Don Juan looked back towards him when Griffith put his hands in Don Juan's hair. This gesture didn't belong to them, yet the effect was near instantaneous. His eyelids drooped pleasantly, drowsily, and he blinked slowly at Griffith. Someone playing with his hair always gave him the urge to curl up against them, put his head in their lap or cuddle against their chest, and stop thinking about things. Obviously this could not be acted upon while Griffith was chest-deep in scalding water, and anyway Don Juan didn't feel that way about him. Griffith didn't either. His hands shouldn't have been in Don Juan's hair. This was a gesture displaced — something meant for the other person, the one Griffith said he was reminded of when he looked at Don Juan.
He didn't know whether the words were intended for him or the other person, either. Earlier tonight Griffith had defended himself by saying he'd only done what Don Juan had asked — only what he'd begged for, really. And it sounded as though it hadn't all been bad along the way... Griffith had referenced Montparnasse before, but Don Juan had never remembered it, and Griffith had led him to believe through context clues that it hadn't been a very pleasant interaction for him. His phrasing of it now, not being able to leave Don Juan to the dirty old men of Montparnasse, made it sound like Griffith had been more of a protector than a predator. Don Juan didn't know which was closer to the truth, and unless he found some way to recover all of the memories he'd lost to his habits over the years he would never know. Maybe Griffith didn't know, either; maybe he switched the story based on what suited him at the moment, reframing the memory each time he looked at it.
He leaned his head in to Griffith's fingers the way a cat arches into its owner's hand and thought one of us is going to drown in the bath. Something had to be done. Finally he mustered up the will to do it, turning and reaching to tug the tap closed without moving from where he leaned on the rim of the bath. Without shaking Griffith's hand off. He let the arm he'd used to reach for the handle fall languidly into the water. "What was their name?" he asked as he turned his eyes back towards Griffith, still looking sleepy. He knew instinctively to use the past tense; if they were still around, Griffith wouldn't have kept bringing up death. "The person you sometimes think I am."
He didn't know whether the words were intended for him or the other person, either. Earlier tonight Griffith had defended himself by saying he'd only done what Don Juan had asked — only what he'd begged for, really. And it sounded as though it hadn't all been bad along the way... Griffith had referenced Montparnasse before, but Don Juan had never remembered it, and Griffith had led him to believe through context clues that it hadn't been a very pleasant interaction for him. His phrasing of it now, not being able to leave Don Juan to the dirty old men of Montparnasse, made it sound like Griffith had been more of a protector than a predator. Don Juan didn't know which was closer to the truth, and unless he found some way to recover all of the memories he'd lost to his habits over the years he would never know. Maybe Griffith didn't know, either; maybe he switched the story based on what suited him at the moment, reframing the memory each time he looked at it.
He leaned his head in to Griffith's fingers the way a cat arches into its owner's hand and thought one of us is going to drown in the bath. Something had to be done. Finally he mustered up the will to do it, turning and reaching to tug the tap closed without moving from where he leaned on the rim of the bath. Without shaking Griffith's hand off. He let the arm he'd used to reach for the handle fall languidly into the water. "What was their name?" he asked as he turned his eyes back towards Griffith, still looking sleepy. He knew instinctively to use the past tense; if they were still around, Griffith wouldn't have kept bringing up death. "The person you sometimes think I am."
![[Image: 0hYxCaj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/0hYxCaj.png)
MJ made this <3