MHA #6, Wednesday Afternoon

[arboreal_priestess]

They hadn't gotten home until almost dawn yesterday morning, trying to plan for the Covenant and what they could do to keep Baltimore safe from them. And Verity, more dispirited than she was willing to let on, had just fallen facefirst into their--her bed the moment they'd gotten into the bedroom, barely taking the time to kick off her shoes and remove her holster.

Even now, it was afternoon and she was struggling against waking up. Liam was a warm presence beside her, offering comfort just by being there. What would she be doing now if she didn't have him, she wondered? Trying to bring people together all by herself? No one to hold her when it all got to be a bit too much? It was bad enough those rare nights he went back to his place and she didn't follow along; imagining not having him at all was...awful.

Without saying anything, she rolled over on her side and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his side.

[For the modded one, please!]

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[firstofitskind]

Liam, with his need for far less sleep than Verity, had been awake for some time.

Most days, he'd slip out of bed and go for a run, maybe pick up or make breakfast if he thought she might be awake by the time he returned. Sometimes, he'd return to bed after and just... doze, with her.

This morning, though, he hadn't been able to bring himself to leave at all. It wasn't until morning faded into afternoon that he felt Verity start to stir awake, and as she curled around him, he brought one hand up to stroke her hair gently.

[arboreal_priestess]

She didn't really have words for the maelstrom of emotions roiling through her. So she stayed uncharacteristically quiet, just holding onto him, like it was possible he was going to be taken away from her.

Verity didn't think she could handle that. Not now. Maybe not ever.

[firstofitskind]

'Uncharacteristic' was right, and so after a couple minutes of that silence, Liam managed a tentative: "Morning."

It had not been morning for a while now, but that wasn't the point.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity muttered something that could charitably be considering 'Morning' and pushed her face further against his side.

Not unlike a cat, actually.

[firstofitskind]

And Liam couldn't help the little huff of laughter that rumbled through him at that, because that was so typically Verity.

"Good morning sunshine," he said, his tone teasing. "Why do you rise so soon? You used to rise at twelve'o'clock, but today you rose at..." he glanced at his watch, discarded on the bedside table the night before- "two, actually."

[arboreal_priestess]

"We didn't get home till, like, six," Verity grumbled. "That's a perfectly reasonable amount of time to sleep for all non-aliens in this relationship."

[firstofitskind]

"Okay, okay, that's a valid point," Liam conceded. "You want some coffee?" Although that'd involve moving, and he was perfectly content to stay here for a bit. Pretend that everything was okay for just a little while longer.

[arboreal_priestess]

Instead of answering, Verity just clung to him a little harder, throwing a leg over him as well.

That was very co-dependent of you, Very.

[firstofitskind]

"That's a 'Not yet', hmm?" Liam checked, because the day Verity Price said no to coffee was the day to be really concerned.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Not yet," Verity sighed, though now that the thought was in her head, it was hard to get rid of. "I just...I was thinking about much harder this would be without you. How even dragging myself out of bed without you next to me would be, like, an impossible task."

[firstofitskind]

"I'm here," Liam said, continuing to card his fingers through her hair. "Whenever you want me to be." Which was more often than not, these days.

[arboreal_priestess]

"I was kinda thinking..." Verity said slowly, "...that I really don't want you to leave."

[firstofitskind]

"You made that pretty clear, yeah," Liam said, fingers of his other hand ghosting along the leg she'd draped over him.

Liam, she didn't just mean the bed.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity very nearly took it all back and smothered him with a pillow.

"No, I mean...not just the bed. The house. In general."

Wait no.

"Not like I'm going to Mrs. Rochester you!" she added quickly. "But what if...what if you just...stayed. Here. With me."

Verity, how were you so bad at this?

[firstofitskind]

Probably because she'd spent most of her life doing her best to keep her distance, rather than invite people in to her life?

"Oh," he said, voice going soft. "I think I would-I'd like that," he said, after a few beats of silence.

[arboreal_priestess]

Yeah, but you didn't have to say so, jeeze!

"You already have a key," she said quietly. "And a drawer. What if you just had...more? Your stuff could fit into the office."

[firstofitskind]

And truthfully, he didn't even have all that much stuff. Some clothes. A couple dozen books. A few other trinkets.

"Yeah," he nodded. "This place... it's been home for a while, I think," he admitted. No offense to the guys over in the House of Bachelors, but he hadn't been a bachelor in a long while.

[arboreal_priestess]

Well, he had some furniture. That they'd bought at Ikea together and therefore was too important to leave behind.

"Yeah," Verity said. "And...I like that. More than I thought I'd ever like sharing space with anyone."

Sure, it helped he wasn't about to sing hosannas at her in the morning or leave traps for her in the shower, but a lot of it was just liking Liam.

[firstofitskind]

That was true! Maybe some of it could even replace a few pieces of the furniture Verity's- their- apartment had come furnished with!

"Sharing with you feels right," Liam agreed. "Comfortable. You know?"

[arboreal_priestess]

She nodded. "You're in my space but you don't feel like an intrusion," she said. "You feel like you belong here."

[firstofitskind]

"I've lived places," Liam said. "But I never really had a home before."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Well, then, you willing to make a home with me?" Verity asked softly, giving him a hopeful smile.

[firstofitskind]

"There isn't anything else I'd like more," Liam replied, beaming back down at her.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity's relief was palpable. "Well, part of your share of the rent is gonna be paid in bringing me coffee, you know that, right?"

[firstofitskind]

"I think I can manage that," Liam mused. "Although yo do drink an awful lot of coffee."