: 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.

Comments

[giveeverything]

"Good idea. Float it like a thought exercise and see how he reacts." ...Riley would probably think they were weirdos, but chances were good he already thought that anyway. What did they have to lose?

Trick could try to expel the demon himself, but after last night he was certain that it had a tight hold on Nicky, and he'd never pulled a demon out of someone. Like yeah, sure he managed to clear a possessed object once or twice, but Nicholas was not an object and at least one of those objects had not precisely survived its impromptu exorcism.

He turned towards him at that bump to his shoulder, moving to wrap his arms around the other man securely. "Good. You're not allowed to." Trick would follow him across life and death if he had to. "C'mon. Let's get dried off and dressed and we can hopefully catch Riley before he starts his morning rounds." It was, after all, still very early.

[dangernerd]

It would've made a terrific science experiment to Nicky's line of thought but it had a rather large chance that it could 'unalive' him which while he would not have minded previously (there were risks to science) but he'd just discovered Trick as a boyfriend and he was very reluctant to let go of that. The fates would have to pull Trick out of his grubby ink-stained hands, that was for sure.

A kiss to the cheek, lodged with wholesome intent before he followed Trick right out of the shower where they could get dressed. He found a very constricting pair of briefs that he'd gotten as a Christmas gift by his Nana Gertie (who did not believe in fun when it came to presents, as opposed to his Grandmother on his father's side, whom when alive, had gotten him things like a lab kit and a train set), yeah he could not think sexy thoughts wearing Nana Gertie's undies, disaster avoided.

One of Trick's oversized hoodies were thrown on though, because it smelled like Trick. That may defeat the whole purpose of unsexy underwear. But did Nicky make it easy on himself? No, absolutely not.

[giveeverything]

No, no science experiments that involved risking Nicky's life, please and thank you. Patrick did not have many lines he'd draw, but that was one of them, the drawn indelibly sort that would never be erased.

Trick threw on clothes -- less tactical than Nicholas, since he didn't have the same, ah, pressing concerns that his boyfriend did. He spent a minute or two in front of the mirror, running his hands through still damp hair until it was its usual deliberate mess before glancing over to see Nicky in his hoodie.

Oh. Why did that do funny things to his heart? Trying to ignore the insistent pitapat that was thrumming away in his chest, he grabbed up his keys and held a hand out to Nicky. Hand holding? On the short walk to where Riley's residence supervisor quarters were?

[dangernerd]

Nicholas Kirkland wasted absolutely no time in taking that hand offered to him, as if it was some sort of glorious prize that had been hard earned but no less treasured.

Their first hand-holding out in public where anyone could see, this was a milestone to end all milestones.

And why did it cause a shiver of giddy thrill to skirt right up Nicky's back? Maybe it was the fact that he felt like a fucked up sexy incubus disney princess who had just found their knight in shining armor. Cue the 'when you wish upon a star' music.

[giveeverything]

It was a milestone, and Patrick was trying to play it cool that he was holding the hand of the person he'd been head over heels in love with since before he knew what falling in love actually was. He slipped his fingers through Nicky's securely, giving a little squeeze before leading him down the hallways.

It was early enough that they only passed a few other students, but at least a couple of them were people that knew them and gave them something of a knowing look that Trick did not bother trying to hide how smug he was about it.

Eventually they made their way to Riley's door, and Trick glanced briefly at Nicky before lifting his free hand to know.

Inside the room, Liam, curled up warm and comfortably in a certain priest's arms, grumbled quietly and burrowed in closer, muttering something about 'too early, we're not open yet.' No one needed antiques this early, and he was too sleepy to put together that he wasn't in his own bed.

[dangernerd]

And Nicholas Kirkland soaked it all up, the touch of fingers and the knowing looks-- he was just as smug, if not more so-- that he had such a handsome boyfriend who put up with his nerd-butt quite willingly. It was scarcely a few moments before they found each other in front of Priest Walsh's room and with Trick knocking; did he lean in a bit closer because Trick's natural energy was warm? Of course he did.

Now Riley was indeed in the room and with Liam tucked within the circle of their arms.

They had gone to sleep after a bit of washing up, and Riley rather thought that Liam was intending to sneak out in the early hours of the morning. Except the sun was peeking in through the half-cover of linen curtains, shedding it's rays on Liam's hair and giving it a deepened chocolate hue. He pressed a kiss to a forehead, then almost instantly his eyes shot open in abject surprise.

