[ Ah, so that’s where he’d fucked up that first time, back in the cabin. Psycho-analyzing him out loud, incorrectly feeling out the things in between the lines that Ian wasn’t saying — you do want a hypothetical somebody — because from the sound of it, it’s not just that Ian doesn’t need anybody, he doesn’t even want them.
From the sound of it.
It'd make things less complicated if Ian’d said it differently than he had, said it with full confidence and without having to swallow and pause, in a way that would leave no room for doubt in Mace’s mind. After all, he wouldn’t have to make sure he himself gets out alive too, could focus on Ian and Ian alone.
But Mace isn’t so sure he believes him completely right now.
The silence that follows is heavier than it’s been thus far between them, and Mace’s eyes flicker down to Ian’s motionless head — not forehead anymore, because he’s studiously looking at the wall across from them, mercifully devoid of foreboding obituary headlines. He wonders if they're thinking about the same thing right now, of a what if scenario where they both make it out of here together.
And maybe it's the thought of that which has him asking abruptly: ]
Anybody ever try to fight you on that?
[ He realizes after the fact that it might come across as him trying to present himself as an option, which. Judging by the silence Ian's settled into after what he just said, it's probably not what he wants to hear. Not something reassuring, but something claustrophobic instead, and they're already in a cave.
Great. This isn't what he'd been aiming for with that kiss, had only wanted to take Ian out of his thoughts and out of their bleak reality for a few moments, not shove him deeper into it. With a quiet humour in his voice that he's not entirely feeling, Mace adds, ]
A student get too pushy? 'Cause, you know. I'll punch out a freshman if I have to, I don't give a fuck.
no subject
From the sound of it.
It'd make things less complicated if Ian’d said it differently than he had, said it with full confidence and without having to swallow and pause, in a way that would leave no room for doubt in Mace’s mind. After all, he wouldn’t have to make sure he himself gets out alive too, could focus on Ian and Ian alone.
But Mace isn’t so sure he believes him completely right now.
The silence that follows is heavier than it’s been thus far between them, and Mace’s eyes flicker down to Ian’s motionless head — not forehead anymore, because he’s studiously looking at the wall across from them, mercifully devoid of foreboding obituary headlines. He wonders if they're thinking about the same thing right now, of a what if scenario where they both make it out of here together.
And maybe it's the thought of that which has him asking abruptly: ]
Anybody ever try to fight you on that?
[ He realizes after the fact that it might come across as him trying to present himself as an option, which. Judging by the silence Ian's settled into after what he just said, it's probably not what he wants to hear. Not something reassuring, but something claustrophobic instead, and they're already in a cave.
Great. This isn't what he'd been aiming for with that kiss, had only wanted to take Ian out of his thoughts and out of their bleak reality for a few moments, not shove him deeper into it. With a quiet humour in his voice that he's not entirely feeling, Mace adds, ]
A student get too pushy? 'Cause, you know. I'll punch out a freshman if I have to, I don't give a fuck.