easy to find & harder to keep.
planetary
(522 words // r)
pairings; elijah/jakita/drummer
warnings; polyamory, mild sexual content
The Drummer is cold.
Jakita does not feel the weather and Elijah is perpetually causing temperatures to drop, but when the Drummer is cold, he is frozen.
He complains about it, sometimes offhandedly, sometimes not so much. It is frustratingly difficult to be in a relationship with two people who balance each other out perfectly, always feeling like the odd one out because he is immature and maybe a bit off his rocker and, of course, not immune to the effects of below-zero temperatures. He's not like them, all their grace and their wit. He feels left out.
He complains about that, too. After Jakita threads a hand through his hair and kisses him, the complaints stop-- but it's hard to think the worries have gone away. He's moody but quiet. She thinks, maybe, it's for them.
She talks to Elijah. Over the next few days, they pay attention to him, offering little subtle things here and there-- Elijah sits closer to him than strictly necessary, brushing hair out of his eyes; as they board the helicopter after a particularly grueling mission, Jakita kisses his forehead. He acts puppyish and confused, and she feels a warm swell of something in her chest at the way he blushes, grins when he doesn't think they're watching.
After a week, they take him to bed-- it's far from their first time doing this, whatever this is, but they want to make this time special.
When they make love, Elijah traces the goosebumps along the arch of his back, slides cold, wet fingers into him as Jakita nips and licks the shell of his ear, the length of her body pressed against his side, rewarding every tremor with a kiss and a bite. They coax him over the edge first rocking helplessly against Elijah's skilled hands, and then a second time with Jakita wrapped around him, all her warm velvety heat pulling choked moans from his bruised lips. He trembles fiercely within the circle of her arms-- she kisses him through the aftershocks, then guides him to curl satedly against Elijah's chest.
They wrap him in blankets and hold him between them, and he mumbles something tired and content. Jakita hooks an ankle over his-- as Drummer's breathing slows, Elijah kisses the top of his head, then leans over and tenderly kisses her lips. She falls asleep with his fingers lazily entwined with hers and Drummer's head nestled warm and soft under her chin.
The next day, Elijah disappears for an hour or so. When he comes back, he is carrying a little brown bag-- he leaves it in front of Drummer, leans in and mumbles something against his ear, then wanders into the kitchen to make coffee. From her spot on the couch, Jakita watches him pull out the tissue paper, dig out his prize.
They are soft, knitted, espresso-coloured gloves, and a matching hat, and Jakita knows enough that Elijah doesn't buy anything cheap, nowadays-- even from here, she can see the quality in the details. A slow smile curls its way onto Drummer's face.
He wears them and doesn't take them off for a very long time.
fin.