castigador | ( OPEN ) Frank Castle

"I have many skills, but creating clothes isn't one of them." Elektra points out frankly. She's feeling light and in the interest of honesty, the assassin admits this much: "I tried once and it didn't survive the battle." In a rare show, she's a little embarrassed by it. The #trauma didn't help, but yeah. She really did try to just wrap white silk around her body and was shocked it didn't work out.

"I can draw which suits my designer just fine. They ensure it doesn't fall apart like that suit did." It takes a second for the question to properly filter through. Once it does, Elektra raises a brow. "Do you not like my suits?"

The levity is beyond welcome at the moment, and he laughs, a deep rumbling sound as one giant hand settles over her waist and he lays his ear against the pillow in rest finally.

"You won't hear me complainin'," he admits easily, though he's always wondered why she didn't choose something more practical. That's just Elektra at the end of the day, and he can't find fault in it. It's not like a giant painted skull is any less dumb.

Elektra takes a cue from Frank. She settles her weight into the bed, head resting against it soundly. On that same cue, she yanks most of the blankets towards her. His absence only made her blanket hogging tendencies worse. Her hand stays on his chest as her eyes close, needing that physical reminder of his presence. She smiles at him, big and endlessly fond which as always isn't easy for her. "I'd hope not. It's a good view."

They're together again. It feels amazing to joke and be human with anyone again much less Frank. "You owe me a year of sleep."

"Three months," he counters softly like they're bartering, his other hand snaking out from under his pillow to capture her wrist, studying their matching tattoos in the dim light that his eyes have adjusted to.

Her eyes creep open to see what he's doing. What a sentimental fool. She loves that about him. "Not even a half a year? You wound me." Elektra complains emptily.

"Four?" he counters smartly, catching her gaze with his now that he has her attention. "You'd get bored after a week anyway."

"Three days at most." Elektra corrects wryly. She'd be ready to crawl out of her skin after that. She always needs another fight. It's that self-awareness that prompts her to think maybe they should go for the one right in front of their faces.

A brow shoots up as she asks seriously, "Should we concern ourselves with your enemies? SHIELD is fairly useless. Fury Sr. was just as likely to hire men like that as he was to take them down." She hasn't encountered Jr. at all. She can't help wondering if that was intentional after everything that happened between her and that Nick Fury.

"I was bein' generous," he admits, shrugging his free shoulder as his calloused fingers continue to play against her soft flesh. Her question gets a big sigh. He was hoping to avoid that topic for at least one night. "Jr.'s the one who put me in there to take Zemo down."

It was a really bad plan, obviously.

"We can refortify this place tomorrow." For now, he doubts any of their enemies are smart enough to realize they're together, let alone in an off-the-grid house they built.

"Foolishness runs in the family." She responds absently. Elektra can get caught up in her own head. It's fairly easy when you're a solitary creature with no shortage of enemies. Even her very justified paranoia about who may want to break down the door isn't going to make her oblivious to how pleasant his touch is.

She sighs contently as those callous scratch against her flesh. It makes it harder to focus on the topic at hand which she's sure is by design. At least this time she's fairly certain her paranoia is baseless. No one expects them together. If they only plan for one, their victory is inevitable. She lets the thought lull her into quieting the voices that have kept her alive so far. "What about today?"

He snorts at that - it's not like she's wrong. And he doesn't particularly want to think about Nick Fury right now, even if he's pretty sure SHIELD is wondering where he is.

"Today's almost over," he points out absently, though he has no idea what time it actually is. It could have already passed them by and he'd have no idea.

Elektra isn't all that sure what time it is either. The truth is it really doesn't matter. They can do whatever they want. They earned as much. "There must be something you want to do with the time we have left. You were the one in prison." She wasn't exactly suffering most of the time given her eccentric rich girl lifestyle.

Frank isn't sure he likes the sound of that - it's fatalistic in a way, which he usually wouldn't have a problem with, necessarily, but when he thinks about this coming to an end it aches. It hurts in that dull way the loss of his family still does.

"I thought you wanted to sleep," he points out helplessly, ignoring that she's asking for what he wants. It's not something he can put into words anyway. He twines their fingers and leans in closer, his big nose brushing hers. "Give me a hint at least."

Fatalism is her way of life. She doesn't even think the implication that they could end even if it's something she reminds herself of every day. It'll make it sting less when it does or so she tells herself. Staring into those dark eyes with such fondness definitely isn't going to make it hurt less then, is it? "I should give you a hint about what you want?" That wins a smile. He would make this hard on her. Maybe she should have just passed out on him and stole the covers aka Plan A. "I think it'd be simpler if you told me what you wanted."

He huffs out a breathy laugh, shaking his head so their noses rub. Just being this close is already heaven, but he shifts so his knees graze hers underneath the covers and somehow that's even better.

"Do you mean right now? Or..." There are a lot of things he wants, but he's never focused on them. Those things either happen or they don't, but he's never seen the point in dwelling on it.

"I usually mean now." She can't think ahead. Everything is too uncertain. It only makes the disaster that follows her that much harder to endure. Elektra feels compelled to try right now in this intimate moment. Elektra scoots in close enough for her leg to settle against his. It never stops feeling strange to be small compared to anyone, but she draws comfort from the solidness of it. "But, you can think bigger. I might even go along with it." She teases as if that isn't the plan already formed and agreed upon in her head. Isn't it obvious already that for him she's willing to try just about anything?

