Respite For The Weary [Liltotto, Dorian]

Reading that report on her way back to the city alone was a giant gut punch, seeing the name of her mother as one of the hospitalized combatants alongside the numerous others gave her a familiar feeling of illness as she'd arrive back, having given Reida a reserved yet earnest parting and immediately going off to not only view the state of the city, but to find Dorian.

Of course things weren't in good shape. No matter how much she lied to herself on the trip back about things not being as bad, that the report overshot or was incorrect in some way, there was no denying the reality before her as she went about the streets, seeing the still shaken citizens and the carnage from the attack. She thought it'd just be a normal patrol trip, go over to the Americas, stay a while, deal with anything that popped up, come back when it was time, back to any at-home obligations and relationships.

Each and every evidence of the incident she would meet with a deep breath and a stern internal demand to calm down, to just keep going calmly and collectedly, putting whatever she felt firmly to the side. She needed to find Dorian, that was what she was doing, and she had no time to give to those emotions. He likely was still working, even after a city-wrecking attack. His office? Excused him from work. The restaurant? There too. Liltotto greatly doubted that he just gave up and went home - he was way too stubborn to cave so easily. The last option that came to mind probably was public assistance.

As she searched, she would soon stop as she immediately picked him out, her heart raising with both her natural sense of care and relief that he was alive and unharmed, though it would plummet when she saw what state he was in, still working,

"Dorian," She'd gently place a hand on his shoulder, eyes narrowed at him, though they lacked any sort of judgment or scolding, only possessing a look of fatigued concern, "You're taking a break."

Dorian had lost track of the hours that had passed at this point. He'd only slept twice now, and both times were rather short. That was fine, though, sleep was something he could catch up on when there was free time to be had. He was just finishing another bit of work clearing rubble, and nearly ready to move onto the next, when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and heard a voice that cut through all of his focus like a razor blade.

"...I don't suppose I can ask to finish my work first, can I?"

He smiled a touch to himself, knowing perfectly well that wouldn't convince Liltotto, and stood up, turning to face her properly now. His eyes were clearly exhausted, and his features looked worn, drained. Even his makeup had begun to look a bit out of line, as if he hadn't attended to it in a while now.

He hadn't of course. There were other things for Dorian to be doing.

She met that smile with a raised brow, hand on her hip as she met his eyes with a soft yet chiding look, before taking his hand and gently leading him away, "Might as well been smooching those rocks with how engrossed you were." She'd mumble with humor as she led the worn man away from his designated place of work, placing her free hand on her face, "For fuck's sake Dorian, the guys at the kitchen were saying you were practically going nonstop."

Liltotto didn't give him even a moment to reply, still going on as the two walked, "Y'can't just be day in day out working yourself to the bone... Okay, alright, you were already kind of doing that, and I didn't really say anything about it, coz I didn't want to be saying anything about your workflow, but you're beyond pushing it now, and i'm definitely not sitting quiet til you have a heart attack or something. We're staying at my apartment so you can get some rest."

She'd stop for a moment, before fully turning to look at Dorian for a second, pointing a finger, "And before you say it - there are plenty of able bodied people able to pick up whatever slack's been made, if any. You can afford to stop and get actual rest for a good while, especially when your eyes are saggin' so much they look close to falling out of your sockets like some sickly pug. It's rough right now, we are resting together, understand?"

Dorian had, indeed, been fully prepared to tell her that there would be slack he needed to pick up, that he couldn't afford to get any rest. He supposed it made him at least a bit pleased to know she knew him well enough to see it coming, and he offered a quiet sigh of resignation as he met her gaze.

"I understand, Liltotto. I won't argue, not that I think I quite have the energy to even if I wanted to."

He gave her hand a brief kiss, though it certainly lacked in the energy that he typically showed in his little affectionate moments. He didn't quite have that in him, after all.

"I met a very cheery young girl that suggested I cuddle with my girlfriend, you know. Said it would be exceptionally restful. Smart girl."

She'd give a slight nod to her head, perking up a bit with the kiss on the hand, softly clearing her throat and looking away with a soft tint to her cheeks. Ugh, even when he was keel-over tired he was cute, she almost couldn't stand it. Letting out a gentle 'hmmph' and turning back around, she'd continue leading them, seeing the familiar building coming up - it wasn't super far, and she was kind of relieved that her house wasn't wrecked by a cero or whatever attack that guy was throwing around; would entirely suck to lose her bed and belongings, doubly so when she just insisted on them resting together there. Very unnerving that it looked pretty close to happening, though.

"Awh, cute." A gentle reply came from her, "Great minds think alike; I was planning on givin' you plenty."

