The Ways We Touch
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Back before everything, during those few stolen weeks of peace, Jon had made it his personal mission to learn everything he could about Martin Blackwood, devouring every scrap of knowledge insatiably. And one of the most important things he learned was that Martin could be reduced to a boneless heap by a good head massage.
*
After the fire, they pause for a while.
Series
- Part 1 of The Ways We Touch
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“Of course,” Jon says, “The use of evergreen trees in worship dates back far before the first Christian—whoops!”
That last as he slides off the armrest, his full weight landing sprawled across Martin’s thighs.
*
Martin and Jon spend a little time together at the Institute holiday party.
Series
- Part 2 of The Ways We Touch
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Martin wakes in the dark. Grief still sits like a stone in his chest, and there’s a lump in his throat that wants to spill out as a sob. He can feel his cheeks are wet. Stupid, he thinks, it’s just a stupid dream.
*
Martin dreams of the Lonely.
Series
- Part 3 of The Ways We Touch
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“How was dinner?” Peter asks mildly. Elias swallows the urge to slap the beard off his stupid face, and responds flatly.
“Delicious, thank you.” No need to admit that he drank a whole bottle of wine miserably and then walked out. “Of course you’d know that if you’d been there.”
*
Elias and Peter's anniversary dinner goes the way you might expect.
Series
- Part 4 of The Ways We Touch
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The one thing Jon insisted upon, once they established themselves enough to start worrying about the petty little things in life, was that they find a flat with a functional bath. He’s always been a fan of baths, although the previous few years of going on the lam and living in the Archives and then a literal apocalypse haven’t provided many opportunities for a nice long soak.
*
Jon takes a bath, and Martin supervises.
Series
- Part 5 of The Ways We Touch
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Everything feels too immediate after that desolate place, all cold and fog and gently lapping waves, where the fear was less like terror and more like grief. All the angles are too sharp, the lights too bright, Peter’s voice too loud when he says:
“How was that for you, Martin?”
*
Martin returns from his first trip into the Lonely.
Series
- Part 6 of The Ways We Touch
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“I’m just going to go and get a cup of tea,” Jon reassures him. “Would you like one?”
“Oh,” says Martin. “Umm, yes. Please. That would be nice.” His voice is quiet, as if he’s afraid to use it too much, but it’s more than he’s said to Jon since this morning so he’ll take it.
*
It’s not easy, coming back from the Lonely.
Series
- Part 7 of The Ways We Touch
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They walk out into the street, where people pass by talking and laughing, living their normal lives despite it all. Melanie is a little bit tipsy, and hopelessly in love, and all right, maybe she can get behind the whole “resilience of the human spirit” thing, just a bit.
*
The world starts to return to normal.
Series
- Part 8 of The Ways We Touch
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Jon looks so small in the hospital bed, covered in wires and drips and surrounded by equipment. It reminds Martin horribly of the time after the Unknowing, when he’d sat by Jon’s side day in and out, pleading silently with him to wake up.
*
Martin wakes up and waits.
Series
- Part 9 of The Ways We Touch
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“I’m quite all right, Jon,” Elias says. “A bit shaken, of course. The police are investigating, but it doesn’t look good.”
Jon reaches for him, and Elias lets himself be pulled down to sit on the mattress, lets Jon’s arms wrap around him comfortingly.
*
Elias goes home after Gertrude’s murder.
Series
- Part 10 of The Ways We Touch
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Martin takes the injury more seriously than he does, pulling out their well-stocked first aid kit and sitting Jon down on the edge of the bath while he examines the wound. Jon makes a few token protests that it’s nothing, but if he’s honest, he quite enjoys having Martin fuss over him like this.
*
Post 200, Jon isn’t invulnerable anymore.
Series
- Part 11 of The Ways We Touch
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He clears his throat.
“The, uh, the corkscrew. It was a very good idea.”
“Oh,” says Martin. “Umm, thanks?”
Come on, Jon thinks, You’re probably going to die here, you can do better than that.
*
A moment during the worm attack.
Series
- Part 12 of The Ways We Touch