JUDE.

^{Defense curls tongue but saying anything is, ironically, thought better of. Instead, he sinks toward the floor once he’s recovered from the shove to creep close to Elliot’s hunched form, crouching beside him and picking up the few pieces of glass that are a glimmer against the flooring. Keen eyes can see see where they’ve landed after projected from frame’s hold by the impact. He may have been ordered to leave, but he can’t find it in himself to obey as he should.}

^{Ears pressed to skull and expression far more easier to read, Jude’s exterior is not as hard as Elliot’s; seldom is it. He talks too fast and too much, lacks tact and pricks nerves, but there is an animal element of raw honesty to him in the presence of should – be threat and contender. So his ongoing apology is scrawled heavy all across his face, in the clench of jaw and the deep drip of pale brows while he wordlessly assists in cleaning up some of the mess he’s caused.}

^{That should be that, but he can’t help but stare at the low – top trashcan and think of the contents tossed inside. Was Elliot going to trash it, just like that? Was it to assuage his ego, to rebuke the sentimentality that had him hold onto such an old photo in the first place? He can’t wrap his head around the why, but cur puts himself at risk of even more violence to dig through glass and retrieve discarded image, slipping it from its velvet backing and thumbing over the tears that now mar the family photo. There are cuts through the center, but beneath one outstretched white rip there are still the sullen, intact eyes of a younger Elliot looking out.}

^{“ Elliot… I don’t want to go. I know you’re pissed, but I don’t want to leave you by yourself to ride it out alone. “ It’s a surprise to himself that voice doesn’t waver, but there is a pleading quality to its acquired softness. There’s a likely chance that the other man won’t ever let him come around again if he leaves him alone now to whatever upset he’s caused: it has to be worse beneath the surface of cool facade. “ And you should keep this… it’s not completely ruined. “ Jude rises to stand, backing up to give Elliot the space to do the same. “ It’s old but you’ve kept it all this time. “ So it obviously means something to you.}

_{———AS OLD AS HE WAS, THINGS FROZEN IN TIME DID NOT MATURE. there were parts unknown to most that he could not bear to show. long sleeves over branded skin and gloves worn to hide marks that never faded, he still looked like he did the day he died. there was weakness in his curse, weakness in everything he was up until now. destroying all traces of his shortcomings had only reminded him they existed.}

there was nothing he could do in that moment to prevent himself from shaking. embarrassment mixed with pain, creating the needed ingredients for the perfect storm. was there meaning in this? an ugly emotion that threatened to overflow? mockery had been his initial catalyst, but now it spilled into something closer to pity. pity, he despised more than anything. pity, he would not accept from anyone, most especially jude.

it fell apart like a tower of bricks. hunched over, the man lifted to escape before it all came down on top of him, only to stumble, to grab and steady, to hold jude there with his head hung low. the tremors in his hands hadn’t stopped, and now jude was able to feel them for himself as elliot gripped him by the arms. he lifted his head, face red and dangerously close to tears. mouth open like he intended to speak, the man wet his lips once before the tension broke and the tears began to roll down his face.

❝ fuck. ❞
he said once.

❝ fuck. ❞
he repeated, finally pushing jude aside. it was laughable, really, how much energy he wasted on the other. how his patience had managed a small miracle, not tearing the other apart, but instead swallowing his pride like the bitter pill it was. he let jude get him to the point of tears and he let him have it.

JUDE.

^{“ You’re here to be a little more Glinda than Elphaba for once in your life and save me from myself. “ He’s only even seen the original Wizard or Oz and none of the Wicked stageplay, so don’t even start on him about his analogy—— movements are lethargic, Jude’s typical energy slashed in half by his growing discomforts. Protectively, subconsciously, palm rests low on navel ( where heat pulses and flares ) while following after companion. Eyes slip down Elliot’s form of their own accord, noting the set of his shoulders, slope of his spine, and the shape of his ass with a new, rut – induced appreciation. He doesn’t immediately catch himself, but when thoughts make an abrupt, lewd to just what the warlock may look like without any of his clothes on}

— that’s when Jude starts with a flinch, face’s reddened hue deepening.

^{In retrospect, maybe calling over a ‘friend’ to keep him from mounting total strangers in a public washroom was an even more terrible idea on his part. Judgement and horror directed at him from people he didn’t know is a bit more bearable than having it directed at him by people he does. “ I won’t hang out long. I… have to back in a couple hours to pick up my bike that’s next door. “}

_{———IT WASN’T THAT HE COULDN’T TELL THE MAN WAS LOOKING AT HIM. he could certainly tell. street by street, he tried to ignore the gaze the other seemed to be driving into him from behind, as difficult as that was. this was not the gaze of a hunter and prey, nor the unsavory glare he was used to with others in similar professions. he sensed there was something more to the man’s supposed fever, more than jude would care to admit.}

_{❝ i could come back with your keys and park it in my garage. you don’t seem so good on your feet, i don’t really trust you to drive it properly. ❞
he kept his bike here in germany, not wanting to overcrowd it in busy new york streets where the best form of transportation was the subway. entering the station from the stairway down, he waved the man over to the platform as the train pulled up. trips like these were short and often on time. the flat he’d bought in berlin charted at around thirteen hundred euros a month, a price for the easy access to the train and u-bahn.}

❝ i’m sure you’ll be thrilled to see my cat. ❞

” Spread your legs so I can watch my cum drip out of you. ” Psyche, he has every intention of sticking his head between your thighs.

