nottheboss | (no subject)

It's late at night. The corridors aren't quiet; they're full of men and women restlessly trying to sleep in their quarters. Bossie should be one of them. But instead he slips barefoot down the hallway to Carver's room, where he knocks.

"Hey, man, you up?"

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From:

nottheboss

"Pope gave you the runt cause you're best one to raise her up," Bossie says, thinking that he was once younger and smaller and weaker. That he is who he is now because Pope trusted Carver to raise him up.

He lays his head against Carver's shoulder. "Thanks for letting me stay."

From:

fortitudosalutis

Quietly, Carver wonders if Bossie knows or suspects that Carver's thought of him as the runt more than once. The quieter one, the weaker one. Every group has one at the beginning. It doesn't matter as much as people assume with his students. He's seen the strong ones fall, the others rise.

Bossie's the one who made it. And that, if nothing else, Carver can feel proud of.

He sighs and kisses the side of Bossie's head, cupping a hand to the back of his neck. "It helped," he admits softly. "Didn't think it would, but it did."

From:

nottheboss

"Yeah?" He can't help the hope in his voice. "Well I can try to help whenever you want. Seriously, man. Anytime."

From:

fortitudosalutis

Carver just nuzzles against him, eyes half-lidded. Exhaustion threatening to drag him down all over again.

Nonetheless, he stays. And Bossie stays.

"What'd you want for breakfast? I'll make you something special."

From:

nottheboss

"Pancakes," he murmurs dreamily. "With the crispy edges."

No one makes them like Carver.

"You think you can sleep a little more? I'll keep watch."

From:

fortitudosalutis

Could he? Carver nuzzles against Bossie, playing absently with his hair. "I'll make them," he murmurs. "Bacon, too. The good kind."

Good and crispy.

"I'll try," he adds. "For a little."

From:

nottheboss

"I got you," he promises. He shifts, sitting back against the wall. He won't let anyone get to Carver, demon or human.

From:

fortitudosalutis

Quietly, Carver cups his hand to Kali so she won't slip and then he does something that's probably unwise and against six different regulations and just lies his head down in Bossie's lap. He lays Kali down on the mattress next to him, stroking her gently. "Move her," he murmurs. "If I start dreaming. Please."

From:

nottheboss

"I will. I'll keep her safe, I promise." He strokes Carver's hair. "Just breathe. Think of the best place you've ever been."

From:

fortitudosalutis

He sighs, grinding his forehead against Bossie's knee. The best place he's ever been?

"You ever been to Colorado, kid?" he murmurs. "It's really something up in the mountains."

From:

nottheboss

"No, only mountains I've ever seen were the hills in Tennessee," he murmurs. "Tell me what it's like?"

From:

fortitudosalutis

Carver hums a little, thinking back. "Thick trees and dark stone," he murmurs. "But when you get up high, you can see forever. Everything feels so goddamn big...it's like you can finally take a deep breath."

From:

nottheboss

"Yeah, just imagine you're there now," he murmurs, stroking Carver's hair, massaging his temples lightly. "We're on top of a mountain. Hey maybe we could do that someday."

From:

fortitudosalutis

“I’ll take you,” he murmurs. “We can go hunting. I’ll show you all the stars, it’s so quiet at night…”

Maybe they could even take the cats. Put them on leashes and carry them in packs, explore the woods away from all the noise.

From:

nottheboss

"I miss hunting," Bossie sighs. "Haven't been since I was a kid, really. I'm a way better shot now."

Wouldn't it be nice to be out in the woods with Carver, just living off the land for once? Without the shadows of urban life weighing them down.

"We could bring some of the guys too. I bet they'd like it." Even if Bossie thinks what he'd really like is one on one time with Carver out in the wild.

From:

fortitudosalutis

“Shaw took me once. It was nice.”

They shot ducks. Cleaned and cooked them after and had beers, talking about everything but Korengal. He misses it, Carver realizes. That sense of peace.

“We should do it,” he murmurs. “Go camping. You can show me all the birds.”

From:

nottheboss

"Oh, man, I bet the birds in the Rockies are incredible," he says wistfully. In his head there's a list of all the Western birds he's never seen before.

"You think we'll ever get enough time off to do that?"

From:

fortitudosalutis

Carver hums, feeling himself drifting. What does he know about birds? So little. But he’s seen hawks playing in the thermals, he knows the way Bossie’s face lights up when he names them and thinks that’s almost like prayer. A sense of joy in the world as it is, without reservation.

“One day,” he murmurs, even though he’s not sure that’s true. “One day…”

From:

nottheboss

"I'll ask Mancea," and Mancea can take it to Pope. Bossie keeps stroking Carver's hair, scratching his nails lightly against his scalp. He watches Carver start to drift off, smiling softly, because Carver trusts him enough for this.

From:

fortitudosalutis

“Good,” Carver murmurs, already half gone. It’s a nice thought. A future dream. Maybe they can’t take it for a while, or maybe ever, but it’s something to hope for. A better plan than just another expanse of sleepless, ugly nightmares.

He drifts. And if he twitches and flinches sometimes, he doesn’t cry out or try to bite himself.

From:

nottheboss

Bossie stays alert, his fingers still moving through Carver's hair. If he stops, he fears the change will make Carver on edge, which might bring on a nightmare.

He stays there, awake and present, even when his leg falls asleep with Carver's head resting on top of it. It's worth it.

Hours pass. He'll be here as long as it takes.

From:

fortitudosalutis

He sleeps uneasily for several hours, but he sleeps. The dreams twist and churn, but they don't choke him. Not this time.

Funny.

Carver opens his eyes slowly, blinking at the numbers on the bedside clock as they gleam in blurry read. 0600.

"Shit," he murmurs, scrubbing at his face. "I'm late for kitchen duty."

From:

nottheboss

The sky outside is light and he knows he should have woken Carver up an hour ago, but, "You looked like you needed to sleep," he apologizes.

He picks up Kali so Carver doesn't accidentally roll onto her. "I'll help you."

From:

fortitudosalutis

Carver groans, scrubbing at his face again. "Okay," he murmurs. God, he needs coffee. Or an energy drink. "Fuck. Give me a minute to clean up."

Make himself even marginally presentable.

"Kali okay?"