Syx swallowed, he was being unreasonable, he knew he was, but that never stopped the feelings, “Yeah… would have been worse on the streets.”
He’d run way shortly after he’d healed from his injuries. Left the prison and his dad. Most of the time he and Minion had barely had food. They’d nearly died the first winter out on the streets. Michigan was a cruel bitch covered in snow and ice. It would have been no place for a child. It had barely been a place for him.
He shuddered again, his head resting limply on Harrison’s shoulder. He felt like a small child again and just as helpless, “Please… I don’t want to think about it anymore.”
It was easier to hid away. To try and forget. Not that his mind with it’s perfect recall ever would let him.
Harrison kept right on petting the back of his head. He could feel the fight go out of the other man, but he was pretty sure that was a good thing. It couldn’t be healthy to hold onto all that guilt and shame. Now he was practically limp in his arms and Harrison could feel that the other man was overwhelmed and exhausted. God knows he had anyone besides Minion to talk to about it, though Harrison guessed based on the reaction that the answer was no.
“No thinking, check. How about…. I tell you a story?” he said, not entirely sure of what he was going to say, even as the words started spilling out. “Once long ago… oh about… five years ago, there was a blue man who looked to the world like he had everything. He was the powerful CEO of one of the most profitable companies in the world, and had more money than he could spend in a lifetime even though he certainly tried. He had a devoted Minion, closets full of designer clothes, fancy homes all over the globe, and legions of attractive humans of every gender eager to spend the night with someone so rich and good looking. But the blue man didn’t let anyone stay more than a few nights. See, a long time ago, he had loved someone very much….”
He paused to take a deep breath. “But that man didn’t love him back. Not really. He only wanted control and the blue man almost died because that man didn’t stop when he said no. So the blue man left him, and lived a life of drinking and partying, taking home anyone he pleased and never calling the next day. It seemed like he had everything, but he was desperately lonely.”
The way Harrison told the story reminded Syx that the other blue man was a dad. He listened quietly as Harrison spoke, slowly stirring to rub his head against the other man. In many ways he was everything Syx hated. A powerful and rich man with more money then was reasonable. Yet his heart hurt for him. It sounded lonely. Lonelier then Syx’s life even with the long stays in solitary and the hard cruelty of his early years. The Blues were family and good to him.
He didn’t speak, but instead pressed a kiss to Harrison’s neck before lifting his head again enough to put their foreheads together, focusing on love and trust. He’d bared himself to this man and hadn’t been hurt. His arms were a safe place. He hoped Harrison could feel the same.
RP backup 