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I will wake you up when I get there.

[ So he can let Johann curl around him. ]

[And now that he's clean, that's exactly what he's looking forward to.]

[ And when he gets in, he'll do just that. Then, entwined with Johann, he isn't going to do anything but hold him.

No sleep will come for some time. ]

He sleeps for a while, hours and hours, well through the day and into the evening hours. Many times, he woke, but forced himself back to sleep, just so he didn't have to face the rest of the day.

It's been a difficult fortnight.

He's grateful for Florian, letting him go only when he's decided he's had quite enough rest. "How much trouble am I in?" he mutters without opening his eyes.

Johann will see the flare of temper but the voice that answers him is soft and the words are punctuated with a kiss.

"None at all. Trevor and Archer are handling it. The wardens from his world are sympathetic to you. And his warden is not accusing you of anything."

He soothes that flare of heat with a gentle squeeze.

"Good. He ripped my fucking coat."

That is the highest crime, clearly. "You did all that for us."

"I am that kind of monster," he agrees before leaning up to kiss him again. "And I have been working on something. I may test it on your coat."

He raises his head. "You are, without a doubt, the most adorable monster, yes." Johann smiles, clearly feeling better if he's taunting him.

"What do you have in mind for my coat?"

He gently moves to dislodge Florian, aiming to stretch and make tea for himself. It's become a nice calming ritual in the evening.

Florian allows himself to be dislodged after a small amount of displeasure expressed, mostly to let him know that he is displeased about it more than the actual displeasure itself, before he sits up to talk.

"Reinforcement, for one thing. I've done it for your underthings, to protect your vitals, but I'll need to do it for all your coats as well. It would hardly suit to see you stabbed just because I got you in something blue."

"Sounds like a lot of work," he says, going to the sink to splash a little water on his face before heating up the water in the kettle.

"You're going to make us unstoppable."

Which he is very much in favor of. "Teach me to do it so I can help."

"I am not sure you have the patience for it, and mistakes can be unforgiving, or so I was told," he says honestly. "Though I may have other work for you in this effort."

A wry smile.

"And that is the point, darling."

Johann takes zero offense to the critique, but he does roll his eyes for show.

"What's the work?"

"You say that as if I only have one task," he purrs as he leans back against the pillows. "But to start with, I need you to help me test some of the mystic codes I've been working on. They're largely of my own devising and design with the use of some books from the library, but they're very promising."

A pause.

"I should also like to teach you how to use those knives without your hands."

Johann shakes his head, almost in disbelief. Of course he already has tasks for him. Florian's ever the strategist. Even if part of those are just doing what he did at home - being part of his experiments.

"Without my hands?"

His control over materials with his magic is a little shaky, but the prospect doesn't seem terrible. He can admit that it would have come in handy when he was with Hilbert.

He lifts a hand and beckons one of his books from the table to his fingers.

"Only it is even more useful when one does not gesture."

And it's fellow joins it a moment later, without Florian even looking at the table.

"A knife drawn and inserted before their eyes have even seen you twitch. Useful, no?"

"Alright. I'll learn it and give you my best impression of the attentive schoolboy, but I want something in return," he says, turning towards him, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Add it to your book, Buchhalter," he teases, knowing exactly what's written, or more importantly not written, in that book about him.

His eyes might nearly roll out of his head but-

"And what is that?"

He fishes a knife from his sleeve and sets it down on the small table beside Florian before leaning close, looming over him with a feral sort of grin.

"You let me teach you how to throw them yourself. With your hands."

He has literally died first. But-

"Only if you understand I've as little skill in that respect as you do in focusing on dry material."

"That's why I knew it would be a fair trade," he says, still smiling with all teeth.

"Except I why do I need to use knives with my hands?"

Fuss.

"For the same reason you study anatomy before you can manipulate it."

He picks up his wrist and kisses it. "Besides, you can always get better with your hands."

Oh the flat look he's getting.

"You have another week before I start being cross with you again."

"The best week of my life, sweet pea," he coos, following it up with a laugh.

"Is that a yes?"

"It's not a no," he says to that before rolling his eyes again. Ugh. You're the worst. You're the absolute worst.

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