(no subject)

[amicably_absent]

Glitch had swum for hours, chasing fish and insects and bubbles and sunbeams. Eventually, worn out and tired, he had swum to shore and curled up on the bank on the sun warmed pebbles, grumbling about his lack of coat until he fell asleep.

He woke up with Rennie shaking him, a scolding voice telling him he had to come in, he was all wet and dirty and needed a bath and clean clothes, and was she going to have to strap him in the chair.

Glitch reacted predictably.

He screamed at her, judo flipped her while sitting down, dove into the water, swam to a far edge and took off.

Rennie asked Cain to go find Glitch and bring him in before he froze or hurt himself.

Glitch had retreated to the rotunda, sitting on the seat and swinging himself back and forth, watching the sun setting on the lake. He was soaking wet again, but his trembling didn't seem to worry him at all.

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He gasps breath, rubbing his eyes and shaking off again. "Yeah. Warm and clean."

His curls are actually curling, rather than their usual sticking out. That might change with drying.

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And this time, Cain moves away before the spray can hit him; he's smiling this time around too. He comes back with one of the thick towels, ready for wrapping it around his...special friend.

His heart feels lighter for it. "You sure you're clean enough, I'm not going to argue."

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Of course, Glitch hasn't washed his body at all but he's already forgotten about filthy, sore feet and a day swimming in a lake and sleeping on the shore.

"Uh huh. Hair all clean." He runs his fingers through his curls.

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They can deal with filthy feet later, and besides, Cain's sure most of the dirt will come off with the towel. He spent over a decade in an iron suit collecting dust, and he's fine.

"Well? Are you gonna sit there all night?"

A beat. "I promise I won't peek if that's why you're dawdling."

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"Promise?" But he doesn't wait for the confirmation, pushing out of the bath with a shiver and into the waiting towel. "My feet hurt."

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Just time enough for him to turn his eyes skyward, arms and towel going around Glitch's shoulders. Only then does he look, and boy, what a view. Not so much a sopping wet cat anymore, he reckons, but no less adorable.

"They should," he notes, very seriously.

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"Why should they hurt?" He looked down at them, toes and nails still dirty despite the bath. He snuggles into the towel more, tugging it around him.

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"Because you spent all day barefoot and outdoors." He starts rubbing Glitch's back, more than happy to assist with drying up. At least initially. Then he remembers that such things are most usually dealt with in private.

"Clean your feet, don't forget, and I'll go find you something to put on."

But not before pressing close for a hug. A real one, even if Glitch can't really return it at this point in time.

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"Oh. That." Minor, unimportant details.

He snuggles in, but then he realises he's going to be left alone to do this. And that's always just that little bit scary, because he tends to forget things. "Clean feet. Right."

He snuggles in, arms around himself holding the towel and then stepping back to eye off his feet. "Right. Clean."

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"I'll be back before you know it."

He feels odd, dimly, as if something is sparkling or bubbling inside. "I'll even leave the door open so you can hear me rummaging, okay?"

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"Okay. And you can hear if I hurt myself." He sits down on the tiled floor and starts rubbing at his feet, pouting when it hurts but keeping on anyway.

"Wyatt...?"

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"Yeah, Glitch?"

He turns around at the door.

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He pauses and the thought leaves again.

He huffs. "Can't remember."

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"It's okay." Cain smiles bravely, struck by the chilling thought that Glitch may not remember what happened in here beyond this very moment.

What if he won't--

"You know what I do when something slips away?"

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"What?" He looks up to Cain in the doorway, wrapped in the towel and rubbing at his feet.

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"I try to think of something completely unrelated, and it pops right back. Nothing to it."

He smiles before stepping outside. "I'll be right back."

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"Huh."

He sit for a long moment, not doing anything. Then he starts drying off his back then body. His legs, then his feet.

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For a while, Cain does exactly what he said he'd do. He goes rummaging through the former Advisor's closet looking for something that Glitch might choose to wear. Something soft and casual; and he ends up with just that. Perhaps the items themselves are a bit mismatched, but he doesn't care enough about such things to notice. The clothes look comfy, that's that.

A short while after the clothes are laid out on Glitch's bed, he stands transfixed by the window, looking up at the waning twin moons.

He'll only be a moment. Just one moment more.

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

Glitch has a lot of new clothes that he's never worn, preferring to wear the same ratty clothes day in and day out.

But, regardless of that, Glitch finally dries off and comes padding out with the towel wrapped around his body and favouring one foot. "Wyatt?"

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He hums acknowledgment, but takes a moment more to turn around.

Which is when he sees the foot, and starts walking over. "Yes?"

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"Are you okay? Just thinking?" He keeps standing there, wrapped in the towel and hair still wet.

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His expression softens, and he nods, coming to stand in front of him. "Just watching the moons.

"You?"

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"I like the moons. They're just bright enough that I fall less." He looks to the window. "Um, oh! I remembered what I was going to say! My foot's all scratched up."

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"Then we'll fix it." He helps Glitch to one of the armchairs. "Sit down, let me have a look."

[amicably-absent.livejournal.com]

Sitting down, Glitch stick out his bony leg, wriggling his toes. The sole of his foot has several long scratches that had scabbed over until the vigorous drying and plenty of smaller ones. Nothing serious though.

Glitch hugs the towel around him more. "Did we eat?"