: Saintsmourn - Nicholas & Patrick :

[dangernerd]

Nicholas Kirkland (Nicky to those who he considered friends) was at this moment finishing up the last of his reading for his college classes. In the little dorm-room that himself and Patrick shared, it was a muddle of books and random objects that they'd collected. Not only that but also bits and bobs of their friendship tied into neat little nostalgic notes.

The last rays of the sun was streaming in through the window and he was poised, feet crossed on desk and balancing barely on the back two legs-- precarious yes, and honestly he knew that he should not really be doing this. Coordination be damned, he'd never worried about it before despite the bumps and bruises he regularly got because he was perennially distracted.

It was almost time for Patrick to come home from his late evening classes and then they'd start their foraging for dinner.

After that, well the evening was still young and there was trouble to be had. All of which he looked forward to, after all Patrick had for as long as he remembered, been his favorite partner in crime.. they had grown up together and they had a special bond.

As close as brothers, except not quite-- and honestly? Nicholas was glad for that.

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[dangernerd]

Nicholas Kirkland did not bat a eyelash at that, in fact he took the squirt-gun gratefully. It wasn't a supersoaker (they had that one back at the dorm room, but it really was a pain to fill from the cistern without attracting notice) but it would do in a pinch, and it didn't seem like multiple demons, he was sure there would've been a flanking mechanism in place as Demons were not dumb and were highly tactician when it came down to it.

He hoisted it with the mouth of the gun pointing upward and then he placed his back against the wall, dragging the other man in close, his other hand going back to cross over Trick's torso as if he could stop anything from getting to him which was sweetly protective.

"You ready to bust in there? Remember to keep a good cover if at all possible." awww, like they were in a crime novel or something. Aren't they precious?

[giveeverything]

Patrick was currently in a full on gay panic because his idiot crush had, with holy-water-filled-squirt-gun in hand, had pulled him close and gone all James Bond pose on him. His heart was suddenly racing at an alarming rate and it had nothing to do with demons or haunted houses. Nope. It was about this fucking nerd hat he was so goddamn infuriatingly in love with being sexy in the most ridiculous circumstance that he could possibly have imagined.

Fuck his entire life.

It took a moment to register that words had been spoken, because most of the blood in his brain had very abruptly flown south for the winter. "Right... yeah, no, yeah. Ready. On three?"

[dangernerd]

This was indeed Trick's life in this moment, and Nicholas was actually doing this 'unironically' so there was also that. Finally he strafed to the side; he was feeling pretty good and he was actually showing off for the other guy. Yes, see how brave Nicky was.. absolutely brave.

Nothing could go right? Not with this high of adrenaline.

He attempted to kick the door open and oh yes, it was totally a door that swung the other way; so he ended up bouncing his leg against it and then backward until he hit the railing of the balcony that looked out onto the hall.

There was a sickening crack that was not bone, but wood and it seemed to originate right where Nicky had made rather forceful contact with it. It happened in a split second, but in that time as he fell backward, the door splintered and projectiled right toward Nicky. One particularly large splinter catching the rosary around Nicky's neck. And then it started to however upward and upward in something utterly demonic, a high pitch screech sounded as very soon Nicky was hanging by his Rosary.

His hand had come up and he was attempting to prevent himself from choking, his legs kicking as he forced his fingers underneath the biting metal.

[giveeverything]

Trick knew first hand how brave Nicky was. It was one of the things that truly frightened him in life, knowing that his best friend (and love of his life) would charge straight into danger without even a moment's hesitation. Unless he was stopped by a door.

He winced as he watched Nicky bounced back, about to go make sure that the other man was all right, and then all hell broke loose. Trick yelped in surprise as the door burst into pieces, lifting an arm to shield his face and lowering it in time to see Nicky suspended by the rosary around his neck.

"Nicky!" He yelled, running to try to help, wrapping his arms around Nicky's legs and lifting up to try to buy him some breathing room. He shifted to one arm, trying to get his shoulder under his friend while aiming his squirtgun up towards the shard of wood currently holding him up.

"Put him down!"

[dangernerd]

~Such a pretty boy...~ came a voice, almost androgynous-- neither male nor female. It was a purr and it came out in a way that was nearly obscene as it wrapped around the two of them. A deep throaty chuckle nearly directionless, the rosary squeezed tighter though thankfully the way that Trick held him seem to offset a bit.

The vicious wooden shard continued to hold this battle with trick, The necklace seeming to dig in, causing near instataneous bruising, it doubled down, then there was a crack as the rosary broke and in the force of meeting nothing to pull it down, it catapulted toward the hallway mirror and shattered right into it.

