Straight on til Morning

Who: Finn and Laura
Where: Finn's apartment
When: 2 am

After Finn had left the One More Round, his feelings began to stir again. He didn't head straight home. Instead he walked to the docks. He spent a lot of time here when he first found out that Eris had "died." Her death meant something terrible for him. It brought forward thoughts of the permanence of death. He'd been aware of what death was previously. People died. But not people he knew; people he truly cared about.

Finn spent a whole hour and a half starting into the murky water of the docks. He sunk deeper and deeper into feeling of confusion. Eris hadn't died. This was clear. But instead of reassuring Finn that all was right in the world, seeing her face brought back those fears that had been hiding within him. Also, something had changed about Eris. She was different, and shadowy. Finn remembered how spirited she once was. He couldn't imagine where that spirit had gone.

It wasn't until he started to lose the feeling in his hands did he go back to his flat. He usually ran from place to place, he liked to feel the wind in his hair. It was like flying. Now... he couldn't. He trudged across the city, and up the stairs of his apartment. Part of him really hoped that Laura had already gone to sleep. He opened the door slowly, clearly half frozen, and completely exhausted. He would curl up under the piano tonight. He needed to feel safe again.

Laura had occupied her herself with cleaning while he was gone. His papers were not moved, but neatly stacked, and the clothes that had been scattered everywhere were hanging to dry along with her own. Laura was curled up in the living room dressed only in one of his shirts. She had tried to stay up to wait for him, but she was just exhausted.

Finn walked like a zombie through his kitchen, hardly noticing how clean it was. He made his way into the living room. His eyes fell on Laura. He really wished that she had taken his suggestion, and slept in his bed. He walked over, saying softly, "You should go to sleep."

She looked up at him, sleepily, and rubbed one eye. "I was waiting for you." She pulled her bare legs up under her and reached for his hand. "They made you work late?" He had said he'd be back by midnight, and she had waited past that before falling asleep. She wanted him there with her. His place was safe, but it was him that made it that way, really.

Finn looked confused for a moment. He'd forgotten about work, that he had been sent home early. If he had just gone back to his apartment, none of this would have happened. "Work... yeah." He had promised he wouldn't tell anyone about the night's encounter, and he couldn't break that promise. Also, it occurred to him that Laura worked for the O'malleys. He didn't usually think in terms of "sides," and doing so now made him feel sick. "Something like that." He was tired, and didn't want to stand anymore, so he flopped down next to Laura. "You should go to sleep..." He repeated, without seeming to really be thinking about the words he was saying. He seemed very deep in thought. Then, very suddenly, he was not. "Here, I'll carry you."

She frowned a little at his vagueness, but then decided he must be tired. He flopped down and she sort of wound herself around him. "We should both go to sleep." Laura yawned and smiled at him. He looked sort of rough, so she figured he must be as tired as she was, at least. His offer to carry her made her smile come back just as it was fading a little. Always something unexpected. That was part of why she liked Finn.

"I'm not going to sleep. Not yet." There was a little bit of an hardness to his voice. It was like the iceberg that sunk the titanic, the sort of thing one didn't necessarily notice until they'd hit it. He was confused, and very tired, which left him cranky. He didn't want someone telling him to go to sleep. He wasn't really a child. Though Laura's comment was innocent, it had started the cogs in Finn's brain whirring. "But you need to sleep. Come on." He started to get up.

Laura put her arms around his neck. "Will you stay with me?" She wanted him to stay with her. She wanted to whisper with him in the dark while they both fell asleep. It probably wouldn't be long. She was tired, and if there was someone there, she'd fall asleep even faster.

Finn lifted her up. He frowned, and looked a little pained. "Laura, I can't sleep right now. I just can't." Though he started the phrase out sounding lost, he ended on an annoyed note. Annoyed with himself. If he weren't so reckless, if he had just come home, this wouldn't have happened, and he wouldn't have to think about growing up and dying.

"I'll stay up with you, if you want." She was beginning to get that there was something more than tiredness bothering Finn. She wouldn't ask him what, though. If he wanted to talk about it, he would. She had gone through a pretty shitty couple of days herself, and definitely wouldn't appreciate anyone insisting on talking about it. "Until you get sleepy... if you want."

What did he want? Finn wasn't sure. But now that he was holding her in his arms, he felt a little safer. Laura was tough, to be sure, but she didn't remind Finn of adults and lost youth as so many people had lately. She was still young, definitely younger than Finn. Right now that was making him feel just a little more centered, and that may have been why he said "I do want you to stay up with me."

Finn's hands were freezing. All of him was cold, actually. It woke her up pretty good by the time they got to the loft, where the piles of clothes were cleared away and the bed was made. "We can get a blanket around us, and I found a flashlight." She liked the idea of having just the flashlight. It made the world smaller if you didn't think of the dark beyond it. That would be easy there in his place with him, and for a little while the whole world could be just the two of them wrapped in a warm blanket.

Finn nodded, turning on the flashlight, and flicking out the lights in the loft. He was starting to feel a little safer, though still very cold and very shaken. He carefully wrapped the blanket around both of them, and sighed. Tonight had been a hard night. But the little light between the two of them felt like a little pool of safety. "This is nice."

Laura wrapped herself around him under the blanket, first rubbing the icy skin she could get to, and then tugging at his clothing, getting rid of as much as he'd allow. It would be easier to warm him with her body heat if there weren't so many layers for it to get through. Actually... if there were no layers for it to get through would be best. She just kept going until he resisted, and then tangled her warm self around him... arms and legs.