Yeah right, he had a job, and his job was to be available to the dorm residents whenever they needed. Granted it was a saturday, but students had needs even on a saturday. He lightly shook Liam and then murmured quietly. "Love, I have to answer that-- you have to hide." hoping upon hope that he could fit Liam in the closet with all the stuff that he hadn't had a chance to unpack yet.

[giveeverything]

Nicky leaning in closer was fine by Trick, thanks. Part of him hoped that once they shook the incubus out of him, that he'd discover that Nicky was still a fan of being close and touching and making out. Because Patrick was definitely a huge fan.

He glanced over at Nicky after knocking, listening for the sound of movement behind the door. Was Riley already gone? But no, after a moment he heard something. Leaning close, he murmured to Nicky, "I think we woke him up."

Liam hummed a pleased sound at the touch of those lips to his forehead, dark eyes slowly blinking open, bleary and taking their time focusing even as he smiled, a quiet murmur of, "I like it when you call me love--" And then the rest of what Riley said registered and it was Liam's turn to be adrenaline rushed straight into wide the fuck awake. Right. The dorms. Riley was a priest. He had meant to be up and out before dawn but he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept so soundly and he just--

"Right. Yes. Hiding." He cast around, grabbed up a shirt (it was Riley's shirt, but whatever) and booked it for the closet which was, well, a precarious fit, but he could probably make it work, right? Just gonna perch, pull the door shut, hold his breath and hope for the best.

[dangernerd]

That was one thing that Trick did not have to worry about, and it was that Nicky would outgrow this cuddling and making out thing. There was not a chance in hell that he would do so, he had dreams and imaginings of just this before the entire Incubus thing set in-- this just brought it all to the forefront at an alarming speed.

Give Nicholas a couch and a willing Trick and he would find his hands in various places, also mouth and teeth and possibly dick.

There was rustling, he could hear it as well and so he leaned in as well to press his ear, and he distinctly could hear two voices, the soft muffle of Riley but also there was another timbre that seemed familiar and danced at the edge of his logical brain, but along with that was a 'should I tell Trick?'

He was about to but then he decided not to. There was the distinct scent of carnality that layered just beyond the door and he knew that if he drew attention to it, then perhaps Trick would rethink this entire thing and well, they could not afford that could they? Also, Patrick wasn't sure that they could take the chance of another Priest to help.

"Hold on a moment, I'm getting dressed!" Riley called as he reached for some sort of garment on the floor which happened to be Liam's sweater, as well as his own trousers, pulling them up over hips and buttoning them quickly. Fingers through hair and then he was shoving the remainder of the clothes under the bed including a pair of boxers and well whatever.

Okay, he was heading to the door and then he threw it open wide and plastered a somewhat calm look on his face. "Hey.. you." and then those words trailed off as he saw Nicky and Patrick standing there. "Nicky.. Patrick.. what a surprise, I didn't think you guys got up on the weekends until after noon?" the Patrick had only a little bit of emphasis on it.

[giveeverything]

Patrick would be very pleased to find this out because he was going to have trouble keeping his hands to himself too, especially when he was less concerned about Nicky being possessed and in danger as a background to all the sexy times. They were totally going to have a proper first date WITHOUT demonic accompaniment.

He frowned briefly at the delay and the sounds coming from behind the door. But for Trick, it didn't register until the priest opened the door looking, well, rumpled? Flustered? But strangely something else, almost like he--

Oh. Oh. Well, damn. Good for Father Walsh. Good for him.

The kind thing to do would be to excuse themselves and let the Priest sort himself out and get his mystery guest out of whatever hiding place they'd ducked into. But they had pressing matters to attend to, and well.

"We try not to make a habit of it, but uh... well, that's why we're here, Father. We have sort of a few... questions of, erm, faith? That we were hoping you could help us with? It's sort of important. Can we come in?"

In the closet -- and fully aware of the irony of this particular hiding spot -- Liam could feel his heartbeat kick into overdrive as he heard Riley's voice rise on Patrick and then the unmistakable sound of his brother's voice following. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. He was holding his breath now, but he was also pressing an ear to the closet door to listen to what was being said.