Likewise gravity found Nicky and pulled him toward the floor. And the danger nerd could not even break his fall because his hands went immediately to his neck to clutch, perhaps because he was able to breath far better now, the chain and choked him and left beads like marks against his throat. Now it was up to Trick on how the next few moments played out.

[giveeverything]

Oh yeah no, Trick did not like that. He swung the squirt gun around towards where the voice had come from, except it felt like it came from everywhere and nowhere at once. His mind was racing trying to figure out how to help Nicky when the rosary suddenly snapped, the sound of the beads scattering and striking off walls and floor and the definitive shatter was the greater portion of it hit that mirror and sent shattered glass flying.

Another startled sound as he suddenly had all of Nicky's weight in his hold. He tried to catch him, he really did, but the only thing he could manage was to get himself under the other man so that at least when they landed together in a tangled heap, Nicky's fall would be cushioned by Patrick.

He hit the floor hard enough that between that and the added weight on top of him, all his breath was knocked right out of his lungs.

[dangernerd]

They both fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs with Nicky's own body nearly collapsing atop in what felt like a heap. There was a hissing in the air around them that grew deeper and darker, and then that strange dark energy swirled and then suctioned. What Trick would not see with that windedness was a eddying whirlwind where it cycloned and grew smaller and smaller.

With each strangled breath that Nicky took in gasping intervals, he also took in a little of that energy within him where it sparked hidden sequences and rewrote neural pathways and DNA.

A hiss, a purr. The shattering of glass in the distance then, even further in the distance a door being shut as if the spirit had grown tired, residual energy vibrating further with every breath of Nicky. Then blissful peaceful quiet. Nicholas rolled off Trick with a groan, realizing that he was on his best friend and then he was on his back with another series of aching noises.

[giveeverything]

By the time Patrick's brain caught up with what had happened, he had indeed missed the way that strange dark miasma had made itself a home inside his best friend. All he knew was that his ass hurt and his head hurt and Nicky was -- oh god, Nicky. When the other man rolled off him, Patrick pushed himself up to his knees in an almost frantic scramble.

"Nicky! Are you okay?" Already his hands were moving to start checking the other man over, patting gently over his shoulders, lower, then back up to let his fingers trace over the marks left by the rosary before it had shattered in such spectacular fashion. There was deep concern darkening his normally light blue eyes, expression uncharacteristically stern. His eyes darted up and around, a frown pulling at his lips. He couldn't feel it anymore. Whatever that was that had attacked them had slipped into background noise. Had it worn itself out with that little display?

He didn't know. What he did know was that he was going to get Nicky out of here and make sure he was safe, and then come back some other time and burn this place to the ground. Or purify the hell out of it with every trick up his sleeve and some new ones he'd learn specifically for the occasion.

[dangernerd]

Nicky let out a deep groan and then shifted on the hard wooden floor, predominately in response to the other guy's voice which pulled him out of whatever slog that he had temporarily entered into. His eyes open, to reveal those blue eyes, slightly dazed yes-- as if he'd gotten the lights knocked out of him.

And there was of course the fearsome red marks at his neck which would leave one hell of a bruise when the time came. His head shifted and then he reached up to feel his own neck to rub it lightly. "I'm.. oh gods I don't know." everything had happened all at once and in rapid bullet-fire succession. "I don't think anything's broken.." he tilted his head back and looked up into those light blue eyes.

"You? Are you okay, Trick?"

[giveeverything]

Patrick wound up setting both hands ever-so-gently against either of Nicky's cheeks at the sound of that groan, looking at him with a piercing sharpness in his gaze, like he could see straight into Nicky's brain if he tried hard enough, could figure out where any pain was coming from and fix it. That wasn't how any of this worked, of course, so he had to content himself with being relieved when Nicky finally spoke, letting out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "You got knocked around pretty bad. You're not supposed to scare me like that, you asshole."

He grumped at him, shaking his head. "I'm fine. Worst that happened to me was that some lanky nerd got dropped on top of me. ...and made me worry about him. A lot."

Another glance around. "It's gone, whatever it was. Retreated or gone dormant or something. We should get you out of here while we can, and come back with enough holy water and incense to cleanse the ninth circle of hell."

[dangernerd]

"That sounds like a plan.." he manage to groan out though he did smile then; it was a half-smile but it was still reassuring that perhaps he was none the worse for wear. "Though I am sorry for worrying you, it wasn't my fault that I got yeeted into a door and then..."

