Halloween

[1stmacleod]

For Halloween, Connor comes home a little longer after his text conversation with Kairos than he meant to, but he's dressed all in simple, dark blue robes that are clearly Japanese. They're not all that ancient, just from the 80's, with a nice circular watery design in white on the back. His katana is tucked into the belt of the robes, his regular clothes in a bundle in his hand. It should pass for a costume, and as a bonus he can carry the katana openly without being questioned. It's possible people will take it for a mere prop.
After a light, early dinner, he and his goddess of a girlfriend head to the Way to help out, and it's not as bad as he feared. The distraction is good, but still, every once in a while, there's some dark-haired little boy, or a knight or cowboy costume, and for just a moment Connor is struck with a pang of deep sorrow. Just once, it's a princess with blonde curls, and he excuses himself to the bathroom for ten minutes.
By the evening's end, he's had enough of Halloween. Connor makes tea, and cuddles on the sofa with Kairos, head nestled against her shoulder. It's been an emotionally wearing evening, and it takes a lot of cuddling and some good long kisses before he feels it's safe to go to bed.
Even then, he dreams of his children.

Comments

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

Kairos doesn't go to bed when Connor does. She works in her studio some, window open, enjoying the chill in the air as she makes sketches of some Christmassy ideas she'd been envisioning for a while now.

But soon she's a little restless. She makes herself finish a sketch of a pair of pearl earrings, then she's up, putting things away.

And she pads through the house to check on Connor.

She pushes open the door as quietly as she can and peeks in.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Nightmares are actually a pretty regular occurrence for him, but he tends to keep quiet, at least enough that the sound of his disturbances doesn't carry through the walls. He's twisted and restless, blanket wound around his legs a little, tangled up enough for her to see he's in only boxers and a ratty old t-shirt. He frowns, in his sleep, and one arm twitches as if he's trying to reach out. Then he whimpers softly, an incoherent noise of protest.

This could be why he still looks a little tired and ill, even after a couple months in safety at her place.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

It only takes that little noise to have her in the room with him, crawling onto the bed beside him and curling up slightly. "Connor?" she says softly.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"Nnngh... Rachel!" He starts awake, reaching out with an expression of desperate worry, then opens his eyes and blinks first at the ceiling, then at Kairos. "I... uh...." His voice crackles. "...Hi?"

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Hey," she says softly. She runs her fingers through his hair. "Nightmare, huh."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up or anything." He closes his eyes a moment, savoring the touch. Nightmares aren't news, to him.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"You didn't. I was about to head to bed, but.." she shrugs. "I felt like checking in on you. Make sure you were okay." Which he wasn't, but she's still working on that.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"Oh." He reaches for her hand, stroking it and playing with her fingers. His expression is almost guilty. "I'm okay. It's just... seeing all those kids tonight."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She squeezes his hand for a moment. "Kind of hard for you, I bet. I'm sorry, honey."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor gives a slow sigh. "Kind of, but I knew it would be."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"But there were some good points to the night, right?" She'd feel so guilty if she dragged him there and he wasn't able to get some sort of enjoyment out of it.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"You looked amazing." He grins and props himself up a little to kiss her.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She grins and kisses him back. "Aw. Why thank you. You looked strangely at home in those robes of yours."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"They were just old practice robes. It's what you're supposed to wear for practicing kata and things..." He doesn't bother, most of the time. Jeans and t-shirts are easier.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Yeah? I've never seen you in them before. Bucking the rules, Connor, I'm shocked." her tone is light - he's gotta be getting used to her sense of humor, right?

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"I didn't have them before, because they were in storage. That's me. Rebel without a cause." He nuzzles her, smiling a little. He gets her teasing, but his joke is about least fifty years old.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"...Oh. I see." And then she's shivering from the nuzzling. "Hey, that tickles."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"Do you want me to wear them more often?" He nuzzles her neck with his stubble and breathes gently in her ear. There's no way he's not doing it on purpose, now.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

She halfheartedly slaps at his arm. "Stop that." Her ear twitches and there's more of those little shivers. "Uhm.. actually? I'd be okay if you wandered around like this." She reaches to tug at his shirt.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He smiles, and looks down at himself, legs still tangled up in the blankets. "If I tried to wander around like this, I'd fall over."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Oh, and we couldn't have that, now could we?" She pulls at his blankets and straightens them out before tucking him in.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He looks amused over being tucked in, but rubs his face a little. "I'm sorry. You really don't need to worry. I'm used to nightmares, and they're not as bad as they used to be."

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Pfft. Girlfriends are allowed to worry, MacLeod. Besides. I get to sneak into your room and into your bed."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"Is it still sneaky once I know you're here?" He looks both guilty and grateful. It's a little embarrassing to be caught at his nightmares, but it's also unfamiliar and nice to have someone to wake him from them.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Nope. But that's okay. You haven't kicked me out yet."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"No..." He slides an arm around her, tired, but not ready to let her leave.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Then obviously I win." She curls herself up to him further, fully okay being his teddy bear.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"We both win." He rests his head against her, settling in a little. If she gets bored or uncomfortable and tries to get free, he'll let her go, but otherwise he just might doze off cuddled up against her. He might have less nightmares, with her there.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

"Mm. I can agree with that." Kairos pulls at one of the pillows, gets comfy, and settles in herself. She's perfectly okay with staying right where she is for the rest of the night.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor lies still, eyes open, for a while. He's listening to her heartbeat, and he holds one of her hands in his, lethargically playing with her fingers between his own. Eventually the motion stills and his breathing evens out, and he falls asleep curled against her.

[kairos-aether.livejournal.com]

It's not until Kairos is certain that he's asleep that she allows herself to drift off to sleep.