[closed] Something always brings me back to you.

[morework]

Who: Cullen Rutherford & Garrett Hawke
Where: Their Room (1/003)
When: (backdated to) October 1st
Rating: PG/PG-13
Summary: It has been years. Or days, depending on your view. Cullen is returning from home.
The Story:

Will he ever get used to returning here? Cullen doubts it. He does not swing his sword at nothing, this time. Only a stack of books drops to the floor at his feet, when the scenery changes, and his desk is left in Thedas. A second of tense alarm, followed by comprehension, which turns the expression into a weary frown.

"This blighted place again," he mutters under his breath, as the memories come washing back.

He picks up the last book when it hits him. And there, all of a sudden, two years of absence condense themselves into a single moment, as it dawns on him that something was missing all this time. Someone. Garrett. He remembers the room number as he walks, quickly down the corridor. It wasn't- isn't long, from the entrance hall to there, he remembers too.

He puts his hand flat on the door. How long-- Cullen pulls the communication device from his pocket. Where he knew it would be again. His scowl is fleeting. He reads back, until the transmissions sound familiar again. Difficult to remember, after... so long for him, but what? A mere week here? Cullen shakes his head. No matter. There will be far too much of that strangeness later. He opens the door, finally.

...Steps into the room, quietly, and thinks it half a miracle the dogs did not wake from the intrusion all the same. He looks around, and finds it all much the same as he left it. Finds Garrett asleep in their bed. He puts the books down on his desk quietly. Through the window the sun is slowly beginning to rise.

Cullen sits down on the bed, and puts his hand on Garrett's shoulder.

"Maker, I've missed you so much."

Comments

[bloodmagics]

He always worries when Cullen goes home. Sure, it's only happened twice but Thedas is Thedas. There's every chance he'll come back with horrible, gut wrenching news about the state of the world, or even worse, himself. The week passes slowly, the worst case scenarios hanging over his head like a cloud and all he can do is keep the dogs company.

Or rather, let them lay on top of him as he tries and fails to distract himself.

Even with Cullen gone -- and his personal effects are still here, he checks every day -- he sticks to their routine. In bed by midnight at the latest, though without the comfortable warmth of Cullen against him, he finds it harder to sleep. Garrett shifts in his sleep when the bed dips suddenly, only waking when he hears a familiar voice.

"-- You're," his eyes open, blearily and he can barely see in the low light of the morning but he can make out Cullen. "You're back."