👄– kissing them on their jaw ( to theo !! )

{ Nonverbal Starters }

Theodore would never deny how deeply it pleased him when Bram would shuck aside his nerves and initiate matters, for he always had such sweet ways of beginning what could at times become rather rigorous exercises in passion. Other times, these little displays were nothing more than placating actions, and Theodore was only too glad to allow himself to be manipulated into calm so that Bram could be frustrated and sharp without fear of repercussions later in the day. 

( In truth, Theodore had a feeling Bram didn’t even know he was manipulating matters when he did so – it just came and went, his bad moods and his good ones, with no true recollection of having used a good mood to garner smooth sailing through a terrible one ) 

All of this culminated into reasons why Theodore adored Bram so deeply – they shared in something that was intimately their own, but the men the world had made them to be were not compromised because of it. His lover was still every bit the incomparable, collected lord of Edrington, a man of impeccable standing in society and respectable ( if at times questionable and terrible ) military advantage. 

He could be cold – astonishingly aloof in a world so passionate in it’s whipping around him – and he could be unyielding and devastating in turns. There was a thread of steel in his spine that Theodore adored, even when it could at times turn itself upon him as the weight of the world settled too heavily upon familiar shoulders. 

By contrast, Theodore was as warm and malleable as ever to the fates he found himself facing. He challenged convention at every turn, and faced battle with the economic mind of a man who would see it finished not for glory, but for the interest of the adventure after it. He lived a life that lacked regret, and it made him stand out among his companions in ways that were not always complimentary. 

Perhaps it was a touch of Theodore rubbing off on Bram in these moments, when the whole world seemed to grow still and all that mattered was the joy they shared together. Just as, sometimes, Theodore thought a little of Bram had rubbed off on him when he found himself directing something with more grace than usual. 

Either way it mattered little to Theodore as he hauled Bram up in answer, setting him on his desk almost primly, and answered his gentle start with an unquestioning passion. They had all the time in the world, and he fully intended to utilize it as he anchored himself at his lover’s hips and began to kiss his neck with unbridled adoration.