rattlingthestars | IC Inbox

You guess? [ Jim's a little disbelieving that Zell might ever think his life is normal. Dangerous and exciting and, if Jim' being honest, really cool, but not remotely normal. ] Sunshine, every time you talk about your job ...

[ 'It scares me' is a little too heavy, so Jim just shakes his head. ] You're really brave.

[ Giving him a quick smooch. ]

I'm just good with these. [ Lifting a hand for a moment. ]

It's all in these fists of mine, baby. [ Closing his hand and brushing along the side of Jim's face with the feather light touch of his knuckles. ]

I hope to show you. Not just my jobs, but everything.

[ There's nothing dangerous. Just ignore the giant t-rexaur and whatever else that roams the lands. ]

What happened next after you got back with the map? [ His turn, right? ]

I want to see it. Everything - your school, your house, the T-board, the beach...

[ Everywhere Zell's been. Everything that made him Zell. Jim kissed Zell's fist, still grinning about the idea of him being good with his hands.

Zell's question brings him back down again. ]

They were waiting for me. Silver, the pirates. Had captured Doppler and the Captain and snatched the map as soon as I got there. They were too stupid to use it, though.

[ Stretching his fingers out after the kiss to poke Jim in the lips lightly. ]

You will. [ He's sure they could find a way to hit up both of their worlds. If they can be brought here, then the reverse has to be true. Visiting back and forth should also work! ]

I'll even let you in my room.

[ He doesn't like people in his room normally, but the idea of having Jim there is special.

Now they were swapping gears again, thanks to him nudging for more story time. ]

You weren't. [ Too stupid to use it. He's seen Jim look over a car magazine they found at the gas station and figure it all out. There is a feeling of pride growing steadily bigger inside of him. It's similar to the pride he has in his fighting capabilities. Pushing himself up for a moment to plant a kiss between Jim's eyebrows. ]

I wasn't. [ Jim's eyebrows smooth out under the kiss as he preens under Zell's pride. He knows Zell knows what he's talking about, has the know-how to judge his abilities and still thinks he's good. ] They held me them gunpoint until I opened it, but... by then I wanted to know what would happen, too. We'd come all that way.

[ The puzzle'd been the important thing, then. ]

When the map opened up, this time it gave us a line of light to follow all the way to the treasure.

[ Jim walks two fingers up Zell's shoulder to demonstrate following the line. ]

Tell me about your house? I want to imagine you in it.

[ That look goes straight to the heart. Giving a kiss against the tip of his nose as he returns to focusing on the story instead of just the cute boy at his side. He does react with an animated expression at the held at gun point, but manages to keep his mouth closed.

He wanted to know what'll happen. That earns a smile. Relaxing as he tries to imagine the line of light to follow. His imagination fell towards something from Esthar with it's blue lights and it's moving platforms. Moving his fingers to meet Jim's walking pair to mess with them a moment. ]

My house? [ Snagging Jim's hand to trace out the street. ] It's down the main road. At the corner where you start heading down to the Hotel and the docks... [ He draws a curve. ]

It's right there. A lot of the stuff has a curve. The doorways, windows, and some of the furniture. [ Drawing the arches now and designs. ]

You walk in and to the left is the kitchen. To the right is a long table where Ma has plants and a large seashell to keep baubles in. Further in on the left are the stairs to the bedrooms. Mine is at the very top of the steps. [ He draws a small spiral for the stairs. ]

I have a smaller punching back and a closet to the left. Then my bed is against the wall. [He draws an "L" shape for the walls. ] Have a built in bookcase there at my bed. [ The he draws the slant for next wall, followed by a straight line for the one after that. ] I have a dresser here. My grandpa's guns, picture and flags are above that.

[ Then drawing his large punching bag followed by his curving desk. ] I have another punching bag then my desk.

[ Jim listens raptly, filling in all the little details with his mind as he imagines Zell running up adn down that street, showing off and getting into trouble. He watches as Zell sketches out the curve of the road and the shape of the buildings, imagines a kitchen not too different from his own.

Something Zell says brings a little grin to Jim's face, but he doesn't interrupt until Zell's totally done. ]

Two punching bags?

[ Yep, that's another question. Nope, Jim doesn't care. ]

Two. [ Drawing a two now as he grins. Time to share some knowledge! ] A smaller one hangs high on the ceiling. It's for speed. The other is a heavy bag. That one is used to help strengthen.

[ Moving to curl Jim's hands closed into a fist. Then he's bringing it to his lips to kiss the knuckles. ]

So, you were led to the treasure. What happens next?

Lots of training before you went to the garden, too, huh? [ Jim lets his knuckles be kissed, beaming, before he moves his hand to squeeze Zell's bicep. It is very impressive, and maybe Zell can pick up on the thought by the way Jim's mouth quirks and his eyebrows raise. ]

After that... it actually lead us right to the middle of a cliff, in the middle of nowhere. They thought I was lying or stupid, but it was just another piece of the puzzle. Lucky I convinced them of that before I got thrown off a cliff.

I had to shove the map into a slot on the cliffside, and it opened this enormous door that would take you anywhere in the galaxy. We had to go through it to get to the center of the planet - that's where all the treasure was hiding.

Yup! Did I tell you I'm famous back home?