What were these two up to? Heaven and Hell both knew that Nicky and Trick together were magnets for trouble.

[dangernerd]

"Ah..." Riley did not dare look at the closet door, did not dare in the slightest.

But he could not just turn them away, he was supposed to be available at all times-- 24/7, it was in the job description; all hours of the day he could be woken up should the need arise and well, this was what he had to do. "Ah yes, come in come in." there was no getting around this, nor could he make any excuses. He may have decided to fornicate a little as a treat, but he would not lie and say that he had to be somewhere especially when he saw the looks in the eyes of these two.

"Come in.. I'll put on some tea I suppose." God, he hoped that closet had good enough ventilation because he was not sure how long this would take. "My door is always open to my charges." right to the kettle while he motioned toward the couch where the two of them could sit.

Nicky plopped down on the couch and then an arm across the back of it, affecting a sprawl as he regarded Patrick with a tilt of his head. "So ummmm... this is not something that we can just trust with anyone but we know you're cool, well cooler than all the other dorm fathers we've had."

[giveeverything]

Patrick considered opening the conversation with 'tell your friend they should join us for tea' but thankfully his better sense won out. They wanted Riley's help, after all, so it was probably a better idea to be more circumspect.

"Thanks, Father." Trick settled himself on the sofa beside Nicky, nodding his agreement with what his boyfriend had said. Riley was easily out-cooling all their previous dorm fathers and leaving them in the dust.

In the closet, Liam was trying to will himself to disappear like maybe he would find Narnia in here and hang out with fauns and British children until this personal hell nightmare was over. No such luck though. But there was something else that was starting to break through the sheer panic running through him. There was something just beyond the closet, something in the room with Riley, Nicky, and Trick. Something demonic. Took one to know one. What the fuck sort of danger had these two idiots gotten themselves into this time?

Trick fidgeted, glancing at Nicky once more before he took a deep breath and, well, launched into it. Neither he nor Nicky were good at subtlety. "What do you know about demonic possession?"

[dangernerd]

"Demonic.. possession?" Riley turned abruptly from the tea kettle that he was just now filling up with water, a raise of his brow. Must not look at the closet door, must not look at the closet door because that would be a dead giveaway now wouldn't it? The fact that Trick was asking about demonic possession was particularly concerning, and he wondered vaugely if Trick had already guessed his brother's problem.

Not something he could mention though, not without giving himself away.

"Well I know about common exorcism practices though I've never resorted to such practices because I think they are archaic and the traditional methods are a bit.. ah, inhumane."

"So.." Nicholas began, leaning forward though keeping his arm just behind Trick. It was habit by this point, a closeness that he was not ready to give up. "Trick and I like to go Haunted House spelunking, and well last night we ran into something that.. well." he pulled down the collar of Trick's hoodie to reveal a metal burn mark in the shape of a cross right against his throat. "I sorta became a host for.. a.." he looked sheepishly over at Trick before he continued. "A sex demon, and well it's kinda inconvenient and while yeah sex is great and I like it, it's gonna put a damper on studying." and...

"Also, I don't think Trick has the stamina for it."

[giveeverything]

"Inhumane is bad..." Trick muttered quietly. He really didn't want to do anything that would hurt Nicky. At all. That was the exact opposite of what he was hoping for. Trick chewed at the inside of his lips as Nicholas told Riley the actual predicament.

He did sit up straighter and reach over to shove him. "Wow. Shut up. My stamina is great." But he looked back to Riley, more seriously. "But right. Look I know this sounds crazy, but we're being serious. This thing is Nicky nearly killed him before we... uh..." Fucked. Energetically and repeatedly.

In the closet, Liam had to fight the urge to bang his head against the door. How the hell was this his life, hearing about his little brother's sex life while hiding in the closet of his Catholic priest lover. More critically, he supposed, his little brother was fucking a demon who was currently all shacked up inside his best friend. Which hey, good for those two idiots finally hooking up. Liam was happy for them.

That was the last thought in Liam's head before the precarious position he'd perched himself in -- ear to the door, half atop several stacked boxes not yet fully unpacked -- gave way, and out of the closet he came tumbling, landing in a heap of Riley's things, wearing nothing but his boxers and Riley's sweatshirt, sprawled without a single ounce of grace.

