Percy and Vax, backdated to 8/29/18
Aug. 29th, 2018 04:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Vax returns home from his camping trip with Vex, and Percy has a surprise for him.
The camping trip hadn't exactly been Vax's cup of tea. He was more at home in the city, on the streets or the rooftops. But being with his sister had made it all worth it, and Trinket was a gem, too. They'd spent over a week out there, reuniting and doing stupid shit like tracking cougars (Vax had no idea what a cougar was) and telling scary stories to each other over the campfire. At night, they'd cuddled in one big pile of brother and sister and bear (and sometimes snake) and it had been kind of perfect. Of course, returning to Percy was kind of perfect too, or Vax imagined it would be.
He didn't even wait after they'd returned to the campus, shadow-walking his way into his room and stepping from the darkness to greet his boyfriend, a small, secret smile on his lips. He was a little less pale than he had been, and smudged a bit with dirt. His clothes were rumpled and his pack lumpy, but otherwise, he just looked happy to see Percival de Rolo III.
Percy didn’t know how long Vax had been standing there. He’d spent all day trying and failing to distract himself with Keyleth, books, and projects, and all he’d done was look up from the documentary he’d been watching to pass the slowly crawling time, and there Vax just was—A little wrinkled, a little dirty, and the best sight he’d ever laid eyes on.
Breaking into a grin, Percy pushed the laptop off his lap and leapt off their pushed together beds to sweep his boyfriend up in a tight hug. He buried his face against him despite the ripe smell of a week in the woods and breathed him in. God, he’d missed him. Smiling, he pressed a kiss to Vax’s mouth.
Vax wrapped Percy tight against him, returning the kiss with a nip of a bite before fully embracing it. When he came up for air, leaving only a breath between them, he smiled again. "Miss me?”
“Terribly,” Percy answered, his arms still linked around Vax’s neck. It was good that Vax and Vex had gotten quality time together, but the school had been awfully empty without them, Vax especially. “Did you have a good holiday?”
"It was good," Vax agreed, although deep down, he knew it had been great. Even when they'd gotten the text messages from Gilmore and Percival about the raids on the Right at the school, the twins had been assured that their loved ones were safe. They'd tried not to let it preoccupy them too much. "You should have seen Trinket trying to climb a tree.”
Percy laughed. It wasn’t a hard scenario to imagine given that Trinket was far more bumblingly adorable than any apex predator had any right being. “I take it he didn’t inherit the family dexterity?”
"He'll grow into it," Vax assured him, nipping softly at Percy's lips again as he sobered. "Are you alright? How is everything here?”
Vax was making it awfully difficult to concentrate on the questions he was asking. “Tense. Everyone is on edge after the kidnappings.” Percy’s fingers curled and uncurled against the back of Vax’s neck in a gentle, continuous caress. “All the taken students made it back, as did the teams. A few people were not in the best of conditions from what I understand.”
"I have to admit, I'm glad that they wiped it all out," Vax sighed. "It's easier knowing they aren't out there, trying to get at any of our family.”
Percy made a quiet sound of agreement. During all the chaos, in the minutes between texting Vax and Vex and hearing back from them, he had panicked. If the Right had been tracking their former prisoners, it had been possible they’d learned about and were keeping tabs on other students as well, and Vax and Vex had been in the middle of nowhere all alone. “Yes. I can’t say I’m sorry to see them go.”
Vax brushed his lips against Percy's cheek. "So. You wanna go take a shower with me? I'm dying for one. This place has spoiled me to the merits of hot water.”
“If I ever answer no to that question, I’ve been swapped with an imposter.” An idea occurred to Percy, and he kissed Vax softly before saying, “Start unpacking your things. I’ll get the water started.”
A smile stole across Percy’s mouth the moment his back was turned to Vax, and left for the dorm’s bathroom down the hall. He’d been planning on just telling Vax about his new tattoo, but this—surprising him with it—would be even better. Yes, he was terrible dramatic, so sue him. That stupid, adorable surprise face Vax got was too good to pass up on.
Percy fiddled with the hot-and-cold taps to get the water warming to just the right temperature, then laid out towels for them. He started to undress in the shower’s adjoining changing stall, moving with a quiet, methodicalness.