Arriving at the door, Liltotto would shuffle through her bag, fumbling with her keys for a moment, and soon the door was unlocked for them to walk in. Since she had started dating him, she put significantly more care into how her surroundings were, not that it was too chaotic before but it definitely wasn't entirely visitor friendly. Any old books or trinkets were either stored off in a corner or put on some sort of shelving, the place overall devoid of mess, of course excepting the TV which still had a great many unorganized wires coming to it from various electronic devices. She never really managed to bring herself to even begin trying to sort that out apart from making sure it was at least contained behind the TV and stand.

"Go wash up, your face looks like it's melting." She'd point to the guest bathroom, "I'm taking a shower. Trip back sucked."

Even so, she gave him a small peck on the cheek before going off to the other room to clean up.

"It'd save water if I joined you, you know."

It was the sort of little quip that Dorian almost certainly wouldn't have made if he'd been anything resembling well-rested, but even as he realized what had actually left his mouth, he simply offered a small little grin, apologetic and yet not entirely ashamed of what he'd said.

Besides, he hardly wanted to intrude, regardless of whether or not he imagined that was probably a nice sight. So unless she stopped him, he simply made his way toward the guest bathroom, perfectly intent on actually taking a moment to get himself in order. Ah, he hadn't brought anything with him to actually fix his makeup...well, he didn't mind going without if it was just the two of them. Especially if he was intending on sleeping.

Her progress to the shower would stop dead when those unexpected words reached her, in a stiff standstill for a moment. Did she hear that right? An unreadable gaze would meet his, clearly having the face of somebody who just mistakenly let something slip, but at the same time clearly having meant it. She'd turn away again for a moment, deliberating on what to even respond with, before taking a deep breath, wordlessly approaching him to take his hand, and lead him to the larger bathroom with her.

Oh my god what the fuck was I thinking i've never been naked in front of another person before, Her thoughts flatly scrawled in her mind as she sealed her fate with the closing of the door behind her, taking a deep breath to allow a logical thought to interrupt the loud one, ..He's my boyfriend, it was gonna happen anyway.

"Just don't fall asleep on me in the shower, alright?" She'd puff, starting the water and beginning to pull her top off, "You can do that when we're sitting down."

Dorian, quite frankly, hadn't expected her to respond in such a way, but he knew perfectly well that this was nothing short of the best possible outcome in this situation. He could have anticipated a quip in response from her, maybe a bit of a huff, but he was here now, pulled on in and allowing himself a smile as he began to undress as well, doing his very best to act relatively casual and avoid obviously looking.

It wasn't as if he'd be able to avoid it in a few moments here, anyway.

"Fall asleep? I can't imagine any situation where I'd be less likely to."

Oh, he was on a roll. 'Feeling himself,' one might even say. He slipped off his gloves, his jacket, letting down his hair and getting to work unbuttoning his vest. He really did wear quite a bit, didn't he?

With pulling off her top, her chest was immediately exposed, lacking any other covering or support as she'd go on to take her pants off, before pausing and giving him a bit of a leer, the hiss of heated water off in the background,

"Then quit lookin' away. It's all or nothin' now," If she was gonna be naked with a guy in the shower, she might as well embrace it, "No idea how you even feel up to putting on that many things every day. Uniforms are my hard limit."

Hmmph. It didn't take long for her to completely strip down, tying her long hair up as not to get soaking wet or interfere with her shower. Though even with her glow of confidence towards doing this, she roared with uncertainty within - she had zero experience with this sort of thing outside of movies, and those were the last things she'd take as a source for 'Top 10 Sexy Things To Do In The Shower'. She really walked into the fire without looking here, but she'd still try to take it in stride.

"Y'ready, busy body?"

"A man can't take a few moments to build suspense before I turn around? Create a sense of awe for what I'm about to see?"

But as he finished undressing, everything folded neatly and set to the side, Dorian finally turned around, his eyes not so much widening in surprise at the sight before him, but narrowing faintly in rather transparent fondness. There were all sort of confident, dashing things he was fairly certain he could do in this situation, but despite his exhaustion-induced confidence, he was all too aware that he had no actual experience in any of that. So instead, he simply brought a hand to her cheek as he stepped forward, looking into her eyes rather than at anything below, despite how appealing it all was.

"Ah, I should have known my imagination couldn't possibly match up. I'm ready as I'll ever be, beautiful."

There was an abysmally low chance that this side of him would be quite as present once he'd slept off his exhaustion, and Dorian knew that. This was the sort of equilibrium between delirium and enlightenment that one found when they'd worked for far too long, and typically, he'd only ever found it after days in the kitchen, focused only on his next masterpiece.

This, however, seemed a far more worthwhile way to apply it. He'd be furious with himself later on if he didn't take this opportunity to actually show her how he felt. Dorian, for all his outward extravagance, tended to keep much of himself buried, guarded away, and his refined demeanor tended to obscure the reality of a rather simple fact:

He very much liked Liltotto.