[ Alex watched him for a long moment, then dropped his head and sighed, stepping into the room far enough for the door to slam shut behind him. All the anger he'd come over with evaporated, and he was left feeling guilty and miserable instead.
He reached out - hand resting on Frank's shoulder if he let him. ]
... Look, Frank. [ His voice was much quieter. ]
I appreciate that you've got my back. Alright? And if you'd gotten hurt, you damn well know I'd do the same. I ain't - I ain't saying that you shouldn't talk to everyone else if you're worried, but just - You gotta be careful with how you bring things up with Amos, alright? Left a two inch dent in my wall.
I know I - I know I made a mistake. I should have talked to you guys, and I'm sorry. I just don't want everyone gettin' all upset over somethin' I did. I ain't hurt. We're all alright. Okay?
[ the hand isn't shrugged off, but his shoulder does tense under the touch, and he forces himself to push out a steady breath. he was never angry, but he's starting to understand alex's upset is specific to amos and that sits better with him. he nods though he doesn't necessarily feel bad for alex for "inflicting" the other man onto him. maybe he needed to be scared a little in this situation, and as much as he likes to pretend otherwise, frank is so not the scared straight guy.
slowly, he starts to relax, leaning towards alex as if on a string. everyone's okay - safe. alex will consult him, he promises. though frank will believe that when he sees it. he can accept this at face value for now; can be appreciative of the other man being here at all. he could've just written frank off altogether and it wouldn't exactly be unreasonable. one broad hand touches at alex's elbow for stability as he leans forward into alex's space, his forehead pressing to the other man's. that seems to do the trick, and suddenly he's leaning against him like dead weight (or 1/3 of it anyway), all of the stress pouring out of him like helium from a balloon. ]
Okay. [ it's belated, a grunt of acknowledgment. max gleans that nothing is going to happen in terms of violence, so he lays down on the floor and shuts his eyes. humans are weird, he seems to say, cracking an eyeball up at them after a moment. (yep, still weird.) ]
[ He wondered, for the briefest of seconds, if Frank was about to kiss him - which he wasn't sure he had any idea how to handle - but luckily he was just going for the manly forehead press, so he didn't actually have to think about it.
He let out a breath, squeezing Frank's shoulder warmly. ]
[ his breathing stabilizes after a moment, taking a few deep inhales while they're still connected and them blowing them out all at once. before it can get [more] weird, because sometimes he actually does have a gauge for that, frank starts to pull back. but it seems like a physical difficulty for him and he taps alex's cheek affectionately as he draws back up and into his own space. ]
Yeah. Good. [ a beat. ] Next time you're in shit, you call me first. And I'll- I'll trust you to call me.
[ He lets out a long breath as Frank pulls back, but his hand still lingers on the other man's shoulder for a while, before giving another squeeze and finally falling away. ]
Yeah. I will.
[ He offered Frank a rueful, lopsided, but affectionate smile. ]
[promise. he hasn't made a promise to another person in a long time. and it's been even longer since he's accepted one. frank nods, swallowing as he tries to gauge alex's sincerity and hating that he has to. ]
[ He means it, and it's not hard to read. Whether or not he'll remember to keep it in the moment is another thing, but he's being sincere. He learnt something today, maybe. ]
... Yeah. Yeah, think I need it. [ He glanced down at Max, offering the dog a little wave just with his fingers. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
He reached out - hand resting on Frank's shoulder if he let him. ]
... Look, Frank. [ His voice was much quieter. ]
I appreciate that you've got my back. Alright? And if you'd gotten hurt, you damn well know I'd do the same. I ain't - I ain't saying that you shouldn't talk to everyone else if you're worried, but just - You gotta be careful with how you bring things up with Amos, alright? Left a two inch dent in my wall.
I know I - I know I made a mistake. I should have talked to you guys, and I'm sorry. I just don't want everyone gettin' all upset over somethin' I did. I ain't hurt. We're all alright. Okay?
no subject
slowly, he starts to relax, leaning towards alex as if on a string. everyone's okay - safe. alex will consult him, he promises. though frank will believe that when he sees it. he can accept this at face value for now; can be appreciative of the other man being here at all. he could've just written frank off altogether and it wouldn't exactly be unreasonable. one broad hand touches at alex's elbow for stability as he leans forward into alex's space, his forehead pressing to the other man's. that seems to do the trick, and suddenly he's leaning against him like dead weight (or 1/3 of it anyway), all of the stress pouring out of him like helium from a balloon. ]
Okay. [ it's belated, a grunt of acknowledgment. max gleans that nothing is going to happen in terms of violence, so he lays down on the floor and shuts his eyes. humans are weird, he seems to say, cracking an eyeball up at them after a moment. (yep, still weird.) ]
no subject
He let out a breath, squeezing Frank's shoulder warmly. ]
... Alright. Good.
no subject
Yeah. Good. [ a beat. ] Next time you're in shit, you call me first. And I'll- I'll trust you to call me.
[ savvy? ]
no subject
Yeah. I will.
[ He offered Frank a rueful, lopsided, but affectionate smile. ]
Promise.
no subject
You should get some rest, man.
no subject
... Yeah. Yeah, think I need it. [ He glanced down at Max, offering the dog a little wave just with his fingers. ]
I'll catch you boys later, alright?
no subject
Yeah. See you around, sailor.