Lark leans back, then blindly reaches for the fork, to steal a bite while he thinks. After he's swallowed he has an answer.
"Death Valley is actually fairly close to Pasadena. To the ocean, to green grass and palm trees, to some of the wealthiest people in the world. I live there, but I can pack up a bottle of water and drive east, and I end up in an entirely different world. It's so hot there that car companies from all over the world come to test how their products function in extreme conditions. It's so hot there that no one stays for long. It's such a strange place that rocks seem to glide with nothing pushing them. I go there to run as a wolf; I often come home with blisters just from touching the sand. But if you run over it, as hard as you can, everything just...blurs. You can't tell if you're hot or cold, if you're alone or with a pack. If you have open land or you're trapped in a canyon. You just exist and it's bliss."
"Yeah, that's called heat delirium," Alec replies, but he's listening, he's thinking.
X5s are durable, there's no doubt about that. If a wolf can survive running it, Alec doesn't really think there's a possibility a transgenic can't - and in the end, he's just not afraid of the elements, even if that actually sounds very close to hell to him.
But he remembers holding Lark's head steady and telling him not to slide, not to exist too far ahead or too far behind; and he does like a challenge.
"You think it will be the same on a bike? Or are you planning on bailing?"
He chuckles. "If we're on the same bike, sure. If I'm on my own I'll be too worried about not crashing to think about anything else but it seems like a good place to learn anyway. What are you up for, teaching or just enjoying my favorite corner of hell?"
It would be a lie to say that Alec would, someday, like to be the kind of person who puts others first; he's thought about it, admired it occasionally in others, but it's not really for him. Either way, it wouldn't be in him now.
"If I'm stuck on a bike, in hell, having heat hallucinations or whatever, you're at least keeping your ability to have a conversation with me," he declares without hesitation.
"Fine. Don't worry, I'll be right there, telling you what hallucination to avoid." It means the Death Valley trip won't be like the ones Lark loved at home, but seeing Alec there will probably make up for it.
Alec opens his mouth to reply, then hesitates once he realizes he has an actual schedule to keep now. He's been striving to fill his time however he can, and now between infirmary shifts, patrols, both sparring and Enclosure runs with Eggsy, lessons with Nina - it makes him smirk a little.
"Tomorrow night," he comes back a moment later. "After dinner. Each figure out our own way in. Sound fair?"
Because fair is something they both have an excess of experience with.
"Sure, I'll meet you there. You're staying over, still?" He nips Alec's neck, happy to keep the bruise he left there earlier going. "I want to hear more about your upcoming holiday."
The feel of Lark's teeth sends a pleasant shiver through him, but Alec reaches up with one hand to push his face away anyway, flicking lightly at his ear.
"I have to go meet Eggsy and Nina for sessions, then a session with the Emperor, and a shift and a patrol. You think I have time to stay anywhere?" The look he tips Lark is both petulant and sly.
"I think you can spare an hour or two, yeah," Lark smirks, biting at his shoulder instead, not unlike the way he does when he really, really wants Alec to keep doing something. "I bet you could time your day to the half-minute if you wanted."
Alec pushes him away again, flicks at his ear harder this time.
"How do you jump from down to the half minute to spare an hour or two? And why would I want to?" He is fully aware of where this is heading and, as such, closes the laptop to set aside.
Similarly, Alec pretends to be pointedly oblivious despite both of them being fully aware of just how much he isn't. He sets the laptop on the table beside the couch.
"That's not a compliment, that's a fact - be better at compliments," he returns blithely.
"You know I don't sleep, right?" comes what seems to Alec to be the natural follow up. This is a lie, but not the kind Alec thinks twice about issuing. The healing process, he figures, gets a free pass so it might as well be true.
"My hours are very precious to me. And worth more than a compliment."
"Well then it's definitely worth more than a compliment. Make me an offer. I want to know how much it's worth to you," he hedges back.
Someday, if he hasn't already, Lark is going to figure out that the reason he never gets a better answer out of Alec for this is he has no idea what kind of value should be placed on anything.
"Priceless," Lark deadpans. He has no idea yet why Alec hedges, but his assumption has been very much what Alec just told him. "Tell you what. You stay, you get compliments--multiple--and I'll see if I can't show you something new."
"They're really not. I've never given you anything." Lark smiles at him. "Okay. I can meet those demands. But I'm not going to tell you what it is in advance--you'll know it when you feel it."
"Oh, he's cocky - I like them cocky," he says to no one at all, reaching up to card his fingers through Lark's hair just like he refused to allow earlier. Then he's pushing to his feet.
Every now and then, Lark realizes how much he enjoys all of this, and it's a rush. It's also like missing a step and being certain he's about to fall down a flight of stairs, though.
This is one of those times, and he laughs and kisses Alec hard.
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"Death Valley is actually fairly close to Pasadena. To the ocean, to green grass and palm trees, to some of the wealthiest people in the world. I live there, but I can pack up a bottle of water and drive east, and I end up in an entirely different world. It's so hot there that car companies from all over the world come to test how their products function in extreme conditions. It's so hot there that no one stays for long. It's such a strange place that rocks seem to glide with nothing pushing them. I go there to run as a wolf; I often come home with blisters just from touching the sand. But if you run over it, as hard as you can, everything just...blurs. You can't tell if you're hot or cold, if you're alone or with a pack. If you have open land or you're trapped in a canyon. You just exist and it's bliss."
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X5s are durable, there's no doubt about that. If a wolf can survive running it, Alec doesn't really think there's a possibility a transgenic can't - and in the end, he's just not afraid of the elements, even if that actually sounds very close to hell to him.
But he remembers holding Lark's head steady and telling him not to slide, not to exist too far ahead or too far behind; and he does like a challenge.
"You think it will be the same on a bike? Or are you planning on bailing?"
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"If I'm stuck on a bike, in hell, having heat hallucinations or whatever, you're at least keeping your ability to have a conversation with me," he declares without hesitation.
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"When?"
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"Tomorrow night," he comes back a moment later. "After dinner. Each figure out our own way in. Sound fair?"
Because fair is something they both have an excess of experience with.
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"I have to go meet Eggsy and Nina for sessions, then a session with the Emperor, and a shift and a patrol. You think I have time to stay anywhere?" The look he tips Lark is both petulant and sly.
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"How do you jump from down to the half minute to spare an hour or two? And why would I want to?" He is fully aware of where this is heading and, as such, closes the laptop to set aside.
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"I'm admiring your ability to manage your time so well you can find time where others would lose it. Take a compliment, Alec."
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"That's not a compliment, that's a fact - be better at compliments," he returns blithely.
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"My hours are very precious to me. And worth more than a compliment."
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"Really. What is an hour with you worth? Assuming, of course, that for this hour I would want you at least strategically nude if not fully unclothed."
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Someday, if he hasn't already, Lark is going to figure out that the reason he never gets a better answer out of Alec for this is he has no idea what kind of value should be placed on anything.
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"Appealing to my ego and sense of adventure. Not a bad strategy," he allows after serious, blatant consideration.
"Better plan: guarantee me something new, and I'll give you one and a half. Compliments are a given."
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"Deal."
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This is one of those times, and he laughs and kisses Alec hard.