If only Joe had met the Ronan that existed before Niall Lynch's murder. The Ronan that spent more time poking around town with Gansey than drinking his nights away, that sat cross-legged in the floor of the various barns on his childhood property and played with the baby kittens that the barn cats so frequently produced. That teased and snarked at his older brother instead of fighting him with fists and busting his lip. A Ronan that laughed a lot more.
That Ronan is still alive, but buried so deep beneath so much shit that he's likely never coming back. He just has to learn how to move forward instead. Until then, he's stuck. Though Joe is trying valiantly to get him unstuck.
Joe gets that look, and Ronan knows what it means immediately. Another idea. The kid is fucking full of them, always making lists so he won't forget. At least it's probably a better use of his time than, say, drinking himself to death. Though, maybe, not better than allowing their moment and letting Ronan make a move.
He turns his head when Joe pulls at it, staring at the laptop screen. Naturally, the first words out of his mouth are, "Oh, come on. This is the shitty version." Though, to be fair, Ronan will always prefer to have it read out loud than watch any retelling of it.
"Boom," Joe insists loudly. He is definitely going to keep booming until Ronan complies, unless Ronan explicitly says No, which is something that he does respect (in this particular universe). It cannot be all that surprising, however, that while Lynch is contemplating his fate, he is very speedy to move the laptop over onto the other boy's lap. He also scootches himself back on the bed, moves the pillows. Bumps into Ronan's biceps with his knees, amid his effort to rearrange themselves into proper movie-watching backrub configurations.
This is actually inadvisable sleep hygiene, in case the audience is wondering. If you're trying to wind down for the night, you should not be watching movies in bed, never mind with jumpy boys who swing haphazardly between the urge to touch your beautiful body and try Eastern philosophical techniques. That really isn't going to condition the appropriate responses to bed and bedtime.
But now Ronan has a Joe leg on either side of him for am armrest, and a forefinger wandering up the back of his neck. The clouds above the Disney castle glow at him expectantly from the screen. "You're really heavy," he says, squeezing Ronan with his thighs; somehow manages not to sound like he's complaining. "On a scale of zero to ten where ten is you could pass out right now, how tired are you."
Ronan does not, in fact, say no. But he does sigh heavily, roll his eyes, and make a note to find some better adaptions of Alice in Wonderland in the event something like this comes up again, just so he doesn't have to stare at Johnny Depp's face for two hours.
Not that he actually minds staring at Johnny Depp's face. He just prefers Captain Jack over the Mad Hatter.
He allows Joe to place the laptop in his lap, to rearrange the both of them into something more suitable for movie-watching-back-rubbing combos. It's not uncomfortable, despite how bony and angled Joe is, starkly opposite of Ronan's own lightly muscled frame.
"Everybody's really heavy compared to you," he says, settling back against Joe, frowning at the Disney opening on the screen. His arms rest lazily along the other's legs, fingers curling slightly around the underneath of his knees, thumbs brushing over bone through the fabric of his pants.
"I dunno, like--" He squints thoughtfully, his expression visible in the screen of the laptop when it dims to black briefly. "A four."
"That's pretty low," Joe says. He sounds more thoughtful about it than bothered, or possibly just distracted, his mind roaming further afield. In reality, the field is not all that far away. Although he tends to be a creature of numerous and slightly hyperactive ideas!! generation, Ronan has a way of keeping him here. Sometimes by simply needing help, that Joe is all too excited to trouble-shoot. Other times, you know. It's a lot more straightforward than that.
A hand on his leg, hooking underneath, broad fingers warming him through the denim. Maybe Joe should think about the logistics and fallout before he does things like, you know, offer to give a beautiful boy a backrub while they're in between his thighs. But logistics and fallout are really hard to think about when he's on the go.
The Disney castle glitters at them. The shooting star sparks over the steeple. Joe slides his fingers up the back of Ronan's neck slowly, thumbing around the subtle bump of vertebrates, trying to remember what he was thinking about. Umm. Sleepiness numbers. Yes-- a subjective rating scale. He feels for the tension he assumes is corded somewhere in Ronan's musculature. "You used to sleep good, right?"