Stepping into the bathroom, Vax glanced around to see if anyone else was about. It was late enough in the evening that the bathroom was abandoned for the moment - if not for long - so he knocked on the stall where he heard the water running. “Jenga."
Percy smiled at Vox Machina’s codeword and paused in unbuckling his belt to unlock the stall. It was a small space, but they could fit. They’d done it before. “It’s open. I’m mostly decent.”
"Too bad," Vax grinned, pushing into the stall and locking it behind him. Before he could do anything, he slipped his hand into Percy's hair, pulling him into an appreciative kiss. "Did I tell you I missed you?”
“I missed you too.” Percy was starting a list of all the things he’d missed while Vax was away: Vax’s smile, Vax’s voice, Vax’s hands in his air…
Starting to wriggle out of his somewhat smelly clothes, Vax grinned at his boyfriend in between breaks in the clothing. "Did you get into anything while I was gone?”
“Work, mostly,” Percy said as he began helping Vax undress, smiling to himself at the very obvious tan lines he now sported. “And a surprise for you.”
Shirt and jeans dropping to the floor, Vax looked up, leaning in for another kiss. “Yeah?"
“Mmhm,” Percy confirmed, kissing Vax again as he subtly moved Vax’s hand over the new tattoo on his ribs. “I’m debating whether I should tell you now, or wait until you notice for yourself. Both have merit.”
Vax started backing Percy into the shower, kissing along his jaw. "Let me know how that debate turns out?”
“At this rate, I won’t need to.” Percy closed his eyes as he stepped under the spray of the shower and tilted his head to both let the hot water run over him and to make way for Vax’s exploring mouth. This was another thing he’d missed—The way Vax kissed him, like he was something to be savored.
Percy’s hand ran down the small of Vax’s back and over the curve of his ass cheeks (yet another thing he’d missed), before giving them a playful squeeze, and drawing him further into the shower with him. “Are showers as good as you remember?”
Vax had to take a breath from kissing just so he could breathe in the heat of steam and suck a breath at the hot water coursing over his skin. That, and the squeeze of Percy's hands. "Oh, fuck yes.”
When the kisses stopped, Percy gladly took that as his cue to take over. “Good.” As his hands kneaded Vax’s ass, he slowly trailed his mouth along his neck as if re-mapping it to memory. It had been a week and he fully intended on making up for every single second of it. He wanted to show Vax how much he missed him.
Now it was Percy who stopped kissing, but only so he could look at Vax’ildan, his expression soft with adoration. He caressed his cheek fondly. “I thought of you every day while you were gone.”
"You mean after you were done with your nose in a book or hands on your tools?" Vax teased breathlessly, pulling Percy flush against him.
Percy had noticed that Vax had a tendency to do that—Make a joke, or change the subject anytime Percy said anything too heartfelt. He didn’t take it personally. He did wonder why, though, and he wanted to ask, but naked and in the shower didn’t seem like the best time.
“While, even,” Percy quipped right back. “One tool in particular.”
"Well, at least that one got some action," Vax huffed in frustration.
“And now we’ll take care of another,” Percy replied, backing Vax against the tiled wall of the shower and smirking. “If you can figure out what your surprise is.”
Vax shivered as the cold tile pressed against his skin, his hands tightening briefly on Percy's sides. His brow furrowed in thought. "Hmm, did you make something for me?”
“In a way.” Percy started kissing Vax’s neck again, and his hands slid up his chest. It was cheating, but that was what made it fun. “I designed it. Would you like a clue?”
"You're expecting me to be able to think at all while you're doing that..." Vax complained, but didn't bother stopping him. In fact, maybe encouraging him a little as his hands skimmed over Percy's ass. "I damn well better get a clue.”
Cheating was perhaps backfiring on Percy, but he found it very difficult to mind. “Your gift is on me right now,” he said before catching Vax’s earlobe between his teeth.
Vax sucked a breath, hands tightening on Percy for a moment as he relished the sensation of teeth nipping at his ear. He couldn't think of anything that could be on Percy, besides water, skin, and himself, at the moment, and oh, he wanted to be on him a whole lot more. But then a thought occurred to him, and he managed to pull back slightly, his gaze sweeping down the length of Percival's body. His eye caught on a swirl of black ink on his side, and he turned his boyfriend, shifting him out of the water and against the other wall so he could see the image more clearly.
