[FIN] Precautions

[TawnyAngel]

"Mmh, I suppose so," Zevran agreed vaguely as he cut off a piece of toast, speared it on his fork and then stared at it. Eventually he sighed, frowned a little, and brought it to his mouth; it did taste nice, he supposed, but chewing was a chore and his throat felt too tight to swallow it. He swallowed anyway and then took another sip of coffee, looked at Abel over the top of it. How many more times would he sit across from him like this? "Ah... Abel? What I said last night... I just wanted you to know that I still mean it." Time was precious, moments like this should not be passed up and words should not remain unsaid.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Normally breakfast was a lighthearted affair full of smiles, flirting and witty banter but not today; today there was tension, distraction and not the good kind... Not that he didn't know or understand why, since normally Zevran didn't have people out for his head. The thought still made his skin crawl, made a chasm form in the pit of his stomach, but he made an effort to set the feelings aside for now. The smile he offered Zev was somewhat tense but full of warmth and fondness, and he slid his free arm across the table to cover his boyfriend's hand with his own. "I'm glad. I still mean it too -- you mean.. so much to me."  

[TawnyAngel]

He was only too happy to put his knife down in order to take Abel's hand, the contact and the affection it expressed brought a smile to his lips even though the weight of dread still pressed down on his shoulders and squeezed at his chest and throat. "Well, you do to me as well so... I just repeated you, and myself, and I blame you for stealing my way with words. The fault is entirely yours and I shall never forgive you, I hope you know that." Zevran's slight smile quirked up a little more at one corner and he gave Abel's fingers another squeeze before releasing them. "Terrible man."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

What had been a tentative smile turned into a warmer one, and Abel chuckled a bit. "You're right, it's true; it's all my fault, I take full responsibility. I love stealing your way with words -- and I love you," he added, his warm smile persisting. "I am the most terrible."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran shook his head, still smiling just a little, and cut off another piece of French toast. "You are indeed, cariño." The gentle teasing was still good but his mind kept trying to drift away from it, back to the stolen messages on his phone's screen. How close were they to finding him? Did they think Callisto dead? Did they think him dead? It was too much to hope that they would assume she had done the job and chase after her back to Antiva to ensure she didn't get to take the credit.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Aahh, there was that nickname again. Abel ducked his head a bit and smiled a bright smile down at his plate. "I ah.. I like that one. It's nice," he said, shyness tinging his tones, much as he tried to hide it. As if doing so would counteract or erase his rather shy behavior, the taller blond busied himself with cutting off another bit of french toast because it was suddenly much more interesting and said, "This is delicious, thank you."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah-ha!" Zevran smiled a little more again and gestured at Abel with his fork. "And you think it adorable when I get flustered by being called a sweetheart? You are a black pot, my friend... and I shall have to use it more often." It felt good to say it, clearly Abel like to hear it so why not?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Zevran's abrupt exclamation and fork-jab caused Abel to jerk his head up a bit in mild surprise - really, he couldn't be but so surprised given they both loved to tease each other - and his smile promptly shifted to a grin. "Ah, you caught me, I admit it. And I'd like that," he said as he lifted his mug of coffee, then paused with it hovering just in front of his lips as he peered innocently over the rim at his boyfriend, "precious."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran tried to brazen out the endearment by holding eye contact with Abel and raising an eyebrow but he couldn't help the slight flush that rose to his cheeks and after a couple of moments he cracked, grinned, and looked down. "Precious is it?" he said softly, almost disbelievingly. "Very well, you win this round Abel."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ohh, how he loved to see him blush like that. For a moment he'd wondered if he'd power through it, but that obviously wasn't the case -- not even a little. "You're damn right I do, cupcake," he said with feeling - good feelings, and warm feelings, and fuzzy feelings - and a grin as he cut off another bit of french toast, speared it with his fork before popping it into his mouth. This was so nice, just... relaxing and flirting with Zevran. It was a very real possibility that they wouldn't be able to much longer, so he was more than happy to shamelessly snatch up any peaceful, fun moments like this where he could. He suspected his boyfriend rather enjoyed them too.

After a few seconds for those thoughts to pass through his head and for him to chew and swallow his food, his grin softened to a warm smile as he reached across the table to take Zevran's hand in his again as he murmured softly, "I love you."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Cupcake?" Zevran looked up again and gave a laugh that turned into a snort half way through. "Oh you just want to eat me up do you?" he asked with a sly wink. But then, disarmed again by Abel's softer words, he linked their fingers together and squeezed gently. "And I you, even when you call me ridiculous names. Sometimes especially when you call me ridiculous names."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Oh you already know I do," Abel countered with a sly wink of his own and a smirk to match. But then he smiled again and gave Zev's fingers a soft squeeze. "Is that so? Well, maybe I'll just have to call you even more ridiculous names then." He'd have to think of plenty more, for sure.

Breakfast passed in much the same manner, Abel doing his best to keep Zevran's spirits up as much as possible while trying to eat his food before it got too cold. A brief tour of the apartment - more specifically, where Abel kept his loaded firearms - followed, after which the taller blond fetched out a few handguns to clean because unfortunately they'd almost assuredly be needed at some point. With guns and various cleaning supplies scattered over his table's surface, he was reminded of a particular instance where Taavi happened to come home right then, so before he got his hands too dirty with solvents he pulled out his phone to send his best friend a brief courtesy text so he wouldn't be surprised to see them out like last time.  

[TawnyAngel]

Cleaning down the guns was soothing; it occupied his hands, gave him somewhere to focus his gaze, and offered some little reassurance to his mind. He was good. He had always been good. He would not die easily, not even to Taliesen and he had Abel on his side and pokemon too- a secret weapon as it were. "My comrades know little of pokemon, as little as I did when I arrived here," Zevran said without looking up from his work. "They will be to our advantage if it comes to a conflict... Hard to say if Taliesen will push for one out of sentimentality, to tell me that I am beaten, or if he will be more direct."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"That's good for us then," Abel replied as he eyed a large piece of his dismantled gun, deemed it not quite done yet and went back to cleaning it with a cloth. "Especially if they don't know a thing about Zoroark - Sonia's helped me through a lot, and she'll help us through this too. Right girl?" He asked, glancing over at Sonia as she sat on the floor nearby.

"Zor," the dark-type promptly replied in tones more eager than she normally used, her eyes bright and alert and demeanor determined as she flexed her sharp, lengthy claws. She had helped him through a lot, they had both been through a lot, and there would be more for them to go through still. They would get through this too, she would make sure of that even if it killed her.

Abel offered her a brief, fond smile before he focused on his work again. It felt nice and gave him some small measure of solace to feel as if they were well prepared for the inevitable. Zevran said 'if' but the taller blond couldn't help but feel it wasn't 'if' but 'when.' "I hope it doesn't come to a conflict, but at the very least we'll be prepared for one if it does happen. And I'll be by your side no matter what happens, you can be damn sure of that."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh, no," Zevran looked up with a wry smile and shrugged. "I meant if he chooses to approach and challenge me instead of biding his time for a clear shot from a distance. There will be a reckoning, it only remains to be seen how personal he wants to make it. Thank you though, if not for you..." Zevran shrugged again and looked back down at the pistol he was working on. "I would not be concerned about surviving, only perhaps about taking some of them with me. You have given me something to live for, made me want a future, made me... different. Happy." They were supposed to visit Abel's family in the summer, to have a date at New Years. He had to survive to do those things, and things beyond them.