thisismybar | Elijah

"It's good to know I got something besides having good hair right."

It was pretty mildly stated for him, though.

Elijah shifted away from the topic of his discomfort, and gave Ric a teasing look.

"You think I have good hair? I was thinking about cutting it. Something more...contemporary."

"I'm not entirely sure you can 'sell' contemporary, but I'm pretty sure your hair would be good no matter how it was cut..." There was a bit of dry, self-depreciating humor in there, somewhere.

"You missed the Middle Ages," Elijah muttered before pulling to a stop as far as the road went near the caves. "But thank you...I think."

He could sell contemporary!

"Sweetheart, I missed the seventies." Never mind the middle ages, he was dry and kind of bemused about it, though. He slid out of the car once it came to a stop, and once he'd walked around, said, "You're welcome." Just like Elijah hadn't added thinking so.

The "sweetheart" made him startle, internally, but he didn't show much on the outside, just glanced at him as he locked the car.

"You didn't miss much. The seventies were..." He shook his head. "There was polyester. No one looked good in it."

Ric waited until the heard the car lock, then started walking. "I've never been much of a fashion icon...." Just ask Klaus. "Wearing plastic doesn't sound comfortable, though."

Elijah gave a delicate little shudder. "Believe me," he answered as he fell in step beside him. "It really wasn't."

"I'll keep not picturing you in bell bottoms." It was a bit of a tease, but also sort of not. "And stick with my t-shirts and jeans. Any reference to safaris from you, though, and all bets are off."

"Please do keep that out of your head, yes." Elijah had burned what few pictures there were from that decade. He glanced over at Ric, smiled slightly. "There's nothing wrong with t-shirts and jeans."

Not when you wore them like Alaric did.

"Yeah, well, tell that to your-" He stopped himself and grimaced. "I'm sorry. That... wasn't fair."

Elijah, having no idea what Klaus had or hadn't said about Alaric's wardrobe, just looked confused. "...It wasn't?"

"Just... go with it," he suggested, with a wry smile. "It was a dick move on my part, even if you don't get the reference. Below the belt, Klaus, not you, don't know where it came from, etc. etc."

Elijah gave him a measuring look for a moment, trying to decide if pressing was worth it, but took him at his word and nodded.

"All right."

Ric reached out and squeezed Elijah's arm, right above the elbow, before returning his hand to his pocket. "Thank you."

The touching was likely to surprise him for a bit, but he just nodded and fell silent until they got to the cave entrance. "The flashlight is really going to be far more helpful than the torches."

"Less smoke and a much reduced chance of me knocking my skull in or landing on my ass. My pride and my lungs are grateful for the foresight...." He flipped it on, and handed it to Elijah. "I'll stay right behind you."

There was no appreciable preamble or transition. "Do you dislike being touched?"

Elijah took the flashlight and moved in, even though he didn't really need it. He could light the way for Ric just fine. The question made him pause, look back at the man, though.

"...No?"

Lighting the way for Ric was the idea. Yes, it made things shadowed, but it kept Ric's hands free, in case he needed them. Why he would need them, he didn't know.

He shrugged, a little. "Then what's with the reaction, every time you are?"

...He wasn't always the most subtle man around, okay?

Elijah started to ask what reaction, but he considered before he said anything, then just shrugged and moved to head back down the path.

"I guess I'm just not used to it anymore. I'm not really someone people reach out and touch these days." Not even with his siblings. Which possibly explained his obsessive touch fetish--always touching things.

Ric thought about that, as he walked. He thought about Elijah's challenge and the kiss and the way Elijah was always touching, stroking, or straightening some inanimate object. He even thought about his own perception of Elijah as 'asexual', or celibate.

The last thing he thought about was Elijah's age, and how long things had been going 'on' with Klaus, at least so far as he knew.

He waited until the path widened a bit, then moved up beside Elijah, and... slung an arm across his shoulders, heavy and warm, and with an utter lack of fuss.

He was Damon's best friend. If he couldn't figure things out, he wouldn't be.

Elijah didn't stiffen at the move, though he did give Ric a slanted look, still a little surprised, before darting his eyes away after a moment to hide a sudden wetness in them. He didn't pull away, and he didn't go so far as to snuggle into him or anything, but.

He did lean a little, shifting the flashlight more to Ric's side so he could see where he was stepping.

With Ric so close, the tension that he was feeling as they got nearer the cave was probably palpable, no matter how serene his expression.

Ric knew if Elijah wanted away from him, he could damn well get there. He could feel the tension, yes, but he was also aware of the subtle lean and the change in where Elijah was pointing the light. He kept his arm in place, knuckles dragging back and forth over Elijah's bicep a bit, and walked with him.

Just that. No muss, no fuss, nothing fancy or romantic or dramatic. Just kept touching him, provided a little physical comfort (he hoped) and walked. "You ready for this?" he asked, when they were just outside.

It was the sort of casual touch that he and his siblings had exchanged, once upon a time, when their well-oiled dance around each other, the ways they stayed in contact, still worked, wasn't broken the way it was now. Even as he relaxed into the touch, he still found his stomach twisting a bit as they got to the cave entrance.

He stared beyond it for a moment, then nodded, taking a breath he didn't need in an effort to steady himself. "I'm ready."

He pointed the flashlight in and then stepped through, nothing holding him back this time.

Ric let Elijah step through before him, breaking the contact between them briefly, but he didn't send Elijah in alone. He thought about it, but ultimately decided, fairly firmly, against it. And while he only had a few minutes experience to really draw on, he didn't leave Elijah without touch, either. He simply moved in behind him, put one hand lightly on his shoulder, and kept it there. Too light to be more than a reminder of his presence, but not intended to be any more than that, either. Grounding in the presence, and some pretty solid human heat.

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