'Welcome back...'

The first rays of the warm morning sun slowly crept up above the outline of the still sleeping city, its inhabitants seemingly unaware – or rather too intimidated to dare to show their curiosity – about the frantic motion that surrounded the pile of rubble that marked the spot of the building that had collapsed during the darker hours of the night. The construction, formerly three stories high, was now reduced to nothing but a disorganised gathering of cracked cement, shattered glass and depressing remains of the now bent and torn steel skeleton. Voices shot through the clear morning air, harsh orders being shouted to the workers that effectively searched the rubble, none being particularly interested in the approaching sunrise, but rather the matter at hand; the Captain was still missing.
Over five hours had passed since the collapse, which had occurred during a field mission that at first had seemed normal to all those within the vampire specialised fraction of the exorcist organisation, but had ended in a minor catastrophe. Two had been trapped inside, one being found after merely an hour, although regrettably not alive, and the second still missing, but considering the late hour, presumed to be dead. Few dared to air their anxiety about what would happen if he was indeed found dead; the loss of one of the six cornerstones of the organisation not only devastating, but increasingly surreal. It was simply unimaginable, while at the same time terrifyingly real, especially to the redhead who quietly waited by the edge of the grey rubble, the grey eyes fixed on the movements of the workers – like they had been the last couple of hours. He was still in his uniform, apparently not a part of the rescuing team, but determined to remain at the sight none the less, waiting for news about the missing Captain, his posture failing miserably at hiding both worry and agitation.
Shouts suddenly cut through the air when two workers quickly, yet carefully, stretched down towards the cracks amongst the rubble and with firm hands pulled the bloodied, somewhat ruffled, although most importantly alive, Captain from the narrow hole he had been trapped in during the last couple of hours. The man stumbled somewhat, the long black curls falling freely around his shoulders, the clasp normally keeping it up lost somewhere among the blocks of cement, and his right arm pressed tightly against his body considering a dirty, still bleeding wound. An uncharacteristic, and somewhat misplaced, smile curved his lips as he, with the aid of the noticeably relieved workers, made his way towards solid ground and the waiting ambulance.
Even before his feet were set firmly on the ground, he caught the sight of his redheaded – and admittedly extremely hot-blooded – Sergeant, a surprised eyebrow being raised, as he had expected the other to have returned to the base by then, taking care of the reports concerning the accident seeing as he, in the Captain’s absence, had the responsibility to do so.
“Morgan?”
He was surprised, to say the least, when facing the much younger and somewhat shorter teen, who stood with his arms firmly crossed over his chest and foot impatiently pounding the asphalt underneath them. His surprise, however, only grew when Morgan made a sweep with his arm and spoke with a voice clearly not suitable to address a superior with:
“Don’t you dare to EVER do that again!”
Alesha’s pale blue eyes rested on the teen before him, never having been so close at being dumbfounded as that very moment.
“ Pardon?”
Morgan sighed, with clear hints of annoyance, before practically glaring at his Captain.
“Any idea how worried I… we were?”
The Captain blinked, not quite able to comprehend what the other was saying, clearly remembering the arguments, teasing and full-blown fights he had had with the obnoxious teenager, but nothing that would have prepared him for that comment. Only within the deepest, most securely hidden parts of himself would he ever admit that he actually liked the kid – if even that – and a pretty fair share as well, but now it was suddenly very real and somehow strangely terrifying, but even more so deliriously comforting. So he did the only thing he could think of, while feeling the fresh morning air against his skin, the rays of the rising sun warm his face and the uttermost feeling of life cursing through his veins: He laughed, clear and bright.
Morgan shot him an agitated look, apparently considering serious head trauma as the cause for his Captain’s surprising outburst of misplaced joy, but the redhead stilled when Alesha slowly raised his left arm, placing a hand at the back of Morgan’s neck and slowly pulling the other closer, until the teen’s forehead rested against his shoulder. It was not an embrace, but as the Captain spoke, with a voice softer than most had ever heard, it could as well have been one:
“Thank you…”
The Sergeant remained still during a couple of seconds, clearly surprised, but eventually raised his arms to hastily, yet carefully, hug the older man, before quickly starting to mumble about over sentimental people, which only caused another laugh from his Captain.
Alesha knew that he ought to scold the kid for the rude words spoken earlier, as they were clearly out of line, and reprimand him for the insults he threw at him under his breath at that very moment, but the clear concern behind them made him unable to. It was somehow incredibly sweet to see that side of the obnoxious redhead – although he would never utter it openly – and it felt ridiculously exhilarating to be the one it was directed to.
Being welcomed back from presumable death was not so bad after all.


.~*...*~.


Oh yeah. It's DONE.
I've been so lazy with this one >_>
But yay! A text to get you in the moooooood!

It is, as the text says, my character Alesha Black (with black hair, pun intended) and ~Himyaviewen's Morgan Simons (red hair then), both being exorcists from our roleplay, and the picture being a part of an Art Trade with her, focusing around eight themes.
This is then 'Welcome back...', and it was pretty easy to chose this once we had played the scene, because it was a pretty big step in their relationship...

NO, it is not romantic in any way possible - don't make me throw up here - but entirely platonic. In the sweetest way possible.
They're adorable, simple as that, but both would deny it just as much as they deny caring about each other... but we know boys, oh yes we do

So... yeah. Adorable.

What's not so adorable is the rocks and the uniforms, so out of pure defiance the entire uniforms are on one layer, and the rubble on one layer. Because it was seriously easier that way
The lens flare was added because... well... I thought it was funny at the time

I really like this actually, even if it took it's time and was pretty boring at times... it was worth it, you know?
Probably because IT'S FREAKING ADORABLE

Enjoy!