"Kind of already answered the question there, huh." He rubs his arm, not looking upset exactly. Overwhelmed is a better word for it.
"Guess I'm not surprised." And he isn't, oddly. Even if he hasn't admitted it out loud to himself, even if he hasn't let himself dwell on it, the evidence all lines up. "I just didn't- most people here still treat me like a kid." But Harry never has.
"No!" Because Harry thinking that of him would hurt. He's not quite sure when he started holding the man's opinion so highly. "Not for a long time." He half raised himself, after all. And he's-
-actually, he's turning nineteen soon. So fuck the rest of them.
"I've got... pretty much no idea what I'm doing, though. With this stuff."
"See now, when a young man says something like that, it says to me
that he's got a reason to be interested in learning. And I've been clear
enough about my feelings, Pietro, but yours - yours, I'm still feeling out."
His smile fades.
"I don't want to do or say anything you won't like, understand?"
Pietro's still feeling out his own feelings. Harry confuses him. He doesn't have breaches to fall back on, to explain the chemistry brewing between them, the way he does with certain other crushes. And Harry doesn't demand like Lourdes did, who made it impossible to want anything but what she wanted.
"I didn't think you would. And I-" He remembers the mistletoe kiss and blushes brighter. "I've thought about it. Us." He finally admits. "I just- I always manage to make an idiot of myself over these things."
"I don't mind that," Harry says, and his hard features soften. He can't
really manage gentleness or warmth in the way some people can, genuinely
nurturing types, but he telegraphs it well enough.
"I'd be flattered. Honoured, in fact. If you decided to make an idiot of
yourself with me."
He runs his hand through his hair, grimacing at a streak of soot on his uniform. Damn it's tempting. He wants to forget everything going on outside anyway, would it be so bad?
But.
"I... not right now. There's still people I haven't- I've got to make sure they're okay."
He squeezes back, flushing again. He can't tell if it's easier or harder to sort out his feelings when he doesn't have to figure out what's a hangover from another life.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2016-02-05 06:53 pm (UTC)"Could tell a little fib, if you don't want to hear it."
no subject
Date: 2016-02-05 09:18 pm (UTC)"Guess I'm not surprised." And he isn't, oddly. Even if he hasn't admitted it out loud to himself, even if he hasn't let himself dwell on it, the evidence all lines up. "I just didn't- most people here still treat me like a kid." But Harry never has.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-05 09:41 pm (UTC)"Maybe most people think you are one. But you ain't a kid," Harry says, examining him. "Are you?"
no subject
Date: 2016-02-05 09:53 pm (UTC)-actually, he's turning nineteen soon. So fuck the rest of them.
"I've got... pretty much no idea what I'm doing, though. With this stuff."
no subject
Date: 2016-02-05 09:57 pm (UTC)"'This stuff.'"
Harry half-smiles, cocks his head.
"See now, when a young man says something like that, it says to me that he's got a reason to be interested in learning. And I've been clear enough about my feelings, Pietro, but yours - yours, I'm still feeling out."
His smile fades.
"I don't want to do or say anything you won't like, understand?"
no subject
Date: 2016-02-05 10:09 pm (UTC)"I didn't think you would. And I-" He remembers the mistletoe kiss and blushes brighter. "I've thought about it. Us." He finally admits. "I just- I always manage to make an idiot of myself over these things."
no subject
Date: 2016-02-05 10:12 pm (UTC)"I don't mind that," Harry says, and his hard features soften. He can't really manage gentleness or warmth in the way some people can, genuinely nurturing types, but he telegraphs it well enough.
"I'd be flattered. Honoured, in fact. If you decided to make an idiot of yourself with me."
no subject
Date: 2016-02-05 10:26 pm (UTC)But.
"I... not right now. There's still people I haven't- I've got to make sure they're okay."
That he hasn't killed anyone.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-05 10:29 pm (UTC)"Yeah. 'Course. You got loose ends, I respect that. Only an amateur leaves a job half done."
He kisses Pietro's temple.
"When you're ready."
no subject
Date: 2016-02-06 09:54 am (UTC)He puts a hand on Harry's, just for a moment.
"Uh. Thanks for... for the talk. I should go look for Mickey, and some other people."
He's glad, for once, that Anya's still unconscious. She didn't have to be involved.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-06 09:56 am (UTC)"Course you have. Come back here when you need a bolthole, alright?"
He squeezes Pietro's fingers.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-06 05:57 pm (UTC)He squeezes back, flushing again. He can't tell if it's easier or harder to sort out his feelings when he doesn't have to figure out what's a hangover from another life.
"We'll, uh. Talk soon, okay?"
no subject
Date: 2016-02-06 06:04 pm (UTC)"Talk soon."
Unusual, this, playing a long game. But there's a novelty to it that'll keep him coming back to it.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-06 07:46 pm (UTC)