_{———THERE WERE POINTS AND THRESHOLDS WHERE ONE NEEDED TO CONSIDER HIS DEFEAT. points in which strong men, kaufman in particular, came to with the outlook that they would not be broken. he’d done so, foolishly, wholeheartedly, and with the kind of desire to settle a long ignored infatuation with the man behind him. he needed to know.}

_{face pressed into pillow, he angled his gaze back towards his partner. well fucked, he couldn’t help his hazy expression at the command. bruised hips shifted as thighs widened to show off jude’s handiwork. even before the curse, the hormones, the things that even proceeded them, he’d been… empty. barren. it mattered little to him as things were. still, the idea of being bred by jude’s cock aroused him enough to even consider it.}

he reached a hand back, fingers spreading his ass and lips to show off the white filling inside of him. a dazed smirk.

❝ what… got any left in you? ❞

_{EXTREMELY NAUGHTY STARTERS | accepting!}

” Daddy. “

_{———❝ WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST FUCKING SAY ABOUT ME, you little bitch? i’ll have you know i graduated top of my class in the navy seals, and i’ve been involved in numerous secret raids on al-quaeda, and i have over 300 confirmed kills. i am trained in gorilla warfare and i’m the top sniper in the entire us armed forces. you are nothing to me but just another target. i will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this earth, mark my fucking words. you think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the internet? think again, fucker. as we speak i am contacting my secret network of spies across the usa and your ip is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. the storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. you’re fucking dead, kid. i can be anywhere, anytime, and i can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that’s just with my bare hands. not only am i extensively trained in unarmed combat, but i have access to the entire arsenal of the united states marine corps and i will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. if only you could have known what unholy retribution your little “clever” comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. but you couldn’t, you didn’t, and now you’re paying the price, you goddamn idiot. i will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. you’re fucking dead, kiddo. ❞}

Cuddles the best cat while half-naked and drunk on too much craptastic wine.

_{———THERE WAS SOMETHING ALMOST CHARMING ABOUT THIS ALL. though it was true that jude was not exactly a dog, nor emilie a cat, their bond seemed less than cliche with each passing break-in. she enjoyed the time spent with the large trespassing mutt, acting as a cat proving easy, as she was no more human than she was animal. still, there were times when she nearly broke character, times like these when jude was vulnerable and unaware.}

_{❝ pour me a glass, will you? ❞}

JUDE.

^{“ When’s someone going to be the Mario to my Princess Peach? I’m ready for a lil’ role reversal in my life. “}

_{———❝ I’M INCREDIBLY SORRY. this mario is only in it to fuck bowser. ❞}

” Give me. The princess. ” You know who he wants.

_{———Emilie slowly climbs up Jude’s leg, already seeking the good pets.}

_JUDE.

_{He’d let himself in, thinking nothing of it — thinking Elliot home, so it wouldn’t matter if he came in unannounced or not. But there’s no answer to his sing – song calls of ‘ Ellie? Elliot? Elliiiiot? ‘ There’s no sound, either: not the rush of water, music, or voices come from a TV station.}

_{Jude’s child – like hope of being able to bug the other man is dashed. Frowning, eyes skim over the living room, stopping when they come upon the apartment’s other occupant: angular, coat soft and white, he traipses over looking to get the pretty kitty to let him pet her. This is enough of a distraction for a while, but not forever: minutes aggressively tick by and he’s not the most patient person or creature in the world. He may have a tendency of being obsessive, but that’s not working out in Elliot’s favor today, when Jude disengages from his furry princess to explore the apartment.}

_{Furniture is draped across. The floor rolled around on. Eventually, he’s up on his feet, poking his nose in cabinets and drawers, looking at the contents but not daring lift a hand to push them about and discover what might be hidden behind or beneath what he gets at face value. He doesn’t want to upset anything from its place.}

_{In hindsight, he can understand this as going too far, but when he extends his hand to a door that he doesn’t think will actually open with a twist of its know. “ Huh… “ It’s not only cats that can end up victims of their own curiosity: he’s instantly enthralled by the contents of this room he’s found, and how different it is from the rest of the apartment. It’s got — substance, to it. Personality. Memories, Jude discerns, eyes dragging over photos and fingers over the spines of tomes in their organized lines along their many shelves.}

_{Despite how good he’s been about leaving everything in its rightful place thus far, hound picks up one framed family photograph on impulse — a soft ache taking deeper root in his chest the longer he stares at the melancholic portrait, detailing each face until attention befalls the one belonging to a little girl. A miserable little girl.}

