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[ Of course he will. He always will. He doesn't have any other choice, no matter what the matter or the situation or the circumstance happen to be.

He doesn't mind a bit of hugging foe dear life right now. It might be a little scratchy, a little burny, a little uncomfortable, but he can stand it. Wants to stand it, if it means that they both get the piece of mind that comes with absolute certainty that the other is there. Right here, right now, and not going anywhere else again. He loves being near her, and he nods his head in agreement to her words, just as he remembers that they're both exhausted. So, suddenly, he drops one arm and leans down, picks her up under the arms and knees and then sets her on the bed even as he lies down next to her. ] I think you said something about lying down anyway. Took the initiative.

[ She doesn't know how she feels about him feeling he has no other choice, but at the same time the thought that someone will always come for her is comforting. She could hold back an ocean with that knowledge, she thinks. Or metaphorically, anyways.

There's a soft noise of surprise at his move, but she relaxes a moment later, turns into him as he lies next to her and presses up against him as much as she can, one hand fisting into his shirt a little. There's a long moment before she says anything again, and when she does it's quiet but rough. ] I'm sorry.

[ She can do that. He totally believes she could do that if she put her mind to it.

And she can do that too, the closeness and the holding onto him, it makes it easier to wrap his arms around her and hold her there anyway. The statement is confusing though. ] For what?

[ She thinks with him backing her up - yeah maybe she could. He makes her feel like she could do anything, most of the time.

But that's good. She's glad he's holding on, because it means that she can hold on as tightly as he is to her without worrying that it will bother him. There's a long pause after that question, because she's not really sorry for what she's apologizing for. That they'd gotten taken in the first place, that she hadn't been able to stop them from hurting him, that she argued with him. ] I don't know. Everything.

[ She really doesn't need to worry about anything bothering him right now - even if it did, it wouldn't be so bad as to mean that he would tell her to stop. It's probably a good idea to still avoid areas she already knows are sensitive, but holding onto him isn't likely to trigger any of those to any great extent.

There's a moment before he replies, but it's not a particularly long one. ] Don't do that.

[ She thinks that the comfort of having each other near overweighs the discomfort of the senses, to a certain extent. Enough that she's still careful about how much pressure she puts on him but is reckless enough to hold on, to bury her face into his shoulder, try to hide the way her hands are shaking by curling them into the fabric of his clothes. She's so angry and so tired and it's too much vulnerability, she doesn't want to feel like this and she doesn't want anyone to see it. ]

Too late. Already did. [ Almost like a joke, except for how her voice is quiet and raspy and tightly controlled to keep from cracking. ]

[ It totally outweighs it, almost entirely, to the point where he doesn't care if she's holding herself back or not. He can overcome the physical, he's done it before. It's the emotional that he can't handle without her, and her being close to him means that she's here and he isn't without her. Problem solved.

But he can tell that she's tired and vulnerable and overstretched and angry and everything, and he's not sure what to do about it except project a calm to cover his anxieties, a peace to drown out his adrenaline and exhaustion, his aches and more sharp pains. ] Well you'd better take it back. [ Similarly worded, although not as tight as hers is, because feels like the both of them sounding like that will wind up in turn breaking them both, so by default one of them needs to be strong right now. Needs to be normal. Tony Stark's never been good at being normal, but he's got lots of experience within his formative years and onwards of faking so. ]

[ She's hypersensitive to his emotions right now, and that attempt to cover them up and make them more palatable to her, and she's not sure if she appreciates that or if it's only fueling her anger at herself and her apparently inability to take care of him.

She had one job. She clings a little tighter, shakes her head back and forth. ] No. [ And that's it. She's not taking it back because she is sorry. For not getting him out sooner. For the roof. For fighting with him, for him having seen her kill, for not being able to help them. ]

[ Well that wasn't the way she was supposed to take it at all.

Normally right now he'd like to pull back a little, look at her properly, because there's a thing here he's not getting, and he doesn't like not getting things. But she's all but tucked into him by this point, curled into his chest and his shirt and so close, and he doesn't want to push her back for reasons both selfish and less so. ]

You're not my bodyguard. [ He's not... angry. Yet, but it's a reminder anyway. She's not actually responsible for his well-being, the way technically he isn't for hers. He still feels like it, and he gets that she does too, but still. ]

[ She's totally not going to move back so he can see her better, in part because she's pretty sure she's blinking back tears and she can't actually remember the last time she cried and she doesn't want him to see that. The most frustrating part is that she can't actually figure out for herself why this matters so much more than anything else. ]

I know. [ Quiet, almost managing to steady it. ] Yeah. I know. Just go to sleep. [ That's the best thing, right? Some sleep will make things seem a little clearer. ]

[ He's just going to hold her a little tighter, shift around her a little more because he is a little bigger and she seems like she needs it, maybe. He definitely does, so if she protests then he'll back off again but the reason he did it was totally self-motivated. Also he doesn't really want to just drop it, but he's not sure what he can do about it anyway. Generally just acting is his thing, but he's exhausted and she's exhausted and he doesn't feel like getting it wrong and then having to fix it. Too much work right now, and there's just really too much over-thinking to be done before he gets there.

So he just asks this time. ] Are you gonna be okay?

[ She can't tell if that's good or bad, really, right now, him closer around her. She thinks it's good, but part of her is thinking that she can't get out and that's always - fun. There's still comfort in it though, enough that she doesn't try to protest, just hides herself in him as well as she can.

There's a pause, because she tries to be honest with him but she doesn't think he's going to like her answer and she doesn't like it or want to give it. ] I don't know. [ Holding on a little tighter, because she needs him to not pull away right now. ] Eventually.

[ Well he's not trying to make her feel trapped - he's trying to make her feel safe. Maybe he's over-doing it, but then she holds him tighter, implies she doesn't want him to back away, and he guesses that maybe he's okay here with her like this. He's not that pleased with her answer, no, but he can accept it, because it's similar enough to his own to not be something he can conscientiously object to. ] Okay. [ And he's going to try and settle into the pillow and rest, secure with her safe in his arms. ]

[ It's a weird balance. Any containment is enough to make her feel a little trapped right now, but she also wants him close, wants his arms around her because the closer he is the better, the more sheltered she feels. And the more trapped. Him being close outweighs it, though. She takes a deep breath in and out at his agreement, nods. ] Yeah. [ That'll work. When she wakes up it will be better.

That's wishful thinking and she knows it. ]

Edited (that's the wrong icon) 2013-07-05 21:43 (UTC)

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