Some heat rushes to his face as she puts him increasingly more and more on the spot. It's not like he didn't already say it before... but in this context, it feels more real somehow.

"Well... for starters, I wanna move in here." He sounds breathless, his eyes wet from their close proximity. "Permanently."

The breath freezes in her lungs the second the words process. She can't miss the implication of anything he says when everything around her gets analyzed to death. Despite his disappearing act, Elektra has no reason to doubt his word. He never promised not to leave. That also means he'll stay which is terrifying for so many reasons. She only lived with her father. That other time had been so brief and literally went up in flames. That's how it will likely end here too if she's being honest. At least, Elektra thinks, she'll actually be herself as it happens instead of playing at being the kind of woman Matt wants her to be.

She manages to swallow her fears long enough to breathe. Her eyes shine with vulnerability as they meet his. "You want to share a home with me." Not a question; a weight of what that means. She's in uncharted territory. "I..." She sighs and points out in a voice that's uncharacteristically small for her. "It's been a very long time since I've had one. With anyone."

A home. That word makes it even more serious for him. One big hand sneaks under her to cup her waist, nodding his understanding.

"Me, too," he points out, then laughs dully under his breath, a brief self-deprecating huff. "Obviously."

That causes her to frown in thought. She thinks it must be harder for Frank. She lost nearly every person she ever formed a bond with, but only one shared blood with her and a home. That ache hurt enough even knowing they got to live a life unlike the Castle children. "I would do it for you." Her fingers trace the edges of the his newest scar. As always she's as honest as she can be even if to anyone else it might come off cold. She spent most of her life barely a person. He of all people should understand that by now. "I might even learn to like it." Once the fear passed that it could never last. Not an unusual fear given the lives they lead.

He pulls in a shallow breath and holds it when her almost ticklish touch lands on his chest. Frank studies her, working up the nerve to ask her just what she follows up with and it startles a laugh from him in an outward huff.

"That's good enough for me," he confirms, nuzzling his face in against hers and folding up like he intends to get some sleep finally, or at least attempt it.

She smiles affectionately and unreservedly as he nuzzles against her. It makes her feel ridiculous, but also nice. Very, very nice. Elektra settles in against him. She doesn't believe for a second he'll actually sleep right away. Having Frank around is one of the few things that puts her at ease. She'll sleep even if he won't.

Her eyes flutter shut as she sighs against his face. "Breakfast in bed wouldn't hurt." Is she kidding or not? She'll let him decide as she dozes off.

He finally succumbs to sleep after a long hour and a half of watching her, curling in on himself protectively though his every intention had been to hold her. When he wakes a few short hours later, it feels like he hasn't slept, the echoing clang of nightsticks against cell bars startling him though it came from inside his head. Frank's head whips over to make sure she's still resting and he leans over with a pounding heart to brush some hair off her forehead and press a soft kiss there. With as little impact as he can, he gets out of bed and retrieves a shirt on his way out, the morning chill seeping into him without the cover of whatever corner of her blanket she'd left him in the night.

It's on to the bathroom to observe the stubble of his hair attempting to grow in, much thicker through the sides than the top already. Frank sighs as he runs a hand over the prickly surface before craning his neck to study the wound she'd left him on his throat, stark and red compared to his yellowing bruises and the deep red-purple of the scarring on his chest - another reason he'd put clothes on before introducing himself to the mirror. He splashes water over his face and cursorily brushes his teeth before moving on to the kitchen to see what she'd left him. He can already tell no one has cooked here since he left by how clean every surface is, but he manages to scrape together enough for steak and eggs, thanking his previous self for freezing the meat as he starts up the coffee pot - the only appliance that's seen use since his departure.

He'll go on drinking coffee and leisurely cooking - allowing the aroma and soft sounds to wake her rather than doing it himself.

She is distantly aware of his distress throughout the night. It is near possible for her not to be hyper alert of her surroundings given her history. She doesn't act because it is Frank. Her time with him is the closest she comes to resting. She takes advantage without even meaning to. He may not feel like he slept at all but, Elektra wakes up to the smell of food feeling like she's slept for a thousand years.

She rubs her forehead idly before heading to the bathroom, legs aching pleasantly as she walks. She uses the facilities, only really pausing to splash water on her face to properly wake up. There are things to do today. Elektra knows she can't keep her guard down forever. She promises herself she'll at least enjoy a peaceful breakfast after such a long absence.

Elektra greets him with a soft embrace from behind, pressing a soft kiss to his neck. It's ridiculously sentimental, but in her defense he did start it. "You could have stayed longer. I'm not completely unreasonable." She did want her breakfast in bed. Settling for just Frank isn't so bad now that the worst of her anger has passed.

He shivers at the kiss, lifting his free hand to circle around her wrist and keep her at his back for a moment. The longer they stay this way, the more memories fade and are replaced with just them in this house.

"I had to get moving," he protests, wishing prison didn't sink so far into his bones each time he went back. There's a part of him that will always long for the simplicity of that schedule and expectation, but being here with her is infinitely better than beating on Zemo's goons and that's saying something. "You needed the rest." Not like he didn't, but better one of them than neither, or something like that.

She listens to his excuses and decides, quite generously in her opinion, to let them go. Neither of them are strangers to being imprisoned. She took no joy from those times. She knows he can't be that different even with a choice amount of Nazis to beat up and kill. "I could forgive you this once." Elektra gently rests her forehead against his back and makes a show of considering the situation. "Depending on how good that steak is."

( OPEN ) Frank Castle

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