[ For all of his training. Flexing under Jim's squeeze to let him really feel it as he beams with pride. He's pretty happy with where he's at physically. ]

Like what you see?

[ What do you mean pick something up? He does figure it's a positive reaction, but hearing it from Jim's mouth would be better.

And he really wishes he could have seen Jim solve it and showing those stupid pirates how great he is.

But he's going to focus on something pretty interesting. ]

Anywhere anywhere? Whoa. That sounds amazing.

Am I going to have to compete with all your fans? [ Jim's not really serious, though the thought that he really doesn't deserve this boy does flash across his mind again. ] Of course I like it. I like you.

[ Maybe that will settle any questions Zell has. ]

And yeah. Anywhere. We saw stuff that was across the entire galaxy - I even got to program it to show Montressor.

[ He thinks about it before shaking his head. ]

Nah. They just know me as a rambunctious rascal. I climbed up on this sign that hangs over town and did one hundred pull-ups on it.

[ Which is pretty impressive given the height. Zell is positively beaming at the liking it and that Zell likes him. ]

I like you, too. [ And he's finding he looks forward to waking up to find Jim there every morning. To be able to just reach out and touch him when he wants to. It's been pretty amazing. ]

Man, that must have been awesome. Being about to just jump any where in the universe. [ And he wonders for a moment if it's possible to jump between universes with it. ]

How did it work? How did you pick where to go?

Heh. Could't picture it.

[ Yep, Jim's teasing again. He can picture it perfectly clearly, the same way he can see Zell joining him in roof-climbing shenanigans. ]

The map was... [ Jim pauses, aware that he hasn't actually seen a hologram since he got here. ] Do you have holograms back home? Little light projections?

Guess you'll have to wait for me to show you in person.

[ He'll do a repeat performance and everything.

Nodding his head. ]

Yeah, we do. Not really common, but a few places have them. They are pretty cool.

Yeah. The map was like that - projected a map of the whole galaxy.

[ Jim sounds faint and distracted because he's currently trying to push away an image of Zell doing pull-ups shirtless and flushes. Then remembers he doesn't actually have to, anymore, because they're dating. This is a date.

With a shy grin, he asks: ]

Going to do it in your tank top?

[ Turning his body towards Jim as he gives a smile. Reaching over to poke him in a nose gently. The flushing is adorable, but he's not really sure why he's making that face. ]

It is easier that way. [ Then taking a little risk ] I can do it without a shirt, too. [ Not that it's anything new to Jim since they hooked up, while Zell was shirtless. Does that count as a question from Jim? ]

Man, though. A projected map of the whole galaxy sounds amazing. [ Probably much better than the hand made star projector he made. Laying back down flat on his back as he connects some of the stars with a finger ] How much loot was there in the center?

[ Nothing new - Jim had seen Zell bathing and training long before they started dating - but it doesn't make it any less interesting than it had been the first time Jim got to see. ]

A lot. More than anybody could ever spend. More than a hundred people could ever spend. What's in my bag is going to rebuild my whole house.

[ Jim's excited about that, sure, but he's also thinking about something else. He gives the skin of Zell's collarbone the lightest of pinches. ]

Would you do it shirtless if you had marks?

Whoa! Sounds like that would have been a sight.

[ He can't even begin to imagine it. More than a hundred could ever spend, and he's seen what people could spend and build.

Snagging the pinching culprit to bring to his mouth. Pressing a kiss against them. ]

Going to pinch me all over? [ Those kinds of marks? ]

Not really what I had in mind.

[ Jim lets himself be distracted, though, with Zell kissing his hand. ]

It was beautiful. So distracting that we didn't realize we'd set off the booby trap until too late.

[ Booby traps. He's reminded once more how fortunate he is that Jim actually lived through that whole thing. ]

What kind of booby trap and- [ Tugging up his own shirt to expose his stomach. ] what kind of marking did you have in mind?

A tripwire that set off an -

[ Jim bites his own lip and closes his eyes rather than stare. ]

- explosive -

[ Oh boy. He started this, it was his fault. ]

- in the planet's...

[ Try again later, Jim's lost his train of thought. ]

[ Uh oh. ~~He broke the boyfriend.~~ Looking at Jim curiously. The lip biting is distracting on it's own. Reaching over to place a hand on Jim's chest, brushing his thumb over where his heart is. ]

In the planet's? You okay, Stars?

Yep.

[ More than okay, but Jim's still reaching out a hand to pull Zell's top back down before he looks again. ]

-In the planet's core. It set off a chain reaction.

[ Don't like the stomach? Zell is looking down as Jim does it. Putting his own hand over Jim's to keep it in place. ]

Whoa. [ That's in response to the planet core. ] The whole thing was man made, huh? Man, just think of the work it would take to make your own planet. [ Or hollow one out to make it more machine. Rolling over partially to throw a leg over one of Jim's and rest his head on his shoulder. He's careful of certain places. ]

How long did it take until things went to hell?

It's not something just anybody could do in my world. Wish I knew who built them. [ Jim, too, can't imagine the kind of machines it must've taken to build something that massive and intricate.

Depending on how Zell throws himself, he can probably feel exactly what Jim thought of his abs. ]

Maybe fifteen minutes? Me and B.E.N. were trying to rig a boat to escape when we realized what was going on.

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