When she spoke, it was very quiet. "I like it because you can't see anything past the light." Like a little kid who covers her eyes so you can't see her.

Warmth. It was so nice. Laura had gotten down past his undershirt, as Finn wasn't terribly modest when it came to clothing. He only protested when she got to his underpants. He didn't feel like being completely naked. There was something far too vulnerable about that. He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating solely on the feeling of her heat moving into his skin.

He smiled when Laura talked, opening his eyes. "It's an island of light. If you leave the light, you might get lost at sea, but here you are perfectly safe." He wrapped his tattoo covered arms around her, giving her a squeeze. He felt like a little kid in a fort.

Island of light and arms around her. Laura folded into Finn's body, resting her head against his shoulder, with her breath hot at the base of his throat. "Safe because there's nothing else. Just this." It was something she'd done all her life. Any time it all got to be too much, there was always this, and she could pretend, just for a while, that none of that other stuff was real. She rubbed his back, his shoulder, the side of his face. It was making her shiver just a little because he was so cold, but soon they would both be warm.

Finn started playing with her hair, running it through his fingers and twisting it around gently. He loved hair, especially when it was on a woman. He often attempted to braid it, but that didn't always work out as well. "Safe because the monsters know not to come here. They know what will happen to them." Old Finn, happy Finn, was coming back. He was the Finn who went into the Tunnels without a second thought.

Laura smiled, closing her eyes as he ran his fingers through her hair. She loved that, and tilted her head into it. "Mmm. It's our world. No monsters allowed." She'd felt so lost and afraid lately. It was hard being afraid all the time. Everything was too big and there were monsters everywhere and no one to help her fight them, but here in the little bit of light with arms around her, everything was alright.

"I eat monsters for dinner." Finn said with a devilish grin. He started chewing playfully on her shoulder. "Nope, not a monster... But still very delicious." He wrapped his arms around her again, still pretend chewing.

She giggled and squirmed a little at the chewing, then nibbled at his neck. "Not a monster, but I bite back." As he put his arms around her again, still chewing, the giggling stopped, and the nibbles slowed. Laura fought to keep from giving into that, remembering what happened with Dodge the day before. It made her worry a little, and then she had to fight the urge to really bite him.

"Oh really?" He said laughing. Then he stopped, suddenly, giving a faux spooked look into the darkness. "Did you hear that?" He whispered into her ear. "I think we woke up the monsters." He wanted to get her giggling again, and when she started getting quiet he knew that he needed a change of tactics. He gripped her tightly. "I hope I don't need to fight them... it could get ugly."

Laura shivered, and gave a little nervous giggle. "They'll stay out there in the dark if they know what's good for them." She poked him in the ribs with a finger and nipped at his ear. For the first time Laura wondered about Finn and didn't feel entirely secure with him. She didn't know what to do next.

"I think we scared them off..." He said as she nipped his ear. "Oh, you're trying to eat me now, are you? Two can play at that game." He started chewing on her neck again, starting out playfully, but after a bit he nibbled more gently. He was finally feeling really safe in this place, this apartment, this little pool of light, and now he was starting to see Laura a little better. He was rubbing her arms now, trying to warm her up a bit.

Finn was rewarded with squeals and giggles as he attacked Laura's neck. She scrunched up and squirmed, but then, when the nibbles slowed, she relaxed in his grasp, and lifted her chin. She had never really stopped touching and rubbing his arms, back and chest... whatever part of him had been closest during their little chewing match. She made a soft little noise that definitely wasn't a giggle. Laura hated being unsure, and in this sort of situation, she usually wasn't. With all that had happened the last few days, it was hard to be sure about anything, though, and she didn't want to let go, only to have him pull away.

Finn had been unsure of what he wanted the last few hours, but now, finally, he was very sure. He was very gently nibbling now, nearly kissing her bare neck, though not quite. One of his hands was tangled into her hair, playing with it again, while the fingers of his other hand tickled softly up her side. Finn was so comfortable, and once again, in his element, and the sound Laura made happened to be just the sound he wanted to hear.

His hand tugging at her hair pulled her head further back and erased all doubt from her mind. He would hear plenty more of that noise as she lost herself in the moment.

As Finn didn't seem to be meeting any resistance, he started really kissing her neck. He slipped his fingers under the shirt she was wearing, and slowly lifted it over her head. He began to run his fingers along her skin, his nails just barely touching her skin. He saw her scars, but didn't slow down. Instead he looked at them with fascination, running his fingers past them gently. He could see her scars, which was a relief in a world where most people's scars were hidden, and much deeper. He started kissing up her neck.

There were scars that went much deeper than the skin, of course, but right at that moment, Laura was watching his reaction to the ones that showed, through half open eyes. The marks that worried her most were those that were temporary. The bite marks Mutt had put all over her shoulders several nights before were faded now almost to nothing. Just sickly yellowish brown sets of arches. Men often didn't like seeing any sort of evidence that they weren't the first. Especially if they weren't the first that week. The other things, the long healed cigarette burns on her back, and the neat sets of cuts on her arms, in various stages of healing and layered over evidence of several years of those same neat sets... most people either ignored those or recoiled in disgust. Finn's acknowledgment of them with his gentle touch made her sigh softly, and then there was only touch, and movement, breathing, heartbeats, sweat... In the little pool of light there was no world beyond the darkness, no monsters, no time. Only now. Only the next breath and the next kiss and the next touch.