The tattoo was on Percy’s side between the fifth and sixth rib, a black feather that seemed to be made out of swirling shadow. Barely a week old, the ink was still fresh and bright, the skin still a little sensitive. “Clever boy,” Percy said, his skin prickling at the sudden, sharp contrast of hot water and cold tile.
Eyes widening at the sight of the artwork, Vax sank to his knees, staring at the ink on Percival's skin with something akin to worship. "You did this…"
Percy had known Vax would like it, but he hadn’t anticipated such an emotional reaction. He watched him, his eyes soft. “Yes. I had it done the day you and Vex left, so it would be healed by the time you got back.”
"Fucker," Vax accused, though he didn't put much heat into it. Or any at all. Instead, he reached up, fingers caressing the newly inked skin. "Is it healed?”
Percy’s skin prickled under Vax’s light touch. “It is. It’s still sensitive, but not in a painful way.” He’d forgotten that about the last tattoo. The pain he’d remembered, and the maddening itchiness as the dead skin flaked off, but not how soft and tender the spot was after.
Vax leaned in, brushing his lips briefly against the tattoo. Then he shifted to slowly rise to his feet, catching Percy's mouth in a deep, appreciative kiss. He had no idea what to say about the gesture. Percy actually putting something on his skin - it seemed so permanent, such a...commitment. Not that Vax minded. What scared him was that he really didn’t.
Percy ran his hands over the flat planes of Vax’s stomach, then wrapped his arms around his waist to hold him close while they kissed. It was different than their other kisses, no less skilled or loving, but there was an edge of something else to it, something that Percy didn’t have the word for, but could feel in the fiber of his being.
When Vax finally came up for air, he was smiling, brushing his nose slightly against Percy's. “Thanks."
Percy was smiling too and he pressed a kiss to Vax’s mouth in a wordless reply of affection. When it was over, he guided Vax until he was back against the shower wall. “Now, with the matter of your gift settled, why don’t we take care of your neglected tool, wash a week’s worth of forest off of you, and then climb into bed?” he asked as he ran his hands down Vax’s sides, over his hips, and dipping lower still.
---
An hour later, Vax stretched out on their combined beds, letting his fingers trace around the tattoo on Percy's side. "I love it. Did I say that?”
Percy’s head was tucked against Vax’s, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the closeness. “Not in so many words, but the sentiment was very clear. Keyleth helped me decide where to put it. It was between my side, and my wrist.” A soft huff of a laugh escaped. “You should have seen her. The tattoo artist thought she and I were dating. She was mortified.”
Vax's eyebrows went up, and he focused his attention on Percy's face. "Keyleth went with you?”
“Mm,” Percy confirmed. “She did a marvelous job at keeping my secret.”
"No kidding," Vax snorted softly. "You two are really close, aren't you?”
Percy smiled some. “Crazy, isn’t it? She and I couldn’t be more dissimilar, but… she’s like a sister to me.” There was a noticeable hesitation, before he admitted, “I’m closer to her than I ever was to my sisters. I took them for granted, I think.”
"You were a kid," Vax told him, sitting up slightly to look at Percival through the shadows and dim light.
“I know,” Percy said softly, almost reassuring as he tucked long, dark hair behind Vax’s ear. “I know. Hindsight is just,” a quiet, wry chuckle escaped, “a nasty bastard. I regret it. That’s all.”
"Then I'm glad you have her," Vax decided, a smile curling at the edge of his lips. "And Vex and Pike too.”
“So am I. I’m grateful for all of you.” Something in Percy’s expression softened as he stared up at Vax, thinking about the family he’d lost and the family he’d found, and when he smiled it was all warmth. “They would have loved all of you.” He stroked Vax’s cheek. “They would have loved you.”
"Bullshit," Vax countered, giving him a look.
“Not at all,” Percy promised, crossing his heart. “I wish they could have met you.” Vox Machina were, inarguably, made up primarily of thieves and charlatans, but they had good hearts. His parents and siblings would have seen that.
Vax was quiet for a moment, but nodded. "I wish my mum coulda met you, too.”
Warmth suffused in Percy’s chest. He sat up on his elbows and kissed Vax softly.
Slipping an arm around him, Vax helped Percy back onto his back, stretching out over him, letting the kiss dissolve into a series of kisses, soft bites and breathless smiles. In his mind, it was the perfect homecoming.
