"Hey-" He catches Jedao's face in both hands again. "-easy, slugger. We don't have to talk about it, if you're gonna start fingertrapping yourself. And I'm not gonna fight you 'cos you're upset about Neal being a nightmare right now. Okay?"
His hands coast down Jedao's jaw to his neck, resting his wrists on Jedao's collarbone. "He's got plenty of other people that can go worry about him. I already punched my ticket on this one. No shame in you needing to, too."
Jedao wants to bite something. Leather, or bone, something he can sink his teeth into and not let go. If he isn't letting people near him, then no the fuck he doesn't, he wants to snarl, but that's cruel and counterproductive.
"I just. Hate making things worse," he says finally. His eyes are closed against Eiffel's scrutiny, but he leans into the warm of his palms on Jedao's cheeks.
"Hey, if you wanna make things worse, help me find him when I know he's got grog on him," he comments with wry self-deprecation. "That'll go downhill so fast you'll hear the sonic boom."
His grip tightens on Jedao's face, just fractionally so he can lean up to kiss his forehead again, and follow that with a gentle one to his lips. "You tried. That's the most important part."
Jedao doesn't actually believe that. Trying matters, but results matter more. He does like being kissed, though, and he lets himself be comforted.
"I know it's not really about me," he says quietly. "I just...usually, I'm better at this, when I know to be careful." And feeling like he keeps getting it wrong also feels like he's in his first awful days again, clueless and manipulated, constantly saying the wrong thing, smiling the wrong way, making everyone flinch.
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His hands coast down Jedao's jaw to his neck, resting his wrists on Jedao's collarbone. "He's got plenty of other people that can go worry about him. I already punched my ticket on this one. No shame in you needing to, too."
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"I just. Hate making things worse," he says finally. His eyes are closed against Eiffel's scrutiny, but he leans into the warm of his palms on Jedao's cheeks.
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His grip tightens on Jedao's face, just fractionally so he can lean up to kiss his forehead again, and follow that with a gentle one to his lips. "You tried. That's the most important part."
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"I know it's not really about me," he says quietly. "I just...usually, I'm better at this, when I know to be careful." And feeling like he keeps getting it wrong also feels like he's in his first awful days again, clueless and manipulated, constantly saying the wrong thing, smiling the wrong way, making everyone flinch.