Chapter Text
“I’ll be gone for a while, you know.” Earl seems to be fidgeting around with vials filled with dark liquids, making a mental note on how it sways inside the glass.
Leo was on the bed with a book in hand. He didn’t close the book, but he did look in Earl’s direction.
“Yes, I’ve known you to be gone for a ‘while’ before.“
Earl turns to Leo and looks through him intensely. Earl is not one to be nervous, it is not as if he could have any emotion read on his body with the hood over his skull. But he felt tense having this discussion of departure with Leo. “It could be a year, or longer even. It’s hard to give an estimate, I can’t remember how long is too long for a human anymore.”
Leo leaves out a sigh and goes back to reading. “That is a long while, I will admit. It’s going to be winter soon; a quiet and lonesome season for me then.” He smiles and flips a page. He knows Earl is observing him at this point.
“Do you mean it ? You’ll be lonely?”
Earl almost sounds as if he’s going to lose something dear, though he is the one making the decision to leave.
Leo flips another page. “I do. I will miss you. Do you think of me too reclusive to admit it? I will manage, but I will think of you.”
He does not know how much time has passed, but he appreciated the comfortable silence and was able to get near the end of the chapter. He closed the book and finally looked back at Earl, who still intended on observing him.
Being with Earl this long--he is not uncomfortable with the staring, the observations or the prodding of curiosity the lich does to him. It is not so much Earl trying to study him, but perhaps to answer his own questions he has with this relationship. Earl is so much smarter than he is, he has so much knowledge of the world and beyond that, and power too. Yet simple words Leo says to him can leave the lich puzzled, almost as if he could never predict the answer in the first place (which Leo finds impossible with Earl’s desires).
Leo takes off his reading glasses and puts them on top of his book that now resides next to him on the bed. He extends a hand out towards Earl, a gentle expression on his face; an invitation.
“Come here, Earl.”
Earl glides towards him on command, sliding past the hand and sat on the edge of the bed. With his size in comparison to the priest, Earl practically hovers over him whenever they are this close together. The lich is not subtle with his neediness, Leo finds it the one endearing thing about him when he’s in the right mood. He reaches his free hand up to take off Earl’s hood in a swift flick, and once it was off he cupped the skull in front of him. The glowing eyes flickered like a candle as they moved around to observe Leo’s face, looking for any invitation.
Leo gave him a smile.
“I say this for you again, Earl. I shall miss you.” He leaned in close, and Earl closed the gap between them. Despite having no lips or enough flesh to treat this as a soft moment, Earl was warm against Leo’s touch. He could feel the rumble of a hum against his lips and the gentle nudge the lich would give as an attempt to ‘return’ this kiss as best he can.
This was good to Leo, he liked this. Earl is good to him.