He faltered for a moment. "Hung up like Christmas lights." he found Trick's shoulder and he gave it a squeeze also meant to comfort. "I think that my ass will never be the same again, this was the third time I've fallen on it today, though to be fair you did catch the fall of my ass two of those times so thank you for that."

[giveeverything]

Patrick appreciated that smile, but he wouldn't really lose the knot of worry that had curled cold and unpleasant in the pit of his stomach until they were back in their room and he could sit Nicky down, cover any scrapes in bandaids and neosporin and assure himself that his friend really was all right.

He set his hand atop the one of Nicky's at his shoulder. "Yeah, I know. Not your fault I worry about you."

A momentary pause, and he added with as much gravitas as he could muster. "I will always be there for your ass."

He stood then and offered a hand down to help Nicky up.

[dangernerd]

Nicholas took the hand offered to him and then managed to pull himself up, there was a lot of creaking from his lanky limbs but he rather thought that he was alive and that was a plus, perhaps his hand lingered a little bit longer as if claiming that warmth though soon enough their hands separated and he promptly looked around at the now quiet house.

"So we're coming back with the Super Soaker then?"

You know, the big guns. Best to make a joke here while he could, he knew that he needed that joke sorely because well, they'd both been through a lot. The house started to cool down considerably, or maybe that was just a strange fire that had started to fill his blood. "So I'm a little bit chilly? I just want to be back at the dorm room with a cup of cocoa."

[giveeverything]

Trick would have been happy to keep that hand in his as a reminder and evidence that Nicky was indeed alive and okay and not being murdered by some demonic entity with his own rosary. He appreciated the joke, the attempt at normalcy and brushing aside the genuinely worrying moments that had just passed.

"Yup. The big guns. No other choice."

That was just how that would work. Patrick was already running through it in his head, the precautions they would take and what they could properly arm themselves with so that they did not get their asses thrown around again.

Wordless, Trick unzipped and shrugged out of his hoodie before draping it over Nicky's shoulders. "Let's go. Cocoa and shitty Netflix horror movies await. We can still salvage our Friday night."

[dangernerd]

Why did this give Nicholas a warm feeling deep inside, the touch of Trick had always been treasured but there was an added thrill to it, like little motes of warmth running a trail up and down his skin. He should have noticed it but perhaps he was just too happy to be alive? It was hard not to cuddle up into Trick, instead he pulled Trick's hoodie around his own shoulders and was immediately awash in the scent of cologne.

Oh no, this was nice.

"I am sure that Jella will be happy to see us too.. likely was not expecting us back so soon." Netflix and Chill sounded like a great idea, and he managed to look right off to the side, and viewing the profile that was quite chiseled and highly attractive. His best friend had always been attractive but he was rather infinitely aware of him.

"We'll come back and raze this place to the ground... later."

[giveeverything]

Trick was unaware of any new turmoil happening in his best friend, even if he was paying very close attention to Nicky right now. He was mostly worried that the other man might have a concussion after getting smashed by a door and dropped from where he'd been dangled by a rosary.

He snorted at the mention of the cat. "Yeah, she'll be happy to have her dad back in one piece. I'm sure she'll have claimed your lap within seconds." ...he wasn't jealous of a cat or anything. That'd be really dumb and a hopelessly in love pining simp thing to do.

A glance over his shoulder as they made their way out of the house, back at it with narrowed eyes. "We will. ...I'm just glad you're all right."

[dangernerd]

There were aches and pains, but he was feeling rather good for being dropped and kicked around-- all things considered. It was something that some ibuprofen could fix, along with hot chocolate and cuddling on the couch. Wait, was he thinking that? Oh he had entertained the thought of cuddling with Trick, but it had never resonated so sharply and almost took the wind out of his solar-plexus.

Perhaps it was just the adrenaline that was surging through him, yeah-- that was surely it.

All those stupid danger hormones that men were so fond of inhaling like fine grade cocaine.

"Yeah, I'm glad too." he admitted as he did not stray too far from the other man's side. On the way out he had fetched his own backpack and then shunted the trash boxes of their leftover fish feast into the garbage of one of the neighbors bins; then they were on a walk back in the crisp and cooler than normal evening. "I actually don't feel too bad? I am sure I'm ladled with bruises however, guess I will survey the damage when we get back to the dorm."

[giveeverything]

"Adrenaline is a hell of a drug, Nicky." That was what he would chalk the feeling fine to, because he was sure Nick was a mess of bruises at a minimum after that. But they were fine. They were both alive and walking out of that place, so it was fine.

The world could go on turning because Nicky was all right.