Trick flinched at the sound of tumbling, quite ready to reassure the priest and whoever his secret lover was that their secret was safe with them, but instead he found himself staring. "Liam?! What the fuck are you doing here?!"

[dangernerd]

There was that sweet somewhat teenage boy shoving that occurred even though they had just skirted into there 20s, that was because the receptors were not quite developed and they were still holding onto some of the less than sauve points that made them barely functioning bros. Nicky shoved right back, "Hey, we'll talk after the 4th round."

Riley processed this carefully as he kept his eyes on the boys, though within view of the tea kettle.. and closet.

"So, that seems like a tricky situation though I believe you, I have come to realize that Saintsmourn is an epicenter of supernatural activity so.. not much suprises me..."

That was when disaster happened, and oh how it came like an avalanche as Liam toppled right out of his closet, thankfully decent but barely; boxes overturned as well with some boxes as they climaxed books all over Liam's backside.

Riley stared helplessly and then finished his thought weakly, "...anymore."

"Holy fuck, you are fucking him?... wow, this is so awkward" Nicholas exclaimed in a way that one could rely on him to do, with as little tact as possible, he cast a glance quickly to Trick to see if a fight was going to break out.

[giveeverything]

Liam had never in his life been more ready for Hell to swallow him whole as he was in that moment. When that didn't happen, and instead he remained pathetically crumpled on the mortal plane, he lifted his head just in time for Nicholas Kirkland to be Nicholas Kirkland. The second little brother he had never asked for but had acquired anyway. "Nope. No. Uh-uh. Shut it, Nicky. You don't get to say anything is awkward when you're fucking my baby brother while an incubus is wearing you like a onesie."

A pause as he gathered as much of his dignity as had survived (not much) and rose to his feet. It was next to impossible though, standing there in his boxer's and Riley's shirt, surrounded by the landslide of things that had accompanied his unplanned coming out of the closet. He risked a glance over at Riley with a deeply remorseful wince, well aware he'd gone and complicated things for the priest. He ran a hand through his hair and turned to face Patrick.

And Trick, well, Trick spluttered, devolved into a string of curses as the first actual words he managed to find and stood up as well. "You seduced a priest? This is messed up even for you!"

...so yeah, a fight might break out. He hadn't decided yet. But he was staring at Liam like he half wished he'd thought to bring his rosary with him. This was the first time he'd been in the same room with his brother in years. His fingers curled into a fist at his side. Trick still did not know what had been done to his brother, which meant that he still didn't know how to undo it, and he was starting to worry there wasn't actually any way to fix it.

[dangernerd]

There was a brief moment where Nicky pondered whipping out his phone so that he could get a picture of Liam in all of his humbled glory, but considering that a fight was getting ready to brew right here in Priest Walsh's room.. well perhaps that was not the best thing to do. Not even a theoretical question about morality and ethics would be appreciated, by the vibe that was currently as cloying as a steam within the room.

What Nicky did do was reach for Trick's hand as an effort to pull him back down, his slender fingers coming to wrap around the wrist. The ginger knew he would be terrible in a fight, but he also knew that he could act as good backup if in fact Trick did something that he regretted.

It was Riley who stepped forward.

"Alright, alright.. the two of you need to stand down; I highly doubt your brother will fight you Patrick, even so it would not even be a fair fight." and then Riley glanced over at Liam, an almost wry smile to his expression already filled with chagrin. "The situation is, well it is complicated. Liam may have attempted to seduce me in the beginning but I can assure you that there is far more to this story."

But this was a story that Riley knew was not his to tell, it was for Liam.

"What I can assure you is that there was no manipulation or coercion involved. At least not where Liam and myself stand at this very moment."

[giveeverything]

Trick stilled at the feeling of that hand at his wrist. For a moment he was frozen, but there wasn't any world where he would try to pull his hand out of Nicky's grasp, so that moment passed and something in him eased, fist relaxing and fingers opening to properly seek out his boyfriend's. And Trick slowly sat back down and looked over at Riley as the Priest spoke.

He did take the time to scowl at Liam at 'may have attempted to seduce me in the beginning,' piece. Really, Liam? A priest. A PRIEST. And the Priest in charge of his dormitory!

