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Kai has called Elmo once he's dragged his carcass out of bed after noon. Elmo, he's bored. He's bored, Elmo. Come over and keep him company or he'll die of nothing to do. He's even already taken the dog for a walk, but in the cold, there aren't random people to harass. Elmo finds him laying on the couch with his head pointed at the floor and his legs draped over the back. Kevin is sound asleep under the chair he favors.
Elmo sighs. Oh, Kai. He comes over and knees Kai companionably in the ribs. "Ya nishtgutnik. Ain't you caused enough trouble for the week?" He flumps down next to Kai, yawning. "Now you gotta drag me into it too."
Kai erfs and looks up at Elmo, his curls hanging down. Then he folds in on himself, pivots, and sits up properly, his face red from the blood rushing to his head. "I didn't get you into trouble," he says. "And I evaded the cops last night, so it's a win for me." Proudly, he says, "Obscene material in a public venue."
"I /told/ ya all that queer talk was gonna get you in trouble," Elmo says, kind of folding sideways to better slouch. "And now look at you. Running from the cops." He half-laughs. "What'd ya do?'
"A comedy routine," Kai says. "I was inspired by Lenny Bruce, except I wanted to talk about rights for people like me. So I got up there, and I started with 'the thing about being queer in New York is that if you hang out in the Village, no one can tell the difference." He mimics adjusting a beret and plucking a cigarette holder from his lips with more limp-wristedness than absolutely necessary.
Elmo snorts, shaking his head. "You're terrible. Glad I found out that you're a lot tougher than you look. You were about givin me a heart attack, before."
Kai grins broadly. "It got laughs," he says, "And a heckler, and I told him. He said 'go home, faggot,' and I said, "I told you, darling, after my set." He sighs contently. "I stand by my words. Anyway, around the time I was speculating about gay world leaders, the cops showed up and I pulled a runner. It was a close shave. Then I went to that tea shop for scones."
"Hey, good for you," Elmo says, without sarcasm. He knows Kai loves troublemaking. "Those are good scones. Last night I rescued JP from some mutant haters. He started it, though." Half a smile, inward and private. "He's a looker, that one."
"Oh yeah, he's easy on the eyes," Kai says. "Did you kick their asses?" he asks, sitting up. He regards Elmo sharply. One might even think he was looking Elmo over to make sure he's all right. "Is he single? Do you know?" he asks. "How are things going with what's his face?"
Elmo seems perfectly all right, if tired. It's not unusual for him to have dark circles around his eyes, but it is more unusual for him to be dragging like this. "Nah, I don't know. But how could he be single?" He shakes his head, responding to the first question. "Didn't lay a hand on anyone. Scared 'em off with a light show." His gaze flicks to his left hand and a tiny lightning bolt crackles into life for just a second, before sinking away again. "Now I'm kinda depleted. Spent a lot on it, but they had me scared. Five guys. With bats."
Kai blinks at Elmo blandly. Then says, "Oh! The baseball kind." He hops to his feet. "I'm going to make some tea." On his way to the kitchen, he calls back, "They're lucky you're as nice as you are. That lightning thing is so cool. I was going to start calling you Sparky, but then I thought you might zap me if I did."
Elmo rolls his eyes in Kai's direction. "Yeah, the baseball kind. The break-your-knees kind. He really had 'em mad. They had up a sign, no mutants need apply. Got 'im riled." He leans over more so now he's the one laying on the couch, draped half over it. "So of course he started throwin' punches because he don't know no strategy, that guy." He goes quiet a moment, maybe dozing. Then, "What's his face? You mean Lindon?"
Kai returns with a cuppa for Elmo. It's fixed the way Elmo likes it. Then he sits cross-legged on the floor, ceding the couch. "Yeah, him. Did JP get any good licks in? I'm glad you didn't get hurt, though. I know I'm supposed to want peace for everyone, but some of those guys are cruising for a bruising."
Elmo has to sit up to drink, so there's room, at least. He seems inclined to go back to laying down, except he has this coffee now. "Yep, got a couple of 'em, but they got him too. Got kinda pulped. He's okay. He's tough, that one. Lindon…" He sighs into the cup and has a few swallows. "Lindon's sick. Real sick."
Kai winces and says, "Man, I'm sorry. Is it that flu going around? Humans get so phlegmy sometimes." Lucky him, being immune. He frowns, then, studying Elmo more closely. "No, you mean he's really, really sick. Oh no, man, you want to talk about it?"