The camping trip hadn't exactly been Vax's cup of tea. He was more at home in the city, on the streets or the rooftops. But being with his sister had made it all worth it, and Trinket was a gem, too. They'd spent over a week out there, reuniting and doing stupid shit like tracking cougars (Vax had no idea what a cougar was) and telling scary stories to each other over the campfire. At night, they'd cuddled in one big pile of brother and sister and bear (and sometimes snake) and it had been kind of perfect. Of course, returning to Percy was kind of perfect too, or Vax imagined it would be.
He didn't even wait after they'd returned to the campus, shadow-walking his way into his room and stepping from the darkness to greet his boyfriend, a small, secret smile on his lips. He was a little less pale than he had been, and smudged a bit with dirt. His clothes were rumpled and his pack lumpy, but otherwise, he just looked happy to see Percival de Rolo III.
Percy didn’t know how long Vax had been standing there. He’d spent all day trying and failing to distract himself with Keyleth, books, and projects, and all he’d done was look up from the documentary he’d been watching to pass the slowly crawling time, and there Vax just was—A little wrinkled, a little dirty, and the best sight he’d ever laid eyes on.
Breaking into a grin, Percy pushed the laptop off his lap and leapt off their pushed together beds to sweep his boyfriend up in a tight hug. He buried his face against him despite the ripe smell of a week in the woods and breathed him in. God, he’d missed him. Smiling, he pressed a kiss to Vax’s mouth.
Vax wrapped Percy tight against him, returning the kiss with a nip of a bite before fully embracing it. When he came up for air, leaving only a breath between them, he smiled again. "Miss me?”
“Terribly,” Percy answered, his arms still linked around Vax’s neck. It was good that Vax and Vex had gotten quality time together, but the school had been awfully empty without them, Vax especially. “Did you have a good holiday?”
"It was good," Vax agreed, although deep down, he knew it had been great. Even when they'd gotten the text messages from Gilmore and Percival about the raids on the Right at the school, the twins had been assured that their loved ones were safe. They'd tried not to let it preoccupy them too much. "You should have seen Trinket trying to climb a tree.”
Percy laughed. It wasn’t a hard scenario to imagine given that Trinket was far more bumblingly adorable than any apex predator had any right being. “I take it he didn’t inherit the family dexterity?”
"He'll grow into it," Vax assured him, nipping softly at Percy's lips again as he sobered. "Are you alright? How is everything here?”
Vax was making it awfully difficult to concentrate on the questions he was asking. “Tense. Everyone is on edge after the kidnappings.” Percy’s fingers curled and uncurled against the back of Vax’s neck in a gentle, continuous caress. “All the taken students made it back, as did the teams. A few people were not in the best of conditions from what I understand.”
"I have to admit, I'm glad that they wiped it all out," Vax sighed. "It's easier knowing they aren't out there, trying to get at any of our family.”
Percy made a quiet sound of agreement. During all the chaos, in the minutes between texting Vax and Vex and hearing back from them, he had panicked. If the Right had been tracking their former prisoners, it had been possible they’d learned about and were keeping tabs on other students as well, and Vax and Vex had been in the middle of nowhere all alone. “Yes. I can’t say I’m sorry to see them go.”
Vax brushed his lips against Percy's cheek. "So. You wanna go take a shower with me? I'm dying for one. This place has spoiled me to the merits of hot water.”
“If I ever answer no to that question, I’ve been swapped with an imposter.” An idea occurred to Percy, and he kissed Vax softly before saying, “Start unpacking your things. I’ll get the water started.”
A smile stole across Percy’s mouth the moment his back was turned to Vax, and left for the dorm’s bathroom down the hall. He’d been planning on just telling Vax about his new tattoo, but this—surprising him with it—would be even better. Yes, he was terrible dramatic, so sue him. That stupid, adorable surprise face Vax got was too good to pass up on.
Percy fiddled with the hot-and-cold taps to get the water warming to just the right temperature, then laid out towels for them. He started to undress in the shower’s adjoining changing stall, moving with a quiet, methodicalness.
Stepping into the bathroom, Vax glanced around to see if anyone else was about. It was late enough in the evening that the bathroom was abandoned for the moment - if not for long - so he knocked on the stall where he heard the water running. “Jenga."
