♦ TKT Illustrations ♦ Better Days Ahead ♦ WiP and Book Snippet ♦

BOOK SNIPPET AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DESCRIPTION, FOR ANYONE INTERESTED! <3

I didn't check this one for stylistic errors in writing quuuuite yet, so it's not in our usual book excerpt format and some mistakes may occur, but I thought it was fitting since it's about the scene I'm making an illustration for :D

My least favorite thing about Rick and FJ from the book III is how disgustingly aware they are that something is seriously wrong the entire time. They're both grasping at straws to cling together because, at the end of the day, neither of them actually knew what's truly about to happen, but neither of them wanted to go through it alone T.T

This is very cute if we ignore the plot tho so here you go </3

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THE KOSTROV TRACES III - ESCAPE - SNIPPET

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FJ tightened his lips, shaking his head as he let the water drain down Rick’s neck. He traced his finger against his rough skin and down the tips of his shoulders where he could so clearly see the discoloration, the deep distortions where gushing burns and wounds once were, followed by a trail of surgical scars across his spine. He feared touching them on accident, knowing how much Rick did to hide these traces at all times, and instead gently slicked Rick’s gray sideburns back over his ears.

“You know…” FJ bit his lip, carefully fixing up Rick’s hair, “detective Horga told me. About your therapy.”

Confused, Rick peered through the better of his eyes. “Say what, now?”

“I don’t think he meant to destroy your ‘veil of secrecy’, but, considering you were going back home from your shrink when you’ve gotten into a crash… it was a bit hard to leave out. He thought I knew already, so…”

A bit taken aback, it took Rick a moment to fully process what he had just been told, letting his eyes roll once no answer seemed to suffice. “Oh, splendid… let me add that to my ever-growing list of privacy complaints–”

“Shush.” FJ gently ran his finger against Rick’s scruffy mustache. “I’m happy for you. I would have loved to know about it beforehand, but I’m really glad you decided to see someone when you needed help. I didn’t think your stubbornness would ever allow it.”

“Yes, well… I suppose even the thickest mules get tired of swimming against the current here and there…” Rick let his eyes wander off, staring to the side. “I was trying to quit drinking. A lot of unresolved feelings came to the surface and I… simply didn’t want to risk you and the kids getting caught in the middle of it all.”

FJ felt a smile itch at the sides of his face, gently passing his thumb across Rick’s jaw. “Did it help?”

“Fuck no,” his partner blurted out, immediately making FJ purse his lips. “I have a chronic case of intellectualising my various missing screws until CBT serves as little but a repetition of my own conclusions and, quite poetically, I had a car explode on top of me before we had time to physically zap the pesky demons out of my head. But, truth be told, I had someone to argue with once a week instead of drinking, so… I suppose it served its purpose.”

“I think that’s already a huge milestone. I mean, if I’m being perfectly honest, I didn’t think it would ever happen. It genuinely brightened my day to hear you showed yourself so much compassion.”

“Augh…” Rick awkwardly glanced toward FJ several times, trying to pretend as if his words didn’t make him melt as soon as he heard them. “Tish tosh, you…”

“’Tish tosh’ yourself, sir. You've got to learn how to accept a compliment.” Chuckling, FJ crouched next to the bathtub, gently fixing up Rick’s lengthy ocks of hair. “Especially now. I think you’ve got a lot to be proud of, bubs. I really mean it.”

Rick smiled ever so slightly, gently leaning against the bathtub simply so he could pass his finger against FJ’s nose. “I’d be bones in a ditch without you, dove… I hope you know as much by now. I don’t have the slightest clue how I’ll ever repay you for any of it.”

“Let me drive you to your sessions when you're all healed up. That's quite enough for me.” FJ nuzzled up to him, letting the very tips of their noses touch as Rick chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“A date at a psych hospital, my, my… how romantic…”

“Stop it.” FJ gently slapped his hand. “You’ll see… I have a good feeling about the future.”

Rick noticed the shifty nature of FJ’s eyes as he finished his thought. He failed to reply for a moment too long, a moment FJ surely noticed pass all the same.

“I love you, dove…” Rick said after a while, breaking the silence.

Smiling, FJ kissed the very bridge of Rick’s nose. “I love you too, big guy…”

The distant anxiety loomed over them, no matter how much they feared confronting it. None said a word about it, but the air around them thickened with tension.