Thinking

Thinking

Posted: July 13, 2007
Title: Thinking
Author: Decadence and Sileya
Fandom: Real Person Fiction
Type: RPS
Characters: Craig/Karl
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: We don’t know them, and we don’t claim to. We just like their faces and names.
Beta: sileya
Author's Notes: Just a wee ficlet .

Summary: “Are you homesick?”

*****

“Hey, Craig?”

Glancing up from the screen, the soft glow of the laptop lit Craig’s features in the dimming light. “Yeah?”

Karl stood in the doorway between the two hotel rooms. “Do you ever miss home?”

“Miss home?” Craig tilted his head, his brows gathering together as he contemplated the question. “I guess. But even home’s not like it used to be.” Closing his laptop, he laid it aside on the ottoman of the chair he was occupying. “Homesick?”

Shrugging, Karl glanced to the window - Craig had the drapes wide open and there was the city laid out, lights as far as the eye could see. “Maybe. Some. Tired of it being light all the time. Hate not being able to see the stars. Everything’s so dirty and brown and built up.” He crossed his arms, hugging himself. “Makes me appreciate home even more.”

“Why don’t you take a break? Go home and visit and sleep out beneath the stars?” Craig suggested, rising from the comfort of the over-stuffed chair. “Nobody will question you if you go. You’ve been working hard...non-stop even. You deserve a break.”

“Isn’t that what they say in the theatre? Break a leg?” Karl smiled a little. But he avoided the suggestion.

“Please...no broken bones required if you need some time off,” Craig huffed a laugh, stepping to the mini-bar and pouring a drink before passing it to the cagey Kiwi.

“I did the broken bones. Cracked, anyway. Five of ‘em,” Karl said drolly, accepting the drink and shifting to lean back against the other side of the door frame. “My knee still gives me fits.”

Making a drink of his own, Craig downed it in one swig before setting the glass aside. Crossing his arms over his chest, he studied Karl’s face. “Don’t think I don’t notice that you’re avoiding my question.”

Karl’s lips twitched into and out of a grin. “I know,” he murmured, sipping from his glass. “And I’m considering it.”

In the dim light of the room, the liquid in Karl’s glass matched the luminosity of his eyes. The man had amazing eyes. Most of the time they were a deep green, but tonight they looked amber. Craig swallowed in time to the movement of Karl’s Adam’s apple as he swallowed his drink. Turning his attention to the window, Craig forced his focus to the skyline beyond Karl’s reflection. “Well - at least you haven’t denied the possibility with no consideration at all, in typical Karl fashion.”

“Typical Karl fashion? I have a fashion?” Karl asked after snorting.

“Act first, think later?” Craig suggested, reaching out to test the texture of the sheer drapes that billowed gently in the forced air blowing from the vents in the ceiling.

Karl broke into an honest grin. “I resemble that remark,” he drawled.

“Mmmm,” Craig hummed, turning his back to the reflective glass lest Karl read something in his reflection that he didn’t intend to make public.

Sobering, Karl watched him from across the room. “I’m learning to think first,” he finally murmured.

“It has a brain!” Craig joked, taking a few steps toward the center of the room. “Will wonders never cease?”

Karl winced a little, dropping his eyes instead of going along with the joke. He lowered his hands to rest the glass on his thigh, the other moving to grasp the other side of the door frame.

Craig frowned at the look that crossed Karl’s face. Stepping close, he hooked a finger beneath Karl’s chin, nudging it gently upward. “Hey. It was just a joke.”

Lifting his eyes slowly, Karl studied Craig’s face. “I do think, sometimes,” he said quietly.

“I know,” Craig sighed, his own eyes sad as Karl’s gaze met his, “I didn’t mean to imply...I’m sorry.” His finger lingered a moment longer before he let his hand fall to his side once more.

Tilting his head to one side, Karl held the eye contact as he reached out and took Craig’s hand in his, sliding their fingers together until they formed an unbreakable fist.

Craig was sure that his face reflected his confusion, but nevertheless, his fingers tightened around Karl’s.

Karl slowly leaned forward and brushed his lips against Craig’s forehead before turning his chin and resting the hollow of his cheek there.

Craig’s eyes closed at the gentle caress of lips, remaining closed against Karl’s jaw line. He sighed, glad for the anonymity of having his eyes closed.

After what seemed like hours but was bare moments, not even a minute, and Karl stirred with a soft sigh. “I’m homesick,” he whispered.

“Call your agent tomorrow,” Craig whispered, unwilling to break the companionable yet desired touching of their bodies. “Tell her you’re going home.”

A shiver coasted through Karl’s body, and he squeezed Craig’s hand. “Will you come with me?”

Craig shrugged slightly, the action bumping his forehead gently against Karl’s cheek. “Sure.”

*****

THE END

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