The people look so small below.

He didn't share things easily because that required trust, particularly when he shared bits and pieces of his father. Ronan knew that Niall hadn't been perfect, but he'd still worshipped his father. In some ways, even more so now that he knew Niall wasn't perfect. His relationship with his father had been good. His father loved him and Ronan had never doubted that.

"There's a God, Parrish." As for whether or not he broke the mold when Ronan was born, he's not sure. "He used to say that when I was born all the rivers dried up and the cows in Rockingham County wept blood. My mom argued that the trees grew flowers and the Henrietta ravens laughed."

HIs childhood had been different from anyone and everyone's that he knew, but he had been loved. Maybe that's why he'd fallen apart when Niall had been murdered, when his mother had become a sleeping thing rather than a dream thing.

Eventually it'll be something that Ronan does for more than a few seconds. He likes to feel Adam's pulse flutter under his fingertips, likes the way that it picks up ever so slightly at his touch. At Adam's words, a smirk props up one corner of his mouth. He purposely rocks the car again. "Don't worry, Parrish. I won't let you fall."

If it's at all comforting, they're close to the top. In fact, the next time the ferris wheel jerks to a stop, they're sitting right at the center of it.

There was that infallible belief again. Adam just couldn't understand how Ronan could believe in something he had never seen solid proof of like that. At least with Glendower there had been event after event that proved their quest was real and necessary. But God... that was a more difficult animal to tackle. Adam didn't begrudge Ronan his beliefs though. He respected them. Envied them even. But if there really was a God, it felt as if He had overlooked the Parrish household for Adam's entire life. And if God had thought to put Ronan in his life because he needed him, He was seventeen years late to save him from being bruised and scarred.

Again, he liked hearing about Ronan's parents, his life from before and how he spoke about it. He wondered how long it would last though. And he didn't know how to keep it going. In normal conversation, someone would respond with some equally revealing and amusing anecdote about their own parents. 'I wish you'd never been born' 'You're a worthless piece of shit' and 'I let you live here so I own you, boy' weren't nearly so amusing. Although they were very revealing in a way that would bring the conversation to a halt.

"It sounds like they knew." Adam finally says, his tone light to keep from revealing the dark path his thoughts had taken. "I mean, about both sides of you." Yes, he just called Ronan out on having a light and a dark side, a hard and a soft side. But that was what he got from both of those differing statements from his parents.

Maybe it was worse, Adam thought, to have had the love of one's parents and to have lost it, rather than to never have had it at all.

Ronan rocks the car again and Adam scrambles to reach for something, dropping his pencil and pad in the process. The pad falls to the bottom of the car and the pencil, well it rolls and then just keeps on falling all the way down to the ground below. Adam forgets to grab onto something in order to save the notebook. He stomps on it with his boot to stop it from sliding off and reaches down for it. He slips the notebook under his thigh in the seat to hold it in place.

"You owe me a pencil." He would have lamented this further, but now they're at the very top. Adam looks around. They're so high up above the ground. It reminded him of being in Helen's helicopter. Only quieter. More peaceful. And with someone who actually wanted to be with him. "I like the world a lot better from up here." He said thoughtfully.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that church and God had wrought a miracle every single Sunday for as long as Ronan could remember. On Sundays, the Lynchs went to mass. Niall always dragged himself home in time for it. He and Declan hadn't fought. On it's own, that had been no small miracle, coupled with Niall's presence that was a major miracle in Ronan's eyes. As for Adam's situation, Ronan couldn't explain the lack of God's hand in it. Maybe Ronan wasn't meant to save Adam the bruising and scarring. Maybe he was just meant to save Adam. They'd both had to become the people they are before that could happen. Or maybe it wasn't that fateful. Maybe Ronan was just a bigger asshole than Adam's father and had happened to come along then.

Ronan knew that Adam wouldn't have any parent stories to recipocate. He wasn't looking for that. He was just talking. He didn't require Adam to tell him anything about his parents, but if he wanted to, he'd listen.

He snorted at the way Adam 'called him out'. He wouldn't deny it because he knew Adam had seen that side of him, and he didn't want to deny it. He wanted Adam to know that side of him. He didn't want Adam to buy into the 'worst thing in Henrietta' image that Ronan cultivated. "Yeah, the flowers all withered and died two seconds later. The ravens probably kept laughing though." That part had always rang true to Ronan.

