as his words fell to silence noel began to talk, reassuring him that he was okay -- even moving his arm in a fashion that made him smile -- and, with that, theo pushed away whatever worries still left in his head. noel would tell him if he wasn't okay, right? he was sure he would. there was a small chuckle in his breath, rolling his eyes as noel stopped waving his arm around. "yeah, well if you keep moving around like that i'm sure it'll start to hurt again." theo started, eyeing the boy for a second as he partially waited for the other to be spiteful and do it again. however, as noel moved closer, wrapping his arms around his neck to pulling him near, theo quieted, relaxing in the embrace. the comfort that washed over him was only strengthened by the words noel spoke, questioning him if he'd like to take the money and leave. nothing seemed better than to do just that. "please," theo spoke, his words soft and spoken under a sigh that left his parting lips. all he wanted to do was see noels health return to max and for them to be back in the town of origins where things weren't covered in dirt. he could have backed away, pulling noel with him to walk off -- but he stayed, caught up in the closeness and willing to waste a little time right here. he leaned closer, just enough to feel their foreheads press against each other; and for a moment he let the silence hover between them. "you know, you still owe me big time for the little stunt you pulled." he had let his words hang back for long enough and, while he knew the moment would be ruined, their games was far too tempting to ignore. "let's go home, but on the way i want to stop somewhere first. i still want to see you in a dress, and i think i earned it."

8/8