He glanced over at him and shook his head with a smile. It took all the willpower he had not to reach out for Nicky's hand right now, given how shaken up he felt after what they'd just experienced. When they finally made it back to their building and, thankfully, their room, he waited for both of them to be inside before shutting the door and slumping back against it. "Fuck me, that was a hell of a night."

[dangernerd]

Why did the term 'fuck me' coming out of Trick spark something within him, it was something that felt almost feverish; especially as he stepped in and then he watched Trick all but drape himself against the door; that athletic body. And for a moment Nicky had a rogue thought of what it would feel like for the other man to cover him.

He could not help the hitched breath that came to his own body, though he went to shrug off his own jean jacket and then tossed it on his bed, then seeing Jella curled up there, giving a little tail fwip vibrate in excitement which he did move to pet her. A soft smile and then he glanced over his shoulder at Trick.

"I'm gonna shed some layers.. you mind checking for bruises, bro?"

[giveeverything]

Ah right yes. His pathetically huge crush on his best friend was not coming back to bite him right now, when his bro announced he was going to strip and ask Trick to look him over. Such a very bro thing that was not plunging Patrick straight into another round of gay panic.

This was fine.

He was, however, concerned enough that despite the fact that it would be his own personal hell, he was eager to check Nicky over to make sure he really was all right. "Yup. I'll get the first aid kit. Do you want the Spiderman bandaids or the Halloween ones?"

[dangernerd]

Nicky was already stripping down, the band shirt he had worn underneath jean jacket was tugged up and over his torso, revealing a chest that was pale with a few freckles here and there though they were faint almost like someone had splattered honey on his skin, like a warm golden.

And there was that hair that scattered over his chest and then bisected his stomach with a line that led all the way downward across navel until it widened and then disappeared right underneath a band of underwear. He was already turning toward the mirror to look at himself, "I think I'm bruised on my back?"

And then,

"Spiderman..." without a doubt.

[giveeverything]

Yup. There was Nicky stripping. The universe was testing him. Patrick took a steadying breath and grabbed up the first aid kit they'd put together. Given how accident prone Nicky was, and the fact that the two of them had dangerous terrible hobbies, it was used a lot. There were a lot of very specific strange bits and bobs in there. Holy water. Rune-carved talismans, a collection of herbs and dried flowers, crystals.

For now, Trick would start with the traditional first aid.

"And your ass," Trick reminded him, as the little gay devil on his little gay shoulder took control for a moment, and the equally gay angel on his other shoulder did not bother to intervene.

[dangernerd]

"Ah yes, you reminded me-- my ass." And then Nicky glanced over his shoulder at the other guy with a glimmer to his eyes even as he started to strip right out of those jeans. Yes, the gay angel and demon were going to get a show and only at a little prompting from his best friend-- off shimmied the jeans and then it was him in his black boxer briefs that did nothing to hide his ass.. you know the one with the bruises.

He was quite prepared for Trick to tell him to put his pants back on maybe?

Braced for it really.

Unfortunately he was not watching his mouth and said quite conversationally. "My ass has hit the ground so many times, it probably needs some TLC?"

[giveeverything]

No. No it was not even remotely fair for Nicky to give him that coy over-the-shoulder glance like that. What the actual fuck was that about. It had Patrick's heart slamming against his ribcage like it was intent on acting like he was a cartoon character and beating in a heart-shaped explosion out of his chest. He swallowed and desperately tried to play it cool as Nicky just dropped his jeans.

He'd seen the other man change before. Hell, he'd seen him naked before, but there was something oddly charged about this evening, and he didn't know what to make of it.

"My poor baby. Do you need me to kiss it better?" And Trick's mouth was also unsupervised apparently because that was not something he should have said given how much he wanted that. ...though he wanted to bite that ass just as much as kiss it, so really not the best first aid.

[dangernerd]

Oh no, that made him feel a certain way, the intense look in Tricks eyes that he could feel on his back, they were absolutely potent in a way that he could not deny; halfway threat and halfway promise and gods, Nicky would've been delighted with either.

The thing was that Nicky had adrenaline and testosterone still running through him, it was the haunted house feeling surge that usually powered through him when it came to the paranormal. No fear, only a sense of exhiliration that was fueled by the 'we're still alive' concept' but there was also a secret third option and that was a honey rolling through his blood.

That may have informed his next response to his best friend.

"I don't know Trick, it seems all you're doing is threatening me with a good time." Nicky also could not believe that he was saying this but he did look at Trick discreetly over his shoulder and hooked his fingers lightly against the hem of his underwear though he did not pull them down.

It was true though that this moment was highly charged by many things that were swifting rushing down the current of beyond their control.