Ronan couldn't help but chortle at the way Adam scrambles. He reached out and grabbed Adam's arm. "I told you I wouldn't let you fall, Parrish." He smirked a little. "I'll dream you a crate." Because one of Chainsaw's favorite things to chew up were pencils. He'd need a crate to replace them all and fuck going to the store like a normal person and buying a crate of pencils.

For a few moments, Ronan was silent, actually taking a moment to look at the town from this height. "It looks like Gansey's cereal box town, but not so shitty."

And with that one mention, he missed Gansey immensely, so much so that it stole his breath and left him struggling to remember how to exist. Finally, he drew a sharp breath and exhaled. His body went taunt with anger, with bitterness and fear repressed. He should have kept Gansey out of this moment.

Either way. There had been a time when Adam believed that he was an army of one, a sole survivor, an unknowable thing. He had learned to let people in. He had learned to let Ronan in. And while Ronan had faith in God, Adam had learned to have faith in Ronan. Something that was a huge step for him.

"That's weird, I've never seen flowers wither around you." He answered wryly, still teasing Ronan. He added with some honestly a moment later : "That raven thing though, spot on."

Adam looked at Ronan like he was insane. But truthfully, he knew that Ronan could indeed dream him a whole crate of pencils. Maybe they would need a crate's worth. "Dream me a crate of pencils." Which sounded a little more suggestive for a crate of pencils with Ronan's hand on his arm.

But then Ronan mentioned Gansey. Adam could feel the mood change between them immediately as they both looked over the edge and thought of Gansey with his box house. Without thinking, and without words, Adam reached up to his arm for Ronan's hand and held that hand in between both of his. No, Ronan should have kept Gansey out of the moment. But it also gave Adam something to think about so that he didn't over-think this one very simple thing.

Well, there were worse things that Adam could have faith in. Despite first impressions, surface impression, Ronan was reliable in a way that few people were. Once his loyalty was earned, it could be counted on regardless of all other things.

"Haven't ever seen them bloom around me either, have you?" Ronan smirked. It wasn't entirely true. He could convince flowers in Cabeswater to bloom for him, but that was an entirely different story. He nodded a little at the raven thing. That part had always rang true for Ronan, more so than cows weeping blood.

"I'll get right on that," Ronan drawled, managing to sound more suggestive and wicked than pencils ought to be. There was a hint of Niall's Irish accent there, mixed with his own Henrietta drawl. He was incredibly aware of his hand on Adam's arm, his eyes flickered to it as he finished his sentence, just before they met Adam's eyes again.

Ronan didn't mock Adam for holding his hand that way, nor did he think it cliched in the moment. He wasn't even thinking about it in a romantic way right now. Instead, he was grateful that Adam was there to anchor him. He was grateful that he had something to keep him from spinning out of control. He squeezed Adam's hand tightly, breathing through that crippling anger and sense of loss that permeated him. He closed his eyes, more vulnerable than Adam had probably ever seen him because he was bereft of anything to hit or burn or drink. He had to actually cope with these feelings, at least until they reached the ground.

Adam had never seen flowers, or much of anything, bloom around Ronan, no. Truth be told, Adam didn't have much experience with flowers at all. But he had laid with Ronan in the grass, Summertime green grass warm with the sun and damp from recent rain that hadn't turned yellow and dead with his touch. He could hardly believe that flowers would be any different than that.

How Ronan Lynch could make a box of pencils sound so suggestive and wicked was beyond Adam. But he had successfully done it. So that Adam was looking at him with a stunned expression that hinted at lust. Pencils. Adam wanted pencils. Now. Not now. Someday. He told himself it was because he'd never thought anyone would want to dream him anything, let alone a whole crate of something. Deep down, he knew that it was because it was Ronan doing the dreaming.

Holding Ronan's hand in both of his, Adam watched him again in profile. This was made all the more easier as Ronan closed his eyes. Ronan's vulnerability was shocking to see... and beautiful. It was like looking at a lion up close and personal, knowing that at any minute the calm could go away and you could be dead of an attack. Adam watched him. Then, bolstered by Ronan's closed eyes, Adam leaned over to gently kiss at the corner of his lips. His heart pounded in his chest with the act, so bold on his part and possibly ill timed given the tenor of the moment and Ronan's vulnerability and the aforementioned cliche and the public nature of it. But up this high, who would see?