Percy smiled at Vox Machina’s codeword and paused in unbuckling his belt to unlock the stall. It was a small space, but they could fit. They’d done it before. “It’s open. I’m mostly decent.”
"Too bad," Vax grinned, pushing into the stall and locking it behind him. Before he could do anything, he slipped his hand into Percy's hair, pulling him into an appreciative kiss. "Did I tell you I missed you?”
“I missed you too.” Percy was starting a list of all the things he’d missed while Vax was away: Vax’s smile, Vax’s voice, Vax’s hands in his air…
Starting to wriggle out of his somewhat smelly clothes, Vax grinned at his boyfriend in between breaks in the clothing. "Did you get into anything while I was gone?”
“Work, mostly,” Percy said as he began helping Vax undress, smiling to himself at the very obvious tan lines he now sported. “And a surprise for you.”
Shirt and jeans dropping to the floor, Vax looked up, leaning in for another kiss. “Yeah?"
“Mmhm,” Percy confirmed, kissing Vax again as he subtly moved Vax’s hand over the new tattoo on his ribs. “I’m debating whether I should tell you now, or wait until you notice for yourself. Both have merit.”
Vax started backing Percy into the shower, kissing along his jaw. "Let me know how that debate turns out?”
“At this rate, I won’t need to.” Percy closed his eyes as he stepped under the spray of the shower and tilted his head to both let the hot water run over him and to make way for Vax’s exploring mouth. This was another thing he’d missed—The way Vax kissed him, like he was something to be savored.
Percy’s hand ran down the small of Vax’s back and over the curve of his ass cheeks (yet another thing he’d missed), before giving them a playful squeeze, and drawing him further into the shower with him. “Are showers as good as you remember?”
Vax had to take a breath from kissing just so he could breathe in the heat of steam and suck a breath at the hot water coursing over his skin. That, and the squeeze of Percy's hands. "Oh, fuck yes.”
When the kisses stopped, Percy gladly took that as his cue to take over. “Good.” As his hands kneaded Vax’s ass, he slowly trailed his mouth along his neck as if re-mapping it to memory. It had been a week and he fully intended on making up for every single second of it. He wanted to show Vax how much he missed him.
Now it was Percy who stopped kissing, but only so he could look at Vax’ildan, his expression soft with adoration. He caressed his cheek fondly. “I thought of you every day while you were gone.”
"You mean after you were done with your nose in a book or hands on your tools?" Vax teased breathlessly, pulling Percy flush against him.
Percy had noticed that Vax had a tendency to do that—Make a joke, or change the subject anytime Percy said anything too heartfelt. He didn’t take it personally. He did wonder why, though, and he wanted to ask, but naked and in the shower didn’t seem like the best time.
“While, even,” Percy quipped right back. “One tool in particular.”
"Well, at least that one got some action," Vax huffed in frustration.
“And now we’ll take care of another,” Percy replied, backing Vax against the tiled wall of the shower and smirking. “If you can figure out what your surprise is.”
Vax shivered as the cold tile pressed against his skin, his hands tightening briefly on Percy's sides. His brow furrowed in thought. "Hmm, did you make something for me?”
“In a way.” Percy started kissing Vax’s neck again, and his hands slid up his chest. It was cheating, but that was what made it fun. “I designed it. Would you like a clue?”
"You're expecting me to be able to think at all while you're doing that..." Vax complained, but didn't bother stopping him. In fact, maybe encouraging him a little as his hands skimmed over Percy's ass. "I damn well better get a clue.”
Cheating was perhaps backfiring on Percy, but he found it very difficult to mind. “Your gift is on me right now,” he said before catching Vax’s earlobe between his teeth.
Vax sucked a breath, hands tightening on Percy for a moment as he relished the sensation of teeth nipping at his ear. He couldn't think of anything that could be on Percy, besides water, skin, and himself, at the moment, and oh, he wanted to be on him a whole lot more. But then a thought occurred to him, and he managed to pull back slightly, his gaze sweeping down the length of Percival's body. His eye caught on a swirl of black ink on his side, and he turned his boyfriend, shifting him out of the water and against the other wall so he could see the image more clearly.