Elmo makes a limp little shrug. "I dunno what I could talk about. He's dying from a thing in his head. Not sure I'm supposed to tell you what. We can call it cancer. That's more or less what it is." He puts a hand to his face. "And I think I'm in love with him."
Kai comes to sit beside Elmo so he can wrap his arms around him. He's mindful of the hot mug and not spilling, but he still manages to hug the hell out of Elmo. "Oh, mate. That's rough. Do you know how long he's got? Are they trying to do anything to save him?"
Elmo sets down the coffee so he can hug Kai back and stuff his face into his neck. This, from the guy who routinely refuses handshakes. "There's a doctor and some other magical guys working on it," he mumbles. "I dunno though. They got some use for what's in his head, and they—they made him suffer while they listened to it." His hands tighten on kai's back and there's suddenly a tiny electric whine in the air.
Kai says quickly, "Soothing thoughts, mate," as his hair starts to stand on end. He doesn't disengage from the hug, though. If there is one thing Kai Alfsson was put on this Earth to do, it was to hug. He rubs Elmo's back as he says, "Magical guys can do all sorts of things. I bet if there's a way to fix him, they'll find it. They can do that to make up for using him."
Elmo nods, sucking in a breath and deliberately loosening his hands. The ionic balance tips back the other way and all is calm in the atmosphere again. "They want to fix him. I /think/." He pulls back to look at Kai, a little mussed and bleary. "I ain't a hundred percent on it, to be real honest. And he said he's expendable. He said they don't agree, but if /he/ thinks it…and I couldn't convince him that he ain't. And he's got this boyfriend who hates me. I just…I dunno, Kai." His voice quavers just a touch.
Kai says easily, "Oh to hell with the boyfriend that hates you." That one's an easy one compared to the rest. "Jealousy is so mainstream." He frowns, though, at this talk of being expendable. "That's a bummer," he says. "Maybe it's just him trying to deal with what's going on, you know? Like if you think 'oh well, it's not that great a loss' then it's not as scary."
"I think that's plenty scary," Elmo says, plaintive in a way he never is. "I finally find someone who wants to—you know, be involved with me. And all this is going on around him, and even in him. I just wanna make him tea and keep him warm and give him all the books he wants."
"Then do that," Kai says. "I don't know what he's going through, but when I'm feeling down int he dumps, the idea of someone bringing me tea and keeping me warm and giving me all the books I want sounds pretty good. I bet he'll feel the same." He draws back so he can study Elmo's face. Those big blue eyes are luminous, with silver flecks like moonlight. "When things are big and deep and heavy, those little things are like a vacation from it all."
Elmo scrubs at his face. "He'd like it. He's easy, books are his favorite thing." His dark, mortal eyes are overbright and his mouth is drawn down. He's not used to this kind of emotional pain or work, and the strain is clear. He's so /young/. "He's got four other boyfriends who wanna take care of him, too."
Kai whistles low. "Getting the most out of life," he says. Like he even has room to talk, given Life Before Loki. He strokes Elmo's cheek with the pad of his thumb and says, "It sounds like you've got help, then. Even if one of them doesn't like you, fuck him. Let him help the way he can, for this guy's sake, but then to hell with him. You're groovy." He looks so much older in his eyes than the rest of his face. "If you're in love with him, then all you can do is love him. Eke out every last drop of joy from your lives as you can and don't borrow pain. Pain shows up with or without an invitation."
Elmo delicately leans his forehead against Kai's. It's intimate, more than he's usually given to. "You know a lot," he murmurs. "Guess you been around a while to learn it. Been places. Like to Hell."
Kai leans in turn, a fond friend of intimacy, even the kind between friends. "I've had a few adventures," he says with a small smile. "You can always talk to me," he says, "when the whole thing's got you bummed out and you just need someone to listen and help sort it out. It's a helluva thing to go through alone. You don't have to."
Elmo sits back, still not able to tolerate such intimacy for long, and scrubs his face. "Thanks," he says quietly. "I think I'm gonna need somethin' stronger than coffee to get through it all."
Kai nods once and gets to his feet again. "Whiskey." He goes over to a sideboard and takes a bottle down from a cupboard. "Here, let me put a splash in your cup," he says. "And tell me more about these thugs you scared off. Did they scream like small humans?"