Paintball (Open)

[Jory Addison]

Jory's eyes dropped again and he chose to ignore the feeling he got from Lyric's words. He knew that Lyric had been dealing before, Ariel had told him and Quinn. "No," he said. No one was asking about Lyric, except him. "I just missed you, I was worried, especially when you didn't write me back." It hadn't even occurred to him that Lyric might not even have gotten his owls in the first place.

[Trent Frey]

That gave Lyric pause. His gaze dropped, then moved out into what he could see of the area they were in. "They held my mail," he said, since Jory apparently hadn't known. "I only got this one today." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the battered and hastily-folded note. He looked down at it, debating opening it to read again, then closed his hand around it. "Anyway, I'm here," he said.

[Jory Addison]

"Oh," Jory breathed, looking at the parchment. "I didn't know." Should he have known? Probably, it was probably one of those things that was common knowledge. "I wanted to try going to see you again," he said, finally looking up. The opportunity had never come up, though. "How have you been?" If he had been doing really bad, surely they would have heard something, right? But they hadn't heard anything.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric shook his head at the question. "F~ing awesome," he said. He'd narrowly escaped getting jumped by one of the human waste that begged him for freebies, slept on a hard wood floor, and willingly submitted to being touched for hours by someone whose name he could hardly remember. Then he'd run into Jory.

[Jory Addison]

"I'm sorry," Jory said, dropping his eyes. He wanted Lyric to be happy, but there wasn't much he could do. "Are you any better than you were before you left?" This wasn't going anywhere at all! He hadn't expected Lyric to be like this after everything that had happened. It was hard to imagine that Lyric would still be doing his old job and be like this.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric was saved the need to reply by the sudden whiz of a paintball past his shoulder. Reflex had him whipping around, long hair following in a trail as his wand arm rose. Another paintball flew past even as he cast the spell, shooting back. It felt so good to have a wand in his hand again, no matter the circumstance, and his return volley was backed with a rush of adrenaline.

[Jory Addison]

Jory's eyes widened as the paintball just missed his head, and he ducked to the side behind a barrier. He was beginning to wonder if this could have been a mistake, he definitely wasn't up to par with the other people that were playing. At least it was fun, though. "It's so cool that they have this," he said as he shot a ball back in retaliation.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric heard, but his concentration was fixed and it took a moment for the words to sink in. Then he nodded briefly, sent one last shot, and backed toward the barrier. "There's a whole group, we should get out of..." He turned, already moving as he did so, and was stopped from his retreat by the solid press of Jory's body as he ran into him. He pulled a sharp gasp, and his arms wrapped reflexively around Jory, holding tightly in an attempt to keep from toppling.

[Jory Addison]

Jory took a sharp breath and his eyes widened in shock even as his hands moved to rest against Lyric's arms. He froze and looked up at Lyric, so many thoughts running through his mind that it was hard to tell one from the other. He was with Jamie, but this wasn't anything, it was an accident. It felt good, but he didn't want to be with Lyric anymore. Right? Away from him it was easy to say that....being wrapped in his arms put a totally different spin on things. His cheeks flushed and a small smile came to his lips.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric's breath caught, and somehow he didn't feel the desperate need to let go and back away. His eyes were locked onto Jory's vibrant blue, a color he'd been hooked on since that first day at MI. And Jory was smiling. It meant something entirely different to him in this context. There was actual closeness here, he couldn't deny it, and so no part of him could tell him that it was forced, or Jory just being polite. For a moment, his guard slipped. The Lyric he'd been showed in his eyes, and for a moment, his lips curved into a hesitant smile.

[Jory Addison]

Jory wasn't expecting this, wasn't expecting a change in Lyric's eyes or a smile. His own widened in response as Jamie slipped his mind just for a few moments. He wasn't going to do anything, but no matter how short a time this was, it was nice to be comfortable with Lyric again. It dragged him back months to their first kiss and made him think that maybe, maybe Lyric was doing better.

[Trent Frey]

That time with Mano had done more for Lyric than he recognized. Getting used to touch was something he never would have imagined, or even guessed that he'd want. That had been a price he'd paid for everything else he'd gotten. But it had helped. And the fact that it was Jory in his arms helped all the more. It was surreal holding him when he couldn't remember ever having held him before, and being smiled at, when it had been so long. His heart was beating hard from the contact, it was still difficult, but it wasn't killing him. He was holding Jory. And for now paintball had been forgotten as his lashes dropped and he lowered his head for an impulsive kiss.

[Jory Addison]

Jory shouldn't, he really shouldn't, but no matter how he had grown away from his old crush on Lyric, Lyric was still his first and he still held feelings for him, even if he had moved them to wanting a friendship. He accepted the kiss, tilting his head to meet Lyric's lips, eyes closing. This wasn't something he should have let himself do, but it was Lyric.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric's brows drew together, the feel of kissing Jory bringing back an intense rush of memories from a time when he'd almost liked himself. His heart was thudding so hard he could hear it as his lips parted softly, asking with a soft motion of his tongue and the edge of his piercing. This was so completely worth the contact.

[Jory Addison]

Jory brought a hand up to curve around the back of Lyric's neck as he accepted the deepening of the kiss. He was so bad at denying himself when the opportunity was given to him. But this was something he had wanted so long, he had wanted to be touched by, and to touch, Lyric and it couldn't be all bad to let himself take a little. It was just a kiss.