The tattoo was on Percy’s side between the fifth and sixth rib, a black feather that seemed to be made out of swirling shadow. Barely a week old, the ink was still fresh and bright, the skin still a little sensitive. “Clever boy,” Percy said, his skin prickling at the sudden, sharp contrast of hot water and cold tile.
Eyes widening at the sight of the artwork, Vax sank to his knees, staring at the ink on Percival's skin with something akin to worship. "You did this…"
Percy had known Vax would like it, but he hadn’t anticipated such an emotional reaction. He watched him, his eyes soft. “Yes. I had it done the day you and Vex left, so it would be healed by the time you got back.”
"Fucker," Vax accused, though he didn't put much heat into it. Or any at all. Instead, he reached up, fingers caressing the newly inked skin. "Is it healed?”
Percy’s skin prickled under Vax’s light touch. “It is. It’s still sensitive, but not in a painful way.” He’d forgotten that about the last tattoo. The pain he’d remembered, and the maddening itchiness as the dead skin flaked off, but not how soft and tender the spot was after.
Vax leaned in, brushing his lips briefly against the tattoo. Then he shifted to slowly rise to his feet, catching Percy's mouth in a deep, appreciative kiss. He had no idea what to say about the gesture. Percy actually putting something on his skin - it seemed so permanent, such a...commitment. Not that Vax minded. What scared him was that he really didn’t.
Percy ran his hands over the flat planes of Vax’s stomach, then wrapped his arms around his waist to hold him close while they kissed. It was different than their other kisses, no less skilled or loving, but there was an edge of something else to it, something that Percy didn’t have the word for, but could feel in the fiber of his being.
When Vax finally came up for air, he was smiling, brushing his nose slightly against Percy's. “Thanks."
Percy was smiling too and he pressed a kiss to Vax’s mouth in a wordless reply of affection. When it was over, he guided Vax until he was back against the shower wall. “Now, with the matter of your gift settled, why don’t we take care of your neglected tool, wash a week’s worth of forest off of you, and then climb into bed?” he asked as he ran his hands down Vax’s sides, over his hips, and dipping lower still.
---
An hour later, Vax stretched out on their combined beds, letting his fingers trace around the tattoo on Percy's side. "I love it. Did I say that?”
Percy’s head was tucked against Vax’s, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the closeness. “Not in so many words, but the sentiment was very clear. Keyleth helped me decide where to put it. It was between my side, and my wrist.” A soft huff of a laugh escaped. “You should have seen her. The tattoo artist thought she and I were dating. She was mortified.”
Vax's eyebrows went up, and he focused his attention on Percy's face. "Keyleth went with you?”
“Mm,” Percy confirmed. “She did a marvelous job at keeping my secret.”
"No kidding," Vax snorted softly. "You two are really close, aren't you?”
Percy smiled some. “Crazy, isn’t it? She and I couldn’t be more dissimilar, but… she’s like a sister to me.” There was a noticeable hesitation, before he admitted, “I’m closer to her than I ever was to my sisters. I took them for granted, I think.”
"You were a kid," Vax told him, sitting up slightly to look at Percival through the shadows and dim light.
“I know,” Percy said softly, almost reassuring as he tucked long, dark hair behind Vax’s ear. “I know. Hindsight is just,” a quiet, wry chuckle escaped, “a nasty bastard. I regret it. That’s all.”
"Then I'm glad you have her," Vax decided, a smile curling at the edge of his lips. "And Vex and Pike too.”
“So am I. I’m grateful for all of you.” Something in Percy’s expression softened as he stared up at Vax, thinking about the family he’d lost and the family he’d found, and when he smiled it was all warmth. “They would have loved all of you.” He stroked Vax’s cheek. “They would have loved you.”
"Bullshit," Vax countered, giving him a look.
“Not at all,” Percy promised, crossing his heart. “I wish they could have met you.” Vox Machina were, inarguably, made up primarily of thieves and charlatans, but they had good hearts. His parents and siblings would have seen that.
Vax was quiet for a moment, but nodded. "I wish my mum coulda met you, too.”
Warmth suffused in Percy’s chest. He sat up on his elbows and kissed Vax softly.
Slipping an arm around him, Vax helped Percy back onto his back, stretching out over him, letting the kiss dissolve into a series of kisses, soft bites and breathless smiles. In his mind, it was the perfect homecoming.