Astraphobia [M] [Closed]

"Thankfully I was a lot like Yazoo and Loz at their age - I'll hopefully see the signs if they start turning to pyromania and arson," he chuckled. He shifted to face Seph more, his expression serious again. "I'll look after them like they're my own, Seph. I won't let anything happen to them while you're gone, I promise. Can't say I'll work a miracle and they'll be complete angels when you get back, but they'll be in one piece at least."

He stretched and flicked the ash out of the car and then settled back again. "At least on base they'll be safe."

"I know you will," Reno nodded, his fingertips brushing Seph's cheek as his lips trailed down his skin. "Just a small time apart and then we can work on forever. The time away from each other will only make it all the better when we're together again."

He leant into the embrace, nuzzling into his shoulder and neck with a soft sigh. "Doesn't make it any easier though, does it?"

Reno flicked the half spent cigarette out of the car and wrapped his arms around Seph more, pressing into the kiss. He knew what Seph wasn't saying - it didn't take much thought to guess it - and with each kiss he knew that this was how he was coping.

"I just need to be with you, there's nothing more you need to do to make this week wonderful," he said between kisses. As sappy as it sounded, it was the truth. The was nothing that Seph could say or do that would make the time any better than just allowing him to stay at his side.

Reno leant down and grabbed his phone from the bag and nodded to Seph. "Lets get this done and get home," he agreed, slipping out of the car. He ran a hand over his clothes and then through his hair, trying to straighten himself out so that he was presentable.

He turned back to Seph with a small smile. "Will I do?"

Reno couldn't help but find it weird to be walking through a school's corridors while openly holding the hand of another man. To even think of doing such a thing was once grounds for suspension (and often was the cause of his own) and yet there they were. It was liberating to know that they were able to be in public as romantic partners, especially in what was once an oppressive environment.

"I'll just call Jess and arrange picking Cerys up after school so she knows to pack a few things for her that we can collect." He leant against the wall as Seph went into the office, flicking through his contacts for the number he needed.

It didn't take his ex-wife long to figure that was something was wrong, and not long after that to figure out what.

"No, no - we want to take Cerys tonight," Reno insisted. "Please, Jess. Yazoo adores her and right now he could use the distraction she'll bring - and the excuse to watch kids shows. Honest, we want her with us."

It took a little longer to convince her that he wasn't being a martyr and arranged for a bag of their daughter's things to be locked in the shed for them to pick up when they were able.

"Thanks, J. Now go, have fun - you two deserve an afternoon to yourselves."

They ended the call and Reno pocketed the cell phone with a sigh. It was sweet that Jess was offering to do what she could for them, but it just meant talking about it before he was ready. He would call her when he needed her - the same way it has always been if either was in crisis.

He straightened his shirt again and knocked lightly on the door before he entered the office.

Reno lightly brushed his lips over the top of Seph's head as he took the seat next to him. "It's not a problem, I didn't think that three lots of paperwork would go quickly. It would have been useful if I was able to help you fill these all out..."

He watched the pen moving over the page. "It took her less than five seconds to figure something wasn't right, and then nearly two minutes for her to stop rambling. It went something like, 'I know you're not the easiest person to live with - trust me, I know - but if he's giving up on what you guys have then he's a bloody fool and he doesn't deserve you.' Then when I told her that it wasn't that, she twigged on and then spent the next three apologising and telling me that we don't need to have Cerys today. Don't worry, I've reassured her that we want to have her today and everything is fine. I know where to grab her stuff - they had to change the house locks last week and they haven't had a copy cut for me yet."

He looked up at Seph's questing gaze with a small smile. "I'm fine, don't worry. I'm going to be okay."

Reno leant in and kissed Seph's shoulder with a smile. "I'm as okay as I can be right now," he admitted. "This is your job, I knew that from the start and I knew that one day this could happen. I accepted that, and still do. I'm never going to be happy about it because I know what can happen... but I have to hold on to the hope that it doesn't, and make sure that what time we have before you go is something you can look back on and smile - not hurt - over."

He pulled back and grabbed hold of the chair, moving it closer to Seph's and resting his cheek on his arm again. "I'm not going to lie, the thought of being without you around is killing me inside, but we're going to get through it. After all, sooner or later one of us was going to be sent out on work and be gone for months at a time - we've just been fortunate that we've had the time we had without that happening."

Gently he ran his fingers through Seph's hair, a quiet smile on his lips. "I love you, and that'll get me through this."

"I'll be waiting for you," he promised, kissing Seph's shoulder again. "There is nothing that is going to change that because there is no one in this world that could take me from you. No matter how far away you have to go, or for how long - I can promise you that without a single doubt in my heart."

He leant up and nipped Seph's earlobe lightly. "I told you from the start, you're going to have trouble getting rid of me. Don't let this make you doubt that I meant it."

He looked at the paperwork and rose an eyebrow. "Lord... I thought my school record was colourful..."

"I'm working on him... slowly," Reno chuckled. "I only need to find that linchpin with him. Kadaj was easy... Yazoo was more simple once I introduced him to Cerys... I mean, I'm at the verge of buying Loz a car just to see if it would work."

He gave a cheeky grin - he wouldn't dare buy him a car without Seph's permission, but it was amusing to threaten it.

"I love that fighting and drugs count as 'boring stuff' these days," he snorted softly, picking up Yazoo's file for a closer look. "I have to admit to some of these offences myself - though seeing as you can substitute 'head cheerleader' with 'star quarterback' you can understand how I ended up suspended instead of in detention."

He put it back down with a shake of his head. "All I can say is they will have a lot to look back on and cringe about... I can definitely testify to that."

"I get on better with him because I'm not his dad, so anything he says or does can't disappointment me in the same way it could you. I know we had the worst kind of father either of us could have imagined but I know I still wished there was something I could do to make him proud of me... well, for a while, anyway. Then I realised he was just an asshole and I couldn't care less."

That realisation had come with a fist to the jaw and a good beating, but that didn't need to be stated.

He leant back and let Seph finish with the files. "We just need to run to Jess' to pick up Cerys' bag and then we should be free until I pick her up after school - unless we need to go grocery shopping so we can eat this week," he chuckled.

Reno had watched him as he talked, slowly frowning as he realised that he had lost his attention after talking about their fathers. He went to him, his hand gently cupping his cheek. "What's wrong? Was it something I said?"

Reno could tell he was holding something back but he knew that pushing him to talk about it wouldn't do either of them any good. Seph would talk about it when he was ready, he knew that.

He pulled him into a light kiss. "Jess' for the bag, then I'm thinking we need to go grocery shopping if I've come to know your fridge as well as I think I do. Besides, Cerys is in her random fussy stage and if there aren't dinosaur shapes chicken nuggets she's not going to be a happy little girl... and I figure eating silly food will do us all good."

He took Seph's hand and head for the door. "By the time we've done all that we might have an hour before we need to pick Cerys up from school - we'll see how things go."