Blood from Stone [AU]

[Jassinth]

Something that Jass notices after a moment. Pulling away, just enough to have a whisper between them, he makes a tsking noise. "Relax, Carver. Stop thinking and just... kiss me." His admonishment delivered, he uses his the hand on the small of Carver's back to pull them even closer together.

[Carver Amell]

Carver blushes. "I... Maybe we should go round the pub first," he mumbles.

[Jassinth]

"Drunk sex can be fine, but if you need it to get started, then you're not ready." Jass pulls back a little, staring into Carver's eyes. "If you want to move slower and just... fool around tonight- or the rest of the time I'm here- that's fine too."

[Carver Amell]

"No, I.. It's just..." He sighs, pulling back. "Stupid shit in my head. It's weird. I've never been with a guy before, and maybe if I had it wouldn't be, but it's weird, and I can't get my own brain to get out of my way, you know? But I want this. I want to be with you."

[Jassinth]

"It can be hard, trying out something new. And sex is... messy. Personal. It magnifies everything." Jass brushes his lips over Carver's. "Just... focus on us being friends. As long as that works out... the rest is just very, very nice bonus."

[Carver Amell]

Carver swallows. "But it's not. Jass, I want this. I don't want -- I don't want to be alone anymore. I have to cross that gulf sometime, with someone, and they're all terrifying. At least you're my best friend. You won't... hold it against me if I fuck up."

[Jassinth]

"If you fuck up, I might get upset but I'll get over it and we can talk it over. The same as I would hope you would do if I am the one to fuck up." Jass moves back in, but instead of a kiss, he simply rests his head against Carver's. "But... you do... you are remember that I must go back, right?" Nyra is not as bad as I half thought a city must be but I could not live here. And you could never leave your family, who are so deeply rooted here.

[Carver Amell]

He sighs. "I know," he murmurs, unhappily. 

[Jassinth]

"If... if we become lovers, I would not object to you have others. Before or afterwards." Jass speaks slowly, words carefully chosen. "I have other relationships of that nature. Serious ones. Good, trusted friends whom I care for. Some I love. But none of us are in a position- timing, geography, personality- to be... full-time, I suppose."

[Carver Amell]

Carver sighs, pulling back. "I know," he mutters. "I just... Nevermind."

[Jassinth]

"Go on."

[Carver Amell]

"I guess it's just wishful thinking," he admits. "But I kind of hoped... if we hit it off... maybe, someday, I could move. Or, or you could I guess. I don't know. If it's worth it... I mean, I don't know what i'm going to do with the rest of my life, you know?"

[Jassinth]

"I am... not opposed to that outcome. I admit I do not think it likely. I think we could become close, could fall in love. But I am not sure... I know I could not live in a city. If my village was not the Oak, it would honestly be too large for me. And I could not ask you to leave your family behind. But..." Jass shrugs as best he can without letting Carver go. "I also cannot see the future and what it holds. And more, I think what we would have regardless to be worth the effort."

[Carver Amell]

"Maybe I want to leave my family behind," he mutters. "Maybe I... no. I don't, not really. It's just... It's just almost time for me to go adventuring again, I guess."

[Jassinth]

"Restlessness?" Jass offers a wan smile. "I understand the impulse. That's why I took the ranger path and not the druid's. Druids are so often tied to their glades or other spots. Rangers... range." He pauses, studying Carver. "Do... do you have a... course in mind?" That... sounded a bit like an offer, despite the question the words form.