[ A joke would've been the easier path for Ian to follow. Dismiss the intimacy with humor, reel it back, step into the role they'd been in before they descended into this whole experience. It'd have been far easier than the way Mace leans in, cups his face like something precious. Kisses him without heat but rather with feeling, and outside of the realm of sex Ian can't easily ignore the way his heart responds.
He becomes passive. Pliant. Closes his eyes this time not to get lost but rather to detach.
Let it go.
He peels away slowly, gently, untangling with the ease and care of someone who knows how not to hurt someone's feelings as they end a moment.
He's got a good enough excuse lined up - a nod at the place where their small can of fire's still burning beneath a hot steel dish, balanced on a board that's deceptive in its sturdiness considering it's subject to spill at the wrong move of an inner-spring mattress. ]
no subject
He becomes passive. Pliant. Closes his eyes this time not to get lost but rather to detach.
Let it go.
He peels away slowly, gently, untangling with the ease and care of someone who knows how not to hurt someone's feelings as they end a moment.
He's got a good enough excuse lined up - a nod at the place where their small can of fire's still burning beneath a hot steel dish, balanced on a board that's deceptive in its sturdiness considering it's subject to spill at the wrong move of an inner-spring mattress. ]
It's a wonder we didn't burn the place down.