"In my defense," Liam began, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, before, well, admitting, "...I really don't have a defense for this one. But it didn't work anyway." Total seduction fail. Physical attraction was strong, but Riley was clearly stronger. It was when emotions, when love got involved in the mix that they'd both been caught by this.

Trick frowned, hesitating. "No manipulation? Really?" He sounded more than a little skeptical. "He's really good at manipulating people. You might not even have noticed it. I don't think he knows how to talk without lying at this point."

Liam tried very hard not to visibly flinch at that. Yeah, he'd known for a long time what Patrick thought of him, and he had known just as clearly that he deserved it. But it still hurt. His eyes settled on the way that Nicky and Trick's hands were joined, and despite everything that was going on right now, he couldn't help a smile, happy for these two idiots who'd been meant to be since they were in Kindergarten and also desperately fighting the urge to reach for Riley's hand himself. Deep breath. He squared his shoulders. "Trick... Patrick... Riley's right. There's a lot more to the story. And I think," A deep breath. "I think it's time you finally heard it. After we evict the stowaway in your boytoy." And he turned to fix his gaze directly on Nicky. Hi Nicky.

[dangernerd]

Disaster averted.

In a sweet reward that wasn't really a reward but rather support, Nicky squeezed those fingers and then rested the other guy's hand on his knee to keep it there safely. It was probably true that it would not be exactly kosher to start a fight in the Priest's room, religious affiliation aside. So he breathed a little bit easier even as he got a little bit antsy as energy was starting to reaccumulate, his own knee lightly knocking against Trick's.

"He did not manipulate me, in fact he made a very valiant attempt to stay away from me." He sat down then in the wing chair that was facing the long couch, as old and worn as it was to begin with. "But.. I think that first we need to figure out exactly where you picked up this demon to begin with? You should go over the evening in great detail."

Nicky decided to launch in on it right off the bat. "It was the Hollister Place.. you know the abandoned one, I read on the internet about some sort of paranormal activity so we packed up our ghost hunting things and made our way there to see if we could catch something on EVP."

[giveeverything]

Disaster averted for the moment at least. Trick wasn't going anywhere now that his hand was on Nicky's knee. It was a pretty good tactic to keep him grounded in this moment. But he was actually listening to Riley, brow furrowing in thought. "He did?" Patrick was the sort to draw hard lines and see in black and white and not look back or second guess, but he wasn't hard-headed enough not to reevaluate when presented with new evidence and information.

He would stew on this while Nicholas dished on their ghost misadventure.

Liam stood there, still only half-dressed, lifting a head to pinch at the bridge of his nose. "And you caught something all right. Just not on tape." Of course these two went to a haunted house. He knew the Hollister place. He also knew it was abandoned for a reason, and that reason was a demon infestation. They were lucky it was only an incubus they caught the attention of.

[dangernerd]

Of course it tracked that the two of them would rush headlong into potential danger without doing 'all' the research, they'd heard a lead and then followed onto the the path of utter hubris. Not that Nicky and Trick thought it through, and Nicky had predominately taken it from the information presented by jocks, it had seemed like haunted behavior.. not demonic.

"We did not think that it would be bad because parties are held there, and wouldn't that have carried on stories?" Nicky argued almost logically. "When we entered there were smashed beer bottles and cans everywhere."

"So the incubus did not attempt to chase you too out at all?" Riley inquired as he hears the tea kettle whistle at which point he gets up so that he can pour.

[giveeverything]

Trick shook his head at the question, sighing and sinking back into the couch now, deflated from his earlier fury for the time being. They had business to deal with first and foremost, and he was not going to do anything to interrupt the matter at hand. Taking care of Nicky was the first priority. Then he could try to figure out what the hell was going on with Liam and if he was dangerous to Father Walsh.

Liam was still trying to process the sheer level of recklessness that Trick and Nicky managed to achieve when they were together. "Yeah well, most partiers aren't going to be as tempting to a demon as you two with all the other-worldly about you. You brought it gourmet takeout." Not that Liam expected Trick or Nicky knew about those parts of themselves, somehow, or at least not the full extent of them.

Trick did not know what to make of what Liam was saying, so he turned his attention to Riley's question. "No, if anything it tried to lure us in. ...until it dragged Nicky up into the air and nearly strangled him with a rosary. We sort of booked it out after that, figured we'd regroup, prepare better and go back to take care of it before it did decide to mess with some drunk frat guy. Then we made it back and realized it had hitched a ride with Nicky."