It was hyperbole. Ronan didn't think flowers were really going to wilt around him, nor did he think they'd bloom around him. At least not anywhere except Cabeswater. However, most people wouldn't be surprised to see flowers wilt around Ronan. He had that sort of reputation. Adam, clearly, was not most people.

It probably had a good deal to with the fact that, for Adam, he was Ronan. Everyone else was likely to think he made them sound dangerous or lethal. See the above disclaimer about Adam. Then again, Ronan wouldn't try to make pencils sound suggestive to anyone that wasn't Adam. While Adam wore an expression akin to lust, Ronan wore one more akin to triumphant because he recognized that look on Adam's face. He wore lust under his triumphant expression like a second skin. If Adam would let him, Ronan would dream him a whole world of impossible things.

There were only two living people in the world that Ronan would allow to see him vulnerable like this. Adam was one of them. Vulnerability could be a weapon in other people's hands and Ronan wasn't going to hand anyone a weapon to use against him, but he knew that Adam wouldn't ever use it like that. The description was an accurate one. Ronan could turn on a dime and strike someone down, but he wouldn't, not with Adam. That's what this comfort was about, knowing that he could be vulnerable in front of Adam. He still didn't like being vulnerable, but even the invincible Ronan Lynch had moments where he couldn't control his emotions, couldn't funnel them into anger or bitterness, or something else he was more comfortable with. If they'd been privy to anyone else's eyes, Ronan would have pulled anger around him like a coat. He would have hit something or screamed; he would have pushed everyone away.

Whatever fears Adam might have had were probably fairly quickly put to rest. There was only the slightest hesitation on Ronan's part when Adam pressed the kiss against the corner of his mouth. No, it probably wasn't the best time and yes, it was cliched as hell, but it was also something else to focus on, something that Ronan had been thinking about since before that kiss in the barns, but almost obsessively since that kiss in the barns. He twists, turning into the kiss, deepening it, making it a full blown kiss rather than a glance off the corner of his mouth. He poured all the pain and homesickness, all his anger at that, all his desire into that kiss, letting it distract him. If it weren't for the rock of the chair they sat in, he would forget entirely where they were. His free hand came around to rest at the nape of Adam's neck, pulling him into the kiss, willing him to pour himself into it the way that Ronan poured himself into it.

They could talk about cliched later and Ronan could give a damn about the public. He'd never cared what anyone else thought and he wouldn't in this case either. That attitude was only intensified by the fact that he didn't know a single person here besides Adam.

That hesitation lasted only a few seconds, if that. Adam had assumed that he might catch Ronan off guard. So while there was still that underlying anxiousness in regards to how Ronan might receive him, the hesitation had been expected. And if those few seconds were the worst that happened, then he would take it. Because his imagination, as great as it was, could have come up with any number of ways that Ronan could have reacted and would have upset him horribly.

Ronan was kissing him. They were a cliche. And still, Ronan was kissing him.

This was their second kiss. And Adam floundered briefly when the other deepened the kiss and made it into something far more substantial than Adam had initially been capable of. In fact, it was far more substantial than Adam could even imagine himself ever being capable of. The crux was this: once Ronan took something to a certain level, Adam could. This could only happen if he kept himself from over-thinking it. But this was why Ronan was good for him. Ronan pushed him outside of that confining box he tended to put himself in. Kissing was just one of the ways he did this.

For a few seconds, Adam's kiss is still soft, feather light like it's something he wants but is still so very unsure of it. And then that hand cups the back of his neck, Ronan asks for more without using a single word, and Adam follows where Ronan takes it. He quits thinking for a precious few moments. At least he doesn't think beyond Ronan, kissing, a crate full of pencils just for him. His lips part and he presses into the kiss, one hand reaching up to grab at Ronan's wrist again, over those bracelets Ronan always wears, over the scars, it seems one of the most intimate places to touch to Adam, given how few get to touch.

Adam Parrish | OTA

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