_{He knows who it is.}

_{But it’s neither realization, or shock: just confirmation of what he’s already known.}

_{What does come as a shock is the unregistered appearance and chilling tone from behind him. Taken off guard, Jude jolts and fumbles, the picture sliding through hands usually more deft than what they are in this moment… it hits desk’s edge with a soul – splitting CRACK! before continuing onto the floor.}

_{No, no, no… “ Fuc— “ As much as he wants to apologize, he doesn’t get a chance. Not one to so much as respond to his mishap before he’s being manhandled. “ Elliot, Elliot— I’m sorry, listen— “ He’s stronger. This is a fact. Bodily, cur could overtake the other man with ease if he weren’t so inclined to yield to his punishment. He knows he’s done wrong and worse by touching — by BREAKING — an heirloom he had no business knowing existed in the first place.}

_{Heart’s pace has quickened, as he’s not quite a fan of letting anyone loom over him when they’re inexplicably pissed off. Fists are curled into tight balls and tucked against the opposite side of their respective arm so to not start swinging; Adam’s apple shows with a nervous swallow that clears his throat of unvoiced sorry’s and excuses that won’t do him any good in making Elliot less upset with him. “ …I-I’m not opposed to it. “ The joke makes a jittery escape, though Jude’s got wits enough to wince at his stupid blip. It’s not bound to to go over too well when the atmosphere is this tense.}

_{“ I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… well, I meant to come in here, but I didn’t mean to— “ get caught? You fucking asshole— “ I didn’t mean to drop it. “}

_{———❝ Shut up. ❞|
You could see it, on his face, in his movements. A stiff paralysis continued at odds with his urgent desire to lash out. At once, he was holding back another part of him, that other half wanting nothing more than to burn all proof of his weakness. This was his face, more than genuine, more than real. He’d throw every part of his identity away if it meant no one had to see it for themself.}

_{Tossing Jude back with a strength unlike any in his reserves, the man gripped his fist until joints cracked. He knew better than this, the risk of divulging his abilities to another agent monumental, considering what this was. He’d never kill Jude, not like this, not right here. Were this real, he’d have no hesitation.}

_{❝ Do you ever just… Stop and think before you speak? ❞}

_{Tremors in the fist. Hard as diamond, the man’s exoskeleton had become brittle under the force of his emotions. He bent down, face obscured as he gripped a large shard of glass from the shattered frame. Blood collected at his palm, trickling down the wrist, and dripping onto the hardwood floor. He would clean this up. He would fix this mess.}

_{Gathering the rest of the frame together, the man tossed the bloodied mess into the trash. The man’s stubborn nature prevented him from making this any better than it could have been. His palm had already stopped bleeding, skin as pristine as the day he was reborn. To him, it was almost as if his body could not bring itself to mourn the loss. It would just keep fixing itself.}

_{❝ Accidents happen. Get over it, and get out. ❞
He hadn’t once looked the man in the eye.}

JUDE.

^{“ I’m going to die. Why does it have to be so warm already? “ Spring has eased into summer, bringing with it heat both welcome and unwelcome. It’s not the weather or it’s attributed temperature that causes Jude to sweat and fuss, hand plucking at the collar of his shirt and undoing the first several buttons of it to give him more air. It’s the swelter at the core of him that causes discomfort as it throbs, fissures in his resolve overtaken by the pulse and rush of liquid heat that’ll do the same to his self – respect and senses if he has to wait around at this pub any longer for the mechanic next door to finish diagnosing whats wrong with the engine of his bike.}

_{———❝ I don’t exactly know why you called me over, but since it’s close, I don’t mind you camping out in my air conditioned living room. ❞
The man finished his chilled beer, noting the differences in Jude’s (mood as he complained about some kind of heat. Personally, Elliot found it to be somewhat manageable next to the fan, warm air circulating rather than remaining stagnant and heavy. Leaving a tip next to the empty bottle, the man pat Jude on the back and started crossing to the door.}

❝ Think you’ll make it two blocks to the U-bahn? ❞

_{———❝ You shouldn’t be here. ❞
It was said with a silent fury. You could see it in his eyes, his cold exterior crumbling with each second frozen in the doorway. No weapon in hand, no mask overhead, he stood there knowing what exactly he was capable of.}

He couldn’t stand to look the man in the eye. One miscalculation, the man too comfortable in his high tower to lock one fucking door. This was his fault, a fault which lead him not to set the mutt on fire where he stood. His study was the one room in the apartment that didn’t have the same emptiness as the rest; books and albums lined the shelves, old pictures of friends and family peering back at you, while several seemed to depict one blond child amongst an estranged family. She looked unhappy.

Feet quickly approaching the intruder, Elliot reached to grab him by the collar and push him down. The attempt at roughness seemed uncharacteristic of his usual attitude; the man often ignored the unwelcome guest or went along with his antics. Something had struck a chord.

❝ You just fucking love to stick your nose up my ass, don’t you? ❞

_{@catastrophicur}