"And demanded you feed it or else?" Liam gave the pair a meaningful look. "Which uh, you clearly did. That is a well-fed incubus."

"Oh my god shut up, Liam."

Liam did not shut up. "No really, like possession aside, I'm happy you two finally got there. It's been a long time coming."

"Please stop talking."

[dangernerd]

Riley was watching this with a dawning sort of horror that was only reserved for trainwrecks; this was absolutely a trainwreck and he could not stop watching, especially with the way that the two brothers seemed to be feeding into each other to supremely annoy each other, though it did appear that the winning party was at this moment Liam.

Yes, this was definitely a brother thing.

A glance cast at Nicky showed that the guy was clearly relishing this dynamic and was sitting back and watching it-- if there was popcorn, he'd be definitely shoving it in his face at this moment.

"Well, Trick.. it is true." Nicky pointed out rather helpfully, and perhaps with the audacity of the newly deflowered.

"Alright, so you two are clearly not invincible and it was perhaps a bad idea going out in the first place but you happen to have a Priest on your side so it really should not be too happy with this development. What won't happen is resolution at least not until the both of you stop your squabbling.' Riley pointed out as he started to pour the tea and then placed the cups on the table, after that followed cream and sugar.

"So drink your tea while you cool your heads and we think of a solution." because an exorcism was out of the question.

[giveeverything]

Liam turned to fix what could only be described as a pout at Riley. Why did Riley hate fun? Liam had not been able to poke at his brother for years. This was the most words that Trick had spoken to him since, well, he couldn't even remember when. Years, anyway, and even if his little brother clearly wanted to strangle him, Liam had missed him and teasing aside he was genuinely happy for Nicky and Trick finally managing to be a couple. They were clearly meant to be.

Trick turned towards Nicky with a ET TU BRUTE?? level of betrayal. "What the fuck you shut up too. I know it's true, but that doesn't mean he has to say it! Or that you have to say it." It was embarrassing for his potentially-evil big brother to be talking about his brand new but very energetic sex life. But all right. Once again Riley, the voice of reason, had a point. Trick reached for the tea and started stirring in sugar, finding the warmth of the cup a grounding, steadying presence in his hands.

Liam stopped pouting, expression turning serious. He fixed a fairly solemn look on Riley. The priest was the one who had encouraged him to tell Patrick the truth. Maybe now was as good a time as any to start. He took a steadying breath, shutting his eyes to try to gather up his courage, and murmured quietly. "I have a solution. I can get rid of it."

[dangernerd]

"Why don't you make me, Sweetheart." Nicky said with a look that was probably not safe for their present company, the sort of remark that was going to get him absolutely shoved. Yes, getting rid of this Incubus should be priority, else Nicky would continually sexually harass his boyfriend in front of his boyfriend's brother and the brother's priest lover. Definitely not a good look.

"That.." Riley said, pointing to Nicky, "..is why this needs to be resolved, you can jibe at your brother all you want later, love." the endearment seemed to roll effortlessly off the tongue. And then he moved to push a cup of tea into Liam's hand, knowing that this next bit was going to be difficult for him, willing to offer all the support he required in this moment.

[giveeverything]

Trick turned to look at him with the sort of expression that he very much wanted to make him, but just hadn't decided if he wanted to do it by pouncing him and kissing that smirk off his face or smothering him with a pillow. Maybe both. But instead he just took his hand and set it over Nicky's intensely dangerous mouth. Shh. Behave. "Bad boy."

Liam let the teacup be pressed into his hands, wrapping his fingers around the mug and offering Riley a grateful smile that was drenched through with affection, that flash of vulnerability that was vanishingly rare in Liam's life.

It was so obvious that Trick clearly saw it, his expression turning thoughtful as he tried to puzzle out what the hell was going on here. He almost felt guilty breaking the moment, but he had to. "What do you mean you can get rid of it? How?"

Liam turned to face where Nicky and Trick sat on the couch. His eyes had gone dark, a pure black that seemed to defy any light that might have attempted to reflect from it. Shadows gathered, subtle still, but amassing in the shape of wings from Liam's back. "I outrank it."