The Long Journey Home

7: We who have lost everything don't fear death, we remember it

[ TFATWS episode 1x04 continued departure for timetable ]

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"Tell her you got it for her."
"Isn't that kind of obvious, Sam?"
"In Russian."
"We don't know she speaks Russian."
"We don't know that she doesn't."
"Leave it alone, Sam. Don't make it weird."
"It's already weird."
"You're right. It is. So stop. Talking. About. It."

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          The process of draining the tub seems to be going quicker than the process to fill it, though that could have been due to how far the faucet had been turned. You lift your travel bag up onto your shoulder, tucking your dirty clothes up with the towels piled in the floor by the door. The temptation had been there to rush through the process of cleaning up, wanting to seek out The Baron to continue to explore this new connection to him – but the moment you sat down and leaned back that battle was lost.

          It has been a long time since you could enjoy the luxury of a warm private bath – with or without the added pleasant burn of muscles used and sated by sex. There might still be the faint whiff of it in the bathroom, mingled with the scent of the aftershave Helmut had applied, the soap he'd used in the shower, and the refreshed floral scent from your bubble bath.

          As you exit the bathroom something new greets your nose: the smell of spice. There's also the occasional clack or rattle of a cooking utensil colliding with a pan, accompanied by the flux of low conversation. You pause to set your bag down at the mouth of the hallway leading to the guest rooms. The issue of who sleeps where will be addressed in due time. Sam and Bucky have returned.

          Bucky has claimed one of the barstools, just as Sam had earlier, and settled in on one side of the kitchen counter. The other two men are moving easily side by side in the small space that is the kitchen, working to prepare dinner. Whatever they're making, it smells divine.

          You try to keep from letting your focus linger too long on Helmut. The memory of the way his body moved against your skin threatens to betray your thoughts and return a flush to your cheeks. You're not sure what the other two will make of this new development between you and The Baron. You're not even sure what you make of this new development. Not that it is any of their business, one way or the other. The notes of tension between the three of them are gone, for now. You'd like to keep it that way.