Work Text:
“Neil.” Kevin’s voice is breathless down the phone when Neil picks up. Neil’s body categorises the tone of that breathlessness before his brain does. Fear. Kevin sounds afraid. He tenses briefly, before his body pole vaults over the potential of a freeze response and floods his system with adrenaline. Neil never freezes. He is a flee or fight, depending on the scenario. Mostly fight, these days.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“The power went out.” Kevin’s voice is scarcely above a whisper. Neil sighs through his nose in relief.
“Yeah, they’re running the store on a generator, but they’re gonna close early. I got in just in time.”
“Can you get back okay?”
“Sure.” Neil holds his phone between his ear and shoulder as he shifts shopping bags from the cart into the car. His other shoulder is propped against the door, holding it open as the wind tries to blow it shut. “Might take me a bit longer, but I should be fine.”
“What if a tree comes down?”
“I’ll be fine, Kevin.”
“It’s so dark.”
“Hey. You’ve got your phone. Use the torch on it. The lighter is in the second drawer in the kitchen. Light some candles. I’ll be back soon.”
“Right. Yes.” Kevin’s tone of voice suggests this is obvious, and he is foolish for not thinking of it already. It must have badly startled him when the lights went out. It is not like Kevin to overlook something so simple. It’s so dark, he said, and Neil thinks of the Nest, thinks of being trapped in the dark with the scent of his own blood and no way out. He was only there two weeks, and Riko was as violent as he wanted to be with Neil. Kevin got a different kind of treatment. Even now, even years together, he has never really spoken much about his own experiences to Neil. It would not surprise Neil if Kevin had been kept in the dark for hours alone.
“You’re going to be okay. I’ll be home as soon as I can. Do you want me to stay on the phone?”
A sniff. Lingering silence. Neil has to fight with the wind as he struggles to push his cart back towards the bay. In the end he abandons it. What does it matter to him if it blows into someone else’s car? He has Kevin to get home to, he can’t be wasting time on this.
“No. You should focus on driving. I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay. See you soon.”
*
The weather is worse by the time Neil makes it home. The drive was precarious enough he probably should not have been on the road, but there is no timeline in which he did not come home to Kevin. Rain falls in sheets, plastering Neil’s hair against his skull. The streets are a chaotic spread of debris. Neil passes one of their neighbour’s bins racing down the road. Theirs would likely have met the same fate if Kevin had not spent the past few days anxiously ensuring everything they own is secure. Neil never takes storm warnings serious enough. Another thing they balance each other out on.
Kevin is on their couch, bundled in blankets, the coffee table glowing like a small blaze as every candle they own burns on it. His head perks up like a dog when the front door slams open, the wind wrestling it from Neil’s grocery bag laden grasp.
“Fuck.” He had almost fallen over twice trying to carry all the bags in at once, the wind catching against the additional bulk and throwing him off balance, but Neil would rather that than make two trips. Kevin shrugs off his blankets and comes to help, frowning disapprovingly as he takes bags from Neil. Neil leans his weight against the door to get it shut. Kevin leans over him and locks it.
“You’re soaked.”
“Yeah. It’s raining.”
Kevin tsks and rolls his eyes. Neil pushes his wet hair back and turns his phone light on so they can navigate to the kitchen. They put away anything that needs refrigerated before Kevin tugs Neil away from the bags.
“You need to change into dry clothes. You’re cold.”
“I’ll be okay.”
“You’re also dripping on the floor and I can’t see where. If I get my sock wet I’m going to be pissed off.” Despite Kevin’s sock concerns, he still tails Neil as he goes to get a towel. Neil doesn’t know if this is for the light or if Kevin just wants to be close to him. He assumes the latter. Kevin should have his own torch. In the bathroom, he strips his wet clothes off and dumps them in the bathtub to deal with later. Kevin drapes a towel around him, rubbing his cool skin with it. Neil lifts the edge so he can aggressively scrub at his wet hair until the excess water has been absorbed. He puts his hand over Kevin’s on the towel, looking up at him, faces largely obscured in shadow. Kevin leans down. He presses his forehead to Neil’s. For a few moments, they just breathe quietly together, then Kevin kisses him softly.
Still moving together, they stop by the bedroom for Neil to get dressed, stealing one of Kevin's hoodies to wear over his own sweats. They return to the couch, which is the warmest space solely due to the amount of candles Kevin has burning. Neil starts blowing some of them out.
“What are you doing?” Kevin grips his arm.
“We don’t need all of them, and we should save some. We don’t know how long the power will be out.” Neil leaves two candles burning, one at each end of the table. Kevin drops onto the couch, dragging Neil onto his lap. Neil fixes some of the blankets around them as Kevin presses his face against Neil’s shoulder and breathes him in. Neil rests his cheek against the top of Kevin’s head, dotting kisses to his forehead. “We’ll be okay. We’ve got plenty of water and food, and we can keep warm together.”
Kevin says nothing. His arms tighten around Neil’s waist. Neil smooths a thumb down Kevin’s cheek, tilting his chin up to pepper sweet kisses to his lips.
“Did I ever tell you about the time there was a huge flood while I was sleeping in a tent?”
“No.”
“Oh boy.” Neil wriggles around in Kevin’s lap to get more comfortable. Kevin settles a hand on his thigh, rubbing up and down as he listens. “The tent got swept away with us in it! Okay, so-”
As Neil speaks, he works one of his hands through Kevin’s hair, drawing patterns on his scalp. The memory is not a good one, nor one Neil particularly wants to retell, but like so much of his life, it now feels far away and hazy. So separate from who he is now, it’s almost like it didn’t happen to him. Like he is a different person. He lays out the details anyway, knowing it will distract Kevin. If Kevin does not admit to feeling upset by something, then it cannot be addressed directly. Neil has learned this the hard way. Over and over and over again. Usually he’s a fast learner, but some lessons take a while to stick. Kevin does not like his issues or emotions to be addressed unless he opens them to the floor, and so Neil must find other, sneakier approaches.
Kevin has not told him he’s unsettled tonight, but Neil can feel it in him, and so Neil will make himself the ultimate distraction. He will keep Kevin’s focus on him so he does not think about the storm raging outside. He will look after Kevin, because that is what Neil does. Rain or shine.