Edited (i used that phrasing too many times) 2015-12-06 00:05 (UTC)
Ronan murmurs an affirmative without using any real words, but by making affirming-like noises. He's not looking at the screen anymore, because his head is tipped forward, basking in the feeling of Joe's long fingers against his neck. He does not generally let people get close enough to touch him, let alone stay still long enough for them to give him a fucking back massage.
Maybe he should, though. Or, at least, maybe he should start staying still long enough for Joe to do it. Even if he doesn't let anybody else.
He used to sleep well enough. Back when his life was more or less perfect, and he lived on a sprawling farm of cattle and barns, with a Disney Princess mother that cooked breakfast every morning and a father who came and went, but always returned with the most amazing gifts. Back before he found his father's broken body behind the BMW early one morning. Before his dreams were more nightmares than anything else.
what fucking nerds >:I
That Ronan is still alive, but buried so deep beneath so much shit that he's likely never coming back. He just has to learn how to move forward instead. Until then, he's stuck. Though Joe is trying valiantly to get him unstuck.
Joe gets that look, and Ronan knows what it means immediately. Another idea. The kid is fucking full of them, always making lists so he won't forget. At least it's probably a better use of his time than, say, drinking himself to death. Though, maybe, not better than allowing their moment and letting Ronan make a move.
He turns his head when Joe pulls at it, staring at the laptop screen. Naturally, the first words out of his mouth are, "Oh, come on. This is the shitty version." Though, to be fair, Ronan will always prefer to have it read out loud than watch any retelling of it.
no subject
This is actually inadvisable sleep hygiene, in case the audience is wondering. If you're trying to wind down for the night, you should not be watching movies in bed, never mind with jumpy boys who swing haphazardly between the urge to touch your beautiful body and try Eastern philosophical techniques. That really isn't going to condition the appropriate responses to bed and bedtime.
But now Ronan has a Joe leg on either side of him for am armrest, and a forefinger wandering up the back of his neck. The clouds above the Disney castle glow at him expectantly from the screen. "You're really heavy," he says, squeezing Ronan with his thighs; somehow manages not to sound like he's complaining. "On a scale of zero to ten where ten is you could pass out right now, how tired are you."
no subject
Not that he actually minds staring at Johnny Depp's face. He just prefers Captain Jack over the Mad Hatter.
He allows Joe to place the laptop in his lap, to rearrange the both of them into something more suitable for movie-watching-back-rubbing combos. It's not uncomfortable, despite how bony and angled Joe is, starkly opposite of Ronan's own lightly muscled frame.
"Everybody's really heavy compared to you," he says, settling back against Joe, frowning at the Disney opening on the screen. His arms rest lazily along the other's legs, fingers curling slightly around the underneath of his knees, thumbs brushing over bone through the fabric of his pants.
"I dunno, like--" He squints thoughtfully, his expression visible in the screen of the laptop when it dims to black briefly. "A four."
no subject
A hand on his leg, hooking underneath, broad fingers warming him through the denim. Maybe Joe should think about the logistics and fallout before he does things like, you know, offer to give a beautiful boy a backrub while they're in between his thighs. But logistics and fallout are really hard to think about when he's on the go.
The Disney castle glitters at them. The shooting star sparks over the steeple. Joe slides his fingers up the back of Ronan's neck slowly, thumbing around the subtle bump of vertebrates, trying to remember what he was thinking about. Umm. Sleepiness numbers. Yes-- a subjective rating scale. He feels for the tension he assumes is corded somewhere in Ronan's musculature. "You used to sleep good, right?"
no subject
Maybe he should, though. Or, at least, maybe he should start staying still long enough for Joe to do it. Even if he doesn't let anybody else.
He used to sleep well enough. Back when his life was more or less perfect, and he lived on a sprawling farm of cattle and barns, with a Disney Princess mother that cooked breakfast every morning and a father who came and went, but always returned with the most amazing gifts. Back before he found his father's broken body behind the BMW early one morning. Before his dreams were more nightmares than anything else.
He hates sleeping now. He really does.